13th Age - Online

The Lost Legacy

Characters

Daeris, High-Elf Occustist (Dani)

Here is what I know about my own story: I'm not really Daeris Amarthal, I am more. Exactly how much more and "what" more, that is the part that I'm still working on. I woke up about five years ago in this elven body feeling very confused and knowing something was off. The people that welcomed me into this life, all of them high elves, work for the Elf Queen and were kind enough to explain that I had been asleep for years and that it was their Queen who helped me in finding a suitable body for my stay in this world. They didn't know who I really was either. Oh… one small detail: I didn't have a shadow, but we'll get to this in a second.

I lived a couple of years among the elves, learning as I could about this world and looking for information on how I could...well, find myself. With time, some old memories seem to have awaken and I started to recall places that are not from this world and powers that I can no longer control. I remember enough to know that I'm trapped here and that I need to find a way out (or at least a way to be whole again); I also understand that the Elf Queen is mostly my ally, in the sense that she doesn't want any harm to come to me, but she would strongly prefer that I remain in this elven form and will not aid me into finding myself.

At some point though, I started remembering my own skills and that is when I decided to leave the elves and adventure into to world. Step 1 was finding my shadow - I know it may seem crazy to you that I would care about what really sounds like a small detail, but somehow I knew that this was important. It took a lot of traveling and studying, and I've been to as many libraries in this realm as I could reach, but I finally was able to find someone who could locate and help me in recovering that first piece of myself.

That person was the Archmage. Yes, I had to work hard to get his favor, but finally I learned that my dear beloved shadow was in the possession of the Diabolist. Don't even ask me what the f*** that bitch was doing with my shadow, but I found an honest enough group of adventurers and followed the clues that I had to locate and steal it back (yes, she knows it was me, and I'm sorry to say I was the only one to come back alive from that quest). Now, here is where it gets a bit complicated: it wasn't really my shadow, it was somebody else's.

I should probably mention at this point that while all of this is happening, something started changing within me, as if a part of my essence is growing more restless, or maybe as if whatever shell that traps me here is slowly starting to crack. My hair and my eyes started turning violet and my dreams of my previous life are growing more clear and frequent and my powers seem to have grown a lot faster in the last year than ever before. What that means, I really don't know.

What I know now is that my shadow is probably with the person who's shadow I stole from the Diabolist. It is unclear to me whether that is a good person or one of her minions that I'll have to face and destroy, but that doesn't really matter, either way, my main goal right now is getting back what is mine.

Tarak T'Sah, Half-Orc Ranger (Lia)

Tarak is a wanderer who traveled to many places in the Dragon Empire. She prefers to be close to the ocean and is a huge sailing enthusiast.

Once she joined a mercenary group on a mission to find the location of a shipwreck near the Iron Sea. The mission was a failure as they were attacked by demonic sea creatures as they approached the Iron Sea. Tarak woke up in an island as the only survivor. She decided to explore the island to find anything that would help her get away. In her search through this weird place, she met a talking serpent called Ainzuk. They became friends and Ainzuk lead Tarak to a strange orb. Tarak decided to touch it - what could go wrong? As soon as she touched the orb, she had visions she can't describe or comprehend and was unconscious for some time. Ainzuk was able to wake her up and help Tarak to gather remains of the ship to rebuild it and escape the island. Somehow, as she sailed away, she knew where to go and how to avoid the dangers of the Iron Sea. Something in the orb changed her... and now she is the only person who knows how to navigate the Iron Sea.

She sailed back to Horizon where she sold the Orb to the Archmage who was really happy with the transaction. The owner of the orb, on the other hand, wasn't happy about it...

Driz Xun'Atar, Drow Rogue (Rodrigo)

Violently spat out of the hellhole as soon as the Crusader claimed his First Triumph, the Drow was named Driz Xun'Atar for his grizzled, evil looks. Despite trying, the Crusader failed to bind him to his will like the other demons, and Driz ran away seeking refuge in the nearby towns.Without his memory, and a shadow that looked like it had a mind of its own, Driz still had understanding of how the world worked and. Perhaps he adventured too deep into the hellhole in search of loot, or perhaps he just hit his head while fleeing from demons, or perhaps he was the target of a powerful spell - his Rogue instincts still kicked in, and he knew he had to regain his strength and lay low for a while.

Driz headed to Axis in search of information and spent 2 years as an overnight dock worker. Due to his sensitivity to the sun, and the unpredictability of his shadow, Driz tended to avoid any work under the daylight. Unsure if he should seek help from the Icons, Driz headed to Shadow port to hone his skills and seek riches. There, he joined The Bloodletters guild and spend 4 years in service, raking up assassinations and major thefts. He read all kinds of literature on demons and dark magic, but still couldn't find out why his shadow behaved like it did. Perhaps he should seek the Diabolist for help? Maybe that would just spell his doom. Maybe he Crusader let him escape alive, and he should return to ask a few questions. Driz is constantly plagued by these questions that go without action.

Durbal, Gnome Rogue (Tom)

Durbal ("Durb") was raised by Dwarves growing up because his family was slain by the Shh-ka clan of Orcs.

He doesn't like Orcs!

The Dwarf family that raised him were particularly great at clock making. Clock making and machinery were of great interest to him. Due to his up-bringing, he has somewhat of a relationship to the Dwarf King. The relationship is somewhat conflicted because the King is rather upset that a Gnome has completely mapped the underworld.

During his youth he became detached from his Dwarf family and ran away with the circus, mainly spending his time performing acrobatic stunts and after some time started thieving and ultimately joined a thief guild called the Big Dogs.

Char Ends (Just clip GM Notes)

Lia: Não tive muito tempo pra pensar (voltei de viagem e to revisando pacote de promoção até agora) mas algumas idéias:

• Tarak vai descobrir alguma coisa no iron sea e vai acabar a campanha por lá. De preferência viva e fazendo uma parceria com o Golden Blade explorando alguma coisa no Iron Sea (o Lost legacy pode ser algum item, cultura, ritual que trigou a próxima aventura deles).
• Joana merece virar rainha ou um icone, talvez destronanando o archmage corrupto

Dani: Acho que seria interessante ganhar algum reconhecimento da guilda / Prince of Shadows (alguma manifestação, ou algo similar? Não sei se isso é muito over the top). Eu também tava pensando em algum plot twist no very end da campanha, tipo sair correndo com algum artefato importante no closure só pro final não ficar completamente feliz e dar um legacy bem "roguey" pro personagem.

Por exemplo, a sombra sair correndo com o item pra levar de volta pra algum major icon (Prince ou Diabolist), e o fato de eu ter perdido parte da memória ser um deal prévio com um desses Icons pra eu poder manipular de forma convincente o party até o final (estilo plausible deniability). E quando o "roubo" se completar minha memória volta por completo, e o personagem lembra o plano, e vira um minor villain de um outro arco, maybe. Tipo um piggyback no fato do Prince of Shadows poder roubar coisas intangíveis (minha memoria e minha sombra).

Talvez a Joanna possa ser revelada como embodiment de algum artefato tb, e volta a ser um objeto quando o duty dela for fulfilled. Como se fosse uma espécie de golem, com um fim meio triste.

"The Lost Legacy" poderia ser um poder (tipo um "Awakening" do shadowrun, em escala mundial - no SR, Awakening foi o dia quando a magia voltou para a terra e os humanos começaram a se transformar em subraças) que foi restrito por um grande ritual que baniu os deuses e retirou esse mesmo poder da população geral. O lance seria retornar esse poder pra todos, pra que eles possam se defender de um problema ainda maior.

Kirk: Corinthian would like to continue on as Joanna's default "bodyguard/mentor" - "with great power comes great responsibility", yada yada..haha!! Corinthian will also continue his wanderings acting as a proselytizer of the Priestess and the Gods of Light. Trying to do good deeds where ever he goes...

Session Notes

Session 17 (GM Notes)

Casila experiment worked: the chains that bind was produced at the heart of the stone thief. But only the ones touched by the Elf Queen can see the chains.

The Elf Queen wants to control the Living Dungeon to end the old truce and return the world to the glory of the elves. The Druid was actually the Elf Queen in disguise.

The Archmage just wants to keep status quo. The Orc Lord and the Diabolist wants to avoid the Elf Queen plan, but that comes with change. However, the Crusader is closing to the Abyss Breach, and she needs her power to help. She is the one spying through Daeris (and previously, Driz), using the Prince of Shadows as a partner.

The Orc Lord got lucky with the other Eye. Axis will be a casualty.

Diabolist proposal: She controls the Stone Thief, uses it to defeat the Crusader and the Orc Lord, and then leaves the World with all demons once the gates are open. It is up to the group to defeat the ultimate Elder Star. The Prince will stay to control things from the Shadow. The Elf Queen will be defeated, but kept as a controlled puppet.

Casila proposal: let the Elf Queen bring the glory of the elves back. She will then bring the Stone Thief back to Omen.

Archmage proposal: destroy the Stone Thief, he will protect Axis.

Actual truth: the Elf Queen is keeping the Orc Lord at bay.

Session 13-16

No notes

Session 12 - Druids

The High Druid The Chaos Beast fight Restoring the High Druid forest The High Druid spirit was absorbed by the chaos monster. She wants to break free, but that requires a druidic circle ritual

The high druid seal Polymorph 1xday Heal while in the forests for one recovery+(Lvlxd6) Save the seal. All new seals now weakens the planar protection of the world. Every open seal adds 5% change to add extra planar creatures to encounters.

Session 11 - The Three Kings

Driz: Tavern (2d20) Tarak: Key to the City Durbal: Magic Belt Corinthian: The Priestess Charitable Fund.

Session 10 - The Feast of Gold

The adventurers are sat in a tavern, the Bell and Noose, enjoying the start of the Feast of Gold. A light dusting of snow is falling on the streets outside, but inside the tavern the fire is roaring, the mulled wine is flowing freely, and a swamp-drake is roasting on the open fire, flames leaping in an occasional draft.

Tarak: Stan talked about the half-orc tribe near the iron sea. They might have an artifact. +1 Archmage Durbal: Mapping Stone Thief. Dwarf King +1 Corinthian: Saved people, Santa Cora. Priestess +1 Driz: Shadow became a cape and it now bound. Diabolist +1

Session 8 - Omenquest

Omen is the source of all living dunmgeons, including the Stone Thief. Remember to describe all the moving rooms and entrances, and a monstrous hole: the Stone Thief is missing. The can also meet one of the old residents of the Stone Thief, guarding her resting place.

Session 7

The group plans a rescue mission for the Golden Blade Thomas, Stan's brother and master helmsman. He is a prisoner in the Kraken, a floating rock prison. They find out that the magewright Bella was responsible for designing the rock, and they went to investigate her old tower. There, they fought traps and automated defenses, being able to secure her code book and some new magical items. Their mission on the Kraken is sucessful, and they sail back to Axis with Thomas, that pledge alliance to the team. They heard that the a group of enhanced Kobolds moved one of the seals to Omen, the forbidden island in the Middle Sea.

Session 6

Thrug dies in the gladiator's pits. Joanna is now without her guardian. Wyn and Laberal are missing, probably still in Axis. The Priestess sends Corinthian, a Paladin of Truth, to support the group operations.

The party is tipped about Navale, a nobleman from Shadow Port, that is displaying an archaeological item that the Archmage recognize as one of the Prison Seals. They book a passage to the coastal city, where they meet several shady figures at the Dark Jester. There, they are contacted by Samuel, a representative from the Prince of Shadows, who gives them the details and contacts of Navale party if they can get him access to the seal.

From there, they reached a very peculiar name with a great sense of fashion, Lars "Missing Ear" Redfist, which provides them tickets to the ball. The party executes the heist and get the seal, but they are chased by rival gangs (the Bloodletters and the Fangjaws).

The party recovers the seal, but they destroyed the map that was hidden inside by mistake. Joana unlocks the seals and get is shadowy powers, getting magical stealthiness.

Now, they discover that Thomas, the Golden Blade, brother of Stan, one of the best pilots in the seven cities, is a prisoner on The Kraken, the floating prison that docks to Shadow Port once a month.

Session 5 - Drows and the Sea

Laberon is still helping out the farmer's family, spending his time next to Jen, the farmer's daughter attacked by Dire Wolfs.

Durbal got an emergency summon by the Dwarf King ambassador. It is not clear what is his mission, he was really secretive about it. [Thrug] leaves Joanna with the rest of the party, and goes back to the gladiator's pits of Axis.

Wyn Yeshorn returns, and warns Tarak T'Sah, Driz Xun'Atar of the danger imposed by the presence of drows from the Del'Armgo house.

The group visits the Crossed Swords Tavern, where Driz buys rounds for everybody from Blime, the halfling tavernkeeper. There, they meet Sammy, a charismatic fellow that is trying to be their agent in Axis, since his previous group, the Golden Shield, travelled to New Port to face a Hydra.

Illara Runn appears with good news: the Archmage will fund the group's boat. The money is being brought from Horizon.

The group goes to investigate a possible location on the drow, and found a house infested with Lokkris, a large spider/roach creature that almost takes Wyn's life. Tarak had a Archmage's special potion that save his life, but he grows a temporary goatee. They cannot find the drow as they flee, but they take a map of Axis' underground with drow markings of specific tunnels.

On the next day, a distressed Illara Runn explains that the courier with their money got attacked by Owlbears close to Axis. The group asks her to hire a band of adventurer's to recover the money.

Sammy approaches the group explaining that Stan, the boat salesperson doppleganger, had one of his/her boats stolen by a necromancer and a group of skeletons. The group go on a Caravel with Stan, sailors and part of the city guard after the robbers.

On the way, they cross several challenges where the party shows that they can survive and work together in a boat. Wyn gets a Potion of Swimming. Tarak helps the crew from a toxic cloud generated by one of the alien meteor that were afloat.

Unfortunately, the stolen ship crashed in a reef close to one of the small islands in The Spray. The group disembark, finding remaining of destroyed skeletons. They overcome angry gorillas, quicksand, a lot of pissing breaks, and a strange plant withering curse. On the center of the island, they meet a Yellow Dragon (aka as a Sand Dragon), that had bested the necromancer. The group bargains with the Dragon, offering Tarak's magic hat for the necromancer's head. The dragon accepts the trade.

On the way back, they are attacked by Sand Bugs that spits acid. They are able to destroy one of those, but when a dozen more appears, they run to the shore, where the Dragon destroys them with a sand breath weapon. Stan rewards the group with 100 imperials each, plus a permanent 10% discount on his store.

Back on Axis, the group finds out that Illara was attacked by additional necromancers, that were looking for a kid, probably Joanna. The band of adventurers got the Archmage money, even if two of their members got eaten by the Owlbears. With the money, they buy a Dhow (see Ships), still to be named.

Now the group needs to find a crew, find out why the Lich King is after Joanna, foil the drow's presence in the city, end the Owlbears manace and, eventually, find all the remaining seals.

Tarak, Wyn and Drix gets an incremental advance.

Session 4 - The Slaughter House

Joanna says that the Map-maker looks like Durbal's dad.

The group is looking to buy a boat. Tarak T'Sah talks to Stan, a doppleganger that is a ship salesperson. Stan shared a brochure with the group (see Ships) with different kind of ships, from a couple hundred to almost hundred grands. Wyn reports that a drow priestess from House Barrison Del'Armgo is in the city. The city guard is really busy with the after match of the Archmage's Comet. Apparently the drow are dominating Axis underground.

Laberon is recognized by a girl at the city entrance, but she called him Lars. She said that her best friend, Liara, was Laberon's fiance. He goes to investigate, and gets back with the girl covered in blood: the farms are being attacked by mysterious wolf attacks. Rupert from the city guard asked the rest of the group to investigate a Slaughter House in the docks. Hengar, the butcher, reports that his son, Mikel, was missing. Also missing was his workers Alik and Jaleh. Jaleh was actually a Cultist of the Devourer, a cult to the Stone Thief, the largest living dungeon, awake with the arrival of the Archmage's comet. Although the party was able to save Mikel, she did summoned the Stone Thief (apparently). The group is now staying at the Lively Squirrel Inn.

Session 3 - The Sky Falls

During the eclipse, a lot of meteors fall from the sky. Strange creatures from the far realms inhabit the meteors. Some humans are mind controlled by them. The group try to avoid them, but they had to fight a couple. Nekrien Silverleaf, a necromancer elf with two Zombies, flee the creatures and later travels with the group. The group plunders bandits and grab some money. They also had a couple of magical items. The groups rests close to Nekrien's tower, close to Axis.

Session 2 - The Monastery

The group found out that the key they were looking for is actually a 12y old girl, Joanna. She is guarded by Thrug, a half-orc chaos mage. Under siege, the monastery is defenseless against the Trolls.

The leader of the place is a strange gnome that calls himself the Map-Maker. He owns hundreds of maps, and he claimed to have mapped the whole world. He finally completed the locations of all known seals of the Galchutt, the lords of the Far Realm. Only the Key (Johanna) can unlock the seals that binds all planar creatures to this world.

The group uses fire against the Trolls and reach out their cave, where they find a Goblin King using a necklace to control the creatures. The party kills the goblins, knocks out the king and take the necklace, ending the siege.

The Archmage appears in a remote communication magical device, and explain some of the weird talk from the Map Maker: The world was created to be a planar prision of sort. Mostly to keep the Galchutt scout here, and to not report back to the Far Realms. The gods didn't want to get imprisoned, so they mostly stayed out.

To create this prison, 50 seals was spread across the city and prominent groups of that time. The Gauchutt scouts were put to sleep under the Iron Sea. Their slumber affected the sea, creating all the behemoth monsters that inhabit that sea now. Over time, the seals started to fail. Only around half of them are still operational. The Map-Maker was able to pinpoint most of those. Because they are failing, it is getting easier to get out of this plane. Some gods discovered this and got close to this plane: that is why the Priestess is a recent icon, and that is why the Crusader got a stronger connection with the dark gods. This thinner layer didn't wake the dormant Gauchutt, but awake the Stone Thief, the largest of the living dungeon. With the power of the Stone Thief heart and the power of the remaining seals, the Gauchutt can be destroyed forever. The only known way of unlocking the seals and getting their power is to be touched by the creator of the seals (or his bloodline), the Wizard King. The Wizard King is now the Lich King, and Joanna his last decedent. Without the seals, this world won't be a prison anymore, and the gods (and other extra-planar creatures) will be able to leave it if they enter.

Session 1 - The obligatory tavern

The group returns from the sewers where they have fought dire rats and wererats for a bounty with Rupert from the imperial treasure. They are reached by Illara, an Archmage envoy, which provides Tarak a magic oil and a magic hat. She also explains that the Archmage is interested in a key being guarded at the Monastery of the Falling Sky. She also says that Yannos, former guide, can help them reaching the place. One Dwarf consular (Tordek) office from Anvil offers Durbal two runes (one armor and one weapon), but ask a magical item report from the monastery. Tavern brawl! Laberon takes the guard from the fight, which allow the party to just spend the night at the city jail (not for the first time). The group gets a detailed map from Yannos, and buy equipment for climbing/ropes. Three challenges: The party successfully climbs the mountain The party crosses a bridge over magma vents with fire imps with some minor burns. The party encounter a portal where paladins of the Crusader were spotted. Driz shadows goes inside the portal and brings back magical arrow. The portal is left behind. The monastery is under siege by goblins and trolls. Laberon charms the Goblin shaman leading the attacks, sending the trolls away, and the group fight the goblins. They met Thrug, the guardian of the Key, and get inside the fortification, that gets attacked by Trolls rocks again. The Key is actually a ten years old girl. Session 0 - Prologue In the middle of the Iron Sea, a large caravel slit the currents and high waves in a dense, heavy rain. The lightning flashes silhouettes of gargantuan creatures all around it, while tentacles, fins and horns are briefly seen in the water. For some reason, the creatures mostly stay out of the ship's path.

Inside the ship, a soak and heavily hurt crew constantly maneuver the sails. The captain, and old red haired grunt with a long beard, keeps screaming for directions to Tarak, a strong half-orc than stands on the bow, looking ahead. From time to time she points with one of her battle-hammers and screams back: "Starboard, 30 degrees... Now!"

A pair of Dark Elves look at each other on the stern. Despite their differences, Driz and Wyn have fought many battles together, and they eagerly wait for their destination, for very different reasons. As another lighting crosses the Iron Sea, they see their destination: a long spire of rock. On top of it, a bestial indescribable creature twirl its tentacles menacing.

On top of the bowsprit, Durbal the gnome is particularly intrigued by the spiraling carvings on the ancient door at the base of the spire. He recognize the key, the same key used to unlock the ancient doors of the Dark Forge. He screams at Laberon, the human that is barely standing due to his injuries. "The stone!", yelled Durbal, "the stone is the key!"

The crew prepares to fight and to throw out the anchor, as Tarak, Driz, Wyn, Durbal and Laberon jump into a side boat, to approach the spire. They try to keep spirits high under the freezing rain remembering when everything started so many months ago, on Axis, and how life changed so quickly. That first tavern brawl seems so distant now. They got out at the base of the spire, and the creature on top of that seems to avoid Laberon at all costs. The group stays together, and the human pushed the stone in the middle of the carved spiral. The door opens slowly and steadily, showing a dark path to the underground. The group takes a deep breath, and move towards its final battle.

Many months before (scenes):

A scene where Tarak, the half-orc pirate, sells something mysterious in Horizon to a robed figure. Next, she is unsuccessfully trying to buy a big caravel, and pick a flyer from the city's (Axis) wall: "Rat Tails Bouty: Dire Rats - 1 imp per tail; Wererats - 5 imps per tail" A scene in a tavern where Tarak shows the flyer to Durbal, where the gnome shows her some of his Axis' sewers map. A scene in the docks, where Tarak and Durbal are talking to a shadowy figure playing with his daggers (Driz), and delivering him a small coin sack. He follows them; when they cross a street lantern, they see the shadow of this person following them late. At the entrance to the sewers, they hire a soldier to go in the front with his shield. That soldier is Laberon. The next scene is the party fighting Dire Rats and Wererats in the sewers. A sneaky wererat almost strike Tarak, but she is saved by Wyn, a drow that probably had spent way too much time down there. The four heroes joins the drow, and get back to a tavern [The Drowned Ox] to collect their bounty.

Other GM Notes

• The Stone Thief is coming back and devouring the [civilized] world. She is the embodiment of the chaos gods (the Gauchultt).
• The world is a prison for the Gauchult, creatures from the Far Realms. That is why the gods are locked outside.
• Stones falling from the sky is a sign that something from other planes are entering this plane, and if kept locked, it might be destroyed. Those stones are increasing the Stone Thief powers.
• The mapmaker, a Gnome (father of Durbal), knows the locations of the seals spread through the world. If the seals are unlocked, the planar locks are released, and the gods can reenter the plane (starting the 14th age). This also means that the rest of the Gauchult can return as well.

 * So, the Gauchult needs to be destroyed first. They need the power of all seals, and the stone heart (picked from within!)
 * Once the planar binding is ended, the gods return. Devils as well. As plannar travellers. And more:

• Lolth will be back and end the underdark madness.
• Most icons will be absorbed / be Chosen. Priests will get really strong.
• The Priestess will be destroyed immediately.
• The Stone Thief Eyes need also to be secure before they fall in the wrong hands and restore the full power of the living dungeon.
• If the seals are not removed, The Stone Thief apotheosis will happen and probably destroy everything.
• The children being guarded by the monks is the Key to outer planes, as she is decendency of the Wizard King (now the Lich King).
• The shadow is actually a Gauchult that escaped, but was pulled back? Or it is a dark god trying to get first dibs?

Knowledge needs to increase gradually.

The key (Joannas) opens the dark City of the gauchult , where the anchor (stone) is stored.

Links with Characters:

• Durbal can take the charcters to the belly of the beast (The Stone Thief, in this case). He can also help a lot mapping the Stone Thief. Orcs are also comming to the Empire, sensing a weekness on the Archmage defenses.
• Wyn wants to bring Lolth back and end the gate blockade.
• Driz's Shadow is actually Mask, the god of Mischief (Loki?), that found that loophole to enter the prision. He wants the stone to secure his portfolio coming back. He does have connections with the Abyss, and an old enemy of the Diabolist.
• Tarak: can secure a great job and her boat.
• Laberal is the stone carrier. His memory was actually erased in the Stix river by Mask, because he wanted to secure the stone away from the gods. The Stix "smell" is what keeps creatures away.

Adventure Tier Recap Write-up

Prologue

In the middle of the Iron Sea, a large caravel slit the currents and high waves in a dense, heavy rain. The lightning flashes silhouettes of gargantuan creatures all around it, while tentacles, fins and horns are briefly seen in the water. For some reason, the creatures mostly stay out of the ship's path.

Inside the ship, a soak and heavily hurt crew constantly maneuver the sails. The captain, and old red haired grunt with a long beard, keeps screaming for directions to Tarak, a strong half-orc than stands on the bow, looking ahead. From time to time she points with one of her battle-hammers and screams back: "Starboard, 30 degrees... Now!"

A strange pair look at each other on the stern: Despite their differences, the dark elf Driz and the paladin Corinthian have fought many battles together, and they eagerly wait for their destination, for very different reasons. As another lighting crosses the Iron Sea, they see their destination: a long spire of rock. On top of it, a bestial indescribable creature twirl its tentacles menacing.

On top of the bowsprit, Durbal the gnome is particularly intrigued by the spiraling carvings on the ancient door at the base of the spire. He recognize the key, the same key used to unlock the ancient doors of the Dark Forge. He screams at Laberon, the human that is barely standing due to his injuries. "The stone!", yelled Durbal, "the stone is the key!"

The crew prepares to fight and to throw out the anchor, as Tarak, Driz, Corinthian, Durbal and Laberon jump into a side boat, to approach the spire. They try to keep spirits high under the freezing rain remembering when everything started so many months ago, on Axis, and how life changed so quickly. That first tavern brawl seems so distant now. They got out at the base of the spire, and the creature on top of that seems to avoid Laberon at all costs. The group stays together, and the human pushed the stone in the middle of the carved spiral. The door opens slowly and steadily, showing a dark path to the underground. The group takes a deep breath, and move towards its final battle.

Many months before...

The party originally met at a tavern, returning from a dire rats bounty quest. They are reached by Illara, an Archmage envoy, that explains that the Archmage is interested in a key being guarded at the Monastery of the Falling Sky. She also says that Yannos, a guide, can help them reaching the place.

The monastery

The monastery is under siege by goblins and trolls. Laberon charms the Goblin shaman leading the attacks, sending the trolls away, and the group fight the goblins.

They met Thrug, the guardian of the Key, and get inside the fortification, that gets attacked by Trolls rocks again. The Key is actually a ten to twelve years old girl, named Joanna.

The leader of the place is a strange gnome that calls himself the Map-Maker. He owns hundreds of maps, and he claimed to have mapped the whole world. He finally completed the locations of all known seals of the Galchutt, the lords of the Far Realm. Only the Key (Johanna) can unlock the seals that binds all planar creatures to this world.

The Archmage appears in a remote communication magical device, and explain some of the weird talk from the Map Maker:

The world was created to be a planar prision of sort. Mostly to keep the Galchutt scout here, and to not report back to the Far Realms. The gods didn't want to get imprisoned, so they mostly stayed out. To create this prison, 50 seals was spread across the city and prominent groups of that time.

The Gauchutt scouts were put to sleep under the Iron Sea. Their slumber affected the sea, creating all the behemoth monsters that inhabit that sea now. Over time, the seals started to fail. Only around half of them are still operational. The Map-Maker was able to pinpoint most of those.

Because they are failing, it is getting easier to get out of this plane. Some gods discovered this and got close to this plane: that is why the Priestess is a recent icon, and that is why the Crusader got a stronger connection with the dark gods. This thinner layer didn't wake the dormant Gauchutt, but awake the Stone Thief, the largest of the living dungeon. With the power of the Stone Thief heart and the power of the remaining seals, the Gauchutt can be destroyed forever.

The only known way of unlocking the seals and getting their power is to be touched by the creator of the seals (or his bloodline), the Wizard King. The Wizard King is now the Lich King, and Joanna his last decedent.

Without the seals, this world won't be a prison anymore, and the gods (and other extra-planar creatures) will be able to leave it if they enter, which is the ultimate goal of this current age icons to protect the world from the Far Realms.

The Sky Falls

A big eclipse of the sun happens, awakening the creatures of the Far Realms (and bringing some more in the form of far realm alien creatures). The party fought some of those creatures. This is probably what finally awaken the Stone Thief.

Axis

The party then sets its headquarters in Axis, the city inside a volcano, for a little while. The group is looking to buy a boat. Tarak talks to Stan, a doppleganger that is a ship salesperson. Stan shared a brochure with the group (see Ships) with different kind of ships, from a couple hundred to almost hundred grands.

Drows contacts reports that a drow priestess from House Barrison Del'Armgo is in the city. Apparently the drow are dominating Axis underground.

The party fights with Jaleh, a Cultist of the Devourer, a cult to the Stone Thief. Although the party was able to save a boy from being sacrificed, she did summoned the Stone Thief (apparently).

Thrug, the key guardian, gets killed in the gladiator arenas of Axis, leaving Joanna to be taken care by the group. They met Sammy, a charismatic fellow that is trying to be their agent in Axis. Illara procured some money, and Tarak is able to buy her boat, after a quest on a nearby island.

Shadow Port

Then, they start to get a crew for their ship, and the party plans a rescue mission for the Golden Blade Thomas, Stan's brother and master helmsman. He is a prisoner in the Kraken, a floating rock prison near Shadowport.

They find out that the magewright Bella was responsible for designing the rock, and they went to investigate her old tower. There, they fought traps and automated defenses, being able to secure her code book and some new magical items.

Their mission on the Kraken is sucessful, and they sail back to Axis with Thomas, that pledge alliance to the team. They heard that the a group of enhanced Kobolds moved one of the seals to Omen, the forbidden island in the Middle Sea.

Omen / Screamhunt Castle

The group goes on a quest on the mysterious island of Omen, where a bunch of Kobolds stole one of the seals. This was the Lich Queen phylactery seal. The group recovers the seal. Joanna became the living phylactery of the Lich Queen, but the queen still needs its body, which is sealed under the Screamhunt Castle.

In a dark stormy night, the party goes to the Castle, which is definitely haunted, and they recover the body, after fighting the castle itself. They barely have time to celebrate, as they get news that the Stone Thief is heading towards Axis!

The Stone Thief

The huge living dungeon is running towards Axis. The party sails fast in her direction, and get inside the beast. There, they find goblins, orcs and a lot of traps. They find that the Stone Thief is blind, and can only go if someone calls her directly (like the Cult of the Devour did in Axis earlier). One of the Eyes was stolen by the Prince of Shadows, and the other one is missing.

They also discover that a collective of stone people, that call themselves the Custodians, are running the different levels of the Stone Thief. Some areas inside are safe, but the large majority are unstable and very dangerous. They also found some Orc tribes organizing themselves there.

Eventually they get to the living dungeon stomach, and are able to hit it hard with a long lost explosive device from the Dwarf King, making the Stone Thief vomit the party (a few partially eaten towns) close to Axis border, and disappears again running towards Omen.

The Champions

Three months later... [here we will continue!]

You can choose what your characters did in that period, but I can help as well. You need to come up with:

Your new icon relationship point (gained at level 5), being either an increase of a current one, a completely new icon. You discovered a new aspect, information, or backstory related to your One Unique Thing. You had a funny/interesting side story with any of the NPCs of our campaign: Stan (the boat previous owner), Johanna (the key), Sammy (your promoter), Illara (the archmage aide), Laberon (the Bard, disappeared in the Stone Thief). You can also create a new NPC. Bonus point: if you can come up with a side personal quest that the rest of the group can help your character with. If you come up with those items, and share a brief explanation of what happened in the last three months, your character will get a new champion tier magic item related to the new icon you selected.