The Story So Far

A summary of each session since the Racedis Arena campaign began in April 2020.

## **Chapter 1: Premiere**

The Party rises through the sands of the Racedis Arena to the Goblin Fight! It's not glamorous - in fact, the Goblin Fight is a bit of a joke for Arena diehards - but the Party fares well against the notoriously anti-magic goblin troup MundaMunda. Sillius the Hungry, Lanethe, and Halwyr fight for their lives!

## **Chapter 2: Under New Management**

In our first look outside the arena, the Party joins their timid manager, a Triton named U'gene. They accompany him to his home - a cistern joined to the Racedis Towers sewer system - to collect their winnings. Upon arriving, however, they find that the MundaMunda gang have made good on their threat to get back at the party. U'gene's cistern is full of a shocking surprise.

## **Chapter 3: Still As Stone**

The Second Arena Fight. The Arena has conjured ruins from a far off land, and hidden creatures among the statues on the walls. The Party is forced to fight a nearly invisible enemy, and glimpse the Kingdom of Death before the challenge is over...

## **Chapter 4: Michel's Mire**

The Arena's Ruins Challenge were tough, but The Party made an impression. U'gene is ecstatic!

"We're going on our first Promo Tour! We need to get your name out there, and there is no better way to do that than to find a little town with a problem and Champion for them. Most districts here in Racedis Towers already have Champions, of course, and I'll level with you: you're not ready to Champ a district yet. Not by a sight. BUT, I dug around a little, and I found us a nice little village with a haunting problem - great, right!?"

As you travel the backroads to the haunted village, Michel's Mire, you meet Karl, one of its inhabitants. Before he can bring you to town, a new threat rears its ugly heads: ogres!

## **Chapter 5: Stranger in the Night**

Having defeated the ogres (and discovering a strange red dust behind their eyes), the Party follows Karl to Michel's Mire. They make camp to rest before digging into the mystery, but the mystery finds them instead. Sillius, exhausted from battling ogres, falls asleep during the first watch.

A distant shriek awakens Lanethe, who quickly finds that the spectre haunting the town is a dwarf named Reddgard. The spectral dwarf, advancing boldly on the Party, is seeing something that isn't there... He believes he is in the Arena, defending his title against other fighters. Under the swell of magic energy, the Party even hears the rumble of a crowd.

Halwyr lands the first blow, soon followed by Sillius - who realizes that the spectre resists such mundane weaponry as a sword. Lanethe makes a valiant effort to convince Reddgard that this fight isn't worth it, that there are greater nemeses to defeat! Reddgard, though distracted by the ploy, dominates the field for a moment. Sillius suffers blows from his warhammer, and Lanethe and Halwyr find themselves sinking into spectral red sand suddenly appearing in the ground.

Halwyr helps Lanethe channel the newfound magic and Sanctifies an apple, granting it a magical blessing! Sillius pulls Lanethe from the sinking sands and Lanethe runs Reddgard through with the apple on the end of a shortsword! The sword has little effect... but the apple lodges in his glowing form and he chokes from the inside. Around his feet, the spectral red Arena sand draws him in. Michel's Mire is safe. And the Party has Championed their first village!

## **Chapter 6: Bridge Over Troubled Waters**

The Party stays in Michel's Mire to investigate the appearance of Reddgard's spirit. The villagers bring them to the place where it all started, the windmill on the edge of the swamp. Inside, they find remnants of the former Champion's spectral presence; streaks of red sand cross the floor and move with footprints from invisible forms. Sillius keeps lookout while Lanethe investigates the footprints and Halwyr makes a close study of the sand itself.

The Party discovers that the invisible figures treading the sand have no awareness of them, only of the sand itself - and the Sand itself is a remnant of an Arena ritual called the Hourglass Rite.

They follow the trail of sand out into the swamp and back to the covered bridge they crossed on their way to the village. An ogre emerges from underneath the bridge, fleeing a growing red glow and scrabbling Red Sand from its eyes. Halwyr and Sillius grapple with the ogre while Lanethe saves Fish, who had gotten caught by the event under the bridge. Underneath, Lanethe finds a whirlpool over a **Rift**. Peering into the Rift, Lanethe sees a claustrophobic dimension of shifting Red Sands, piled with hundreds of bodies - Reddgard among them - asleep in the dunes.

Lanethe manages to climb out of the Rift in time, but Sillius gets caught in the current and as the Rift closes, it marks Sillius. The implications are yet to be seen...

## **Chapter 7: Rumble in the Jungle**

Before the Party journeys back to Racedis Towers, Lanethe answers the summons to the Lodge moot. Lanethe travels in secret before dawn to meet with the other members of the Lodge of Endor. Matriarch Brywynn chastises Lanethe and one other Lodge ranger, another elf named Gweyir, for flaunting the blessings of Endor to the world. Lanethe displays a typical flippant attitude, and the Matriarch responds that the Lodge will be watching her. Lanethe meets the sympathetic Gweyir after the moot, and finds that he will be positioned on the outskirts of Racedis Towers.

Hot on the heels of their travels, an Arena fight - against the party's first respectable opponent, no less! Captain Callisar, an elven sea captain turned Arena Champion; she's ruthless, she's murder in the water, and when the Arena constructs a jungle for the fight, she dives right in. The Party sets an ambush, and waits...

## **Chapter 8: A Little Patronizing**

The Party manages to wrench Captain Callisar from the water, nearly losing Lanethe in the process. Lanethe passes into the Kindom of Death, who makes an offer; Lanethe must return, within the day, or be marked Wanted by Death. Lanethe accepts.

The Party is victorious! U'gene is thrilled, as he and the Party are gaining recognition and attracting attention. He even commits to finding sponsorships, but suddenly one approaches unbidden - a beardless dwarf named Patrimonio invites the Party to a gala, at which time they will discuss the details of sponsorship. The life of a politician on the campaign trail is busy, after all.

The Party revels in their victory - and their winnings! They shop, explore the city... and seek Patrimonio's mansion. Can't hurt to know him better, right? Just as Patrimonio himself arrives, the Party detects a complication - MundaMunda!

## **Chapter 9: Thunder Downtown**

The MundaMunda Krew of goblins is making good on their promise to make life difficult for the Party. Patrimonio is sure to notice - is there ANY way this could go well?

They're trapped between Patrimonio's guarded mansion and a troupe of angry goblins, in a courtyard built into a tower. In a nearby district, rapid-fire thunder rumbles closer and closer: a Boomerangtang match. Fire spreads across the courtyard, and the two fighting parties do battle!

Not only do they defeat the goblins in this street fight - Halwyr narrowly avoiding mortal injury, and Sillius in even more danger - but they get Patrimonio's attention on *purpose.* With the flourish of true Arena Champions, they dispatch their nemeses and impress Patrimonio deeply.

He invites them into his mansion for drinks and other "refreshment" - also offering some crystal shards he calls somni - while they talk business. He seems uninterested in dealing with U'gene, but the Party lets their manager do the negotiating. With today's show, Patrimonio bids a better sponsorship deal: 100 coin to the Party, every fight, win or lose.

But the Party will need a name.

## **Chapter 10: Chaffburn Garden Gala**

The Party attends Patrimonio's Gala, giving them their first glimpse into high society. They rub shoulders with some of the more powerful elements within the city - a perk promised by Patrimonio as part of his sponsorship offer. Will the Party accept? It hinges on a few things - favors, work fit for adventurers... and a new name.

Lanethe makes an impression on Chaffburn Gardens paladin Captain Remo, and catch a performance by a talented basilisk dancer amidst the political and industrial types at the party.

## **Chapter 11: Blinking Blizzard**

Sillius, Lanethe, and Halwyr debut their new name - The Vanguard. U'gene is working on a bona-fide contract for Patrimonio's sponsorship agreement, and the Vanguard embark on another Arena Challenge. The Arena conjures a mountaintop, embroiled in a blizzard. The challenge is pure survival, fighting against the elements - the party shivers their way down the mountain and makes shelter under the branches of a giant pine. But their little fire attracts the curious nose of a curious foe.

## **Chapter 12: The Plane of Sand**

The Vanguard fights blink-hounds in the blizzard, but the game changes suddenly when the Arena's conjurations begin to decay. It starts as a split in the snow, where the stone and snow underfoot transforms into red Arena sand and crumbles into itself. The Rift quickly grows, swallowing blink-hounds, exploding pines into red sand, and threatening to engulf the Vanguard into a disturbing, unseen dimension: the Plane of Sand. From its depths clamber dozens of creatures of all races, each brandishing weapons and with glowing red eyes set in horrifying visages. Below them, more creatures of the hundreds of corpse-like bodies awaken.

## **Chapter 13: The Second Scroll**

It has been a day since the Rift to the Plane of Sand opened in the Arena. The Vanguard sits, each alone, in cells in a Revenant Host temple, questioned by Captain Remo. They think back to the destruction and terror of the day before while discussing their fate with the sympathetic Captain.

## **Chapter 14: Windows Stained Gray**

Held in a Revenant Host templeprior to their Judgments, the Vanguard have 24 hours before the process of Judgement begins. In the mess hall, Halwyr recognizes an old friend - Bastia, the sage that helped Halwyr achieve the discipline necessary for advancing the study of magic. Their meeting, and the agitation of some fellow prisoners, sparks a riot that sweeps Sillius and Lanethe into the fray (despite their best efforts) while Halwyr tries to sneak off with Bastia. Halwyr's former mentor reveals a schism in the Revenant Host; paladins who intend to do away with Luminaries, Judgments, and the Lux Reforms to make the Revenant Host the only power in Racedis Towers. If they were to succeed, the only rule would the the will of their clerics and the might of their paladins.

## **Chapter 15: Self Evidence**

Evidence collection, prior to the Judgments. The Vanguard venture, under heavy guard by Revenant Host paladins, to the Arena. The scene is guarded by Sanc. Nathaniel and the Revenant Host clerics under him. The Vanguard searches for clues and evidence that will prove their innocence, and in doing so meet Porri the Arena Mage and investigate the now-closed Rift under the sands.

## **Chapter 16: The Judgments**

The Judgments are the standard of justice in Racedis Towers: Three Douters, three trials... The Vanguard have evidence in their favor, but it will have to overcome the prejudices of the city and the Douters that preside over their fate.

One from the Towers: Lile-Rousse, human Luminary of the Chaffburn Gardens Disctrict. One from the Revenant Host: Centuri, satyr Primus of the Revenant Host paladins. One from the lives of the Accused: Algajola, wizened goblin alchemist and old-school Arena Champion.

## **Chapter 17: Dust Up**

With a fresh declaration of Innocence (Judged Innocent by Lile-Rousse, Guilty by Centuri, and a tie-breaking Innocent Judgment by Algajola) and mobbed by newsparchment scribes and hangers-on of all kinds. Public opinion is a miasma - many trust the decision of the Judgments, many others insist the Vanguard is guilty. So it goes, in Racedis Towers.

They rush to Patrimonio's Palazzio for a meeting. Their patron sees some potential in the buzz around town about the Vanguard, claiming "no press is bad press", insisting that the Vanguard make appearances around town. Putting their skills on display, especially as upstanding citizens of the city, will be vital before they can get back in the Arena. Patrimonio insists that the favor he needs, in exchange for his sponsorship, is just the thing: clearing an infested, abandoned tower so he can renovate it and bring life back to the district.

They depart for the tower and find their way interrupted; the tower's skybridges have all been demolished to quarantine the tower from the rest of the district. Once Halwyr levitates the rubble into a floating bridge, the Vanguard can proceed. The mounds of rust on the floor don't bode well.

## **Chapter 18: Wandering the Halflands**

Doing battle with Rust Monsters at the top of the crumbling tower, Lanethe takes a faceful of corrosive spores. Lungs burning, light fading, Lanethe looks into the Kingdom of Death once more... Only to be snatched away by Endor and hurried into the Halflands. With a moment to talk, Endor reveals to Lanethe that she has a history with Death, ending with an enchanted mirror that prevents them interacting in any way. Endor is confused as to why Death would want to find her again, after all this time... It may be Lanethe's lot to find out.

## **Chapter 19: Down Into the Amberhive**

The party discovers some loot, claimed by a vagrant named Calvi squatting in the tower who quickly escapes the fray with a boomstaff. Lanethe is back in action, and just in time! The recently dispatched rust monsters don't appear to be the only bugs in town. Formian drones and taskmasters scuttle up from below to do battle with the Vanguard, and Lanethe delves deeper into the tower to find the outskirts of a massive formian hive. Looks like they've found the infestation.

## **Chapter 20: Last Breath**

The fight to descend through the infested tower is brutal. Formian drones and taskmasters give way to the deadlier and more organized Formian centurions, wielding barbed spears of crafted amber. The deeper the Vanguard delves into the core of the tower, the more they are beset by their insectoid enemies. Halwyr fights above while Lanethe and Sillius delve below, but Sillius takes a terrible fall, and Lanethe may not be close enough to help.

## **Chapter 21: Desecrated Decor**

The worst comes to pass. Sillius the Hungry has left this world. Lanethe, however, doesn't intend to let Death have the last word. Lathering the minotaur's body in the quickly-hardening amber for protection, Lanethe quickly uses a Feather Token to turn the corpse into leathery amber dirigible. Lanethe and Halwyr fight their way back to the surface leaving the Amberhive intact so they can bring Sillius's body away. Lanethe hopes the blessings of Endor will be strong in the coming days...

But their troubles don't end there. Upon leaving the infested tower containing the Amberhive, a Desecrator rips through the neighborhood: Ixian - **"The Bound One"**, a halfling wreathed in chains and wire, swinging hooks and scythes. Joined by the ranger Gweyir and the vagrant Calvi (who turns out to be a very capable fighter on the Pit Circuit), they do battle in a marketplace full of chandeliers and chains, desperate to escape with their lives. They are not entirely successful.

## **Chapter 22: Iron and Vines**

Sillius is dead, Lanethe has just escaped the Kingdom of Death through the Halflands by the paths Endor revealed, and the Vanguard has very narrowly escaped the rampaging Desecrator. The Vanguard doesn't have time to grieve - the life of an Arena Champion moves quickly and rewards those who are totally dedicated to The Show. The moment they leave the Amberhive, they have to leave the body of their friend in the apartment that Sillius should have shared with Halwyr. Someone has thrown down the gauntlet and challenged them to a Rivalry.

They have a pinch hitter - Calvi, the vagrant from the infested tower, has been waiting for this big break for a long time.

Their opponent is Midge, the basilisk dancer that they clashed with during their Judgements. After leading panicked fighters from the Guts of the Arena, and the events of the Judgements, Midge has a grudge. Many Rivalries are business arrangements - they're lucrative events, pitting entire fandoms against one another. This one is personal. Midge has it out for the Vanguard.

## **Chapter 23: Pulp Friction**

Midge and her mount, Harley the basilisk, have taken heavy hits from the Vanguard. After a quick disappearing act, the Vanguard have to find Midge among the floating islands conjured by the Arena. The ploy is short-lived and the Vanguard have the upper hand once more, but Calvi butts heads with Lanethe. Not all Champions fight for the same reason, or in the same way.

## **Chapter 24: Spotlight Session**

For the first time in weeks, our adventurers have some time on their own. We follow Halwyr, Calvi, and Lanethe in a day in their lives.

Halwyr goes to meet with a secret society of wizards, the name of which even Halwyr does not know. They meet in an enchanted Bronze Ring to maintain their secrecy, allowing Halwyr to consort with other wizards without arousing suspicion. Halwyr seeks answers about the magical mysteries surrounding th e Rift in the Arena, and Halwyr's friend Levie brings forward another wizard, Olmeto, to offer answers. Some wizards choose to focus on the fundamentals of magic, the foundational elements like earth - some specialize even further, and Olmeto specializes in sand. He has studied the enchantments and magic tied to sand, both on the Frontier and in the Arena. He expresses to Halwyr the danger of ancient enchantments: magic must be fed, and magic fed by blood rots the quickest. This bodes poorly for the Arena.

Calvi goes to meet an old friend, Sari-Solenzara. She owns the frontier-folk tavern "The Horse & Fool", a pit-fight venue and home to much of Calvi's fighting career. She congratulates him on graduating to the big show, the first fight in the Arena! But catching up isn't Calvi's only plan. Midge is riding a basilisk rodeo today, and Calvi wants a heart-to-heart, smooth some things over with her. Not only that, but local gangster Boggs the Mountain agrees to leave The Horse & Fool alone, if Calvi will help him with a delivery.

Lanethe goes to the marketplace of the Cheep's Gate together with U'gene and Gweyir to see if she can find out what is needed to bring back siliuse. She goes to meet Algajola and sends off U'gene and Gweiyir in the other direction to Search for.. well anything that can help. Algajola gives Lanathe a list of ingredients that are needed to bringing him back. But she will need to find a informer for the more exotic matiriaals. So she tracks sombody to the old libary of the district and there she meets a elf who offers to help her for some coin to get her the locations of some of the ingedients but just as the deal was made Captain Remo showed up. and a moment later they hear a bang coming from outside.

## **Chapter 25: Heat in Cheep's Gate**

The party hears a loud noise it is comming from the center of cheaps gates for Lanathe this sound is just above her and for Calvi it ​​was a few blocks away but Halwyr it is in a different district and there for he is the farthest away. calvi is in the horse and fools when he hears the sound and disides to use his Grappling Hook whitout a lot of sucses and disides to steal a Cart to travel the remaining distance. Halwyr in the meanwhile, is traveling to the district by foot. Lanathe arivated first at the site along with Gweyir and U'gene and sees that there are a two Desecrator's  having a fight to the died, and they destroy the city in occupation. But when lanathe arrives she is given the opportunity to collect one of the ingredients for the ritual to bring back siliuse. and she goes after it.

When lanathe leaves the fight calvi arrives in the cart and starts fighting one of the Desecrator's. At the same time more paladins from the Revenant Host arrive who are busy with the other desecrater. Hailwyr afther treveling al this time and just beaing only halfway disides to take a gondala and afther paying for the transport arives at the fight, and a moment afther they are al there one of the Desecrator's destroys a bridge calvi the host and hailwyr are on. And lanathe beaing under that bridge escapes the falling rocks falling down on her and finds the moment to collect the ingredient and joins the fight.but calvi and halwyr take damage beacuse of it. only one of the desecrators focuses on Halwyr and grapels Halwyr. and the desacrater jumps away deeper in to cheaps gate taking halwyr whith it. and Lanathe and Calvi go afther them.

## **Chapter 26: A Clay-Red Cloak**

With Halwyr carried away, Lanathe and Calvi use the grapling hook to get to Halwyr and the Desecrator. they travel through different districts until Halwyr manages to escape and end up in a courdyard filled with electrically charged pebbles. With calvi and Lanathe on the way, also is the revelent host on the way. And with all members of the vanguard now all in the courtyard.

the fight continues halwyr begins with a ritual to have lightning strike the desecrater. while halwyr is busy with that, lanathe and calvi attack the desecrater. Only Celladan leader of the revelant host group orders the Vangaurd and the Desecrator to lay down their weapons. Lanathe listens to Celladan but Calvi as stubborn as he is continues and does a lot of damage to the desecrator. When Calvi distances himself from the desecreter. Halywer bring the lightning down on the desecreter. Celladan orders again for Calvi and Halwyr to stand down, Halwyr does what he wants but calvi won't listen. The revelant host cheaked after that the desecrater who now lies the courdyard and declare it dead. The group and the revelent host talk a bit more and calvi is arrested they put Calvi and the body in the wagon that is flown away. Lanathe and Halwyr are asked to come later on the day to the revelant host temple to discuss some things.