Vorthyn: A D&D Campaign based on AR

A few weeks ago, someone was asking about running a d&d campaign based on AR. I've decided to share more information about a campaign I currently run for 6 players using the 5th edition d&d rules. If this doesn't interest you, feel free to disregard my posts. I'm not fishing for suggestions or feedback, but both are welcome if you have something to contribute. Feel free to engage in this thread however you like.

You'll notice some familiar names and places throughout the campaign, but this was definitely not an attempt to put a d&d campaign in the middle of AR as you know it. Nearly all of the campaign ideas are of my own design, with the occasional adventure hook borrowed from my favorite experiences playing d&d over the last 25 years or so, and, of course, my experiences here.

The players all began in a small section of the world whose name has been forgotten. A few tiny villages lie scattered several days' travel apart, and all several days from the larger town of Treldmor. Travel between these villages is extremely rare due to the danger of monster attacks. Even bandits are non-existent with very few targets and the high risk of falling victim to roaming monsters. The forests have nearly all been cut down, and annual harvests have yielded less and less. The world is a bleak place. The people, who either believe the gods never existed or have long since abandoned them, have nowhere to turn. Many are in denial of the dire straits of their situation.

This campaign has been running over a year now, but we only play about once a month. I'm going to post stuff periodically rather than dump a year's worth of adventuring all at once. To start, here's how the campaign differs from standard 5e rules. Reference to phb indicates the information can be found on that page in the 5th edition Player's Handbook. References to vcg indicates the information is found in the Vorthyn Campaign Guide, a booklet I created for my players. The ranger class was overhauled to remove all of their magic, which was replaced with other ranger-like abilities. I really hate that a 5e ranger is designed to walk up to an animal and cast 'charm animal'. Fuck that. It's a ranger, he oughtta be able to empathize with animals, not charm them magic. Clerics and Paladins are playable, but require some collaboration with the DM since religions have been lost/forgotten/abandoned by the world's population. Anything not listed is unavailable.

Playable races[list]| Race| Source |
|:----:|:-------------|
| Dwarf | phb 18 |
| Elf | phb 21 |
|Halfling| phb 26|
|Human| phb 29|
|Gnome|phb 35|
|Half-Elf|phb 38|
|Half-Orc|phb 40|
|Orc|vcg 2|
|Slith|vcg 3|[/list:u]* Subraces from the *Players Handbook*, *Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide*, and *Vorthyn Campaign Guide* are available.


Playable classes[list]| Class| Source |
|:----:|:------------|
| Barbarian | phb 46 |
| Bard | phb 51 |
| Cleric | phb 56 |
| Druid | phb 64|
| Fighter |phb 70|
| Monk |phb 76|
| Paladin |phb 82|
| Ranger |vcg 4|
| Rogue |phb 94|
| Sorcerer |phb 99|
| Warlock |phb 105|
| Wizard |phb 112|[/list:u]* Level 3 class archetypes/specializations are available from the *Players Handbook*, *Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide*, and *Vorthyn Campaign Guide*. Selections that rely on the existence of a **specific** organization may be unavilable. Check with the DM.

We have 6 main characters. Here's some background on Tyrgault, a dwarf cleric:

Tyrgault the dwarf is an orphan who never knew his parents. He was adopted by the Constable of the small village of Willowdale at a young age and has considered himself "the deputy of Willowdale," even before his beard began to grow. As Tyrgault became a young man, Constable Kadlum had no problem allowing the eager (and somewhat naive) Tyrgault to do most of his work for him. Since few villagers had coins to trade, they often exchanged goods and services without a thought to cost. As such, Tyrgault received no stipend for his work aside from room and board at the Boar's Head Tavern. Tyrgault took his role as deputy contable quite seriously during the day, but often drank himself into a stupor in the evenings, sleeping off just as many drunken nights on the tavern floor as he did in his room. 



After one such night of drinking and brawling, Tyrgault had a vision while he lay under a broken table. In this vision he spoke with a gruff-looking dwarf named Odoacer, who claimed to be an ancient god of the land. Odoacer claimed to see potential in Tyrgault's dedication to both the Law and the bottle, and told Tyrgault that he would be instrumental in restoring the forgotten gods to prominence. The next morning, Tyrgault awoke feeling refreshed, even with splinters of the collapsed table atop him digging bloody gouges into his chest. To his surprise, Tyrgault was able to close his wounds with a thought.



Tyrgault was eager to share the story of Odoacer with anyone who would listen, which turned out to be noone. Tyrgault was ridiculed for talking of gods, as everyone knew there were no gods, and if there were, they had long since died or abandoned these realms. When travelers, extremely rare in Willowdale, arrived with rumours of giant snakes kidnapping children in a nearby village, Tyrgault decided it was time to leave Willowdale and search for more clues about Odoacer elsewhere.

Character 2/6, Wilzeeus the slith fighter:

Wilzeeus, like most slith, was born in the blood swamp. He managed to survive the dangerous environment for several years, and became curious about the occasional spice merchant who ventured to the edge of the swamp to gather blood poppies to sell back in Irynhold. Wilzeeus decided to gather poppies for himself and follow one such merchant back to Irynhold. He soon learned that the civilized people of the land did not mind slith, provided that he traded fairly with them. Obsessed with these curious people, their shiny gold currency, and their strange language, he quickly learned the common tongue and set out for Treldmor in the east, where he heard that the blood poppies were even more valuable. It was here that he met Vinnie.



Vinnie was the proprietor of a small pawn shop in a seedy part of town. Wilzeeus soon discovered that Vinnie kept a secret board containing contracted individuals. It was said that Vinnie represented an underground guild known as "The Syndicate," and that killing any of the men on Vinnie's board yielded substantial rewards: rewards far greater than what he could earn selling his blood poppies. Under the guise of a merchant, Wilzeeus set out to claim the newest and most valuable bounty on Vinnie's board, an elf known as Val'orian.  Tavern rumours allege Val'orian was seen fleeing Treldmor in the direction of Willowdale. 

Pretty sweet Olyn! Bet you are a pretty fun DM.

If there was ever an idea of organizing a pathfinder campaign on the paizo forum I'd definitely be down (never played D&D though).

He is certainly a fun DM. I miss playing D&D with you Olyn. Man, that was a long time ago...

Character 3/6. Val'orian the elf rogue:

Val'orian the elf is a master of disguises. While growing up on the streets of Treldmor, he found that he was able to blend in with the higher societies and presented himself accordingly. He became fond of the lavish lifestyle and preferred it over alleys and abandoned houses. To earn coin for himself, Val'orian did odd jobs for an underground organization known only as "The Syndicate." 



Val'orian was quite good at the tasks The Syndicate set him to, and he enjoyed the challenge as well as the gold involved in the work. Shortly after the completion of a particularly complicated heist, Val'orian was approached by a man claiming to have high standing in The Syndicate. Val'orian was being considered for a significant promotion within the organization and should seek out a man named Vinnie for a specific task to prove his mettle. 



He found Vinnie in a rundown pawn shop. Vinnie informed him that he was to find and kill an elf named Dorian for stealing an irreplaceable suit of magical armor from one of Treldmor's most influential nobles. Val'orian searched for Dorian and learned two things from credible sources: Dorian was no longer in Treldmor and, more importantly, Dorian never stole the armor in the first place. As a man of conscience, Val'orian returned to Vinnie to tell him that Dorian was innocent of the offense. To his dismay, he found that Vinnie's understanding was a ruse. Assassins began to hunt him for refusing to complete his appointed task. Assuming a new identity, Val'orian set out westward from Treldmor towards the village of Willowdale, eager to leave danger behind him and to find and warn Dorian of The Syndicate's malicious intent. 

Character 4/6. Wizzleteaks the gnome wizard:

Wizzleteaks the Magnificent was the most curious gnome in a small band of curious gnomes who lived deep underground. This particular band of curious deep gnomes spent their time traversing the maze of tunnels deep underground with a near-permanent sense of wonder. Wizzleteaks loved the strange and was obsessed with making things even stranger. It was this passion that led him to study the art of illusion.



Wizzleteaks was a prankster who loved collecting shiny things and using shiny things to trick his friends. After one especially cruel trick, where he fooled his companions into eating cakes made of polished ankheg dung. His companions, tired of his annoying tricks, beat Wizzleteaks into unconsciousness and left him behind.



Wizzleteaks awoke to the terrible sight of a drow standing over him. Too injured to run, and having none of his illusions prepared to use, he braced himself for pain. To his surprise, the drow carried an infant in her arms, rocking it gently. With new and wonderfully strange companions, Wizzleteaks continued his journey and found the most curious thing he'd ever seen...the sun.

This is awesome.

Character 5/6. Irri the drow ranger:

Irri was born the first daughter of a prominent drow family. She was a quick study with the whip, the bow, and the blade, as well as the Game of Houses that served as the primary source of drama and power shifts between families. Not only was she successful, but she often quietly found ways to best her family's rivals without bloodshed. Her mother, the Matron of the House, was proud of Irri and was certain her family would continue to thrive and gain in power if tragedy befell her. That is until the day her sixth child was born. 



The child was a boy and a disappointment. As is the custom, a family discards any male offspring after the first two, as they are not needed. Irri was chosen over her two younger sisters to perform the sacrifice and bring good fortune to the House. It was to be the first sacrifice of the generation; one to make their rivals jealous. Irri was charged with keeping vigil over the boy until the morning, when she would slice open his neck and let the lifeblood flow from him. 



Irri was appalled at the thought, especially after spending several hours with the boy. She made her decision. She took only a few possessions and fled with the child in the night. Eager to outrun the assured pursuit, she did not sleep until the 3rd night on the run. The very next day, she came across an unconscious deep gnome, apparently beaten and left for dead. Irri cautiously gave the deep gnome, known as Wizzleteaks, her only potion of healing and helped him to his feet. Together, they set out for the surface.



The sun was blindingly bright. Having never seen it, Irri was filled with terror and wonder at that first sight of it. She and her companions kept concealed in the small rock crevice until it lowered in the sky and night fell. The stars, visible and shining through the forested treetops, were of equal wonder as the mighty sun and wrought with danger. That first night on the surface, Irri and Wizzleteaks were attacked. A single twig snapped to Irri's left, but she had no time to react before being struck on the head by unknown assailants. When she and Wizzleteaks woke, the infant was gone. Irri tracked the attackers to the edge of the forest, but the trail appeared to vanish, even to her excellent eyes. Her only clue was a scrap of cloth with a strange rune-like marking on it. She would find her brother and have her revenge.

Character 6/6. Ra'kek the half-orc barbarian:

Ra'kek the half-orc was a soldier once. He was quite adept at killing, but less capable of following orders. After an evening of drinking and carousing, Ra'kek's commander ordered him to clean out the camp's latrine. Ra'kek thought a better use of his time would be to throw his commander down amongst the shit. He fled to the city of Treldmor where he fell in with one mercenary company after another, each just as short-lived as the last, and each with a similar falling out. Finally, he decided he'd find his own work. He learned of a rundown pawn shop where a man named Vinnie gave gold for bringing back the right head. It seemed like reasonable work. After two easy jobs, he set off looking for the highest reward Vinnie had to offer: an elf named Dorian. His hunt took him out of Treldmor and to a village called Willowdale. 

half-orc? Does he have a snaggle tooth?

if you think that's bad you should see the other half

The adventure starts in the village of Willowdale. The world is deteriorating into ruin. Crops are dying, water is becoming short, and the forests are all but destroyed. Travel is so dangerous that it has become rare, causing trade to grind to a halt. Little is known about the world beyond the extremely local. Memories of the gods are practically non-existent. The populace believes the gods have abandoned them or never existed. Even the ragtag group of adventurers convening in Willowdale (seemingly by chance) knows little of the world beyond their doorstep.



(The above image is just part of the world map I created with Campaign Cartographer. I reveal new areas to the party as they find them, fog of war style).

God I haven't played DnD in forever. That's an awesome campaign so far Olyn

This is what I'm talking about. D&D campaigns! Thank you for expanding on my question. DMing has been so much fun. I'm definitely stealing more from AR in my next session. And would see a Roll20 or Fantasy Grounds session with AR players happen. Who wants to DM?

Also more maps! I love me some cartography

I totally forgot I was going to update everyone here on some of the happenings. I'll try to get back to it now that my old gaming group found time to play a bit using a virtual tabletop during quarantine. Not exactly Matt Mercer stuff here, but I think some of you will appreciate the aspects of AR that creep up in the world as it unfolds. For what it's worth, none of the players are familiar with AR, so they have no inherent knowledge of names, places, etc. You'll also see that I didn't just try to drop a D&D group into the middle of AR. Anyway, a summary:

S01E01: Snakes on a Plain Part 1

All roads lead to Willowdale. The party of Tyrgault, Irri, Whizzleteeks, Val'orian, Ra'kek, and Wil-zeus met by coincidence in the small village of Willowdale. They set out for the village of Lundy to investigate rumors of strange happenings. On the way to the village, the party saw a flash of blue light atop an old lighthouse far to the south. 



A visit to the lighthouse revealed signs of recent visitors, but they seem to have disappeared. On the top floor of the lighthouse, the party found a strange and ancient circle of six-sided stones. Just below the circle were two additional stones, one marked with a flail and the other marked with a skull. On the other side of the circle were two empty imprints in the same shape as the stones.



After thoroughly searching the rest of the lighthouse in vain, the party continued to Lundy. The backwoods villagers were overwhelming slow, dumb, and apparently brainwashed into worshiping a "Snake God." The majority of the party were taken prisoner in the inn by members of the snake cult, but were eventually rescued by Val'orian. A skirmish in the inn's basement led to the inn catching fire and the party on the brink of being burned alive. A mysterious elf calling himself Dorian burst into the inn and aided the party's escape to the mayor's house. The party was able to sleep the night in safety and make a plan to assault the lair of the Snake Cultists.

S01E02: Snakes on a Plain Part 2

The next day, the party awoke to find the mayor's house surrounded by Snake Cultists. Dorian and his elven companion Elwyn offered to distract the cultists while the party snuck away to the cultists' temple. As they snuck away, the party saw Dorian draw a sword of pure flame and Elwyn hurl a fireball. The party stormed the temple and defeated many snake cultists, but found no leader.



As they exited the temple, the party was greeted once more by Dorian and Elwyn, who seemed uninjured from the prior events. They told the party they learned the source of the snake cultists was located at the edge of the Blood Swamp to the west of the village. The party found the lair entrance, fought through many damp caverns, and found the source of the cultists to be a naga. The party barely defeated the thing, but it did not truly die. Instead, it cursed the party to suffer at the hand of someone named Rodyn and fled.



The party returned to Lundy to find the curse broken, but the villagers not much smarter than before. Dorian and Elwyn had disappeared as well. The village was apparently saved, but a magic sword found in the naga's lair had caused Wil-zeus to become thirsty for blood and seeking to attack anyone he could find. The party subdued him and pried the blade away until its hold on him was broken. Not wanting to take the sword with them, the party hid it under the bed of a nice old lady on the north side of town and set out for the town of Treldmor to find some answers.

Whizzleteaks! :lol:

That's awesome! I'm wanting to make the crossover to virtual tabletop for my players as well. Seems much more time manageable, since we each live an hour away or so from one another. Do you use Roll20?

I'm hanging on your every word. I've already imagined a scenario where that nice old lady finds the sword and becomes a blood-crazed maniac!

Thanks for the updates, I had totally forgotten about this. Every time I see an AR reference I get a tingle.

Our current setup is:

1) roll20 virtual tabletop
2) dndbeyond for character sheets and most dice rolling
3) discord for voice chat and screen sharing dice rolls (we mostly stick with the honor system on the dice rolls)

Roll20 is more robust than what we're using it for, but we have a couple of players who are new to the game, rules, etc. and the clickable rolls on dndbeyond give them a MUCH cleaner experience so they can focus on their character RP without getting hung up on dice rolling syntax or math.

Our dndbeyond setup consists of one person with some type of higher tier master subscription and the rest of us have free accounts. That person does all of our content purchasing on beyond and keeps track of the cost. We all split the cost of the subscription and all the purchased content once a year. Dndbeyond lets you share your purchased content with other people signed into the same campaign as you so one purchase lets us all use it.

One player had an audio issue with roll20 on our first session so we switched to discord for this. It actually works out for us so someone can join in via discord on their phone while they drive home etc and stll be part of the fun until they get computer access.

S01E03: Mr. Tyrgault goes to Treldmor or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Birdman

Upon reaching Treldmor, the party found themselves in the middle of a political mess. A city councilman had been murdered and the young, ambitious noblewoman known as the Red Fox, who was poised to take his place, was the chief suspect. After some sleuthing (and incidental murder of the Red Fox's personal assistant affectionately known as "the Birdman"), the party uncovered the murder plot was orchestrated by none other than the victim's best friend Dorgan in an attempt to frame the Red Fox and steal the upcoming election.



Tyrgault, who sat in prison for the murder of the Birdman as the final election events unfolded, was released when the Birdman mysteriously turned up alongside the Red Fox at an election rally. Meanwhile, Dorgan stood public trial for his crime. He claimed that he was forced to commit the murder by an unassuming local shop owner named Vinnie, who he claimed represented a powerful organized crime operation known as The Syndicate. Upon this revelation, and before the conclusion of the trial, Dorgan was suddenly assassinated when an arrow pierced his heart. The identity of the assassin is yet unknown, but witnesses reported seeing a man wearing a colorful knit sweater and carrying a longbow skulking across nearby rooftops just before the incident.



The party decided to investigate Vinnie's shop and found the small pawn shop was mostly abandoned. The place contained naught but rubbish, except for the large, six-sided stone upon which was engraved a tentacle. The stone looked very much like the ones in the lighthouse and the party decided to take it with them. 



Afterwards, the Red Fox won the election in a landslide and announced one of her famous and notoriously exclusive parties to celebrate the victory. She invited the party members as thanks for clearing her name.

S01E04: The Masquerade of the Red Death

To celebrate her city council election win, the Red Fox threw one of her famous parties. The party was invited as thanks for their help in uncovering the murder plot and framing attempt. Upon arrival, the party members were magically transformed into their costumes so completely that they could not tell one another apart or identify any of the other guests by sound or sight.



The party itself was very odd and had strange entertainment and each room was painted a different color. Everyone seemed to avoid the black room entirely. When the clock struck midnight, guests began to get ill and fled the party. An investigation of the black room revealed a powerful presence. When the party fled, Wil-zeus was held in place by a powerful force beyond his comprehension. The being announced he had been "restored" and that a plague had been released on the entire land and many people will suffer and die. Wil-zeus was given a choice: he, and the rest of his party, would be spared from the effects of the plague if he agreed to be the servant of this mighty being. Wil-zeus agreed and found that his rusted breastplate was transformed into jet black plate mail forged by magic. He returned to the party, who was now taking shelter at a local inn, and kept silent about the one he would come to know as Rodyn.



Meanwhile, the bodies piled higher and higher in the streets of Treldmor until the party wondered if any might still be alive. They remained in place for three days before Wil-zeus informed them of Rodyn's word that they would not suffer the effects of this plague. The party decided to venture to the keep at Irynhold to put distance between themselves and the plague at Treldmor, and to investigate a rumor they had previously heard of ogres leaving the mountains of the Broken Spine in numbers.

S01E05: Tolmary was a Little Lamb

Three days into the journey to Irynhold, a sheep charged at the party. Whizzleteaks, never before seeing such a wonderful creature, tried to stop it to give it a hug. The sheep came to a halt and lifted its head into the air and allowed the awkward hug from the deep gnome. At this time, the party noticed the scroll in the sheep's mouth. As Whizzleteaks read the odd words, he discovered that he could now understand the sheep's speech!



According to the sheep, he was a wizard named Tolmary who had been practicing his craft in the nearby woods for the last few decades. During the last year, he had taken on a gifted apprentice. At first, the apprentice was a great help to the wizard's research, but over the last few weeks be had become increasingly rude. That very morning, Tolmary caught his apprentice attempting to still his yet unfinished wand of true polymorph. In the ensuing struggle, the wand caused Tolmary to turn into a sheep. He grabbed a 'speak with animals' scroll from the desk on his way out, fled the tree fort, and eventually ran into the party. Whizzleteaks was eager to help the majestic creature and convinced the wary party to join him.



The party located the tree fort and battled all sorts of horrific and mutated creatures, likely the result of the unfinished wand of true polymorph being used on various woodland creatures. The party then engaged the deranged apprentice and backed him into a corner in his bedroom. While grappling for the wand, the thing exploded in a cloud of smoke, but not before causing the wizard's massive four post bed to form wings and come alive! During the battle against the Great Bed Dragon, the apprentice managed to slip away and the sheep/Tolmary was slain.



Since its previous occupants were gone, the party decided the tree fort would be their new base of operations. They performed some minor repairs to the sections that were damaged in the battle and decided they would stop back at Willowdale to check for signs of the apprentice and to see if the plague had spread out of Treldmor before continuing on to Irynhold. It was at this time that the party realized they had never learned the name of the young and demented wizard's apprentice. Who could he be?

S01E06: Broken Back Mountain

The people of Willowdale had completely closed the village to outsiders. They reported no illness or casualties, but were willing to defend against any outsider intrusions with violent force if necessary. The party decided to leave peacefully and head to Irynhold, but not before enticing the young couple of Bael and Lola to leave the village and enter the service of the party by working at their new tree fort.



When the party arrived at Irynhold, the scene was chaos. Ogres everywhere! The militia was defending the gate against a surprising number of the large creatures, but some of the ogres seemed to be fighting each other as well. The party kept their distance from most of the ogres, but encountered a wounded one left for dead. According to the unfortunate creature, Lard the ogre seer had foreseen the death of the ogres if they remained in the mountains of the Broken Spine. They sought a place called the Barren Highlands and split their forces in half, sending half to the south and half to the north in search of this place.



As the ogres were driven off, it became apparent that the plague had already spread to Irynhold and was responsible for many more deaths than the ogre assault. The party decided to seek out Lard the ogre seer and learn more of the ogres' plight. Unfortunately, the ascent into the mountains was wrought with peril and the tracks of the ogres were soon lost. The party, after a number of near-deaths in the snow and ice, took shelter in a mountain cave. Exploration of the cave eventually led to a massive underground lake of ice. Here, the party decided to tie themselves to the same rope at 10 foot intervals so that anyone who fell through the ice could be pulled back to safety. A fine plan that was interrupted by the cave's occupant... a young white dragon! Tethered together and on ice, the party was limited in mobility but managed to overwhelm the dragon and find respite in the cave.



The party decided finding the ogre seer was unlikely, as was finding safe passage through the mountains, and decided to return south and check on their tree fort.

S01E07: Peace, Love, and Understanding

The party returned to the tree fort to find that it was overrun with burned out hippies. There were dozens of these squatters and, although the party's claim of ownership was flimsy, they felt that they needed to leave. The hippies, calling themselves "the New Order" politely declined the invitation to leave and would not raise their voices or raise a weapon, even in self-defense. The situation caused much debate within the party: they all wanted to see the New Order gone from their new base, but most of the party was not willing to use force on these obviously peaceful people. To complicate matters, none of the New Order members seemed to have seen Bael or Lola upon their arrival.



Further investigation revealed that one member, a man named Polik who seemed to be held in some esteem within the New Order, was lying about the young couple. Polik was bound and questioned with only a little painful persuasion, much to the dismay of the New Order members. Even so, the peaceful folk only watched. Polik revealed that a woman named Myria convinced him to bring the New Order here. Myria had entered the tree fort first and had left with the young couple behind her in an almost trance-like state.



The party released Polik, and Irri was able to locate the tracks of Bael and Lola as they left the area. She tracked them for a day and a half before the tracks led into a small cave. Inside, the party found Bael completely dismembered and Lola strapped to some kind of torture device at the hands of this woman called Myria. Whizzleteaks, a master of illusion himself, knew this was not as it seemed. He dispelled the glamour over the woman and revealed that this was not a woman named Myria at all, but the naga that had previously enslaved the village of Lundy. As before, the naga was defeated but the party lacked the means to end its seemingly immortal existence.



Before it fled, the naga issued a new warning: "If Rodyn would rather toy with you than end your miserable lives, then my master will see to it himself. We will see you in Shadow." The party returned to the tree fort to find the New Order members much less enthusiastic about staying and they dispersed shortly thereafter.

S01E08: Into Shadow (Never Split the Party)

After a well-deserved rest at their tree fort, the party decided to check in at the village of Lundy to see if the plague had spread that far, as well as look for signs of the naga's return. On the way south, the party encountered three men arguing. Apparently, one of the men has an illness that causes him to have fits and sometimes injure himself or his companions. Two of them want to tie up the third man each night before they sleep, but he is refusing. The party decides to keep an eye on these men and take shelter in the nearby lighthouse. As the party approached the lighthouse, they saw a bright flash of blue light from the top. They hurried inside, but, as before, the place was empty. There were tracks leading up the stairs to the top and the mysterious circle of six-sided stones. The party was able to place their own stone engraved with a tentacle on one of the indentations, but nothing happened.



The party decided to encourage the men not to tie up their friend and help keep the watch. Sure enough, the man did have a fit but he emerged from it in the form of some kind of hairy beast with tiger stripes! The party was reluctant to attack this man/thing without provocation and, thankfully, he fled the lighthouse entirely. Disturbed by this, but not really wanting to get involved, they continued on to Lundy at dawn.



The village of Lundy was eerily quiet as the party approached. Upon entering, it was obvious that the place was deserted. An inspection of the place saw some of the villagers died of the plague, while others appeared to be cut down as if by a sword. The mayor's house was completely destroyed, and the party found another of the six-sided stones in the ashes; this one was engraved with an orb. Here, the party argued about what they should do next. Whizzleteaks and Wil-zeus wanted to take both of the party's six-sided stones to the lighthouse and place them on the impressions near the circle. Irri, Val'orian, and Tyrgault wanted to look for survivors of the plague elsewhere and continue the search for Irri's missing brother.



Whizzleteaks, who was somehow the one carrying the stones, announced that he was going to the lighthouse with or without the rest of the party. They reluctantly followed. Atop the lighthouse, he placed the tentacle stone on one impression and the orb on the other. A brilliant flash of blue light pierced the dark night. Whizzleteaks, Tyrgault, and Wil-zeus, who were standing on or near the circle, vanished. Irri, Val'orian, and Ra'kek could find no trace of them. Irri and Val'orian decided to return to Lundy and regroup, while Ra'kek went his own way.

And that was how "Season 1" ended. Life got busy for some of us. A couple of players moved away (alas, Whizzleteaks...) and we wanted to pause this on the cliffhanger until we knew everyone would be able to resume. We switched over to playing on virtual tabletop when we were ready to resume due to the pandemic. We picked up a couple of new players, too.

Irri and Val'orian stayed on. The player of Tyrgault decided that he would start a new character for this next chapter to try something new and leave Tyrgault "lost" in the shadow realm with the two others who, by coincidence, were the players who moved on.

The new characters:

Fidgit - a goblin artificer in search of new junk with which to tinker and build. He is hilariously short, even for a goblin, and usually walks using a set of mechanical stilts that allow him to be the same height as other goblins. He fled the dump outside of Irynhold when the plague began.

Ursino - a bearfolk berserker. The realm does not include a "bearfolk" race so the character is treated like an unusually large and hairy disfigured human by others. Ursino is motivated to travel to taste all of the honey in the world.

Nymphacea - a firbolg druid. The realm does not include a "firbolg" race so the character is treated as an ogre by civilized races when she does not disguise her appearance. She recently lost her wooded home at the edge of the Blood Swamp due to a blight (coinciding with the plague) rotting everything.

I also decided to update maps and switched from Campaign Cartographer to Wonderdraft. The party acquired a physical map of this land early in season 2 and learned of areas outside their immediate vicinity for the first time.

http://abandonedrealms.com/img/olyn/Unsiliel_compressed.png

S02E01: The Fifth Elemental

Upon their return to Lundy, Irri and Val'orian found three others gathered outside the village. A large, ogre-like woman calling herself Nymphacea, a large, hairy, and surprisingly gentle man named Ursino who looks quite a bit like a bear, and a very odd and very short fast-talking goblin named Fidgit. An unlikely group and even unlikelier for them to all arrive at the same village at the same time. Before they could wonder too much at the coincidence, they were greeted by a voice from the balcony of the freshly repaired inn. The party marveled at the voice and the condition of the inn, since the place had been abandoned and the inn was still a burned out shell of a building just a few days earlier.



The voice belonged to a tall blonde woman calling herself Jemira. Jemira claimed that acquaintances of hers would be arriving in a few days and may be able to help find Tyrgault and the others. She called the circle in the lighthouse a Nexus and explained that certain nexus stones could be placed on the impressions to travel to other similar circles. Doing so consumes the nexus stones, so more would have to be found for the party to reach Tyrgault. Jemira believed there must be a way to craft new nexus stones, but she does not know how.



In exchange for her help, Jemira asked the party to find a nearby canyon that was festering with wild elemental energies and retrieve the essence of each of the five elements that she believes can be distilled into raw essence and stored in a special amulet. The party agreed and set out for the elemental canyon. Inside the canyon, the party was under constant assault as their surroundings constantly erupted with elemental energies. They were able to find and destroy creatures of fire, lightning, air, water, and earth and gathered the essence of each into their elemental amulet. As promised by Jemira, each of the elemental creatures also left behind an elemental weapon. The party gathered a fiery dagger, a sparkling lightning sword, a dream catcher, an icicle dagger, and an earthen mace to help them on their journey and made the trek back to Lundy.

S02E02: The Hunt for Red Octuva Part 1

The party returned to the inn in Lundy to find Jemira in the company of two duergar. The first called himself Fynth. Fynth wore jet black armor almost identical to that of Wil-zeus and spoke with a heavy lisp. Fynth told the party that they were indebted to him. In exchange for protecting them from the plague that they now carry, his master Rodyn requires a task of them. They are to enter the realm of Shadow through the Nexus and return Wil-zeus to this realm so that he may continue in his master's service. To do so, they will need to gather the two necessary nexus stones and use them at the lighthouse. Refusal would mean the end of Rodyn's protection, after which they would surely succumb to the plague.



The second duergar, wearing the hat of a ship's captain, introduced himself as Ronus. He had come south with Fynth on some unnamed purpose, but will be returning north to Timaran where his ship, The Marauder, is in port. Ronus also claimed that he knew where one of the nexus stones could be found. The party, seeing no other option but death, agreed to accompany Ronus.



The party expressed their concern that they had never heard of a place called Timaran. Jemira explained that most southerners were ignorant of Unsiliel's geography beyond their local villages, and offered the party a map. She then gathered the party and sent them directly to Timaran by means of a teleport. She and Fynth did not accompany them.



Timaran was a city at least a hundred times larger than any town that the members of the party had ever seen. Ronus also informed them that the city had very strict rules about fighting and that any physical altercations would end with them put to death by the lawkeepers, known as the Justices. Tired and overwhelmed, the party spent the night at the Gold Mine Tavern, ready to accompany Ronus to some kind of meeting the next morning.



The tavern was packed full for the meeting, with every seat taken and others standing shoulder to shoulder. A dwarf named Dargrim announced that he had invited the captains of the five fastest ships in the realm to the meeting and that he sought a gem called the Red Octuva. The gem was held in a secret vault on a deserted island, and whoever retrieved the gem for him would be rewarded with a large sum of gold and a magical bejewelled battle axe. After this announcement, he threw several knapsacks on the bar and yelled, "Begin!" The ensuing chaos saw a massive scrum and the party eventually escaped with a knapsack and sprinted for The Marauder. With other ships in pursuit, the party set sail with Captain Ronus. Irri was navigating using a special compass found in the knapsack, Ursino rallied the crew as first mate, Nymphacea oversaw the cannons in destructive exchanges with other ships, and Fidgit repaired the damaged sails and damaged hull. As Timaran disappeared beyond the horizon behind them, only one other ship remained close in the Hunt for Red Octuva.

S02E03: The Hunt for Red Octuva Part 2

The party navigated a fierce storm at sea and arrived on the island.



They met another group of suspicious-looking adventurers who said that they are hunting the Red Octuva but their ship was wrecked. After a tense stand-off, the other group's leader, a drow named Ygin, tossed a smoke bomb, obscuring all sight. When the smoke cleared, Ygin and Irri were gone, and both crews were confused. With the two drow nowhere to be found, the two crews set off together to find the cave said to hold the Red Octuva.



After several hours, the party found that using each of their magic compasses in tandem allowed them to accurately pinpoint the location of the cave. They went inside, taking two members of the other crew with them, and leaving the rest outside "to stand guard."  The party worked their way through the cave, defeating monsters and avoiding traps, all while seeing shadows flicker at the edge of their vision and hearing a menacing voice whispering inside their heads. The voice repeated the words, "We will meet again in D'al Kadar." Finally, the party came upon a sickly fish creature with a glowing red chest. They decided that the creature must have eaten the Red Octuva and fallen ill. Nymphacea carefully cut the massive gem out of the creature and stitched its wound. The grateful creature fled into a nearby pond. The party took the opportunity for a brief respite and then departed the cave, Red Octuva in hand. Outside, the remaining crew of the other ship were gone and there was still no sign of the two missing drow. Eager to be done with the island, the party, now including Val'orian the elf and Krooghug the dwarf, boarded the Marauder and asked Ronus to sail back to Timaran.



Once back in Timaran, the party returned to the Gold Mine Tavern and exchanged the Red Octuva for the sum of gold and the bejewelled battle axe as promised. When the transaction was complete, Dargrim began to laugh. First in amusement, and then grew more and more hysterical. In a flash, Dargrim the dwarf turned into a wizard. Val'orian recognized the wizard as the apprentice who stolen the rod of polymorph and killed his master nearly a year earlier. It was clear that the apprentice had grown in power significantly. Val'orian threw a dagger at the wizard, but the mage stopped it in mid-air by raising a finger. He introduced himself as Xanthak and thanked the party for obtaining the gem from the island that had been warded against him. He claimed to be a powerful magus reborn in a new age and had much work to do now that he had regained "his stone." He then spoke the words that the party had heard in their heads back on the island, "We will meet again in D'al Kadar," and vanished.

Is this still a thing? When I was in Georgia for basic, I dm'ed a campaign for some guys who didn't know how to dnd based on AR classes/races. I'd definitely be interested in joining this.

Bump.