Campaign
Summary
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Flamerule 15, 1365 The Year of the Sword.
The story begins in a forested valley on the western border of Cormyr, in the Stormhorn Mountains. A valley that is home to a small farming community of humans and half elves, a family of gnomes, and a halfling. 5 youths recently inducted into the village militia set out on a overnight patrol of their valley.
First is Arik Sojourner a towering young human man, a stonemason and metalsmith just as his father Athan Sojourner the village's master stoneworker, metalsmith.
Second is Calderon Van Bhurgesson, another young human man, son of Edril and Aldira. He has been trained as a Pathfinder, a ranger with exceptional skill at finding the safest routes through almost any terrain.
Third is the Gnome Neblincariusvercatian, known as Neblin to his many friends. He is an imagemaker, a specialist among specialists. Illusions so close to reality that very few can tell the difference. Neblin's mother and father run the only store in the valley that deals with things arcane. And they have quite a library and provide a lot of the education to the youths of the valley.
Fourth is the halfling woman Fia Maria, she is the lone halfling in the valley, and has decided that she will be Neblin's apprentice, even though she is more inclined to be in someone else's pockets, or picking up things from a store shelf without being noticed.
The last is Syndra Trueshot, a sylvan elf maiden. The oldest among the band, but still only a child in the eyes of the elves. She bears a bow and a holy symbol, and serves Solonor as ranger and priestess.
Flamerule 15, 1365 The Year of the Sword
Prelude
He walked through the trees, some new, trunks no thicker than his thumb, and some ancient, with trunks as wide around as a dragon's leg. The day was quiet, and life was abundant. Squirrels danced from tree to tree, chipmunks leapt from nearby branches to speak with him, and get a berry or a nut from his hand. He moved through the woods, inspecting brush, trees, trimming here and there, taking down an old dead tree and praying over it, sending it's spirit back into the soil where it could regrow and reach for the sun once more.
In this way he passed the day, and when he heard the hooting of the owl he would pause, becoming one with the forest, and at times people would pass him by, walking within a few paces, but he would remain unseen, the forest was his home, and he was secure within it's embrace. The sun sank into the sky, and dipped behind the mountains, darkness fell, and with it his day was over.
It was the flames which surprised him most of all, moreso than the smoke. Perhaps a lightning strike he thought, but quickly dismissed that, as there was no storm in the area, and none due for weeks. Perhaps a careless farmer, or hunter. But all these flames, and so quickly. Then he heard the first distant thump, followed by another and another, rhythmic, like a heartbeat, or footsteps. He looked to the sky, and on a nearby branch the owl hooted, enemies, and close.
Closer he went, cautiously now, the flames growing hotter. Laughter, deep booming laughter, and broken trees. Giants he thought, and balled his hands into fists, the tendons in his arms crackling under the pressure, the muscles bulging in anticipation.
When he saw the village, half was already destroyed, there were people running screaming, there was a short fight that did not go well, a man with a rounded belly stood before a door, a pitchfork in his hand. The giant just reached down, and grabbed the man, pitchfork and all in it's great fist and squeezed until the man's back snapped, then tore the roof off of the small house and pulled out a screaming child, which it promptly bit in two, blood running down it's black haired chin.
There were other giants and well, most moving north, and orcs too. The orcs had a group of people surrounded, crossbows armed and aimed, 2 big red giants standing watch. Everyone moved slowly, giants smashed at buildings, but did not go near one of them, it was already burning, wildly burning, a magical shop, judging by the colors of the lights and flames coming from it.
That one they passed by, and still they walked on, smashing, burning and destroying as they went, rounding up prisoners, food really if he knew giants at all. They arrived at the walled home, stone instead of wood, he had seen this once before, and there the fight began in earnest.
Armed men with axes and swords, the giants could not just reach down for them, one tried and drew back a bloody hand, a middle aged man dressed in shiny armor, held a large bloody sword, nearby several dwarves held axes, and a short gnome with wands, magic coming from them.
He watched for only a moment from the treeline and then grabbed up a rock and threw it. The rock punched through the chest of an orc and then rolled to a stop many yards beyond. The orc dropped soundlessly, already dead.
The giants did not notice, the orcs did, and began yelling, a pair of giants turned their attention his way. The man stepped close, and swung a gleaming sword, it bit into a giant's hand and flared with magic, the hand drooped off, with the great black sword still held in it, blood fountained, and the giant fell.
But the other one, and many orcs came. He turned back to the trees and ran, they chased. The orcs arrived at the spot he chose, and he met them, they came quickly but were easily dispatched. He stepped from behind the tree and swung his fist, the orc's chest imploded under the force, sending the body crashing into the one behind it. He grabbed another orc by the shoulder and swung it around like a doll, smashing another orc down with the body. Then he bent the orc backwards, it's spine snapping. The other orcs turned to run, but could not go anywhere because the grass and trees grabbed at them.
Then the giant arrived, it grabbed him easily, because he was distracted by the orcs. It raised him up, and laughed. But the laugh turned to pain when he grabbed the giants thumb and bent it back, and broke it. The giant was in shock, and threw him down and tried to step on him. But he drew back his fist again, and smashed it into the giant's shin, shattering it. He tried to stand but his leg was hurt and he could not, it did not matter, the giant was on the ground now.
The giant's own leg would not support it, and it fell, he was on it in a heartbeat, not wasting any time he went right for the temple, and smashed blow after blow into the giant's forehead, dazing the giant with the force behind each blow, enough to crack stone, easily enough to crack bone. The giant's forehead opened, it's brains flowing, and it was soon dead.
He picked up the giants sword and swung it at the orcs, cleaving them in two with a few strokes of the blade. He turned to move back to the stone house, but the flames were still spreading.
He prayed but could not summon the magic, and so he took from his belt pouch a scroll, one wrapped in ivy. Carefully he unwrapped it, and unrolled it. He looked at the words, unsure, but the crackling of the flames helped him concentrate, and so he began to read.
The magic came alive in the sky, the winds began to bend to his will, and he sent them towards the village, clouds growing dark. But the magic was too strong, and the winds too fierce, and they blew the flames ahead of them, causing a wildfire. The rain would come, he knew it, but what if they did not come soon enough.
Flamerule 16, 1365 The Year of the Sword.
The first night of the patrol went quietly, but when the band awoke it was to reddish light, not the dawning sun. A fire in the valley.. They run back towards the village and make it to within 2 miles before the flames prevent them from getting any closer. They try the river and get closer, maybe within half a mile, but the flames now cover both sides of the river, as the trees and brush are being consumed in a growing firestorm. Powerful winds have swept through the valley in the past hour, and they push the fire onward. The group has to retreat, but Arik decides to go on alone to the village. Arik is nearly killed by the fire, but finds a cave to seek refuge in. What he finds in the cave is a black skinned baby, the size of a ogre. A baby fire giant.. Arik attacks right away, cutting the baby who lashes out in fear knocking Arik unconscious. The rest of the band takes a safer path and seeks high ground. They climb to Jerol's Eye, a peak on the eastern side of the valley. From there they watch as a thunderstorm appears in the skies over the valley, it unleashes a deluge of rain that lasts for several minutes, and then fades away leaving clear skies and a valley that has been decimated by the fires. But now all the fires are out. They pick up Arik's trail, and find him being held like a rag doll by the giant baby. The baby is dressed in a filthy rag for a diaper, and looks like it has not been fed well, not taken care of very well. Neblin's illusions keep the baby giant in line, illusions of water and ice allow the band to direct the giant away from Arik. Syndra heals him and he wakes up with some painful bruises. The band does not know what to make of the baby, but they do know that they won't just kill it outright. So once more they split. Arik and Syndra head for the village, and Fia, Neblin and Calderon once more seek high ground, this time they have the baby in tow, directed as needed by Neblin's illusionary fingers of ice.
Arik and Syndra find the village empty, signs of battle everywhere. They track everything back to the Sojourner estate where a large battle against at least 7 giants took place. The villager's lost and were marched out of the valley sometime last night. There is a lot of blood, and tracks of orcs as well. They search the rest of the village, and find that the magic shop is on fire, some spectacular flames shoot skyward.. They think the fire is an illusion but try as they might they cannot convince themselves. They search the village for survivors and their search takes them to the Woolden farm where they find that all of the burned trees there have been uprooted and laid out in the field, and an entire section of the field looks like it has been decaying for months. They look closer and find that the area is a square 500' on a side. There has definately been some strong magic at work.
Neblin, Fia and Calderon make it back to Jerol's Eye and look out over the valley. They see nothing but burned trees and the smoke of still smoldering fires. No sign of enemies, or villagers, no sign of any survivors of the fire. Calderon has seen tracks leading east into the pass. They decide to follow them and soon find a pair of dwarven tracks leading into a small cave.
Fia enters the cave and was soon confronted by an armored dwarf. Dumar of the Stormhorn dwarves. Dumar proved to be a friendly sort, even if he was not going to allow entry any farther into the cave. Arik and Syndra left the village and headed into the pass to meet their friends, and soon all were together with Dumar at the entrance to the cave.
After telling their tale and showing Dumar the tracks, Dumar agrees to help with the killing of the giants, but night is falling, and the giant baby is hungry and crying. Fia takes over as the baby's mother, trying her best to comfort it, the baby giant seems to like her, and it is the first time in it's miserable life that anyone has been nice to it. Fia cleans the baby as best as she can and makes it a new diaper out of some cloaks.
Night falls and finds the group settled into a cave a few hundred feet above the main pass. Syndra scouts farther east and find that the giants have stopped at an abandoned military fort built into the side of the pass. She watches for a while, listening to the giants hurl rocks at the walls of the pass before she heads back.
Flamerule 17, 1365 The Year of the Sword.
Syndra makes it back a little past midnight, and just ahead of a pack of wolves. Together with Calderon the rangers are able to force the wolves to back off without a fight. The rest of the night is quiet and with morning comes the need to plan their next step. After some discussion they decide that Syndra and Calderon will go and scout the giants again in the light of day, while Neblin, Fia and Arik take the baby now named Tinker back to the village to see if they can find anything to aid them.
Calderon and Syndra make it back undetected and watch the fort. They see several human figures, but from their vantage point they cannot make out who they might be. After a few minutes of watching they see a group of 6 armed and armored orcs leave the fort and head west into the pass going back towards the village.
Neblin, Fia and Arik get back to the village and find it unchanged. The illusionary fire still burns as spectacularly as it did the day before. Neblin recognizes his father's work and sees that the store is really intact, and inside he and the others find almost all of the children of the village. All safe, but scared.. and being watched by Veidra Woolden, childhood sweetheart of Calderon. From her they get the story of what happened, fire giants and orcs attacked, and took everyone prisoner, and marched them away.
Calderon and Syndra ambush the orcs and kill 5 of them and take one prisoner. Calderon nearly dies in the battle, but Syndra's magic saves him a moment before he bleeds to death.
Neblin searches through the store and finds several potions and scrolls that his father had been working on and he takes all of them.
Syndra questions the orc prisoner, and finds that the orc is very willing to give up information on the giants. He identifies the leader of the firegiants as Smashfist, and says that he is only working for him because if he does not then Smashfist will smash him.
Arik Sojourner leaves Neblin and Fia to explore the shop and he heads out to find Calderon and Syndra. A few hours later all three return to the shop, Calderon is being carried in the back of a cart, he is still unconscious. With no more magical healing available everyone moves to the Sojourner estate. The fire giant baby is taken to the back yard, and the children and Calderon are taken inside the house. Food is prepared, the children are bathed and the night passes quietly except for something very odd which happens early in the morning.
Flamerule 18, 1365 The Year of the Sword.
Around 2:00 am Fia and Syndra hear the sounds of trees being felled and they go to investigate. On the way they spot an owl perched on a tree limb, it is eating a small rodent and watching them, it hoots as they, pass. When they arrive at the site where the sounds came from they find 6 newly fallen trees neatly lined up they do not see anything, no tracks, no sign of any creature being there. They wait and watch for a while but nothing happens and so they return home.
The sun rises over a ruined valley, most of the smoke from fires is gone now, the smell of burned wood hangs heavy in the air. Syndra heals Calderon's wounds and he wakes from his sleep. Calderon is stunned and very happy to find Veidra alive and well, he hugs her for a long time.
After some breakfast, Arik stays to watch the kids and look through his own house for anything useful that the giants and orcs did not take. Syndra, Veidra, Neblin, Calderon and Fia take their orc prisoner and make thie rway to the place Syndra and Fia found. When they arrive they find that the trees which had been stacked up the night before are in an advanced state of decay, and that there is new grass and shrubs growing, and a couple of young year old sapplings. Try as they might they cannot find any tracks.
Calderon takes this to be a sign the Meilikki is present and he prays for a short time, and then binds the wounds of the orc. He also makes it very clear that the orc is a prisoner and that he has no problem killing it if it does anything wrong. The orc identifies himself as Throatcutter and seems to think that Calderon and Syndra killed all the other orcs and left him alive because he was the strongest and best of the orcs. He is just sure that they are all going to be friends now that they picked him to be with them.
Syndra is outraged that Calderon would heal the orc. The group discusses plans and finally decides to ask the dwarves if they know of a underground path to the outpost. But along with that plan comes the problem of an orc prisoner and a giant baby. Neither of which can be left alone, and neither would be good to have in any tunnels, and the baby would probably not even fit. While all of these plans are being discussed the dwarves are already rallying a warband to come and aid in the desctruction of the giants.
In the Depths Dumar and Dagon are discussing the plans with the dwarven elders and hear the tale of the red dragon Firestrike again. The dragon that raided the dwarves home centuries ago and stole everything that the dwarves valued. The dwarves also reveal a secret way into the fortress that they helped build for the previous king of Cormyr.
A portal made in Myth Drannor is used by a band of heroes to escape from a massive and deadly demon, three of the band escape and are scattered across the realms. Pandora ends up in a tub of bath water upstairs in Arik's home where Viedra is bathing the children. She is quickly introduced to the group and decides that she will join them. She also hopes to find anyone else of her former band that might have escaped.
Later in the afternoon the dwarven warband makes it to the surface and hear fighting. They investigate and find a lone rider being tormented by two giants from the safety of the fortress. The giants have killed the man's horse and have him pinned behind some boulders. The giants are hurling rocks at the man, and he is bleeding from several cuts already. The man manages to get away from the giants who are not interested in coming after him.
Just before sunset the group from the valley meets up with the dwarven warband and the human who is a paladin of Tyr named Trystan. There are 14 in the dwarven war band, and all prepare for the assault on the firegiants. The group splits into two groups, Neblin, Fia, Calderon, and Syndra along with Tinker and Throatcutter head for the front entrance of the fortress. Arik, Pandora and Trystan accompany the dwarven war band and head for the secret tunnels.
The dwarves have a long walk through some twisting tunnels, but by morning they are in position. And a little wealthier for their efforts. Several skeletons were destroyed, and a pair of drow crafted longsword of superb crafstmanship were found, one taken by Trystan and one by Pandora. The blades are unlike anything either of them have ever seen. The other half of the assault has been in place all night, watching and waiting.
Flamerule 19, 1365 The Year of the Sword.
Morning brings some clouds to the area, and a chill in the morning air. Everyone eats a quick bite of food and soon everything is set in motion. Inside the mountain the dwarves open a very old door that has not been opened since it was installed. The dwarves enter the fortress and launch their assault on orcs and hellhounds. The warband is successful and liberates many of the prisoners, but not without cost. Many in the warband are injured, and scorched from the flaming breath of the hell hounds.
Outside Neblin uses his illusions to create several elves with bows, this gets the attention of the giants and orcs within the walls of the fortress. The sight of elves makes Smashfist very angry and he orders the orcs to attack, and ignores their efforts to tell him that the elves don't look right. Smashfist sends one of his younger warriors out to kill the elves, not willing to take the risk himself. He sends six of the irritating orcs as well, hoping they will be killed in some painful manner.
Once the orcs and giant are outside the range of Smashfist and the keep, Throatcutter gets the orcs to switch sides, and they all lead the giant on a chase, farther away from the keep. Where the giant is killed in a battle nearly takes the life of the gnome Neblin. But all survive, and Throatcutter proves that his name is well earned when he gts a sword lodged into the neck of the giant, severing a major artery and ending the giant's life.
Below the keep the hellhounds and orcs are all slain, and the villagers freed. The villagers are shown the passage into the caves and begin the lon slow trek back to safety, led by one of the dwarven warband. The paladin Trystan takes charge of the warriors and leads an assault up the stairs to the main level of the keep. A furious battle takes place at the top of the stairwell, another giant is slain and the last of the villagers rescued. Everyone flees through the underground passage and makes it to the safety of the dwarven caves where the entire village is given cloth and food, and many injuries are tended by dwarven priests of Dumathoin.
Flamerule 20, 1365 The Year of the Sword.
After rest and food the group, along with a couple of dozen of the men from the village, and two armed warbands head back to the keep. They find it abandoned. Syndra and Calderon find tracks leading away from the keep and the valley. Smashfist left during the night.
There are many discussions about what to do next. All of the surviving orcs are put on trial, all but Throatcutter and another are executed for the things they did to the villagers, all but Throatcutter reek of evil. The two orcs left alive are given over to Calderon to deal with. Syndra returns home to the elves and seeks aid and information there. The women of the village also agree with Fia that the baby giant should be kept alive and raised. The women cannot abide killing an innocent baby, even if it came from evil parents.
Flamerule 24, 1365 The Year of the Sword.
The next several days are spent with villagers going over their ruined homes, finding and salvaging what they can. Syndra works among the elves and dwarves and men to arrange a group council, and the idea holds much weight among all groups. The elves arrive in two days, but the dwarves take 4 days to decide to meet with the elves.
In the valley there is a crisis when Fia is found to be wearing a magical ring bearing the symbol of the god of lies Cyric. There are many tense moments, but the ring is finally destroyed with the help of some of the villagers and their magic. The combined races council agrees on many things. The dwarves and elves will help to rebuild the village, and they will all share in manning the fortress and keeping a vigilant watch all around the mountain valley. In return for this help the dwarves and elves are each promised a 1/3 of Firestalker's hoard should it be found, and the dwarves are also assured that their mithril ora will be returned to them. A small price the humans think. To give up 2/3 of something that they never had, in return for 2 allies and protection from another attack like they just went through.
The group is given gold and jewels, all that the villagers found among the ruins of their homes. They are given the task of travelling into Cormyr and seeking aid and supplies, purchasing tools to rebuild with.
Flamerule 26, 1365 The Year of the Sword.
Two days gets the group out of the mountain pass and into the lowlands of Cormyr. They arrive at a small outpost manned by the military of Cormyr. Trystan meets with the commander of the outpost, and after using his authority to get the outpost in order, the group spends the night there, and also gets reports on the giants that were seen fleeing northest.
Flamerule 28, 1365 The Year of the Sword.
After a day of travel under clear skies, a storm brews overhead through the night, and in ther morning fog, cool air and rain reduce visibility to little more than a few hundred feet. The band passes near an area known as the Haunted Halls, and lighting is seen striking the ground over and over. Their best guess is that the lighting is striking in the same place. With tense nerves, and the animals feeling uneasy the band skirts the area and continues on towards Eveningstar. By nightfall they have arrived at the city. Syndra and Calderon remain outside of the city and find themselves a suitable place to camp.
Flamerule 29, 1365 The Year of the Sword.
Just after mid of night a rider passes the place where Syndra and Calderon are camped, the rider does not slow at all, and continues his rapid ride towards Eveningstar. Syndra saw that he was an elf, and that his sword scabbard was empty, and his quiver empty of arrows.
Inside
I am slowly filling in the gap between the beginning of the game and here.
Eleasias 27, 1365
Neblin's father has been rescued and is on the way home, his wife at his side. They are being flown and protected by Fia. The band has defeated a paladin of Bane and his wizard companion, and has recovered some information critical to the war against Cormyr. They are now in the safe haven of Shadowdale, and are preparing the way home to Cormyr.
In Tilverton the city has captured and questioned those who hunt Riane, and a messenger travels north even now, seeking Trystan with answers for Riane.