Changes to Draegor

As noted, Draegor changed a quiet a bit during the Godswar. While other continents suffered equally, at least when it comes to its organization, none suffered more than the continent of Draegor, the continent where it all started. Not only were the wars particularly fierce here, but several of the bigger confrontations took place here.

Draegor at the time of the Swords of Drahar:


Draegor now (Year 599 or so):

Both of the above are of course rough overland maps, based on multiple other maps, first and second hand witnesses and in some cases a bit of magic and guesswork to tie over the blank areas.

The Second Age - Fallcrest Map

1. The Tower: Protecting the town from waterborne attack from the north, the Tower was sacked by the Bloodspear Orcs 22 years ago. Local rumor says that before the Godswar, the Tower was a prison for those that the town couldn't execute. Today it is simply called the Tower of Love, because many of the youngsters of town come here to "have fun".

2. Upper Quay: This is where all boats depart from.

3. The Dwarven Bridge: Originally made of stone that lasted for a millennium, the bridge is now of wood, but still sturdy. It is also the only way across the Jade River for miles, the town of Fallcrest charges 1 cp per head and 1 sp per mount for those who wishes to cross. There is at least 1 guard stationed here at all times.

4. Nentir Inn: Built on the west side of the Jade River, Nentir is a popular place for those living on the west bank, so that they can go drinking in town, without having to pay the toll on the bridge. Most people heading south stop here. Nentir Inn is owned by Erandil, an half-elf that came to town a bought some land a couple of years ago.

5. Knight's Gate: One of two main gates in Fallcrest, Knight's Gate is named thusly because it is through it that the Lord Warden's riders normally leave the city. The gate itself is reinforced timber with an inner portcullis. The Gatehouse Barracks are always manned with 5 guards and Sergeant Nereth an old and hard man who does everything by the book.

6. Silver Unicorn Inn: A luxurious inn run by the halfling Madam Osterman, the Silver Unicorn Inn was for many years the pride of Fallcrest, but ever since Nentir Inn opened, it has lost a lot of its business. Obviously, this doesn't please the Madam.

7. Halfmoon Trading House: The headquarter of a clan of halflings (The Halfmoons) who have widespread interests in the region. Selarund Halfmoon currently runs the "house", a friendly although slightly odd halfling who offers advice on just about everything. However, few people understand his advice, which leads them to call him Half-wit, at least behind his back.

8. Moonstone Keep: The home of the Lord Warden, in this case Faren Hayhill. Moonstone Keep is an old castle that sits atop a steep hill overlooking the town. The Lord, a bold middle-aged man, is married to Lady Allande, 10 years younger than her lord. They have 3 children. Evil tongues claim that the Lady Allande is a witch who steals children at night. Of course, anyone repeating such thing would be wise to do so out of earshot of the Lord.

9. The Tombwood: A large thicket on the slopes of Moonstone Hill. Within lies the old castle's cemetary as well as a battle-mound dating back to before the arrivals.

10. House of the Sun: Technically a big church of Pelor, the House of the Sun is all but abandoned. Only one priest lives here now. There are also shrines to Kord and Bahamut, but they are seldom kept clean. Brother Grundel tries his best to fix up the once great church, but there is only so much one dwarf can do.

11. House Azaer: A small well-off trading company owned by the Azaer family of tieflings. They primarily import weapons and armors. Amara Azaer, a young beautiful tiefling is currently in charge of the operations in Fallcrest.

12: The Fallcrest Heights: A unique feature in Draegor, the Fallcrest Heights are older than any recorded history. It is basically a reversed waterfall. The river arrives at the cliff at great speed, but instead of simply smashing against the rocks, they ascend the cliffs more than 200 feet up, only to continue as a river further north. Up top is a small island which holds the statue of local hero Vendar, who is said to have slain a dragon who was lairing in caves below the Fallcrest Heights.

13. Temple of Erathis: The largest temple in town, towering over most other buildings with its 30' dome, also holds shrines to Ioun and Moradin. High Priestess Dirina oversees the church and has for nearly 40 years. She is an 60 year old lady who is convinced that the dogma of Erathis is absolutely superior to all other gods, and is thus very disappointed that more people of Fallcrest do not pay proper homage to the patron god of Fallcrest.

14. The Bluffs: Fallcrest is divided in half by a great cliff cutting the town in half. The bluffs average 150-250 feet in height, and while not vertical, they are certainly too steep for most people to climb.

15. The Catacombs: The limestone bluffs between Hightown and Lowtown holds a lot of caves. For years, they have been used as burial chambers. As caves are filled, they are walled up and left. Naturally, there are plenty of stories in town about hidden crypts, undead and deadly traps in the caves.

16. Moonsong Temple: The third of Fallcrest's temples, dedicated to Sehanine, with shrines to Corellon, Melora and Avandra has been deserted for more than 15 years.

17. Fallcrest Stables: Owned by Lamnar. Here you can buy horses, harnesses and wagons, get your horses shoed, and just about anything dealing with horses or mules.

18. Wizard's Gate: The eastern gate out of Fallcrest is named for the two ancient statues of wizards flanking the gate on the inside. Just like at Knight's Gate, there is a gatehouse, with a sergeant and 5 guards on duty at all times. Sergeant Murgeddin, a dwarf veteran from the Bloodspear War runs this gate.

19. Narumar's Imports: Considered Fallcrest's finest retail establishment, Narumar's Imports deals in gems, jewelry, art and other expensive trinkets. The owner is Narumar, a tiefling.

20. Kamroth Estate: Home of Armos Kamroth, one of the wealthiest landowners in Fallcrest, a very greedy and petty man.

21. Moonwash Heights: Just as Fallcrest Heights, the river runs up the cliffs here.

22. Septarch's Tower: This seven-sided tower was formerly the seat of Fallcrest's mageguild, who all died during the Bloodspear War, it is now owned by Wizard Nimozaran, an elderly mage who keeps to himself.

23. Blue Moon Alehouse: The best tavern within 100 miles, or so the owner, a female halfling named Kama claims. And she is right, according to most guests. Of course, if you do not like ale, this is not the place for you.

24. Teldor's Arms: Teldor is the town's weaponsmith and armorer. He likes smoking his pipe and dispensing advise while his two apprentices (his sons) work. Their work, under his guidance, is excellent.

25. King's Gate: The southern gate of Fallcrest was destroyed during the final attack of the Bloodspear War, and has still not been rebuilt. The place is still being used as a guardpost however, with Sergeant Gerrand in charge.

26. The Market Green: A market square were the inhabitants and the merchants who pass through come and do business, especially when the weather is good.

27. Sandercot Provisioner: Largest general store of Fallcrest run by Nimera Sandercot, a woman who is said to have little morals.

28. Lucky Gnome Taphouse: The cheapest drinking establishment in Fallcrest, a place where fist- and knifefights are all too common. Run by Kelson, a sordid fellow.

29. Lower Quays: This is where most boats arrive. If they wish to continue up the river, they must unload and move the shipment to the upper quays. The porter's guild, run by a dwarf named Strongbeard, jealously protect their monopoly of moving things.

The Second Age - Places of Interest

Villages and Towns

Ash Grove: A small village of 350 inhabitants, mostly human, but with a strong presence of half-elves. Known for it's Meystival, a celebration of the Primal Spirits on the 13th of Mey every year, where thousands of people from the nearby villages and farms flock to Ashgrove to celebrate for 3 days and dance around their ancient obelisk.

Slag Fort: A village built on pontoons. It takes a certain man to live on the edge, with trolls as neighbors, but the good people of Slag Fort have none the less chosen to do so. Outsiders tend to few them as somewhere in between odd and mad. They live off the land, hunting rare animals in the swamp, especially the Slag Frog, a human sized frog that produces both a potent poison and a powerful painkiller.

Fallcrest: The second biggest town of the area, only dwarfed by Laketown. For years it has functioned as the first line of the defense against attacks from the North. For years, there was little need for it, but then, 22 years ago, the Bloodspear Orcs came down in force from the Hollow Hills and sacked Fallcrest, moving on south: Luckily they chose to move on Laketown, and were exterminated by General Balthazar at the Battle of the Red Pines. Since then, there has been a lot of rebuilding, but they are far from done and there are still ruined buildings in town.

Deerfield: Is not so much a village as a big collection of tents, where a large number of hunters live. They are sworn to the Ancient ways, forsaking the strappings of civilization, but otherwise accepting any person of any race that wishes to live like they do. They are lead by the Council of Clover, which consists of the 5 eldest female members. Aside from humans, Deerfield has an extraordinary large contingent of Goliaths, halflings and elves, the former who ended up there during the Godswar.

Miner's Gate: A small fortified mining village which has more guards than miners. Placed on top of the iron mine that is vital to the economy of Laketown, where lots of dwarven miners work. It is a place where no one enters without permit, a grim place of hard men. Such a place has to be run by a hard man, and that is precisely what Captain Tork, a huge monster of an half-orc, is.

Yorkpoint: Founded during the height of the Godswar, when some eladrin families fled the war in the Feywild, Yorkpoint is a village built more than 150 feet above ground in the tall oak-trees of the forest. The York river runs through the village and the village serves as guardian of the way to the wild east. The eladrins still run the town, but it is open to all races, as long as they behave by eladrin standard.

Laketown: Once the thriving capital of a new-founded kingdom with more than 10.000 inhabitants, Laketown now barely holds a third of that. Gone are the kings as well, and although some noble families still wield considerable power, the power was completely given back to the people 12 years ago, when it was decided that Laketown would attempt to be the first democratic town of Draegor. Opinions vary on how that is going, but at least so far, the town still stands and remain the biggest force in the western part of Draegor.

Sandpoint: Run by a council of paladins, Sandpoint is by far the most ordered and orderly village you will ever encounter. Both it's street and walls are uniformly the same size, planned from the beginning. Founded shortly after the Godswar by 3 paladins of Ioun, Raven Queen and Bahamut, Sandpoint, with its barely 1000 inhabitants, is dominated by the sumptuous tri-god church in the center market square. Every 10 years, they hold the Trigodlon, a contest sponsored by the three churches in order to find the most crafty, sneaky and brave heroes.

Knaves Hollow: One of the first Laketown governors after the Godswar, Jeremy McCracken, got the brilliant idea that all prisoners and rejects of Laketown should be shipped elsewhere. That didn't work too well, and soon after, the prisoners staged a coup and took over the prison. After several years of battle across the lake, Knaves Hollow was accepted as a legit town and its leadership acknowledged. Lots have happened since then, of course, but some still consider it a place where gambling, whoring and other illicit things set the tone and run the town.

Brynport: Also known as Fishtown or Fishport. Almost half of the town seems to works with fish, catching it in the Lake of Reflection, which has an abundance of all sorts of tasty fish. They catch so many fish in Brynport that they could feed most of the area, which they actually do.

Natural Areas

Swamp of Death: In the old days, the Swamp of Death was full of hydras and trolls. Ever since the Godswar, things have been quiet and not much has come out of the swamp. But most people still avoid the place, except the people of Slag Fort.

The Shadow Forest: While some forests can seem dark and menacing, the Shadow Forest truly is both. All trees are ashen grey, with no leaves. Despite the lack of leaves, the area is always dark as if it is in the middle of the night. Some say that the darkness comes from the veil to the Shadowfell being exceptionally thin here, but so far, it is just talk. Very few people enter the forest and even fewer come out alive. The Shadow Forest was not always like this, before the Godswar, it was a normal forest.

Hollow Hills: The Hollow Hills to the north are called so because of the many caves that riddle the area. Uncountable monsters live here, and no one knows exactly what they all are or in which cave they live, seeing that some of the caves a miles deep. There are however several tribes of orcs that make their home in the Hollow Hills.

The Silent Forest: The huge forest that encompasses most of the western part of Draegor. It's dark and scary and full of monsters. At night, it often goes very quiet, with no animal or other noises to hear. Some people believe it to happen just before the real monsters come out of the dark.

Skyfire Lake: Covering more than 30 square miles, Skyfire Lake is famous for it's many fish like the Skyfire Perch which get to weigh more than 400 lbs. Skyfire Lake got it's name after the Godswar, because of phenomenon that has been happening every 26 years on the 19th Awgost since then. At sunrise, a mile wide fire column rises from the middle of the lake, disappearing up into the sky. This lasts until sunset. Each time it happens, a lot of prophets and doom-sayers make their way to the edge of Skyfire Lake to see the happening and try to make some sense of it. Wizards, warlocks and other wielders of magic that cast a lot of fire-based spells often come here to witness the Skyfire because it is widely regarded as giving them power.

Lake of Reflection: Clear and calm are probably the words that describe the lake best. Widely known as one of the most beautiful places within hundreds of miles, and many weddings take place on the border of the lake.

High Rock Mountain: Before that was only one big lake here, but during the Godswar, Moradin, Bane and Melora fought the Keeper here. The Keeper was losing this battle, and in attempt to throw off the armies of good, he raised High Rock Mountains and the Volcano known as Keeper's Cauldron in the blink of an eye. While he still lost the battle, he did manage to get away. High Rock Mountain is an extremely steep mountain, more than 30.000 ft high, with the top half always covered in snow and fog on all but the clearest days. Odd and powerful monsters occasionally come down from the mountain, but know one knows what is up there, as no one has been stupid enough to try climbing to the top.

The Thunderspire Mountains: Ancient and mighty, the Tunderspire Mountains separate the western part of Draegor from the southern part. Unchanged for thousands of years, filled with valleys, ruins and monsters, the Thunderspire Mountains form a barrier to all but the bravest of souls. Few of the peaks break 15.000 feet.

Obelisk Valley: A small valley just south of the High Rock Mountain that was formed when the Keeper raised High Rock Mountain. But when it was discovered, it's 8 miles were already with a perfect row of marble-white obelisks evenly spaced out ever 33 ft.

Jade River: By far the longest of the 3 big rivers, Jade River has its origin in Thunderspire Mountains (just like the other rivers) and runs several hundred miles to the north, all the way up to Dead Man's Marsh.

Wild River: Rumored to have its origin in the Feywild, the Wild River lives fully up to its name. The spread is so great that it is almost impossible to navigate the river. Coming from up in the Thunderspire Mountains, it splits off, connecting with both lakes, but also disappearing into some caves south of High Rock Mountain. Where it goes from there, no one knows.

York River: Flowing from the Thunderspire Mountains and north, through Yorkpoint and all the way (almost) to the Swamp of Death, York River also splits in two and connects with Skyfire Lake. It is a river that runs at an slow and easy pace, and thus very easy to navigate. It is however almost 300 feet wide and very deep, making it almost impossible to pass, unless there is a bridge.

Devil's Tear: Named after the rare gems that was once found here, these hills are otherwise fairly normal, except for the many abandoned buildings after the Great Rush of 567, where thousands of people rushed to the hills after a sizable amount of Devil's Tear gems were found by the Muffin family. Most of those who got out alive came home with empty pockets.

Man-made Places

Castle of Flames (Ruins of): Once the home of the Sorcerer-Kings ruling the area, Castle Flame was like many other things destroyed during the Godswar when a portal to the Abyss was opened and demons poured in. Today it is just a huge ruin, which still, a 100 years later, is visited by treasure-seekers, who are looking for the fabled treasures of the Sorcerer-Kings.

Fortress Shieldmight: Shieldmight is an ancient fortress that has stood for thousands of years. Already there when the Draharians came close to 600 years ago, it was later restored by King Azul, King Azir I's great-grandson. After the Godswar, which is survived surprisingly unshattered, it has stood empty for many years, mostly due to no one being able or willing to pay for the upkeep necessary. Brigands of various sorts have used it for hideout, but 3 years ago, a tielfling named Leucis Firecold arrived and struck a deal with Laketown to take over the keep. So far, there has been no issue with Lord Leucis as he styles himself, but a lot of people fear his Red Riders. Recently rumors have started to emerge that Leucis claims kinship with Torn himself.

Bridge of Accord: Called so because according to the stories of the Godswar, it was here that the original gods met up shortly before the Primal Spirits came free and killed the Usurper Gods. The adventurer and chronicler (and notorious liar) D'agor Lubarion claims he witnessed the meeting and says it was called and led by none other than Asmodeus.

Second Age Campaign - House Rules

1) Everyone gets weapon and implement expertise free for any weapon or implement they use at 5th level.
Why? - To fix the math
2) Everyone gets a scaling +1/+2/+3 bonus to defenses at level 5/15/25
Why? - To fix the math
3) You get an AP after every combat.
Why? - It's easier to remember, and I plan to tone down the amount of magical items a little bit, so this is to off-set that.
4) There is no creation of magic items, but you can still upgrade an item you have with the proper ritual (which is the Create Magic Item ritual). You can also still disenchant items for residuum.
Why? - Because I hate the whole magic-shop concept which inevitably comes up with the possibility of creating magic items. Also, I am going to attempt to make a slightly more "realistic" economy, instead of the default exponential one, and the creation of magical items interferes with that.
5) BETA Change ritual casting times expressed in minutes to rounds. This means that rituals with their casting time expressed in hours or days do not have their casting time changed. Characters count as Dazed while casting and/or aiding to cast a ritual, due to the concentration required. Rituals are Sustain (Standard) until the start of your next turn while casting.
Why? - I want to make rituals a bit more interesting and flexible. Stopping up for 10 minutes in the middle of a crypt to chant so that you might be able to see a door is a tad weird at times, while stopping for a minute might be more realistic. It also gives a mechanic to use for NPC's when they cast rituals.
6) Raise Dead is a once in a lifetime happening for a character, and only under the most exceptional circumstances. It is a quest and very expensive.
Why? - Because death should be something to fear, not just another way for the players to spend their gold.
7) Summons are DM controlled when not directed by their caster (and no Instinctual Action). Will likely attack last attacker, or random adjacent creature (depending on alignment/intelligence). Will never attack caster.
Why? - Because it adds some flexibility and usefulness to the whole summoning stitch, which otherwise is overshadowed by other options.
8) Push into wall = Prone (w/ save)
Why? - Because we have always played with it.

Map of Laketown's area

The Second Age - Introduction to the Campaign

Many years have passed since the world of Draegor received its now famous arrivals from another world. For long, much was clouded and secret. But from the tales of Simon the Humble and later from the gods themselves, we know now that the Swords of Drahar were fighting for a better world, a world were the true gods could guide us. Alas they failed, and met their demise in the Church of Kord in what are now the ruins of Drahar.

No one knows for sure what happened then. But word of the original gods about the story of what the Swords fought for spread amongst the general populace, not just in Drahar, but everywhere in the world. Slowly, at first, without attracting too much attention, followers of the original gods became more numerous and the original gods (at this time still exarches) began to amass power. Not all of them understood fully why this was happening, but eventually, even they heard the tale of the Usurper gods, as discovered by the Swords and chronicled by a humble priest of Kord named Simon. They were not pleased, because they started to remember what they once had been, and wanted to be so again.

At some point around 501, the original gods transcended to real gods, and thus began the War of the Gods, 483 years after the Swords died. At first, it was a silent war in the shadows of civilization, a war fought between the faithful. But after only a couple of years, it had become a full-blown, world-spanning war between empires, kingdoms and city-states, but also in the dark corners of the world and in every small village..

The war continued this way for around 14 years, slowly depleting the humanoid resources, and yet, there was no clear advantage to any of the sides. Then somehow, in 515, the real disaster struck. The Ancient Compact was broken, and once again the gods (both new and old) walked the earth again, without restrictions. Without being tempered by the primal spirits who had guarded the world since the Dawn War.

The world was sundered. Cities were destroyed, empires fell, mountain ranges were leveled, seas raised and even the weather was affected. Entire kingdoms worth of people were killed, and it looked as if there would be no one left to worship whoever would win the war.

Fortunately, the war did come to an end. Whatever had kept the primal spirits in check vanished around 521, and suddenly the gods found out what kind of fury and power the World Serpent and the other spirits have. The Usurper gods were all killed, and the original (and new) gods were once again banished from walking the mortal world and sent into the Astral Sea.

So the original gods won. Once again the gods are called Kord, Bane, Pelor, Asmodeus etc, but not much was left to rule, not many people were left to worship them. Draegor is a broken world, filled with smoking ruins where there once was might empires and cities.

The Auran Empire, gone. The Empire of the Keeper (also known as the Ebon Empire), destroyed. Drahar a shattered ruin, etc, etc.

And a lot of those left behind share an arguably strong distrust of the gods and those that still worship them. After all, they did almost destroy the world. Instead, people have come to worship the primal spirits to a larger degree. To them, the Swords were misguided fools who brought on a cataclysm, but to those of us who believe in the gods, the Swords of Drahar are the greatest heroes to ever walk the mortal world. They are the ones that freed us from more than 10.000 years of deception. They are now exarches and saints, standing at the side of the gods (Gnoguh and Saint Carric are exarches of Kord, Gork is an exarch of Moradin, Torn is an exarch of Ioun, Truxas is an exarch of Melora and Tagron is an exarch of Asmodeus). Saint Carric is even attracting quite a following.

It has now been 78 years since the second banishment (the year is 599), and the world is still licking its wounds. People live in villages and small towns, and to my knowledge, no man rules over territory much larger than what you can ride in a day. Monsters are everywhere, and the ruins after an apocalypse hold treasure beyond our wildest dreams. If there ever was a time for heroes, this is it.

Hubertus Maximiliam, Bard Extraordinaire of Laketown, in the year 599

Swords of Drahar - R.I.P

5th Apryyl, Year 27

64th session

As the Swords were heading towards the palace of the Djinn, Carric suddenly received a sending from Trevor.

Demons have assaulted and overrun Drahar, Entrance portal in church destroyed, Church will soon fall, Heart not safe. Hurry or there won't be anything left.

Blowing 40k in residuum opened a cross-planar portal in matter of minutes, and soon the Swords found themselves in the small palace of Torn's father. As Truxas opened the door to exit the portal room, a demon tossed the head of Torn's father at him. A short battle followed and soon the Swords were running towards the church of Kord. On the way a building was dropped on them, they ignored the pleas from a mother whose baby was getting ripped apart by demons and were ambushed by a nasty marilith and her minions.

Finally they arrived at the church, and found a goristro in the middle of killing Trevor. A short and furious battle finished with one dead goristro and the Swords hurried on to stop the demon that was fleeing with the Heart.

Unfortunately, he proved too strong, and everyone died in an epic battle that saw Gnoguh almost managing to kill him alone...

Game Over

63rd session

After returning from the cold fortress of the rebel Githzerai, the Swords of Drahar wasted little time. They researched about the Mad Dragon, found out where it had it's lair, and hired Captain Morgan again to fly them out near the area where the Mad Dragon lived. As it turns out, it was a nightmarish place, full of lava, geysers, firestorms and in general a lot of nasty terrain and hazards. Luckily for the Swords, Torn's Phantom Steeds can fly, so after a rough arrival where Gnoguh got tossed around by some geysers, the Swords took the arial route to the 3 volcanoes further inland, where the dragon should have its lair.

They didn't quite make it all the way though, because about halfway across the rocky island, they were hit by an imploding thunderstorm. That turned out to be quite painful, and Truxas ended up dieing to a weather phenomenon.

Of course, with Revive handy, Truxas was up and running in only a few moments. Torn quickly made some new flying Phantom Steeds, and the Swords continued their trip towards the Tri-volcano-area. Once there, they quickly noticed several cave entrances, picked one, and landed in front of it. And promptly got jumped by 5 elementals. Even though they seemed to do their best to focus their firepower on a couple of targets (Torn and Gnoguh in this case), the Swords managed to dispatch them without anyone dieing.

Once the elementals were dead, the Swords searched the area, and Carric determined which entrance was the most likely to lead to the dragon's lair. And his perception didn't fail him again. Deep inside the volcano, they found a huge grotto with a lake of lava, an island covered in gold, and of course the dragon and his two pet fire titans.

And boy did they get owned. First Torn slept one of the Titans, which made Gork rip him a new one in a matter of seconds. Then Torn rendered the other helpless, which caused Gork and Truxas to rip it apart in a few more seconds. And thank god for that, because the Dragon proved just as hard as expected. For a while it looked like an easy fight, and the Swords even wounded it greatly (bloodied) but then suddenly the tide turned, and its aura became more and more lethal. But in the end, it still died.

LOOT: 350.000 gp and a Medic's Amulet +5

Medic’s Amulet

This amulet helps healers staunch wounds.

Level: 24
Price: 525,000 gp
Item Slot: Neck
Enhancement: +5 Fortitude, Reflex, and Will

Property: You gain an item bonus to Heal checks equal to the amulet’s enhancement bonus.
Property: When you use a healing power on an ally or succeed on a Heal check to perform first aid on an ally, that ally also makes a saving throw against an ongoing damage effect.

First published in Adventurer's Vault 2.

Fire Titan & Volcanic Dragon

Elementals

62nd session

After a bit of debating, the Swords of Drahar decided to heed the words of Lord Zarul and try to gain some faction with the Sultan of the City of Brass. Gnoguh wanted to kill some dragons, but he was outvoted and instead they headed out to find the Fortress of Shadow and Ice and the Githzerai rebel running things.

Before leaving, they do invest 100.000 gp into healing potions.

The Swords asks around a bit, and find out where this place is located. They track down a captain with an elemental ship willing to take them their for some gold (10.000 gp) and head out. A couple of days later, they arrive. The rock of ice upon which the fort is supposed to be is hidden inside a permanent blizzard laying on the edge of a maelstrom of lava.

Arriving at the edge, the Swords bravely jump off and head towards the center, because "that must be where the bad guy is".

A couple of hours later, the Swords are closing in on the fortress, when they are jumped by a few ShadowIce Archons. Even though surprised, the Swords make short work of the Archons.

Pressing on, they find a huge icebridge that leads to the fort. No enemies in sight and the Swords move over it cautiously. On the other side lies the fort, right on the edge to the nothingness of the Elemental Chaos. After a quick round of recon (still no enemies in sight), the Swords open the gate and are (yet again) surprised by an archon and two death giants. The Swords, except for Gnoguh (who was held by the ice magic of the archon), move in, and before they can do anything about it, the archon has raised a wall of ice and shadow, blocking Gnoguh. Fortunately, Gnoguh has little regard for pain, so grabbing his axe he started climbing the wall, despite the pain it inflicted.

With Gnoguh back in the fight, the foes were quickly dispatched, although the Swords were by now beginning to miss Carric just a little bit.

Once they were dead, the Swords took a quick breather and entered the unlocked fortress. Inside, they eventually got to a big room with a black pool and some stairs. On the stairs was a death giant telling them to bugger off, or they would die. They could still run, his master would not seek justice for what they had done so far. The Swords took that as a sign of weakness, and attacked. Out of the pool came a little surprise, a death Titan

The Titan especially proved nasty, and the fight was very tense for a while, but eventually the Swords got the best of the death dudes.

Moving on, they found a corridor full of 12 iceblocks, all but one containing an Efreet. The Githzerai was as noted earlier planning to use the souls of the Efreets to power up a portal to the Shadowfell and explode it, creating a rift which would infuse the Elemental Chaos with the necrotic energies of the Shadowfell. Or something. Either way, it never happened, because further in, the Swords found the so-called Temple, with the rebel Gith was working the portal and the magical pedestals that would serve as conduits for the efreets' souls. He and his death titan and archon, of course. The battle was long and brutal, with both Gork (finished battle with 1 hit points and 0 surges) and Truxas (bloodied and 0 surges) very very beaten up. There was some close calls (all 3 were below 0 at at least 1 point), but it all ended well. And they even found some loot.

150.000 gp

Resilience Amulet

A platinum disk overlaid with a crystalline star, this amulet repels lasting injuries.

Level: 23
Price: 425,000 gp
Item Slot: Neck
Enhancement: +5 Fortitude, Reflex, and Will

Power (Daily): Immediate Reaction. Use this power when you are hit by an attack that deals ongoing damage. Make a saving throw against the ongoing damage. On a failure, you don’t expend the use of this power and no daily use of a magic item power occurs.

First published in Adventurer's Vault.

Savage Hammer (Mordenkrad)

Cruelly shaped, this weapon fuels your courage and your alacrity.

Level: 23
Price: 425,000 gp
Weapon: Flail, Hammer, Mace
Enhancement: +5 attack rolls and damage rolls
Critical: +5d6 damage
Property: You gain an item bonus to saving throws against fear effects equal to the weapon’s enhancement bonus.

Power (Daily): Free Action. Use this power when you successfully hit with this weapon. You can shift 1 square and make a melee basic attack with this weapon.

First published in Dragon Magazine Annual 2009.

Death Giants

Githzerai

Shadowice Archons

Intermezzo in the City of Brass

Intermezzo in the City of Brass

After 6 hours of waiting in line outside the palace, the Swords finally get bribed enough officials to be let inside the Chamber of Audience, where the Sultan holds court and lets petitioners bask in his glory. He sits on a dias, surrounded by lava and his Unquenchables - the elite Efreets that guard the Sultan with their life. It is said that one is a match for a Pit Fiend and the Sultan has 1000's of them with an earshot, ready to do his bidding, no matter what it may be.

Not long after, they find themselves facing the Sultan, announced by a slave:

Slave: My Lord of Fire, Rule of the Center of the Universe, I present you the Swords of Drahar, heroes of the mortal world. They are the ones who killed the avatars of Tiamat, Yeenoghu, Orcus, Demogorgon and Grazz't recently.

Sultan: HA HA HA - Swords of Drahar. I have heard of ya. You might be big around where you come from, but here, in the center of the Universe, you are nothing. But I am guessing you are beginning to figure that out. Why are you here?

Truxas (bowing): My Lord of Fire, we have come here with a mission of great urgency and secrecy. We besiege you to let us use your Chamber of Rituals for powering a ritual of ours. We would of course be willing to compensate you for the use of the Chamber.

Sultan: HA HA HA. The only reason I do not kill you is that I like creatures with big brass balls. HA HA HA, the audacity of coming here, asking me of a favor. You bring no gifts of significance, you do not kneel, you hide the truth and you barely show the proper humble attitude - You must have me mistaken for someone else, because I am Jazir Al-far, Sultan of the City of Brass, the Lord of Fire. I rule the greatest city in the Universe and even the gods fear me and my infinite legions of Efreets!

Truxas: But..

Sultan: Silence mortal, another word and you will scream in the Minaret for an eternity. Come back when you have earned the right to stand before me. Be gone from my sight now, before I tire of your silly requests.

After talking to the Sultan, Lord Zural contacts the Swords again and explain that they need to make a name for themselves, they need to make the Sultan "owe" them if they want to stand any chance of getting access to the Chamber of Rituals. Luckily, he has a few ideas. While nothing is sure, he has a good idea that the Sultan might look more favorable upon the Swords, should they complete any or all of these quests. Of course, if they could spice things up with a gift of gold and/or magic, even better. Giving him an artifact is always a good way to get on the Sultan's good side, at least for a while.

As mentioned, Lord Zural knows of 3 things they can do.

1) There is a rebel Gith that has built a strange castle of Ice in one of the colder areas of the Elemental Chaos, a couple of days travel from the City of Brass. The Sultan recently learned that the same rebel Gith (who has assaulted several merchants and diplomats from the City of Brass) is somehow trying to infect the Elemental Chaos with the Shadowfell. How that works, he has no idea, but the Gith and his death giants have surely been an annoyance.

2) There is a Djinn Lord in town that infuriates the Sultan to no end. He will probably die sooner than later, but whoever kills him will surely be owe more than gratitude. Of course, no one else can know of this.

3) One of the Volcanic Dragons that guard the Plane of Molten Lava (the solid piece of land on which the City of Brass is located) has gone mad and is one a rampage, even assaulting people traveling under the banner of the Sultan.

61st session

The party talked and talked and talked. Torn is sure that Asmodeus is playing some sort of double entente, that he will double-cross them and things won't turn out as they say. There were many things. Why did Asmodeus show himself in the guise of a demon? More specifically, did the fact that he shows up as a Raavasta, a demon known for it's ability to lie and BS have any significance. Could he be trusted. Did they even have a choice? I mean, we are talking about *the* master manipulator of all times. Maybe they should just do as he wants?

In particular, Torn and Carric are leery about the ritual. What will happen once they are inside? What will happen to the target? And a host of other questions. Obviously the very long talk didn't result in an actual decision, since they do not feel they have enough information to base a decisive decision on. On the other hand, they did end up deciding to check out the City of Brass, and find out how hard it was going to be to get to the Chamber of Rituals.

They also realized that they will have to bring the bitch (thats what they call the drow high-priestess lover of Grazz't they have locked up in the "basement") to the City of Brass. And that from what they know, the City of Brass is not on the mortal world (okay, they did know that!) and does not have the same limits for gods and arch-demons as Sigil. Ie the real Grazz't (whom they have banished from the mortal world for 101 years when they slew his aspect recently) might show up and claim his love. Not something they were looking forward to.

Before leaving, they had just a couple of things to take care of. Gnoguh and the 3 potential wifes, and a gold dragon looking for information. Torn handled the gold dragon, researching the information the gold dragon wanted about a lich and ways to defeat it. For that he was paid 500.000 gold pieces, money he decided to split with the party. Meanwhile, the others went on a small trip to meet those who wished to add Gnoguh to their family.

First up was Queen Azimella, a proud and independent queen from the land of Tudar far to the west, who wanted Gnoguh to marry her and lead her 450.000 men into conquest of the world. She offered him a Rimefire Griffon as wedding gift, should he accept.

Next was Drahomir Zulfur, merchant prince of the Auran Empire and probably one of the 3 richest men in the mortal world. He wanted Gnoguh to marry his only daughter, Isabella. She would take care of the business, because she was able and raised to handle it, but she needed a strong husband who could take care of the private army that protected the thousands of ships in the merchant fleet. Also, men were the only ones allowed to own companies and land, so she couldn't do it on her own. He offered Gnoguh a pair of very powerful magical gauntlets, should he accept to marry his daughter.

Last was King Hjanko, King of Fredia, a kingdom to the east. Hjanko needed a strong man to marry his grand-daughter (everyone else in the family was dead) and to run the country after he was gone. He needed someone who could take up the fight against the Ebon Empire (Which is run by Bane, exarch of the Keeper). This was perhaps the most tempting offer, not because it came with 500.000 gold pieces in dowry, but because the idea of fighting against the Ebon Empire appealed to Gnoguh.

But in the end, he declined all three offers and the Swords took off.

Arriving to the City of Brass, they found themselves waiting outside, looking up on the Elemental Chaos. There was a long line of people entering the city, and the wait took some time. At a point, they watched a man being take from the line and executed - apparently, he had been bad-mouthing the Sultan.

Once inside the city, they went exploring a bit, soaking up the flavor of the city. Slowly they were making their way towards the Great Repository, allegedly the greatest library in existence.

On the way to the Great Repository, they were suddenly facing some angry efreets who were claiming Torn was a thief. Not waiting for anyone to clear up the charges, battle followed. The people on the marketplace spread out, enough for the Swords of Drahar to have some room to fight the efreets.

As soon as the fight was about to end (1 bloodied efreet left) a host of archon guards arrived, wanting to arrest the Swords for attacking and killing efreets. Some attempts at bluff and diplomacy was made, but nothing helped. The Archons were firmly determined to have them arrested and executed or serving as slaves for many many years. Luckily for the Swords, their exploits had drawn the attention of Lord Zural, one of the lords of the 17 noble efreet houses.

He vouched that they had acted in self-defense and that had no choice. While the archon had little choice, he was clearly not happy at the prospect of having to let the players go. After having settled their little problem, he invited them to diner in his mansion to spend the night and talk.

After a good night of sleep, the Swords headed back towards the Great Repository. What they found was definitely not what they had expected. A 1600 ft tall purple tower with blood coming out the doors. Inside was filled with small canals of blood and pieces of flesh and the stench of rotting corpses. Naked obese servants wandering around amongst the petitioners with sacrificial daggers, just waiting to exact the price of knowledge. Small questions are paid with blood and pain, but the big questions are paid with either an eye or your soul. In case of the soul, you have to soul-swap with a inhabitant of the tower while your questions are researched.

Oddly, Torn agreed to swap his soul without asking around or thinking about the consequences. What he didnt know was the most soul-swapping end badly, because the researcher, who has been locked up in the Repository for an eternity cant handle the freedom, goes berserk, often ending up using the possessed body to do great harm, which in turn gets the body killed by the guards. Or sentences to an eternity of slavery. Luckily for Torn, his friends were a bit smarter than him. They let the researcher go wild for a night, drinking and whoring himself into a stupor, then bound him and tossed him into a cell until the time was up and the soul of Torn found its way back into his body.

Rimefire Griffon

Raise Dead House Rule

Raise Dead: After being raised, you suffer a -3 penalty to the usual rolls. For every milestone you achieve, you lessen the penalty by 1. The cost of raise dead is also not as straightforward as by the book.

1-7 Not possible
8 2,600
9 3,400
10 4,200
11 5,000
12 9,000
13 13,000
14 17,000
15 21,000
16 25,000
17 45,000
18 65,000
19 85,000
20 105,000
21 125,000
22 225,000
23 325,000
24 425,000
25 525,000
26 625,000
27 1,125,000
28 1,625,000
29 2,125,000
30 2,625,000

Places of Interest in the City of Brass

The Sultan's Boulevard aka The Street of Stelae
- Easily 200 yards wide, this gargantuan road runs from the Harbor to the Charcoal Palace

The Nightfall Concordance
- An alliance of alien mages who create and control the 30 hours day/night cycle in the City of Brass. They have 20 5-stories towers found along the outer wall.

The Shining Pyramid of the Keeper
- The only church allowed in the City of Brass, the glass-like pyramid is suspended 600 feet above the Harbor.

Long Castle
- Palace of Khan Jihadi, leader of the forces of the City of Brass, and third most powerful Efreet in existence, after the Sultan and the Great Vizier.

Street of Steel aka Bazaar of Arms
- Long street where you can by any weapon and armor you may wish. Almost...

Red Pillar Halls
- The Center of the Great Bureaucracy that runs a lot of the city. You can find the officers of Weight and Scales, the Magistrate of Finance and Trade, Slave Registration, the Bureau of Magic, the Bureau of Taxation there.

The KhizAnah
- The safest bank in the world is located on the Plaza of the Hunters

The Great Repository
- The 1600 feet tall purple/bloodred tower is often called The Greatest Library. It is said that it holds all knowledge of the Efreets' history, which is measured in thousands of eons. Some even say that it holds the knowledge of every race. But the price of knowledge is steep. It can be seen from everywhere in the City of Brass, but itself is located in the middle of Avencina, a rowdy lower-class district.

Minaret of Screams
- The thin spindle-like tower of polished obsidian inlaid with brass is a constant reminder of what happens if you cross the Sultan. Whenever you get within 30 feet of the tower, you can start to hear the screams. As you get closer, the level of noise increases past the unbearable for normal humans. It is said that those imprisoned in there are subjects to ritual torture 3 times per day for an eternity. Because once you die, your soul is bound by ancient evil magic, and the torture continues. The Minaret of Screams can be found (not that anyone would want to) near the Gate of the Fallen.

Efreets

Glabrezu and Archons

Defenses - del 2

Vi snakkede noget om de forskellige defenses sidst og jeg tror jeg har fundet ud af hvordan det skal køres.

Som tidligere nævnt er det således at:

Fra level 1 til level 30 får alle monstre +29 bedre to hit.

Alt imens en player får +28 til sin gode defense (det er med den specielle bonus på +1/tier som jeg giver). De +28 er fordelt på følgende måde:
+15 (level)
+ 4 stat (forudsat at man stiger i sin main stat hver gang, med mulighed for at den er +5 hvis ens epic destiny giver +2 til ens main stat)
+ 6 magic items
+ 3 DM bonus
= +28

Som modstykke har vi en "dårlig" stat (dvs). Den stiger ikke så meget.
+15 (level)
+ 1 stat (11th og 21st level)
+ 6 magic items
+ 3 DM bonus
= +25

Et andet problem er at ikke alle feats jo stacker, og tingene bliver lidt besværelige hvis man skal ændre selve featsene, især da vi jo stort set alle bruger Character Builder (BC, du er og bliver en outsider).

Derfor er foreslaget som følger.
Jeg giver stadig +1/tier på level 5/15/25
Paragon Defenses/Robust Defenses eksisterer ikke
Epic Fortitude/Reflexes/Will er igen +4 bonus (yep, untyped)
Great Fortitude/Lightning Reflexes/Iron Will giver stadig +2 feat bonus
Unyielding Fortitude/Opportune Reflexes/Indomitable Will giver stadig en +2 feat bonus

Så ja, det er da en lille nerf af jeres defenses, uanset hvad. Men tingene stacker og Character-Builderen fungere. Hvis jeg så finder ud af at balancen ikke er rigtig, så er det smartere at tweake den DM bonus jeg giver, istedet for featsene.

Det er selvfølgelig gratis at udskifte sin Paragon Defenses/Robust Defenses med en anden feat.

60th session

The fight against King Balor, his pet Quickling and Nymph lover was brutal, especially because they were joined by a Balor demon, summoned by the Evil Eye. The battle raged for what seemed for ages, with especially Gnoguh taking a severe beating. Not once, not twice, but six times he was down and out for counting, but he just kept coming back. At the end, the Swords of Drahar prevailed and killed the evil fey king and his allies.

They collected the spoils of war (250.000 gold pieces, the Evil Eye, a plate armor and a necklace) and promptly ported back to the church of Drahar.

There they found out that the next and last piece of the ritual is the Chamber of Rituals in the City of Brass.

They also found no less than 3 powerful nobles camped outside Drahar, all three wanting Gnoguh as either their son-in-law or husband.

• King Hjanko, a mighty king from the west wants Gnoguh to marry his daughter Jezzira and help him defend his kingdom against the Ebon Empire.
  
• Drahonir Zulfur - Merchant Prince of the Auran Empire to the north, wants Gnoguh to marry his daughter Eliza and eventually take over the running of his private army which protects the biggest merchant fleet in the world.
  
• Queen Azimella - Ruler of a distant land, sent by the visions of her oracle, wants to marry Gnoguh and have him lead her 100.000's of soldiers in conquest of a new empire.

Torn found his sage tower besieges by people of all sorts. Supplicants wanting to become apprentices, powerful being seeking advice and knowledge, and of course a group of tieflings wanting him to resurrect the might of the tiefling houses in Drahar.

Carric was approached by a delegation from the Auran Empire. They had begun building a huge cathedral of Akir, and they want him as high priest to run the Cathedral and eventually the church of Akir in the Auran Empire.

LOOT:

Legion Plate Warsheath Armor

This armor ensures that its wearer is surrounded not just by protective layers, but also by eager foes

Level: 25
Price: 625,000 gp
Armor: Plate
Enhancement: +5 AC

Power (Daily): Minor Action. Enemies within a number of squares equal to this armor’s enhancement bonus of you are pulled adjacent to you.

First published in Adventurer's Vault.

Periapt of Cascading Health

Adventurers feel a little more confident fighting dragons with this bauble in their possession.

Level: 25
Price: 625,000 gp
Item Slot: Neck
Enhancement: +5 Fortitude, Reflex, and Will

Power (Encounter): Minor Action. You end one condition that a save can end. You gain a +2 power bonus to all other saving throws you make this turn

First published in Dragon Magazine 369.

Hidden Memories - Or how to enter the mind of a god

Hidden Memories
Through a significant offering, you and your friends are able to enter the memories, possibly even those forgotten, of the entity which lies in front of you.
Level: 22
Category: Divination
Time: 8 hours
Duration: Special
Component Cost: 100,000 gp
Market Price: Unique
Key Skill: Arcana

With the help of ancient arcane symbols and an enormous amount of residuum, you channel the magical weave into the subject and follow it (along with up to 8 others) into the memories of the subject. In there, you can navigate from memory to memory, even finding ancient memories that the subject had forgotten.

Let it be known that such intrusion is very dangerous, and that the subject's subconsciousness, even if completely willing, will fight you every step of the way of your journey through his memories. The stronger the subject, the stronger the subconsciousness.

While you are inside the mind of the subject, your body will stay outside, utterly helpless. You will not be aware of what happens to your body while inside the memories of the subject, unless the body is killed, in which case your mental projection will die immediately. Also be aware that only the ritual caster can end the ritual, not those he brings with him.

Should your mental projection be killed by the subconsciousness of the subject, your body will still be alive, but your brain will cease to function. In a matter of hours, your body will die as well, unless raised from the dead. And even that is tricky at best, there has been several cases where Raise Dead has not been sufficient.

After you enter the mind of the subject, you will have to make an arcana check once every 12 hours to maintain the mental projection. Failure to make the check will stop the ritual and expulse everyone from the memories of the target.

The DC to enter the mind of a subject is: Subjects level
The DC to maintain is: Subjects level +1/12 hours passed.

This ritual can be used to enter anyones mind, even that of a god. In the case of divinity and other entities as powerful, one must have 3 things to power the ritual. 1 component (Heart of Grazz't), 1 item (Evil Eye) and 1 magical focus point (unknown so far). The component is consumed in the casting and the item and the magical focus point will be drained for 1 year and 1 day. Should you wish to recast the ritual, a new component must be gathered while waiting for the item and focus point to recharge.

City of Brass Info

The oldest city in all creation, the City of Brass is a nexus for planar travelers. Those willing to look long and hard enough can find anything they have ever imagined somewhere in its labyrinthine avenues.

With numerous grand bazaars and ornate shops, the City of Brass is the mercantile center of the universe. Built on a vast basalt plate called Plane of the Molten Skies in an immense volcanic field on the edge of a fiery sea, the City of Brass is a still point in the churning tempest of the plane, and a relatively hospitable destination for mortal travelers.

It is the home of the fiery efreets, and the temperature is invariably hot—comparable to a sweltering summer day in most places; more like the inside of a smelting forge or the slopes of an active volcano in others.

More than 500.000 creatures call the City of Brass home, paying homage and taxes to Sultan Bashamgurda, the Lord of Efreets, who rules his city from his Charcoal Palace.

While the city, the city walls and the 7 forts protecting the 7 gates to the city are run by a caste of demon, salamander and archon slaves, all raised to protect, the Charcoal Palace is guarded by the Unquenchables, a small army of Thunder Efreets only loyal to the Lord of Efreets. Each more powerful than most mortals, the Unquenchables are indeed something to fear.

Created at the dawn of time by Sulymon, architect of the gods, to house all the spirits servants of the primordials, in the end, only those of earth, fire, water and air chose to make it their home. It was a free city where all races lived in peace. Sadly nothing lasts forever, and a even though immortal, there has been several Sultans during the eons since the creation of the City of Brass. Purges of certain races by various sultans have greatly diminished what races can set foot in the City of Brass. Genies of Water and Earth are all but gone, and so are most of those races that are considered good.

Instead the City is filled of salamanders, archons, azers, genasi, fire giants and titans, demons and other elemental creatures. Most other races are only visitors, and due not stay for long.

Conditions have become even worse since the Usurper took over, around 2000 years ago. He is a merciless despot. It is a city where evil walks freely, demons guard the gates, and where efreets rule. It is however also a city of law, although a law that is heavily biased against non-efreets.

There are no prisons in the City of Brass. Any infraction is punishable by either of two sentences, carried out immediately by an efreet magistrate. Death or Slavery. An insult can be as little as 7 days of slavery, while other transgressions can cause you to be bound in slavery for up to an eternity (1001 years). After you have done your time, you are once again a free man.

City of Brass Map

Loot from 59th session

Mace of Healing +5

When you bolster your allies, this weapon increases the potency of your healing.

Level: 23
Price: 425,000 gp
Weapon: Mace
Enhancement: +5 attack rolls and damage rolls
Critical: +5d6 damage
Property: When you use a power that restores hit points to an ally, add an item bonus equal to this weapon’s enhancement bonus to the amount restored.

First published in Adventurer's Vault.

Shadow Warlock Anathema Leather Armor

While wearing this suit of black leather, you can cloud the mind of a cursed enemy so that your attack strikes true.

Level: 25
Price: 625,000 gp
Armor: Leather
Enhancement: +5 AC

Property: While you have concealment from your Shadow Walk class feature, any creature affected by your Warlock’s Curse grants combat advantage to you.

*Anathema Leather Armor gives a +3 AC bonus and +1 Reflex item bonus (Base)

59th session

Anyway, the sacking of King Balor Castle continued. Starting where we left off the last time, the Swords of Drahar ran into (or rather found) some Eladrin who had been captured by the Fomorians. The Eladrins were honored to have been freed by the Swords of Drahar, but a little saddened that the Swords hadn't come for them. Gnoguh was very admired (which annoyed Mr. Fey aka Truxas to no end). They were freed and sent home (to the Summer Court) via a speedy Link Portal.

After sending away the Eladrins, the Swords proceeded to explore this level of the castle. They found a room with tubes of a gooey yellow liquid and Eladrins that had had artificial glass eyes inserted instead of their usual eye - think Aliens 4, where she discovers the clones. The Fomorians and Cyclops in the room died swiftly and without mercy. With the opposition gone, the Swords decided to smash all tubes and burn the corpses of the Eladrin.

However, that was not all that was to find in the room. In the corner, chained up in magical chains like a dog, was an Angel of Akir

The Angel is as mentioned an Angel of Akir, named Anael. He was ambushed and trapped by the Fomorians. Once released, he could find his own way home, only with a little help, so he quickly left the party. Although not before giving them the means to contact him again (just a simple ritual, involving his name).

Onwards they went, into the next room of nightmares (which happened to be nearby). In there, there was stone-slabs en masse, all filled with monsters made of parts from many other monsters. The undead beholder and his cronies were in here, but he went down faster than a cheerleader on prom night.

Moving on, they explore quite a bit (found an ancient shrine, and a patrol of guards) ending up in an Arena several floors above where they entered. There an Hydra was released on them (or rather on Gnoguh) because he decided to cross over the arena floor instead of taking the "long" away around via where the public sits. Lets just say that the Hydra was not much a danger to a fighter like Gnoguh. This one died quite quickly too, and I am not sure, but I think Gnoguh could have killed it on his own.

Then, instead of leaving out through the main doors of the Arena, they got the idea to explore the VIP-box - because, as Carric said: A real King has a secret way between his box and throne-room, after all, who wants to mingle with the rabble if you can avoid it.

A few traps and some disarming later, the Swords of Drahar were heading up the stairs, up towards the throne room, where they ran into King Balor, his pet Quickling and Nymph (druid) lover.

Time for some serious fun!

58th session

After a short debate about their options and clues at hand, they decided it was time to head to the Feydark. The goblin stronghold was located deep in the Forest of Autumn Rain, about a weeks travel away.

Once outside the stronghold, there was a brief debate on how to proceed. "Shouldn't we scout a bit said Torn" - "Nah, these are goblins, we are epic, baby" said Carric, "Lets just demand they surrender and let us past". No sooner suggested than done, and they were let inside the stronghold. Of course, since Carric had failed his initial intimidation check, the goblins were merely letting them in so that they could surround and kill the players.

Obviously, things did not quite work out for the poor goblin tribe. They were completely outmatched by the epic characters and although they did manage to bloody both Carric and Torn a couple of times, they were nowhere near killing anyone. At least until the help arrived. 3 fomorians came out of the cave leading to the Feydark. That evened the odds a bit, but overall, it was not a huge challenge.

After clearing out the stronghold (they did let women and children go) they found a dwarf named Gork, who happened to have nothing to do...

Onwards they moved, or perhaps rather downwards. After a couple of hours of traveling in the darkness, they ran into some drows who were quickly dismissed.

Moving on, they finally arrived to what they figured to be the castle of King Balor. A 300' wide stalagmite standing in a even bigger pool of lava, all located in what must have been the biggest cave they had ever seen. A bridge was spanning the lava at the point where it was the narrowest (around 50-80 ft), leading to some huge iron doors.

Gnoguh immediately wanted to go hit whatever guards there surely was on the head and get things started. Torn said he was tired of going through the front doors. He was epic and thus felt he should do things in style. So using (flying) Phantasmal Steed and Passwall rituals, they quickly went up, away from the lava, and entered the castle through a wall, surprising 5 fomorians. The fomorians were relatively quickly dispatched, but a quickling who was also there got away.

57th session

Reminder:

This was in the blog last time, but seems no one talked about it, so might want to handle it.

PS: Mora had 130.000 in residuum and astral diamonds on her, as well as a ring and an Ioun Stone.

PPS: Both Orcus and Demogorgon left behind (when their bodies dissipated) astral diamonds worth 50.000 gold pieces

Ring of Regeneration

This ring of plain silver is adorned with a blood red ruby.

Level: 24
Price: 525,000 gp
Item Slot: Ring

Property: Gain a +3 item bonus to your healing surge value.

Power (Daily • Healing): Minor Action. Regain one healing surge you’ve already used today.
If you’ve reached at least one milestone today, you also gain regeneration 10 until the end of the encounter or until you spend a healing surge.

Ioun Stone of Adaptation

This clear crystal floats in the air above your head, providing you with sustenance and durability against certain adverse effects.

Level: 21
Price: 225,000 gp
Item Slot: Head

Property: You do not need to eat or drink. Also, you and your equipment suffer no ill effects from ambient temperatures between -50 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit or from precipitation.

Power (Encounter): Free Action. Use this power when you are affected by ongoing damage. The ongoing damage ends.
-------------------------

To make a long story short, the fight against Grazz't was epic. It was long and full of suspense. Tagron and Gnoguh both died, and the others were so close as well. But in the end, Grazz't went down, just like the two other (aspects of) demonlords.

The aftermath was sad. A lot of Draharians had died, including many priests of Kord. Trevor was still alive though (he rezzed Gnoguh and Tagron).

After spending some time researching, the Swords headed to the Feywild in order to do more research on King Balor, the Evil Eye and whatnot.

Sonday 6th Marhs, Year 27
The swords head towards the goblin stronghold of Ku-lar-Y-tur, which allegedly guards the way down to King Balor's castle.

56th session (Sommerhus 2009)

Onsday 3rd Yanoar, Year 27
After returning to the Church of Kord following their trip to Infernus' island, the Swords of Drahar spent some time in town. Torn had a theory about Truxas, and using a ritual devised by himself, he found out that Truxas had the divine spark. And it only took 4 weeks and cost 10.000 gold pieces.

Freeday 5th Phebroar, Year 27
He also divined him, forcing out visions out about Truxas. He saw Truxas entering a pavillion with 9 seats, deducing that this must indeed be the fabled Pavillion of the Gods, with 1 stone seat for each god. The milky white sky above suggested that it should (as theorized) be located somewhere in the Astral Sea. He saw Truxas sit on the chair fashioned as an oak tree (Luna), deducing that Truxas must be the new god of magic. But on the floor before Truxas lay his companions...

After those interesting tidbits of information, the Swords decided it was time to head to the Shadowfell and pay a quick visit to the last dragon on the list, and acquire the last heart.

Heading back to Danar Hold, Torn opened to portal they had watched Trevor and the priests of Kord close more than a year before. They entered the Shadowfell and headed south to the gloomier version of the Thunderspire Mountains.

High up towards the top of one of the spires, they found the temple. Following the mile-long stairs going up to the temple itself, they were assaulted by Shadar-kai, but those were quickly dismissed. Up in the temple they found the heart, more Shadar-Kai and the dragon. Their attempt to scare the dragon and its minions into giving up the heart failed, and soon the inhabitants of the shadowy realm lay dead at the Swords' feet.

They found 100.000 gold pieces in assorted gems, coins and treasure, and a pair of bracers and a pair of boots.

Executioner’s Bracers

These ornamental gold bracers help you to hit harder.

Level: 23
Price: 425,000 gp
Item Slot: Arms

Property: When you score a critical hit, the attack deals 3d6 extra damage.

Boots of Speed

These durable boots are designed to take you farther, faster.

Level: 22
Price: 325,000 gp
Item Slot: Feet

Property: Gain a +2 item bonus to speed.

Power (Daily): Minor Action. Take a move action.

Lordday 6th Phebroar, Year 27
Back from the Shadowfell, the Swords chilled out for a few days, and then headed to the Feywild, where they (after handing over the 3 "hearts" and being made honorary members of the Church of Luna) got to talk to the Oracle. The Oracled happened to be a gargantuan silver dragon and a little 8 year old girl. The oracle told them that they were lying when they were evading its questions about why they wanted the ritual, but it gave it to them none the less, because one of the forks if they didn't get the ritual ended with darkness, the death of all magic.

Sonday 14th Phebroar, Year 27
Finally they had the ritual. Heading back to Drahar, they soon realized that they were nowhere near done with the ritual. In order to complete the ritual, they need a component, an item and a specific place. And only the component was revealed until they had it in hand.

The component is the Heart of Grazz't.

Gulp.

Quickly figuring out that a frontal assault on Grazz't himself would only cause them to die a horrible and quick death, they none the less decided to head to Azzagrat and figure out things from there.

Torsday 18th Phebroar, Year 27
The Swords packed up their things and headed to Sigil. There they bought tickets on a Astral Shiff and flew out in the Elemental Chaos. On the way down into the maelstrom of the Abyss, they were assaulted by some rogue Githzerai pirates, who, after a good start, ended up being more dead than pirate. But they did have some interesting things, including 50.000 gold pieces in assorted coins and gems, as well as a small marble cube.

Instant Portal

Shattering this glass marble against a hard surface releases the short-lived portal within.

Level: 23
Price: 425,000 gp
Wondrous Item

Power (Consumable • Teleportation): Minor Action. You create a portal in an adjacent square. The portal leads to a destination determined when the item was created. The portal remains open for 5 rounds, closing at the end of your turn on the fifth round.
The portal is misty, restricting vision to 5 squares into the destination. Until the portal closes, creatures can move freely between the portal and the location to which its connected.

Tirsday 23th Phebroar, Year 27
Arriving on the Plain of Thousand Portals next to the Inn run by Red Shroud, an alu-demon who is rumored to the dark of many things. She put them in contact with Ncreed, a one-eyed Vrock with no compulsions against telling them which Iron Fortress to enter in order to get to the 45th layer. For 50.000 gold pieces.

Onsday 24th Phebroar, Year 27
After a couple of days of traveling, Ncreed bid them farewell, and they were to take the last mile on their own, as per agreement. However, the Abyss is a dangerous place, and things tend to happen. No sooner than Ncreed was gone, they were jumped by a Bebilith and a few swarms of abyssal spiders.

After having killed the poor spiders, the Swords hurried along and soon found themselves in front of the Iron Fortress. Truxas tried to bluff and gained entrance, but it was all a trap, and the Swords found themselves under fire from some alu-demons on a balcony, while the mezzo-demons were poking at them below.

Further in, they were assaulted from all sides by a couple of Vrocks and a small contingent of Balgura demons, flooding the room. For a long time, things looked a bit iffy, but in the end, the little demons were no match for the fury of Drahar.

Down below they went, and at some point they even thought they were going to walk to the 2nd layer. But instead, they ended up in a throne room/harem with a handful of Nyca-demons, a Hezrou and a Balor. Which actually ended up being two balors. Ouch. It was touch and go, with Torn, Truxas and Carric standing in a corner, only protected by Torn's Illusionary Wall, which held, in spite of the repeated attempts of the Balor. Gnoguh and Tagron both died though, victims of a pool of abyssal evil that the Balor tossed them into - repeatedly.

Finding enough residuum for the raise dead rituals proved a bit of a hassle, and the Swords had to disenchant a few magical items in order to be able to get both up.

Luckily for them, there was also some treasure there. 70.000 gold pieces and a necklace.

Necklace of Fate

This necklace of acorns and woven vines tethers your spirit to nature, helping you shake off the effects of combat.

Level: 22
Price: 325,000 gp
Item Slot: Neck
Enhancement: +5 Fortitude, Reflex, and Will

Power (Encounter): No Action. Trigger: You make a saving throw at a time other than the end of your turn. Effect: You gain an item bonus to that saving throw equal to the necklace’s enhancement bonus.

Freeday 26th Phebroar, Year 27

Entering the 45th layer (Rauweng), the Swords found a desolate place with no vegetation, eternal rain and almost no color.

Shortly after getting there, they picked up the trail of what turned out to be a small clan of Vistani, inter-planar traveling merchants. The Swords spent a night with them, and learned that the Vistani had a young child called Lilith with extraordinary powers of foresight. The Vistani showed them the way to Zelatar, the capital of Grazz't.

Sonday 28th Phebroar, Year 27

Posing as merchants, they easily gained access. Truxas found them an inn and a sage (Yo-Gar-Tum, an Alu-demon sage). For the modest price of 50.000 gold pieces he revealed that the Heat of Grazz't was not the real heart, or at least that there was something else with the same name. The current lover of Grazz't, Matron Mora, Drow High Priestess of Grazz't was also called just that.

The Swords quickly decided that kidnapping her (the ritual needed her alive) sounded a lot better than facing the only creature to have out-witted Asmodeus and lived to tell about it. Gaining access to the sewers, while Truxas made a bit of scouting (ha-ha), they found a shortcut into the inner sanctum of the church. Up through a passwall.

The following battle was long and furious, involving a Goristro and a Marilith-drow (amongst others) as well as the High Priestess. In the end they got her down, and immediately cast the cube and opened a portal to Sigil. Grazz't arrived a split-second too late, managing only to wound Torn, before he as the last jumped through to one of the only places Grazz't couldn't follow.

Having escaped alive, they immediately ported to the Church of Kord, to imprison Mora behind a magical circle capable of keeping out most creatures. Forbiddance was also cast (Torn made a trip to Sigil to buy it) as well in order to stop some scrying.

Mansday 1st Mahrs, Year 27

The next morning, a couple of men in robes showed up at the church, wanting to talk to the Swords. As the Swords came out to talk to them, they each dropped an instant portal, opening the way for hundreds of demons and undeads to flood the church and Drahar.

The Orcus (or rather the Aspect of Orcus) and Demogorgon (again, Aspect of Demogorgon) stepped out howling for the bitch.

An big battle followed, while the undead and the demons were ripping apart the church and city. Tthe fact that they were standing in a church of Kord weakened both aspects, but it was still amazing that the Swords managed to kill not one, but both demonlords. Especially Carric who killed Demogorgon with his mace!

As soon as the bodies of Orcus and Demogorgon had hit the floor, Kord arrived, explaining that he was forbidden to interfere. He did help the Swords a bit, by renewing their strength, and telling them that the fight was not yet over. He vanished and then they heard:

Where is my woman! - as Grazz't (aspect again) walked around the corner....

PS: Mora had 130.000 in residuum and astral diamonds on her, as well as a ring and an Ioun Stone.

PPS: Both Orcus and Demogorgon left behind (when their bodies dissipated) astral diamonds worth 50.000 gold pieces

Ring of Regeneration

This ring of plain silver is adorned with a blood red ruby.

Level: 24
Price: 525,000 gp
Item Slot: Ring

Property: Gain a +3 item bonus to your healing surge value.

Power (Daily • Healing): Minor Action. Regain one healing surge you’ve already used today.
If you’ve reached at least one milestone today, you also gain regeneration 10 until the end of the encounter or until you spend a healing surge.

Ioun Stone of Adaptation

This clear crystal floats in the air above your head, providing you with sustenance and durability against certain adverse effects.

Level: 21
Price: 225,000 gp
Item Slot: Head

Property: You do not need to eat or drink. Also, you and your equipment suffer no ill effects from ambient temperatures between -50 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit or from precipitation.

Power (Encounter): Free Action. Use this power when you are affected by ongoing damage. The ongoing damage ends.

Spilledage for resten af 2009

Som I nok ved, har Jensen Drømmeholdsfodbold her i november-december, og det ligger om torsdagen.

I har alle på forskellige tidspunkter giver udtryk for at tirsdag er den dag der passer bedst (ud over torsdag), så derfor bliver det så det.

Husk at næste uge spiller vi stadig om torsdagen, men derefter skifter vi til tirsdag. Derfor ser resten af året således ud.

Torsdag 22. oktober
Tirsdag 27. oktober (Bedet ferie i Tyrkiet)
Tirsdag 3. november
Tirsdag 10. november - Aflyst, Chris på kursus på Fyn
Tirsdag 17. november
Tirsdag 24. november
Tirsdag 1. december
Tirsdag 8. december
Tirsdag 15. december
Tirsdag 22. december
Tirsdag 29. december

PS: Tak for en fed weekend!