Fate Fighters

Fate Fighters is the name of an adventuring organization in the Om campaign.

The Fate Fighters were formed from the Royal Explorers after their patron, Atticus Brock, opted to sever official connections between them and the Gildornian Crown, instead allowing them to form as a mercenary company that would be offered jobs by the Crown. This was agreeable to the membership, as they were beginning to grow irreconcilable differences with the policies of Duke Marcus Cornelius Agrippa, the Governor-General of New Gildorn.

## Formation

The final mission of the Royal Explorers was to capture Stonewatch Abbey from the rogue bandit captain Goddard Brandik and his Orlesean allies. With that successful Atticus Brock sold the structure to them for a single gold piece and incorporated the Fate Fighters as a mercenary company.

Once the company was formed they initiated several actions. There were some soldiers who had served Brandik but more out of necessity than choice. The Fate Fighters picked the best and most moral of them and named them the first members of the official Fate Fighters Mercenary Company, or those who would perform jobs and maintain Stonewatch Abbey while the main core of the Fate Fighters were away on adventures. There was also a number of non-combat staff that Brandik had used that the Fate Fighters also retained to assist with the operation of the Abbey. Further, the Fate Fighters purchased the land immediately surrounding the Abbey and solicited farmers, craftsmen and the recruitment of men-at-arms to help turn the area into a self sustaining community.

## Choosing the First Mission

The Fate Fighters were left with two options for their first mission. Atticus Brock was interested in investigating the repeated assassination attempts on Gunnar the Wolf, the Prince of Balbanos who was in Waymere attempting to forge an alliance with Gildorn. His agents had been unsuccessful in locating the culprits, but the suspects were plentiful. The other option was to travel to Headwater to face and kill “Bloody” Anne Adler who had made several attempts on their lives and was building a force for the Brotherhood of the Coast at Dead Man’s Cove. Ultimately, they decided to bring word of Adler’s position to Atticus Brock and encourage a Gildornian naval squad be dispatched to deal with her while they personally investigated the attacks on Gunnar.

## Investigation of Attempted Assassination of Gunnar the Wolf

The Fate Fighters met with Gunnar the Wolf in the Red Axe Inn, where he was residing in Waymere. In spite of may attempts on his life, the prince refused to change his security, believing that doing so would be a sign of weakness. He likewise stated that he did not need the protection of the Fate Fighters, however he admitted that the repeated attempts were annoying. Another attempt to poison Gunnar resulted in his nephew, Meegosh, nearly dying though he was saved by Jasper Conroy. This caused Gunnar to agree to hire the Fate Fighters, but he stressed it was not for protection, but rather to find the culprits.

Opal remained with Gunnar and his retinue, while the rest of the Fate Fighters began investigating the assassination attempts. As a previous attempt had been the to sabotage Gunnar’s saddle Fern investigated the stables, finding a pin that seemed to implicate the Lorathel Tribe of elves and the Wild Runners. The Fate Fighters used the pin as an excuse to access Merith, the alleged leader of the Wild Runners who had been imprisoned at Praetor's Block.

Merith informed them that he would not be surprised if the Wild Runners were involved as their leader, Tugadumness, was inclined towards violence in spite of Merith’s advice to the contrary. Merith also confirmed what the Fate Fighter’s own inquiries had revealed, that he was not a rebellious leader, merely a community leader among the Kirathi elves who came to ask Duke Agrippa for grain that was promised to the elven people and he had been accused of treason and locked up. The Fate Fighters smuggled him a *Polymorph* potion and urged him to use it to escape, as Fynn and Fern had identified him as the next king of the Kirathi.

The evidence against the Wild Runners was hardly conclusive so the Fate Fighters kept investigating, deciding to investigate the source of the poison used to nearly kill Meegosh. A trip to Venoms, Variety and Versatility and a conversation with its proprietor Blinghoff Finglefrumm revealed that the poison was extracted from a rare mushroom sold by a shop called Garmund’s Antiquities and Curios.

A trip to Garmund’s Antiquities the Fate Fighters with an employee named Mylos, whom Wu had learned separately was stealing quite liberally from Garmund. Using this fact as leverage, they were able to learn that the mushroom in question was procured by a well dressed foreign man with a cane. This description matched exactly that of a contact of an Orlesean spy named Jules that Atticus Brock had interrogated.

The Fate Fighters came up with a plan for Wu to disguise himself as Jules via a magical hat and wait at the Mad Monk Tavern, where Jules would always meet his contact. In spite of commotion caused by Vim Bimblebell and his gang of pickpockets, the Fate Fighters were able to capture the contact, who turned out to be Preston Massaro, an agent of Felix Lapubelle. The Fate Fighters took him to Atticus Brock for interrogation.

Atticus informed the Fate Fighters that Lapubelle was the Duke’s personal spymaster (in spite of his Orlesean heritage) and that he had frequently worked at odds with Atticus. The implication of one of his agents trying to sabotage an alliance of New Gildorn and Balbanos was serious indeed.

Atticus also warned the Fate Fighters that many of their members (Fynn, Fern, Jasper, and Noel) were being brought up on charges of mutiny for their actions on the Morning Star. Atticus stated he’d hire a barrister, but suspected Lapubelle’s hand in the charges and urged them to leave the city.

The Fate Fighters split up with the accused magically teleporting straight back to Stonewatch Abbey, while Corin Ironcheek, joined by Penelope Strong who had escaped captivity among the Grey Wizards, would collect purchased goods for the Abbey and ride there. Wu, meanwhile, would reconvene with Opal and meet with Merith who they planned to escort from the city after he used the potion they gave him to escape Praetor’s Block.

## Final Assault on Gunnar the Wolf

While the rest of the Fate Fighters investigated the attacks on Gunnar and arranged for the escape of Merith, Gunnar and his entourage decided to go hunting outside of Waymere, allowing Opal to accompany him if he wished. The elf agreed, coming along. While hunting the party was ambushed by two dozen Wild Runners, led by Tugadumness himself.

The battle that followed was the stuff of legend with Thunnish warriors striking down foes left and right while Opal turned into a tiger and mauled the elvish attackers. Gunnar himself dueled with Tugadumness, besting the elf in battle. However before Gunnar was able to strike the Wild Runner leader down, the elf lashed out with an Irda blade, wounding him.

The wound from the blade was not deep, but it was quickly determined that it had introduced a curse to Gunnar and continued to strike at him every time the warrior exerted himself and slowly drained away his life force even when at rest. If not addressed it could turn fatal very quickly, and neither Gunnar's shaman Gerin nor Opal cure him.

The party's horses had been slain in the conflict, but since time was of paramount importance the group split up. Opal again took the form of a tiger and allowed Gunnar and his lover/bodyguard Astrid to ride on his back at top speed while senior adviser Frelik used a magical item that allowed him to turn into a wolf and keep up. The rest of Gunnar's party, Ornvald, Sigvald and Gerin would make their way back to Waymere on foot.

### **Gildornian Betrayal**

On the road to Waymere, Gunnar, Opal, Astrid and Frelik encountered a full regiment of Gildornian soldiers heading south. After a brief discussion with Captain Harrigan, they were granted an audience with the commander, Colonel Babbington.

The colonel offered his hospitality, but Astrid and Frelik demanded that Gunnar be taken to cleric immediately. The Prince was shown to the healer's wagon and examined by Brother Gabriel. The cleric offered to place Gunnar into a stasis until a cure could be found, but the Prince refused to be insensate at anyone's mercy and declined. Gabriel then apologized and cast a spell to disappear from the wagon. At that exact moment, the Gildornian soldiers began to nail the door to the wagon shut and set it on fire in an effort to assassinate Gunnar and his party.

Enraged, Gunnar and Astrid smashed open the door and fought their way out of the cart. Frelik, drinking a potion he’d found in the cart, grew to enormous size and began bellowing to the troops about the stain on their honor they were allowing by following such orders.

Opal cast a spell to cause a small localized ice storm which slowed the advancing troops enough for Astrid, Opal and Gunnar (stripped to his loincloth and fighting with nothing more than sword and shield) to punch through the forces and flee into the woods. They were chased by footmen and advancing cavalry however.

Gunnar climbed onto Opal’s back, as the elf was still in tiger form, and fled while Astrid engaged the troops to try to hold them off. Meanwhile Frelik, over 12 feet tall now, shoved the burning wagon into the column of troops still on the road and began smashing the soldiers attacking him.

As the Gildornian cavalry began to outpace Opal a sudden hail of arrows struck down the nearest horsemen. A group of archers led by Korroticus called to Gunnar and Opal and led them to a trio of saddled griffons, which they were able to use to escape to Dralthanor.

Gunnar and Opal's last view of Astrid saw a large pile of dead enemies at her feet as she continued to fight the Gildornians that surrounded her on all sides. Of Frelik he saw a path of destruction as the still enormous warrior wreaked havoc, but he too was wounded and starting to succumb to the sheer mass of soldiers and horses hacking at him, and one or two had even climbed upon him and were hacking away at his head and torso.

The elves of the Dralthanor Tribe agreed to treat Gunnar and arranged for Opal to be flown to Stonewatch Abbey to reunite with the Fate Fighters and report events to them.

## The Escape of Merith

With the rest of the Fate Fighters out of Waymere it fell to Wu to rendezvous with Merith once he used the potion he gave them to escape the prison at Praetor's Block. Although the Fate Fighters had urged Merith to take the form of a rat and slip out of the prison, he felt he could not leave other innocent souls to Gildornian justice and instead became a monstrous were rat and escaped, freeing several prisoners in the process.

When he reached the rendezvous, he had had a number of Gildornian soldiers in pursuit, and Wu was forced to help subdue them to effect an escape. Once the potion wore off and Merith returned to his normal form, Wu outfitted him with clothes, weapons, food, and a magical hat that would allow him to change his appearance. The two then slipped out of the city through the Underdens and parted ways amicably. Wu urged Merith to touch base with Korroticus to be brought up to speed on current events.

The escape resulted in Duke Agrippa flying into a savage fury. He arrested Sir Stephen, the warden of Praetor’s Block, Captain Wynona Falco, the commander of the city watch, and a pair of guards on duty at the prison and accused them of treason for failing to foil the escape.

Atticus Brock had made arrangements to flee the city, but these were delayed after the escape, though he made arrangements for his assistant, Aquibius, to travel to Stonewatch Abbey in his stead and temporarily act as their seneschal there.

## Trouble at Stonewatch Abbey

While Corin and Penelope were on their way to Stonewatch Abbey, Opal was saving Gunnar the Wolf and Wu was freeing Merith, the rest of the Fate Fighters returned to the abbey to find that it had come under the sway of a man eating plant living in the greenhouse.

The plant in question had been identified when the Fate Fighters were taking the abbey, but using his druidic magic Opal had parlayed with it and come to an agreement. However Opal had also cast a spell on the surrounding land to boost crop production in expectation of the farms to be set up there, and it caused the plant to become more powerful and malicious. The plant had infected the inhabitants of the abbey with mind controlling spores.

The Fate Fighters slew the plant and were able to free the inhabitants of the abbey from it’s control, with the exception of Wayne and Bootice, one of the men-at-arms and chambermaids, respectively. Jasper Conroy concocted a potion to attempt to cure them, but unfortunately it resulted in their deaths instead.

By this time Penelope and Corin had arrived at Stonewatch Abbey, but it was soon attacked by a group of Grey Wizards seeking to re-capture Penelope. The Fate Fighters, aided by their new smith Rufio Underhammer, managed to defeat the wizards, but not before the leader successfully incapacitated Penelope and teleported away with her and slew Shepp Mossley, the abbey’s new shepherd.

## Clearing the Ogre Caves

The Fate Fighters reconvened at Stonewatch Abbey on the 7th of Twins, 465, and compared notes with one another. Opal revealed that he might be able to bring their dead back to life, but he would require the essential juices of several specific berries. Opal said he had seen some of the berries growing nearby the abbey, but that he’d also seen some ogres in the area.

The Fate Fighters traveled to the area to collect the berries and encountered some of the ogres, defeating the creatures. However, they did not wish to allow the ogres to live so near the abbey, as they would no doubt prove dangerous to the fledgling community. Fern and Opal tracked the defeated ogre party back to a nearby cave, where they slew the creatures there and freed a trio of humans who were the lone survivors of a caravan that the ogres had captured.

## Preparing for the Elf Moot

While the Fate Fighters were at Stonewatch Abbey, they were visited by Korroticus who informed them that the tribes had agreed to hold a moot in Kal-Thalas at the next full moon to hear the words of Fynn and Fern about their experience in the tomb of Halthadrian. He also urged the Fate Fighters to bring Decius to the moot to speak of the visions Jamor sent him of the cataclysm brewing in the west.

The Fate Fighters informed Korroticus that while they were in Waymere they learned that two divisions of the Gildornian Army called The Vanguard, had landed and they feared was there to wage war on the elves. They also informed Korroticus of Merith's escape and the elf promptly left to find him.

Jasper called upon Namas to teleport him and Wu to Dunkirk to retrieve Decius. There they foiled an attempt on Decius' life by Lord Hitchens on behalf of Baron Webb and returned to Stonewatch Abbey with him the following day.

In the meantime Opal cast his *Reincarnation* spells upon Bootice and Shepp, but this caused them to come back as a goblin and an elf, respectively. Wayne’s comrades advised that he would likely wish to remain dead so he was buried with full honors.

With the business at the abbey in hand and Aquibius agreeing to oversee things there, the Fate Fighters and Decius rode west to Kal-Thalas.

## Destruction of the Necromancer

En route to Kal-Thalas the Fate Fighters encountered a nymph named Nixie. She seduced Opal, who had been scouting ahead, trapping him in a *Geas*. She explained that a necromancer had inhabited a nearby graveyard and was performing blood magic and necromancy. A group of elves led by an elf named Kalfaran had already tried to slay the beast but they had all been slain. Kalfaran’s spirit had survived due to a magical charm he wore, and he appeared to inform the Fate Fighters that the spirits of his men were captured by some sort of foul magic the necromancer had rather than passing to the afterlife.

The Fate Fighters agreed to help in exchange for Nixie trying to slow the Gildornian troops marching to Kal-Thalas so that they could complete the moot. Nixie agree and the Fate Fighters headed to the graveyard. There they found zombies of the Kalfaran’s men and more that rose from their graves. The undead was easily slain, but would only rise again over and over.

The Fate Fighters managed to find their way into the tomb of the necromancer in question, a half-orc cleric named Azoth Rah. Beyond him was a gem floating in a powerful magical field. The undead from above continued to pursue them, however, in never ending numbers. Wu charged Azoth Rah, grappling him and holding him to prevent his use of magic while Fynn blasted the shield to get to the gem and destroy it to try to stop the undead. Meanwhile the rest of the Fate Fighters worked to keep the undead at bay, holding them off for as long as they could.

The turning point in the battle came when Fern’s pet leopard, Lynx, accidentally stepped upon a magical rune that Azoth Rah had previously cast. Unfortunately the rune slew the animal outright, and the magic spread out to also slay Opal.

Fynn was finally able to destroy the shield and grasp the gem and, using the power of an ancient and sentient artifact called Fiyang’yellak, used the gem to destroy the undead and free the spirits of the elves and other slain individuals. A moment later Wu was finally able to get a good grip on Azoth Rah’s neck and break it, killing the half-orc.

Fynn revealed that Fiyang’yellak had agreed to help Fynn destroy the gem only if he would recover an ancient Irda tome at the graveyard. While the other Fate Fighters recovered from the battle, Fynn and Jasper entered the tomb to recover the book. There they recovered the book but awakened an ancient Irda liche named Puzurc Na’da. Though weakened by battle the Fate Fighters prepared to do their best to slay the beast while Corin sounded a horn in the hopes that Decius, who had remained with Nixie, would hear and come to assist.

Right as the liche emerged from it’s tomb, however, Fynn agreed to a deal with Fiyang’yellak and the Fate Fighters teleported away to the remains of the Irda temple where it was constructed, atop an unknown mountain far west. Fynn said that Fiyang’yellak had agreed to teleport them back to the place it had been constructed in exchange for a portion of his life force.

Using the power of Namas Jasper teleported most of the Fate Fighters back to Nixie’s grove, though he could not take Wu and Noel, and temporarily left them behind. Back at Nixie’s grove, the Fate Fighters were informed that Decius had heard Corin’s horn and gone to the graveyard for them. Realizing that this meant Decius would be facing Puzurc Na’da alone Jasper again called upon Namas to give him the power of flight and flew straight to the Graveyard just in time to help Decius destroy the creature.

The following day Decius and most of the Fate Fate Fighters continued on to Kal-Thalas and Fynn attempted to use a magical scroll to take Jasper back to the Irda temple to retrieve Wu and Noel. Something went wrong, however, and Fynn arrived alone, meaning they could not teleport back. Thankfully the experience gave Fynn enough insight to master the ability to magically teleport on his own and he was able to teleport to Kal-Thalas with Jasper and Wu. Jasper, thankfully, found his own way there a short time later.

## The Elf Moot

The Fate Fighters arrived in Kal-Thalas and soon met with Korroticus. He made arrangements for Opal to be resurrected and brought Wu and Fern to speak with Merith, where they informed him that Opal was from the Valthanor Tribe and that they intended to attend the moot.

On the 10th of the Twins, 465, the Kirathi Elf Tribes held a moot in the Grove of the Dancer at the height of the full moon. Because Kal-Thalas was the seat of the Gildornian Prefect and laws enacted by Duke Agrippa had decreed that elves could not gather in groups of more than 3, steal was required. The elves used magic to make it appear that the grove was empty and arranged to sneak there in small numbers to keep attention off the grove.

The four remaining Kirathi Tribes attended, The religious Dralthanor, the conquered and mercantile Kal-Thalas, the warlike Lorathel and even the crushed Nilthanar had sent a lone delegate. Finally, the Valthinor Tribe suddenly appeared, though they had been hidden and aloof from the world for decades.

Once regular business was attended to the moot’s visitors, the Fate Fighters and Decius, were called upon to speak. Decius spoke first, telling them of the visions he’d received from Jamor about the fiery apocalypse brewing the west. Wu spoke next, elaborating on The Triad, and the growing influence they’d acquired and urging them to name Merith as their king and build an alliance to fight the coming storm. Next Opal spoke, offering some fiery vengeance filled words towards Gildorn. Finally, Fynn and Fern spoke, explaining their experience in Halthadrian’s tomb and the naming of Merith as the next king.

Last Merith approached the center of the circle and gave a rousing speech about how the Gildornians had wronged the elves and would continue to do so and how capitulation would only end in their destruction. He avowed that he would live in peace with any who showed elves equal respect but he would just as readily bring war to those who sought to harm them.

Merith was challenged by Gallerius, of the Lorathel. He had been Tugadumness’ second in command and evidently now ran the Wild Runners. He denounced Merith because of our support, denounced the Fate Fighters as stooges of the Gildornian crown and implied that Merith had not been imprisoned by Duke Agrippa, but collaborating with him. He stated that only he could save the elven people and that he would destroy Gildorn and form an elven kingdom himself.

The moot adjourned to reconvene the following night at the full moon to vote on who should be king, Merith or Gallarius. The Fate Fighters made a point of speaking with the different tribes to try to convince them that Merith was the rightful king. The Dralthanor, Merith’s own tribe, naturally backed his claim. The Valthinor stated their inclination to support Merith. The Kal-Thalas seemed to wish to support Gallarius and had designs on an alliance with Orlesea against Gildorn. The Lorathel Tribe had little to say to the Fate Fighters and Gallarius asserted that he was the only one who could unite the elves. He also warned that if the vote did not go his way that he would use his Wild Runners to violently take power. He also intimated that Merith would not survive long enough to oppose him. Finally the Fate Fighters met with the lone Nilthanor delegate, Iolaus, who warned that his people had not even sent a delegation but that he had come simply to try to talk them out of rising up. The Nilthanar had suffered the worst in the last war with Gildorn, and Iololus was desperate to see his people suffer again.

The second session of the moot met the following day, but Iolous was conspicuously absent. The proceedings began and the vote for a king was taken. The Valthanor and Drathalnor tribes backed Merith, while the Lorathel and Kal-Thalas voted for Gallarius. Without the Nilthanor to break the tie it seemed unclear how the matter would be resolved.

Suddenly a group of Gildornian soldiers and Grey Wizards teleported to the center of the Grove of the Dancer and attacked. At that same moment a large force of Gildornian soldiers, aided by Iolous, marched on the Grove.

The soldiers and Grey Wizards had weapons that would incapacitate their targets and magical brooches that would teleport them away. It was clear that they were targeting the elven leaders and taking them back to Waymere. The Fate Fighters and elves sprang into action to defeat the interlopers but Merith, Tacitus and Memnon of the Dralthanor Tribe and Athos of the Valthanor were taken. Gallerius was nearly taken as well, but he was saved at the last moment by Noel.

In a hastily concocted plan, Noel, Jasper, Fynn and Fern took the brooches off some of the dead soldiers to activate and try to follow the captured elven leaders to rescue them while Opal, Wu, Corin and Decius remained behind to try to salvage the situation in Kal-Thalas.

The Gildornians marching on the grove were held at bay by the combined efforts of the elves, which gave enough time for the factions to withdraw. In a hasty secondary vote the Valthanor reluctantly supported Gallerius as he vowed to take Kal-Thalas, put all Gildornians there to the sword and march on Waymere. Korroticus, now the only member of the Dralthanor delegation left, refused to support Gallerius. Enraged, the Lorathel ordered he and the Fate Fighters off his battlefield.

Korroticus took the Fate Fighters back to Dralthanar by griffon-back. As they flew they saw that the Gildornian forces had but Nilthanar to the torch and were marching on Kal-Thalas in numbers.

## Escape from the Grey Wizard’s Tower

Jasper, Fynn and Fern found themselves teleported into a maze in the basement of the Grey Wizards' Tower. Noel was nowhere to be seen, nor was the captured elves they were coming to rescue. They did find a malnourished elf wizard named Blasius, however.

Blasius reported that the Grey Wizards had kidnapped a friend of his, and that he’d attempted to teleport into their tower to rescue their friend, but ended up in the maze. He lamented that other areas seemed to have dangerous monsters and he did not trust he could defeat them on his own. He agreed to accompany the Fate Fighters and the four of them made their way through the maze, slaying the monsters and avoiding the traps encountered. Blasius died in the effort, but Fynn, Fern and Jasper were able to escape the maze.

In the meantime Noel, who had activated the brooch on the corpse of a Gildornian soldier as opposed taking one and activating it themselves as the others had done, found himself in a room full of wizards, some of whom were bundling away the incapacitated elves.

Surrounded, alone and underpowered compared to the wizards, Noel stood down and was stripped to his loincloth and interrogated by Felix Lapubelle. Noel was questioned, complete with a beating, and enticed to betray the Fate Fighters. At a key moment Lapubelle left the room and Noel was able to snatch up his weapon, which had been laid out among the rest of his belongings, and slay the two guards left behind. He hastily grabbed his property and a handful of papers and fled, soon encountering Jasper, Fynn and Fern in the corridor.

Together the four Fate Fighters managed to escape the tower through a hole that had been created in the kitchen days earlier when a gnomish designed stove had exploded, and slip out of the city. They returned to Stonewatch Abbey where they soon reunited with the rest of the Fate Fighters.

## Rescue of the Elf Lords

The Fate Fighters looked over the papers that Noel had stolen from Felix Lapubelle at the Grey Wizards' tower. Among them was an encrypted letter which Fern was able to decipher. It revealed that the captured elves, Merith, Memnon, Tacitus and Athos, were to be taken from the Grey Wizards' tower to Praetor’s Block prison via a secret prison convoy in the middle of the night to avoid attention.

The Fate Fighters made arrangements to strike the convoy and, with the help of Atticus Brock, make it appear that the elves and their rescuers fled via sea. The Fate Fighters set their trap and awaited the convoy. When it came it was clear that in addition to four Gildornian soldiers, it was also being escorted by Brego Vossen and Ju-Lin of the Red Spears Mercenary Company.

The ambush was a success, and the Fate Fighters had soon chased off Brego and the Gildornian soldiers, captured Ju-Lin and recovered the elves. Fynn teleported to Fynn’s Crater, near Stonewatch Abbey, with Merith, Memnon and Tacitus and the other Fate Fighters freed Athos from the magical collar he wore to keep him insensate.

Jasper soon realized that something was off with Athos and cast a divination and learned that he was an impostor with an illusion upon him. “Athos” attacked with a dagger and Jasper, Noel and Fern soon slew him to reveal an unidentified human.

Meanwhile Fynn had teleported to Fynn’s Crater with the three other “elf lords.” As with “Athos” they too were decoys. To the surprise of both Fynn and the decoys, however, Boz was there seemingly waiting for them. The gnome immediately attacked Fynn, declaring that he would have vengeance.

The two spellcasters dueled briefly, killing the three decoys in the crossfire and revealing that they too were humans with illusions on them. Eventually Fynn and Boz reached a standstill and Fynn simply teleported back to Stonewatch Abbey.

### **Escaping Waymere**

The Fate Fighters pursued their original exit plan, now with the captured Ju-Lin instead of the elf lords however. Traveling to the Underdens to make their escape via the smugglers exit but instead they stumbled upon a slave auction held by Armando “Big Daddy” Santina. It seemed that several elves were captured in Nilthanar and brought to the Underdens to be sold as slaves. Loathe to allow anyone to fall into a life of slavery, the Fate Fighters vowed to save as many as they could.

While the others remained hidden with Ju-Lin thanks to an invisibility spell cast by Corin, Jasper and Wu (operating incognito) made the acquaintance of Lord Blackmoore and bid on as many elven slaves as possible. Among those saved were Bethalanalas, Iolaus, five children and Shepp Mossley, whose reincarnated elf form had caused him to be captured on his way to Waymere.

With their charges, the Fate Fighters sought to leave the city, but could not as the smuggler’s exit was being used by pirates who were returning with their stolen booty from the Battle of Dead Man’s Cove. The Fate Fighters were able to find an alternate escape via Rock’s Public Brewhouse, however, and return to Stonewatch Abbey with their charges.

## Capture of Atticus Brock

Felix Lapubelle used the distraction of the Fate Fighters to move on Atticus Brock, capturing him. Due to an arrangement with Wu, Su-Won and her organization attempted to save Atticus, but had failed and several of her number had died in the attempt.

Fynn, using a crystal ball, scryed on Atticus and saw that he was being interrogated by Lapubelle. Using the power of the magical item Fynn was able to communicate with the spymaster, and he urged the Fate Fighters not to attempt to rescue him and instead to head west and beat the forces of The Triad to the Irda Golden City and head off the coming cataclysm. He also warned Fynn to “beware the dwarf” but was unable to elaborate. The following day Noel departed in the night, seeming to imply that he may have been able to cut a secret deal with Lapubelle while in captivity. This was later proven to be untrue, as the dwarf had left to scout the situation in Waymere and been captured by Lapubelle's agents and sold into slavery.

## Mission to Rescue Allies

The Fate Fighters were loathe to abandon their many allies, Atticus Brock, Wynona Falco, Merith, Memnon, Athos and Tacitus. The first step to formulating a plan was to gather intelligence. To that end they interrogated Ju-Lin.

### **Gathering Intelligence**

Ju-Lin promptly announced her intent to leave the Red Spears for abandoning her in battle. She agreed to cooperate with the Fate Fighters and give them access to her contacts and a secret safehouse in Waymere and information on the Red Spears in exchange for gold, a horse and the return of her belongings. They ultimately agreed and she vowed she would return to Waymere with them to inform her contacts and take them to the safehouse.

### **New Allies**

The trip to Waymere saw the Fate Fighters accosted by a Gildornian press gang. The soldiers claimed they were rounding up deserters, which was partially true, but they had also apprehended a traveling elf named Kelathadan (aka Kelli) and an Orlesean deserter named Margot. The soldiers demanded that the Fate Fighters surrender themselves and when they refused, the Gildornians attacked. The Fate Fighters defended themselves and freed the prisoners. Kelli and Margot offered to join them in their quest, and the Fate Fighters were happy to have capable assistance. The other prisoners were released to go about their lives as they saw fit.

### **Sneaking into Waymere**

Ju-Lin showed the Fate Fighters a secret way into Waymere via the sewers. As they moved through the sewers they were accosted by a sewer nymph named Aguria. She refused to let them pass unless they would perform a boon for her. She advised that a band of nearby troglodytes had recently come under the leadership of something they called “the dark one” and had become far more aggressive and were attacking her and her people. She requested that the Fate Fighters to slay the leader, and in return she would grant them passage through her sewers.

The Fate Fighters agreed and continued deeper into the sewers where they were accosted by a band of troglodytes. With Ju-Lin translating to Draconic, they demanded to see the leader. Taken aback, the beasts agreed and brought them before “the Dark One” a young black dragon.

The Fate Fighters engaged the beast and the Troglodytes, slaying all present. In a nearby chamber they discovered five elves, the leader of which was Tolthis who stated he was of the Nilthanar Tribe and had an important message for an important member of his tribe, Bethalanalas. The Fate Fighters informed him that she was safe at Stonewatch Abbey. He agreed to make his way back to the group’s horses with Margot and await the completion of their mission when they would escort Tolthas to the abbey.

### **Reconnaissance**

The Fate Fighters soon entered the city, and Ju-Lin provided a list of her contacts and confirmed from them that none of their targets were being held at Praetor’s Block prison. Another contact, Captain Gwain Jervis, agreed to assist the Fate Fighters in exchange for a letter of recommendation to settle in Fernstead with his company of 30 soldiers. Ju-Lin stated that he would return to her safehouse in two days to meet the Fate Fighters and seal the deal.

In the meantime, he advised her that Duke Agrippa had ordered a grand parade to try to generate enthusiasm for the coming war with the Orleseans. The grand finale was to be the execution of “traitors to Gildorn.” The condemned consisted of Atticus, Wynona, two guardsmen who were on duty the night Merith escaped and the former warden of the prison Sir Stephen. Included was also Captain Horatio Higgs (the commander of the Gildornian squadron at the Battle of Dead Man’s Cove) for fleeing the combat. The elves (Merith, Memnon, Athos and Tacitus) were then to be executed in a second wave. This was all to take place on the 20th of the Twins.

Her vow to the Fate Fighters fulfilled, Ju-Lin departed, warning them that if they were smart they too would flee Waymere and possibly New Gildorn altogether. The Fate Fighters slipped out of the city via the sewers again and returned to Stonewatch Abbey to plan a rescue of their allies.

### **Setting the Stage**

On the 18th of Twins, 465, Wu and Kelli sneaked back into Waymere via the sewers to meet with Captain Jervis. They agreed to his terms, and he provided them with Gildornian Uniforms to use in their plot to rescue the condemned as well as a believable cover story. In return, Wu provided him with a letter of introduction and recommendation for the leadership in Fernstead. On their way out of the city they crafted an alliance with Aguria, who agreed that her morlocks would cover the Fate Fighters retreat through the sewers after they had rescued their charges.

### **The Rescue**

The Fate Fighters gathered as much intelligence and reconnaissance as possible and had a plan by the 20th of Twins, 465. They could not teleport into or out of the city due to a ritual the Grey Wizards had cast upon the entire city using an Irda artifact they had acquired from the Fate FIghters themselves before they realize what they had and that the Grey Wizards were not to be trusted.

The plan called for the Fate Fighters to disguise themselves as members of Company E, a newly recruited company of conscripted men and women under the command of Captain Jervis, in order to get close to the execution. Present in the Duke’s Box near the gallows was Ulsa Crowe, the head of the Grey Wizards, Soran Talbott, the newly minted head of the church of Jamor, Felix Lapubelle, and a series of bodyguards. According to Jasper’s divinations, all were evil. Jasper was also able to use his magic to determine which of the nearby buildings the Fate Fighter’s targets were in.

As the parade concluded in Paradise Square, Duke Agrippa began to give a speech to praise the sacrifices to come in the war ahead. At that moment a gnomish airship arrived, bringing warning that a massive fleet of Orlesean, Pirate and Minotaur ships had attacked Waymere from the harbor. The Battle of Waymere had begun.

Using the distraction, Fynn and Jasper began blasting the Duke’s box with spells, the other Fate Fighters made their way to free their targets. However, the Duke had clearly left orders for his elite guard to slay the prisoners immediately if there was any form of disturbance. Agrippa himself headed to the building that held the elven prisoners, only for him to be stabbed in the back with an Irda blade by Felix Lapubelle. Agrippa died before he hit the ground. The Duke’s bodyguards seemed to not mind and engaged the Fate Fighters as Lapubelle slipped away.

The Duke' elite guards, a Grey Wizard and a mentally controlled Penelope Strong, all led by Zurin, immediately moved to execute the elven leaders, successfully disintegrating Athos and beheading Tacitus before being defeated by Jasper, Wu and Fynn.

Meanwhile Fern, Margot and Kelli fought off two of the magical clones of Penelope and a handful of the elite guards and freed Wynona Falco, Sir Stephen, and Horatio Higgs.

By this time the vanguard of the Orlesean invasion had arrived in the form of four manticore riders and a force of Orlesean Regulars coming from the docks and a team of  pirates of the Brotherhood of the Coast hidden near Paradise Square.

Falco quickly took command of the Gildornian soldiers in the square and formed a defensive line and the Fate Fighters soon found themselves fighting alongside the Gildornian soldiers they had expected to have to fight against. At the same time Aguria's morlocks flooded from the sewer inexpertly aiding the Gildornians for the most part. Jasper and Fern managed to get many of the fleeing citizens to the Southgate and convince Sergeant Major Lovell to open it to allow the refugees to escape.

The Fate Fighters managed to get Merith and Memnon to their extraction point as well as an unconscious Penelope Strong. They had also recovered the severed head of Tacitus so he could be resurrected. They were soon joined by Corin, who had left the battle in pursuit of Felix Lapubelle and, with the aid of Apel, had captured him.

### **Escaping Waymere**

Fleeing the city with their charges would be a more complicated matter than expected for the Fate Fighters. With the Grey Wizards' teleportation blocking in effect they could not escape magically.

They had expected to leave through the sewers but Corin informed them that while chasing Lapubelle through the sewers that he had discovered the Red Spears had set an ambush for them at that extraction point. It seemed the had captured Ju-Lin on her way out of the city and she had been forced to reveal the Fate Fighters plan under pain of death.

While the Fate Fighters debated their next move Morwen sent her familiar, Boreas, into the sewer to investigate and the Fate Fighters promptly slew it. They then withdrew deeper into the sewers, keeping ahead of any pursuit. Corin had overheard the Red Spears say that their cleric, Ezra Thorne, was guarding Atticus Brock, and the Fate Fighters surmised he was doing so at their keep in the city.

Making their way through the sewers to the western side of the city they sneaked into the Red Spears keep. There they found Ezra Thorne, who had performed an Irda ritual to turn himself into a demon, and slew him. The also found Atticus Brock and slipped away with him and set fire to the keep, escaping just as the Red Spears returned.

With as many of their allies rescued as possible, the Fate Fighters made their way to Southgate. There they found that Wynona Falco had set up a line of defense to hold off the coming enemy forces as long as they could to allow as many refugees as possible to escape. She allowed the Fate Fighters to leave the city, wishing them well.

The Fate Fighters traveled south with the stream of refugees and as soon as they were free of the teleportation blocking field the Grey Wizards had erected Fynn teleported to the ogre caves near Stonewatch Abbey with Atticus, Merith, Penelope, Lapubelle, Memnon and Margot.

The rest of the Fate Fighters continued with the refugees until they could rest and teleport back to Stonewatch Abbey. While there they sought to aid the people and Jasper used the last of his magic to heal those he could. The following day Fern, Wu and Corin returned to Stonewatch Abby, but Jasper, Kelli and Opal opted to remain with the refugees until they reached Midway.

## No Room at the Midway Inn

Jasper successfully led the refugees to Midway Inn, fighting off an Orlesean slaver party along the way. They found that it had been fully taken over by Anders Roth, who had fortified it further, renamed the Brightblades to Charno’s Fist, and began the construction of an enormous golden bull outside the settlement.

Anders declined to take most of the refugees, accepting only the craftsman, though he did sell Jasper supplies for the rest of the refugee caravan at an exorbitant price, and urged them to continue to Dunkirk. Once the Caravan was on its way again, Jasper gave command over to a new convert to The Traveler that he had gained, and teleported back to Stonewatch Abbey with Kelli and Opal.

Jasper secretly returned the following day, however, having a private conversation with Anders Roth where he surmised that Anders was aware of The Triad, willing to try to ally with them for his own power, and that the golden bull statue was to be imbued with magical enchantments, as well as the suspicion that Roth was enslaving the craftsmen he had working on it.

Alarmed and dismayed Jasper publicly made his excuses and left, secretly sabotaging the bull statue before teleporting back to Stonewatch Abbey the next day.

## New Recruits to the Mercenary Company

The Fate Fighters rallied at Stonewatch Abbey. There they ensured their rescuees gained medical attention and learned that around two dozen refugees from Waymere had already and many wished to stay. Wu, Corin and Jasper met with the Gildornian soldier in charge of the small group, Sergeant Spencer Shay, and agreed to assign an escort to Newcastle for anyone who wished to continue, but they also allowed anyone willing to join the staff or militia of the Fate Fighters Mercenary Company to stay, bolstering the soldiers at Stonewatch Abbey by another 16 men.

Wu also explained to Shay the entirety of the plot of The Triad, the real players behind the war, and gave him a letter explaining the same to Sir Boewin Banister, the commander of Gildornian Forces at Newcastle.

## The Interrogation of Felix Lapubelle

Once the Fate Fighters had determined how to deal with the refugees, they were ready to interrogate the captured Felix Lapubelle. The spymaster was naturally reluctant to cooperate, but agreed to tell all he knew and vow to go into hiding never to return if they would spare his life. He further stated that there were death warrants out on all of the Fate Fighters and their staff that would activate if he did not check in and cancel them.

Left with few options beyond torture, which very none of the Fate Fighters were keen to perform, they reluctantly agreed, they insisted upon laying a *Geas* upon Lapubelle to ensure he cancelled the death warrants, and would remain out of all efforts of the war. At the insistence of Wu and Corin that Lapubelle must face some consequences they also demanded that Lapubelle lose an eye for his crimes. Lapubelle agreed to the terms and offered the Fate Fighters a wealth of information.

### **Lapubelle's Attempts to Weaken New Gildorn**

Lapbuelle revealed that while he served The Triad he also worked fully with Orlesea to fulfill their long term goal of the Orleseans to invade Waymere. Lapbuelle boasted of the many months he spent convincing Duke Marcus Cornelius Agrippa to maneuver his forces away from the city, and even longer to fully fan his flames of hatred for the elves to convince them that they were a far greater threat than the Orleseans.

Lapubelle admitted to being behind the sabotage of the food supplies in Dunkirk to weaken the food supplies, stating he’d hired the sorceress who enhanced the rats that targeted the grain and bribed Baron Webb to turn a blind eye. He lamented that the Royal Explorers had put a stop to the scheme before it had done much damage.

Lapubelle admitted that Marquis Luic Dargent and most of the officials in Provonce did not directly work for The Triad, but were being manipulated by them. The spymaster did provide a list of known agents of the Triad, which included several Orlesean officials both in Provonce and still in Orlesea itself, as well as a the High Priest of Jamor in Provonce, Cyril Guilloux, a handful of Grey Wizards, and two ministers in New Gildorn, Hans Holbine (the Minister of Elvish Affairs) and Sir John Troy (the Minister of Finance.)

### **Assassination Attempts on Gunnar the Wolf**

Lapubelle also admitted that he was behind the assassination attempts on Gunnar the Wolf, including Tugadumness’ attack in the wood, in an effort to sew more chaos and weaken the forces in the region. He stated that Tugadumness and his chief lieutenant had been followers, but that Gallerius was not due to his youthful impetuousness.

Lapubelle admitted that Colonel Babbington, the Gildornian officer who betrayed Gunnar and ordered his death, was not part of the conspiracy, but that Lapubelle had forged orders in Duke Agrippa’s hand giving the order to attack Gunnar should he surface that day. He did not seem to be aware, however, that Gunnar had survived the attack, and declared that with Gunnar dead, seemingly by elvish hands, that he expected the Thuuns would soon declare war on the Kirathi Elves. The Fate Fighters made no effort to correct him on the nature of Gunnar’s status.

### **The Triad**

When asked about The Triad and the gates, Lapubelle stated that the Green Gate was near Ba-Sing, in the Jade Empire, and that had he been there and heard one of them speak to him in his mind. He stated that his master, Damien Shrike, was Shan I the Emperor of the Jade Empire, and that he currently made war on the Balearic City States and Caledonia to try to secure the White Gate. Further, Lapubelle knew that the Royal Explorers/Fate Fighters had already discovered the Red Gate near Midway Inn.

Lapbuelle divulged that there were agents of The Triad investigating rumors of the Black Gate in the southeast, and admitted that he did not know the location of the Blue Gate.

### **The Brotherhood of the Coast**

Lapubelle reported that he had told Silas Thatcher knew just enough about The Triad “to whet his appetite.” He stated that Thatcher had delusions of grandeur and believed he was The Triad’s true champion and that he had manipulated the pirate leader into spending his strength on the war. He warned that Thatcher was cunning and ruthless.

### **Whereabouts of Noel**

Lapublle admitted that he knew where the missing Noel Gorehammer was, stating that the dwarf had headed to Waymere for some purpose and was captured and brought before Lapubelle. The spymaster offered him a large sum of money to betray the Fate Fighters, and Noel refused. As a result Lapubelle sold him into slavery to a group of slavers heading to Moradurum. Lapubelle stated he figured Noel would be sent to the mines to toil away, but he admitted he did not track the dwarf and that he easily could have been sold elsewhere.

## Bethalanalas’ Expedition

Bethalanalas Argwyn, who had been granted sanctuary in Stonewatch Abbey, requested the Fate Fighters’ assistance. She explained that Tolthis, the elf rescued from the dragon in Waymere’s sewers, brought her a message that many of the Nilthanar elders, including her father Ethlandos Argwyn, was in hiding. She wished to launch an expedition to rescue him from his current predicament.

The Fate Fighters agreed to help, but in return asked for the she and her father to accompany Merith into Halthadrian’s tomb as a witness representing the Nilthanar Tribe in one week’s time. Bethalanalas agreed stating that if they aided her she would attend and that she’d advise her father to do so as well.

On the 25th of Twins, 465, Fynn teleported Bethalanalas, Tolthis and Memnon of the Dralthanor Tribe to their requested location so they could free Ethlandos and the other elders and would then travel to Halthadrian’s tomb. They declined to allow any non-elves to known the location of their secret refuge, so the plan called for Fynn to teleport back to Stonewatch Abbey. Before he left Bethalanalas informed Fynn that he did not have to live with humans, and that there would be a place for he and Fern should they wish to live among the Kirathi Elves.

## The Murder of Fynn

Fynn attempted to teleport back to Stonewatch Abbey, but he instead found himself yanked to a strange underground structure instead. He was soon ambushed by Boz, who ranted that Fynn had to be slain for “the good of the mission.”

Meanwhile, the other Fate Fighters became concerned about Fynn’s absence, as he had been expected to return immediately. Using Fynn’s Crystal Ball, Corin was able to see the half-elf was not in danger, but was unable to help him. Before much progress could be made to get to Fynn, Boz detected the scrying and erected a magical blocker. Worse, the crystal ball was broken in the attempt, preventing any further progress in finding Fynn.

Fynn and Boz dueled, but the gnome had taken precautions to defend himself from Fynn’s most likely attacks, and coupled with the element of surprise it proved to be enough. The gnome struck Fynn down with a lightning bolt followed by a frost spell.

## Fate Fighters Fractured

Without any way to find Fynn, let alone recover him and resurrect him, Wu turned to Fiyang’yellak. The amulet informed him that he could sense Fynn, because the half-elf had sacrificed some of his life energy to it in the past, and advised that it knew where he was and that the was dead.

This information rocked the morale of the Fate Fighters, as Jasper denied that Fynn could be dead, Corin broken into hysterics and Kelli and Opal seemed stymied as to how to help. All wondered what Fern would say or do when she returned from her hunting trip.

Wu decided to unilaterally act and sacrificed part of his life essence to Fiyang’yellak to be teleported to the location of Fynn’s corpse. There he found Boz taunting the half elf’s corpse and engaged him in combat. The gnome was able to use his magic to defeat Wu, but did not kill him, merely leaving him to his own devices and escaping.

When Wu recovered he discovered that he was just east of the Ironwall Mountains, a long distance from Stonewatch Abbey.  After some exploration and with the aid of a spell cast by Jasper, Wu was able to report that he was three days away from Silvercliff and would head there for a rendezvous, but that the Expedition to Halthadrian’s Tomb must continue.

Through a series of *Sending* spells the Fate Fighters hatched a plan whereby Corin, Kelli and Apel would ride to Silvercliff to meet Wu and recover Fynn’s body. Meanwhile, Opal would fly south to Halthadrian’s tomb immediately and on the day of the meeting Jasper would teleport there with Fern (and Fynn if he was raised by then.)

However, three days after Corin and Kelli left, Jasper realized that he could teleport straight to Silvercliff, and did so with Fern. By this time Wu had already arrived and procured the necessary ingredients to resurrect Fynn. Praying to Namas, Jasper returned Fynn to life.

The following day Fynn and Fern returned to Stonewatch Abbey, where they subsequently teleported Atticus Brock to Socortia to board the *Sea Bitch* and return to Gildorn to warn King Phillip II of what was happening on Elira.

Corin and Kelli soon joined Jasper and Wu in Silvercliff, though Corin stayed behind to assist her Aunt Jenna on family matters when the others teleported to Halthadrian’s Tomb.

## Expedition to Halthadrian's Tomb

Fynn, Fern and Merith arrived at Halthadrian's Tomb to find that most of the gathered members of the expedition were present. Korroticus had arrived, bringing Gordanius of the Kal-Thalas Tribe and Abyalynn as a bodyguard. Memnon had also arrived, bringing Ethlandos and Bethalanalas Argwyn from the Nilthanar Tribe and Opal, who would stand witness for the Valthanor Tribe had arrived on his own after scouting Waymere from the air. Soon afterwards Jasper teleported in with Wu, Kelli and Apel.

The Fate Fighters warned that on their last journey into the caves they had battled with a tribe of skum, and that the creatures could still be active. As a result it was agreed that Mertih and Korroticus would accompany the Fate Fighters into the tomb to ensure it was safe and the others would wait outside until summoned.

Inside the party did, indeed, need to fight their way past a number of skum, led by one that the Fate Fighters called “Steve.” They also learned that a party of Wild Runners led by Gallerius himself had preceded them into the tomb.

During their investigation they came upon the Wild Runners, who were fighting a losing battle against the skum. “Steve” had managed to poison and kidnap Gallerius while his minions covered his escape. Merith ordered Korroticus and the Fate Fighters to assist the Wild Runners and try to save Gallerius.

Korroticus agreed and he and the Fate Fighters engaged. In short order the skum were slain, “Steve” was defeated and Gallerius, while unconscious and still poisoned, was rescued. Merith ordered that Gallerius was to be spared and requested his second-in-command on the mission, Cithrel, to attend the events inside the tomb so he could witness what would be seen and spread the story.

Because the skum had caused a cave in Fynn had to teleport out to collect Ethlandos, and Gordianus. Fynn did not want to teleport alone so Wu offered to go with him. Once outside, however, Bethalanalas insisted upon bearing witness as well, and Fynn could not teleport back with four. Wu offered to relinquish his spot to Bethalanalas, acknowledging that what was to be seen was of far more importance to elves, and Fynn returned with the trio of elves.

Back inside the tomb, Fynn and Fern, as the Heralds, led the way as Merith, Korroticus, Opal, Cithrel, Ethlandos, Bethalanalas, and Gordianus entered the Hall of the King.

The bones of Halthadrian demanded who stood before him and Merith announced himself. Halthadrian's spirit demanded to know if Merith sought to rule the Kirathi, and the elf responded that he sought to free them, not rule them.

The skeleton of Halthadrian then rose and advanced upon Merith, examining him. After a moment he warned *"when you light the spark of freedom in the Kirathi, it shall grow into a raging flame. It can either be a cleansing fire that brings new life to the elves or it can be a destructive inferno that consumes all, leaving only ash behind. I foresee dangerous times ahead for the elves. Are you prepared to steward the fire?*”

Merith stated that he was and Halthadrian removed the crown from his bony pate and placed it upon Merith's head, naming him the High King of the Kirathi and Protector of the Sacred Flame. The skeleton then slumped back upon this throne and promptly crumbled to dust, the dead king's spirit finally at rest after so many centuries.

The elves and Fate Fighters present bowed to Merith, who declared that the Kirathi would make friends with their neighbors where possible, war when necessary, but never be ruled by anyone else ever again.

Merith claimed Halthadrian's ancient weapons and armor from his tomb and donned them, striking an especially kingly look. He and the elves departed the tomb and, with Gallerius and his Wild Runners in tow, flew off on Griffonback to set about building a new Kirathi Kingdom.

## Return to Silvercliff

The Fate Fighters teleported back to Silvercliff on the 3rd of Minstrel to find that things had grown dire in the last couple of days. Word of the Battle of Waymere had clearly reached the populace, and Lord Roj, the magistrate of the town, was taking all of the guardsmen and portable wealth and preparing to flee. Rumors that the elves or Orleseans would attack Silvercliff at any moment abounded.

They reunited with Corin and his aunt Jenna, who explained that in the light of events Jenna had called a meeting of the local community leaders to decide what to do. The Fate Fighters attended the meeting in the hopes of instilling some calm in the people. The meeting was well attended with citizens who could not, or would not, flee the town in spite of the uncertainty looming.

The Fate Fighters assured them that the elves were not going to attack Silvercliff, and that the Orleseans doing so at this time would make no tactical sense. Jenna offered that the town would still need protection, as the Gildornian soldiers were leaving with Lord Roj. A militia was soon proposed, to be led by Jormark Deephelm.

Lord Roj had also proposed to collapse the mine, presumably to prevent the Orleseans from eventually controlling them, but the townsfolk vehemently opposed this as the mines were the economic lifeblood of Silvercliff. The Fate Fighters announced that they would enter the mines to clear out the formians and try to free those enslaved by the creatures, but that the townsfolk would have to prevent Lord Roj from collapsing it and trapping them within, to which they agreed.

The meeting adjourned soon after and the Fate Fighters went to speak with Elias Young, whom both Wu and Corin had discussed the formian problem with previously. Elias had managed to capture and magically charm one of the formians, whom he called "Quizz", and fashioned a pair of magical circlets that allowed communication with the creature.

Elias' plan involved using Quizz to get near the formian queen to slay it. He explained that without the queen the formian hive would fall apart. Quizz would believe that the Fate Fighters were slaves that she was bringing to the hive to work. Elias warned, however, that Quizz was not aware of this plan, and that if she detected their intent she would oppose it and the entire hive would be made aware of the danger.

The Fate Fighters agreed to the plan and Jasper wore the circlet to allow communication with Quizz. They entered the mine but problems arose almost immediately. The Fate Fighters encountered a formian warrior, who told Quizz to take them to a taskmaster, not the queen. Frustrated, Jasper inadvertently thought about how that would derail the plan to kill the queen, which Quizz picked up on and put the entire hive on high alert.

While the Fate Fighters defeated the warrior formian, which instantly attacked them, Wu took the circlet from Jasper and managed to convince Quizz that there had been a misunderstanding. The hive stood down, but remained on high alert and ordered Quizz to take the group to a taskmaster.

Just outside of the room to the taskmaster the Fate Fighters stowed their weapons, so as to maintain the disguise as slaves. Unfortunately Fynn attempted to put Fern's magical quiver into his own magical bracer, which resulted in a massive tear and space and time that sucked in Quizz and all of the Fate Fighters but Wu and then collapsed.

Left with no idea of what had occurred or if his friends even still lived, Wu withdrew from the mine to consult with Elias.

## On the Astral Plane

The Fate Fighters, except for Wu, all found themselves stranded on the Astral Plane. As they floated confused and trying to figure out what had happened and how physics worked, Fynn admitted that the mistake may have been his fault by failing to realize what would happen when he put an object with extra dimensional space into another such object.

### **Meeting new Allies**

As they tried to calm Quizz, and themselves, they soon ran into trouble when a series of small portals began opening and closing rapidly near them. Although none sucked them in, from one emerged a Nabusu, one of the creatures from the 7 Hells. It immediately engaged the Fate Fighters, who struggled to defend themselves because of the altered physics and lack of terrain found in the Astral Plane. Only Jasper’s proved especially effective, his magic injuring the creature severely. Fortunately, during the fight, another creature appeared and aided them in combat, slaying the Nabusu.

The creature introduced itself as Xarth, and demanded to know why they had come to the Astral Plane. The Fate Fighters explained that they were lost and there accidentally and asked if Xarth could help them return to the Prime Material Plane.

Xarth explained that it could not help them return, but when they asked if it knew who may, it advised that it knew another “Primer,” a human wizard named Wryllish. The Fate Fighters asked for Xarth to take them there, and the creature agreed, but warned that Wryllish was not a friendly being and may refuse to help them or even see them.

Xarth led the Fate Fighters through the Astral Plane, during which they saw many amazing sights. They were also attacked by a number of strange and unique creatures before reaching their destination. They also encountered an Aeon, which Xarth bowed before and swore to aid in any way it wanted. The creature seemed to have an affinity for Fynn, and also seemed to instruct Xarth to help the Fate Fighters.

Xarth led the Fate Fighters to Wryllish’s Domain, a small estate located on an asteroid floating in the Astral Plane. Wryllish initially refused to even grant an audience to the Fate Fighters, lambasting Xarth for bringing them, but the Aeon that had been following Fynn seemed to intercede, and the wizard agreed to meet with the Fate Fighters. Though he was only marginally more friendly, the Wryllish did grant the wayward travelers hospitality, allowing them to rest and regain spells in his domain.

Wryllish stated that he could not send the Fate Fighters back to the Prime Material Plane, but he did suggest a number of possible places in the Astral Plane where they might be able to find assistance in their quest.

### **Journey to Spire’s Edge**

After some discussion, the Fate Fighters decided to travel to Spire’s Edge, a massive city in the Astral Plane where all manner of creatures gathered. Wryllish told them that he knew a Duskwalker cleric of Fandangath named Nezramel who might be able to aid them. Xarth, stating that the Aeon had charged him to help the Fate Fighters, agreed to guide them.

#### **Traveling through the Bone Cloud**

On the way to Spire's Edge the Fate Fighters encountered the Bone Cloud. Xarth explained that the legends said that long ago a necromancer had raised an enormous undead army and both he and it were banished to the Astral Plane. Because nearly all of the undead were mindless, they could not move in the astral plane. The Bone Cloud was born. The intelligent undead that were party of the army lurked within, preying on those who got to close or entered.

Deciding that going around it would take too much time, the Fate Fighters decided to navigate their way through the obstacle. Within the Bone Cloud they battled many undead, including a death knight named Baarkas. From his body they learned that the Bone Cloud was created over 5,000 years before after the Second Dragon War by a powerful necromancer named Ranaxx. Evidently Ranaxx had raised an enormous host of undead from the bodies of the war's fallen in a bid for power. He and his entire army of undead, however, were teleported to the Astral Plane, which created the Bone Cloud as the mindless undead could not move of their own accord.

The Fate Fighters soon encountered the spirit of a paladin who called himself Tibalt the Illuminating. He explained that he had fought against Ranaxx and had been charged with protecting the life of a cleric named Brother Zahn, but had failed and the cleric was slain by Baarkas. A magical barrier prevented the Fate Fighters from leaving the cloud, but Tibalt explained that if they recovered Zahn's holy symbol from Baarkas and Ranaxx's grimoire from the evil wizard that he would be able to open the barrier and teleport the Bone Cloud to the Abyss where it would not continue endanger sentient lives.

In part at the urging of their guide, Xarth, the Fate Fighters agreed to help and gave Tibalt Zahn's holy symbol, which they'd taken from Baarkas. They soon located Ranaxx's keep within the Bone Cloud and entered, encountering an elven prisoner/concubine named Nirali. The Fate Fighters explained they were searching for Ranaxx's grimoire and promised to take Nirali to Spire's Edge with them when the departed. In return Nirali offered to find the grimoire for them. Unfortunately she was discovered in this attempt by Ranaxx who murdered her and turned her into an undead creature.

Proceeding through Ranaxx's lair the Fate Fighters were magically informed that Ranaxx would grant them an audience if they passed all his tests, but that if they were weak or foolish they'd die. After a few trials the Fate Fighters stood face to face with the liche Ranaxx, and his demi-liche servant Vivianne and a quartet of skeletal warriors.

Ranaxx agreed to allow the Fate Fighters to live and to reward them if they would perform a boon for him. Jasper began to parlay, seeming willing to hear what the liche had to say, but Xarth cut him off and demanded the grimiore. When Ranaxx refused, Xarth attacked.

The battle was hard fought, and both Xarth and Fern were slain by Vivianne and their souls sucked into her gems. Thankfully the demi-liche was soon slain, releasing their spirits, but not returning them to their bodies. Ranaxx too soon fell to the might of the Fate Fighters and his grimioire was located, though they knew the liche's body would reform at his phylactery in a few days. By then, they hoped to have left and banished he and the Bone Cloud to the Abyss though.

As ghosts, Fern and Xarth searched the area, encountering a Monadic Deva (a form of angel) named Michael who was a prisoner of Ranaxx. Xarth negotiated a deal with him to return the Fate Fighters back to the Prime Material Plane, so long as they agreed to either have him raised from the dead or delivered his body to his fellow shulsaga for proper funeral rites. All parties agreed, and Michael provided the Fate Fighters with a small harp to summon him when they were ready to leave.

All of the Fate Fighters besides Kelli and their companion Xarth were forced to fight their way through an arena, but were successful in doing so and granted boons upon completion by a Djinn named Cassam that served Ranaxx, though "Quizz" was killed and Corin left Kelli's magical sword behind.

Kelli resolved to go retrieve her weapon, and Xarth and Opal followed to help protect her. They too were victorious in the arena but Opal, believing that the door out had not changed, led them to the wrong door where they were trapped in a void with Cassam. The Djinn proposed a bargain where he would release them from the void if the others agreed to give up the magical boons they'd requested of Cassam upon their victory in the arena. Opal and Kelli did not care for this deal and attacked, backed by a reluctant Xarth.

The battle went poorly, and Opal was slain, although this gave Kelli enough pause to allow Xarth to negotiate with Cassam, and they reluctantly agreed to accept the Djinn's original deal. Opal, like Fern and Xarth, appeared in a ghost form, but his was different and he felt the pull of the River of Souls and struggled to not be overwhelmed by it.

Fern and Fynn, who had requested powerful magical boons from Cassam, reluctantly gave them up to secure the lives of their friends, and the Djinn kept his side of the bargain, returning Opal, Kelli and Xarth.

The hereos then withdrew from the tower and delivered Ranaxx's tome to Tibalt, who thanked them and allowed them to leave before teleporting the entirety of the Bone Cloud to the Abyss.

#### **Passing the Githyanki**

With the Bone Cloud behind them, the Fate Fighters continued to Spire's Edge, directed by the spirit of Xarth. On the way they encountered a squad of astral ships, and opted to hide from them in a nearby cloud of debris. Xarth identified the ships as belonging to the githyanki, a race he identified as evil marauders that attacked, murdered, and enslaved anyone they chose.

The pirates passed without incident and the Fate Fighters continued on, finding the wreck of a ship called the *Shayde*. Searching the wreckage they found a nearly dead fletchling named Tierza. Jasper healed her and she reported that they'd been transporting Planar Keystones to Spire's Edge, but that they githyanki had attacked their ship and stolen it. Xarth explained that such an object would be able to transport several individuals to any plane they wished, and that with it the githyanki would be a danger to all planes. The Fate Fighters agreed to escort Tierza to Spire's Edge with them.

### **Arrival at Spire's Edge**

At long last, the Fate Fighters arrived at Spire's Edge, though Opal's spirit finally succumbed to it's pull and left them. The rest were greeted by an Ember Weaver, a type of Reaper (the beings that kept order in the city). It provided directions and gave an overview of the city to the Fate Fighters. They were also accosted by a shifty human named Rolth who offered to help Xarth be raised from the dead or to find some Shulsaga to take his body to, as well as to help Corin get into the Dark Platter, a restricted neighborhood he wished to explore. He requested that in repayment they assist him in recovering a book from the Archive of Last Days.

The Fate Fighters proceeded to the The Escapade, a famous inn within the city. There they were able to rest and regain their spells. They also found Opal, who had been temporarily granted an empty vessel as a body until his spirit was ready to be resurrected or move on from Spire's Edge. They also learned that before Fern and Xarth could possibly be raised from the dead that they would have to have their spirits cleansed because they had been corrupted by Vivianne.

Along with Kelli, the two traveled to the Temple of Intercine where they were informed by Administrator Zukoor that it would take them over a fortnight before they could bee seen to have their spirits cleansed. When the trio expressed dismay at the timeline, he did offer them an alternative. Zuko offered to push Xarth and Fern to the front of the line if they could locate a wayward acolyte named Phylo who had vanished.

### **The Search for Acolyte Phylo**

The Fate Fighters agreed to help Fern and Xarth find Acolyte Phylo. Administrator Zukoor informed them that Phylo had last been seen heading to the Bleakborough neighborhood to deliver recently recovered souls to a halfway house. He admitted that he may have stopped off to play chess in the neighborhood before returning, however.

The Fate Fighters began to investigate and learned that Phylo had been selling souls on the side to both the angelic and demonic gangs in the Tatterwards neighborhood to help fuel the great war between the heavens and hells. However, an encounter with one of the demonic gangs in the neighborhood caused Fate Fighters to discern that there was a third party involved, secretly collecting souls of their own and causing the celestial and demonic gangs to blame one another for the rising tensions.

As they left their meeting with the demons, they were accosted by what appeared to be another group of demons, who insisted they come with them. Fynn quickly determined that they were, in fact, not demons and were merely using magic to appear as them. They agreed to follow them "demons" into what was obviously a trap in order to expose the third party.

The Fate Fighters were led to a warehouse where they were attacked by a band of githyanki, who were trying to collect them as lost souls. The githyanki were soundly defeated, but the Fate Fighters investigated further, suspecting that they might have been the parties to kidnap Phylo. Delving deeper underneath the warehouse led them to find the apparent mastermind of the githyanki, none other than Balamer the Blue, somehow still clinging to a semblance of life on the Astral Plane.

Balamer had captured several souls, Phylo included, and trapped them in a magical pentagram where he seemed to be leeching the life out of them to fuel his own return to life. He also seemed to have the Planar Keystones that had been taken from the *Shayde.*  Upon seeing the Fate Fighters, Balamer was happy to engage them to try to take his vengeance upon them for slaying him. The fight was fierce, but in the end Balamer was slain, at which point an enormous demon appeared and claimed the evil wizard's soul, dragging it back to the Hells.

The Fate Fighters rescued Phylo, but he refused to be returned to Administrator Zukoor, begging instead to be allowed to flee. The Fate Fighters explained that they needed to return Phylo in order to cleanse Fern and Xarth's spirits so they could be resurrected. Phylo stated he knew some people who could return them to life instead, if they let him go. When he stated, however, that these people were connected to The Triad, the Fate Fighters insisted on turning Phylo in. When the man pushed, refusing to go, they slew him since all they needed was his body, dead or alive, to be taken to Zukoor. Upon his death the same deamon that claimed Balamer returned, claiming Phylo's soul for the Hells as well.

### **Ressurecting Fern, Opal and Xarth**

The Fate Fighters and Xarth returned Phylo's body to Administrator Zukoor, and also turned in the Planar Keystones. The Ember Weaver was as good as its word, cleansing the souls of Fern and Xarth so they could be returned to life. Jasper himself performed the resurrections the following day, though Opal was forced to wait until they returned to the Prime Material Plane to be raised from the dead.

The Fate Fighters bid Xarth a fond farewell, and used the magical harp the angel Michael had given them to summon the celestial creature. The angel fulfilled his part of the bargain and used his magic to transport them back to the Prime Material Plane.

## Return to the Prime

Michael's magic returned the Fate Fighters to the exact spot where they'd left the Prime Material Plane, namely inside the mines of Silvercliff. They swiftly noted that there were no Formians attacking them, and that there were signs of a large battle. Exiting they mine, they were met by members of the local militia, who informed them that Wu had disposed of the Formian Queen in their absence and helped them to slay most of the rest of the next.

## Members

The Following are members of the Fate Fighters, with the first seven being the founding members.

Jasper Conroy - Human cleric of the Traveler. Believes that his god instructed him to abandon his former life to come to Elira. Friends with Fynn and Fern and the trio had traveled with them before coming to Elira.

Fynnhanar (aka Fynn)- Half elf sorcerer and the twin brother of Fern. He has an apathetic demeanor, a short temper and a love of fire and fire magic. He and Fern were friends of Jasper and the trio had traveled together before coming to Elira.

Fernith (aka Fern) - Half elf ranger and the twin sister of Fynn. Kind hearted but a skilled warrior, she spent most of her effort keeping Fynn out of trouble. She and Fynn were friends of Jasper and the trio had traveled together before coming to Elira.

Wu Xen - Human monk/cleric of the Dragon. Came to Elira after being sent a dream by his god. Calm and collected and a capable warrior and tactician with a knack for organization. The infrastructure around Stonewatch Abbey and the larger Fate Fighters Mercenary Company is largely due to his initiative.

Noel Gorehammer - Money driven dwarf warrior who was occasionally prone to uncontrollable fits of rage. Noel was a powerful fighter and able sailor. He left the Fate Fighters abruptly, casting suspicion on himself that he may have betrayed them.

Corin Ironcheek - Dwarven Bard. A self described “lover, not a fighter” Corin was originally hired as a scout by the Duke of Waymere to aid the others when they were in the employ of the Gildornian Crown. Since then Corin seems to have fully committed to the Fate Fighters’ goals.

Elrir (aka the Opal) - Elf druid. Though initially an agent and scout for his tribe, Opal has become a valued member of the Fate Fighters for his nature magic and the fearsome animal shapes he can change to in combat.

Kelathadan (aka Kelli) - Elf rogue. Initially arrested by a Gildornian press gang and freed by the Fate Fighters, Kelli stuck around with them and participated in the Battle of Waymere, where she acquitted herself quite well and saved Wu's live. The Fate Fighters extended an official offer to her to join and she happily accepted.