Dungeon's and Dragon's campaign log for in-person game since 2017
Location: Lortmill mountains, East-southeast of the Fellowship's town base of Dragonkeep - in the realm of Darkreach the undead realm.
Date: 18th of Ready'reat month, Autumn [reference from our calendar it is November]
Year: 582
Current Status:
The Redwater Fellowship are travelling through the Lortmill mountains in Darkreach, formerly the lands of the elves, now an undead infested land ruled by the Dreadking [DM: background information - a former player character named Robin who had taken on a patronage to the Prince of undead - Orcus and due to this patron had to leave the Redwater Fellowship]
Currently, after travelling under ground in a dwarven-built tunnel for some time and to the point of exhaustion and no food or water, found a sanctuary! A Star-Reach Aerie, an abandoned elvish treehouse, a place to rest and recuperate where they met a "ragtag group" of 12 individuals from two distinct backgrounds - Blackrunes and a merchant caravan. Graxxuzzaz created a teleportation circle to send all to the town of DragonKeep. Resting a while longer, the Fellowship then made ready to continue their underground venture further in the undead realm of Darkreach in search of their former companion - Robin.
Overall plan:
The plan was to travel overland to the city of Fax, on the Wildcoast still under Blackrune's control [the Fellowship's longtime enemy, the Blackrunes were a powerful but waning force - group of dwarven slavers in the area] where there were a number of quests and tasks of interest to the Fellowship. Recently, the party had decided to try and "rescue" Robin - now the Dreadking - and bring him back to the way of good. For awareness, only Doc Holliday in the party knows or knew Robin - was a close comrade - before his fall and turn to Orcus. The party thus were heading directly into the undead heart of Darkreach where they assumed Robin/Dreadking resided in the former elvish city of Enstad.
The RedWater Fellowship [Player Characters]
- Doctor Sigmund Holliday - Male 1/2 orc | Gunslinger/Paladin of the goddess: The Raven Queen [played by Connor]
- Nenwin Albion - Male Aasimar | Paladin of the god: Heironeous [played by Jake]
- Graxxuzzaz - Male Lizard-folk | Sorcerer/Warlock of the Great Old One - the King in Yellow [played by Braydin]
- Aeldred - Male Red Dragon-born | Barbarian/Paladin/Ranger of the god: Pelor [played by Campbell]
- Thogra - Male 1/2 Orc | Rogue/Cleric of the Egyptian god: Set. | [played by the DM: Dave]
Dungeon Master: Dave
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Other Non-player characters of note:
- Lieutenant Spears Male 1/2 elf | Phantom rogue/echo knight - an operative assigned by Lady Cowl's secretive organization to assist [played by Connor]
- Tibaltuous Male 1/2 elf | Bard/Paladin [Bounty hunter] - currently under cover and scouting along the Wild Coast - South near the Pomarj. [DM: more details: Blogpost: https://sleet-dnd2.blogspot.com/2025/10/interlude-tibaltuous-espionage-travels.html] [played by Campbell]
- Gothi | Female foreclaimer | Ranger | At town of DragonKeep. Former member of the Fellowship [played by Jake].
- Lars | Male elf [VAMPIRE] | wizard | At town of DragonKeep [looks like a pale, very young 15 year old]
- Skrit | Male kobold | Priest of Istus. Former member of the Fellowship. Acting Mayor of the town of DragonKeep [until elections take place - next month]
- NPC: Hester - Male Tabaxi | Cleric of Celestian | Enroute to DragonKeep. Former member of the Fellowship.
Current quest or options for the party to look into:
Flying tower: Being upgraded at town of DragonKeep - good progress being made
City of FAX
- Request from Greyskulls [a mercenary company] commander and mate- save son in Fax?
- A Doctor in Fax - potential contact and ally against Blackrunes?
- Robin's undead army in Darkreach - stop, leave, or..? Party needs to decide
- Portal to Sea of Dust (Blackrune expedition) look into or not?
Personal quests:
- Aeldred - oath to find and save family of dwarf smith who repaired Aeldred's heirloom sword [also Doc and Nenwin have agreed to assist]
- Doc Holliday - Elves are now East across sea in Bright desert (Doc personal potential quest)? The "Great Deliverance" a spell cast to take all the Elves to a secret location in the desert.
- Graxxuzzaz's circus (he was circus master and has heard rumours they are near Fax now - potential personal quest)?
- Tibaltuous: collect bounty for drow [he has the head of the drow] - Contact is in city of Fax
- Map to secret Blackrune base/island off Wildcoast - Fax area (Kantif - a rogue, former ally from the Redwater Fellowship has this)
The Redwater Fellowship
We rejoin our heroes as they take a final long rest in the Star Aerie - a former Rangers treehouse lodge for travellers. The sanctuary was extremely beneficial for the Fellowship as it allowed them full safety from the detrimental effects of Darkreach. They were able to commune with their respective gods as well as eat and drink from the remaining stores of food and water left by the ragtag group sent through the teleportation circle to DragonKeep [DM: For more information please see blogpost]
The elvish noble had advised them party they had about 10 hours before the protective spell he had been daily casting would fade away and the awful effects of Darkreach would once again impact them all. [Food rotted within hours, water and drinks spoiled, divine magic was hindered or not even accessible, exhaustion and unable to sleep were the norm under the baleful black sun in the necrotic lands.
The group decide to continue following the ancient tunnels that appeared to be heading towards the former city of Enstad - their goal. At least then the black sun's effects would not hinder them. They travelled along again, Thogra casting create food and water with arms and head in a bag of holding which allowed the food and water to not spoil! The party still were unable to sleep or rest well.
While navigating a 40-foot-wide dwarven highway, a "mountains' marrow" artery originally designed for grand trade between elves and dwarves assumedly, the party encountered a luxury elvish coach. The pristine coach glittered with gold and silver filigree, the coach windows were covered with fine looking red curtains, what appeared to be two skeletal horses, a dwarven axe buried in one of the horse's skull, and cobwebs thick across the bones, but none on the fine coach. Only the silk curtains moving in a non-existent breeze and the flicker of a magical lantern near the coachman's seat.
One open door could be seen. Inside was a luxurious sitting area and on a small table in the centre were multiple platters of fruits and bite-sized morsels of meats, cheeses and more. Goblets sat nearby with a decanter of water or wine.
The party started multiple discussions on this being a trap or more. Graxxuzzaz cast a Mage Hand spell
and gathered some of grapes in the clawed mystical hand and brought them near. Smelling and peering at them, they looked like grapes. Non-magical. None at first but then Doc confident he could remove poison or disease took a grape. Then before any could react, walked over to the coach and climbed inside. The door closed and locked. Inside Doc started enjoying the feast of food and wine. The rest of the party hastened back, Aeldred and Nenwin had moved up the passage to scout ahead. the "Baneful Banquet" revealed its true nature. The grapes were an illusion [ detect magic having no effect] and the magically toxic facsimiles—causing the Doc Holliday to violently purge stomach contents just as the trap's guardian manifested.
A beautiful elvish woman floated up above the coach. Aeldred and Nenwin were close and in combat trying to break down the door to release Doc and fight the banshee. Her wailing shriek bursting ear drums as the party members covered their ears blood pouring down between their fingers. Both Aeldred and Nenwin were affected and unable to react.
Graxxuzzaz, opting for the "burn it all" approach, unleashed a lightning bolt for 37 points of damage, while using his sorcery skill to change it to a bolt of fire. This damage successfully snapped his allies out of their magical stupor but turning the carriage into a tinderbox.
Aeldred, a near 8' tall Dragon-born fueled by a blind rage, executed a staggering 31 Athletics check. In a display of terrifying strength, he "table-flipped" the long carriage onto its side to expose the spirit hiding within attacking Doc.
The Blessing of Set: Thogra cast the Blessing of Set [DM: adding a d8 to the party's combat, saves and skill check efficiency] grounding the skirmish in mechanical precision.
With a final thrust through the carriage floorboards, with his Holy Avenger sword, Nenwin impaling the spirit's essence and ending the screeching threat. Allowing Doc to make it free of the effects but this had a detrimental effect as the coach exploded, in combination of magical fire and structural failure. All except Graxxuzazz are hit by the conflagration.
The Tragedy of the Shorn
The party continued along the underground highway. Passing through a massive cavern walking along a bridge with forges far below around a circular central glowing area. They came to another similar forge room but the bridge was cracked broken - the Fellowship's path forward stopped. Nenwin curious about the dwarven skeletons flew down and scanned the area. Large number of dwarven skeletons filled the forge works. It appears they all died here. The scene was a nightmare of industrial slavery, the party
found approximately 300 dwarf skeletons still hunched over their anvils, chained by both hands and feet. Nenwin assisted the party to come down from the high bridge and the party continued to investigate the nightmarish scene. Closer inspection of the shackles, the party noted that all the chains were inscribed with Elvish runes.. were the elves were the ones holding the keys to this misery?
No undead presence was felt by the paladins in the party, or Thogra's priestly senses. Fanning out, the party found more grisly evidence of the dwarves misery: beside a massive basalt anvil, the Fellowship found piles of rusted iron shears and petrified, matted hair, that looked like cut beards. The party looked grimly at each other, in dwarven culture, the loss of a beard signifies being reduced to "sub-humanoid livestock". The party found a number of stone slabs with dwarvish runes crudely at times marked into them:
1st rune tablet: The Text: "House Meliamne of Veluna promised us sunlight and trade. Lord Valerius
Meliamne swore by the stars that our hammers would build a bridge between worlds. We believed the Golden Age had come to the Lortmills."
Beside a massive basalt anvil, the Fellowship finds a pile of rusted iron shears and petrified, matted hair. A runestone here is stained with ancient blood:
The Text: "The towers do not fly on wind; they fly on souls. Valerius has traded our breath to the Prince of Gluttony. Today, they took the High Thane’s beard. They took his pride, then his life. We are no longer sons of the stone. We are the Shorn."
Behind the central violet-lit smelting pit, a mural has been defaced. It originally depicted seven glorious floating towers.
The Text: "Seven heights for Seven Meliamne Lords. Built by the hands of the beard-stripped. When the seventh keel was laid, the pact was sealed. We do not run to hide; we run to sharpen our steel. Let our runes turn black until the Spires of Veluna fall in flames."
These dwarves were ritualistically stripped of their beards—the ultimate dwarven indignity—and worked to death over 60 to 70 years, creating the flying towers for the elves.
with Nenwin flying above, the party found the details of the evil betrayal the elves subjected the dwarves to. The dwarves called themselves "the Shorn". And in the end it appears the dwarves became the Blackrunes. The slaver clan that had taken over a large swath of lands and subjected many others to slavery and death.
Lord Valerius Meliamne, a patriarch of Veluna who apparently traded his soul (and the souls of his subjects AND all these dwarves' souls) to the Prince of Gluttony (the Demon Lord Graz'zt).
Nenwin knew that Lord Graz'zt was a sworn enemy of Lord Orcus - Robin's patron [The Dreadking]
This creates a fascinating geopolitical tension.
Graxxuzzazz discovered and realized that the dwarves were building the flying towers. They most likely had even built the party's flying tower! In the forge-works, they recognized parts being crafted for a "demonic engine" nearly identical to the one in their own flying tower. It now was fortunately converted to a power source of a dragon's heart fueled by treasure and magic items, sparing them from the same demonic depravity that fueled House Meliamne. [DM for more info: Blogpost]
"We are no longer sons of the stone. We are the Shorn." These dreadful words echoed in the large cavern forge works, all the dwarf skeletons in this forge works and the previous one.
Who was the real enemy? The dwarves, who had become a clan of slavers? The elves? Who were now all in the Bright Desert?
These thoughts deeply troubled all the party members, especially Doc Holliday, as his closest friend and family friend were the elves he group up with. Did they know of this?
Finally after a number of days more of travel, the Fellowship came out of a massive tunnel with large 30 feet high and 15 feet and 1 foot think doors open to the zigzag road going up into the Lortmill mountains. The party
By the time the Fellowship reached the lower mountain passes, they were dying. Aeldred again tried to create Good berries calling up[on his god, but the fruits were spoiled and rotten.
Thogra was able to one time to call upon his Egyptian god Set using the "vacuum" mechanics of the party's Bag of Holding [DM: NOT the "Evil Bag" - see below] by physically sticking his head and arms into the extradimensional space to cast Create Food and Water. This allowed some food and water, but the next time the priest/assassin tried this it failed. The party were extremely exhausted -no sleep and bare minimum of food and water - Graxxuzazz using an obscure item to eat dust allowed him to at least sustain himself partially! The party moved down the zigzag road into lower mountainous area, they knew the former city of Enstad was near.
In that moment of desperation, Aeldred — reached out to Pelor his god, [DM: an amazing % roll] and
the divine intervention was immediate, granting in effect a Hero’s Feast that cured the party of exhaustion and provided temporary hit points.
the divine intervention was immediate, granting in effect a Hero’s Feast that cured the party of exhaustion and provided temporary hit points.
The party at first tried to negotiate with the avatar of Pelor with their evil items they had collected over a number of adventures.
Contents of the "Evil Bag of Holding": Over time, the bag became a repository for various dark artifacts and remains, including:
- A number of Evil books
- A "skeleton claw" and other "miscellaneous zombie" parts
- A demonic medallion
- An EVIL "intelligent" or possessed trident
- Three skulls of "the Shorn" dwarves taken from the forge-works. These had been meticulously numbered and collected by Graxxuzzaz.
- and more..
The god reminded the paladin that for divine support it must be a sacrifice. Not an item from the Fellowship's BAG of EVIL! Aeldred agreed to this wisdom from his god's avatar.
The cost was heavy in the end for this divine pact:
Starting on that day, 18th of Ready'reat, the party has exactly two weeks to remove the Black Sun of Darkreach, blanketing the land in gloom. If the celestial blight is not removed within 14 days, Aeldred faces total excommunication and the permanent loss of his holy powers. The mission is no longer just a rescue; it is a race against spiritual annihilation.
The perspective is set against permanent violet storm above the jagged snow and ash dusted Lortmill mountains in the distance. A massive flying fortress hangs over the ruined city. It's Massive hexagonal stone platform at least 300 feet across floating approximately 800 feet above the city. It's rough dwarven engineered structure trailing two massive shadow iron chains that plunge into the rubble below. Each link on those chains are probably 10 to 15 feet in length.
Among this total annihilation only one tree remains alive and green, standing as a solitary monument in the dead city.
Four huge bone drakes can be seen patrolling the exterior airspace around the flying fortress. Their
massive skeletal wings beating and still as they glide and rise around Robin's flying fortress. As the black rays suns illuminate the area and come across the party the Fellowship fill a drain of their lifeforce as the golden halo once again engulfs each of them under the black sun's rays. [DM: each character was permanently drained of 1 hit point]
massive skeletal wings beating and still as they glide and rise around Robin's flying fortress. As the black rays suns illuminate the area and come across the party the Fellowship fill a drain of their lifeforce as the golden halo once again engulfs each of them under the black sun's rays. [DM: each character was permanently drained of 1 hit point]
