The Princes of the Apocalypse (Campaign)

## Overview

The Princes of the Apocalypse is the second campaign played by the team. The important party members include Lilith Nyx, Griffon Lamora, Bob Shadowskull and Faindir. The DMPC Cassum Gard lent his aid to the party in his travels. Each found their way to the town of Red Larch in the Dessarin Valley on different journeys, many following a call that hinted harm would befall the area, but together they joined forces to investigate the woes of the locals, including the recent fowl weather.

Other major characters include Kalyessa Irkell. No other NPCs have made much of an impact as of yet.

***Note***: This campaign was originally played years earlier, but was discontinued after a Total Party Kill. Then the members included Ramzey Gauntletsmasher, Namia of the Ashes, Griffon Lamora (Original Apperance), Arwen Basket and Corwyn Solarius. The character's backstories are considered canon lore, but there efforts after the start of the campaign is erreased.

## Plot

### Midsummer Celebrations

The town of Red Larch is in the throes of celebration when the adventures awake on the day. It is Midsummer, and despite being a day blessed by the Gods themselves, rain falls heavily and the wind howls as it blows through the street. The townsfolk ignore the rains as much as possible and take to the streets to party. Harburk Tuthmarillar, the town constable patrolled the festivities as everyone enjoyed the day, including the foolish half-orc who danced and clapped in a space far from anyone else in the crowd. Ceremonies are held by the pious in the Allfaiths Shrine. By the evening, all are hungry and tired, and the feast begins in the main room of the Swinging Sword Inn. Kalyessa Irkell has the soon-to-be party seated together and introductions begin.

Together the party share stories, commenting on each others accents and appearances, and sizing each other up. Things are jovial until the matron of the establishment joins the table to gossip and chat with her newest patrons. Kalyessa tells them all of the local troubles, including tales of bad weather (an ill omen especially today) and stories of mist persisting in the Sumber Hills and changes in the winds too.

### A Town Inspected

The following morning, the heroes spread out and check out the town. Lilith sought out the Allfaiths Shrine, Fainder seeks out word of lightning from those at the Helm at High Sun, Griffin helped the locales with the festival clean up, checking out the poultry mart at the same time, while Bob accidentally skulked about the wagon works Thelorn's Safe Travels before finding Vallivoes Sundries. In a book there, Bob learned of Lance Rock, the nearby landmark, and how it is said a Dragon dropped it there centuries before. The group also heard of a delegation of surface dwelling Dwarfs expected to come through Red Larch in a few tendays, which is sure to be a historic event.

Upon crossing paths in the crossroads of town, the individual party members witnessed Cassum Gard being kicked out of The Tarnlar's Clothier for dirtying the place with his muddy boots, her yelling at him to go get a bath up the street. The party noticed he was an adventurer as well, based on the duel quivers on his back, and Griffon gathered that the wet mud on hit boots, that didn't leave footprints behind, was magical mud, likely from the High Moor, though that is some distance away... Cassum then disappeared into the mess of the town buildings leaving the party to continue on with their business. As a group they went inside Tarnlar's, speaking to the co-owner Maelga about the man she just throw out. She wasn't very helpful, but her children took an interest in the heroes, especially Griffin with his scar. After leaving (and scaring away one of the younger kids with playful threats), the children followed the party outside, trying to big themselves up as heroes in the making. They warned the party about warnings of a plague at Lance Rock, but the party was skeptical.

Later, the party split up before dinner, Lilith and Bob heading to the Allfaiths Shrine and questioning the visiting priest Imdarr Relvaunder, a follower of Tempus, about his involvement with the Order of the Gauntlet and their part in protecting the Dessarin Valley. He was quick to point out he his but a priest and Red Larch is his charge, but if substantial evidence of foul trouble can be found, he'll see to it the Order have their eyes on the situation. He did point them to whispers the quarry workers have been spreading when prompted, those of masked watchers who stalk the workers in the dead of night. Meanwhile, Griffon and Faindir visited with Harburk Tuthmarillar, the town Constable, who himself could not lend much of a hand but was happy to know adventures were looking out for the town beyond what little he can do. Eventually they rejoined for dinner at the Helm at High Sun, where the party officially formed to seek out the truth of the dangers they can all feel in the air.

### A Shepherd's Secret

After their formative dinner, most of the party stayed at the Helm to enjoy each others company, and the lute playing Griff performed for the crowd. Faindir instead followed up on a lead he has received earlier, visiting the barber and trader Marlandro Gaelkur, as locales gathered in the makeshift speakeasy. While there, he questioned a worried shepherd by the name of Larmon Greenboot, who tried to keep to himself but let slip he had seen something he wished he hadn't out in the hills some days ago. He ran off sacred of what an outsider like Faindir could do to him, leaving only a hint of something to find out in the reaches around the small town. However, Faindir didn't leave the barber's turned speakeasy until he had received a full face shave, with all the annoyed drinkers watching the whole thing in uneasy but impressed matter.

Together the party ventured forth and aimed for the hills outside of Red Larch. With the help of Cassum, who the party had gathered to their cause after finding him happily playing with a mastiff named Butterball who was tied up to the side of a business as a guard dog, they explored the hills to the Northeast of the town. Eventually the came to the spot the locals call Trickerock Cave. The entrance to the cave posed a challenge for the party as it was only about a foot wide. Squeezing through the crevasse for about 20 feet until they emerge in the central cavern. It didn't take long to realize that there is no treasure hidden here, but there was a nest of Stirges who attacked on sight. It was difficult for some of the team to fight in the dark, but they slew the creatures without taking harm. The searching was unfortunately a bust, and with a setting sun soon to come, the party headed back to Red Larch, with plans in mind to investigate the rumours of the masked watchers.

### An Ambush (Of Sorts)

Back in town, the party arrive to find the farmers' market in it's ending phases. Checking out the scene the party recognize a the Half-Orc from the Midsummer Festival, the one who made a foll of himself. Even now the locals avoid him, aside from the ones who openly steal his pickled egg wares as he smiles back at them. Griffon manages to make Grund happy by overpaying for some eggs with a shiny silver piece. On there way out of the market, the party run into Elak Dornen walking his dog Butterball. As a town elder, Dornen warns the party not to make trouble, while also warning them away from the useless Grund, saying "that boy is r-e-tarded".

Moving on, the party have themselves a meal at The Helm at High Sun, but not before meeting up with Kaylessa at her inn. Having made a bit of a name for themselves as helpful adventurers, she asks them to investigate Lance Rock for the town as nobody else will. She offers them 50gp total for their effort, although Lilith agreed to help before any payment was offered. Over their dinner, the group plan their next move as they investigate the watchers by night over at the quarry. Asking Cassum's help, the party surround the quarry and wait. Sure enough, 6 watchers in robes and masks appear to menacingly watch the stone cutters work. That's as well as things go. Bob casts *Sleep* on the group as soon as their presence is noticed, knocking out two of the figures, but the effects didn't last long. The party ready for a fight, but surprisingly the hooded people flee into the hills to the North after shaking awake the sleeping pair. Making one last ditch attempt to capture one, Faindir sprinted to tackle the sleepy straggler, but missed. However he did catch a glimpse of a face in the night.

With the Watchers fled, the party regroup, and Faindir shows the rest the half mask he found where the sleeping watcher laid. It was cracked, but the half that was intact resembled a gargoyle's face and was made of stone. Leaving Cassum to track the trail of the watchers, the party left to visit Gaelkur's again with the hopes he could help them, and that he would still be open at this hour. He wasn't. However, there were sounds of tools and work going on within his shop this late. Attempting to spy on him, Faindir's armor made too much noise and Gaelkur himself came out to meet the party but expecting burglars. He was pisses to be disturbed so late. Lilith managed to convince him to take a look at the mask in return for leaving him alone. He wasn't very helpful but the party did learn the mask was handcrafted and a unique item.

### The Last Laugh

The following morning, the party returned to their investigations. Cassum returned to meet them, but his night was uneventful. The trail of the watchers lead through the hills but ended back at the Long Road, losing any pursuers among the foot traffic of the well traveled trade route. With not much else to go on they spoke some more to the locals about the mask, including Vallivoe who told them of "a skull pinned to a tree in the hills, as a possible warning." They also returned to Grund, who was not helpful, but wanted a piggy back from his "friend" Bob just like Lilith had gotten. Bob said no.

The party trekked out into the Sumber Hills again to fine this warning, passing Tricklerock Cave again as they did. Upon finding it, both Faindir and Griffon handled the black painted arrow and the note attached. No sooner did they both touch it than they were hit with hallucinations of laughing skulls flying at them. The note read "The Last Laugh. You'll be next! Valklondar" and was printed on black dyed human skin rather than parchment. The group decided that they should bring the arrrow back to the Allfaiths Shrine, fearing it is cursed. On their way back, the party waylaid and killed a pair of Orcs traveling the hills, noting they came from the Iceshield Tribe.

Once back in Red Larch again, they dropped off the black arrow for inspection by the clergy there, then all took a bath together Haeleeya's Bathhouse and Dress Shop. It was there, from Haeleeya herself that the party were asked to investigate a new potential danger. Pell, an adventuring granddaughter of another local, had found a tomb in the nearby hills. By itself that is not unusual, but she swears that it was haunted. Reluctantly for some members, the party agree to check out the situation the next morning. Before setting out, they rest up at the Inn, where both Faindir and Griffon were tormented by nightmares of skulls laughing through the night.

### A Jaunt and a Haunt

Venturing back out into the hills, the group met with their first direct experience of the bad weather that has been assaulting the region. A strong gust of hot air crashed over the party on they way to the tomb, buffeting all but Bob and even sending Griffon crashing to the ground. As soon as it came, it passed, and they continued on until they found the passage grave they seek. Faindir took the lead in inspecting the entrance, finding that both large and small footprints come and go, then with the help of Lilith they moved the ajar stone covering. Doing so tripped the alarm set by somebody, as metal pots and pan pieces clattered on the ground. Expecting a fight, the party ran inside with weapons draw in hopes of getting the upper hand. The inside room was empty.

Bob took the lead in examining the stone slab there, discovering that this tomb was the resting place of a long lost warrior noble, based on the indications of what ritual items may had been left here but are now pillaged. Next, attentions turned to the rusted iron door set in the eastern wall, but before anyone can start on it, Cassum flags movement outside the entrance as he watched the party's rear. A Goblin, he saw. Deciding to clear out the attackers before going deeper, the party ran out of the tomb as quick and as noisily as they had ran in. Faindir took the lead, only to be met by not only a Goblin, but by a Half-Ogre as well.

Combat did ensue, with Faindir taking the first blow, an arrow straight in the jaw which put him on death's door if not for his *Second Wind* ability. Not letting that stop him, he charged at the Half-Ogre and ran him through with his sword, leaving a decent wound. The Goblin, who was the leader of the pair, hid behind his large friend while he fired back arrows, at the same time Bob and Griffon unloaded *Fire Bolts* and *Eldritch Blasts* into the big one with the help of Lilith's *Bless*. Pretty quickly the Half-Ogre was wounded, and crying out to his little buddy that "This isn't what you said, we weren't going to get hurt!" he surrendered. Faindir spared the pair, telling them to get lost and not to come back or they will die, and the pair did so. Before they left, Bob gave his picked egg from Grund's stall to the Half-Ogre. Only upon fleeing did they pair learn their foe's names, Mougra (Goblin) and Geeraugh (Half-Ogre).

Heading back inside, the party finally return to the iron door, but no sooner do they touch it than a ghostly warrior appears from behind it, demanding they leave immediately. The longer they questioned the ghost, the angrier he got, constantly demanding these "looters" scram and leave his forgotten lord to rest. They party pushed their luck some, but eventually decided to leave before causing another fight. Sealing the tomb behind them, they left the spirits to rest at last.

### Treasure and Tragedy.

Back in town, the group once again have dinner together in the Helm at High Sun, only Griffon was late to the party. While alone, Harburk the Constable came to ask his aid with banditry nearby the town, out on the Cairn road. Griff agreed they would likely help, but meanwhile inside the Helm, the rest of the party was getting a different kind of proposition. A half drunk Halfling name Stannor Thistlehair came over to introduce himself, ordering drinks for himself on the party's tab and calling everyone "Honey-cheeks" and "Pretty Boy". He attempted to get the adventures to bribe him for "10 gold somethings in his palm" in return for information the party might want. Using his *Illusory Script* spell, Bob tricked the drunk into thinking a note reading "Stannor is a fucking idiot" is in fact treasure map leading to a safely hidden cache of Goblin gold worth 100gp, which the group traded to him for the info instead. Stannor told them his boss Ilmeth Waelvur of Waelvur Wagonworks has a secret. He and others in robes have been meeting in a tunnel hidden at the back of his shed in his business' yard. Stannor then left the tavern after giving everyone the finger and making a big scene, yelling he's rich!

After sharing a laugh, the party call it a day, planning to run Harburk's errand in the morning before returning to investigate their new lead at the Wagonworks. It would not be as simple as that however. During the night, Griffon and Faindir continue to suffer nightmares as well as exhaustion, an ill omen for the day to come. The party left Red Larch come the morning, eventually finding tracks off the Cairn road that lead to the rumored bandits. Four of them set up a camp just off the road, complete with a captured Black Bear in a cage. Quickly battle ensued and Bob got the drop on them, casting *Sleep* on two of the bandits while Faindir rushed in headlong to cut the nearest thief down. Griffon and Cassum attacked from afar while Lilith helped her party with *Bless*. In the commotion of the skirmish, the bear broke out of it's cage and mauled the nearest bandit, killing him. With two of them killed and two magically sleeping, Faindir took against the bear with his crossbow, tagging it in the back end.It would be the last thing he ever did, as while retreating the rushing bear took it's vengeance. Barreling a full 40ft towards him, the bear mauled Faindir with a critical hit of it's claws, sinking them deep in the flesh of his chest. The injury was severe enough to render him unconscious, allowing the bear to clam down it's jaws on Faindir's head, crushing it in it's teeth and killing him.

With the shock of the raging bear as a powerful driver, Bob ran to wake up the bandit in hopes of teaming up to fight of the animal, but by the time he was able to do so, Lilith had singed the bear beyond it's life with a *Guiding Bolt* spell. With the bear now dead, the sleeping bandit was dispatched by Griffon's spells. Only the awoken bandit was left, now hobbled and on the verge defeat with Cassum's arrow in one leg and Bob's whacking the other out from under him. Moving to put distance between himself and the bandit, Bob left himself open to attack, taking a bolt to the shoulder and then the chest, leaving him in a critical state. Lilith stabilized him with a cantrip soon after but he was already on the cusp of death. Cassum and Griffon were kick to clean up the last resistance.

Leaving the party to their own devices, Cassum took back to the Cairn road to watch for any reinforcements while Lilith helped Bob back to his feet. Griffon instead looted the body of his fallen friend, taking his light crossbow and bolts, as well as his explorer's pack and gold. He even took one of his eyes, keeping it in his pocket where Faindir could forever count his change for him. The others in the party were right to judge him. The group stayed at the camp for an hour, taking a short rest before returning to town, but not before lighting a pyre for Faindir's final goodbye. As they were about to leave, a heaviness filled the air like a growing charge until a single bolt of lightning stuck the Half-Elf's body in some sign of the times to come. The remaining heroes then returned to Red Larch and the Helm at High Sun, to drink the rest of the day away in mourning.

### Moving Stones

While drinking the bad feelings away in the Helm, the party crossed paths with a new adventurer in town, fresh in that morning and already being skirted by the locals. Thrakka Gazkhul, a Half-Orc with a handsome countenance, joined the heroes in downing ale. They struck up a quick friendship, with a drunken Thrakka being roped into their hunt for the masked watchers within the town. Night fell and the sun rose, a new day begun and the party spent their time coming to grips with just how deadly their journey ahead will surely be. By late afternoon, a full day since returning to Red Larch, the group went back to work. Intimidating the Turnlar's shop into selling them some cheap cloaks to wear as disguises, the party decided to scope out Waelkur's Wagonworks and the man himself. Upon arriving, they crossed paths with Elak Dornen and his dog butterball again, but only the dog was happy to see the party. Thinly-veiled jabs at their missing member did not do unchallenged, and while Elak "wished them safe travels", the party returned with rude gestures and names. They fared about as well with Ilmeth after, as since they were not in the market for a wagon, he had nothing but swears for them, was well as unprompted threats against the other wagon works in town. The party resolved to return under cover of darkness, they would need to find out for themselves what goes on under the hatch Stannor told them about.

Beneath the small town of Red Larch lies a small section of Dwarven ruins. Dressed stone floors and walls in long tunnels wind under the homes and businesses above. Most of the residents are blissfully unaware of the fact, but not all, as the red cloaks hung on the wall shows. Exploring the area, the group managed to avoid walking into a trap set up to defend the inner rooms, but the party didn't make it inside unscathed. Finding a room with three devoured bodies, they launched an attack against giant rats while eating the bare corpses. The large animals took a few bites out of the similar sized Lilith and Bob had his ankles chewed on before the rodents were eliminated. The adventurers continued on after that, leaving behind the bodies and not asking why or how they got there. The next room was less dangerous, but more curious, as all it contained was a hovering stone floating in the middle of the small square chamber. Thrakka lead the investigation but all they learned was that the stone fell back to the floor once moved far enough from the centre of the open room. Lilith cast *Detect Magic* to find out the room does indeed have a field active that levitates objects, but as to why it remained a mystery as the group pushed on.

Now in the inner rooms, the party found the remains of a petrified Dwarf split into three parts, held together by a makeshift frame and used as a totem of worship by the looks of it. Inscribed on the wooden frame was a message explaining the remains were discovered in these halls about 5 years ago (-5 GC). Around the base of the statue, coins of copper, silver and gold are all left as offerings, as well as small gemstones and an ornate dagger still stained with blood. Thrakka was quick to take the dagger, while Bob and Griffon split the few gems, leaving Lilith to scoop up the coins (almost 1000 pieces in total!). While looting the small shrine, company appeared, and announced aloud "The Bringers of Woe have come to reward your curiosity... with death!". The watchers from nights before had arrived, all in leather armor and their masks (minus the one the party acquired), attacking on sight. It took a lot from the party to fight them off, including a few *Cure Wounds* spells, *Bless* and Thrakka's *Second Wind*, but the Bringers of Woe were all slain. Bob was the most injured during the fighting, but all were left worse for wear and almost all of the party's magic was left depleted. The battle was not without it's boons however, as one of their enemies armor was adorned with a distinct symbol, that of a Triangle with a slit in it's base side. The group was sure to note that.

They had barely sighed in relief after winning when the same door the Bringers of Woe appeared from opened again and the party's faces all drop. "Friends?!". Standing there was Grund the Half-Orc, surprised to find the party here. The group questioned the fool as to why he was down here, and his replies were as stupid as usual (including thinking the party could move through the ceiling and the ground above), all accept for when he identified Elak Dornen as the de facto ringleader of the people down here, The Believers they call themselves. In return for guarding these inner rooms, The Believers allow Grund to stay in town and out of the rain, thinking the simple but strong brute is otherwise harmless. Also in the inner rooms, the heroes found a young child of about 10 years, pinned under well placed rocks and left to suffer, as punishment for failing to deliver a timely message for the Believers. This boy, who's father was one of them, told his rescuers as much about The Believers that he knew. The group is made up of some of the most important and influential Red Larchers and their purpose is to guide the town and to avoid disasters as foretold by the moving stones. They regard these moving stones as messages being sent to them by The Delvers, the ones who came before and found this place, and who are now entombed here. The boy also confirmed that Elak Dornen and Ilmeth Waelvur are both senior Believers.

To be Continued...

## Loot, Treasure and Spoils

No items of note have yet been discovered as of yet.

## Key Outcomes

This campaign is still wrapping up, outcomes are pending.