Arc: Balanor

The Balanor Arc is the first Arc in the Iantris Saga, taking place in the world of Tilorum beginning year 1521. The Balanor Arc introduced Ezreal Iantris, the key antagonist of the saga, as well as the Agrammon International Investigation Agency, the organization which the protagonists represent throughout the saga.

Plot points/Scenes

The Arena Incident (Arc 1: Session 1 & 2)

Agrammon: An underground city designed to be a testament to Dwarven ingenuity, engineering, and architecture. Originally known as the Silverhand Expedition, Agrammon was founded a few years following the close of the War of the Red Dragon by Grammoth Silverhand, a renown Dwarven engineer and adventurer from Thaxtedmin. The design of the city was modeled after many concepts found in Dwarven expeditions — a large elevator consisting of three separate lifts connected twenty-five floors, all referred to as “layers” of the city. Layers had a wide variety of purposes, ranging from housing, markets, utility, and even gladiatorial combat.
The events that signaled the beginning of the Summoning of Balanor began during a match in Agrammon’s Gladiators’ Layer between two merchants-turned-gladiators representing Team Blade and an odd combination of Half-Orc and Dragonborn in The Stone and Drakkeir representing Team Rocktongue. The match was decidedly one-sided, with Rocktongue wiping the floor with Team Blade; this match would be the first of many and secured the duo’s popularity in the layer. To the surprise of many, the fight was not the main event of the evening; at the close of the fight, one of the two merchants representing Team Blade withdrew a mysterious object that caused the cages surrounding the arena — each holding a feral hound captured for use during the layer’s Monster Challenges — to open. The hounds rushed toward The Stone and Drakkeir, who struggled to ward them off. With the assistance of the Agrammon Internal Security Force and various other spectators including a cloaked man, a human woman, and an Elven spellcaster, the two survived the encounter, albeit with several injuries between them.
Agrammon’s Internal Security Force was shaken by what occurred in the arena; upon The Stone and Drakkeir’s recoveries, the two were escorted to the ISF Layer and subjected to questioning, alongside a man named Viktor, who was one of the first people to respond to the outbreak within the arena. While the ISF had no conclusive evidence to suggest that any of the three caused the incident, Lead Investigator Azmel Telennen ordered that they not be allowed to leave the city until the investigation had reached its conclusion. As a resident of Agrammon, this made no impact to Drakkeir; yet in order to support the two visitors, he invited them to stay at Ada’s Respite, a popular tavern and inn within Agrammon.
At the care of tavern owner Ayda, The Stone and Viktor were able to secure rooms for the evening. Drakkeir stayed at the tavern for some time with them, catching up with Ayda and wandering from table to table conversing with old friends and strangers alike. While the Dragonborn wandered, a Phabean Elf approached the two visitors and introduced himself as Kalen Ravenmantle. He expressed his curiosity with what transpired in the arena earlier that day. The Stone revealed a strange crystal he took from the hand of one of the members of Team Blade that he noticed shortly before the hounds attacked. Kalen asked to take a closer look at the crystal, and The Stone – having an aversion to magic – offered no hesitations.
Drakkeir eventually returned to the table with the group of three actively looking into this crystal. An old companion of his was looking for individuals seeking work in Agrammon’s Expedition Layer, a series of caverns and ruins that adventurers from across the world would assist in clearing out in exchange for coin. The Stone happily agreed, as he was looking for a way to keep himself busy. Both Viktor and Kalen considered their need for funds and agreed to support.

The Expedition and Magical Armor (Arc 1: Sessions 3 & 4)

To ensure their safety in the Expedition Layer, Ayda asked Nadia, a woman who had recently been assisting in the tavern, to join the small group leaving for the layer. With a group now five strong, the crew descended into Agrammon’s Expedition Layer. As their paperwork was being processed to be dispatched to Expedition Star 1.379, the group overheard a Half-Elf and Tiefling talking among themselves, complaining that the Dwarf would not let either of them into the expeditions for safety concerns. The Stone loudly invited the two into their group, confident that with seven people, there wouldn’t be much to fear. The two agreed and introduced themselves as Ila, a Druid, and Kai, a traveling bard.
With a large group from a variety of backgrounds, the group of seven began their exploration of the caverns in Expedition Star 1.379. While far from safe, the adventurers only dealt with minor inconveniences to start, ranging from darkmantles to giant spiders. Drakkeir came across a corpse of a Dwarf who had not been dead long (according to Viktor’s assessment), but he was unsure of the cause of death. At the center of the expedition, the group discovered a large set of armor that Kalen surmised carried some magical properties. The seven agreed to continue exploring before taking the armor, as to avoid carrying it with them the entire time.
In the corner of the expedition, the group came across an ornate wall with an emblem of a flaming axe on it. The Stone attempted to attack it, while Viktor and Kalen brainstormed various reasons for the wall’s presence and what the flaming axe could mean. Coming up with nothing and making no progress on breaking through the wall, they eventually turned back to collect the armor before leaving; but where the armor once lay scattered stood an imposing figure. The armor had magically manifested itself and moved as though someone were inside of it, yet there was no wearer in sight. It stated it was in service to Balanor, but when questioned on who or what Balanor was, the armor gave no answer. Wielding a giant, flaming axe, it posed a significant threat to the adventurers. The group was still not used to fighting alongside each other and struggled to find synergy between them but managed to pull through with numbers.
Expedition Star 1.379 was secured by the efforts of the recently assembled group. The seven brought a variety of valuables from the expedition to the collectors within the main area of the layer where they met Ezreal Iantris, an Elven collector from Phabe. In exchange for a significant amount of gold, he purchased everything the group had to offer, including the magical armor and the flaming axe. The Stone, however, had retained a gauntlet for himself.
The group retired to Ada’s Respite for the evening, apart from Drakkeir who returned home; Nadia also departed the group as she had a personal matter to attend to. The remainder spent the rest of the evening relaxing, with Kai performing at the tavern as Viktor and Kalen discussed what they encountered in the expedition. That night, The Stone struggled to rest as he was plagued with nightmares of cities burning.

The Cult of Balanor (Arc 1: Session 5 & 6)

The morning following the expedition, The Stone and Viktor received an update from the Agrammon ISF that investigations were still underway. As the two were low on supplies, they suggested to their new comrades that they spend the day going through the Market Layer. As the six traversed, Kalen kept an eye out for any documentation that would shed some light on what they found in the Expedition Layer or any additional information on Balanor.
In one of the Market Layer’s upper floors, the group met an Elf selling wares imported directly from Phabe. The Elf had an eye for magical artifacts and other, more valuable goods; Kalen saw this as an opportunity to ask about an emblem bearing a flaming axe. The Elf claimed to have no knowledge of such of emblem. With no reason to doubt the merchant, the group continued on their way through the Market Layer, but not before Kalen sent a telepathic message to the Elf: “Hail Balanor.”
The group spent the remainder of the day shopping and meeting individuals all across the Market Layer, including Emilia Lumere who they would later learn was the sister of Inquisitor Titania Lumere. When they returned to Ada’s at the end of the night, the tavern was attacked by a group of people in hooded red robes. After subduing the attackers, they unmasked the only survivor who was revealed to be the Elf from the Market Layer. He explained that he was a member of the Cult of Balanor, a group of individuals dedicated to summoning a powerful demon that once clashed with the Black Dragon during the Second Demon Invasion of Tilorum. With the Five Dragons deceased, they believed the Balanor would protect their world, as long as he maintained power here.
The Elf told the group where and when the cult met: a safehouse within Agrammon’s Housing Layer on Tuesday evenings. With two days to spare, the group agreed that they would meet back at Ada’s on Tuesday night to prepare for an assault on the cult’s safehouse.
During the days between, The Stone and Drakkeir entered into their next match in the Gladiator’s Layer against Camilla Vendoth, a skilled human known for her vicious tendencies in the arena. She was accompanied by Nadia, who said next to nothing during the fight. Allowing Drakkeir to settle the score with Camilla, The Stone squared off against Nadia and barely managed to squeeze a victory in. The Dragonborn won decisively against Camilla and finished her off in a brutal way: Pinning her body against the wall using his spear and breathing acidic breath on her head.
A victory in the arena now behind them, The Stone and Drakkeir met with the rest of the group and forced their way through the slums of Agrammon’s Housing Layer, following the Elf’s instructions to the cult’s safehouse. Once there, they forced their way into the building and came face-to-face with individuals far more skilled than the ones who attacked Ada’s two days prior. What shocked the group the most was the presence of a cultists wearing a near-full suit of armor, with a single gauntlet missing. It was obvious that this was the same set of armor sold to Ezreal Iantris in the Expedition Layer a few days prior.
The fighting was fierce, but the group managed to pull through and secure the cult’s safehouse, but a single cultist escaped through a fiery portal in the final room. A voice came from the portal that taunted The Stone and invited him to come through; while he firmly stood his ground, there was a concern among the others that the Half-Orc was far too prone to the influence of whatever being was residing in his gauntlet.
Materials gathered from the safehouse showed a connection between the Ventali Consortium that employed Viktor and the Cult of Balanor. Additionally, it was confirmed that Ezreal Iantris was providing funding to the cult, and providing weapons and other magical artifacts through an underground research facility. The group agreed to sleep on this information and come up with a plan of attack together the following day.

Hunter, Now Prey (Arc 1: Session 7-9)

After a difficult battle with the cultists the night before, the party regrouped within Ada's Tavern to discuss their next moves. While all agreed around keeping the pieces of armor away from The Stone, due to his increasingly questionable relationship with the gauntlet, deciding where next to go with at least one cultist still at-large took priority.
During breakfast, Ada asked Drakkier and the group around their business knowledge and acumen, as she was looking to procure a second location for her inn. She mentioned that the building next door was an ideal choice but expressed concerns around the cost. Having a strong relationship with Ada, Drakkier took point with The Stone alongside him to engage in negotiations with the building's owner next door. Through intimidation and persuasion, the two were able to convince the owner to knock down the cost of the building so that Ada could expand the capacity of her inn. When asked what organization the building should be registered, too, The Stone simply responded “I don’t know. We’re just a couple of rowdy boys.” The building’s proprietor sighed and signed paperwork designating a change of ownership to “The Rowdy Boys.” For their efforts, Ada thanked the group and offered to let them utilize the building as a temporary stronghold until the construction for the tavern's expansion was completed.
With a new stronghold established, Viktor suggested that the group find a way to discreetly contain the magical items stored within. The group split up with Viktor leading the way alongside Kai and Kalen to visit a few vendors across the Market Layer. While the group was able to identify some items that would be able to suit their needs, it was outside of their collective funds.
On the return journey home, Viktor, Kai, and Kalen were intercepted by a familiar bird that had been appearing among them at various times since the group's coming together. In the blink of an eye, the bird turned into a cloaked mage whose hood fully obscured all features of the individual. Viktor immediately engaged in conversation, indicating that he was aware of this bird's true identity the whole time and the conversation between them suggested that the two have some history. The mage informed the group that Viktor's organization, the Ventali, had called for his assassination and were actively working to kill him. Viktor decided the best plan was to take the fight directly to the Ventali local office and gathered the group together at the safehouse to come up with a plan.
With a loose plan put together, the full group made their way to the Slums, surviving an ambush in the elevator along the way. Upon arriving at the local Ventali office, the group fought past several agents of the Ventali. After unlocking a password-protected door in the basement of the building, the group came face-to-face with Maldur, the Handler of the Agrammon office, who possessed the flaming axe once belonging to the animated armor found in the Expedition Layer a few days ago.
Viktor took point on interrogating Maldur and was able to ascertain information about Ezreal’s Magic Research Facility as well as some of his business dealings. For a final touch, Viktor removed Maldur of his post and took the role of the Agrammon Handler for the Ventali. As some of the group were injured by this time, the Rowdy Boys left the stronghold for the time being to rest.
Viktor returned the following day to get to the bottom of a few lingering questions; when he arrived, he was surprised to see a woman in the lobby who appeared to have beaten Viktor to interrogating Maldur. She introduced herself as Titania Lumere, a Paladin of the Holy Order of Camae. She explained that she had been sent to investigate what caused the incident in the arena few days ago and she was actively pursuing leads regarding a cult in the city. After some contemplation, Viktor shared some information and the two decided they would work together when looking into any cult activity.

The Agrammon Magic Research Facility (Arc 1: Session 10-11)

The group met in the The Rowdy Boys Agrammon Stronghold in the morning to prepare for their descent into the Magic Research Facility within Agrammon's Expedition Layer. Kalen organized a way to infiltrate the facility by disguising a majority of the group as prisoners, while Kalen and Titania would pose as researchers attempting to take their prisoners to the facility. With all in agreement, the group went to the Housing Layer to retrieve Inquisitor Titania Lumere who was initially put off by the group, but ultimately agreed to fulfill her commitment of conducting an assault on the layer. On the elevator descent down, Viktor smugly handed a letter of passage to Kalen which would permit the group entry through the front doors. The group managed to make their way through the Expedition Layer to the departure point, boarded a mine cart and were launched to the expedition point. The guards positioned at the front of the doors immediately felt something was off and went for their weapons, only to immediately be killed. With a bit of effort, The Stone and Drakkeir kicked in the doors, where numerous guards were waiting for them in the lobby. With minimal effort, especially with Titania supporting the group, they were able to secure the immediate location. Kalen soon discovered strange beings in a nearby hallway -- human men whose bodies were seemingly infused with some type of arcane energy, giving them a blue hue to their eyes and veins. In a challenging fight, the party was able to kill two of the experiments and subdue another, keeping it in a cage long enough for Kalen to study it and The Stone to put it out of its misery. With the hallway full of cages secured, the party surrounded a strange demon locked in a cage at the end of the hall. The demon claimed it had been summoned in an attempt to fuse it with various bodies in the facility, but with no luck. The demon was struck with interest in Kai, making a comment about him being of the same bloodline as "Fierna." Upon hearing that name, The Stone began to lose full control of his arm once more, in what seemed like a violent protest from the entity inside the gauntlet. Titania readied her weapon to strike The Stone, but Viktor urged that the group at least waits until they exit the facility before they start turning on each other. Titania agreed, but before they moved on, killed the demon in the cage. The group spent some time wandering through the facility, collecting notes, journals, and documents along the way. After some backtracking, the group came across what looked like a door to an office. On the other side of the door was an Elf, ragged with messy, black hair. He was covering his face and sobbing uncontrollably, until he looked up at Kalen with yellow and red eyes and addressed him by a name none in the party were familiar with: Vanadren.

Knight of the Black Dragon (Arc 1: Session 12-13)

The Elf that the group discovered was Mikhael Zanzellden — or Mika, for short — a friend of Kalen’s from Phabe. Titania noted that Mika showed signs of possession from some otherwordly entity and readied a weapon accordingly. Kalen knew that Mika had to be stopped, but asked that the group do their best to not kill him. They agreed, and Titania mentioned she would be able to exorcise him if the group could restrain him.
After a struggle against the skilled mage, Mikhael was restrained and Titania was able to use a form of holy magic to exorcise the Elf and store the entity in a crystal which she subsequently destroyed. The group searched the research facility while Kalen attended to Mikhael’s wounds. The Stone stumbled upon a tunnel at the rear of the facility’s office which he brazenly began walking through. Not wanting their companion to travel alone, Kalen agreed that he would stay behind with Mika while the others explored the tunnel.
The tunnel led through a Kobold-infested cavern and ended with two young drakes guarding a large skeleton that appeared to be of a dragon. Upon seeing this, Drakkeir lost consciousness. To make matters worse, Ezreal appeared atop of the skeleton and taunted the group. As a parting gift, he summoned two giant demonic hounds with flames covering their entire body which gave chase to the group.
The group in the cavern rapidly made their way to the exit, but one of the hounds was gaining on them at a faster rate. In a moment of panic, Kai yelled for the hound to stop, only to be surprised when the hound obeyed the order. The Rowdy Boys managed to escape through the tunnel which they entered and quickly exited the facility, dragging Kalen and Mikhael along in the process.
In the days that followed, the group split up to recover and pursue some personal interests, as well as look deeper into Ezreal’s dealings in Agrammon.
The Stone and Drakkeir entered their final arena match against Drakkeir’s mentor, Valgoth. The two showcased their astonishing skill as a duo and won the match, becoming the first Dual League Challengers Champions. Drakkeir spent some time with his mentor after the fact and learned that he was a descendent of the late Black Dragon, who had come to him in a vision during his unconscious state. Drakkeir entered into a pact with the spirit and took up the mantle of Black Dragon Knight.
Kalen regularly attended to Mikhael, accompanied by Ila and Kai. Kalen revealed his history as a researcher in Phabe and how he came to lose his license as an apothecary and escaped to Agrammon to start a new life, abandoning his old identity as Vanadren Baelhal.
Viktor partnered with Titania to look into more of the Ventali’s dealings. Zetran — who had been able to shift between bird and human up until this point — showed various injuries in his bird form and was unable to shift back to his traditional form.
A group of Kalen, Kai, Ila, and Viktor infiltrated Ezreal’s home and found documentation suggesting there were two potential candidates for Balanor’s vessel: The Stone and Emilia Lumere, Titania’s nine-year-old sister. In a panic, the group of four raced to the Housing Layer in an attempt to prevent Ezreal from getting to her. When they arrived in the Housing Layer, they realized it was too late: At the center of the layer, covered in flames and her eyes replaced by two fiery spheres was Emilia, fully imbued with Balanor’s power and presence.

Balanor (Arc 1: Session 14-15)

With news of the Housing Layer aflame, Drakkeir, The Stone, Ada, and Valgoth made their way to the Market Layer elevator. A mob -- with Titania at the front -- had formed around the three doors with the Agrammon Internal Security Force doing all that they could to manage the situation and maintain order. Tensions grew higher between the two, and violence was imminent, until Ada made a rousing speech to the people and assisted in bringing the situation under control. While the elevators were blocked off for the sole use of evacuating the individuals within the Housing Layer, The Stone raised the idea of utilizing the service ladder in the elevator shaft that was no longer in use. Drakkeir encouraged a group of Agrammon residents to join him in helping secure the Housing Layer and evacuating citizens. Back in the Housing Layer, Kai, Kalen, Ila, and Viktor catch a glimpse of Emilia before their focus is forcibly shifted to various demonic hounds slaughtering civilians throughout the layer. The four take charge of the situation, fighting through the layer to defeat the hounds. As the struggle began to shift against them, Drakkeir, The Stone, and Titania arrive to help secure the rest of the layer. The group eventually met outside of the Housing Layer elevators, where Mikhael informed them that Emilia descended into the Expedition Layer. In order to put an end to the destruction of Agrammon, the fully assembled party descends down the collapsed elevator shaft using rope and climbing gear to descend to the Expedition Layer. The state of the Expedition Layer was beyond what anyone in the group could have anticipated. Hordes of demons, supported by cultists, were actively overrunning the adventurer's there, who -- by this point -- were backed up against a wall. The group split into two groups to secure the layer; Kai and Kalen went to the east, while the remainder went to the west. At first, the fight was in their favor, but the group rapidly lost ground. To their surprise, a large group descended after them into the layer and joined the fray. Old companions such as Ada, Valgoth, Mikhael, and Maldur took point while groups of gladiators, Ventali agents, and anyone that could wield a weapon joined the battle to secure the layer. On Mikhael's suggestion, the group descended down a tunnel with a select group of companions to chase down Emilia. The core party, along with Titania, Maldur, Ventali Agents, Ada, Valgoth, and Vavi all headed down the tunnel, with several companions staying behind to hold the line to allow Titania and the core group to reach the center of the tunnel where Emilia was waiting for them. Introducing herself as Balanor, Emilia appeared to be nothing more than a vessel. Balanor shared with the party his goal to secure Agrammon as a staging area to invade the rest of Tilorum. With Drakkier and The Stone on her flank, Titania charged ahead while the two pinned Emilia down. Using her power of exorcism, Titania struggled to remove Balanor from Emilia. With no artifact to house the demon, Titania used her own body as a vessel and asked the party to destroy her. Balanor's power coursed through her body shortly after and took over. With her greatsword in one hand, and a summoned blade made of flames in the other, she challenged the party, who -- while able to put up a fight -- found themselves unable to best her. As things began to look dire, The Stone heard a voice in his head once more. Injured and devastated, he rose to his feet and audibly agreed to a pact with an unknown entity. At the same moment, Zetran flew into the cavern and reverted to his usual form, revealing how injured the man truly was. He tossed his bag of holding to The Stone and called for the pieces of magical armor to leave the bag. The armor danced around The Stone's body briefly before affixing itself to his body. At the same time, The Stone's eyes began to boil, and -- in a painful experience -- were replaced by two spheres of blue flames. With his sight gone, the pieces of armor attached to his body all ignited, a glorious flame illuminating the room. Within seconds, the fire faded, and the previously tarnished armor now had a brilliant orange and red hue. In his right hand, The Stone now held an axe whose head was covered in fire; he lifted the axe in the air, and the rest of his companions felt a warm energy taking over them; they soon noticed all of their wounds had been healed, and they felt a strength they never knew they had in them. With this newfound power, the group all rose to their feet for one final fight with Balanor. With The Stone’s power granted to him by Infernus, Lord of the Fire Planes, and the resolve of the rest of the Rowdy Boys, they were able to defeat Balanor. As he faded away, he commented he began to enjoy the name “O.G.” that The Stone had given him. With his power and influence gone from Titania, she maintained a brief moment of consciousness where she asked that the group take care of Emilia. Once they agreed, she smiled lightly before closing her eyes.

The Agrammon International Investigation Agency (Epilogue)

The events in Agrammon had caused a wide sense of panic among the population, as well as a general feeling of distrust toward the leader of the city, Chief Architect Grammoth Silverhand. Knowing this, Silverhand decided he would pass leadership of the city to Ada, who had always been a respected community leader among the residents; but before he did this, he had one last initiative to set into place.
Weeks following the defeat of Balanor and in the midst of the city’s reconstruction, Silverhand called a meeting consisting of the following individuals: Ada Cadei, Vamon Bonecrusher, Runtox Lumere, Rein Argaan, Emilia Lumere, Valgoth, Drakkeir, The Stone, Vanadren Baelhal, Kai Infernia, Maldur, Davek, Solomon, Zetran, Mikhael Zanzellden, Ila Keamoira, and himself.
In this meeting, Silverhand confirmed that Ezreal Iantris was nowhere to be found after the defeat of Balanor. With the Elf still a prominent threat, Silverhand believed it was his responsibility to bring Ezreal to justice. Ada now ruling the city meant that Silverhand could oversee a task force to accomplish this task. The task force would be known as the Agrammon International Investigation Agency and it would be made up of four critical sub-groups: the Phabean Investigation Unit, the Merchant’s Confederacy Investigation Unit, Liaison Unit, and Support Unit.
With all parties in agreement over this proposal, they made preparations to leave the city and begin what would be a long journey across the sea to find and apprehend Ezreal Iantris.

Plot type

Arc

Player Characters

The Stone
Drakkeir
Vanadren Baelhal
Nadia Ravenhold (Retired Session 6)
Kai Infinera
Solomon
Ila Keamoira

Guest Characters

None

Major NPCs

Ezreal Iantris
Balanor
Ada Cadei
Inquisitor Titania Lumere
Emilia Lumere
Mikhael Zanzellden
Vavi
Grammoth Silverhand
Zetran
Maldur

Tilorum Dates

1521

Dates Played

June 2019-October 2019

Writing Staff

Jon Barajas
Alexander Schantek

Dungeon Master

Jon Barajas