Events in the Inner Sea

## Threats from the Past

### Echo's of a Runelord

The party stumbles across a foe from ages past who is trying to gain his freedom.

#### Arrival in Sandpoint

The party, consisting of Darian, Naim-Les, and Velvet, arrived in the small port town of Sandpoint. There, they were hired to discover what had caused the many goblin tribes along the Lost Coast to join together so quickly. The mayor had hired another to investigate this but they never returned.

The party headed out of town and came across a group of goblins and their hound, pulling a tied up elf with them. The party quickly defeated the goblins and freed the elf. He thanked them and introduced himself as Tiamar. He informed them that he was the scout the mayor had hired. He was scouting out a large goblin camp farther to the north when he was ambushed and captured. The party followed him to the camp.

Though there was a close call with Velvet trying to get close to the camp and getting surrounded, the party was able to destroy the goblin forces and continue on to the Windsong Abbey, where Tiamar believes the source of the goblin's new found comradery. There, the party discovered a serpent-like being with two goblin guards. They battled against them and defeated them. Darian went to check out the basement and discovered a few things but kept them to himself. They returned to Sandpoint for their reward and rest.

#### The Stranger

Not long after their return, a man began to approach them with an offer; join me and my master and we shall grant you the things you want most in this world. Darian declined, Naim-Les became curious and Velvet went into deep thought. They decided to investigate this man more, while Naim-Les and Velvet met with him and his men at the docks, Darian waiting to follow them back to their hideout.

While Naim-Les and Velvet went with the man to meet his so called master, Darian followed the rest of his men to their base, a water-soaked old inn near the beach. The man brought them to a ruined obelisk and activated it, allowing his master to communicate telepathically with Naim-Les and Velvet. After discussing with him, they told the man they will have to think on it. Darian, still waiting, saw their leader return without his companions. He waited to listen to them, learning they planned on destroying Sandpoint if they decided to not take his offer. Darian left, but not before lighting a fire to the building and going to find the rest of the party.

Velvet had left on her own before Darian returned to find Naim-Les at the inn. They decided to investigate these people more and would keep their eyes open for Velvet. What they didn't know, is that Velvet had gone back to the obelisk to try and contact the strange voice she heard within her head. Before she could do anything, Darian and Naim-Les also arrived. They asked her some questions about what she was doing there, but ultimately decided to remove that man and his followers from the city. They headed for the inn they were using as their base and engaged in a fight. However, Velvet turned against Darian and Naim-Les, siding with the one who offered her heart's desire.

The fight eventually came to just Darian, Naim-Les, and Velvet. Velvet had cased a charm spell on Naim-Les, who was having a hard time keeping her and Darian seperate. Eventually, Darian was able to escape Naim-Les's hold and killed Velvet, freeing Naim-Les from the spell. They retrieved what they wanted from her corpse and returned to their inn.

#### A New Ally and a New Mission

The next day, a ship arrived in Sandpoint and with it, the Tian Monk named Kazumi. She headed to the inn and met with Darian and Naim-Les, who were in the middle of breakfast. They eventually decided to join up when Tiamar, the scout they had rescued a few days prior, approached them. He asked that they meet with him somewhere privately as he had something to tell them away from prying ears.

They all gathered in a room upstairs, where Tiamar told the party his true purpose for being in Sandpoint. He belonged to an ancient group in Varisia whose sole purpose is to keep the ancient Runelords from escaping their prisons. One of these Runelords had recently awoken and is gathering followers to him to free him then conqure Varisia. He asked the party to join him and after some deliberating, they accepted.

The next morning, Tiamar was found outside his room, poisoned and his room's door wide open. The party began to investigate but ended up finding nothing. One of the guards who inspected the body brought a few things to the party, asking if Tiamar was their friend. They were given a map of Varisia with the island of Rivenrake circled. They decided to book passage.

They arrived at Rivenrake Island and met some undead dwelling on the island. They made their way inland and found a ruined village that hadn't been touched in hundreds of years. After searching through it, Naim-Les discovered a book containing a ritual on sealing a Runelord. They continued on and came across a large city with a keep near the center with a large green aura surrounding it. The party fought their way through the streets and entered the keep. Inside, they found an ancient looking figure sealed within a large green gem-like prison and his guardian, some kind of skeletal wizard.

The battle with this protector was long. The party was eventually captured and chained with shackles. Darian was able to pick the lock and free themselves and Kazumi suggested using the shackes to hold down their enemy. They eventually pinned him and beat on him until he was defeated. The party quickly began the ritual from the book and resealed the Runelord.

### A Mother's Love

During the past events, Naim-Les had began reading on the language of Infernal and sending messages to his demon mother, unknown to the rest of the party.

#### The Journey to Magnimar

The party managed to make their way to the island south of Rivenrake with a rowboat. During their travels, a large and vicious storm blew through and from the brief flashes of lightning, they witnessed a sailing ship sink near the shore of the island. The next day, they found a strange wizard who appeared to be shouting at something. When they investigated, this man was shouting at a dretch demon. They learned that this man was named Bahram and he had bound this demon to his service as a punishment for trying to steal from one of his stores.

The party made their way to the shipwreck and discovered a few members of the crew had survived but had been captured by local lizardmen. Naim-Les and Kazumi decided to rescue them with Darian joining in. They freed the crew and decided to take them and Bahram back to Magnimar.

When they reached the city, Bahram offered them each a choice of three magic items as a reward for rescuing him. They eventually stumbled upon the murder of a cleric of Gorum, who was tortured and killed with a sythe. The weapon was left at the scene but any wizard the guards took it to were unable to scy anything off it. Naim-Les began growing worried while Darian went off on his own to learn more. Kazumi went to find Darian but was having trouble, a woman in a fine red dress approached her and informed her that she saw Darian enter the Temple of Gorum. She walked off into the crowed and Kazumi entered the temple but didn't see Darian so she headed back to the inn.

Darian eventually returned with some information about where the murdered cleric was staying. Kazumi informed him of the woman in red and Darian didn't like that someone was able to keep up with his ability to remain hidden. They decided to look into the cleric's room. There, they learned that the cleric was in Magnimar searching for a fugitive who slaughtered some members of his faith and was meeting with a noblewoman named Adula. When the party went downstairs, Darian noticed six men watching them, carrying weapons and armor.

They decided to try and lead them into an ally but the men were onto them and had three of their own climb the buildings to fire arrows from above. The party was able to defeat these men and leave one alive for questioning. Eventually the man spilled on who hired him, a group calling themselves the Cult of the Depths and he was to meet with them in an old shack built on the beach. The party decided to look into it.

#### The Cults of Magnimar

The party made their way to the hut the mercenary described and dealt with the cult members inside. They found some letters that informed them that the cult has gone to great lengths to keep the majority of their members hidden and separate from the rest. With this dead end, they turned their attention to the woman in the red dress. Asking around, they learned this woman's name was Adula and headed to the Alabaster District where the wealthiest of the city lived.

When they arrived at her manor, she told the party that since her husband's death, she has grown concered with the city. She believes that a war has developed between two demonic cults fighting for control of the city but no one believes her. She wanted the party's aid in this fight and will dedicate her resources to finding their hideouts and having the party eliminate them. Darian decided to go to the "bathroom" and see what he could find in the house. He stumbled upon some interesting things within Adula's bedroom then quickly returned to the party. The party agreed to help her and headed back to the inn, but Darian went to look into what he found in Adula's bedroom. He discovered the bodies of Adula and a servant from her manor. He returned to the party to inform them of what he found.

They decided to use Adula for the time being, using her resources to find these cults then turn their attention to her. A servant of her's arrived the next morning with the location of the Cult of the Depth's leader and information on their plan; to summon a massive tidal wave to destroy the city. The party recruited a cleric of Gorum to come with them into the sewers to find the cult's leader.

The party found the cult and quickly battled their way through to stop the ritual. The cult leader disappeared from sight so the party turned their attention to the rest of the cult. During the battle, the cleric of Gorum was killed by the cultists. When they were almost done dispatching them, a demon came from the entrance behind them with the cult leader behind it. After a rough start, the party was able to defeat the summoned demon and kill the cult leader.

When they returned to Adula's manor, they found a bag on the dinning room table. They opened it and discovered an unfamiliar severed head. They quickly began searching the manor and found their way into the basement, where they found Adula and some armed guards. She was whispering arcane words has she grasped a dark, swirling, purple orb in her palms. A battle quickly broke out and Adula revealed herself to be Naim-Les's mother. She tried to get Naim-Les to join her and he eventually grabbed her and pinned her down. She laughed to herself as she grabbed him and teleported away.

In shock, Darian began looking for traps for he saw no other way Naim-Les could have disappeared. Kazumi, realizing that the demon had something to do with it, left and headed towards her least favorite wizard, Bahram. Meanwhile, Darian found a servant and began questioning him to see if he knew about the demon that he had been working for. Kazumi made a deal with Bahram; in exchange for bring Naim-Les back, she and her companions would have to hear out a friend of his arriving in the city within one week. Whether they decided to help them or not was not part of the deal. She agreed and Bahram pulled Naim-Les out of the Abyss and back into the Material Plane. He warned them that the demons would seek revenge and began warding up his shop. Naim-Les and Kazumi returned to the inn to find a drunk Darian.

#### A Game of Shadows

When the party awoke from their rest and descended to the ground floor of the inn, they found a large number of dismembered body parts and blood all over the inn. Before they could do much, they heard guards quickly approaching the building. Naim-Les and Kazumi fled while Darian stayed behind to listen. He learned the guards had recieved an anonymous tip about this and had put out a city-wide alert to find Darian, Kazumi, and Naim-Les. Darian headed to Bahram's place for help while Kazumi and Naim-Les hid in the old shack where they fought the members of the Cult of the Depths.

Darian had Bahram search the city, magically, for signs of demon activity. He discovered multiple areas within the city with demonic auras and showed him on a map of the city. Darian scouted out one of the places and learned they planned on opening a portal to the Abyss to bring demons into the city. He returned to the party and they battled their way past the lookouts and stopped the ritual. They learned that all the areas Bahram and shown on the map were also locations where they planned on opening similar portals. Darian found a way to inform the city guards of this so they could remove this while the party went to deal with whoever was leading this force.

The party returned to Bahram who informed them that within Adula's manor is where they would find the strongest demon aura. The party headed back to the Alabaster District to find it under heavy guard. They returned to Baharm who was able to cast invisibility on them so they could sneak past the guards. The party made their way through the district and into the basement of Adula's manor once again.

There, they found a Shadow Demon doing a similar ritual as they found Adula doing before. They fought their way to him but this foe proved to be less toying than Naim-Les's mother. He was able to copy himself and his body was resistance to most types of damage. Darian was struck down and Naim-Les soon after. Kazumi tried to retrieve Darian and escape but the demon had his copies prevent that.

The party was defeated and the Shadow Demon and what was left of Naim-Les's mother's minions brought a Blood Fortress from the Abyss onto Magnimar.