#guild campaign

The Adventurers, many of whom were wounded during their initial trek into the tomb, are forced to take a week to rest and recuperate their strength. During one uneventful morning, a stranger visits their camp. Wounded, and flustered, the Tol’vir announced himself as an archaelogist and historian from King Phaoris’ court. He had hired mercenaries to escort him to the adventurers, but they had robbed him in the desert, and left him to die.

The stranger offers a bounty on the traitors, and the gang treks out to hunt them down. They find a camp of mercenaries and Tanari shadow walkers, and ambush them in the midst of a desert barbecue. Reinvigorated from their long rest, the gang quickly dispatches their foes, and return to camp victorious.

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After a few days of preparation, the gang once again ventures into the ancient tomb. Some of their number chooses to help their Tol’vir guides excavate anything of interest, while Grant, Cherry, and Roxlyn venture further inside.

As they carefully explore the tomb, they stumble across the camp of the insane Void Elf they had slain earlier. The trio attempt to investigate, but are greeted by the skittering legs of a giant spider. Using whatever gadgets and magical spells they have at their disposal, the three manage to slay the beast, and retrieve the Void Elf’s lost belongings.

Within his things are a roll of Gnomergan Chew, a journal containing insane ramblings, and an ancient slab of solid gold. Roxlyn deciphers the hieroglyphs on the slab, and there she reads a line of instruction. “Place this slab in the pool.”

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Deeper within the tomb they find their pool, and upon setting the slab in it’s waters, the gang are greeted by the spirit of an ancient Tol’vir king. He tells the adventurers that before they continue onto the path of kings, they must pass a trial of judgement.

“Only one of you may undergo the trial. It will test your resolve, and the worth of your soul.”

After some deliberation, Cherry steps forward, and volunteers herself. An ancient ritual suddenly takes hold of her, and her heart is ripped from her chest. Blood falls to waters below, and yet the heart is still beating, and Cherry is still alive. Suffering the tribulations of this trial, Cherry is forced to face down mirror images of herself, each of which representing a dark part of her soul.

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The images strike Grant and Roxlyn down, but Cherry refuses to resort to violence. Through words, will, and resolve, she banishes these dark images away, and passes her trial.

Bestowed upon her is an ancient artifact of immense power. The Mirror of Judgement, it’s power being divination, able to peer into a person’s very being and force them to face their sins.

After a week of preparation, the Adventurers Society hires a small caravan to take them into the deserts of Uldum. The journey of long and arduous. Coarse desert sands always getting where they’re not supposed to be, and the hot desert sun is a constant burden. Luckily their caravan is well-stocked, and other than a very mild discomfort, their journey should continue without a hitch.

A day into their journey into the desert the gang is ambushes as they stop to make camp. Tanari shadow walkers flank them from the east and west, loosing arrows, and firing bullets into their caravan. The adventurers manage to push the ambush back! Capturing two of the shadow walkers while sustaining only minor injuries. Their prisoners seem to have no real useful information, and an annoyed Captain Davies summons a portal to his ship’s brig, and tosses them in.

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Their journey through the desert lasts another four days. They finally arrive at their destination, but Captain Dio’s crew, and the shadow walkers have arrived first. The enemy camp appears to have suffered an attack, and bodies are strewn across the sands.

They discover a band of survivors, pirates from Captain Dio’s crew, as the prepare to string up one of the shadow walkers for execution! The gang chooses their side, and rushes into aid, with Grant, Leora, and Max providing covering fire from afar.

The pirates are defeated! With one of their number surrendering after her friends are killed. After a brief interrogation, the pirate reveals that it was the shadow walkers who have betrayed them! The surviving shadow walker confirms this, claiming that Captain Dio is not worthy to walk the path.

The Captive shadow walker, who reveals herself as Mariah, offers her assistance to the adventurers society, claiming that one of their initiates, a outlander Void Elf, has gone insane after entering the tomb. However, the adventurers decline her offer, and Aiden summons another portal to his brig.

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And so the gang enters the ancient tomb, and what they find is a vast underground structure of grand titanic architecture. They also find the mutilated corpses of pirates and shadow walkers, but no sign of the insane Void Elf. Roxlyn warns the group of dark magic, but still they venture deeper.

Suddenly an ambush! The Void Elf appears from a shadowy rift, and unleashes powerful spells on the adventurers. Many are wounded, but still they continue the fight, and turn their weapons on the madman. As if things couldn’t get any worse, the bodies within the tomb rise, reanimated by void energies, and charge the ragged adventurers.

A battle! The adventurers quickly brace themselves, and lash out in a mighty counter-attack! Void thralls fall, and the Madman suffers nearly a dozen different blows from all around. Just as it seemed he was about to fall, his body phases from reality, and shadowy explosion bursts from where he once stood! Catching Gillian, Leora, and Roxlyn, nearly forcing them out of the fight!

Were it not for Cherry’s healing the party would have wavered and fallen. They slay more void thralls as the madman appears fifty meters behind his horde. Eager for revenge, Leora and Gillian charge the shadowmancer with sword and brick. As he suffers minor injuries, the Void Elf leaps into another shadowy rift, and appears behind the adventurers. He unleashes another volley of shadow magic, but our heroes were prepared! Most avoid the attack, though a few suffered minor injuries from it.

The gang pushes through, void thralls falling left and right! One more push has Captain Davies slaying the madman, disintegrating his corrupted body in a blur of arcane fire!

The Adventurers Society depart from the city of Ramkahen, and venture out into the vast desert of Uldum. 

Their goal: To retrieve the map stolen from them before their arrival.

Their destination: The town of Orsis, once a thriving village to the west of Ramkahen known for it’s piety, and beautiful temples, now a gathering of dilapidated homes populated by drifters, bandits, and n’er do wells. 

Upon their arrival into Orsis, the Society head towards the local cantina, which is a series of tents and tarts set-up on the roofs of a few abandoned buildings. There they find desert wanders, lonesome mercenaries, and adventurers drinking, gambling, or just taking a break from the hot Uldum sun.

The Society share a rather unfruitful conversation with a Goblin bartender, Joe-Moe, who serves them drinks of questionable quality. He mentions a strange hide-out some rugged folk like to frequent, and laments it’s existence, stating that they’re stealing his business. Upon further discussion, the Goblin mentions that there’s a password to get in, and that perhaps the other patrons might know about it.

Meanwhile, Sertius partakes in a game of hearthstone with D’Arby, a tanari gambler. He wagers his helmet in exchange for information, and after three exciting rounds, Sertius proves himself the better player! The gambler tells him similar information regarding the secret hideout, and reveals the password...

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The gang infiltrates the hide-out through the use of the password, and upon entry, find themselves in a rather peculiar little party. A small gathering of pirates, all women, drinking, dancing, and reveling, too distracted by their good time to ask any incriminating questions. They’re accepted into the party with a small lie from Leora, and start to mingle to find evidence of their stolen map.

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Sertius heads for the bar, and has a chat with the bartender, Polnaruk, an Orc who for some reason specialized in making fruity drinks. He too has a shadow-gem lodged in his forehead, just like the tide sage Kaladin.

Meanwhile Roxlyn takes to flirting with  Aeileia, one of the pirates, as Leora and Gillian chat up their leader. Through lies and bullshittery, they manage to convince the pirates that they are agents of the shadow walker El-Issa, and that they are here to pick up the stolen map. The pirate lieutentant, Shalla, informs them that the map is in a chest at the corner of the room (alongside a myriad of other treasures). Perfect! There lies one problem however.

On closer inspection, Leora discovers a magical trap on the chest! Without the proper fail safes given to actual agents of El-Issa, the runs upon the chest would burn a person’s hands off! Fortunately the runes are based in shadow magic, and after a few tries, Roxlyn is able to disenchant them.

The gang even manages to convince Shalla to have the posessed Orc, Polnaruk, accompany them, and Roxlyn, in typical Roxlyn fashion, attempts to seduce the pirate Aeileia, and perhaps even make her defect. She fails however, and gets a “back off, she’s mine” from Shalla.

Victorious! The gang manages to complete their mission without spilling a single drop of blood! Now lies the task of banishing the shadow gem from Ponaruk’s forehead.

Unfortunately, Roxlyn’s methods fail, inducing the Orc into a deathly seizure, and thus forcing Sertius to put him out of his misery. Perhaps the Light is the best method of banishing Shadow after all...

Sailing aboard Captain Davies’ ship, the Magnolia Read, the Adventurers Society drops anchor off the shore of the Cursed Landing in Uldum. Despite the spooky and ominous name, the port is relatively safe as the gang are greeted by their Kirin Tor and Ramkahen contacts, Archmage Valwyn Bluestar, and Vizier Avdol. There they learn before they must walk the Path of Kings, the Society must retrieve their stolen map from a large band of Tanari Waste-wanderers. Avdol refers to them as “Shadow Walkers.”

The gang is informed that scouts have tracked down the location of the nearest Shadow Walker camp, however the area surrounding it is a strange mist of magical origin. In order to get a better vantage point, and provide cover for potential enemy reinforcements, Grant Cousland is left behind to help their local contacts operate a Kirin Tor scrying orb.

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Upon arriving at the mist-enshrouded camp, they spot a lone figure, a Tirasian tide sage, who so happens to be the brother of Leora. The gang learns of his name, Kaladin, and discovers that the source of the mist is coming from a stone that he’s drawing power from. A dark looking gem is lodged into Kaladin’s forehead, and it radiates corrupting shadow-magic. The tide sage is not himself, the gang realizes. He’s being controlled.

An ambush! Kaladin shields himself behind a high-pressure water shield as mist rises to the sky, thick enough to cover them from the hot Uldum sun. A band of Shadow Walkers appear, and engage the adventurers in deathly combat as Kaladin provides supporting fire in the form of frost volleys. Some of the adventurers take a beating, but they persevere, and defeat their foes in a deathly melee.

Kaladin’s shield of water still remains however, and the Adventurers work to figure out how to break the young man’s mind control. Adrannath intimidates the surviving Shadow Walkers into giving them information, and the gang learns that the man who leads these Shadow Walkers is one named El-Issa, who is under contract to a Bloodsail called Captain Dio.

Max and Gwenna attempt to gain more information through dubious means (torture), but by the time Leora is able to stop them it’s too late. No other relevant information is gotten.

Meanwhile, Captain Aiden overloads Kaladin’s barrier with magic, forcing it into an unable state, and causing the tide sage to collapse in shock. Jack and Chereisie dispel the shadowy gem from his forehead, freeing the young man from mind-control slavery, and thus earning his loyalty to the Adventurer’s cause.

After this ordeal, the gang arrives in Ramkahen for some much needed rest, and for some, disciplinary scolding.