Dungeon's and Dragon's campaign log for in-person game since 2017
Location: On the outskirts of the former city if Enstad - now called Darkreach. East of the Lortmill mountains in the realm of Darkreach - the undead realm
Date: 20th 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 and close friend to Doctor Holliday who had taken on a patronage to the Prince of undead - Orcus and due to this patron had to leave the Redwater Fellowship]
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| Fellowship's route |
Currently, after travelling under ground in a dwarven-built tunnel for some time and meeting denizens of the undead realm as well as survivors and assisting them, the Fellowship now stand near the former elven city of Enstad - jewel of the Oerth. Burnt by the dwarven slaver clan, the Blackrunes, and now the capital of the undead realm of Darkreach. The Fellowship are on a perilous quest to save and find redemption for a fallen comrade - Robin a former member of the Redwater Fellowship. Now the Dreadking and ruler of the undead realm of Darkreach. They make ready to infiltrate the city, and up into the flying fortress - Robin's/Dreadkings' base in search of their former companion - Robin - Doctor Holliday's oldest and former[?] friend.
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. 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 [former close friend of Robin and joins part way from DragonKeep [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. | [NPC - 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. somewhere in Darkreach enroute to Fax. [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 [ancient elvish race] | 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]
- Hester | Male Tabaxi | Cleric of Celestian | Enroute to DragonKeep. Former member of the Fellowship
Current quests or options for the party to look into:
Flying tower: Being upgraded at town of DragonKeep - good progress being made
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| Area Map - current status |
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 asssit]
- 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 air on the outskirts of Enstad, the former elven jewel of the Oerth, tastes of cold iron and stagnant
The black sun was not just dark and foreboding
but also a physical drain on the Fellowship. The "Pulse of the Void" every
hour, a wave of dark energy rippled from that black disc. Each character felt a
sickening thrum in their marrow, and they were drained permanently of a little
life energy [DM: forced to mark off 1 hit point from their maximum
permanently each time. Their mission was desperate: find and redeem their
fallen brother, Robin, an Aarakocra Ranger who had surrendered
his soul to Orcus and now ruled this wasteland as the Dreadking.
The Trek Through the Dead City
The descent followed a treacherous
"zigzag" path toward the ruins. Hovering 800 feet above the charred
remains of ancient elven trees was the Voidspire—a brutal, 300-foot
diameter hexagonal fortress of dwarven make. It was anchored to the rubble by
two massive Shadow-iron chains, each link nearly twenty feet long.
“The wind here screams with a freezing, unnatural fury, but
beneath its roar lies a sickening sound—the dry, rhythmic clacking of skeletal
wings. Slithering through the ash-choked fog are the leathery, decaying shapes
of six Bone Drakes. Their hollow eye sockets glow with a pale, cold malice,
staring down at the approach. They do not just watch; they communicate, their
jagged jaws snapping in sync with the distant, mechanical groaning of heavy
siege engines shifting on the platforms above.”
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| Thogra |
Table Talk Highlight: Amidst the oppressive atmosphere, Graxxuzzaz looked at his
character sheet and groaned. "It’s like a hot day in Saskatchewan,"
he quipped, "only with more necrotic drain and fewer mosquitoes."
The Gondola Infiltration (The Bag of Holding
Gambit)
Tactical tension peaked when the party spotted
an ascension platform—a massive wooden gondola—moving up one of the chains.
Four skeletal knights on skeletal horses were
herding 14 living prisoners toward the spire.
“Before you lies your horrific path upward: a massive, dangling
umbilical cord of bone and rusted iron that stretches into the black clouds.
The links of this colossal chain are not forged in a traditional smithy; they
are giant, interlocking vertebrae of an unholy primordial beast, polished
smooth by centuries of friction. Clutched to this spinal column is a heavy,
wide gondola. Its thick wooden platform is stained dark with old blood,
groaning under the strain of its chains. As you step onto the swaying, unsecured
wood, the entire structure shudders. With a jarring, sickening crunch of bone
grinding against bone, the mechanism engages, slowly landing in place for the
slaves to be herded on. you up into the black underbelly of the beast.”
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| Graxxuzzaz |
Graxxuzzaz activated his Ring of Invisibility, tucked the rest of the party into the Bag of Holding, and hitched a ride. Four skeletal workers managed the gondola. A minute into the ascent, the party "tumbled" out, surprising the workers and the frightened slaves! Graxxuzzaz unleashed a flurry of Eldritch Blasts (Rolls: 25, 20, 18). Nenwin Albion, attempting a heroic three-point landing, rolled a Dexterity check of 12, resulting in him landing squarely on his backside amidst the terrified prisoners. He assured them all was well. His high charisma and persuasion incredibly put them at ease. Attacks by Doc and Aeldrd destroyed two of the other skeletal workers. Thogra finished the skirmish with a critical hit from his heavy crossbow, shattering the central skeleton’s skull.
“The gondola clunks to a final halt, depositing you into an
oppressive, pitch-black vault. The air here is freezing, thick with the stench
of stagnant mold and ancient dust. Huge blocks of collapsed masonry choke the
pathways, forming a claustrophobic maze of jagged stone. The massive main hatch
is visible in the distance, but it is completely fused shut—sealed by ribbons
of jagged, black Deathmetal that seem to drink the light. The shadows in this
room do not behave naturally; they stretch, detach from the walls, and pool
together. You can hear a faint, malicious whispering echoing from the rubble,
accompanied by the scratching of claws that have never known the sun.”
Inside the Voidspire: The Soul Power Chamber
The Fellowship breached Deck 2: The Soul Power Chamber. The technical dread of the room was palpable; the thrumming of the fortress’s engine was felt in the characters' teeth. Rows of spectral containment cylinders filled with humanoid bodies in gel served as the fortress’s battery. All the humanoids were alive, slowly being drained of energy to power the flying fortress. Snaking cables went
“You step out into a blinding, nauseating hum. The traditional
stone walls are gone, replaced by an endless, towering grid of glass cylinders.
Inside each canister, a pale, translucent humanoid shape writhes in silent,
perpetual screaming, their essence burning away like green oil. Skittering
along the iron catwalks above are three monstrous, undead driders, their
multi-jointed legs clicking rapidly as they tend to the tubes. In the center of
the chamber floats a massive, volatile orb of swirling green fire—the
Extraction Nexus Orb. It throbs like a dying heart, visibly sucking the
vaporous souls from the tubes and pumping that stolen life down into the
rumbling machinery of the floor. To the side, a door stands ajar, revealing a
workshop cluttered with dissected remains, stained cots, and chalkboards
covered in maddening geometric equations. “The
party’s survival hinged on a series of high-stakes stealth checks (rolls of
27, 35, 34), allowing them to slip past the multi-legged sentinels
unnoticed.
The Museum of Lost Friendship
Ascending to Deck 5, the Dark Barracks,
the party bypassed thousands of dormant Shadows and Zombie husks.
In the center of the decay, they found a "Memory Chamber" bathed in a
pool of haunting white light. This was Robin's private sanctum, a
preserved museum of his former life.
The room held relics of a friendship Orcus
could not quite erase:
- The original portrait of the Redwater Fellowship.
- Old letters and a preserved flower from Doc Holliday's
estate.
- The leather Pistol Holster Doc Holliday had gifted Robin
years ago.
- Robin’s former weapon: a +2 Longbow.
On a side table sat an unfinished letter
addressed to Doc Holliday: "I know you would never understand
but I need you to know that I..." The entry in the nearby journal
read: "Doc will come... I always leave the door open for him."
The Throne Sanctum: The Debate of Souls
The party reached the Throne Sanctum, an open-air spire where the Black Sun hung like a crown.
“You emerge onto the roof of the world, where the open sky
offers no comfort—only a vast expanse of dead, grey earth beneath a blackened,
eclipsed sun. Violent forks of purple lightning cascade down from a roiling orb
of raw energy suspended at the spire's absolute peak, grounding into the stone
floor with deafening snaps. In the center of this storm stands a high, jagged
throne of dark iron. Standing at the precipice beyond it is a tall, armored
figure: the Dreadking, Robin. His back is turned to you, his gaze locked onto a
glowing, ghostly projection of the world's continents, his spectral hand
hovering over the southern wastes. In the corner, completely motionless, a tiny
gnome servant stands shivering, holding a silver tray with a crystal carafe of
wine as dark and thick as fresh venous blood.”
The Dreadking turned and a his ghastly visage, ½ sinew and bone showing, undead rot slowly taking over the once proud features of the Aarakocra – Robin.
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| Aeldred |
change, to go back, to forsake his new patron The Demon lord Orcus that the
confrontation was interrupted by Darlin’, a clownish Rakshasa-hybrid in red robes and clown’s hat. Darlin’ was also a follower of Orcus.
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| Doc Holliday |
The bone drakes dived into attack at Darlin’s
command as the undead clownish villain engaged the whole Fellowship.
The battle was starting to look desperate, when Robin lying on the ground, called out to his old friend, “Under the throne!” Pointing up at the black sun.
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| Nenwin |
Desperation drove Doc Holliday to reach
into the void-space beneath the throne, grasping the Sphere of Annihilation.
The entropy dealt him 30 force damage, but he held fast and called upon The
Raven Queen. [DM: With a 06 percentile roll] The heavens opened.
A massive, porcelain-Face manifested from the
sky. As the divine presence descended, Robin looked at Doc Holliday
and made his final choice. In a visceral act of defiance against Orcus, Robin
reached into his own chest and ripped his heart out, tearing the cursed
amulet away from his flesh, his heart in tatters as it was pulled from his
chest.
The Raven Queen’s hand gathered the Fellowship. She reached out and crushed the
Sphere of Annihilation within her palm. The Black Sun shattered, the
necrotic shadows receding as true sunlight returned to Enstad. Darlin’
was reduced to dust as were the attacking bone drakes.
Robin, though
gravely wounded, was restored to his original, golden-brown Aarakocra
form. As the Voidspire lost its power, it crashed into the mountains,
the resulting shockwave crashing into a flying tower similar to the Fellowship’s
that was being repaired at Dragonkeep! Somehow the knew this was called the Spire
of Luna – perhaps it crashed and was destroyed as well.
The Divine Aftermath and Meta-Rewards
On the outskirts of the battle, the avatars of
the gods appeared to reward their champions:
- Doc Holliday:
Granted ability score increases (maximum of +2 to one or +1 to two).
- Aeldred: Completing his quest to remove the black taint on the sun, Received 1 ability point and the following boon: Sunburst of Pelor Evocation Power (1/Day) Effect: A 60ft radius burst of divine light centered on the caster. Any undead with 50 HP or fewer are instantly destroyed. All other creatures in the area are blinded for 10 rounds (no save)
- Nenwin Albion: Granted +4 to ability points (player’s choice).
- Graxxuzzaz: As
the singular avatar of The King in Yellow on this plane, he
received a +4 increase to Charisma, bringing his total to 24.
Meta-Rewards: All players have Leveled Up and earned one Inspiration Point
usable on any future roll.
Until next session!
