frp

When the party returns from their dragon adventures in Resh, Sorgul reports that somebody broke into the commune and stole a magical stone built by Edric to power his “WorldWatch” spell. This happened on December 22nd - though Sorgul did not notice the theft until the 23rd. The party returned from Resh on December 26th.

The thief was the wizard, Kendrick - whom the party met way back in Voyagers #11 and #12 (April 5th, 1108). After Roderick healed Kendrick from his chaos-induced insanity, the wizard discovered a new purpose in life: Battle Chaos and prevent them from influencing this world. Unfortunately, as he tirelessly pursued this agenda, his mind slipped slowly back into insanity.

To achieve his goals, he stole Edric's WorldWatch stone so that he could craft his own variant: a ChaosWatch device. His is limited to seeing only chaos and law throughout the world. With this spell up, he can touch a target on the stone map and use Teleport to reach it - even if it is outside the normal range limit of the spell. (There is still a chance of failure, but the target is always considered “Very Familiar”).

One of his first targets is Kesi. He will be attracted to her Staff of Chaos (actually a Staff of Law) and will recruit her to find and punish Chaotic beings. Their base of operations is his tower at Dibe (See Voyager #11), which has been restored - complete with statues out front and protective spells throughout.

With Kesi, Kendrick will travel the world several times, seeking out Chaotic Outsiders and destroying them. In the process, Kesi will come to understand that Kendrick is not entirely sane. However, she will not have cause to question him until he meets Bigby (See section III below).

Every once in awhile, Kendrick will use his spell to locate Lawful creatures and recruit them to his cause. By doing so, he has amassed a small fleet of allies - including the buffoon Eirik, Lawgiver, as well as a pair of Advanced Justicators (MM3, p.85). See Section III for more information.

To investigate the theft, Flint casts “Stone Tell”. This is my response:

Stones, naturally, are not very good at discerning subtleties such as race, gender, color of clothing, etc. However, they are very good at sensing things like mass and density - so a patient Druid (given enough time) can infer many of these things (except color).

This particular stone is roughly ten feet in diameter and was stone shaped into (or out of) the floor and walls of the castle around it, so its perceptions extend easily through this room, and to a lesser extent throughout the entire keep.

On the one hand, this is good - it could (theoretically) relate the entire path the thief took. On the other hand, stones aren't good at time - so weeding out the details of “normal” people coming and going is essentially impossible.

However, as the thief is the only person to have climbed onto the surface of this particular stone, it is easy to get details about his person (if not his actions leading up to the theft).

From all of this, you conclude that a solitary, Human male took the magical center stone. He was relatively thin, though seemingly fit. He wore only cloth (no armor - and probably a robe or toga), though he seems to have had with him (best guess: on his back) a large, metal weapon - as well as a bow of some sort.

While much of this is speculation and not very useful, the interesting detail is that after he retrieved the center stone, he spoke briefly (a single word or very short phrase) and teleported away.

It is unclear whether this took place during the day or the night.

Other divination spells will be vague. If Roderick (or someone else) manages to come up with one that makes sense, give him the following:

“The watcher will become the watched”

This refers to the fact that the party need do nothing - and that which they seek (Kendrick) will seek them out.

The party returned from Resh at the end of December. Considering a few days to unwind and regroup, the first phase of the “down time” will commence on January 1st.

Some will travel to the commune, Others will stay in Rota, Pavo will return to Clangdun. Since Kurt is out for this game, it can be assumed that Pavo remains in Clangdun throughout this time.

The others probably have some shopping and/or magic item creation to do. They will have 30 days to do this before the next step of the story commences.

On November 11th (the same day the party met Matchitisiw), Kendrick received a vision in a dream that said, “Through Alchemy to Divination”. He decided that he needed to use an ancient, tribal divination method that relies on rather dangerous hallucinogenic drugs. (See Kakawangwa, the shaman, from Voyager #7).

The visions he saw from using these drugs where remarkable, but incoherent (and were actually sent by Chaos). He was, however, inspired to research (in record time) his ChaosWatch spell.

Kendrick stole the stone on December 22nd. He had his ChaosWatch spell up and running the next day. He then found and recruited Kesi on the 26th. On the first day of the year (significant for Kendrick, apparently), they began battling chaos. Kendrick would cast his ChaosWatch spell (requiring a 6th level slot) and then teleport (5th level slot) with Kesi to the target location. They would then use Kesi's staff to hone in on the target and destroy it. So far, these have been mostly lesser Slaad - which are easily defeated.

The results of Kendrick's spell are visible by anybody in the room - though only Kendrick can sense details about the targets. He learns, for instance, that there are two major targets at Sorgul's commune. One, he suspects, is Sorgul - but he doesn't know who the second is. In any event, he is reluctant to travel to them - since they are likely far too powerful for him and Kesi.

Sorgul is one of the targets, but he registers only lightly as Chaotic. Bigby, on the other hand, with his Chaos Wand, registers as easily the most powerful beacon of Chaos on this world. Kendrick watches that source and is waiting for it to leave the commune so that he and Kesi can ambush it in relative safety.

Kesi will see that there is a powerful target at the commune, but if she asks, Kendrick will explain that it is only Sorgul - whom he considers mostly harmless.

They typically go on one mission per day - so that Kendrick can have his full complement on spells. If a particular target proves too much of a challenge, though, they will flee back to Dibe (via Kendrick's “GemJump” spell) and try again later - perhaps after Calling one or two Inevitables (via the “Call Kolyarut” and “Call Zelekhut” spells).

After roughly a month of this (with a few days off here and there), Kendrick will finally spot Bigby away from the commune - probably in Rota. He will then bring Kesi into conflict with the party. How she reacts to this will determine her involvement with both Kendrick and the party going forward.

Since Kendrick's Teleport spell can only take 4 additional Medium-sized (or 2 Large-sized) creatures (and he has a hard time convincing the Justicators to help him), he usually brings Kesi, Eirik, and Eirik's horse. Eirik will blindly follow Kendrick's lead - but he is not much threat to the party. Kesi, of course, is on her own.

If Eirik is defeated and Kesi refuses to fight, Kendrick will flee back home (using a previously prepared GemJump) to retrieve the Justicators. Additionally, he will cast several of his spells to maximize his effectiveness.

The Justicators are the real threat. They each have 23 Hit Dice (149 hit points) and are Challenge Rating 16.

Once (if?) Kendrick and his Justicators are defeated, he will be able (though unwilling) to tell his tale. Roderick will be able to recognize that he is insane (again) and, if cured, he will become much more cooperative.

Hopefully, I can stretch the above stuff out for the whole evening. If not, then it might be best to toss in some kind of mindless combat, rather than proceed to the next steps in the story. One possibility is to use an Inevitable (Quarut) - who was attracted by Kendrick's battle with Bigby.

However, if need be, here is a sketch of the next story elements:

The party may go down one of two paths: 1) Head to Blanan to talk to the Dwarves or 2) Use Bigby's vials to summon Apenimon, the Janni.

If they choose option #1, they will eventually meet the high priest to Moradin. (This section cannot be easily done without Pavo - and will be difficult even with Pavo). Once befriended, the high priest will tell the party that he recently (on November 11th) received a strange vision in a dream: “Through Alchemy to Divination”. He has been trying to understand it ever since (and has dozens of vials and beakers scattered throughout his laboratory).

This should lead the party to understand that the visions common to Kendrick and the high priest are actually meant for the party - specifically Bigby.

This leads to option #2 - where Bigby must combine the contents (and the vials themselves) that were given to him by the fates during his trial (See Voyager #69). This will summon Apenimon, the Janni who helped the party when they were stranded on the ethereal plane. Later, the gods (specifically the Rivers) sent him to the Elemental Plane of Fire to scout out Shadow's plans. They enchanted his body so that if (when) he was caught and killed, his spirit would return to Godsland and they could learn what he learned. However, Shadow recognized the enchantment and put one of his own so that if (when) Apenimon is reconstituted, he will serve as a beacon to draw Shadow's attention. Mostly, this means that when the vials are combined, Apenimon will have only a few minutes to relay his intelligence before the party will be beset by a seemingly endless stream of Elder Shadow Elementals.

Note: The following section was the first version of a document to detail what I planned to do with the last several sessions of Voyager. See below for the rewritten version of this document. Both versions are included because they cover separate elements of the same story.

Shadow has been using the crystals to keep the party moving along his desired path.

He can shield his activities from the gods for two main reasons:

1. His “affiliation” (such as it was) with The Godslayer
2. His link to Chaos (which is also his weakness)

400 years ago, Einerk was trying to gather the crystals to keep them from falling into the wrong hands – in this case, Qo'acyin. He failed and his homeland was lost because of it.

His expedition into the Underdark was also not successful – though he did steal the drow chain gate that the party now has. And, he gained information about the dark elves which he has passed on to the party. Unfortunately, this information is dangerously out of date…

The chain gate is a two-way gate that links to a fixed location in a Drow enclave. It is activate only when the chain is formed in an exact circle. (This will require a high DC skill roll of some sort or magic. Prestidigitation may be sufficient). Once so formed, anybody who steps into the circle (on either end) will be transported to the other end. The magic is activated when somebody crosses the chain from outside in – thus, if a person is inside the chain when the circle is formed, they will not pop out. Instead, they will have to leave and re-enter to use it. The platform on the other end is dedicated to dozens of these chains, so has been protected from accidental destruction.

400 years ago, the clan that controlled the gate was Erel Hudai¹⁾. While they respected Lolth (as do all Drow), they primarily worshipped an obscure elven moon goddess²⁾. Thus, their religious holidays are linked to observation of the moon (which is mostly a surface world thing).

This led to constant friction with other clans who revered Lolth – primarily Mar'Sevul³⁾. In the end, Erel Hudai were overthrown by Mar'Sevul and had to flee to another location in the Underdark. (This happened – when? Over a century ago, I'm thinking).

The enclave used the Air-Fire crystal to provide “fresh” air and heat. When Erel Hudai fled, though, they took this crystal with them and used it to found a new enclave in a previously unliveable region. Since Mar'Sevul did not required the crystal to survive, they opted to let Erel Hudai keep it. (Especially since attacking the still-powerful Erel Hudai would have required too much risk).

Erel Hudai's new location was under the mountains of the eastern continent – in a place the Duergar had cleared out centuries before. With the crystal providing air and heat, though, the Erel Hudai were able to entrench themselves before the Duergar discovered their existance.

Erel Hudai are the drow responsible for the failed orc invasion of Farflen's forests (the one which Voyager saw when they reached the end of their trek across the continent).

The leader of Erel Hudai is a lich – who is now allied with Shadow. Their goal: To sacrifice the entire Erel Hudai clan (and as many others as possible) and use the released necromantic energy to power the imprisonment pyramids that Shadow has constructed on the Elemental World to keep the Lords in chains.

To this end, there are thousands of slaves in the Erel Hudai enclave – so many, in fact, that they run a serious risk of revolt.

The main Erel Hudai clanmembers do not realize that their leader is a lich. (He hides it primarily through his “god-king” complex – the regular drow do not see him directly)

Session #1 – V goes through chain gate and fights Mar'Sevul

• After a tense battle, they negotiate a truce
• They then learn of Erel Hudai's departure (along with the crystal)

Session #2 – Through the Underdark to the portal that Erel Hudai used

• Something nasty here – Illithid, perhaps?
• (Use the King of Dreams and the 1st age story elements)

Session #3 – Find Erel Hudai

• Big battle with Erel Hudai and tons of slaves
• (What's the mechanism for sealing the cave and killing everyone?)

Session #4 – Through the Shadow gate onto the Elemental World

• Put up the protections and go…
• Battle oodles of Shadow minions

Session #5 – Into the pyramid

• Release a lord – save the worlds.
• Heroic sacrifice?

Note: The following section was a document I wrote to detail what I planned to do with the last several sessions of Voyager. However, as with all such plans, the actual result ended up (in some cases) quite different than the plan.

Shadow manipulating the gods and the party into taking the crystal from the Drow so he can use their deaths as the magical trigger for an imprisonment of the Elemental Lords. Meanwhile, there is a counter-deception from the Lords of Chaos to release the imprisoned Elemental Lords - so that they may distract Shadow and allow Chaos to retake Limbo.

Einerk will then tell them not to use the chain until “the dancer flies across the face of the first full moon of spring”. This is because the Drow will be celebrating a religious holiday and will not be on guard as much as usual.

March 20, 1109 is a full moon - as is April 18. Spring typically starts on the 20th of March, so the party will have to decide whether the “first” full moon is in March or April. Either that, or they wait for the dancer to cross the moon.

[ [ He also told them that the other crystal is with the Dwarves - I believe ] ]

Why do the Drow celebrate a holiday based on astronomical events? They're underground! Answer: They use a scrying device to observe the moon. It provides them with a sense of time and is considered a holy artifact. These Drow worship a lunar goddess - not Lolth. (Other drow tribes have different methods to measure time - and while most “days” are 24 hours, many are not).

Shadow gate: one-way to the Elemental World - will be similar to the one they saw on the prison plane, but the magical signature will be reversed (since it is the “other side” of the gate). Necromantic “river” through the gate?

First problem: How to ensure the party goes after the Dwarven crystal first? While it seems logical, they may decide to go into the Underdark first. If so, they would need to go back to get the Dwarven crystal before they enter the shadow gate - which will be difficult.

• Investigate theft of map stone stolen from Sorgul.
  • Done. (#80)
• Attacked by Kendrick and Kesi
  • Encounter (partial-combat): Kendrick Kendrick is no match for the party - and Kesi will probably not help him
  • Kendrick will relate a prophecy he heard: “Through Alchemy to Divination”
    • Done. (#80)
• Travel to Blanan
  • Encounter (non-combat): The Dwarves of Blanan
    • Negotiate with the Dwarves to obtain the “mud” crystal
    • Meet King and High Priest
    • The dwarven high priest will reveal a divination: “Through Alchemy to Divination”
  • Done. (#81)
• Bigby combines the vials
  • Release Apenimon, the Janni - He is marked by Shadow, so will be located and attacked by within minutes
  • Encounter: Elder Shadow elementals
    • After the fight, Apenimon tells them of Shadow's plans: “Through Spiders to the Moon”
  • Deferred. (#81)
• Through the drow chain
  • Encounter: Mar'Sevul Drow
    • The battle takes place in a sealed gate room with inward-facing arrow slits (Leader uses a Spider Swarm Projected Image - very cool!)
    • Spiderstone Golems!
    • Major Summoned Spider demons - Their defeat will signal the priestess to negotiate a truce.
    • After the battle, learn of Erel Hudai's departure (along with the crystal)
    • High priestess + two (or more) subordinates + numerous soldiers
  • Planned. (#82)
• Through the Underdark to the portal that Erel Hudai used
  • Encounter: Portal Guardians
    • Beholder w/levels + Oozes + Charmed guardians living near the secret portal
  • Planned. (#83 and #84)
• Through portal to Underdark of N'Galt
  • The portal is a Godstone and since it cannot be destroyed, it has been buried on both ends. Once the rubble is cleared on one end, a tiny person will need to go through to clear the other end.
  • Encounter: Erel Hudai and tons of slaves
    • (slaves wear mind control chains - just like the one found on the Ettin). These collars, however, are not encased in leather. The collars make them subordinate to Elm'eny, the lich
  • Discover necromantic “river”
    • (What's the mechanism for sealing the cave and killing everyone?)
    • The caverns which house the slaves have a necromantic enchantment tied to the river which saps the life force of creatures who are near death. Specifically, if a character reaches the “Disabled” state, they take negative energy damage at the rate of 1 hp per round. Once they reach the “Dying” state, they must make a Fort save each round or die. The DC for this save is equal to 20 + the number of hit points they are below the “Dying” threshold.
  • Encounter: Demons/Undead/Fire stuff
    • Include some demons as a kind of segue into the (redacted) story (?)
    • Include lots of undead
    • Volcanic fissures opposing encroaching magical Ice!
    • Salamanders!
    • Elm'eny
  • Find Air/Fire crystal and shadow gate to Elemental Plane of Fire
• Through the Shadow gate into Fire (Put up the protections and go…)
  • Encounter: Oodles of Shadow minions at the base of a prison pyramid
    • Chaos minion (the same one who appeared to Roderick in the desert) It can shape shift at will (free action)
    • outside the city of Dis - huge geyser of shadow gushing from beneath Dis. The sky is shadow and shadow's minions rule the people. But fire is still the predominanty element here.
  • Encounter: Inside the pyramid
    • Shadow avatar + Lord of Fire
    • Release a lord - save the worlds.
    • Heroic sacrifice?

(Previous Session Notes) (To the Voyager #80 page) (Next Session Notes)