SourceMaterial-Avlis Campaign 4, Part 2

This is Avlis Source Material ⚠️Use of this material has NOT been authorized on the NWN Avlis Servers.⚠️ To use any of this material IC on NWN Avlis Servers, you must request approval of this material from the Avlis Team. Send a PM to the Dungeon Masters group on the Avlis forums to begin that approval process. To learn more about what Avlis Source Material is, please click here. You may use this material for non-server-related Avlis events, such as D&D/PnP.		Campaign Title Part Avlis Campaign 1 The "Jade" Campaign Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 Avlis Campaign 2 The West End of Time Part 1, 2, 3, 4 Avlis Campaign 3 Vanoviel and The Godslayer Part 1 Avlis Campaign 4 Rune Quest Part 1, 2 Avlis Campaign 5 The Western Underdark Part 1, 2, 3, 4 Avlis Campaign 6 Daggerspace Part 1, 2, 3 Avlis Campaign 7 Into The Wastes Part 1, 2, 3 Chapter 4 After their experiences at the Ice Shaman's cave, the PC's find themselves standing in front of Theramid the Mikonator. He tells the PC’s: “You must delve deep into the Underdark to retrieve some Red Obsidian so I may show you how to make styli which would then allow us to begin exploring this new power. I have spent some time on divination, and I have something that may help you on your journey. It is back at the Scales. That is also where you will find an entrance that will get you into the Underdark. When you get to the Temple, go to the ‘family chapel’ off to the side of the main chapel. In there, you will find a bag of powder under the altar. Whenever you are uncertain as to how to get to the red obsidian, take a pinch of the powder, throw it straight up and say ‘RED OBSIDIAN’ in a clear voice. The powder will head towards whatever you state. There isn’t much powder, so use it sparingly. Behind the room with the main altar in the temple, there is a door. You may have seen it. The door leads down a stairway that goes to a small salt cavern. That cavern is used as a salt supply for the temple, and in better times the salt was traded to the surrounding tribes. If you search around in there, you will find an entrance to a rough tunnel. Look for some large salt crystals that are out of place. A half-a day’s journey down that tunnel will lead you to a large lava tube. There is a ledge spiralling down into that tube. Take that to the bottom and begin your search there. The City of Sharis lies a few day’s journey eastward and about another day’s journey down. Unfortunately, I am not qualified to guide you through the tunnels in that area. You may have to hire help.” With their newly acquired quest, the PC's set off on their journey back to the Scales of Mikon, and soon encounter a curious band of pilgrims wandering in their same general direction. As they neared the group, they could make out the trappings of Mikon worshipers, but they were acting rather strangely. Standing in a circle, they were placing personal items on a small makeshift altar: trinkets, tokens, silver, a small gerbil, etc. Then once all seven of the group members had contributed, the lead member took out a flask of whiskey and lit the items ablaze, while they all chanted to Mikon. This struck Lolobe and his companions as being odd, since it was not part of any known Mikonite ritual. After some discussion, the PC's wandered up to the group and engaged them. They found out that the pilgrims were also on their way to the Scales of Mikon, to make offerings and pay homage there. Most of their journey from the south was uneventful but lately they found their way beset by wolves and other dangers out in the mountains, and they had already lost two of their number. Igmar, the Priest of Mikon asked them more questions and began to notice their features were also uncommon: some had pointy teeth and slanted or pointy ears. One member of the group had a couple of bumps on her forehead. Although these were strange features, it did not preclude them from worshiping Mikon, the PC's knew, but they were cautious. They agreed to protect the travelers, but from a distance. They told the pilgrims to go ahead for half a day whilst the PC's covered their rear. Reluctantly, the pilgrims agreed, though it was not as if they had a choice. Soon, the PC's paid for their minimal assistance. That night they were assaulted by the pilgrims in a bloody battle. Schwerg nearly lost his life a couple times, while the priest of Mikon did all he could to cast spells in the middle of the raging battle. The pilgrims assaulted them with short swords, clubs, and cunning night tactics, but they did not prevail. Battered and torn, the victorious PC's decided to heal up for a couple of days at the camp. On the next leg of the journey to the Scales of Mikon, the PC's fortunes turned far worse. As they crested a small hill in a light snowfall, they were confronted directly by Sergeant Kirith-Fa and his entire retinue of kharakuro and adomkuro warriors. The PC's felt a deep sense of foreboding and hopelessness as they counted the more than 20 troops that now opposed them. Kirith-Fa was not up for talking, however. The battle commenced quickly, and turned ugly after several rounds when Schwerg and Igmar began to slow from their wounds. Suddenly, out of the woods beyond, the PC's heard a horn blast followed by unknown numbers of creatures crashing through the woods, some on horseback and some on foot. Squads of hobgolins wielding halbears and swords/shields tore into the side flanks of Kirith-Fa's force, followed by backup from several gnolls and goblins acting as shock fighters. A large half-ogre on horseback wielding a lance led them through the initial part of their battle, and soon Kirith-Fa's forces were no threat to the PC's. The new arrivals did not seem concerned with attacking them either. As the battle wound down, another large black horse rode out of the woods carrying a gigantic humanoid with the purest white hair, black armor, carrying a glowing red sword. The stubby horns on his head gave away some demonic lineage, and his eyes sparkled eerily as he stared at the PC's, who now owed him quite a debt. After the last of Kirith-Fa's troops were mopped up, and Kirith-Fa had fled the scene, the curious imposing figure spoke: “I am Dazheel, Spawn of Alifanitax and demon commander of the Horde of Tru’av’kazh. I have come here to warn you and offer a truce of sorts. This force you just fought with our help belonged to Sergeant Kirith-Fa, of Sharistracterus. For his failure to obtain your magic hammer, Lord Sharistracterus has sent another army under Captain Djiuntkris to finish the job and punish Kirith-Fa for his failure. Beyond the salt cavern at the Scales of Mikon where you are now headed lies your doom. Djiuntkris is a demon you cannot defeat with an army you have no hope against, and he is approaching the surface through that same entrance. “I come as your savior, but salvation comes at a price. I want my own Styli. In return for a promise of styli and instructions on their usage, I shall lead you to another entrance of the Underdark. From there, I may be able to offer my services to you as a guide, if you so desire.” “The other options: you may try to make your way past me, in which case I will simply kill you and take your hammer and try to figure out their usage through my own research. Or, if you get past me, you can face the beast Djiuntkris yourselves. He is not very bright, but he is massive, powerful, and malevolent. If he catches you, he will not kill you. After a day you will beg for death. after a month, you will beg him to kill your family. You will tell him everything he wants to know. By the time he is done, you won’t even be a worthwhile sacrifice to the gods of phlegm. But, you might be able to sneak past him.” “Also, either way you choose, at least one army will make here to the surface to plunder the Tribes, either to look for the Hammer, or for the hell of it, depending on who it is.” Confronted with this choice, the PC's agonized over the fate of the Benteak-Kune and their impending doom from an approaching Underdark army. Nevertheless, they decided the only way to save the tribes was to fulfill their mission and bring them the power they would need to combat their new foes. They left with Dazheel to find his alternate entrance to the Underdark. Chapter 5 The trip to the entrance to the Underdark was uneventful and relatively quick. As Schwerg, Igmar, Lolobe and Dhazeel settled down for a rest near the mouth of the cave, Dhazeel's troops began to make a camp. In the middle of this, a lone figure approached from the direction they all just came from, and held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. As he approached closer, he dropped all of his weapons to the ground and walked on past them. The group could see that the lone figure was Kirith-Fa. The PC's reasoned correctly that this was not unexpected. Kirth-Fa had been dealt several crushing defeats in his quest to obtain the Hammer of Creation, and now his own Demon Lord was sending another army up to the surface to kill him for his failure. Regardless, he explained the obvious situation to the PC's and mentioned that even his own men were turning against him now because they did not want to be associated with the failure and killed along with him. Kirith-Fa proposed that he could switch sides and swear fealty to Dhazeel's Demon Lord, Tru’av’kazh. Amused, Dhazeel left the decision to the PC's, for he did not care either way. He could just as easily kill Kirith-Fa as not. The PC's deliberated over the matter, obviously scared that Kirith-Fa would betray them at some point. With some advice from Dhazeel, they reasoned that everyone down in the Underdark will betray them at some point, even Dhazeel, and that what they needed right then was numbers to help them survive the rigors below. So, with the condition that Kirith-Fa's gear be stripped and distributed among the group, he was allowed to come along. The PC's allowed him some minimal armor and a dagger and kept a close watch on him. After some last preparations, Dhazeel's troops stayed at the mouth of the cave to guard the rear, and the rest of the group went into the cave mouth. They walked a downward slope for roughly 20 meters or so when they came across rough-hewn stairs curving down and to the left. Dhazeel turned to Lolobe, the only human in the group, and said “You may want to light a torch or something, it’s going to get dark, and you’re going to need to see to fight the undead that are in the way. As Lolobe lit the torch and looked before him, the PC's noticed a wide winding stairway spiraling down into blackness. The diameter of the spiraling turns was at least 30 meters, and the stairway was wide enough to accommodate three large men across. Dhazeel, as the guide, spoke to the PC’s about the stairway, as they began to walk: “Hundreds of years ago, this stairway served as a major corridor to the surface, where many Demon Lord armies have traveled on their way up to conquest. There have even been several armies of past glory that have traveled from the surface down into this hole, foolishly, to attack armies of the denizens below.” Dhazeel then started to explain the basics of Demon Lord politics and other aspects of Underdark life. That’s when the PC’s heard the rustle and clatter of something heading their way...no moans, no voices, just the sound of metal, bone and leather. Eventually, a spectre wearing ancient leather garments and carrying a shamanic staff walked pleadingly up to them. He was identifiable as a Tyeduan by the feathers worn in his hair, the cut of the leather breaches, though old, and the holy symbols of Ra-ghul worn on charms hanging from his neck and wrists. After figuring out they can talk with the spectre, he told the PC’s a story: "Long ago, when Rha-ghul was newly ascended, a selected band of shamans was tasked with keeping a holy scroll. They were never sure where the scroll came from, or who wrote it, but their ancestors passed it down to them from generation to generation and it was older than the Orcish Destruction...perhaps even older than The Nine. One legend held that it was written by a spirit of old, in the ancient language using the ancient spirit characters. The tribes believed that the scroll contained essential wisdom, and that one day when the world required it, the wisdom would be revealed. The language would be deciphered by a warrior sage, and the knowledge would be disseminated to the tribes. The select group of shamans held onto the scroll in preparation for that time. One ill-fated day, when the clouds rolled in heavily across the frozen tundra, a hoard of unimaginable creatures poured forth out of a hole in the ground and wreaked havoc on the surrounding tribes. Two weeks of terror rained supreme while many tribes were enslaved by denizens of the deep underground. It took that long for the tribes to mount an assault, with the help of some brave dwarves from Galdos which succeeded in pushing the demons back down into their hole. Countless brothers and sisters of the tribes were violently forced to join Rha-ghul in his chaotic realm, and they were grieved by their sisters and mothers loudly. These losses, however, were not as great as what was soon discovered next. The scroll had been taken by one of the demons back down into the hole! Valiantly, a group of heroes was assembled to retrieve it. The entire group of shamans were accompanied by some of the tribes’ best warriors. As they entered this hole, they even managed to capture some of the demons and make them talk. They found out the scroll had been taken to a city far below and east of here....but when the heroes set out for that city, they were soon met by a demon force that they could not defeat...." Wailing, the spectre said in a hollow voice, “Our mission was a failure, and here we stay until the scroll can be found.” The spectre gave the PC's clues that the scroll was probably located in the city of Sharis. Dhazeel was hesitant to go there since it’s considered enemy territory, but he knew it well and said he can lead the PC's there. After making that decision, the PC's wound their way through the twisting tunnels of the Underdark with Dhazeel's guidance, ever keeping a watch on Kirith-Fa. They had little resistance, save encounters with swarms of bats and rats that would bite them and make them bleed. It was nothing they could not handle. Finally, the tunnels started to widen, and traffic started to appear....various adomkuro, kharakuro, and other beings they could not identify would walk past and pay them no heed. Before they knew it, the city of Sharis was before them. The cavern which held Sharis was gargantuan. They could not see the top, nor could they see any of the other walls besides the one they were standing next to, and the wall, like all the buildings within the city, was of perfectly smooth stone. It was as if the cavern and all the buildings were just one piece of stone that had been carved out of a solid block and polished. The buildings were not necessarily incorporated into the walls of the cavern, but were instead free-standing, yet melded in with the floor of the cavern. Twinkling lights from some unknown magical source lit the streets at chaotic intervals, but they were not terribly bright and did not make it too much easier for Lolobe to see. To those with dark sight, the streets teamed with beings walking to and fro, mostly humanoid in appearance. Some were riding in carts pulled by lizards the size of horses, and a few others had carts pulled by what looked like giant rats, and even a giant insect or two. Most inhabitants walked swiftly, covered by cloaks to avoid being seen. The biggest exceptions to this seemed to be the town militia and clerics of Sharistracterus. Dhazeel informed the PC's that he knew of a sage named Garix who might know of such a scroll and he led them through the streets to Garix's dwelling. After relaying their quest to Garix, he said he did indeed hear of a scroll like that but would need payment for the information. The PC's did not have nearly enough money, so Garix required them to retrieve something for him that was stolen. A locket was taken by a local militia man and he wanted it back. It had personal value. Garix gave them directions and put them to work. Dhazeel and Kirith-Fa waited behind. The next night, the PC's went to the dwelling pointed out by Garix and inspected it for possible routes of entry. They found a window that faced an alley but could not manage to get into it because it was barred and had a glass window pane. Just then, they heard a chuckle and saw a small urban sprite appear nearby. The urban sprite was amused but mostly annoyed at them. He explained to the PC's that they appeared to be engaging in criminal activity (albeit very poorly), and that the Alley Reaper Guild of Sharis frowned on unsanctioned thievery. He would not let them proceed with their crime unless they allowed him to participate. The PC's agreed gladly. They made a deal with the diminutive sprite. Lolobe would get into the dwelling and get the item for Garix, a locket. Then he would fill up a sac with items from the dwelling, at the direction of one of the urban sprites who would be telling him which loot items were the best pick. Then Lolobe would carry the bag back to a location prescribed by the sprites. Finally, the PC's would then be required to take a certain ring from Garix on their way out of his dwelling to wherever they were going next. The urban sprites made quick work of gaining entry to the dwelling. Lolobe looted the place and found the locket as fast as he could and then exited. They then walked through some more streets to another alley and dumped the sac into a secret panel revealed by the sprites. On the way out of that alley, they found a cloak on the floor covering some expensive and magical items, which they took happily. The sprites then saw them off to Garix's house to give the locket to him. Distraught, Lolobe, Schwerg, and Igmar did not want to fulfill the rest of the deal with the sprites. They did not want to steal from Garix. So they came clean and told Garix everything about the deal they just made with the spirtes. Garix was appalled at their stupidity on many levels, and Dhazeel chuckled madly. However, he was glad they did not steal from him, because he was a member of a rival guild and could have made things tough for the PC's. Instead, he used the locket to call the watchman that stole it, who turned out to be Garix's brother. The locket was left to them by their mother, and they were constantly stealing it back and forth. His brother, a watchman, also turned out to be a top member of the rival thieve's guild who was all to happy to hear about this act of war perpetrated by the Alley Reaper Guild. Though he was upset about what Lolobe did to his house, he pledged to keep them save until they got out of the city. Garix then told the PC's that the scroll they sought was probably possessed by a mage named Laramith who lived on the other side of the city in a tower. They would need help from Garix's brother to gain entry to the tower and steal the scroll. They began to make plans to do this. Chapter 6 and Conclusion The pnp campaign dissolved from here because the members of the group moved away and separated in RL. For the sake of finishing the story, this is what happened: The PC's raided Laramith's tower and eventually found a scroll with runes that were unlike anything they had ever seen. Mysteriously, they met little resistance, especially from Laramith himself who seemed absent at the time of the raid. As soon as they got the scroll, they went back to Garix's place and said their goodbyes before collecting Kirith-Fa and Dhazeel. The next order of business was to find some red obsidian, and Dhazeel thought he knew where some was outside the city in the areas along the paths where some old mines still remain. After a journey to the mines, the PC's began collecting the red obsidian, to their glee and preparing for the return trip back to the surface. Dhazeel reminded them that his army would be waiting for them there to escort them back to the Mikonator named Theramid. When they reached the surface, they found that Dhazeel was true to his word and they made camp at the mouth of the tunnel before they would continue on through Tyedu to where Theramid was staying. That night, the PC's are struck by another vision. This time they saw an old human in violet robes speaking to them in the tongue of the Benteak-Kune. He said his name was Laramith, and he had been following them ever since they raided his tower. A long time ago, Laramith dwelt on the surface with his tribe, the White Bear Clan, but he eventually left them when he learned of the scroll and its power. Unfortunately he never found any clues to unlocking the secrets of the scroll but he became interested in magic and began learning from teachers in the city of Sharis. Now, as a powerful wizard in his own right, he is able to hold his own down there and he settled in. The day the PC's raided his tower changed everything, however. He once again realized that he might yet unlock the secrets of the scroll, so he let the PC's steal it and followed them to where they led. Now, he has found out about the red obsidian, the Hammer of Creation, and the possible method of creating runes. He demands that the PC's allow him to learn from the Mikonator as well, so he can once again rejoin his people and make right what has just happened to them from the demon armies that decimated the Games. The PC's were unsure of Laramith's sincerity, but they didn't think they had much choice especially since the wizard was not going to show himself in anything other than dreams. They decided to continue their journey to Laramith and see what happened. In the end, the groups reached Theramid and found out from him that the Benteak-Kune tribes have been enslaved by the Demon Lords while the PC's were in the Underdark. This enrages Lolobe and the group, and they ask the Mikonator to begin their training. Seeing Dhazeel, the Mikonator decides that he will be trained as well for the sake of balance, but he must dedicate his army to fighting against the Demon Lord conquerors that made it to the surface. Dhazeel agrees, knowing that one of the conquering Demon Lords is his own. So were the first new saemilists to walk Avlis in thousands of years. Lolobe, Dhazeel, and later Laramith who finally showed himself, were able to use their new skills (and Dhazeel's army) to beat back the Demon Lords from the tribesman.