The Curse of Epithet

The Party of CoE so far...

**The Curse of Epithet** is the sixth Fellers campaign. It was preceded by Waterdeep Dragon Heist. It is the first to take place in the New Fellers Universe. It also contains two parts, the first part having concluded in the summer of 2022.

## Synopsis

A charred hospital, a war hero, a criminal, a monk, gods, cults, a dragon rider. A rag-tag group of adventurers embark on a journey across Ruoria to stop the Harkners of the Epithet.

## Player Characters

Lord

Ryo Dostoyevski

Rays of the Sun

Froak

## Part 1 Summary

After escaping a hospital with Sawyer and Froak, Lord is able to escape with his life from one of the Harkners of Epithet, Gabriel. They subsequently run into Ryo and Rays who are passing through, who also become involved in the conflict. They are saved by a Wizard named Ajax who tells them that they were prophesied in his dreams to help him defeat the Harkners of Epithet. He sends them on a mission to gain their trust and work more closely with them. The party arrives at Pricasshaw and investigates a disturbance Ajax has felt. The party uncovers a plot by Mayor Hamlin to sacrifice townsfolk to a demon and ship the rest away for profit. The party, and Cassidy, Ajax's right hand man, defeat the demon and brings Hamlin to justice. Ryo finds the Fate Sword and speaks with Draco for the first time. They also meet a priest named Fredreich Shadowcrest who managed a church whose basement was used to smuggle townspeople to the mayor's mansion. The party departs Pricasshaw and regroups with Ajax. Ajax lets down the barrier and lets the party into his tower. He converses with the party, telling them of his visions and what the future has in store for all of them. He tells them that the Harkners intend to use the Cube to eliminate all the gods of this reality. Ajax tells them of a contact in New Place who will help them get into the lost ruins of Maozelt. Maozelt houses the Cube of the Messiah which has the power to change reality, but send the user back to a random point in time.

The party sets out for New Place to meet with the contact in the coming days. While waiting for the contact, the party accepts a job from Lord Reginald to track down a rogue treasurer who has stolen the deed to the silver quarry. The party enters the quarry to find the treasurer being mutilated by a Pit Fiend. The party engages in combat with the Pit Fiend who handily beats most of the party. Ryo is gravely injured, losing a leg, and Coins is killed in the conflict. The party caves in the Pit Fiend using leftover explosive barrels found in the quarry and flees. The party regroups after the close encounter and Ryo resurrected as Nickels. The party meets with the contact in the Narrow Gate Tavern and obtains the map to Maozelt and it's structure. The party is suddenly attacked by the Harkner, M'Doun, a dark elf that wields sand powers. The party beats M'Doun and regroups. The party is soon arrested after trying to get their reward from the Lord. It turns out that the Ruorian Ministry of Defense had put out a bounty on the party. During this, Krai interrupts and starts murdering the the people in the throne room, Ajax teleports them out to save their lives. Ajax informs them that the plans have to be deciphered in Llery's library. The sand still on the party is utilised by Gilgamesh and used to kill Ajax. Gilgamesh reveals his plan to the party and expresses interest in working together. The party refuses and leaves them, warning them that the next time they meet, he will kill them all. Ajax's death heavily impacted Cassidy who saw him as a father. Cassidy buries Ajax and leaves with the party while the pocket dimension collapses.

The party travels from Pricasshaw to Llery. They disguise themselves and enter the city, trying to translate the map of Maozelt. Their stay is interrupted by ridiculous attacks by Krai, which culminates in him brainwashing the ruling storm giant, Here, and turning him against the party. The party frees him from his brainwashing, but not before Rays' legs are shattered. The party manages to finish translating the plans and relax for a little bit. Krai visits Rays while he rests and tells him of the chaos stone embedded in his forehead. He informs Rays of his "final game" and leaves. In the following week, Krai proclaims victory in the streets and tells the party to finish him off. The party interrogates him to find out that he's captured Cassidy and Dominik Dostoyevski and only one of them can be saved. The party splits into two and races for both characters. Cassidy is saved but Ryo arrives at the warehouse Dominik is in to watch it explode, killing him instantly. Ryo is devasted and comes back to Krai, Fate Sword in hand. Ryo gives into Draco and kills Krai, despite the party's objections. Ryo however has a change of heart, and discards the Fate Sword, however Draco makes Ryo continue to imagine the Fate Sword. The real Fate Sword is accidentally recovered by Croak.

The party is informed by Lord's old ally, Leopard, to come see their new base. Lord sets off with the party on a dragon that takes them to Mother Base. There, Leopard informs Lord that he had been rebuilding their lost private army and wanted to make sure it was prepared in time for Lord's awakening in the hospital. Leopard sends them on a mission to recover their ally, Kaine Miller, from the Ausitllian Border. The mission is a success and the party moves onto Avonfield. Cassidy also tells the party that he is the leader of the Fighter's Guild in Ruoria, and their base is in Avonfield. Cassidy wishes to stay for a while and check in on the Fighter's Guild. The party also wished to speak with the leader of Avonfield to help them get rid of their bounties. The party stay in Avonfield for a while until suddenly, a hell gate opens. Devils descend onto the town and start massacring civilians. The party runs around Avonfield, desperately trying to save people. Ryo is cornered by another Pit Fiend and gives himself up completely to Draco and becomes his champion. Ryo wields the Fate Sword and banishes any devil he strikes. While the party is making their last stand on the castle hill, Ryo approaches the Hell Gate and seals it shut with the Fate Sword. The party is against Ryo becoming Draco's champion, but they move onto Desinita, the capital, and the location of Maozelt. The city is rebuilt by a mysterious man who disappears.

While in the city, Lord receives and anonymous letter from the real Lord. The real Lord had brainwashed him after they were both injured at an ambush at their base. Venom Lord had been conditioned to believe he was the real Lord all along, and existed to throw off the scent and allow the real Lord to enact his plans in secret. Venom Lord is furious and renounces Lord and everything he stood for. The party search the city for clues as how to get into Maozelt. Froak infiltrates the castle to search for an entrance, and finds a thick locked door that seems to lead into a space that shouldn't exist from the outside. As Froak leaves the castle, he is ambushed by the Harkners, who had just finished overthrowing the King of Ruoria. Froak takes them all on but is eventually impaled on the castle steps by one of the Harkners. Gilgamesh leaves Froak for dead, but kills Croak in the process.

Froak barely survives the encounter, and regroups with the party to find a way to revive Croak. They return to a wood elf village, Layso, where the party had been in their time in Llery. There, Froak begs the healer to bring Croak back. Moved by Froaks apparent humility, she agrees and resurrects Croak. Croak is brought back as a dark elf, and is reunited with the party. The party, determined to stop the Harkners, journey back into the castle to enter Maozelt. Going into the half-dimension the party and Cassidy make it to the end of Maozelt, just before the elevator that brings them up to the chamber room. The elevator requires a person to be injected with a poison that allows them to bypass the barrier surrounding the Cube. However the poison kills the user within 5 minutes of injection. Cassidy volunteers and injects himself. The party makes it up to the chamber and Cassidy enters. He holds onto the Cube and breaks down. After Ajax died he had no one. He used to have a wife and kid, but while he was on tour, he came back to find two graves in his backyard. He had tried "to be good, to be good to the world all his life, and it has done nothing but shovel shit into my face each and every time." The barrier releases and the cube begins to activate in a minute. As the barrier drops the party fights Cassidy who wishes to go back in time and live with his family for one more year, and save them. The party eventually beats Cassidy after a long an exhausting fight, and Cassidy takes his own life. The party obtains the fully charged Cube and leaves Desinita for Mother Base. As the party settle in, they notice an extremely massive marble figure come out of the horizon, with large beams of energy emerging from it.