CampaignBeachhead
For the benefit of the Faction who were unable to attend the latest mission in our campaign against the Demonfey below is a summary of events as I recall them from our mission, please not they may not be in the correct order:
Arrival
Setting forth across the sea in our ships, we were attacked by denizens of the deep who tore our vessels to splinters. They did not appear to be interested in us, just the destruction of our ships. So it was that we washed ashore, armour in tatters and everyone wounded. I landed in a small group of around 1/3 of our number, we found the coat of Tarran washed ashore with us but he was nowhere to be found.
Proceeding down the coast we encountered another group led by Malakai, they bore the Valsharess' shield but no sign of her physical self, and finally meeting with the 3rd group who had found Tathal's helm but again no physical presence of my Brother.
Re-united we moved further onto the island, seeing an encampment as we crested a rise, movement could be seen in the available light, advancing ready we discovered Kayleth (sp?), Malakai's wife had set up her camp here.
Friday Evening
Discussions with Kayleth continued to find out what she knew about the island, she told of a cave nearby where a Drow female barred her entrance, this sounded similar to the dreams I had been having prior to setting out for this expedition. We also saw patrols of "soldier" style dollies around the island as well as the more common female dollies that we had seen with Kayleth before.
In addition to the full sized animated Dollies, Kayleth also possessed a collection of soft stuffed dolls bearing likenesses to many within the faction, including the Valsharress, Solitare, Tzar'Kan, Briseis and so on. These Dolls held the power to exert control over a Dolly for around 10 minutes.
Myself and others of my type felt that a presence was watching us, not like when someone tries to discern what I am but a silent observer within my mind.
The encampment came under attack from some type of merfolk, I believe they called themselves the Ssys'lak or something similar, they urged us to leave the island and would not accept that we were stranded and wanted to leave as soon as we could. As the merfolk engaged with us the observing presence that I had felt seemed to disappear and after a brief fight relative calm was restored to the camp.
There also appeared to be an 'observer' within our midst, a Demon named Azazel, he was not the most cooperative or helpful to us, only asking questions of us and seeking information for whatever master it served, the name of whom I do not know. It also seemed to take great delight in tormenting us about out missing Valsharess.
Following a rite being conducted on the shield of the Valsharess to try to discern her location a small group of Tarantulas and Decoy from the Wolves took to scouting the island to see if we could find anything more. Heading toward the coast once more we found the Valsharess' mace and further up, her headscarf, this is when the trail went cold for us, we continued to explore the rest of the island but to no avail, it appeared the Valsharess was nowhere obvious on the island. With the assistance of Decoy we did find traces of Elves and Demonfey in conflict, where the elves had been victorious, we also found a couple of buried items which would become required in the coming days to complete some of the challenges we were to be set.
Friday also saw envoys from the Sea Elves come to us, they explained that the arrival of Kayleth had disrupted an ancient pact, that the first Paladins of Lolth had laid down with the Elves, to guard the island and keep the pieces of the Demonfey lord hidden, to do this they were given control of the creatures of the deep that surrounded the island and the elemental creatures that resided in this place, but Kayleth's presence had broken this pact causing a series of problems, included in which was the breaking of the Ritual/Transport Circle.
The cave that had been mentioned became open to us, a large black triangular key, inscribed with various markings was needed, when it got close to the cave, the entrance became a kind of portal, allowing four members inside. Malakai led the way with Gonzalez, Kay of the Bears and Morgullion. Inside they faced a variety of tests and puzzles that they needed to complete, they must have remained inside for around 20 minutes before the sound of crashing water became very loud and the cave sealed itself again. Thankfully the members of our party were not locked inside but appeared on the other side of the island gravely wounded having been crushed by the waters. When they were revived they explained what they had faced and that they apparently had not been successful.
Within the smaller 'cave' that they party had been washed up into we found a stone of Jammorreh (sp?), a stone for controlling ritual/transport circles. We found documentation and items that indicated we must complete 16 trials, one for each element, to leave this island somehow.
While Malakai and the others were within the cave the sensation of being watched returned, my Brother Zan'Zas was wearing the Crown and felt a strong presence come over him, causing him to turn and innately control Vale at a very high level and told him to swear fealty to him, when confronted Zan'Zas could not recall what had caused him to do this. As a trial of our theories, I disarmed myself and had Elspeth place the crown upon my head, almost instantly I was controlled/possessed by an exceptionally strong presence that commanded me to kill those who worshipped Lolth, restrained by Scuz and Thorin I was asked questions and apparently identified myself as Everon Satuun (sp?). The Crown was then kept safe for the remainder of the weekend.
Saturday
Saturday saw us begin undertaking the trials, it appeared each trial needed an item and a particular spell, that related in some way to the element, to be cast upon the stone, when this was done 4 individuals nearest the stone would be transported somewhere to undergo a test. These continued almost every hour throughout the day.
We received a visit from the Prince of the Sea Elves, he claimed that the presence of the Lich and the breaking of the pact had driven his father, the Kind, mad. He urged us to be cautious when dealing with him and explained that the pact was written in the old ways and that the world was no longer like that any more, so a new pact would need to be put in place following the new ways, he did not believe that his father would agree to this.
Continuing to scout the Island early in the day, we encountered Kayleth and a selection of her Dollies, it appeared that the unloving within our company were not the only ones being affected by Satuun's influence, Kayleth began ranting angrily that she did not want to hurt her Malakai, after several minutes she then teleported away, with no working circle on the island, this would have meant she went elsewhere within the Underdark, where the nearest was I cannot recall.
With Kayleth gone, control over her Dollies waned and they became hostile towards us, we would encounter more of them as the weekend progressed.
Tathal emerged from the seas to explain that the Valsharess, Tarran and himself were on a smaller island off the coast and the Valsharess very much wanted to be gone from this place.
Later in the evening having assisted in completing the test of Fire which had previously been failed and other tests through the day, I was granted a boon from Lolth, shielding me from the eyes and influence of Satuun, just in time as it was, he began trying to exert control over the remaining unloving, causing them great pain as they tried to resist him, it seemed that strong faith in Lolth and/or Shield from Corruption kept his influences at bay. It also seemed that the 'attitude' of Satuun was very much that of a petulant child following the departure of Kayleth, it was clear that he wanted control of her, and being denied that had turned his mood into that of a small child being denied a plaything.
Late Saturday saw a concerted effort by the merfolk to remove us from the island. The attacked with smaller numbers initially, speaking of a great beast, a Kraken that would come forth and sweep us from the island. The beast was tough and coupled with the elemental healing magics that some of the merfolk possessed making the challenge even greater, but eventually it was brought down. In need of sustenance for the day I decided to try the beast and can attest that the taste would certainly not be for everyone.
Also through the day 2 legs of the demon lord were found.
Sunday
Sunday saw us complete the final few challenges before us and fighting off waves of Dollies and Merfolk. it appears Kayleth had been experimenting with some quite dangerous Dollies, some able to strike for Petrify, others seemed unarmed and would walk towards up only to explode with a mass Petrify.
The King of the Sea Elves came to us, calling out his son as a traitor, having decided to back the Prince's plan we took his side and were forced to bring down the King and his bodyguards. This seemed to have another effect on the island causing quakes.
We then were required to perform a rite upon several stone tablets that we had recovered to put in place a new pact that would allow the circle to be empowered. While this took place we were attacked by more elemental creatures. Having successfully completed the rite, the company collected the items we had came for, such as the lord's legs and made our way to the ritual/transport circle and left the island.
Malkier
House Rea'Morda
Spring MootCaledonia(Bears)
Greetings all, I hope you all made it home well from Caledonia. Upon this gathering upon the surface I have taken it upon myself to record information regarding events happening. Of course, I had to return to Zaphress early so I am sure there will be more information to add to that in which I have found.
Maltor
My first report is that of a creature which I have been assured from several Tarantulans as a Demon-Fae. He marched into the Tarantulan camp on Saturday, claiming to be under the protection of the mages guild - while the camp was only inhabited by myself, Lady Kh'raine and her Patron. When questioned why he was there, he stated that he was in the camp "because I can be here."
I did some investigative work, as the curious beastkin I am I wanted to find out more about this creature. His appearance was similar to that of my own a stripe across his face, black and red - much like that of a Beastkin and with large black horns which curved upwards - he did however confirm he was not a beastkin but a Demon of D'Bluthe (not sure if I have spelt that correctly, is confusing to a beastkin). HE came preaching and promoting freedom from tyranny of the "oppression" of the Tarantulan nation of the Underdark claiming that the city was lawless and free. He stated that the transport circle to get there was "safe" to use, when asked how one got there (as I have never been there). Upon this conversation I manged to determine that he is of a Living Pattern and was not in a Beguiled state and he also stated he had come here of his own will and not that of Satoone - however he was unwilling to allow me to discern any wounds, pattern affects, poisons nor diseases as he then drew a dagger upon me. While trying to discern using the help of Lady Kh'Raine - he used a strike down. He also blasted her, and was able to cause people to go to sleep - this leads me to believe he is a mage of some description, hence why he has joined that guild.
He stated that the people of D'Bluthe had agreements that they could not kill or steal from eachother and that there was no leader of authoroty among them and that they were "free" from the oppression of the Tatrantulan nation.
Cathayans
I was among others when people from Cathay came to visit the faction camp, seeking help from the nations of Erdreja. They stated they were diplomats of the Jade Emperor. They came stating they had declared war with Nihon and were not seeking help in the war effort but rather seeking access to lands devastated by the Wellspring of Evil, they wished to relocate refugees to these lands.
They stated that their refugees were not fighters and could not offer us help in aiding with the Demon-Fae problem - which would have put their people at rick living in the Underdark as it is not the safest of places to begin with. They then stated that if the answer was a "no" to taking in refugees then it will have "consequences to a negative answer." I believe due to this this is when they have targeted the Tarantulan nation by attempting to gather power to Satoone and are building a "weapon" to use against other nations.
Beastkin Meeting
As many people are aware, Awakened races are having bad dreams; the BEastkin stated that a Demon known as "The View" who had 5 eyes appeared and claimed he could fix the stone. This demon is claiming to be from several different Orders, the beastkin tried to summon this demon to gain more information but the rite was unsuccessful.
The stone was spoken to via Rite and was stated that Dwarves could hear hammering on anvils and Beastkin heard sounds and smelt "the hunt" - the wind and the scent of Prey. They stated this was a positive sign.
The Beastkin Awakening stone is safe and was not handed over to the demons.
Ryx Frostpelt
Lady of Acherontia
GEF
So the Great Erdrejan Fayre of 1117, the competition of these games seems somewhat lesser than my memories would have me believe.
During the Friday night we came across the discovery that the city of Shindlin had been attacked, and the 5th army taken, as such I briefly promoted myself to High Scout and my new scouts were deployed to obtain as much information about the attack as possible. When the scouts were able to return, they had discovered that the city had not been taken by Demonfey as expected, but rather by a demon known as Nezanamiel. This is a name of specific note for certain members of the faction, and they did not take the news lightly. At this time I felt it prudent to retire from my position of High Scout.
The Demonfey attacked again and were able to take khazress, they later tried to use it as a bargaining chip. We refused. Violently.
Saturday, Briseis stood for the faction and performed in the ritual game. Naturally her fey nature led to a bizarre ritual about princesses and inner beauty and awakening the charming or something? The evil wizard lost so I’m a little unsure of the aim. However, the watchers gave her high praise and believe that in a live circle the ritual would have yielded positive results. Despite this, the harts bribed their way to victory.
Sunday we entered the warbands contest against the bears. It was a fair and entertaining fight although victory went to the bears. A little later I suffered an unreal pain.
The pretender had sent an army of the ancestral creatures to attack the ancestral grove at dark haven. He breached the grove and attacked the minds of each of the 13. Once he found Ineluki he was given a new drive and turned his efforts to breaking Ineluki. As his Balance, with Solitaires aid, I was able to draw that pain into myself and calm his mind. In a manner, this has done as a great favour as Ineluki now has the clarity of mind enough to speak, and his first words were to myself. However, lolth has sealed the grove, blocking entry to all but my kind.
Following this we tasked ourselves with finding a way to deal a blow to the pretender so that he could not hurt us in such a way. He attacked us there on the surface, blinded by the rage of the dragon I a led an attack against them. This resulted in me being put in a timeout before I hurt someone.
For a brief moment, we found some relief with the wedding of Trial Al'tath. Unsurprisingly, he found a way to mar that too, we were visited at the celebrations by an emissary of the gloura who have now sided with Satuun. We politely asked her to pass on our best to ineluki as her pattern serves him eternally.
As we began our attempt, we were again struck with great pain with visions of an attack against Lolths altar, led by the pretender.
The games of 1117, a time that should have been great joy was tarnished by the pretender at every turn.
This can not be allowed to continue.
The Balance of Ineluki Mistrivven
Summer MootEqueszera(Gryphons)
A visit was made, a prophecy granted and a boon given.
Early during the moot we were visited by three old faces, faces I had never expected to see again.
For those of you not old enough to remember the first age of elves, these were amongst the first of the Paladin Order.
Galen Tain, Champion of Zinzerena – The Hunter and Assassin
Yai Kenafin, Champion of Megwandiir – The Queen of Spiders
Juandell Gereshen, Champion of Zanassu – The Destroyer
They came with a warning of war; the betrayer would strike at us the next night. This warning came with a boon, Galen Tain returned Khaz’ress to myself in preparation for this war, in preparation for fighting the pretender.
During their visit, they also named a new champion of Zinzerena – Zansas V’rinn.
Come the Saturday, we started with a small but very important mission. We travelled to a section of the Underdark under Cathay, to retrieve an item of Regalia belonging to the Jade Emperor. It was a brick. It’s important apparently.
A Precursor To War
As part of Carythwen Kerithrion’s Incantation trials we delivered the Arc of Lolth to the Incantors Guild, as well as the Crown of Unlife. During this, an attempt was made to serve the link to the ancestral plane from the crown. Aside from detonating a huge amount of power within the Incantors guild, this was a success.
Shortly afterwards Miso, Solitaire and myself were returned to the Ancestral Grove along with the Arc of Lolth. I am told this was sudden and unexpected and caused a little panic.
We were gifted a vision from the pantheon. The pretender was angry and acting rashly, he wanted revenge for the destruction of the Crown. But vengeance is Lolth’s territory, it’s an art she knows well. She turned to the pantheon, to those skilled in war, she turned to Selvertarm, she turned to Ineluki, she turned to Schandalun, and she called on the wisdom of the pantheon to plan an ambush.
So we were dispatched, Miso and myself were returned to the faction to prepare them for war.
The fight for the Altar
The pantheon sent us the cue, and war began. I personally led 4 groups to transport into Lolths Altar, the ancestors had sealed the circle. In time, the circle seal broke and the pretenders forces began their attack. But we were well prepared.
The battle for the altar lasted near two hours, but by the end the pretend had lost a true avatar and a significant number of resources.
I remained to the end, to witness an army of ancestral creatures descend on the altar, to protect it from future harm.
The Balance of Ineluki Mistrivven
GatheringGardens of Nara(Nihon)
Read More: The Cathayan Crisis
Read More: Nihonese Ettiquete
Read More: Laws of Nihon
The Gathering of Nations of 1117 saw us travel to Nihon, with two aims in mind.
The first was to aid the Nihonese in their fight against Cathay.
The second to force the Wellspring of Evil to settle in one location within the Heartlands, specifically the lands of the dal riada of the Dragons.
We begin on the Friday evening and surprisngly, I was taken yet again. This time the Jade Emperor had summoned me into a ritual, during which he was attempting to use my sworn oath to protect the faction as a link through which to misdirect the life force of the entire Underdark into himself. The combined heartland nations rejected this idea, and each representative he had summoned explained this situation to his ritualist through the medium of violence. I'm not entirely sure how that culminated, the ritualist had frozen me mid assault and I was dragged away from the ritual the moment the seal was dropped.
Safe to say after my fourth disappearance this year, the faction was twitchy.
Saturday saw a large attack from the forces of Cathay, against which the nations rallied to confront. This later saw a large number of attacks launched against the heartland factions, by the emperor himself as well as his dragon. There were a huge number of deaths from this.
Come afternoon, Xenophis of the Demonfey sought to form a deal with the nation. He is fearing for the lives of his family, the Pretender has them secured and have no choice but to follow his will. War Commander Elkrin formed a blood pact with him, agreeing to aid in finding his family in exchange for the Demonfey rebellion within Dobluthe. News of this pact did not sit well with others of the faction, however I believe he made the correct decision.
Later in the evening our own problems struck, with the Gorgons attacking the faction. The first strike succeeded and cost us the life of my once deputy, Randipan of House Rea'morda. Another later attack was foiled when a Gorgon was found in the camp, attempting to assassinate any member of military command.
An Honourable Contest
Come Sunday, an honour battle was to be fought. The Shogun of Nihon requested the nations engage in a contest of honour to determine who is most fitting to serve with his forces. We were drafted against the Lions. Whilst the battle was swift, they fought bravely although ultimately to their defeat.
Let the War Begin
Before this battle could even begin, High Mage Henrik died as a result of the Warlock Curse, his pattern could not adapt to the changes.
The key portion of the Gathering of Nations, the battle against Cathay. The Jade Emporer led his attack against the combined forces of the Heartlands, utilizing his Red Dragon again. The battle was in fact a distraction. Our aim was to separate the Emperor from the spirit of Transcendence which was controlling him, once done we could use the Items of Regalia to bind the Wellspring of Evil to one spot.
We were successful and the Custodians of Evil were able to secure the wellspring into place.
Unfortunately during this battle Reggie of House Karrash-Morr was killed, and arguably the Red Dragon choked to death attempting to eat him.
The Balance of Ineluki Mistrivven
CampaignDeepstrike
During the winter of 1117 an expedition was launched deep into the rift, seeking yet another remnant of the body of Khafran. Our forces gathered first at the City of Souls before we transported to the beacon named as Deep Strike. I must first apologise for the broken nature of this report, memories are as ever… unreliable.
Unsurprisingly, the body part was not conveniently prepared for us to take away immediately. There were a number of…. creatures in the area, they appeared to be quite mad. It turns out that they were former Illithid slaves and like others in their position – the loss of their former masters has left their minds in shreds. Interestingly these creatures appeared to be able to “hear” the minds of those around them. The creatures appeared to be slightly organised – The Illithids would control what they called a “node” with each node controlling a number of minions. The Nodes retained more sentience then the worker minions, but none of them were in a healthy mental state. I attempted to mind heal one to no avail, Lobos attempted to mind heal one of the Nodes… only for the link to move inside his mind – gradually driving him insane. Well more so than is normal.
Upon searching the immediate area, we discovered a number of Wychwood doors, each engraved by a paladin of the Order of Lolth. It appeared that each of these Paladins had sacrificed themselves to become unliving revenants, forever tasked with keeping the body part secure. It is unclear if these paladins were champions of the order or how it is such a large quantity of Wychwood came to be here.
It took a great deal of translation, but each panel was identified and connected to a revenant, and to an aspect of Lolth – whilst the runic name of the aspect was depicted, the identity was also riddled into the text of each. The vast amount of translation required during the course of the expedition was performed by Briseis, Kalina, Iza - as well as a number of others who assisted with other scripts and riddles.
Lothiriel represented by the paladin Lau’ceston
Aurashnee represented by the paladin To’thill
Lareth represented by the paladin Wea’re
Zinzerena represented by the paladin Fina’amore
Megwandiir represented by the paladin Swin’fen
Moandiir represented by the paladin No’rwich
Zanassu represented by the paladin Ken’net
Lolth represented by the paladin Erl’estoke
These paladins had hidden the body part away within a prison. Whether these paladins built the prison or simply co-opted it for their own use, I am unsure. However, one thing is certain; within each of the cells were incredibly powerful and unusual creatures. To gain entry to each cell required completing a puzzle or riddle for each of the revenants, once inside there was a further challenge to gain the key to allow exit from the cell. The key was spelled in a way as to prevent the occupants from ever being able to retrieve it themselves.
During the course of the weekend we were able to complete these challenges and released a large only a small number of the inmates. I personally was not responsible for the release of any creatures from any boxes, or the opening of any boxes. Almost all released creatures were deposited somewhere to not be our problem, thanks to our guests, and I am positive that there decisions will in no way come back to haunt them in the future.
Naturally it didn’t take long for the betrayer to work out what we were up to. Drey scouts reported his forces were moving in our direction, and sure enough they arrived shortly after. During these early attacks one of our guests was killed, a healer by the name of Mirabelle Macbeth of the Unicorns. She was unfortunately isolated and despite our best efforts we were unable to reach her in time.
Early on the Sunday morning, an attack by the betrayer’s forces was able to take four of our party, two wolves as well as Malakai and Tathal. As with when he was able to get me, he controlled them and sent them back to return with others – which they managed. They were discovered thanks to Briseis not being able to have her mind influenced through any means.
It took us three days to completely decipher all the riddles, and retrieve the key from each cell. Once done, we were set one further challenge; we were to face each of the paladins in combat fitting their nature. Unfortunately as this began the bulk of the betrayer’s forces arrived in an attempt to gain the part for themselves. This was not going to happen. A great battle ensued, and we successfully gained the body part, and were able to evade the betrayer’s forces long enough to get it to safety.
However, in the retreat one of the party was swept up in a transport rite by the pretenders forces. Decoy of the Wolves has been taken to Dobluthe. Bobbins organised a rescue party and went after him, unfortunately due to a mathematics failure they then left behind a gryphon instead.
A second rescue party was organised, unfortunately there was still a mathematics failure and this time Azazeal of the Gryphons was left behind. I am currently unsure whether he is still alive. In an attempt to save his life we sacrificed a tomb stone of unknown power. Most concerning is the betrayers interest in this item but it had become our only option to preserve the life of our guest.
Kalina's research has since determined that this stone may prove crucial in securing the final body parts, further research and recovery would appear to be imperative.
The Balance of Ineluki Mistrivven
