Crusade Summaries

[Daos]

Chapter One:
Worst Job Ever

It's been a month since their last adventure, and after a few minor jobs and some dangerous run-ins with Bloodsea pirates, the crew of the Dark Squall decide to sail south, around the Dairy Plains, to safer waters. As they are passing by Goodlund, a terrible storm forms around them. They are able to outrun it, but the ship is badly damaged and they are forced to make landfall in the wilderness of Kendermore for emergency repairs. Harbyn, Kaelestia's brother, comments that he can make some repairs (enough to get them to a port) once the storm passes, but it looks pretty bad and full repairs will probably cost them all they have, if not more. The party decides to seek shelter from the storm in the nearby forest, for now. Kaelestia and Arthogate are happy to be back in a forest again.

After finding an old cave, they make a fire and discuss their options. They hear shouting, and a pair of kender approach them. They say they are searching for some missing children from the kender village of Kendknow. A few weeks ago, they went off into the forest to fight Evil, but never returned. They suggest the party might be able to find them. Kaelestia is quick to agree, but only because she worries there is actual Evil in the forest to be defeated. Sha'al is against it, but Sumina asks about a reward. After some thought, the kender offer a bag of gems. Harbyn notes that with that kind of treasure, they could pay for the full repairs once they reach a dock. Seeing no other choice, the party agrees to help find the 30 missing children.

They set off deeper into the forest, but aren't really sure how to proceed. They come across a well worn trail after awhile, and decide to follow it. It eventually takes them to some old ruins, dating back to the Age of Dreams. They hear a commotion ahead, and spot three kender children being chased by a pack of draconians, mostly baaz but one bozak, as well. One of the children drops some caltrops behind him, wounding some of the draconians. The kender scale up an old wall, and the draconians are so focused on them they completely fail to even notice the party.

The party surprises the draconians with an attack. Several baaz are slain. But once they recover their bearings, the bozak turns the tide by casting Web, ensnaring everyone but the minotaurs. Granker and Parra try to hold them off while the others very slowly try to break through, except for Sha'al who is completely stuck. Meanwhile, the children sing, shout and cheer as they watch the fight from above. Granker falls at one point, and the clerics manage to free themselves but keep their distance while Parra kills the remaining Baaz and scares off the Bozak, who turns invisible and flees. Kaelestia revives Granker, while Sumina calls down the kender.

The children introduce themselves as Makland Swimmer, Joween Brightgem and Raddell Starthumb. Makland and Joween argue a lot, and Raddell asks hundreds of pointless questions. The party tries to figure out where the other children are, but it's clear they have no idea. Sumina decides to distract them by asking them to help Sha'al with the webbing, but this results in them getting stuck, too, and then bored and yelling and singing as loud as they can. It takes nearly an hour before the web vanishes and frees Sha'al and Ferd, the only ones who couldn't escape on their own.

Makland claims the others were supposed to meet up at a tree if they got lost, so the party tries to find this tree. But it becomes clear Makland doesn't remember and is just randomly picking trees. So the party just chooses a random path and walks until evening, when a family of squirrels run by and the children go running after them. This, in turn, forces the party to chase after them. They are led to a clearing where an old ruined watchtower sits. It's empty and long abandoned, but the party reasons it will make a good shelter for camp. They rest inside without further incident, but the kender keep them up most of the night with their boundless energy.

The next morning the party sets out again. By mid-afternoon, the party comes across another pair of kender children. They are being chased by a hill giant. The party immediately attacks. However, the two children intervene, claiming they are just playing with their friend, Oghog. As it turns out, Oghog is just a child himself. The kender are brothers, Wekkon and Buldris Treeskimmer. Wekkon is very loud and Buldris gets bored very easily. They claim they saw some other children chasing some owls. Oghog is sent home and the party heads onward, hoping to find some clues. At nightfall, they come across an ancient temple ruin. Sneaking up to the entrance, Sha'al finds 11 Baaz Draconians camped out for the night. Unfortunately, the other kender all slip inside to poke around, as nobody was watching them. The exception is Wekkon, who Sumina was keeping her hand over his mouth to keep him from shouting.

As the party stands around talking about what they should do, they hear footsteps approaching and quickly hide. A single, drunken Baaz steps out and starts to urinate. Sha'al sneaks up on him and stabs him with his trident, petrifying him (although he gets hit with the stream in the process). The party then spends a lot of time talking in the open, trying to come up with a plan to deal with the others. Eventually, they settle on having Kaelestia shapechange into a Baaz to lure one of them out. This task succeeds, and Parra manages to magically put to sleep the remaining Baaz still awake inside the temple while Sha'al and Sumina kill the one who was lured out. They find the children inside, as well, going through the sleeping draconian's belongings.

The party slays the sleeping Baaz, whose statues shortly thereafter crumble to dust, then they set up camp for themselves while the children go through their many pouch items. The party sets a watch and gets some rest for the night.

The following morning, they set off again, and Kaelestia notices some owls that seem to be watching them from the treetops, despite it being early morning still. Whenever the party closes, the owls fly off a bit, but never too far, and then seem to wait. The party realizes the owls expect them to follow, so they do. The owls lead them to a pair of humans; an old man in robes and a younger man in armor. They land on the old man's shoulder, and he seems able to speak with them, and thus knows the party is searching for lost kender children and offers to help.

He introduces himself as Oldar, a humble minor mage who has grown strong enough to take the Test. The other is Burtran, a young warrior hoping to one day become a knight. Oldar recites a poem to the party, which he claims hold the three keys needed to cast a ritual spell that will allow one to find anything lost. If the party gathers the three keys for him, he will perform the ritual. Parra insults and belittles the man for not having taken his Test yet, despite the fact she has not, either. But Oldar seems nonplussed by her venom. He explains the keys are seven drops of a Warrior True, seven grains of sand from a lost civilization, and the egg of a Faerie Dragon. He gives them instructions on how to find all three, and the party agrees to find them.

They start toward the Cliff of Harrows, where the first key is said to be found. However, along the way, Kaelestia expresses doubt that she will be able to help them find the third key, as she believes taking an egg from its mother is wrong. The others, though, don't have any objection to the idea. They travel until they reach the hills, by which point it is sundown, so they make camp for the night.

The following morning, as they approach the misty Cliff of Harrows, a large muscular human wearing little clothing approaches them. Calling himself Wetherback, he claims he will offer the test of a Warrior True, and Granker volunteers. He tells the minotaur to strip off his armor and take a staff. The test is simple. They will stand near the edge of the cliff and try to knock each other off. One will stand with their back to the cliff, the other facing them. He allows Granker to choose which position he wants. Granker chooses the riskier position, with his back to the cliff. Wetherback easily knocks Granker off with an almost supernatural speed and strength. Fortunately, there is a lake at the bottom and Granker is fine, but wet. The kender all jump in after him and start splashing around. Wetherback climbs down and helps Granker out of the water, telling him that sometimes one must face impossible odds, and doing so with bravery makes a Warrior True. This somehow unlocks a new ability for Granker, giving him the granted power of Incite Berserker Rage.

Before they leave, Kaelestia asks Wetherback about the ruins of Edon. He explains that they were a magical nation that rejected the Conclave of Wizards, and were destroyed because of it.

[Daos]

Chapter Two:
Dreams of the Past

The party wakes up the next day (Loot 21st), and follow another pair of owls (or perhaps the same pair?) deeper into the woods. The forest grows so deep and dark that it feels like night, despite it being morning still. They party eventually loses sight of the owls, but come across some more ruins--a large stone arch. As they approach, though, five Baaz Draconians attack them from the brush, apparently working for the same Bozak they encountered earlier, and looking for revenge. However, Baaz aren't known for being too smart, so instead of focusing on the easier targets, they go after the Minotaurs, deciding they are the biggest threats as they are, well, the biggest. Parra goes down as a result, before the party is able to finish them off. But Kaelestia is able to revive her.

The party steps through the arch and vanishes, finding themselves suddenly in a bustling small city full of magical wonders, including a giant hourglass in the middle of the town square. Oddly, the kender children are missing, but nobody seems to care or even notice. A group of locals are heading to the temple of Paladine to pray. The party stops one and asks where they are, and they are told they are in the City of Dreams, the last remnant of Edon, under the rule of Archmage Goriden. They are told of the town's routine and also told to get used to it as soon as they can. The party isn't sure about that, but they do speculate the sand in the giant hourglass is what they are searching for.

Kaelestia and Parra decide to go check out the temple, which is where all of the locals are currently heading. Sumina, Sha'al and Arthogate stay behind in the town square to investigate the giant hourglass. Sumina wisely assumes she would not be welcome in a temple of Paladine anyway, but Parra believes she will be fine because Paladine is a 'weak' god. However, as soon as she enters the temple, she feels quite distressed and begins sweating profusely. The priest begins a very Istarian sounding sermon, talking of 'destroying' Evil, which is the sort of talk that led to the Cataclysm and Istar's destruction. Kaelestia speaks up, claiming that they are not fighting Evil at all by hiding away in their city while Draconians roam outside their gates. The locals laugh at her, having never heard of 'Draconians' before and assuring her that Evil in their city was destroyed, before she (wearing the icon of a Neutral god) and a Minotaur (one of the Evil races) showed up.

They are interrupted by some kind of city-wide alarm and a voice claiming someone had tried to destroy the Glass of Destiny (a fake, meant to trick those who sought to destroy the city). Sha'al, Sumina and Arthogate, who attempted to do just that, show up. The party quickly flees as guards converge on them. But they run into an alley, where a secret door swings open and a young man offers them an escape. Seeing no other choice, the party takes it.

The man who rescued them is a mage named Kurgan. He explains that he wants to overthrow Goriden, and asks the party to assist him with this endeavor. He also explains that the Glass of Eternity, the real one, is a powerful artifact that was used to remove the city from the River of Time. This was a last ditch attempt on Goriden's part to save the city, although it weakened him greatly. This means time does not pass in the city; everyone is effectively immortal, which explains why the locals seem to have Istarian attitudes (as that was the way of thinking back then). However, there is a side-effect. Each day is a repeat of the last day. Every morning, time resets. Hence the routine. If the party does not help him thwart Goriden by morning, the party will suddenly reappear at the gates as they did when they first arrived, meaning they will be easy for Goriden's men to find.

The party agrees to this plan of action. Kurgan shows them a secret passage to Goriden's chambers, and tells them to assassinate him, then bring him the Glass of Eternity. He promised to use it to make sure Goriden is not restored in the morning, and allow the party to leave the city without being trapped in the loop.
The party takes the tunnel and comes out in an opulent bedroom of great riches. Before they can start searching, though, Goriden and four guards enter the room. Rather dramatically, Goriden offers them the Glass of Eternity, telling them that if they destroy it, it will destroy the entire City of Dreams and snuff out the thousands of people who live here. If they are truly that Evil, he will not stop them. But otherwise, he will escort them out of the city instead. The party discusses this, wondering if they could somehow open the hourglass and remove some sand without breaking it, but that is impossible. Kaelestia urges the party to just leave, believing that Oldar had lied to them.

Sumina, however, breaks the hourglass anyway. However, nothing happens. Goriden tells them that was a fake hourglass, then he and his guards attack. The party manages to defeat one of the guards before things go south. Both Parra and Granker fall, and Sha'al is magically held. Kaelestia convinces the others to surrender, on the promise that Goriden let them go. She also reveals that Kurgan was the one who helped them. Goriden knows Kurgan well, for he is the mage's own brother. He swears vengeance against him. The party is rounded up and escorted out of the city, and told that the magical filters on the gate will be changed to prevent them from ever returning. When they are forced out, the kender children are, as well. But the children have no memory of what happened; from their perspective, they walked through the gate, and then a second later, walked back out. This upsets the children who try to re-enter the portal, but nothing happens.

The party rests for the night, but when morning comes they want to rest some more. The children complain, as they are bored, so the party agrees to at least travel a bit before breaking camp again. The day passes without incident, and when night falls, they make camp again.

That night, close to dawn, during Granker's and Parra's watch, they notice Joween has vanished. Granker wakes Sha'al and sends him after her. Sha'al finds her hiding in a tree, where she points out a bobbing torchlight in the distance. Sha'al sneaks closer and realizes it's a squadron of nine Baaz, searching the woods. They are roughly heading toward the camp, and might see the campfire light soon. The party puts out their fire, grabs their gear and a child, and then hide in the brush. As the baaz get closer, Parra ekes out a cantrip to create an odor like skunk musk. The baaz decide to avoid that area and move on, and eventually the party loses sight of them.

The party then has a quick meeting where they try to decide what to do next. Arthogate wants to abandon the whole quest. They also argue about searching for a new campsite or just waiting for dawn (which is another couple of hours). They eventually decide on the latter, and dawn arrives. They start to head westward, and a pair of owls appear and seem to be leading them to where they need to go. They travel a day, camp again, and the following morning continue. They arrive at a lone tree with a nest about 30 feet above in the branches. Kaelestia calls out to the nest and the dragon faerie there appears. The two have a conversation in Elven, where Kaelestia asks for its help in finding the kender children. But the faerie dragon has no means of finding them, and does not trust Kaelestia as she walks with Evil (Granker, Sumina and Parra). The mace Sumina is carrying is especially foul to her. The party discusses their options and decide to return to Oldar.

As the party heads back, they see some more ruins . The owls are giving them a wide berth, so the party decides to check them out. They find the remains of an old residence, and a ghostly figure seems to be searching for something he can't find. What's more, the spectral minion does not seem to realize he's dead. The party learns the ghostly figure is searching for a lockbox and it might be buried in the yard. They head back there to investigate and notice a very old tree, possibly dating back to when the ruins were whole. They make some makeshift shovels with a grappling hook.

After hours of digging around, they find the lockbox. Sumina is ready to crack it open, but Kaelestia worries this will upset the spirit. She hands it over to him, and he somehow manages to unlock and open it. He removes several items from inside, but leaves something behind. He then warns them--again, not aware that he has been dead for centuries--that the Wizards of High Sorcery might attack soon, and they should flee. He then vanishes. Inside the lockbox they find three well-made javelins. Sha'al claims them for himself, and the party moves on.

The party returns to Oldar, who knows from his owl friends that they have failed on their mission. They have neither the egg or the sand. He is clearly annoyed, not only by their failure but Kaelestia's moralizing about it, but accepts the blood at least, then tells them that he knows where the children are anyway and has Burtran escort them there.

It turns out, Oldar has all of the remaining children locked up in his cellar. Burtran releases them so the party can take them home. Kaelestia asks Burtran why he works for Oldar, but she does so with a very complicated vocabulary, which annoys Burtran who feels she is trying to make him feel dumb. She accuses Oldar of being morally bad, but Burtran doesn't really listen due to her attitude and her lack of any proof.

The party returns the children to Kendknow, retrieve their reward, and return to the ship so it can be properly repaired.