Shadows
From Cauldron
This site supports the Shadow and Flame campaign, a Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition game.
Contents |
Introduction
The campaign is intended to test-drive the 4th Edition rules. We will use only the three core books in this campaign (plus adventures).
The Cast
- Cherry Garsia, a Warlock and Paladin-of-Correlon Tiefling who boasts of being related to "Grandpa Orcus" and being a Dragonslayer.
- Balasar, a Dragonborn Fighter
- Sovelissa, an Eladrin Wizard
- Trojan, an Eladrin Paladin-of-Melora; he was killed and dragged into the Shadowfell by the Thing in The Darkness (Orcus?) in Session 6.
- Bishop, a Human Fighter. Bishop fell to the frothing rage of the goblin Irontooth in Session 2.
- Kenny the Knife, a halfling rogue and swashbuckler
- Derbie (aka Dergie), a dwarven cleric of a mysterious deity
The Game
See also Tabletop Lessons.
- 01 Aug 08 Session 1: Kobold Hall
The party - comprising a Tiefling [Cherry], a decrepit old Eladrin hag, and a [?] - journey to Kobold Hall, attempting to cleanse this verminous nest of the kobolds (and chase rumours of a dragon). They fall while assaulting the kobold fortifications deep inside the hall, with only the Tiefling making his escape. He returns with many kobold-ears, and tells all of his great success in slaying the dragon. The others, it would appear, got stuck below the dragon's body - and perished.
- 15 Aug 08 Session 2: A Mission in Winterhaven
Although Kobold Hall has been abandoned, the kobold raids on the roads have not. Fallcrest's mayor asks the PCs (the surviving Cherry, plus four other adventurers) to locate a real hero, one [??]] who is chasing rumours of dragons near the village of Winterhaven. The party survives a kobold ambush, and manages to locate the hero - only to find he is dead. Venturing into a kobold's lair, they manage to defeat the kobolds - but with great difficulty, only triumphing at the end with the aid of Ninnaran, the Elf Ranger, and then too losing Bishop, the fighter.
- 03 Sep 08 Session 3: Entering The Keep on the Shadowfell
Clues in the kobold's lair lead the party to return to Valathru the Prescient at Winterhaven, where he informs them of the ancient Keep's true mission - guarding a rift to Orcus' realm in the Shadowfell, a rift that the clues they uncovered say is now being opened again by the priest Kalael. With the aid of the elf maiden Delphina, they proceed to the keep, where they discover the underground complex still intact. They fight their way through the entrance, Baladar nearly dying at the hands of a Goblin torturer.
- 19 Sep 08 Session 4: Deeper into the Keep
Pushing forward, they assault the goblin chief's compound, which is ready for them. They succeed nonethless, forcing the chieftein and three goblins to escape through a secret door. The party continues to explore a burial site, making short work of some zombies.
- 27 Sep 08 Session 5: Deeper Still
The party runs into the ghost of Sir Keegan, last defender of the Keep. After convincing him of their worth, he gives them his sword and some advice and sends them off to stop the ongoing ritual. Bahamut's magic rejuvenates them, and they continue downward. The fight off some hobgoblins and a nasty spider, and obliterate a room-full of traps with "artillery" shots. Brushing off more lesser undead, they are finally at the gateway to the underground Cathedral holding the rift.
- 01 Oct 08 Session 6: The Depths of Darkness
The party enter the Cathedral, where they face fierce opposition trying to delay them. A pitched battle erodes the character's resources. Trojan falls three times, but always manages to bounce back to his feet. At the end, the stalwart Balasar finishes off the Orcus underpriest and the party, after catching their breath, desceends into the ritual chamber below. There they fight off Kalael and one of his minions. A difficult fight, the party almost despairs. No one even bothers to save Trojan as he falls and gets draggged to the Shadowfell through the rift. All Sovelissa can do is stand across, hurling useless magic arrows that bounce off the evil cleric's armor. For a time all seems lost, but through some good luck and a few tactical mistakes by Kalarel the party at last manages to kill him. Again, Balasar was the one standing up to Kalarel, and ultimately killing him. The Thing in the Darkness still writhes beyond the portal, eager to burst through, but the dark ritual was stopped, keeping him on the other side.
Some pictures: Trojan's first fall (blurry, working the camera), Trojan's second fall, Trojan's third fall (finally got the camera working properly), Trojan dragged through the rift, Kalarel fallen.
- Session 7: A New Beginning
The party, with changed personell, are alerted by a sparrow, speaking in Ninnaran's voice, that "Undead everywhere, the rift has been breached, come quickly". Riding to Winterhaven - they refused to pay for a teleportation circle - they found it almost in ruins, after an assualt by undead. Most people were barricaded in the keep. The party moved forward in dawn, and after an acrobatics-filled fight with some undead pierced through to Valathrun's tower. [The fight included jumping across roofs, Balasar charging through a door, and more.] They discovered Valathrun mumbling in madness. He has clawed his own eyes out, and kept saying "Please, no more, I've seen too much! Too much!". Investigation revealed that he directed "Him", whoever his interrogator was, to "The Tomb", some 5 days' journey to the north. Attempts to clarfify things more clearly were not succefull, but it seemed like it was Valathrun's information that was the purpose of the assault, and now the undead army was headed north. Investigating his diaries also revealed that he lied about the rift - it was to the Far Realm, not the Shadowfell.
The party sped to the Keep on the Shadowfell, and there found some undead and the rift slightly ajar, as if torn from within. They resealed the rift and cleansed the place, in the process finding Ninaran - dead. Sovelissa spent some time studying the Speak with the Dead ritual from Valathrun's book, and then proceeded to cast it. Explaining the situation, they asked what he would do now if he were alive. He said he would travel to the Seer of the Black Queen, a monastery a short distance to the north.
The party followed Ninarran's advice, but found out from a group of merchants that the Seer is traveling north himself, on the same route. Speeding, they managed to run into the Raven Queen's pirgramige. At this point, more or less, we called it a session.
- Session 8: The Seer
The party talks with the seer, which doesn't prove too fruitful. Talking to the high priestess, Cherry discusses the tomb the pilgrims are heading to, which causes the young Seer some dismay. Making him ask her where the tomb is, the seer says "I don't know where the tomb is. They do!", pointing to a small horde of mad cultists storming the pilgrimage!
A battle ensues, where the PCS effectively handle the marauders, Balsar cornering an entire front while the rest face off the rest. The priest Derbie comes out in this fight, too, assisting the party. Just as things start to clear up, an hippogriff swoops in carrying a tiefling warrior and snatches the coffin of St. Malagaunt's bones. With a flurry of activity, the party manages to bring it down, and fell the rider. Sovelissa traps him with an icy grip, Cherry draws him close to the ground, and Kenny jumps to him, toppling the hippogriff that crahses onto the trees. Jumping onto the trees, he blinds the tiefling and kicks him over to Balasar. Jumping still after him, he blinds him again with a flurry of knives. Sovelissa casts freezing cold spells that destroy the remaining minions and the hipogriff. The tiefling warrior manages to blindly stumble hius way out of the sordied mess, only to be undone by Cherry's witchfire. The battle is ended, with the PCs defeating the mysterious rider and the raiding party.
The Outline
The adventures begun with Kobold Hall from the 4e DMG, set in the town of Fallcrest in Nentir Vale. We followed it up with Keep on the Shadowfell, Wizard's official first adventure.
