50 - 11/4 : Conclusion and Epilogue
After fighting through the dreaded factory of the villainous Gilean Vel, the group stood before the portals ingress. An enormous machine with the Ioun Orb at its tip was crackling and whirring with unholy energy, drilling a gaping hole into the plane of shadow. Finally, the group entered the penumbra shores to face their foe.
The colorless landscape created them with only the soft light of the portal to illuminate the bleak plane before them. Standing not far away was a man of ashen grey skin. He warned the group to not interfere, that they were too late. Despite the pleas that his subordinate had betrayed him, he cared not. The artifact was complete, nothing could stop it now. The mage seemed unconcerned with the group, this was his realm and he could teleport at will or planeshift if he begins to lose. he would destroy the group one by one. As this was happening, Morrigan's blade began to hum and softly glow with angelic chorus.
Suddenly Morrigan had a thought, and got Panics attention. Claiming she could save ember, Panic doubted the sincerity of her Vampire companion. Morrigan raised the blade, and said "I wish..... that the planar drill and myself be teleported to my castle."
The last words out of Panic were "I hate you", before Morrigan and the drill vanished in a whirl of magic. The portal collapsed, leaving the group betrayed and standing alone against Gilean Vel. He raged at them, his work undone, vowing to hunt her down before returning to deal with the interlopers.
Before he could leave or combat could commence, the shade realized something was amiss and began to turn to face behind him. A small, blueish portal had begun to open, until a warforged stepped through carrying bow of moonlight. Following him was a Kitsune, a Tiefling and lastly a Lizardfolk holding a mysterious book. The Lizardfolk seemed on the verge of completing a ritual, as tendrils of light sprung from the book, winding and weaving a massive cocoon around the region. Gilean quickly tried to teleport out, but was repulsed by the barrier before he could escape. The warforged shouts "You will never escape now!".
Unphased, the archmage turned to face the group as a smile crossed his face, "Escape? You are trapped here with ME!".
The battle began with Gilean showing his true powers, harnessing the power of shadowstuff to conjure his minions of darkness to oppose the group while encasing him in a protective shell. A fearsome Nightwalker rose from the ground, devastating the group with foul blasts of necrotic energy. The warforged and tiefling found themselves attacked by shadow mastiffs, pleading with the new group for aid so they could summon the help of their deities.
Panics fire elemental rushed to their help while the group focused on Gileans other minions. After destroying the mastiffs, the chosen were able to summon beams of sunlight and moonlight, providing a large boon to those who entered. The nightwalker took a tremendous amount of damage before finally falling, but Gilean used some of the remainder of his shadowstuff control to pierce the protective barrier that the lizardfolk fought to maintain and a Boneclaw managed to slip through. More minions, Bodaks and Wights were congealed out of what seemed to be thing air as Gilean demonstrated his mastery of the shadowfell. As they died, they dropped globules of shadowstuff that he then further manipulated, forming zones that grasped with the souls of the damned, another that seemed to siphon the life away from those who stood in it, and even conjured tentacles to attack the party. But despite all of his efforts, his Boneclaw fell and his defenses were shattered.
Gilean faced the party alone, until at long last the mage was struck down. He limped as the two parties surrounded him, struggling to get to his feet. At long last the wickedness he had wrought upon the world was put to an end, as the warforged Pierce, and the Tiefling Panic got their revenge. Gilean Vel was dead.
As the fight come to a close, harmonic music from the Muse herself rang out through the bleak shadowfell. The horrid landscape began to slowly fade away, with the group finding themselves on the pleasant shores of the Akadian coast. Not a cloud dare block the wondrous shine of the sun as Solanus's radiant warmth came down from the sky, and the gentle breeze of the salty ocean air washed over the land.
Standing with them was a somewhat confused Daitha, as well as the two sisters Ember and Katya. They looked at each other, as if they had somehow known each other their whole life, before bursting into tears and hugging one another. Ember scanned around before her eyes fell on Panic, she rushed to her wife and jumped into her arms. Daitha embraced his niece, turned to the group with a sad look in his eyes, "Is.. is it done?".
But all was not right, for the group turned to see something ominous stirring above the nearby hills. Dark storm clouds formed, a blanket of darkness now lay over the land, marking the domain of the Vampire Morrigan.
Epilogue
Morrigan - With Morrigan's betrayal complete she stood on the balcony of her castle of the damned. The betrayal had given her the final blessing of Hecate, transforming her into a true vampire and causing her to grow to well over 8', her wings became permanent and she was now master of her domain. 666 souls had been siphoned from the cursed coins she had scattered, forged with the blood and souls of the innocent and collected by her avatar of death. The drill whirred and sputtered, no longer connected to Gileans vile factory it tore a gaping hole into the Shadowfell before grinding to a halt. The power of the Ioun orb depleted and the machine now a lifeless reminder of the evil that befell this land. For miles around the region was plunged into darkness as the planar boundary was ripped asunder. But something was wrong, Siebkrons diversion was incomplete but had an effect. The negative energy plane spilled its vile energy into the region, all around her the minions she had fought to conquer and aid suffered, choked, and withered until they died an agonizing death. Hector, who had done so much to ensure Morrigan's rise to power, was found lifeless, still clutching his holy symbol. One by one they died, and one by one they rose as creatures of undead, as Morrigan's servants of darkness. Eventually the negative energy dissipated, having annihilated all life nearby. The region remained a gap in the material plane, a border into the shadowfell and a region of abject horror and darkness. With the completion of her citadel she set upon unleashing the book of the River Styx, flooding a moat around her castle with the souls of the damned. Morrigan now seeks to open the river to Minauros and grow both hers and her deities power in the Nine Hells. Furthermore, nearby towns were corrupted and eventually plunged into her domain, giving her dominion over both the living and the dead. Her cover was blown in Saltmarsh as her former allies revealed her evil plot, so Morrigan was forced to shore up her defenses and ensure that the servants of the reborn sun goddess Solanus could not hunt her down. Zelem - After Morrigans final betrayal and seeing the threat that evil had over his lands, Zelem rallied the nearby towns against her. The Akadian pact would continue, with Gellan Primewater becoming the sole leader of Saltmarsh. Fortune's Crossing slowly grew in size under Zelems watchful eye, becoming a haven for those who despite the feudal nobility of the other towns. Over time The Devils Hand, a group of con artists and thieves was formed with Zelem situating himself at the top. Spies were sent to other realms, worshippers of the gods of thieves and trickery were found throughout its ranks and its tendrils spread far across the Akadian coast. With unstable or hostile borders on all sides, the fragile Akadian pact hinges on the intelligence and subterfuge of the Devils Hand in keeping enemies at bay, and one day hopes to put a stop to the vampires realm of darkness before it spreads across the land. Ruven - After aiding her friend Panic and becoming spymaster of Saltmarsh, Ruven felt the greatest threat to the realm was the dark forces of the vampire Morrigan. She left with Zelem to Fortune's crossing, where she trained up-and-coming recruits and helped manage the fledgling port city. Pink - After retiring to Santa Quint and ruling her small empire for some time, the pirate lord began to take further interest in Besmara's ascension. She became one of her most faithful worshippers, and having possessed the goddesses own journal began to pray to join her in the skies. A series of well placed raids and devoted work later, the goddess answered Pinks call and she became a chosen of Besmara. Pink turned her ship into a spelljammer and took to plundering the astral sea. Danta - With Gilean Vels death, the Song and Sorrow Traveling Shadow Show found itself in a perilous position. Their leader was destroyed and ousted for his horrible deeds, and the full force of the law was about to fall upon the remainder of the circus. But rather than let good talent go to waste, Danta suggested an alternative course of action. He had infact sold the circus to Gilean many years ago, well before its successes of today, and offered to reform it. Under the condition that the circus now be under Dantas control and would agree to his reforms, the show was allowed to go on. Panic - With her wife safe and free from the terrible Vel curse, Panic wanted nothing more than to retire in safety far from Morrigan Oweland. They decided to depart far to the north along with their gnome friend Scribbles. Here they settled in Aspencove, far from the tumultuous problems plaguing the Plains of Mayfarrow. Her innate desire to teach wound up leading to the formation of The Seer's League, a valuable source of knowledge and training for the northern city. Finally she had a daughter named Valorika Ruven Vel (Valor) and was happy to finally live a life of peace and prosperity.Portraits
The first campaign I ran with this group came to a halt before completion and was put on hiatus for about a year. It had the same enemy of Gilean Vel and I wanted to finally give that game the conclusion it deserved. After going through this campaign for awhile, I gave this campaign the same villain, and in the Stoneheart Valley game had Turasjir hire its group to collect reagents before teleporting off to an unknown land. I had planned to have the groups old party show up and aid them, and during the final fight the first party arrived and was able to finally get the vengeance against their old foe. This finally brought that campaign to a conclusion, and was the reason for the cameo by this party, who were originally played by four of the players from the current groups party (as listed below).
Comments