(D&D) The Chronicles of Essenon

[Von Bek]

From Versi’s Guide to Unusual Places in the Prime Material Plane

The world of Essenon is to the best of my knowledge unique. The vast majority of worlds in the Prime are spherical in shape. They tend to orbit around a sun, and often possess moons. Essenon’s sun is entirely encapsulated by a gigantic sphere, and the inhabitants live upon the inside of said sphere.

The inside surface is divided into roughly hexagonal areas approximately 400 miles across, bordered by high mountains. Adjacent hexes may have wildly different terrain, climate, and inhabitants. A vast river known as the Essena River winds slowly through many of these hexes, occasionally travelling underground through vast caverns. The world is easily billions of square miles in area, and its population must be incalculable.

The sun does not set of course. Instead, it dims to the approximate level of moonlight to produce nightfall.

The entire world seems artificial, and I wonder as to the purpose of its creation, as well as marvel at said being’s power!

DM Notes:
This is a high-powered (well, eventually) D&D game. Magic items are pretty rare, but I give feats every level. Monsters get them too though. Other house rules will be added as they come up (there aren't many).

Chapter One:Zombie Apocalypse

Group:
Shinta the Worst (2 level elf swashbuckler)
Mard (2 level dwarf barbarian)
Draconis (1/1 level orc Ranger/Sorcerer)
Cliona (2 level elf wizard)

Part of the group had a past with one of the royal families. The evil usurpers had been sending assassins after the group, so they decided to leave the area of the world they were in. In the lower reaches of the mountains they realized that they could not possibly get through before winter set in. Coming across a river trading town called Frostmoot they decided to winter there. They met the rest of the group in a cheap tavern/lodging house near the docks. There were also several NPC characters/replacements in case of PC death. They consist of:

Girzim (gnome cleric 2 of the Tah'list, twin gods of healing and guardians of the dead)
Zathas (warlock/monk 1/1-note that I allow monks to multiclass and Warlocks have no alignment restrictions-I only hold to alignment restrictions in a few cases)
Eoghan (elf rogue 2)
Bokin (half black dragon Kobold fighter 2) The LA makes him ECL 5 but this is somewhat offset by kobold weakness and the fact that I love half dragon kobolds

Extract from From Angelheim to Scar Peak-the Travelling Journals of Tokin the Purple Wanderer
Frostmoot
The Westernmost city of the Silver Alliance is known as Frostmoot. It is located in the lower reaches of the Realm’s Barrier Mountains on the Great River, a few miles downstream from where it emerges from the mountains. It is the primary human trading point with the dwarves of Kar Gunnveld. It is also the home of the Silver Alliance’s largest Mage Guild.

The city is situated on the north bank of the river on a small alluvial plain. The city wall restricts access from the plain, which consists mostly of farmland. Within the city are three other walled areas.

The Inner City is the site of the original castle, which has become the Duke’s palace. Many of the city’s wealthiest citizens also make their homes within this wall.

The Wizards’ Quarter is in the northwest corner of the city. It consists of the nine Colleges of Magic, towers of the mages, laboratories, and other buildings unique to the needs of spellcasters.

The Garrison is the base of operations for the city garrison, city watch, and the training area for the Duke’s Royal Guard. It consists of barracks, training areas, smithies, armories, and other necessities.

Zombie Apocalypse Day 1, evening

Mard looked deeply into his mug. It had been a long road to this town, but he felt reasonably secure that they had evaded detection by the Kingdom of Varis’ agents. It would be a boring winter holed up here, but it would be a lot easier than facing assassins every other week.

Shinta shivered and moved closer to the fire. Where she was from it did not get so bloody cold! Mard had mentioned that it would get even colder in the coming weeks. She wished that they could have made it through to somewhere warmer-not for the first time, and almost certainly not for the last.

Draconis slapped the barmaid on her ample rump, throwing her a coin for more ale. After all, he knew how to warm himself up…

Cliona studied her books, trying to grasp the intricate words and symbols that would bring magic to life. She was still had a few reservations about her uncouth travelling companions, but at least one was an elf.

The night seemed to be passing as any other. Conversation in the common room made for a constant background. The center of attention was a newly arrived group of adventurers. They consisted of a lightly armed, charismatic elf named Eoghan, a shy gnome (obviously a cleric of the Tah’list) named Girzim, an unarmed yet somehow dangerous-seeming fellow named Zathas, and a small, winged, reptilian humanoid named Bokin, who was, to Mard’s point of view, far too…perky.

The night is broken by a shrill scream. The tavern’s patrons shift nervously, looking out the grimy windows. When a second scream is heard the adventurers bolt for the door.

Outside the tavern to the south and west is a large open area used as a fish market during the day. The carts and stalls are taken to their
places now, leaving a barren expanse of naked earth. A mist has rolled in from the waterfront, obscuring the opposite buildings.

To the south of the building two humans are wrestling with a young woman. They appear to be biting at her. She struggles weakly, then goes limp. Draconis shouts at the two and they drop the woman. They turn towards the heroes with a snarl, blood dribbling down their chins.

“Get ready!” Draconis yells as the creatures charge.

The heroes pepper the things with arrows and crossbow bolts, but they keep coming until they are cut down in close combat. The warriors marvel at how easily they are cut down by sword and axe, yet suffer little harm from arrows.

Cliona and Shinta cover Draconis and Mard as they go to check on the woman. Before they reach her more of the creatures emerge from the mist in every direction. Everyone fires at the creatures, but piercing weapons do little. Cliona and Shinta are barely holding out, trying to keep a path back to the tavern open, but Draconis and Mard are being overwhelmed.

“We’ve gotta get out of here!” Mard shouts over the din of combat.
“I agree,” Draconis replies, “let’s break off and get back to the tavern.”

To their horror the woman that they had originally been trying to rescue rises and joins the attack. They are in danger of being cut off from the inn, so they turn to flee. As they do so Draconis falls under the fists of the creatures. Mard scoops him up and runs as fast as he can, taking several blows in the process but not falling. The other adventurers come out to help as everyone retreats inside the inn. In his hazy state Draconis sees a creature similar to the others but much faster pursuing them.

Inside the inn the civilians are starting to panic. While Girzim offers healing to the injured, Mard realizes that they need to fortify their position.

“We need nails and hammers,” he yells.

One of the serving wenches gets some nails from the innkeeper and anyone strong enough begins to hold tables against the windows and doors while others nail them in place.

“Uh-oh,” Bokin says as a thought occurs to him, “what about the stable entrance?”

With dawning horror they realize he’s right. Draconis is first through the kitchen door, but skids to a halt as three zombies enter through the door to the stables. He leaps back through the doorway.

“Too late!” he declares.

Everyone starts trying to block the doorway and open counter, nailing boards into place as the zombies pound on the other sides, trying to break through.

“We need to get out of here before they break through,” Mard says, “let’s get upstairs and check out our options.”

The heroes pull down the stairway and go upstairs to look out the windows. They see that the inn is surrounded. Zombies pound on the walls and doors, and they worry that the wooden building will not hold. As they ponder their options a scream below warns them that the zombies are coming through. A stampede for the stairs ensues. The frail wooden structure groans under the weight and as the last people head up the hinges give. Three civilians fall to the floor. Thinking quickly, Draconis lowers his orcish double axe to the fallen and (with help) pulls them up one at a time. On the third his arms give out and the man falls. As they try again the zombies break through. The heroes try to pull him up but several zombies drag him down. The man is ripped apart before their horrified eyes quicker than they can even react.

They remember their location well. They know that the building to their west is a large stone warehouse and on the other side is a shop catering to adventurers. They decide to get to the roof of the warehouse. They chop a hole into the roof so that Bokin will have the height to glide to the warehouse roof. He glides across with one end of a rope and ties it off. Using bedding the civilians zipline across. Finally the heroes go across. As Draconis goes across he sees the fast creature emerge from the hole and glare at him. When he is across he cuts the rope to keep this seemingly intelligent zombie from following.

Much debate ensues on the nature of the zombies. The heroes have come to the conclusion that the zombie-ism is contagious. They theorize that there is some sort of hive mind, and that what one zombie sees, all of them might. They wonder if the zombies might regenerate. Heh heh heh.

They take a head count and realize there are 4 PCs, 4 NPCs, and 22 civilians to take care of. As the injured and spellcasters need rest, everyone huddles together to pass a cold night.

During the night the inn crashes to the ground.

[Von Bek]

Zombie Apocalypse Days 2-4
The dark figure fidgeted, glancing nervously at the powerful beings visiting his chambers.

“Everything is under control,” he said, trying to sound authoritative, “I don’t know why he feels…”

“We’re just here to…observe,” the largest said from one of his mouths.


As the next day dawns, several of the heroes are still severely injured. Girzim prays for healing, as well as for one Hide From Undead spell. After the heroes are healed, a plan is worked out to raid the shop. As the strongest members of the group, Bokin and Draconis will be sent while the others distract the zombies to the other side of the warehouse.

Everyone, including the civilians, heads to one side of the building, yelling and shooting zombies with anything available. When the way seems clear Girzim casts Hide from Undead upon Bokin and Draconis. Bokin glides to the ground as Draconis drops down, injuring himself once again.

Moving quickly, the two reach the door, realizing it is locked. Bokin dribbles acid upon the lock, dissolving it. (Getting to the door they didn’t want to break it down. A quick brainstorm later they ask if Bokin can use his daily breath weapon as a dribble. I decided he could.)

“First we need some rope and some sort of basket so the others can pull things up,” Draconis declares as Bokin looks at him like he’s an idiot.

They hurriedly rig a backpack and rope system, then begin bringing out ration packs, arrows, and crossbow bolts. Estimating their remaining time to be short, they climb the rope to safety.

For the rest of the day they take potshots at zombies. As the night chills, they realize the forgot blankets.

A conversation to plan the future begins. Hoping to get as close as they can over the rooftops, the group plans to travel to the temple sector, where they hope to find shelter upon the hallowed ground.

Later that night they are awakened by sounds of battle from the direction of the temple. The sky reddens with the glow of fires as the night wears on.

Over the next two days they clean out the store. They find armor for all of the civilians, crossbows, the entire stock of arrows and crossbow bolts, a few shields which they can upend to make fires in, tinderboxes, ropes, a collapsible ladder, oil flasks, and the entire stock of rations.

As the evening of the fourth day sets in the characters are discussing more options. They're pretty sure the temple is torched, so the new plan is to get to the waterfront and try to sail away. As they discuss this they hear something moving on the roof with them but see nothing. They begin to search by feel and hear something huge on the roof. They hear the flapping of enormous wings leaving the roof.

That night the docks burn.




Zombie Apocalypse Day 5

“You’re insane!”

Several of the townspeople looked over at the young noble’s outburst.

“Shut up!” Draconis hissed, “we’re trying not to start a panic here…”

Ducal Prince Ehren interrupted the orc, showing the same lack of wisdom that had seen him caught in the middle of this mess, “We’re safe here and you want us to move-that makes no sense. In case you haven’t noticed, there are zombies all over the place!”

“We don’t know how widespread this is,” Shinta says, “they might not have penetrated the inner city.”

“Exactly my point,” Ehren replied, we need to stay safe and wait for my father’s soldiers to rescue us.”

“I rather doubt that they can get to us,” Mard said, “and we need more shelter than this rooftop before winter really hits.”

“My father will risk it for me!” the prince said, “he’ll save me!”

“Perhaps,” Cliona said softly, “but he didn’t know where you were, did he? My guess is that you were-what’s the word…slumming. I bet he thinks you were somewhere else-at an uncle’s villa, perhaps? Your desire for a bit of illicit…entertainment has grouped you with us-dregs of society, every one. Do you really think that your father will be making a lot of effort to rescue dock workers and migrants?”

The prince’s face fell as he realized the truth of what Cliona said. He listened as the heroes explained their plans-everyone would carefully cross the street via a ladder bridge to the building to the north. The group would ultimately try to head towards the old section of the city where there are more stone buildings and where there might be a chance of no zombies. At the very least they should be able to hole up in an easily fortified building for the winter. The prince helped convince the people to leave the relative safety of the rooftop.

The collapsible ladder is set up between the two buildings and Bokin and Draconis cross first, readying a guide rope for those not as dexterous as themselves. One by one the civilians carefully cross as a number of zombies gather below them, apparently directed by an intelligent zombie. Most of the group gets across, but one of the civilians falls. Shinta jumps after her while Mard throws her a rope. Shinta grabs the civilian while the rest of the party tries to shoot down zombies. Mard tries to pull them up but fails. Bokin flies across to help. Shinta desperately fights off zombies but the intelligent zombie grapples her. Draconis starts back across the ladder to help Bokin and Mard pull up Shinta and the civilian as everyone continues to fire at zombies, but slips and falls onto the ladder (whew!). Regular zombies grapple the two on the ground as the intelligent zombie begins to climb the rope. He reaches the top and attacks Mard, who is holding the rope. The zombies drag down the civilian and the intelligent zombie bites into Mard. Shinta is now being overwhelmed. Bokin and Draconis as well as fire from everyone else kill the advanced zombie, but it is too late. Shinta perishes.

The morose party stays atop their new building that night. Tears are shed for Shinta, and my poor wife takes over Bokin (he's cute in her opinion).

[Von Bek]

Zombie Apocalypse Day 6

The next morning Mard is feeling ill. The other heroes worry that the zombie infection has gotten him.

Three warehouses are connected, so the party goes to the northern most end to find themselves at an intersection too wide for the ladder to cross. After heated debate involving the possible use of ropes to cross the intersection, it is decided to risk a ground crossing. Chopping through the roof, everyone is lowered into the building, which turns out to be full of textiles.

Bokin, Eoghan, Draconis, and Cliona get Hide From Undead cast upon them to enable them to go ahead of the party and open the door. Eoghan picks the lock and the door is opened successfully. Cliona runs back to the other warehouse and tells all the civilians to run into their new warehouse while it is safe. Toward the end of the crowd of the civilians rushing in, a line of Zombies appears. Bokin blasts them with his acid breath and they all disintegrate to the ground. The warehouse doors are closed quickly and we find barrels of Salt Fish. Everyone rejoices at the idea of eating something other than iron rations that night. There are three other warehouses attached to the one they had chosen. Draconis hacks through the wall and found armor in the next. Upset that he didn’t find anything useful to us, Draconis slashes through the other wall. Inside of it is lots of wine, but Draconis, not satisfied with the lack of magical items (the rest are thinking that he’s an idiot by this point), chops through the other wall to find a warehouse full of ship supplies. That night everyone enjoyed wine. Mard, who was thrown in a barrel of it to hopefully eradicate the zombie infection, enjoyed it most of all.

Zombie Apocalypse Day 7

“Where the hell are these things coming from?” Genneth cried, cutting down another zombie from the seemingly endless wave of them.

“We’ve got to escape!” Horgat said, “I just cast my last lightning bolt and…”

“Horgat!” Dianne screamed as her husband disappeared under the zombie tide. She began to fight recklessly towards him, preparing to cast a healing spell.

Genneth grabbed the tiny foot of Coris, engaging in a macabre tug of war with a zombie over his unconscious friend’s body. He was beginning to think that these zombies seemed extraordinarily powerful…

Whatever the thought would have been, it was never finished. A fast, powerful zombie clubbed him to the ground, and the horde fell upon him.

Dianne realized she was the only conscious being. She redoubled her efforts to reach her husband, hoping and praying she wouldn’t be too late. To her joy she saw him rise and turn towards her…

In the morning Mard is pale and seems considerably less robust than usual. The party decides to chance a ground level run through the poor residential section until they reach the better part of town. They hope to find a secure building. They gather everyone two by two, Zathas and Bokin in the front, Girzim, Cliona, and Roger the Blacksmith in the middle, and Eoghan and Draconis are in the back. A few zombies appear in front of the party while they are running, but Bokin and Zathas take them out quickly.

Zathas gets injured, so he is sent to the middle with the civilians. Mard decides to switch him places. Mard and Bokin kill every zombie that comes their way. As the group runs through the maze of homes, a veritable horde of zombies shuffles after them. Eoghan and Draconis begin shooting arrows at the zombies and then Cliona decides they could use her help. She uses her Magic Missile and Crossbow to try to kill the chasing zombies.

When several zombies appear in front of the line some of the chasing zombies catch up. There are tense moments as the players cut their way through the undead hordes, hoping to break through before they are swarmed.

A little later the group sees an area of burned down buildings within an ornamental wall and the zombies stop in their tracks. They have reached the temple sector remains.

That night, they kill all the zombies that are standing nearby and decide that this would be the best place to sleep. While everyone is sleeping, Bokin goes scouting to see which path would be best for the group to take.

Bokin's Night Out

(Typed by the player)As everyone was calming down in their sacred ground Bokin decided to see which path would be the fastest way to get o the upper class city gates. Girzim casts Hide from Undead on him and he leaves. First he goes north to only to find a road that leads westward. There are a few back streets, but he wants to take the road leading west to find a jewelry shop (we want silver to grind down to make holy water). As he goes west he sees many different shops. The first window he looks in is a clothing shop. The second is rugs, but across the street is a money changer shop. Something caught his eye as he was thinking of breaking in the money changer shop. Diagonally across from him was a jewelry shop. He lets his acid drip on the doorknob until the door opens and he steals all the silver he can carry. When he steps outside of the shop, he runs toward the long road leading westward. That's when he sees two zombies coming his way.

What a perfect opportunity to get rid of some more zombies, he thought. With his mighty battleaxe he swings at them until they both fall to the ground. Now visible to everything, he decides he must go check out the city gates. On the way there, he sees and kills many zombies. When he reaches the gates, to his satisfaction, he only finds a few zombies wandering around. He kills a few more with his battleaxe and decides to climb a building to see if he can see over the wall to the upper class town. When he first tries this he fails and falls to the ground. Irritated that a zombie should come after him after he fell, he gets up and kills it with one heavy blow. Then he successfully climbs up the building only to see empty streets and rich houses on the other side of the gates. That's a little comforting, he thought. He glides from the rooftop to the top of the gate's wall just to make sure there are no zombies inside. Sure enough, he didn't see any. By now, a few zombies are chasing after him and he decides it would be best if he returned to the temple grounds.

As he is running down the street he stops to kill a few more zombies. Suddenly, to his surprise, he hears "Impressive little one." It was a deep dark voice and he looks around to see if there was anyone near him. Scared to death, he runs faster than what he was before. With a thud, he stops running and looks at the large creature standing in front of him. It looks like a three-headed Dragon Ogre. The Dragon Ogre grabs Bokin by his wings and mentally plays with him a little bit. Bokin asks,"are you a friend or a foe? Will you help us fight the zombies?" The Dragon Ogre replies, "I don't think so." Bokin pulls out his battleaxe and swings it at the large creature. It hits with a loud thud, and he lets go of Bokin. While running Bokin spots a sewer grate, flings it off and runs through the sewers. He hears something behind him and ducks suddenly only to see flames going over his head. Bokin quickly gets up and runs until he sees a light coming from above. Without checking, zombies being the least of his worries, he jumps out from the sewer, takes his bearings, and runs toward the temple grounds.

Along the way, he ran into a few zombies, killed them as quickly as he could, and then ran onto the temple grounds. Knowing he wasn't safe from all the evil creatures that inhabit this town, he didn't sleep very well. He also decided not to tell anyone of his adventures that night for he wanted them to get the best sleep. He would tell them in the morning.

[Von Bek]

Zombie Apocalypse Day 8
Bokin awoke from an uneasy sleep to see Mard standing at the edge of the temple area. Bokin walked up to him. Mard was unsteady on his feet, swaying slightly with the breeze. Beads of sweat dotted his pale face. His gaze was far away, wistfully set upon the mountains.

“Are you alright, Mard?” Bokin asked.

“Hm?” Mard said with a start, “I wish I could see the mountains one more time…”

“You will, Mard,” Bokin said, knowing it wasn’t true, “you’ll see. It will all turn out right in the end.”

Mard smiled sadly, “I’d better wake the others.”

Bokin tells the group that there is a Dragon Ogre running around the town. He says that it's been watching him and possibly the whole group. He also says which route is the best to take to get to the gates and that he stole silver for making holy water.

Observing the zombies milling about outside of the sacred ground, the party notices several zombies that appear to be former adventurers. Desirous of their magic items, which they can clearly detect, the party decides they want to attack the zombies and drag their bodies onto holy soil. Bokin, Draconis, Eoghan, and Zathas leave the holy ground to attack the zombies while Clione and Girzim provide cover. The zombies are easily dispatched, but then hilarity ensues as the party (except Bokin) miserably fail to drag the bodies back.* Eventually they manage it.

Dividing up the loot, Clione gets a wand of fireballs with very few charges remaining and a ring of protection +1. Girzim gets a +1 small sized heavy steel shield, a wand of cure light wounds, and a gray bag of tricks. Draconis gets a +1 axe and 2 cure moderate wounds potions. Eoghan gets a +1 longbow and 2 cure moderate wounds potions. Bokin gets a +1 small battleaxe and 2 cure moderate wounds potions.

The party spends the rest of that day burying the bodies of the zombies.

*An incredibly funny series of Strength check failures ensued where no one but Bokin could achieve anything.

Zombie Apocalypse Day 9
Mard dreamt. He dreamt of halls of stone and the smell of earth. He dreamt of the hearty cooking of his homeland. He dreamt of ale, and robust women, and the joy of finding a new silver vein. He dreamt forever.

Eoghan paused in his patrol. The sun was rising, and he hoped that this day would be warmer than the last. He stepped over to the fire.

“Cold night, wouldn’t you say Mard?” he asked. There was no reply.

“Mard?” he repeated. He looked closer. Offering a quick prayer for Mard’s soul to The Goddess, he went to wake the others.

A small memorial is held for Mard, and he is buried on holy ground. After everyone else leaves Eoghan promises Mard that he will try to return his body to Kar Stakkan.

The party theorizes that Mard did not rise as a zombie due to dying on holy ground. The plan for the day is to send several party members to Roger the Blacksmith's shop to get some files. The party plans to file down silver into powder in order to make Holy Water. Zathas has an ability that repels undead with a glowing light, so several party members stay close to him. They get the files and come back without incident.

While they are gone, Bokin takes out a few zombies for fun, one of them being Shinta the Worst. When he begins to get overwhelmed, he retreats back to the holy ground, and Clione uses the wand of fireballs to blast a bunch of zombies.

When the group returns from the blacksmith's shop, they have a large train of zombies following them. Bokin's breath weapon and Clione's wand kill even more zombies. That night, the party discusses what they are going to put the holy water in. They realize that they need containers.

[Von Bek]

Zombie Apocalypse Day 10
The party decides to raid a restaurant for wine bottles. Bokin, Draconis, Zathas, and Eoghan go to the restaurant while the rest of the party and the civilians file silver.

The heroes arrive at the eatery without incident and Eoghan picks the lock. Bolting the door, they quickly move to the wine cellar. Mourning the loss, they begin pouring wine onto the floor to empty some bottles.

While in the wine cellar, a couple of the heroes hear wood splintering upstairs. Zathas peeks out the door and sees zombies, including what looks to be an Ogre zombie. Everyone readies their weapons and prepares to fight.

The regular zombies are dispatched without difficulty, but the Ogre is another matter entirely. The heroes have a hard time closing with the creature, and each of its blows nearly kills one of them. In the enclosed space of the dining area they have a hard time outmaneuvering the massive creature, but eventually they fell it. Sorely wounded, the heroes flee back to the relative safety of the temple district.

Zombie Apocalypse Day 11
Kire and Shinaltrix from The Tales of Essenon by Tokin the Purple Wanderer

Long had the Drow of Scar Peak warred with the Elves of the Misty Valley, with no clear victor in sight. Then Tosanus of the Drow found a solution-or so he thought.

Shinaltrix was a green dragon sorely vexed by the elves of the Misty Valley. Tosanus proposed to him an alliance, and the mighty wyrm agreed, thinking to betray the Drow at the first opportunity.

It was the dragon who was betrayed. The Drow set upon him, binding him with dark magics most foul. When he was secured, they opened a gateway to the Immaterium, and its corruption entered into the great beast. Howling in agony as his form warped, the dragon was transported to the Elven village and set free. In rage and pain Shinaltrix destroyed the Elven community in a single night. Only one survived-a boy by the name of Kire.

The destruction was obvious even from a great distance, and a group of Glade Guardians found the boy. Taking pity upon the child, they brought him back with them and the elf was raised among the rough rangers. He swore a terrible vengeance upon both Shinaltrix and the Drow.

Shinaltrix had other plans for the Drow of Scar Peak. His new form had grown into a twelve-headed monstrosity, and he had gained immeasurable power. He destroyed the Drow settlement and claimed it as his own.

Kire grew in power, slaying many evil dragons young and old. To this day he hopes to destroy Shinaltrix, but realizes that he does not yet have the power.





The morning dawns cloudy and cold. The group has decided that they will try to reach the Inner City and hole up in a manor house for the winter. Now they are discussing plans to achieve this goal. Girzim begins making holy water as the others call over Ehren (the noble) to question him on gates and the city layout.

They discuss the uses of holy water, how to ensure that the zombies do not gain access to the inner city if they aren't there already, and what to do if the dragon ogre shows up. They theorize about zombie intelligence. They wonder if a necromancer is controlling the zombies, but think there are too many. Then they realize that a necromancer would only have to control the more intelligent zombies-the other zombies seem to follow them instinctively. They worry about being mobbed on the way to the gate-from experience they know that once they are outnumbered by 3:1 or worse they will be unable to protect the civilians. Remembering how he escaped from the Dragon Ogre, Bokin suggests the sewers. Part of the group begins to search for an access to the sewer while the rest reassure civilians that everything is under control.

Finding the living quarters of the priests, the party begins to clear a hole to the sewer. Early in the afternoon they hear sounds of battle towards the poorer section of town and go to investigate. They see an elf using two longswords to mow down dozens of zombies. The elves (and almost everyone else) recognize him as Kire, the most famous dragonslayer known. The zombies seem to barely slow him as he strides onto the sanctified ground.

“I hear you have a dragon problem,” he says.

He discusses the half-dragon situation with them. Kire is initially distrustful of Bokin (half-dragon, remember?), but the rest of the party convinces him that Bokin is trustworthy and they discuss the dragon ogre. He tells them that he'll take care of it.

The party spends the rest of the day widening a hole to the sewer system. Shortly after dark a magical symbol appears in the sky a few miles away. It is the symbol for "Safety" and the group discusses what it might mean. The consensus is that it may be a trap, but they still want to check it out after getting to a more secure location.

Later that night Draconis is on guard when he hears sounds of battle from the other side of the wall. The next morning the party finds an arrow with a note attached embedded in a wall.

"There are four. Chasing them out of the city. Kire."

After a bit of debate as to whether the theoretical necromancer/lich/
vampire/evil priest was one of the four, night falls

DM’s Note: Day 11 was an interesting session. No combat, just a couple of hours of in-character plot discussion.

[Von Bek]

Zombie Apocalypse Day 12
Dramus stood before the altar in the small chapel. His prayers done, he thought of his mission. He was to find out what was going on in the outer city. He would interview more of the refugees from the outer city, then check the city defenses again. He went to gather Casvel, wondering again at the man’s apparent inability to remember his own past.

Back at the temple ruins Girzim is creating holy water, but prays for a Hide from Undead spell to get three people to the wall. Draconis, Eoghan, and Bokin head that way.

Dramus and Casvel head up to the wall and talk to the guards. They climb up on the wall and are amazed to see three people walking their way, ignored by the zombies. Watching them from afar they eat peanuts. When both of the groups meet, they analyze and question each other.

Bokin, Draconis, and Eoghan look up at the wall, realizing that it is secured. Among the city guard are two unusual people. One has the dark skin and features of a Drow, but with silver wings and scales. The other is a human, wild looking with studded leather armor. What an interesting crew Bokin thought. The men on the wall start to throw peanuts at the group below. A guard asks the group to halt and Bokin responds with a threat. Eoghan tries to smooth things over while Draconis watches the zombies coming toward them, realizing that their protective spell must have worn off.

Eoghan shoots at a zombie and hurts it. Draconis and Bokin engage in combat with the zombies. Bokin hurts his zombie while Draconis misses his. Dramus shoots at one of Draconis’ zombies and damages it. Casvel decides to help by shooting Draconis’ other zombie. The guard shoots and accidentally hits Draconis in the back. Eoghan hits his zombie but barely damages it, while Bokin kills his. Dramus shoots at the zombie but hits Draconis, who is getting rather irritated at being shot. Casvel kills one of Draconis’ zombies.

Dramus drops a rope and since Bokin is the only one out of combat, they pull him up first. A zombie hits Eoghan, and Draconis is hit and is close to unconsciousness. Dramus kills a zombie, but more are coming. Bokin and Casvel try to pull up Eoghan, but he slips and is hanging. Draconis falls due to the zombies, and they munch on him. Eoghan finally gets pulled up by Casvel. Bokin destroys the zombies and Draconis’ body with his acid breath.

Bokin and Eoghan accompany Dramus and Casvel into the city. They go to a restaurant where Bokin and Eoghan eat their first real meal in well over a week. They discover that the King sent Dramus to Frostmoot after his oracle predicted that something bad would happen here. Along the way he encountered Casvel, who has no memory beyond the two weeks. Dramus has been trying to fit together clues to discover what caused the outbreak and how to stop it.

The heroes begin working on a plan to rescue the other heroes and the civilians. They make a plan to get firebombs to distract the zombies while the citizens are running to the inner wall. Dramus asks a shopkeeper, but, because he is a Paladin and firebombs are against the inner gate laws, he finds nothing. Eoghan disappears and Bokin messages him to get back to the Inn, their meeting place. The group is making a plan when Eoghan comes back with firebombs. Their plan is to go to the citizens in the temple grounds. Girzim will cover as many people as he can with Hide From Undead, then lead them out. He’ll be followed by Dramus who will glide from building to building to watch their backs. Then Zathas will use his aura to fit four people under his protection. The rest of the group will run as fast as they can to the gate.

Before night sets the small group flits from rooftop to rooftop until they make it back to the temple district. They will have to wait until morning for Girzim’s spells.

[Von Bek]

Zombie Apocalypse Day 13
The plan actually works. The group fights a running battle to the walls, where groups of archers armed with flaming arrows cut down the pursuing zombies. The heroes and civilians are placed in quarantine.

Zombie Apocalypse Day 14
Dramus gets tired of listening to Bokin, who is complaining of boredom and the apparent lack of gratitude for the heroes having saved some citizens. He commands the guard to ask the Magistrate if they could leave quarantine. The other travelers are set free as long as they have a guard with them. Girzim and Dramus go to the temple to pray and rest. Eoghan ditches his guard and disappears again. Bokin thanks Dramus for all his help and checks on the citizens to make sure none of them have turned. All the others are resting and relaxing.

Zombie Apocalypse Day 15
In the morning, everyone shows up for a preplanned meeting. Eoghan appears dramatically and declares that the Wizards Quarters is zombie free. They plan to try to make it there at midday.

Before they leave they are called to the temple. The priests gift each of them with a healing potion, and allow Dramus the use of the Sword of Life, a longsword of great power. They bless each of the heroes.

The group rides out the gate at midday. They ride in a cavalry formation, cutting down zombies as they go. They seem to be making excellent time until they run into the intelligent attacks of one of the controller zombies. Bokin and Dramus lose their mounts by the time the fight is one. Bokin and Eoghan cast Expeditious Retreat on themselves and everyone else mounts up. The group rides on to their goal.

As the group sets off, snow begins to fall. Shortly after they set off they run into three zombies, which are quickly dispatched. Casvel hears a dull explosive roar from up ahead and mentions it to the group. They ride on, the sounds of battle ahead giving them a sense of urgency. A short time later the Expeditious Retreat spells end and the heroes double up on their horses.

As they ride on they come across a courtyard to their north. Through the driving snow they hear screams and ride onto the side road to investigate. The snow is too thick to see through, so they ride blindly into whatever is ahead. The screams sound human so they try to hurry.

“We need to save those people.” Cliona says.

They come across a small house with three people on the roof, trying desperately to fight off a large group of zombies. The heroes dismount so as not to endanger the horses. Cliona stays with the horses, shooting her crossbow at the zombies. Bokin quickly kills every zombie near them. Stepping back from the combat, he listens for any approaching creatures, hearing only snow.

“Go scout, Bokin!” Dramus says.

“What?!” Bokin yells, “Hell no!”

Eoghan yells, “Don’t split the group!”

“See!” Bokin says, “stupid idea!”

“We’ll see,” Dramus states grimly.

Everyone yells at Bokin to come help them. Being closest to Eoghan, Bokin begins to work his way down the line. Cliona still keeps listening for anything that might be coming. She hears only our fight and the continuing sounds of battle in the distance.

Bokin and Dramus attempt to talk the scared people off of the roof. They come back to the group.

“Maybe we half-dragons aren’t the people to talk these folk down,” Dramus says. Eoghan goes to do it. Dramus detects evil, seeing none in the people on the roof. He tells the group that they aren’t evil. Eoghan comes back to the group.

“We should help these people down from the roof,” he says, “I’m not that strong, so…”

“Is there no ladder?” Dramus says, “how did they get on the roof?”

“I imagine they climbed,” Eoghan deadpans.

“Then they can climb down,” Dramus says callously.

“Okay, fine,” Eoghan replies testily, “I’m just trying to give them a hand here, I was just trying to be polite, you want me to tell them to jump?”

“Let’s get moving,” Cliona says, “it is getting cold.”

Eoghan goes back to the people, “Okay, none of those idiots wants to help you, so jump.” He gives what aid he can, but one of the townspeople slips, twisting her ankle and glaring angrily at the other heroes.

“Okay,” Eoghan states, “we need to make riding arrangements and get out of here. We’ve been in one place for WAY too long.”

“I agree,” Dramus says.

They have three horses and eight people. They decide Casvel is fastest and Bokin toughest, so they’ll walk. The group sets off. The family is introduced as the Smiths-Johan, Janis, and little Johan. They head back to the road.

They come up on six zombies heading the same direction down the road. They ride them down, quickly destroying them. After the battle, Eoghan applies his healing potion himself and gives another healing potion to Casvel. Dramus heals Eoghan back to his original health. The group rides on.



Eoghan says, ”I think we’re getting close to the wall.”

Through the snow everyone sees a wall and a gatehouse emerging. Hammering at the gates are typical zombies, two of the controller zombies, and a huge giant zombie. Many charred corpses litter the ground, and the giant is rather charred itself. On top of the wall are a wizard, a warrior, and a gnome. All three are shooting at the zombies.

The group stands back and discusses how they will attract the zombies away from the gate.

Dramus says to Eoghan, ”detect how soon the door will break down.”

“I pick locks, I don’t break the door down,” Eoghan states.

Cliona interrupts, “I have some knowledge of architecture.”

From the distance, she couldn’t tell when the door was going to give way. Cliona explains to Dramus how effective her fireballs are. The group finally decides on a way to divert the giant’s attention to them. Bokin messages to the gnome, “ We’re going to try something, and we hope it works.”

The civilians and horses are ushered into a large house to keep them safe, then the party moves away from the gates. Dramus is on a house shooting at the giant, while the others are protecting Cliona on the ground.

After Dramus shoots at the giant, he watches as one of the controller zombies takes the regular zombies and heads in the group’s direction. The other controller zombie and the giant remain at the gate. Cliona shoots her wand of fireballs at the zombies as they approach and the heroes watch as only one zombie and the controller zombie survive. The group shoots at the powerful zombie until Bokin runs up and attacks it with his mighty battleaxe, quickly cutting it down.

“That was a powerful fireball,” says the wizard.

The warrior says, “Friend or foe?”

The gnome stands there and says nothing about the voice he heard.

Meanwhile, Dramus watches as the giant zombie is still beating on the wall. Bokin gets the idea that he can message the gnome on the wall and ask some questions.

“Gnome, ask the wizard if your wall is fireball proof, and if it is, please nod,” he sends.

The gnome pokes the wizard in the knee and explains that he hears voices and they are asking if the gate is fireball proof. The wizard replies, “Of course it is. It is a wizards gate.” The gnome nods and Dramus sees it from his perch atop a house. The group decides to run toward the gate and shoot the nasty beast with a fireball.

“Bokin, tell your gnome...” Dramus says.

“My gnome?” Bokin interrupts.

“You have a gnome?” Eoghan deadpans.

“I always wanted a gnome!” Bokin exclaims gleefully.

“As I was trying to say..” Dramus outlines his plan to Bokin.

Bokin messages the gnome once more. “Gnome, when my friend on the rooftop nods, you need to duck. Nod if you understand this.” The gnome nods and tells the wizard what the voices said. Suddenly he sees Dramus nod. This makes him jump off the box he is standing on and duck, as do the other guys on the wall.

Cliona shoots the fireball and the regular zombies die. The giant and the controller zombie are still standing. They both turn toward the group and Cliona shoots a fireball again. All that is left is the giant zombie. Bokin suggests that they run behind the houses until they get to the gate to get some help, but with majority vote, the entire party votes for him and Casvel to run up to the giant and start attacking it while the rest of the group peppers it with arrows.

Before they attack the giant Eoghan gives Bokin the rest of his healing potion because Bokin will need it. Bokin hits and hurts the giant. The giant hits him and he staggers under the blow. Casvel hits the giant and hurts it some more. The group shoots at the giant and does a bit of damage, but when Bokin tries to attack again he misses. The breath was still knocked out of him. More shooting ensues, and Bokin and Casvel do some more damage to the giant.

With not much left in Bokin due to another hit, Eoghan yells, “we need to help them!”

“Stick to the plan!” Dramus cries, but Eoghan is already moving.

Eoghan jumps off a rooftop and lands behind the giant, attacking it furiously. Dramus decides to help by jumping down and attacking it from the side. Eoghan strikes the giant once more and it finally falls. The group cheers and Dramus tells Bokin to message the gnome to open the gate.

"Gnome, open the gate, we’re coming in,” he sends.

The group runs toward the gate and it opens. A man in the robes of a wizard, a heavily armed and armored man, and a gnome with gray hair and purple eyes greet them. The wizard introduces himself as Derek Sathas, the warrior as his brother Torrin, and the gnome as Fraup. They take them into one of the buildings so that they can rest. After the last few hours, the group collapses from exhaustion.

[Von Bek]

DM's Note
Current group:
Eoghan (Elven Rogue 3/Wizard 2)
Casvel (Human Barbarian 2/Ranger 2)
Bokin (Kobold half-dragon Fighter 2/Sorcerer 1/Ranger 1)
Cliona (Elven Wizard 5)
Fraup (Gnome Rogue 4)
Dramus (Drow half-dragon Paladin 2)

Zombie Apocalypse Day 16 and 17
Eoghan, Casvel, Bokin, and Cliona head downstairs, drawn by the smell of a hearty stew simmering in a big pot over the fire. Derek is stirring the pot.

“Ah,” he says, “I see that you’re awake. The paladin is in the chapel praying, and Fraup has disappeared, as he does quite often.”

Everyone takes a bowl and sits down to eat.

“So,” Bokin asks, “how long have you been here?”

“I’ve been here for about four years,” Derek replies.

“How long ago did the zombies show up?” Cliona asks.

“About two weeks ago I believe,” the mage says, “we’ve had a battle at the gates nearly every day-we’ve used up most of our resources fighting them off.”

Bokin asks, “have you seen many large zombies like the one we saw earlier?”

“Only occasionally,” comes the reply, “they’re pretty rare.”

Bokin continues, “what are the chances that the gate will hold up against them?”

“Well, we keep reinforcing it the best we can, but eventually they might be able to break through if they keep hammering it with ogres and hill giants like they have been,” Derek says.

“So are you the only ones left?” Cliona asks.

“There are a few acolytes and apprentices,” he says, “but yes, we’re pretty much it. All the other wizards disappeared.”

“Does anybody know how to call them back?” Bokin asks.

“I’ve tried to contact them,” Derek says, “but they don’t seem to want to be contacted. If a wizard doesn’t want to respond to a communication it can’t be forced. At least, not by someone of my power level.”

“So do you have any underground tunnels here?” Bokin queries.

“Well, there’s the sewer system,” comes the reply, “but there are locked grates blocking access between the different city sectors.”

“Why do you think they’re trying to get in here?” Bokin continues, “they usually just go after anyone that they see, why would they automatically go after a section of town that’s been mostly deserted and try so hard to break down the wall?”

“I assume that’s what whoever’s controlling them wants,” Derek replies.

“Who do you think is controlling them?” Bokin continues.

“That I don’t know,” Derek admits.

Continuing this line of questioning, Bokin asks, “do you know of anything in this area that they’d be after?”

“If I were a necromancer,” the wizard muses, “I would probably relish the thought of raiding the library of the College of Necromancy.”

“Okay,” Bokin asks, “where is that?”

“Down the road a bit,” he says.

“What would it contain that is so powerful?” Bokin queries.

“Scrolls, spellbooks,” Derek replies, “for a wizard, knowledge is quite literally power.”

“Well yes,” a somewhat embarrassed Bokin asks, “but what I’m asking is…what does it contain that the necromancer doesn’t already know?”

“Since I don’t know what the necromancer knows,” comes the amused reply, “I really don’t know.”

“What colleges are here?” Cliona interrupts.

“All of the schools of magic are represented in Frostmoot,” the mage replies, “I assume you’re a wizard?”

“Yes,” Cliona replies.

“Perhaps we can allow you access to some of our books,” Derek continues, ”in these troubled times we need all the help we can get. Perhaps you can add a few spells to your repertoire.”

“Thank you!” Cliona enthuses.

“Can we search the Necromancer College?” Bokin asks.

“Well I don’t have the keys…” Derek says.

“We have an excellent lock-picker,” Bokin says while eyeing Eoghan.

“Well,” the rogue says, “this IS a wizard’s college we’re talking about you know…”

“I have a knock spell,” Cliona adds helpfully.

At this point Torrin enters the room, whispers something to Derek, and leaves hurriedly. A troubled expression clouds the wizard’s face.

“It seems the child you brought in has been bitten,” he tells the group.

“Is there any holy ground around here?” Bokin asks.

“There’s the chapel,” Derek says, “and the grove of the Goddess. Why? What does holy ground do?”

“Holy ground…” Casvel starts to say.

“But if we get trapped in the grove of the Goddess and surrounded by zombies…” Cliona adds.

“It is within our wall,” Derek interrupts.

“I think we should kill the child,” Bokin says quietly, “do you have any way to…”

“What!” Derek exclaims.

“What do you mean what?” Bokin retorts, “its been bitten, and could turn into a zombie anytime…”

“This is a child, not an ‘it’ to be disposed of,” Cliona replies, “it is a boy, and his parents love him!”

“So we’re going to let him turn into a zombie?” Bokin argues, “and then the plague will be within the walls.”

“When he turns into a zombie,” Cliona says, “then you can kill him.”

“I’m just saying…” Bokin mutters.

“We should go talk to his parents and tell them what’s going to happen,” Cliona continues, “and then if they want to kill him they can.”

Derek looks shocked, “your first response is kill the child?”

“When he dies he’ll try to kill us,” Bokin responds.

“Has there been any way found to stop a person from rising?” Derek asks.

“Bury him on the holy ground,” Bokin says.

“Really?” Derek replies, “makes sense.”

“Are we sure?” Cliona asks.

“Not really,” Bokin says glumly, “worked for Mard.”

“Can I look through your library?” Cliona asks Derek, “maybe I can find something that will help.”

“Feel free to try,” he responds, “I haven’t found anything, but maybe someone with a fresh perspective might.”

The group decides to try to break into the College of Necromancy, hoping to find some clue to help understand the plague or help the child.

The group walks to the College of Necromancy. Examining the building, they try to find a way in. Eventually Cliona uses Knock to open the Arcane Locked servants’ door for ten minutes. The group searches through the building. They cannot get into the fourth floor, which is where the offices of the instructors are. There is a locked room off of the library that they also cannot get into. Cliona uses all of her knock spells on the restricted books room, but the arcane lock holding the door is too powerful and resists her attempts. She rests, re-memorizes her spells, and tries again, failing again. She tries again, and fails yet again. She rests one more time and tries again, once again failing to open the door. She leaves one casting of Knock for opening the servants’ door again, and the group leaves. As they head for the street they hear Dramus calling for them, as it has been over a day that they’ve been gone.

[Von Bek]

Zombie Apocalypse Day 18
On the way back Fraup joins the group. Dramus slips on a patch of ice hurting his ankle and will not be joining the group on this day. By the time they return dawn is breaking. They realize that they are still faced with the problem of the child who has contracted the plague. They can either return to the inner city in the hope that the priests can do something or dispose of the kid when he turns.

“If we decide to go back,” Cliona says, “why don’t we travel atop the city wall? We wouldn’t have to fight all the way through that way.”

Fraup replies, “ we haven’t actually decided to go back yet…”

“I want to go,’ Cliona says, “I don’t want to stay here and watch the kid fight for his life without trying to help, and I can’t kill the kid in front of his parents-I just can’t.”

“You know, I think this could be a good test case,” Eoghan says, “it will be a lot easier to get this kid to the temple than a full-grown adult.”

“But it is risky,” Fraup opines, “we’re risking getting bitten and turning into zombies ourselves.”

“Not if we travel on top of the wall,” Eoghan replies, “we shouldn’t have to fight many zombies that way.”

“Well if we try to stay here all winter we’ll risk it anyway,” Cliona says, “we’ll need to leave for food at some point. We’ll need fuel for fires and all sorts of other things.”

“I know originally I wanted to kill the kid,” Bokin finally gets to say, “but I’ve thought about it and I think that if one of us happened to get bitten it’d be nice to know that there’s a cure.”

“That’s what I’m saying,” Eoghan says, “it is an excellent test case. Even if he turns he’d be small so we could restrain him.”

Fraup is looking troubled.

“What is bothering you, Fraup?” Eoghan asks.

“Well it sounds risky,” Fraup replies, “but I guess we’ll have to leave sometime.”

“They are running out of resources here,” Eoghan says, “so at the very least we need to see if the Inner City can spare some protection. We can’t transport the entire Colleges of Magic there, and by their own admission they can’t hold out too much longer.”

“We also need to get some food to the Inner City,” Bokin says, “they’ll run out eventually.”

“When shall we go?” Eoghan asks.

“Let’s go,” Cliona answers, “we have daylight.”

“We do need to get out of here pretty soon,” Fraup says, “if we’re going to get back before dark.”

“Let’s go tell Derek and Torrin we’re leaving,” Cliona says.

“I think the first thing we should do,” Eoghan says, “is get the kid from his parents.”

“Should we take the parents with us?” Bokin asks.

“I think they’d just slow us down,” Eoghan replies.

“If the kid turns into a zombie,” Cliona adds, “I don’t want to kill him in front of them.”

Casvel continues, “They’d probably get in the way.”

“Wouldn’t it be the best place for them though?” Bokin asks.

“Possibly,” Eoghan answers, “but they’d slow us down too much. We will have to journey a short distance through the zombie-occupied part of the city.”

The group journeys off to talk to the sick child’s parents. They have been set up in a dormitory room. The group decides that Fraup will do the talking. He knocks on the door and the father answers.

“Hello,” Fraup says cheerily.

“Hello,” Johan replies. He has obviously been under a lot of strain.

“Do you know what’s happening to your son?” Fraup asks.

“Not really,” the father replies, “we know he’s sick but nobody’s really told us what’s going on.”

“He’s been bitten,” Fraup says, “we’re going to try and take him to the priests in the Inner City.”

“How’s that going to help?” Johan asks.

“We think they might be able to help him,” Fraup answers.

“Can we go with you?” Johan continues.

“I don’t think it would be safe,” Fraup says, “I can assure you that we won’t allow your boy to come to any harm.”

The man turns and goes back into the room. After a few minutes the parents come to the door.

“Well,” the father says, “we’re not pleased with it, but these are hard times and we realize that sometimes we have to do what’s best for him rather than our own peace of mind. I guess we wish you well.”

“We shall do our best,” Fraup promises.

Casvel goes to create some sort of harness to carry the kid in. The rest of the group goes to talk to Torrin and Derek. They find them on the wall, surveying the damage from the last attack. They tell them of the plan to get the kid to the zombies. Derek suggests that they ask for reinforcements, and agrees that something should be done for the kid. Rope, a rope ladder, and torches are supplied to the group. The group has an early lunch and then leaves. They climb one of the towers, emerging out onto the wall.

The group walks along the 10-foot wide wall. Bokin in front, Eoghan second, Cliona third, Casvel fourth, and Fraup last. Bokin says, “someone needs to keep an eye on the child,” so Fraup does so while traveling. On the other side of the wall, the group sees a wall of Iron surrounding the stone wall.

Cliona says, ”it looks like someone’s trying to keep us in here.”

Eoghan states, ”are they trying to keep us in or the zombies?”

Bokin replies, ”I bet they are trying to contain the zombies.”

As they move along an occasional zombie is seen. Eventually there’s a small train of zombies following the party.

Casvel suddenly says, “I see something ahead.”

Bokin asks, “what is it?”

Casvel replies, “looks like dead bodies.”

The group continues to move closer to the bodies. The line of zombies is getting fairly large, so Bokin and Eoghan shoot at a few.

Cliona casts a web spell on the mass of zombies, then sets the web ablaze, destroying most of the foul creatures.

The group finally gets to the bodies. There are four bodies that are roughly human sized and covered in snow. Bokin and Fraup brush the snow off of them. Cliona, Casvel, and Bokin can tell that they were cut apart by large sized weapons.

Bokin states, “this was done by something big.”

Fraup searches the bodies but finds nothing. They look like they were commoners. Bokin theorizes that there are guards on the Iron Wall, and anything that attempted to leave the area was shot down due to someone’s orders. Eoghan theorizes that the big dragon could have come back.

Fraup says,” I don’t think we should go on the ground due to the zombies, but I do think we should exercise caution.”

Casvel states, ”that would probably be wise.” The group throws the bodies off the wall and continues on their way. Up ahead they see a guard tower. Cliona and Bokin see something moving in the tower. They ready their weapons and walk toward the tower. Eoghan and Cliona cast Mage Armor on themselves.

The party looks on as Eoghan pulls out two sickles and says,” I picked these up in the wizards quarter. I’m tired of poking zombies with my sword.”

As they get closer to the tower they hear, ”Halt!” The group stops.

“Who are you?” asks the voice.

Bokin replies, ”people.”

“Are you sassing me boy?” the voice growls menacingly.

“We’re people who are traveling to…”

Cliona interrupts Bokin and says, ”we’re looking to find a cure for this young boy that we have with us. He’s been bitten.”

Eoghan says under his breath, ”oh that was the wrong thing to say.”

Fraup nods his head, walks over to Cliona, taps her shin and says, ”will you please stop talking?”

The voice says, ”enough yelling, send one person forward.”

Fraup walks up. He waves and says, ”greetings.”

The voice replies, ”so you’re trying to get into the inner city.”

The gnome says, ”yeah, we have some friends there we are trying to help survive.”

The voice replies, ”well, we have some questions.”

Fraup says,” okay.”

“How long has this thing been going on?”

“We’re not entirely sure. At least I’m not. They’ve been… I just joined them. I’d say for quite some time.”

“Very well, go back and get someone who might know.”

The gnome nods and returns with Bokin. Off to the side Fraup tells Bokin not to mention the child and what we’re really doing. They consider claiming that Cliona is crazy.

Bokin says, ”what do you need?”

“How long has this been going on?”

“For about two and a half weeks.”

“What’s causing it?” the voice says.

“We think it is a necromancer,” Bokin replies, “but we aren’t entirely sure. We’re trying to protect the wizard’s quarter because it seems like whatever is behind it wants to send the biggest zombies to…well, basically we think they want to get to the restricted section in the College of Necromancy.”

“Why?”

“There are some pretty rare books there most likely.”

The voice is silent a moment before continuing, “I believe that we shall ally ourselves with you for a time.”

“I have a few questions for you,” Bokin says, “we ran into four bodies upon the wall. Have you seen anything big with a weapon?”

The voice laughs and Bokin and Fraup hear the door being unlocked. It opens and three ogres walk out onto the wall. Bokin is speechless for a moment, but then yells back to the group, “don’t worry, they’re on our side!”

The ogres beckon the group forward as Bokin asks, “so you were the ones that killed the four people?”

“They weren’t people anymore,” comes the reply.

Bokin tries to question the ogres to discover their purpose but the leader is evasive. The group arrives and the ogres introduce themselves. The leader is Kuhl. He is larger than the others and carries a greatsword upon his back. The next is Gnith. He is the smallest, yet seems the most intelligent. The last is Roht. He is quiet and seems to exude an aura of menace. They are dressed in black and move with a grace not often seen in ogres.

The group journeys on to the inner city. They decide to cross where the inner city wall and the outer wall are closest. They decide that Bokin will hang the rope ladder from the wall, and after everyone descends he will glide to the inner city wall and hang it from there so that they can climb up. The plan works well, but as the group fights their way across and up the ladder several guards approach Bokin on the inner city wall.

“Remember me?” he says cheerfully, “I was with the paladin Dramus.”

“Yes,” the guard replies warily, “where is that ass?”

“I’m not saying he isn’t an ass,” Bokin replies as the group joins him, “but he twisted his ankle in the wizard’s quarter.”

“How do we know you didn’t take care of him?”

“Do you really think we’re going to kill a paladin for no reason?”

“You might,” the guard accuses, “I don’t know you that well.”

“Don’t you remember how well we worked together?”

“When did I work with you?”

“Not you,” Bokin says, beginning to feel frustrated with the guard, “the paladin.”

“I wasn’t there,” says the surly guard, “there is a rule of quarantine on anyone coming into the inner city, and we’re not very pleased that you climbed our wall.”

“We apologize for the inconvenience, but it was convenient for us.”

“Come with us,” the guard says, “you’re going to quarantine.”

“Again!” Bokin groans.

Fraup interrupts, “I don’t know if that is the right thing to do-we’re clearly clean.”

“How would I know that?” the guard asks.

“You can check me for bites,” Bokin offers.

The guard eyes Cliona lasciviously, “does that go for the elf wench?”

“No!” Cliona shouts.

Thus they go into quarantine. They explain that they need to get the boy to the temple and demand to see the high priest, the magistrate, Prince Ehren, and anyone else they’ve met. A short time later the guard comes back, much more contrite than he had been.

“There are some people here to see you,” he says, unlocking the door.

The magistrate, High Priest Yorrick and Prince Ehren all greet the group warmly. The heroes tell them what has occurred, and the magistrate goes to organize a force to reinforce the defenders of the wizard’s quarter. After saying goodbye to Ehren they walk to the temple with Yorrick. They explain the situation with the child, and the cleric promises to do his best. Bokin and Fraup notice that the ogres seem to be surreptitiously searching the temple. Bokin asks what they’re doing.

“Eh,” Kuhl says, “we’re not used to finery like this.”

Bokin senses that he’s being lied to, but lets it pass. “So what are you going to do now that you’ve made it to the inner city?” he asks.

“We’ve been assigned to find something, but I don’t know where..” the ogre muses.

“Maybe I can help you,” Fraup offers, “I’m pretty good at finding things that don’t belong to me.”

“Perhaps we’ll talk later,” Kuhl replies.

The group goes to eat lunch. A short time later they are joined by the magistrate. He asks them to check the garrison for him after they return to the wizard’s sector. They haven’t had any contact since the troubles began. The heroes agree, and he tells them that he’ll take a group of the city guards with him to the wizard’s quarter at midday the next day.

Shortly thereafter a priest gets the group. They go to the temple. Yorrick is jubilant-the child has been cured. The plague is clearly magical in nature, as it took a remove curse to cure the boy. They take the kid with them and head back to the wizard’s quarter. They arrive without incident shortly before sunset.

As they prepare for bed Bokin theorizes that Dramus’ sword is what the ogres are after.

[Von Bek]

Zombie Apocalypse Day 19
The group wakes and eats breakfast. They decide to try and clear a path for the magistrate’s group, so they head out of the eastern gate. They attack the zombies hanging about the gate and easily dispatch them. As Eoghan chases one down a controller charges him. Zombies suddenly swarm the party, and the situation seems dire. Eoghan holds out against the zombie thanks to his speed, slashing with both of his sickles. The others try to get to him but zombies keep appearing to attack them. Eoghan manages to drop the controller zombie and then the heroes destroy the others. The group retreats to the safety behind the wall. Eoghan enjoys the accolades for being able to drop the controller zombie.

After the group goes inside to rest and heal up (mostly done by Derek), Bokin decides to scout the wall ahead. The group plans to head for the garrison as soon as the magistrate arrives with reinforcements for the wizard’s quarter.

Bokin scampers down the wall before (shockingly) seeing three zombies and a controller zombie. He cuts them down, wondering how they got up on the wall. He moves on.

A bit further on Bokin is going around a curve in the wall. His view is blocked by a tall building but he hears pounding up ahead. As he rounds the corner he comes across four more zombies and another controller zombie. He dispatches them, as well as two more that arrive during the fight. He creeps up to where he can see what is going on.

Bokin lets out a breath he was unaware that he was holding. Ahead of him he sees another giant zombie hammering apart the outer wall. He can see four or five controller zombies and dozens of regular zombies. A group is headed towards the garrison atop the now accessible wall. Bokin slips away to warn the others.

Dramus rejoins the group as Bokin describes his adventure. The rest of the group is healed up and ready to go check the garrison for zombies. The group debates travelling atop the wall or through the city. They decide to travel by means of the wall and Bokin goes to get the ogres.

Kuhl leads the way, followed by Bokin and Casvel, followed by Cliona, then the other ogres, followed by Eoghan and Dramus. Kuhl easily dispatches the zombies that they come across on their way.

“The breach is up ahead,” says Kuhl.

Dramus asks, “What do you see?”

“A lot of zombies. They look like they’re in the garrison,” responds Kuhl.

The group hears the sounds of battle up ahead. They move forward and see zombies throwing themselves into the garrison. Kuhl slashes through the zombies standing on the wall. The garrison is full of zombies and there are a couple of controller zombies with a giant. There’s a knight in the center of the garrison fighting. Dramus orders Cliona to send a fireball near the wall, so they can clear the area to climb down and protect the knight.

Bokin and Dramus glide down into the empty area of the garrison and fight off the zombies as the rest of the group climbs down. Dramus and Bokin use their breath weapons to kill off the zombies coming in on them. Everyone attacks the zombies to try and get to the knight. Dramus orders the ogres to attack the giant. Cliona casts Web and captures 10 zombies, then she burns them with a lantern. Everyone notices that the amount of zombies has greatly diminished. Finally, all the zombies are dead.

The knight walks toward the group and says, “Hi, I’m Bogart. Thanks for the help, otherwise I would have been doomed.”

Everyone introduces themselves until Bokin suggests that they get out of there before more zombies come. Before they leave, the party raids the armory. Bokin finds a +1 chain shirt. Dramus gets a +1 crossbow. Casvel receives a +1 shortsword. Eoghan receives a ring of protection +1 from Cliona. Cliona finds a ring of protection +2. The ogres found nothing they wanted. They grab a +1 dagger for Fraup.

The group walks back to the wizards quarter. Bokin theorizes that a necromancer is involved and is secretly staying in the rich section of town. When they get back they find Derek and his brother on the wall. Dramus asks a few questions about what happens in the colleges of magic.

“Have you seen anything unusual?” asks Derek.

“Besides a city full of zombies?” replies Dramus.

Cliona says, ”There was a red dragon ogre that Kire ran off.”

Casvel says, ”I don’t remember anything before meeting Dramus.”

Derek asks, ”When did you two meet?”

Casvel responds, ”before the zombie outbreak.”

“I find that unusual,” says Derek, “follow me.”

Everyone follows Derek to one of the towers. In the room there is a table with a crystal ball.

“Put your hands on the crystal ball,” says Derek.

Dramus says, ”everyone leave the room.”

Bokin replies, ”go sleep with the sheep.”

Cliona says, ”I don’t think so.”

Eoghan replies, ”no.”

Casvel says, “I remember a tower… the harbor tower. It’s the most potent memory I have. We need to go there.”

Cliona asks, ”how are we going to get there?”

Bokin suggests they walk the wall to the docks. Derek states, ”the tower has a pretty good view of the city. If someone is controlling the zombies, it would be an excellent place.”

The group discusses what they’re going to do.

[Von Bek]

A Short Tale
That night Bokin tells Fraup everything that happened.

“We need a boat to get to the island with the tower on it,” says Eoghan.

Bokin, Fraup, and Eoghan decide to go check out the docks and perhaps locate a boat that very night. Bokin takes the lead, Eoghan second, and Fraup third. They see a few zombies ahead and ready their weapons. They slowly move toward the zombies, shooting at them until they can attack with their hand weapons. The mow down the zombies and move forward on the wall.

Eventually they reach the break in the wall. One of the intelligent zombies is in the middle of the breach. “Why don’t the two of us move silently toward him and attack,” whispers Eoghan. Fraup and Eoghan sneak up on the zombie and hurt it severely. Bokin gets closer to them and the zombie dies from Fraup’s attack. Bokin pouts because he didn’t get to fight the zombie.


They continue down the wall until the reach the end. At the end of the wall, they see a slight illumination from the snow on the watchtower. Fraup looks to see if anything is coming, and they all climb down the wall. They move from cover to cover until they reach a building that looks onto the water. Fraup breaks in, and they hide out there observing the island. A few boats are seen that they can use to get across. They continue to look around the warehouse they are in and find some silk. Fraup and Eoghan suggest making a sled and taking it with them.

They head back to the wizards quarter, and on the way they see two controller zombies looking at the dead zombie that Eoghan and Fraup had killed. They try to sneak past it but Bokin’s axe falls down and drags along the wall. The zombies hear them, but don’t look up. Eoghan and Fraup attack from behind while Bokin waits. After the zombies are attacked Bokin jumps down with joy and slashes them. Fraup, Eoghan and Bokin kill the two controller zombies and quickly head up to the wizards quarter without any more disruptions. They tell the rest of the group of their adventures.

[Von Bek]

Zombie Apocalypse Day 19 (late day 19/early day 20)
Before they leave they are presented with a valuable boon-a wand of Cure Moderate Wounds. They decide that Fraup will use it to heal the front-line fighters.

Under the cover of darkness the group journeys to the docks atop the wall. Kuhl is in the front and quickly dispatches the few zombies they come across. They get to the docks without incident and set out onto the water in a dinghy.

They row towards the tower for a time until suddenly a massive shape flies overhead. It blasts them with a flaming breath weapon before flying on. The party paddles quickly as their boat slowly burns. They make it to the tiny island just before it becomes useless. Standing on the small dock, they see a narrow stairway carved into the stone leading up to the tower.

The group makes its way up the slippery steps. At the top of the stairs before they reach the doors there is a killing ground overlooked by arrow slits, with steep walls on either side. Two large stone statues line each of the two walls. The group immediately begins to investigate the statues, expecting them to come to life. They do not. Fraup and Kuhl inch carefully, with Fraup examining the floor before every step for traps. Eoghan is checking the walls. As Fraup and Kuhl come within 5 feet of the doors, the statues come to life.

Everyone moves to attack, but only the ogres seem strong enough to damage the now-living statues. The heroes valiantly continue their attacks anyway. Suddenly the door opens and a three-headed dragon ogre breathes fire upon them.

“Get through the doors and kill that thing!” Kuhl yells, “we’ll hold off these things.”

The non-ogre heroes run for the door. Quickly checking the door for traps, Fraup and Eoghan open the door. Standing before them is the dragon ogre with a massive sword.

DM’s Note: The stone golems were meant to occupy the ogres. I expected the party to run, but I had to force it with the pop-up dragon ogre. This way the party has to finish the adventure themselves, but if they are in trouble the ogres can come to help.

Casvel, Eoghan, Bokin, Dramus, and Bogart move to attack. The dragon ogre fells Dramus with one mighty blow. Fraup rushes in to heal him as the heroes attack. They attack ferociously as it nearly kills one of them each time it connects with a blow. Eventually they beat the creature and loot the body. The body, two rings, a belt, and the creature’s sword all radiate as magical. Bokin throws the sword out to the ogres. Fraup and Cliona each claim a ring, and Casvel gets the belt, which makes him feel stronger.

As they wonder why the dragon ogre radiates magic, Casvel hears something coming down the stairs. The group assumes combat positions and soon a group of zombies come down the stairs. As they dispatch them Fraup hears something behind them. Turning, he sees the dragon ogre slowly rise and come at them, wounds still oozing blood. Bogart holds off the zombies in the stairwell as the rest of the group turns to meet the new threat.

“Of course,” Cliona says, “we are fighting a necromancer…”

With a mighty blow the undead dragon ogre knocks Dramus across the room. Fraup rushes to heal him as the rest of the group engages the enemy. Bogart single-handedly defends the staircase, absorbing blow after blow. Eventually the party destroys the massive zombie. For extra insurance, Bokin uses his axe to remove the limbs of the creature.

“That should keep him dead,” he says.

“Do you think that was the bad guy?” Fraup asks.

The group decides that it probably wasn’t.

The group helps Bogart clear the staircase and they proceed to the next level. They find the mess hall and armory and proceed to the next level. This was the barracks-now filled with the undead. They fought through the zombies to get to the next level, well aware that their ultimate challenge lay ahead.

When the last zombie fell, they all looked to the stairs expectantly. They warily ascended to the top floor of the tower.

The entire floor was dominated by a massive infernal machine. A massive raised platform stood in the center, topped by a massive globe filled with luminescent gasses. From this globe twelve tubes ran directly into the heads of twelve wizened old men. Behind the globe stood a man dressed in black armor and wielding a massive scythe. Several zombies began to move towards the heroes.

“So the heroes arrive at last,” he said, “prepare yourselves.”

With a gesture from the necromancer the zombies charged. As the heroes found themselves on the defensive, they realized that they were facing advanced zombies. The heroes each took several blows from their undead opponents, but soon began to destroy the foul creatures.

Fraup noticed one of the men stand and begin to cast a spell. He tried to warn the others but was too late as a fireball filled the room.

The fire immolated the zombies. Dramus stood for a moment before collapsing, his charred remains clearly dead. Casvel, Bokin, Bogart, and Eoghan all charged the necromancer as Cliona cast an Invisibility Sphere to hide herself and Fraup. Fraup continued to spend every round trying to heal his companions.

The necromancer swung his scythe and nearly decapitated Bogart. Fraup rushed to heal him as another wizard began to rise. Lightning arced from the man’s fingers, striking Casvel before bouncing to Bokin. Eoghan managed to avoid the blast thanks to his incredible reflexes.

Then Fraup noticed that the necromancer was standing within a circle of magical symbols.

“Push him out of the circle!” he cried.

Casvel attempted to move the necromancer out of the circle but was caught by a massive blow coming in. He fell to the floor and was still. Fraup rushed to his side, healing him before he expired.

Bogart uttered a quick prayer before unleashing divine wrath upon the necromancer. Then Eoghan and Bokin both rushed in, shoving him off the platform and onto the floor.

Fraup stepped into the magic circle. Immediately his feeble mystic powers were heightened and his mind expanded. A quick perusal into the controls gave him the knowledge he needed.

Once more a wizard rose to cast. Lightning surged from his fingertips to the necromancer, who fell dead to the ground. After the dragon ogre incident, the group quickly dismembered the body before discussing what to do with the machine. Finding no way to free the wizards, Fraup’s expanded mind decided that the machine should be destroyed.

“I concur,” Bogart said, “we cannot allow such a powerful artifact to fall into the wrong hands.”

Bokin smashed the glass sphere with his axe. A foul stench pervaded the air as the gasses inside escaped.

Casvel suddenly noticed something.

“Dramus’ body is gone!” he exclaimed.

“Where are the ogres?” Bokin said, “they must have taken it for the sword.”

Looking for the ogres they could not find them. In the mess hall they found Dramus’ body, but the Sword of Life was gone. They also found a blank sheet of fine parchment.

“I believe they may have teleported away,” Cliona theorized, “this must have been a magic scroll.”

“We must pursue them!” Bogart said, “that sword is a relic of my faith!”

“I’m not sure if anyone noticed,” Bokin said, “but we’re kind of stuck on this island. Our boat burned down, remember?”

Exiting the tower, the heroes looked towards the mainland as a new dawn broke.

[Von Bek]

Zombie Apocalypse-Aftermath

The group rested for a time before discussing how to get back to the mainland. As they were talking, Bokin noticed a boat approaching. The group watched warily, readying their weapons in case of trouble.

“Good morning to you, friends!” the magistrate called out as the boat docked, “your ogre friends told us that you would need help returning.”

“Are they at the town?” Bokin asked.

He replied, “we were going to invite them to the celebration…”

“Celebration?” Cliona asked.

“The dark times are over-whatever you did worked!” the magistrate replied, “but the ogres had to leave.”

“I bet they did,” Bogart said darkly.

The group returned to the town, were they were hailed as heroes. Dramus was given a state burial, and the others were knighted. Cliona took a position with the College of Magic, as their ranks were severely depleted. Fraup disappeared into the night again. Bokin, Casvel, Eoghan were remembering their fallen comrades when they were approached by Bogart.

“The temple has tasked me with tracking down the ogres and retrieving the sword,” he said, “and I was hoping you might come with me. We have divined the location of a town they are staying in, and we can be there with a day’s ride.”

“I’m in,” Eoghan declared.

“Why not?” Casvel mused.

“Sounds like fun!” Bokin exclaimed, smiling his toothy grin at the thought of adventures to come.

[Von Bek]

That is the end of the first adventure. For the second we decided to create a band of higher-level evil characters. I still have to edit my draft of their adventures, so they will be posted later. Soon the adventures of our lower-level party (now mostly 7-8 level) will continue.

[Von Bek]

Chapter 2: Blood on Snow

The Setting:

From From Angelheim to Scar Peak-the Travelling Journals of Tokin the Purple Wanderer

Kyrlund

Its inhabitants know Kyrlund as the Land atop the World. The realm is situated higher than its surrounding realms, forcing a traveler to undertake an arduous journey whether entering the realm or leaving it. The land itself is incredibly rugged. Jagged cliffs and steep mountains abound. Cold, clear lakes are fed by mountain rivers and a salt sea takes up the center of the realm. Most of the inhabitants live in fertile valleys between the mountains. The lower slopes of the mountains are covered in pine.

Winter is long and harsh. Due to some oddity, the days shorten in the winter until for a time the sun never shines. During the summer the opposite occurs, and for a time in midsummer a phenomenon known as the ‘midnight sun’ is seen where the sun does not dim. Even in the height of summer the land is not particularly hot, and winters are lethal to the unprotected. The weather is volatile, and often during my stay clear skies would become thunderstorms in a matter of hours.

There are three races that make up most of the inhabitants of Kyrlund-Frost Giants, Humans, and Dwarves.

When the world began the mighty Frost Giants, known locally as the Sons of Ymir, dominated the realm. Men bred faster than their masters, however, and eventually threw off the yoke of slavery. Now wherever a giant clan makes its home it will enslave the surrounding populace. As a whole, the human tribes are too fractured to ever truly destroy the giant threat, but the giants know that if they ever tried to enslave them all again the humans would band together. They try to keep the tribes at each other’s throats, and often make war against any human leader who is growing too powerful.

The humans farm the fertile valleys, trade with the dwarves, and conduct raiding missions against anyone they can. They are a hard people with a passion for life unmatched in more civilized lands. They drink hard and fight harder. They worship a pantheon of warrior gods and wish to die in battle so that they may fight for eternity in the afterlife. They have a complex system of laws based on the concept of the wergild, the blood debt.

The dwarves are newcomers to Kyrlund. The mountains of the realm are incredibly rich in gold, and so the dwarves brave the dangers of Kyrlund to mine their wealth. Their holdings are incredibly fortified to try and stop raids from both humans and the giants.

Dramatis Personae

The Saga of Brock Magnusson

Listen! For I speak of Brock, last son of Magnus
That great lord who slew other kings, enslaved their sons,
Made their warriors tremble, and made them pay tribute.
Who built his mighty hall at the Mount of Geatmon.
By his own hand was it built, a mighty fortress.
Take heed as I tell of the fall of great Magnus-
The Son of Ymir Snorgat feared Magnus’ growing might,
Swiftly gathered his horde together and attacked.
Mighty Sons of Ymir, more powerful than ten men,
Dimwitted ogres, fearsome winter wolves, foul trolls
All gathered together to attack Magnus’ Hall.
The great king sent messengers, as swift as Sleipnir,
To the nine princes pledged to send him assistance.
O treacherous ones! Your livers were weak that day!
Like weak women you wailed and remained by your hearths.
Your names are known and by Thor, vengeance shall be sought.
On that woeful day Brock and I were too distant
Like Valkyries to bloodstained battlefields we rode
But arrived too late to do ought but mourn the dead.
Great Geatmon was burnt, proud warriors now carrion
Magnus’ riches were gone, only his sword remained.
Proud Brock asserted his claim over his vassals
But that cowardly lot refused to pay homage
Laughed at his rightful claim, and dared threaten his life.
Boldly Brock strode from that place to the Lands Below
And I, Wiglaf the Skald, followed him as I should.
Sullen-eyed and broad-shouldered came Brock the Mighty,
Seeking his fortune, increasing his great power,
Brightening his fame with every adventure.

Each section will be introduced with faux-epic poetry by one of the character's cohort, a bard known as Wiglaf.

Brock Magnusson is a human Barbarian 6/Frenzied Berserker 8. He wields Thor's Thunder, a Greatsword Weapon of Legacy. He believes that his actions are directed by the sword, which he believes contains the spirit of his father. He is strong and designed for Power Attacking. Wiglaf is his cohort, and they are natives to Kyrlund. His evil is mostly pride and the obsession with revenge against his father's enemies.

Wiglaf is a Fochlucan Lyricist with mostly bard levels. He wields two short swords.

More to follow as it is written.

[Von Bek]

Like-minded heroes joined Brock in his many quests.
Cruel Caeden, slayer of men, born of Aelfin blood,
Silently she moves in shadow, quicker than thought
Twin blades dealing death faster than Ymir’s breath.
She dances through battle untouchable by men.
Though she is more ancient than my father’s father
She appears but a maid-but beware her cruel glance
For her only true love is the shedding of blood.

Caeden is an elven Ninja 8/Duelist 6. She wields two elven thinblades with amazing prowess. We have discovered that she is as dangerous as Brock in battle, which surprised everyone. She almost never speaks, but the role-playing of subtle gestures has been phenomenal. She would probably be considered a dangerous sociopath in modern society-her evil is a lust for killing.

Hawk-eyed and swift as Ymir’s breath is Rynn the ranger
He is as light as his sibling Caeden is dark
Inflicting death with a hail of killing arrows
The greatest archer of our time, it has been said
That he can kill a wasp in flight at eighty feet
Or an entire flock of birds before they fly past
A shadowy past haunts him and his twin sister
While Caeden kills, Rynn dreams about dark memories

Rynn is an elven Ranger 6/Wizard 1/Arcane Archer 7 and Caeden’s twin. His weapon of choice is a composite longbow, though he also uses twin elven thinblades like his sister. While not murderous like his twin, he has almost no empathy whatsoever for ‘lesser’ (non-elven) races. He is not actually a member of the group, but is accompanying Caeden.

[Von Bek]

Garusha the Fiendbinder serves a dark goddess
Makara the War-Wizard, Abyssal Princess.
Like her dark liege she summons the demons of Hell
With unholy power binding them to service
Controlling their might through the knowledge of their names
Bird-demons fight for her, but do not think her weak
For the mighty blood of dragons flows through her veins
When she flies through the night sky the bravest tremble.

Garusha is a Cleric 7/Fiendbinder 4 half-dragon. She has bought off part of the half-dragon LA using the rules in Unearthed Arcana. She has bound two Vrocks to her service. Though she usually stays out of hand-to-hand combat, she has a good armor class, a Flametongue greatsword, and is the strongest member of the party. Probably the most stereotypically evil member of the group, she wishes to emulate her goddess by overthrowing Makara as Makara usurped her own predecessor.

Rigor Mallus strode boldly from a distant land
To seek his missing kinsman he came to Kyrlund
A mighty warrior with an unholy weapon
He brings misfortune to all who would oppose him
Striking them down with magical and martial might

Rigor is a 14th level human hexblade. He is unpredictable and malicious, known primarily for using excessive force and a twisted sense of humor. His brother disappeared from their homeland while fighting a sorcerer, and Rigor wishes to find him.

Artesia Frereshant is a strange woman
In battle she uses the power of her mind
As cold as Kyrlund’s mountains she watches the world
Her violet eyes harboring infinite malice
Without warning she cruelly breaks the minds of men

Artesia is Rigor’s cohort. She is a 12th level human Psychokineticist (Psion). Wiglaf is somewhat scared of her ability to kill with a thought, and most of the group is uncomfortable around her.

[Von Bek]

Now Brock has returned to the Land atop the World
Noble Geatmon begins to rise from its ashes
Soon the nine princes will cower in their terror
For at the Allthing Brock shall demand a Blood Feud
Then those who wronged him shall pay dear for their mistake
He shall take their heads and slaughter their household guards
Their lands shall be his; their people swear him fealty
The white snow shall be reddened with their noble blood

Then first adventure for this group is basically the story of Beowulf, with numerous changes, additions, etc. Grendel is a half-troll (scrag) Son of Ymir, while his mother is an advanced, huge, bloated scrag with massive damage reduction.

[Von Bek]

Got distracted by an idea for the cosmology. Now I'll go transcribe more gaming action.:D

A Lecture on the Birth of Universes

A lecture from the Collegia Corylak Great Travellers Lecture Series by Versi, renowned planar traveler.

All is chaos. The multiverse consists mostly of the Immaterium. A new universe begins with an intrusion of matter into the Immaterium. The Immaterium reacts to the intrusion of matter by attempting to change (not destroy, simply change) the matter. Like a chemical reaction, this interaction of the Immaterium trying to change the matter and the matter trying to maintain its shape produces energy in the form of pure positive and negative energy. If the positive energy feeding the nascent Materium is stronger than the negative energy trying to destroy it, a stable system of Source Planes may form. This system consists of four planes if the Immaterium is included.

The Immaterium is the source of change. It is a realm of pure chaos, dangerous to material life. Creatures inhabit this plane, but they have little resemblance to terrestrial life. Their forms constantly shift and their minds are beyond human comprehension. Some are so powerful that the mightiest of gods tremble to think of them.

The Materium is the source of stability, it is the raw potential of Matter. The Elemental Planes and their sub-planes exist here. Creatures in habit these planes, creatures that exemplify the raw elements in their natural states.

The Positive Energy plane is the impetus to development. It is the creative urge and the spark of life. We mortals consider such things to be ‘good’, but make no mistake- the inhabitants and very nature of this plane can be extremely hazardous to our life forms.

The Negative Energy plane is the source of entropy- not in the form of disorder, but of dissolution, decay, and death. To our feeble minds this plane is the source of evil, but the inhabitants and nature of the plane are beyond such concepts.

The interaction of the Source Planes creates the Transitive Plane known as the Astral Plane. While some use the Astral Plane merely to traverse the planes, as it connects to all of them, it is a Transitive Plane in more way than that. It is the plane of potentia, the halfway point between a Source Plane and a Prime Material Plane. It is my theory that when the natural ebb and flow of Immaterium, Matter, and Negative and Positive Energy that makes up the Astral Plane forms a stable whirlpool of sorts, a Prime Material Plane can come into being.

We all know what the Prime Material plane is like, as it is the plane that we inhabit. What many do not know is that the Prime Material plane consists of four planes that inhabit the same space and mirror each other in many ways.

The Terrestrial Plane is where we live. It is the section of the Prime closest to the Materium, which is reflected in its relative stability.

The Ethereal Plane is the section of the Prime closest to the Immaterium, which is reflected in its intangible nature. The ‘laws’ of nature that govern our own plane are considerably more malleable here, making it an excellent place for experimentation, travel, etc. Many souls from the Terrestrial Plane make their way here as ghosts.

The Plane of Shadow is the section of the Prime closest to the Negative Energy plane. It is a shadowy place of eternal night; a dark reflection of our own reality. Shadowcasters and other users of Shadow Magic tap into this plane as the source of their power.

The Plane of Faerie is the section of the Prime closest to the Positive Energy plane. It is a plane of life abundant, filled with magical creatures of great power.

The Prime Material planes introduce the final piece of the puzzle in creating a universe. The living creatures of the Source Planes are not dualistic in nature, but intelligent creatures of the Prime have souls separate from their physical bodies. The energy of Spirit creates a new type of plane-the Spirit Planes.

The first of the Spirit Planes is Limbo. It is the plane of Neutrality, existing before the other Spirit Planes. The Spirit Planes are extremely mutable, and are typically controlled by the most powerful beings on the plane. You might even call them ‘gods.’ As they exert their power, new Spirit Planes are created.

Another plane is Celestia. It draws power from the Positive Energy Plane. It is the residence and destination of Good souls. The plane, though infinite, is divided into layers known as ‘Heavens,’ some of which tend towards Law or Chaos.

The opposite of Celestia is the Abyss, which draws power from the Negative Energy Plane. Like Celestia, it is divided into layers. These are known as Hells. Those tending towards Law are inhabited by Devils, while those tending towards Chaos are the abode of Demons.

The other axis is Law-Chaos. The plane of Law is known as Nirvana. While some layers tend towards Good or Evil, this plane is for the predominantly Lawful.

The opposing plane is Pandemonium, realm of those who tend to Chaos. While the plane can tend towards the sanity-bending, it doesn’t approach the alien otherness of the Immaterium. It remains a chaos that the mortal mind can comprehend.

[Von Bek]

There are things even fouler than the Sons of Ymir
Some of Kyrlund’s rivers are home to foul creatures
Trolls that lie underwater and wait for the weak
One such creature grew, massive and bloated in form
Mating with a Son of Ymir a child was produced
He grew mighty, a slayer of men and women
He was called Grendel, for he ground the bones of men.

Miles from great Geatmon lies Heorot, Hrothgar’s proud hall
Each night Grendel would kill his warriors as they slept
Or attack his village, killing those who serve him
They tried what they could, but Grendel was far too strong
Each time they fought, Hrothgar’s warriors were massacred
Hrothgar had heard of the return of mighty Brock
He sent a swift messenger to summon our aid.


The group has settled down to enjoy dinner when a servant ushers in a messenger from Hrothgar. Brock’s father Magnus had often allied with Hrothgar for raiding missions, though he was not a thrall of Magnus.

“A great beast has besieged noble Heorot,” the messenger tells the group, “he slays our villagers and our warriors, and none can stand against him.”

“So why come to us?” Rigor asks.

The messenger is taken aback by this. “We have heard of your exploits in the lands below,” he replies, “and we were hoping to ask for your aid in combatting Grendel.”

“What’s in it for us?” Garusha taunts.

“Hrothgar knows that his days will be short and full of misery if Grendel’s rampage is not stopped. He will reward you handsomely from his treasury,” the man offers.

Brock stood, “I will go. Who is with me?”

The others agree to travel to Heorot the next day. After the messenger leaves Brock tells them that bold actions would help their reputations immensely in Kyrlund.

“Maybe I’ll write a song about our exploits,” Wiglaf offers with a wry grin.

[Von Bek]

So on the next day we rode over the mountain
Proud Brock and his mighty companions in battle
Riding to forge their destiny with steel and spell
Travelling through the village to noble Heorot
The fear of death was written on every face.


The group rides to Heorot. The guard who challenges them is subjected to many wisecracks concerning his inability to stop Grendel. Eventually they are shown into Hrothgar’s presence.

“I welcome the son of my old friend,” the old man says, “thank you for aiding me in these troubled times.”

Hrothgar introduces the group to Heorc, his son and head of his household guard. The group introduces themselves.

“We shall do what we can,” Brock states, “now tell us of this creature.”

Hrothgar tells of the attacks on Heorot and on the village. He mentions that Grendel’s attacks seem random. He devours his victims. Anyone sent against him is killed. It is believed that he lives in the swampy lake to the south of the village.

As the tale goes on it does not paint a flattering portrait of the household guard. As the heroes continue to make jokes at the guards’ expense, Heorc finally loses his temper.

“You will not mock me!” he yells at the group, “I have done the best I can against this creature!”

The group becomes silent. Hrothgar shouts at his son to quiet him, but the man is enraged.

“You have no right to be here!” Heorc continues, “I issue a Challenge!”

The entire room becomes still.

“We accept,” Brock says quietly, “Name your champion-I grant you the right to pick terms.”

The onlookers murmur at Brock’s generousity, giving up the challenged’s right to name terms. They see it as it is-a direct insult.

“I probably shouldn’t be our champion,” Brock says quietly to the group, “I’m our sole link to these people.”

“Do any of us have anything to fear here?” Garusha asks, “I think any one of us could anyone here.”

“I agree,” Brock says, “but to forestall further challenges I think we need an absolutely overwhelming victory. Fortunately we have an incredibly skilled killer who happens to appear to be a slim young woman.”

They all look at Caeden. A wicked smile slowly spreads across her face.

A short time later the champions step forward. Heorc has chosen a huge warrior wielding a greataxe who sneers at Caeden as she stands before him.

“Have you decided on terms?” Brock asks.

Heorc looks at his champion, who gives a slight nod.

“Death!” he cries. The onlookers cheer. Caeden smiles. Brock calls for the fight to begin.

Seconds later Caeden is pulling her twin Elven thinblades from the carcass of her opponent.

“I thought it would NEVER be over,” Wiglaf jokes.

[Von Bek]

The demands of honor satisfied by Caeden
We then questioned the townspeople about Grendel
They believe him a demon sent to punish them
Garusha tried to dissuade them from this notion
But the peasantry is a superstitious lot
Therefore we learned little about Grendel this day

That evening we had a clever plan in place
When Hrothgar’s men bedded down in the hall that night
We positioned ourselves fully-armed among them
So to take Grendel unawares if he attacked


DM’s Note: My wife had read Beowulf and decided to follow the story. It quickly departs from here though.

In darkness they waited through the night. They had positioned themselves strategically around the room. They lay quietly amongst the sleeping soldiers. Wiglaf was close to Brock.

“Do you think the villagers are right?” he whispered.

“They rarely are in my experience,” Brock replied, “but what exactly are you referring too?”

“Is it possible that the creature could be demonic?” said Wiglaf.

“Yes,” Brock answered.

Wiglaf waited for extrapolation, but none seemed forthcoming.

“ummm…so do you think it is?” he asked.

“No,” Brock said.

“Then why did you say it was possible?”

“Many things are possible.”

“Then why do you think it isn’t demonic?”

Brock thought for a moment before replying.

“I suppose it is because the attacks seem more like the attacks of a wild beast than the attacks of a demon.”

“Have you ever faced a demon?” Wiglaf asked upon failing to recall any such encounters in their travels together.

“No,” Brock answered.

Wiglaf pondered continuing the discussion, but decided against it.

Caeden was bored. Her active mind detested being still and her muscles ached for the dance of combat.

Garusha prayed to her dark goddess. Her Vrocks were hidden under a blanket, commanded to be silent. She had laughed earlier as Hrothgar’s men repositioned themselves well away from her and her unruly flock.

Artesia centered herself. She was well aware that most of her companions were better warriors than she was, but considered the power of their blades insignificant next to the power of her mind.

Rigor thought about his family and how he would…

BAM!!!

An enormous arm suddenly tore through one of the windows. The clawed and hairy appendage grabbed the leg of the nearest soldier, pulling him bodily through the heavy wooden shutters. Brock leaped through the window as the others raced for the door. The soldiers were awakening to the screams of their comrade, impeding movement.

[Von Bek]

Boldly did Brock face Grendel in the dark of night
His wrath burned hot at the sight of the foul creature
Grendel quickly swallowed his still-screaming dinner
And rushed to slake his savage hunger upon Brock
But Brock would prove to be a difficult mouthful

On noticing that he was alone Brock raged and frenzied. Moving faster than his huge adversary, he landed a solid blow before Grendel slammed him into the side of the building. A tiny moment of worry was drowned out by his ever-increasing wrath…

“Get down you bastards!” Garusha screamed, half-running and half-flying towards the doors. At the sight of her inhuman form (and the demons flanking her) the panicking warriors scattered. Unfortunately, this made it more difficult for the others to make their way through the crowd.

Wiglaf had been near Brock when Grendel attacked, so he leapt through the same shattered window. Outside, he saw Grendel and Brock raining blows upon each other. Brock was reeling from Grendel’s attacks, but in his enraged state he continued to attack as ferociously as the giant creature. Wiglaf moved to heal his master.

Flying over the building towards the battle, Garusha got her first good look at Grendel. Dwarfing Brock, the creature at first appeared to be one of the feral frost giants known locally as the Sons of Ymir. It seemed even more savage, however, with massive claws and fangs. To Garusha’s trained eye, it seemed to have certain qualities commonly possessed by trolls. As she sent her demonic minions into battle, she noticed that the creature’s wounds seemed to be healing as it fought. She considered which of her spells to use.

Rigor and Artesia moved through the crowd towards the doors. Rigor eagerly drew his blade while Artesia prepared to unleash her favorite power.

Caeden finally managed to make it to the shattered window and leapt through, rushing to the site of battle.

As his companions arrived, Brock landed a mighty blow upon Grendel. Caeden arrived and her swords drank deeply from the beast. Howling in pain, Grendel ran from the group. They attempted to give chase, but the beast was too fast for them.

“Tomorrow,” an exhausted Brock said to Caeden, “when your brother arrives we shall track this beast to its den and destroy it.”

Caeden merely nodded, feeling robbed of the thrill of the kill.