Arkadean Knights Redux

**Arkadean Knights Redux** is the first major long-term campaign played by members of HotBox. It follows the group of misfits, currently known as the The Pumpernickelbacks. This campaign chronicles their adventure through the Arkadean Kingdom, located in the center of the continent Nuros, but perhaps may reach throughout the continent and world of Eldaen as whole.

The campaign began around mid-July in the year 2022. It is a retelling of a somewhat shorter campaign started by a few members of HotBox in 2016. The characters began this campaign at level 2 with the 5th Edition Dungeons and Dragons system. The events spanning this campaign begin in the year 392 A.E. (Anno Exaltare), but certain flashbacks and relevant events begin long before the Kingdom of Arkadea even formed.

Early 2023, the campaign converted to the Pathfinder 2e system. Justin Raymundo acts as the Gamemaster for both iterations.

## Campaign Summary

### Prologue: Greenrock

The campaign began in the town of Greenrock, a fast-growing trade hub. The town was abuzz as the renowned criminal, Silas Cronn, had been finally caught and was awaiting execution. Along with Silas, a few other criminals were scheduled to be executed, one of which was Gorn. However, Silas taunted Lord Mayor Edward Ducain and his daughter, Nel. Their ensuing argument bought enough time for a large number of Cronn Bandits to enter the town square and wreak havoc. From a nearby rooftop, Silas's sister Silva, along with a mysterious figure called Rakam helped free Silas before promptly disappearing. To help the townspeople, a group of bystanders joined forces to fight a wave of Cronn Bandits.

After the fight that cleared the market square of bandits, Koda Halfglass interrogated one the party kept alive. She explained to the party that Silas's ambitions had got the better of his sense. Most joined his band of criminals just for gold and treasure. The sacking of a town was an extreme action taken by Silas. The party let her go and began hearing the sounds of a manticore. A few members of this newly formed party recognized the presence of manticore is a warning to an even greater threat, a Chimera. The party runs south towards the markets. Along the way, they noticed silence from the nearby buildings, but the sound of faint screaming in the direction they were running towards. Eventually, the party heard the roar of a manticore flying towards them. Most hid by nearby trees, but Gorn and Fulrain faced it head on. They used music and animal sounds, distracting and confusing the creature. Overwhelmed with these noises, the manticore flies towards the southeast.

At the market district, the party found several injured and dead townsfolk and bandits. They also met a merchant named Ervan Blackwood. Ervan was treating some of the wounded, but explained to the party that several of them had been poisoned by the manticore. He requested the party find his cart, which had been taking by Cronn Bandits, as it contained the necessary antidote. The party agreed, and made their way west. Fulrain, however, went further west towards the Forest Gate.

The party reached the main guard barracks and met Tamira. At the barracks, they discussed the situation outside and discovered only a few of the townsfolk were able to head to the barracks for safety. The party began fortifying the barracks using their abilities. Koda, Kavrala, and Lia went down to the prison cells where they met a few criminals believed to be affiliated with the Cronn Bandits. They discussed with them for a bit, and just when Koda was able to convince some of them to help the party, the bandits exploded in a purple blaze.

Fulrain ended up captured by a patrolling group of Cronn Bandits. During his incarceration, he learned that the band of criminals were taking animals from the Great Virescence and caging them. He also met Rakam face to face, who extracted a vial's worth of blood from Fulrain. Silas was present and seemed in shock in learning of Rakam's manipulations throughout the entire operation. Rakam fed some of Fulrain's blood to a caged chameleon and threw it out the window towards the forest. Fulrain fell through the tower opening and landed outside the Forest Gate. He escaped, running east towards the guard barracks, hearing the sounds of the Chimera being summoned. Along the way, townsfolk began running with Fulrain towards safety, as the Chimera behind them started incinerating buildings. The party reunites at the barrack stronghold and devise a plan to send the townsfolk down the sewers and cave the entrance.

Underground in the sewers the party rested with the townsfolk they had saved, hearing the faint sounds of the Chimera's destruction. The party traversed the newly constructed sewer system to find a way out. During this time, they encountered a heavily injured Ervan. He explained that the bandits had killed Lord Ducain and Lady Nel. The party left him with the rest of the townsfolk and continued their exploration, and eventually discovered a hideout of sorts. They fought a few Cronn Bandits and saved a small menagerie of critters, one of which became Luna's animal companion, Toothless. They return to the makeshift camp and gathered everyone to follow them out a northern path that led outside.

The party emerged and met two knightly orders at odds: the Forbidden Sun from Sunhold and the the Crownhold's Viridian Compass. Their argument stemmed from the manner in which they stopped the Chimera. The Forbidden Sun argued that the cavalry from the capital acted to hastily and broke sacred protocol. The Viridian Compass explained that their actions focused on saving people. The party made friends with Knight Captain Esmeralda from the Viridian Compass. Koda attempted to parley with the Forbidden Sun, but their angry leader, Cardinal Alonzo Odessa activated an aura that gave Koda a heat stroke. The party revived Koda, and they made final preparations. Finally, they met with Ervan at the Merchant Guild Branch Building, who led them to his office. He revealed a Focus Crest and told the party they would teleport to the capital if someone would be able to cast any movement-affecting spell. Lia did so, and the Focus Crest converted the lower ranked spell to one that can make use of a teleport circle. The party teleported away from Greenrock and entered the capital city, Archon, for the first time together.