The Setting
A post apocalyptic world, an event in the fairly recent past has caused
the destruction of most of the world. Though the event wasn't that long
ago, it has quickly passed into legend as the remaining societies
struggle to make due.
The Fortress
Our story begins in a large village built around a mountain fortress.
The party has their individual reasons for being there: the sorcerer a
merchant, the artificer a sculptor, the swordsage mercenary, and the
druid on a quest for an ancient artifact. When a sudden raid on the
village occurs, they band together to fight them off. Despite beating
back the initial forces, the party and a large group of villagers are
forced to flee into the mountains to escape the oncoming barbarian
horde. Knowing the fortress can hold for about two months, the party
begins to make its way towards a nearby city state to seek help.
The Druid
Finding their way to an underground river, they quickly construct a raft
and begin on their way only to be halted by Assassin Vines on the walls
of the tunnel. Dealing with the vines and continuing on their way, the
party comes upon the grotto of a water elemental that has an offer for
them. In exchange for safe passage, the party agreed to investigate a
local druid who has mysteriously gone silent recently. Journeying to
the druid's forest, the party was quickly ambushed by the forest's
guardians. Upon further inspection, the guardians appeared to be
corrupted by something. Making their way to the center of the forest, a
large barrier was present, oddly, a barrier to keep something in, not
prevent intruders. Entering the barrier, the party came across the
druid they were seeking to find that he was not only a treant, but that
his sanity was long gone. Piecing together his rambling, the story of a
tinkerers guild that stole his brother's Life Gem, an artifact that
sustained the forest, for some purpose, leaving the brother dead and the
forest in decay. With little else to be done to help the druid for
now, the party returned to the river, informing the elemental of the
druid's fate, and continued on their way.
The Desert
Leaving the river, the party began to journey through the desert towards
a nearby outpost. Stopping for supplies and resting for a night, they
inquired the locals about the druid's story, they were informed that
while a similar tale existed, it lacked the existence of a second druid
and had happened long ago before the world fell to ruin. Pondering the
meaning of these odd discrepancies, the party thanked them for their
time and left, bringing with them a messenger and guide to lead them to
the city state they were searching for. Passing through the desert was a
dangerous venture, interrupted by an attack by a band of pirates
sailing the sea of sand on a modified corsair. Fighting them off, the
party quickly made repairs caused by the battle, taking the corsair for
themselves and fleeing only a short time ahead of the rest of the ships
now closing in. Destroying one of the chasers, the party seemed doomed
until the sudden appearance of the ancient and powerful Crawling
Apocalypse. Quickly destroying the ships the party flees from the
wreckage towards the ruins of a nearby city.
The City of Shadows
Fleeing from the Crawling Apocalypse, the party takes refuge in the
ruins of the city. The resting through the night, the sun appears to
have not risen in the morning; the city is trapped in perpetual night.
Searching the city, the party finds signs of barricades and defenses
long abandoned. The buildings are coated with long expired ghostwall
shellac, an alchemical paste designed to render walls solid to ghosts
and shadows. In a still standing inn, the party encounters a group of
feral humans still at their barricades. Fighting them back, the few
survivors attempt to flee to the streets only to be struck down by a
large shadow beast which quickly flees. Continuing through the city,
the party comes upon one building which appears to still be standing and
relatively untouched bearing the symbol of a tinkerers guild.
Believing it may possibly be the guild spoken of in the legend, they
investigate. Fighting their way past the still active golem defenders,
the party finds no survivors, but a record of the events that destroyed
the city. Seeking a weapon to fight an invading army, the guild had
found a a way to open a portal to the Plane of Shadow. Using an unknown
power source, the city used the device to summon shadows to fight their
enemy. At some point though, the device faltered and the portal
remained open, turning the city into a nexus connecting the Material
Plane to the Plane of Shadow. Under constant assault now, the city
quickly died. Leaving the guild, the party encountered the remains of
the pirates that had survived the earlier battle. Once again the party
was saved from nearly impossible odds by the reappearance of the shadow
beast. Combining forces, the beast and its shadow minions were fought
off and destroyed by a burst of magical daylight.
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