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Voidfall
Supporting Cast
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Aldwin Twitch
Hauplin messenger of the Tangled Skein. Originally meek and nervous in nature, he has developed a sense of purpose since almost dying to stop an assassination plot against the leaders of the refugee nations. -
Anubi the Archon
Leader of the Dawnspear tribe of gnolls. Her people are deeply devoted to Asherah, also known as the celestial goddess "The Redeemer". She is a cleric that carries either spear or a curved sword. Her people are often divine archers. -
Gen Redmane
friendly gnoll archer the party freed from Jagged Hollow, a desert cave in the Kendihaar. Gen has since represented his people, an alliance of reformed gnolls living in the former Neek kingdom of Codija, to the allied folk living in Luscaria. He is a Dawnspear gnoll and a divine archer. He takes himself much less seriously than many in his tribe, and prefers wearing bright woven fabrics with his simple leather armor. -
Marney Dewblossom
Marney might seem to have more than a few screws lose, but such is to be expected from someone who has lived in seclusion for so long. The druid of Aneyar (often also called Friars) is the confidant of the Tangled Skein and the grounds keeper of their fortress sanctuary. She tends all sorts of wild and domesticated animals, often chatting happily with them as if they were halflings themselves. -
Tah the Wanderer
Leader of the Green Singer Warband, she and her people are nature oriented and loyal to the wilds of the world. Her people make proficient scouts, hunter, and rangers. -
Tasha Nazeri
Otherwise known as the Witch Queen, the Ringmaster, and the First Magi. Tasha is the first recorded sorceress in Andorra's history. She was a saint of the First Age, fighting the Tuatha with Ariem, Olga, Obassi, and the bugbear Gruska Ghazi. She was used as a battery for the spell that sundered the world, ending the reign of the high elves. Afterward she was delivered unto the pits of Bataar, where she began her journey amongst the planes. She is currently an arch fey and member of the Council of Stars. She leads the fairy festival called Witchlight that appears yearly somewhere on Andorra's surface. -
Urk Steelmaw
Leader of the Emberforge Guild. This gnoll band is not a collection of family groups like many others, but is instead a collection of gnolls that have taken to learning the trade skills that maintain a civilized society. The Guild is a multi-trade craft and trade union with Urk representing their interest to the rest of the gnoll council. Urk himself is trained as a fighter. His special trade interests are engineering and blacksmithing.
Scheduled Sessions
Session 31: Setting the Stage
The Tangled Skien have used their time to plan their next move inside the former halfling city of Lublin. After catching up on the newest revelation that Aiodos's former friend and love interest, Kallos is being held underneath the city the party decides their next move should be against the mysterious Nighwarden. Cherry disguises herself as a maid and infiltrates Gawain Manor and the party begin finalizing their plan to bait and trap this wanna be hero.
Session 30: A Reprieve
The Tangled Skien have rid Lublin of Professor Von Grauf, delivering the artificer to the rat king Skeevor for interrogation. Skevvor has in trade educated the adventurers on the threats that must be eliminated before Lublin can be abandoned. The obvious first is the freeing of as many of the prisoners and citizens as possible (which Skevvor has offered to arrange). Another is dealing with the cities self proclaimed hero, The Night Warden. There is the looming threat of a central nervous system that might be communicating back to the more void touched of the empire's clergy, and somewhere underneath the city the empire is producing a new type of destructive weapon with the aid of sullen grey gnomes. As a first move, the party decided to claim a bounty on a local hag, the sister of Madam Sindi and a leader of the cult of Chernobog. The fight wounds the Skein and exhausts more of their spells but in the end they make quick work. After the fight, still filled with holy radiance, Aoidos receives a sign in the form of a songbird. This bird flitters into the sewer and it sparks an old memory, this was the sign Kallos had received on her awakening. The tormented fallen sinks to his knees in tears, but it becomes obvious after a bit that the bird is leading him back towards Skevos's layer. Following the bird he finds a note the wererats had just intercepted. A note that could change everything for the cleric of Asharah. Cherry dons her magical disguise as Witch Hunter to head to the streets above and claim the bounty. She walks away with pouches heavy with gold and an imperium that is less suspicious of her party for now. So now is the time for rest and planning, for every next move could erode that good will. Every next move is likely to snowball, pushing towards another revolution or the iron judgement of the inquisitors torture devices.
Session 29: The Cult of Chernobog
The tangled Skien have treated with Skevvor and decided to rid the sewers of Madam Sindi's hag sister, claiming the bounty and reducing suspicion for a time with the empire. They have made their way through the sewers and into her layer, bypassing the hag's magical defenses. Now the hag faces the heroes with a number of the faithful in the cult of Chernobog, Unsurprisingly they crawl and scrape around the altar as undead zombies and ghouls. While the spirit of Chernobog is weakened, it still seems that his deals with mortals still come with a heavy price. Trapped in the blood of Estemi, the lord of hunger is still insatiable, forever starving for more power. While some of that is sated through his vampires, it seems his faithful witches and hags are still able to call upon a fraction of his power.
Session 28: The Rat King
It is the 31st of Noember and the signs of the Long Winter have begun to settle in. The streets of Lublin above begin to be blanketed with snow, befouled by the coal soot and industrial waste common in imperial controlled capitols. Underneath the city the Skien have faced off against two void priests, faithful clergy that have peered into the Void for so long it had changed them. Their jaws rot to make way for fleshy squid like tentacles. Their eyes shine black and empty with malice from skulls ripping under the pressure of further aberration. The professor Aldritch Von Grauf releases a flesh horror to aid in his defense as he retreats back into his laboratory. With practiced ease the party is able to defeat the priests, relegating the flesh horror to the life of an enranged chicken before it too is casually executed. With the luck of the gods and legendary speed, the party is then able to act in unison before the professor can set up his defenses. Cherry Cheer transmogrifies the doctor as she had the flesh horror, making sure the Krevan is caged but not harmed. Now they have been led by wererats to the den of Lord Skevvor for an audience. Inside an abandoned alabaster temple below the city the rat ogre sits on a massive high backed chair feasting on stolen imperial foods. Behind and around him his nest of wererat spies bustle about their business, stopping to feast on their fair share as time allows. The dangers of controlled capitols have proven greater than those in the small outlying halfling towns, and it is likely to continue to be tougher yet. Who knows what this rat lord can offer, or what victory here might cost.
Session 27: Up Shit's Creek
Madam Sindi and Cherry Cheer have finished their negotiations. The Hag let the party know that the resistance underneath Lublin centers around an ancient wererat named Skevvor. To gain the wererats trust and gain his audience, Sindi suggests the party remove a nuisance, the scientist Aldritch Von Grauff. She marks a spot in the sewers that lead to his laboratory. She also asks that the party, sometime during their missions in town, to rid the sewers of her sister. Sindi's sibling sided with Chernobog as her kind were leaving the fey wilds. Now she maintains a small cult in behalf of the demon of greed and hunger. The removal of her sister will act as a deterrent to the Inquisition in town, since they suspect a green hag is helping the resistance in town. The removal of her sister will maintain her cover, as well as grant the party a small portion of fame and fortune (possibly removing suspicion from them as well). After a nights rest the party has set into the sewers from the brothel's cellar. After some time they have moved close to the professor's laboratory cellar. On the way though, they have awakened the most disgusting of guards. They set to combat against a collection of oozes and filth spawns of Gorgoth, the demon of excrement. Now all that remains is making it to the professor, beyond whatever dangers the wererat resistance has struggled against.
Session 26: The Hag's Bargain
The Tangled Skein have infiltrated Lublin, many making it through the front gate disguised as Witch Hunters. There they go as the Raven Queen suggested to Sindi Crowfjord, the madam of the brothel "Loving and Lace". As companions take a moments rest or seek the comforts of the establishment Cherry speaks with the matron. As the two trade in secrets the lovely matron begins to grin more and more. Eventually revealing her biggest secret, that she is a green hag. Meanwhile Braak summons the temperamental Qarl and gains audience with the Morrigan. After discussing terms he swears fealty to the queen of shadows in trade for the imbuement of the Cloak of Theroux. Bonded to the realm of the Shadow Fey, his new powers can only help his personal mission as the Stranger. Now the party must see what bargains, what secrets, what aid the Hag might offer and what she might desire in trade.
Session 25: Lublin
The party has made their way to the outskirts of Lublin, running into a party of Witch Hunters on the way. While the fight was harrowing, the party were able to take the bounty hunter group down, taking their uniforms, identification, and bounty vouchers. Cherry mends her wounds and the party begins settling on their final plan of entry when one of their scouts catches back up with them, giving them a missive filled with potentially invaluable information on the town they have committed to infiltrating. While rebellion spreads across the halfling lands and the allied armies liberate the dwarves, the Tangled Skein prepare themselves for a mission that could carry them for months to come. A liberated Lublin, however, is the final step to the resistances biggest mission yet, confronting Uris, the death god from her throne in Brenia. *As a reminder Morrigan, the Raven Queen has also tasked the party with freeing Ariem Estemi, who is somehow kept or connected to the town of Lublin.* *As an additional reminder Braak has voiced interest in swearing fealty to Queen Morrigan but has yet to do so formerly*
Session 24: Onward
With the town of Lakemere burning to the ground and it's former imperial prisoners freed the party moves from fighting for their very lives to planning their next moves. They have cleaned the barraks and town of any important imperial missives. These artifacts and tomes include everything from a fragment of the Crown of Grumbar to communications going over basic logistics that go into holding these smaller native towns on behalf of the Void. Mixed along with these is another Journal of the Pale Order, as well as several example drawings of what appear to be void abominations. Apparently these abominations are a rare but increasingly growing demographic of void zealots. Further notes seem to indicate that void influence has been shown to slow or halten if the believers willpower is strong enough to withstand the Living Gods gaze inside their heads. Many weak willed individuals have lost this battle, and the Void has found more appropriate duties in the empire to reflect their now mangled and eldritch appearance. The upside of this seems to be maintaining relative ignorance of the growth of this effect on the empire as a whole. Now the party have imperial information and goods and a town is liberated. As they make their way to deliver the weariest refugees to Hope's Hold they plan their next move on the empire. While the halflings continue their revolution, the Tangle Skein will remove the imperial influence from Romstead entirely by removing it's capitol, Lublin, from the political map. That is if they can traverse the dangers this much larger city has beneath it's city streets.
Session 23: Sifting Through the Ashes
The newest members of the Tangles Skein have at last liberated Lakemere, but the cost was high. While more imperial civilians and solders lend their blood to the soil the party can't help but notice the toll the battle took on their own bodies, many of which were brought as close to death as could be dreamed. the streets here and there are also littered with the anguished screams of dead or dying halfling rioters. Meanwhile the the fire has engulfed most of the town, with only a few buildings left completely safe from the flames. Leaders from the halfling kept here have begun seeing to the dead and wounded. Our heroes are shown the caves in which those who could not fight found safety instead. Not one halfling picks up a hammer. The air is somber with a new kind of resolve. A palace rests upon good bedrock, but the security of a halfling home is always the love in their hearth. The truth is Romestead's have lain cold for decades, and this place won't serve as a home for their kind for many more years to come. That said the fires of revolution can not be put out so simply. More must pay and in the end if the halflings can not have their own homelands, they might be able to do the next best thing. Make sure it is no one's homeland.
Session 22: Closing Time
Tensions are high as the Tangled Skein finds themselves bloodied and surrounded in the town of Lakemere. The shops and houses set up by the colonists of the imperium send plumes of acrid smoke and crimson flames into the otherwise darkened sky. Elim illuminates the town in the rays of a new dawn, blinding the pale elf captiain Namiera Sodri. With the town aflame and the Void's captain compromised, a mob of halflings finds their courage and enter the fray with nothing but sticks and rocks. While suffering some losses, their sheer numbers wash over a handful of guards in the town square, taking them quickly out of the fight. For the first time since this altercation began, the odds start to slip in the heroes favor. Bleeding and bruised the party knits their wounds and muster their courage. For good or ill the Liberation of Lakemere is coming to a close.
Session 21: A Reckoning
The halflings of the town of Lakemere have found safety in the caves of their homeland as our heroes draw the ire of the Void's local garrison. A pale elf commander has entered to shorten the work of her lesser able soldiers, bringing the artificer Elim close to his death. The paladin Ragmyr rushes out of the lake in his short clothes, armed with Aesir's Hammer to aid his friend. Aidos steadies himself a mere few feet from his wounded goliath friend, ready to assist. The Caladri Finn and the monk Braak fight their way past the center of the town, laying soldiers low in their path. Sprinting from the farm houses runs the maestro of tonight's ballad, Cherry. She confuses and confuddles who she can as she makes her way towards this brew she has set in motion. Will our adventurers get to see the fruits of rebellion blossum? Or will this scheme rot on the vine, leaving them victims or worse, put to the inquisitor's for questioning?
Session 20: Bedlam
Bombs spread fire, confusion, and carnage in the town of Lakemere as the meager town guard move from their scattered posts into the town square, on orders from their captain to apprehend the town's latest visitors. The Tangled Skien are also scattered across the farming town, but they have collectively managed to free the halfling prisoners and eliminate three of the guards. Now they slowly come together towards the burning town square while the halflings make their way towards a cave just outside of town. While the party has certainly given them the distraction needed to sneak away, the same can not be said for the Skein themselves. A little less than thirty guards and a few of their hounds remain. It seems at the moment a final stand is all but inevitable. For the moment the town guard has not shown themselves, but as the shadows have begun lengthening an eerie figure is beginning to show itself just on the edge of vision, hateful eyes gleaming from the flames of the burning town square.
Session 19: The Fireside Revolt
Donning their disguises and gathering their things, the Tangled Skein has made way from their mountain home in Hope's Hold to the town of Lakemire. On the first day's travels the party stumbles on an upended merchant caravan. After some searching they find black imperial travel papers bearing the official stamp. Braak uses these to make the party forged papers as traveling citizens of the holy empire, out as a troupe celebrating the Winter Festival. After setting up camp, the party notices a three eyed raven that eventually leads them to a stash of explosives hidden off the roadside. Finn takes the form of another raven and a conversation ensues. The Raven they had been following was the goddess of the shadow realm, Morrigan. The raven queen left the party with some few advice and everyone makes the rest of the journey to the town. After checking in with the town gate guards Cherry sends a telepathic message to one of the halflings in the work camp as the party moves into the town, telling the foreman to expect her visit. The party sets themselves up at the inn in town and wait for late afternoon. After the sun had settled below the horizon they go visit the mayor. They bribe his young daughter with candy in a unicorn's horn and she prances away pretending to be an attacking rhino. Cherry then charms the portly astari mayor, asking him to run off and tell the guard captain to send as many as can be sparred outside of town to investigate a possible attack. Eager to please the mayor runs off across the bridge to the fort to demand just that, as the Skien begin their plan of planting bombs around and outside of town. With all this in order Cherry sneaks her way into the large barn the halflings are forced to live in after their labors for he next part of her devious revolt.
Session 18: Those Left Behind
The allied refugees along with the nations of Luscaria have made an important decision. The Noxeri Imperium will not let the resettlement of Haven stand unimpeded forever, and while the ancestor trees keep the Aspects and the Void from attacking them directly, it does little to keep them from sending their mortal armies. With that in mind the political alliance that makes up the resistance have decided that the only appropriate defense to this reality is an aggressive offense. They are sending their armies into Ireald to siege the city of Ardenfel. It is hoped that this long term military campaign into the land of the hill dwarves can have a secondary effect. That it will pull Imperium forces from other conquered lands like Romstead, the former nation of the halflings. The Arch Druid Thoth has asked the Skien to infiltrate Lublin and cause as much damage to the Imperium's hold on the capitol as possible. Free who they can, liberate what is possible, destroy what they must. The Skien has decided after reading over the scouting reports and discussing among themselves that their best plan of action is to put off going directly into Lubin. Instead they plan to detour to the towns of Summervale, Brandywine, and Lakemere. They plan to travel under the cover of being a troupe putting on shows for a winter festival. From there they plan on identifying allies and enemies in these small towns and possibly motivate them to help,riot, or otherwise participate in their own liberation. Lakemere will be their first stop. They will arrive there after a day's travel
Session 17: Homecoming Day
The Skein has completed all tasks at the festival and spent their coin at the exchange. They have met with the Witch Queen and gotten their chance to ask their questions. Cherry, eager to know her lineage, got confirmation that she is indeed born from god and arch fey parents making her a full fey creature herself. After hearing this Cherry did the most reasonable thing she could think of, she promptly passed out. Tasha opens a portal outside her cottage for the party to travel to, shortening their return journey. The party carries Cherry with them through the portal. Tasha, knowing the party had more questions, sent the party away with a polished hand mirror. She bid them tap the mirror when they settle back into their fort and attend their business. Then the party can ask their remaining questions. Back at fort Thoth speaks amiably with Marney and a potential new recruit, Fintan Habich. They pass the time speaking on matters of nature, enjoying their shared experience as wardens of the wilds. As the party settles themselves it becomes clear that Thoth has come with a proposition for the heroes. A new chapter begins.
Session 16: Let's Get Ready to Rumble!
After what seems like an eternity bound as perfomers in the Witch Queen's festival, our heroes have finally made it to their last event. The party spoke with fae royalty about the gladiator they would face in the arena. The Pale Prince, Lord of Frost told the challengers that the champion is nothing if not confident, and even gives opponents two rounds to do their worst before retaliating. Oran, the Green Lord told the party that the champion is physically strong beyond measure, but that behind that strength lies a weak and vulnerable heart. Aonus, Goddess of Love tells the challengers that the champion hides their greatest weakness in the fortress of their mind. Finally Faunus, fae lord of festivals and celebrations, tells the party that the champion has an interest in and a weakness for the arts. They are easily moved by song, story, or rhyme. With that knowledge the challengers make their way into the middle of the arena. The crowd goes from cheerful conversation to a dead silence. A fae announcer deafens in the sudden silence. "Lady, gentlemen, and distinguished guests. We bring to you the final event. In the center arena we have our heroic performers, heroes of Hunt and Fate. They better hope they have sharpened their mind and prepared their blades because tonight they fight against our long time champion. Coming through the gate is the unbreakable, unshakable, Ancestor of Ancestors, Thunder of The Dragon Empress, Lord of Celebration, Gruuska Ghazi!" The silence is broken by a thunder of cheering, as if Kai Shu had unleashed her dragon breath into the arena. New festival attendees are besides themselves with joy, slamming their boots and tankards down in applause. Can the Tangled Skein break that which remains unbroken, or will they join this champion in the hall of ancestors?
Session 15: Cern's Sacrifice
Last time our adventurers had moved on to their second main event, The Great Hunt. After accepting various boons from the Beast Council they set out into the fae portal into a mystical woods. There they have been hunted by Baelobog and his two wolf companions. While the party has made great progress towards the Queen's Gate thanks to their wit, Aoidos has sacrificed himself to the huntmasters bounty bag and is trapped. Will the party take this as the celestial's sacrifice and make their own way to the Queen's Gate? Will they chance losing even more winnings by attempting to free their friend? The audience watching the events unfold through the portal are on the edge of their seat in anticipation. Now the game moves on, and the winnings fall where they may.
Session 14: The Great Hunt
Our adventurers have been participating in the WItchlight Festival, a once a year carnival ran in Andorra's wildernesses by the denizens of the faerie realm. After speaking with the carnival's ringmaster, Tasha Nazeri, the party agreed to participate in three of the festivals main events in exchange for her council and a special currency they can use in the festivals games or to buy special prizes. The first event the party helped out with, after trying their hand at some games, was The Three Sister's special showing of a broken thread of fate. Once a possible future, choices in the material realm have cut that possible future, severing it from Andorra's Timeline. Jumping into Fate's Loom, the party soon finds out this thread is a final desperate showdown against the Void itself. Having sacrificed most of the material realm along with their own children, the God Incarnate Noxeri was actively binding all planes of existence into the realm of Shadow. There all of existence would become aberrant and entropic. All existence would be bound by and bound to the Void. After great effort the party defeats the Void's physical form, and bound them inside a great void crystal. This bound the ancient primordial in much the same way the primordials of the elemental planes are bound. The price for this victory was great however, much of the planes and their peoples decimated beyond repair. Before being drawn back into the Fey Festival the party learns what decision made this dark future no longer possible. The choice to save a single gnoll, Gen Redmane, had become the catalast for bringing the refugees in Luscaria together, and helped settle the city of Haven in Burja. Bringing people together this soon severed a possible future where peoples were manipulated into warring amongst themselves until it was almost too late. Now the Party moves on to their next big event, The Great Hunt. There they will participate in a recreation of the ancient ritual of the Hunt of Belebog against the Beast Council and the lesser beast spirits.
Session 13: Fate's Lost Threads
The new leaders of the Tangled Skien have arrived at the Witchlight Festival, avoiding detection by the Witch Hunters that travel the Imperium's kingdoms looking for bounties to claim. After the wisps and toadstools guided the party through the mists of the Wandering Wood they were met with a korred, a small sour faced fey creature who took their invitations and ushered them directly to the hut of Tasha Nazeri. While a humble hovel on the outside, the party soon found the inside of this faery house to be like an Astari palace. Light clay walls and bright brass furnishings abounded, and the hallways seemed to wind around an infinite maze. Tasha awaited them, luckily, in a central study directly in front of the main entrance. Tasha personally welcomed Cherry Cheer, calling her Lady Bloomveil. This being the second time a fey addressed her as such, Cherry pressed the matter. All that Tasha would reply with was a grin and the words "Spoilers". The same reply the other fey had given her. Tasha wasted no more time laying out her conditions. She would aid the party in their questions if they agreed to participate as actors in this years Witchlight. They would be required to "act" in three main events for the attending audience at the carnival and in return they would receive payouts in "fen pennies", the bright wooden currency of the festival. These coins could then be spent at various carnival events, the Wheel of Prosperity, or in Flomps Fen Penny Emporium. After spinning the Wheel of Prosperity a few times, the party was left with a Deck of Many Things but also with an empty coin bag. With no coin for games the party heads off to their first show, the oracle tent of Lachesis, the Three Sisters. There the shadow fey will introduce the party and it's attentive audience to the narrative of tonight's show, a broken thread of fate. The party will enter this no longer active future and participate in it's conclusion, for the entertainment of the carnival's audience.
Session 12: The Witchlight Festival
With the gnoll threat finally ended and with Haven safely settled our adventurers were met at the le Petite Fromage by Tomlin Stormbreaker. While they and the returning soldiers drank and celebrated, Tomlin opened back up the topic of the parties secrecy with the Tangled Skein. The elder members of the Tangled Skien are almost entirely made up of soldiers, queens, and leaders of other factions and nations. With the settlement of Haven their time will be even more ate up with diplomacy and the regular dangers of maintaining a settlement on the outskirts of Imperial control. Couple that with Cherry's worry about sensitive information being leaked and it became obvious to Tomlin and Molly that the Tangled Skien needed new direction. The new voting members of the Tangled Skien should be their star adventurers. They have at this point proved themselves solving a plot and resettling a peoples. It was obvious they were tied into the thread of fate, wherever that might carry them. So with pride and a heavy heart Tomlin hands the ancient institution into the adventurers hands and retires his own position. As is tradition the Skein will continue receiving funding from the various nations that make up the resistance. Per month they will receive ten thousand gold along with rations and supplies. The gold can be spent on hiring newer Skien members to work under the new founding members. On top of all this Tomlin had secured a place for the adventuring group to operate, on the edge of the Windsnarl Woods and the Loire Valley provinces. Molly used this opportunity to pack his bags and head east towards Daeyhun and then Abul Bhad to assist them in their skirmishes with the Noxeri Deus Imperium. He left behind a note for the fallen aasimar Aoidos. Tomlin, being too old to travel and feeling his age, is looking towards retirement. So with this our adventurers settle in their fortress home, led there by it's former keeper Marney Dewblossom. They plant and activate the dawn seed that will keep the dangers of the void at bay and ready themselves for what Andorra will deliver them to the next. The Witchlight Festival is on the horizon, after all.
Session 11: Putting Down Roots
With the defeat of Irkun and Zhurra Bloodmaw the Dogs of Death have lost their ability to use the corpses of the fallen to bolster their numbers. With the void focus they used for channeling destroyed, the Proving Grounds they called home begins to slowly rid itself of its curse. Bruised but not beaten, the heroes of this battle look for clues into Zhurra's camp, hoping to find more information on this land their parents might have called home. A pale, blonde elven woman lays stretched on the gnolls stone altar, having been used to summon a bound banshee. Her chest bears a brand not apart of the ritual but perhaps might give clues to how she might have arrived in her situation. The broken gem the gnolls were using as a focus sent it's energy into the broach on the ravenfeather cloak Braak has taken to wearing, adding to the mystery of this item they were asked to deliver to the father of all vampires. Finally Cherry peered into the mind of Irkun's rebuilding form, enduring the realm of eldrich nightmares once more to try to trace the gnoll pack's history and purpose. With the first real battle won the newest members of the Tangled Skien begin the first threads of this new tapestry. What shape it might take in the future, or what it might cost to get there, not even the gods could predict.
Session 10: The Dogs of Death
While the war for Haven wages on in the Pyrene Vineyards, our adventurers have made their way deep into the blighted Windsnarl Woods. The woods themselves seem to swallow their progress with thorn and bramble, as the dead continuously rise to challenge them. Odd phasing spiders the size of large dogs also take the opportunity to try to make of the party a quick meal. After hours of fighting off enemies, brambles, and the curse of the wood itself the party finally makes it to their target. Zhurra and Irkun Bloodmaw, the mate pair and leaders of the Dogs of Death, lie ahead of the Tangled Skien. Their death will spell the end of the curse on these woods, and take away the dog's ability to raise their army back from the dead after defeat. As the party approaches Zhurra uses a long sharp claw to slice open the throat of a trapped Tuatha elf on her alter and bids the adventurers a sarcastic welcome. Her mate remarks that their guests will make an excellent and welcome feast. As the elf expires her spirit is twisted into a banshe spirit, bound by the vampire gnolls and aimed at the encroaching party. It is now up to these representatives of the Tangled Skien to break the Bloodmaw's grip on the land, otherwise the gnoll tribes nor their new allies have little chance to take back this land and begin to loosen the grip the holy empire has tightened on the lands of Andorra.
Session 9: The Proving Grounds
Our adventurers have found themselves across the Merchant Sea in the homeland of the Neek, Codija. For many this is a land they have only heard about, having been abandoned since the end of the War of Ascension. They sailed in with a contingent of hundreds, representatives of the refugees in Luscaria and a small volunteer army. Political Delegates treat with the Gnolls who have taken residence in this city since it's abandonment, who have begun to civilize themselves. A deal is reached for the Gnolls. the Neek, and the refugees to work together to settle the former capitol Burja, renaming it Haven. To truly settle this region old threat would have to be pushed out. Toward this end the Gnoll tribes band together with the refugees to fight the occupying Gnoll hordes that call themselves the Dogs of Death. While these loyal hounds of Uris are pushed back, Molly Wicket sends our adventurers deep into the haunted woods of the Proving Grounds. There they will encounter the leaders of these Dogs of Death, Gnolls gifted a hungering undeath by the Queen of Endings. Scouts have advised the party that these leaders use dark rituals to keep the wood corrupted using an odd focus, and that any of their tribe that fall in battle are simply raised as rotting husks. To truly win this war, they and their magic must be ended.
Session 8: Foundation
The Party is asked by the Tangled Skein to accompany one of their representatives across the sea to Burja, which has been occupied by tribes of gnolls since the War of Ascension. There they hope to find mutual cause with the gnolls in the founding of a new city, and a foothold upon which to fight back against an empire that refuses them peace.
Session 7: Finding Haven
The party makes their way back to Aksum from the Kendihar Desert, desperate to stop an assassination attempt after defeating a gnoll invasion and the mysterious Pale Order. When they arrive they are met with a city full of the chaos of movement and the grief of a citizenship. Upon closer inspection they see a funeral procession carrying the grey dwarf high priest Haten Ashlund. When they arrive back in the legislative quarter of Askum, they are stopped outside of a room full of representatives arguing, and Molly Wicket speaks to them instead. Aldwin Twitch had received their sending, and that early warning had allowed the rabbitkin the time to stop the murder attampt by the Pale Order. He somehow figured out the poison was in the suspiciously rare gift of Codijan wine being offered while the legislators debated. Aldwin was able to stop the members of the Tangled Skein and the Luscarian leaders from drinking the wine by drinking it himself, immediately falling ill. One of the servants turned out to be working for the Pale Order and tried to stab one of the Skein himself, but Haten Ashlund threw himself on the blade before killing the assassin. Haten was pronounced dead and Aldwin fell deathly ill but it is clear the poison would have killed many more if the party had not sent warning .
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