Adventures in Faerun

Adventures in Toril Session 1

The gathering of our heroes...   Nerieae, the "Mother of Dragons", had found herself trying to help a small village near the Dragon Coast. This had become her new home since leaving the Feywild and she had grown to love many of the residents here. While study the arts of being a Druid, she naturally began to explore the surrounding areas, acclimating herself to not only the wilderness but the people that lived around it. When she came about the village of Brightburn, she was shocked to see the famine and pestilence engulfing the area. Children wandered the streets, having lost their parents to sickness; crops lay whithering in the sun, killed off by whatever unholy ailment that had overtaken the area. Being new to the continent of Faerun, she asked her closest friends among the dragonkin to see if there was anything they could do. Unfortunately, they had now answers and told Nerieae of a great library located on the Sword Coast...the library of Candlekeep. The cost of entry to this place was a piece of writing that the library did not posses, so the gold dragon Anathronox gave her a tome of ancient draconic knowledge to help her enter the keep. After obtaining directions, the new fairy druid set out on her quest to help her new people.   Along the way, she encountered the pirate entertainer Tourmaline. Being a fairy, Nerieae had no predjudices against pirates as she had encountered far worse creatures in her former home. Tourmaline also had a fondness for fairies and so decided to join Nerieae on her quest. It didn't take long until they reached the keep, gave the Avowed (the low-level assistants that do a majority of the work in Candlekeep) the draconic tome, and were told to wait while another Avowed was found to give them a short tour. Being a beautiful day, they both decided to sit outside the gates and enjoy what was left of the day.   Meanwhile, the drow rogue Kales was making his own journey down the roads toward Candlekeep. His is a long story, one involving many adventures and dark secrets. On this particular day however, the dark secrets were being kept from him as well. He awoke earlier that day in a place not unknown to him; the problem, however, is that it was NOT where he fell asleep. He had originally been getting ready to travel to the Feywild himself, a place he liked to visit regularly due the lack of "rules" that normal society saw as acceptable. Something must have happened, though...instead of the inn he laid his head down, he was now in a forest about 10 miles south of Candlekeep. This would have been bad enough, if not for the other other strange occurance that took place after gaining his senses--he soon realized that most of his skills were gone. His long term memory was intact, he remembered almost every adventure he had been on, he had even remembered his time before leaving the Underdark. But everything else about his profession was a complete blank. Frustrated, he began to make his way toward Candlekeep to see if there was anyone there that could help him find out what had happened.   Finally, we have Akra. Believing herself to be born a Dragonborn, she has spent her life in the woods northeast of Baldur's Gate with her parents. She never understood why she looked so different from her parents, although they were always quick to point out how beautiful she was. Recently, her parents have disappeared without a trace. Almost frantic, she has set out on her own to find them and bring them home. For weeks she has travelled, finding not a single clue as to their whereabouts. One of the stranger things that has happened during her travels, however, is the fact that everyone she comes into contact with refers to her as a fairy. Being so sheltered her whole life, she know very little about this race...although she certainly knows she is not one of them! After weeks of this happening, it's understandably begun to annoy her quite a bit.   This is where we find ourselves at the beginning of our story. Kales is travelling alone right down the road from Candlekeep, almost at his destination, when he hears a rustling to his right. Using one of the few skills he has left, he hides in the trees and waits to see who (or what) was making the noises. After a few minutes, he see a figure emerge...someone who looks like a woman with large flowing wings. Little did he know that this was Akra, who also happened to hear a slight rustling, although not from Akra, but from the brush up ahead. She did what came naturally and flew up into the treetops as well, hoping to avoid whatever it was that was out there. Kales eventually became impatient and attempted to stealthily move from bush to bush, only to be met by what was making the noises that Akra heard...a wolf. At this moment, Kales also saw an arrow fly from out of the treetop--but not at him. Instead it flew through the air to the north, eventually landing a bush about sixty feet away from him. The second wolf that was hiding in that bush sprung out, racing to the tree that the arrow came from and attempted to climb it in order to reach its source.   Kales, forgetting he had lost much of his skills, tried to vault over the wolf facing him and stabbed down only to miss wildly. The wolf anticipated his movement and instead grabbed his ankle in its powerful jaws, yanking him down onto his back. The wind was knocked completely out of him and he had a searing pain in his groin. Emboldened by seeing their two packmates engaging with the humanoid shapes, the other two wolves saw their chance to emerge from the shadows and attack as well. Now surrounded, the two wanderers began to see just how bad of a situation they were in. Kales instantly leapt to his feet and sliced the neck of the first wolf to attack him then turned to meet the second one that was bearing down on him. Akra, still in the treetops, was also readying herself to attack and try to get them out of the mess they had found themselves in.   Meanwhile, Nerieae and Tourmaline were watching all of this. It would be fair to say they found a hell of a lot of amusement from these festivities, especially making fun of Kales when he was yanked to the ground by the first wolf. Eventually, however, their nicer sides got the better of them and they decided to run down to help. Nerieae, being used to dealing with the wild animals of the forest, spoke to one of the wolves to see what it wanted. As expected, the answer she received in her head was simply "Hungry". Taking one of her rations, Nerieae threw the wolf some food who eagerly accepted it. Tourmaline, on the other hand, casted Tasha's Hideous Laughter which caused the wolf trying to climb the tree to all of a sudden stop and begin convulsing as if a hyena. This allowed Akra an opening, which she used to shoot and kill the second wolf racing toward Kales.   With the situation calming down, all four adventurers were shocked to see a massive fifth wolf emerge from the forest. A Dire Wolf is almost unknown in these parts, and yet here one was, ready to feast on all of them. As the four tried to gather and regroup, they all hear a thunderous boom from the east. Blood spurted from the Dire Wolf's head and it dropped dead on the spot. Looking in the direction of the sound, they were greeting with a shocking sight; a large barbarian women, well-muscled and brandishing a large sword. Behind her was a man dressed all in leather, holding a metal contraption none of them had ever seen before. Smoking at one end, it was obviously the source of the thunderous noise; Kales may have recognized it for what it was (a revolver), but if he did he said nothing. As the man walked toward them, the group could see a faint purplish glow slowing dimming from his right eye. He identified himself as Diablo 999 and his companion as Akuma.   After some brief, albeit hostile, conversation between the six adventurers an Avowed name Chet came rushing down the road to see what the commotion was about. He chastised a few of the members in the group for their disrespect, but eventually invited them all to the keep for safety after being politely persuaded by Tourmaline and Nerieae. On the way, the group shared some of their backstories in order to get aquainted. After arriving, they were met by Vooshanti, an 87 year old Avowed who was as fiesty as she was knowledgable.   Vooshanti showed them around, pointing Akra and Kales to the infirmary to get their wounds treated and brought the rest of them to the Hearth. The Hearth was a large tavern inside the keep's grounds where adventures and scholars could unwind in between their studies. The group decide to use this time to ask around and see if they could find anything out about the wolf activities going on. The bartender, after having the Owlbear barback named Cookie bring them their drinks, pointed them to Little One. Little One was a large ogre sitting in the corner, reading Storm King's Thunder. They talked for a little while, Kale and Akra eventually joining them, and the ogre eventually told them all that Mattreus may have some insight into all their variuos problems. Saying their goodbyes, the group made off to find the sage's office.   When they arrived, they were greeted with an empty room. Akra began to study the open book on the table while the others searched the rest of the room. Kales was able to pick the lock of one of the chest and stole the contents, while Diablo attempted the same and came up empty handed. Akra called them all over to tell them what she discovered. Approaching, both Tourmaline and Kales recognized the portrait on the front cover to be that of Mordenkainen, one of the most famous wizards currently living. Akra spoke the command word that was written in the book and a great portal opened in the middle of the room.   Akra, reckless and thinking only of her parents (although she had absolutely no reason to think they were in there), flew right in. The group immediately began hearing Akra's raised voice shouting at whatever she had found inside. Kales followed suit and jumped in, unfortunately not waiting long enough for another party member to grab the rope he had tied around his waist. Shaking their heads, the remaining four companions walked through the portal.   On the other side of the portal was a long, dimly lit hallway. Akra was still arguing with a short, stocky man who looked like he really would have been anywhere else but here. When seeing the rest of the party walk through, he stopped and smiled broadly. Greeting them warmly, he introduced himself as Mattreous, the very man they had come to see. After brief conversation, he offered to help the party with their various problems in exchange for their help exploring the mansion they found themselves in. As it turns out, this was an illusionary mansion in a pocket dimension belonging to the missing wizard Fistandia. Mattreus had been collecting her works for quite some time and the final volumes he was missing happened to be in this mansion. The party agrees and the sage asks them to wait just one moment while he brings an large imp statue he had found back to his study. As he steps through the portal, the double doors slam shut, locking him out. The doors will not budge and Mattreus is understandably upset. As the party is trying to get the doors open from their side, they hear the sage screaming and begging for help.