SOTDL CAMPAIGN DIARY: PRINCE OF DARKNESS, PT 3. 9.26.17

The Heroes:

·     Ecna Lubma: dwarf priest grudgebearer healer

·       Gruntbelly: dwarf magician sorcerer wizard

·       Kane Arroway: human warrior fighter sharpshooter

·       Mathias: jotun jotun juggernaut spirit warrior

The heroes continue their fight against the powerful demon Nareesh, and as they trade blows they realize that the Demonstorm is nearly upon them as the ceiling above rumbles dangerously.  Finally, they manage to destroy Nareesh’s mortal form and the demon’s essence is sucked back into the Void from where it came.  But Nareesh’s pets, the horned ogres, join the fight now that the demon is gone.  But before the pair could do much, the ceiling begins to crumble and the heroes rush to exit the 2^nd floor of the keep to the relative safety of the 1^st floor.  The ogres are first crushed by falling chunks of stone, then sucked up into the Demonstorm. 

The heroes notice a circle of arcane runes and Gruntbelly discerns that it is a teleportation circle.  He steps on it and teleports into a tower that has a book floating in the center of the tower.  The book’s writing is lighting up as if being read by invisible eyes that cause the lines being read to light up.  As the pages are finished, they turn on their own.  Gruntbelly determines this to be part of the ritual fueling the Demonstorm’s descent, so he tries to grab the book, but in the process activates a magical trap and is rendered unconscious.

Mathias steps on the teleportation circle and ends up in another tower, where a sword with a strange black blade that has exploding stars and worlds being consumed by the Void visible within.  He grabs the blade and tries to find his way out.

Ecna steps on the teleportation circle and finds himself in yet another tower with runes etched upon the floor.  The runes light up in sequence, so Ecna decides to try and stop this by smashing the runes with his hammer.  He too activates a magical trap that causes an explosion, but he gets up and begins to throw his hammer at the runes instead of doing it by hand.  Upon destroying 3 runes in this manner, the sequence of lighted runes ends and Ecna tries to find a way out.

Kane steps on the teleportation circle and finds himself in the same tower as Gruntbelly.  He aids the fallen dwarf and the two make their way out of the tower. 

Eventually they all regroup in the courtyard of the keep, only to find that stopping the Demonstorm’s descent by interrupting the ritual did not close the opening to the Void.  They then see a massive pair of inhuman hands reach through the opening and begin to rip it open wider.  The heroes rapidly depart and as they get nearly a mile away up the mountain path, they see a gigantic demon emerge from the tear and descend upon the keep.  The monstrous creature is identified by Gruntbelly as a demon prince known as The Destroyer of Worlds, and they watch as the lands around it buckle and shift as if in an earthquake, and they watch as it begins to devour the remains of the keep, and they watch as rivers of excrement erupt from the monster’s backside cavernous rear orifice.  They group turn and continue on, anxious to find the  Ironmonger’s airship and out of these cursed mountains.

End of session.

SOTDL CAMPAIGN DIARY: PRINCE OF DARKNESS, PT 2., 9/19/2017

The Heroes:

·     Ecna Lubma: dwarf priest grudgebearer healer

·       Gruntbelly: dwarf magician sorcerer wizard

·       Kane Arroway: human warrior fighter sharpshooter

·       Mathias: jotun jotun juggernaut spirit warrior

The heroes’ strength was being drained by the relentless wraiths, but they continued to fight bravely and managed to destroy the undead creatures.  Sorely weakened after that fight, the heroes rested a bit, as the battle took its toll on them, particularly Mathias’ sanity.  Gruntbelly was forced to release built up sorcerous energy and in doing so blew holes in two walls.  The heroes entered the keep through the holes, searching for Nareesh and the Sword of Unmaking.  They found many empty and decaying rooms, but then stumbled upon a room full of cursed dolls, similar to the one in Mathias’ possession, and it was trying desperately to join the other dolls, but the jotun would not allow it.

The heroes found several rooms with demons and these encounters put a strain on their sanity.  Eventually they found a way to the second level of the keep.  Mathias found a clockwork person whose key had apparently wound down, so he ripped the key out to ensure it would not be a threat.  The group went up the stairs and found the next level very loud as the Demonstorm bore down upon the keep just above them, unmaking it as it descends.  The group did find a magic circle that seemed to be a countdown timer for the storm’s descent, which Gruntbelly determined would be just a few hours before the entire keep was consumed, driven by a large-scale arcane ritual.  They pressed onward and found a large chamber with a pile of bodies, which had motes of light coming off them and floating away into various parts of the keep.  Next to the pile, a large dark-skinned demon stood and somehow the group instinctively knew that this was Nareesh, the relic hunter that Mathias had been chasing for over a year.  Behind Nareesh, two horned ogres sat and upon the pile of bodies, three small  demons emerged.  Nareesh taunted the joten, driving him into a manic rage and the battle commenced. 

Session ended mid-battle.

SOTHDL CAMPAIGN DIARY – PRINCE OF DARKNESS PT 1, 9/5/17

The Heroes:

·     Ecna Lubma: dwarf priest grudgebearer healer

·       Gruntbelly: dwarf magician sorcerer wizard

·       Kane Arroway: human warrior fighter sharpshooter

·       Mathias: jotun jotun juggernaut spirit warrior

After rummaging through the giant’s sacks and taking the valuables, the heroes continue on towards their destination, but find that the trek becomes more and more difficult as they near the keep and the perpetual storm that dominates the skies above it.  Gale force winds buffet them and nearly drive them back, but they press onward and when they enter a valley near the keep, they find themselves in the eye of the storm where it is eerily calm.  In the valley they spot several holes and tracks which they deduce belong to beastmen and large creatures called stone worms.  They decide to make a break for it across the short valley to the towers & bridge that lead to the keep.  The dwarves ride the jotun and Kane flies thanks to an enchanted item and they all converge upon one of the towers, attacking the bugbear beastmen that are within.  The trek across the field draws the attentions of stone worms, complicating the fight.  The heroes manage to overpower the bugbears, but took some hits in the process, so they decide to rest in the keep. 

As they rest they notice that the storm is actually descending upon the keep at a slow but steady pace, and seems to be dismantling it stone by stone. Their proximity to the storm also causes some of them to have a restless night.  The following day the decide to head across the bridge, but as soon as they step upon it, they are assaulted by an overwhelming dread, which assaults their sanity.  Pulling themselves together, they continue on and find the center of the bridge to be fragile.  Mathias and Kane jump across without difficulty, but the dwarve’s short legs fail to carry them over that section, which breaks under their weight.  Fortunately, both had ropes attached to them prior to leaping and were pulled up the other side by Mathias. 

The heroes pass two more towers, which seem dark and empty, but they decide to check them out anyway to prevent a later attack from behind.  Within they find two wraiths, who ruthlessly attack the heroes, attempting to drain their souls!

End of session.

SOTDL CAMPAIGN DIARY - OFF THE RAILS PT 3, 8/29/17

The Heroes:

·        Ecna Lubma: dwarf priest grudgebearer healer

·        Gruntbelly: dwarf magician sorcerer wizard

·        Kane Arroway: human warrior fighter sharpshooter

·        Mathias: jotun jotun juggernaut spirit warrior

The heroes continue their assault on the orcs that sacked the orc village of Crow’s Feet.  Mathias manages to disable their Iron Titan and the combined efforts of the team enable them to kill the invading orcs.  The heroes talk the orc prisoner that led them here into helping this village rebuild. The heroes leave to try and make the train back, but when they arrive at the tracks there is no train waiting for them.  Faced with the choice of walking the Iron Titans back to Thorpe or going to Foundry, they opt to walk to Foundry with the hopes of finding another train back.  They fish out the 3^rd Iron Titan from the lake where it was deposited with the remains of the train and make their way on foot to Foundry. 

After a few days’ journey, they group arrive in Foundry and find their way to the Ironmonger offices, where they meet Korin Ironmonger, son of Gundren Ironmonger, the dwarf that sent them to retrieve the Iron Titans.  Korin agrees to help the heroes on their journey into the Iron Peaks by offering a ride in his airship and while they are gone his people will clean up the titans.  The heroes agree and the following day they fly out of Foundry and into the Iron Peaks towards the region called the “demonstorm” due to the perpetual storm that many say was brought into being by a failed demonic summons. 

The airship makes it most of the way through the mountains, but as the ship approached the storm it became too dangerous to continue, so the captain drops the heroes off on a plateau and tells them he’ll wait for their return as long as the storm.  The heroes go on foot through the mountains the remaining few miles and encounter two giants that attack them with boulders.  Despite the size of the monsters, the heroes manage to take them out with little trouble, finding some money and a few odd things in the giant’s sacks.

End of Session