ptolus campaign journal

8/17/2019 Ptolus Campaign Journal

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A Campaign JournalWith Artwork by Jason Engle

Ptolus is the name of a city with ancient origins and a convoluted past. It's also the name

of the campaign that I have set there. For about four years I ran Ptolus twice a week, onMondays and Thursdays, for two different groups of characters and with a few

e!ceptions" two different groups of players. #ut they all e!isted in the same city at thesame time. Thus, each group had its own adventures, but dealt with many of the same $P%s and situations. &ccasionally, plotlines overlappedparticularly since one player

ran twin brothers( one on Mondays, one on Thursdays.

The Monday night group ultimately became known as the )unewardens, and theThursday player characters formed the %ompany of the #lack *antern. I hope you en+oy

reading about their e!ploits as they rose from st to -th level. Please note that this

+ournal may spoil some aspects of the campaign for players who read it, although they aresomewhat minor aspects. t the very least, pay attention to the spoiler warnings / your

0M will thank you.

1n+oy your visit to Ptolus2

Monte %ook

ugust 34, 3554

©2005 Monte J. Cook. All rights reserved.


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Cast of Characters

The Runewardens

Serai Lorenci is a male shoal elf sorcerer. 6e is the twin of 7ercian*orenci, and the two of them hail from 0ohrinthas in the south. 7erai'soriginal intention was to try to raise money to buy a sailing ship, but

now he has settled down in the city, buying a house and +oining the

Inverted Pyramid society for arcanists. 6e has an affinity for machines

and a deep interest in the strange devices some call chaositech. 6isfriends believe it to be too deep an interest, and at least once had to go

to great lengths to save him from himself as he volunteered to have

himself 8altered8 by a mysterious figure called the 7urgeon in the 7hadows. Played byWizards of the Coast design manager Chris Perkins.

Shurrin Delano is a male human fighter9rogue9cleric of Mirresh, thegoddess of laughter. #orn in %arper's #ay, a small fishing town to the

north, he came to Ptolus to find adventure and the mysterious :rthon;

edar. 6e bears the masterwork rapier carried by his grandfather, anadventurer and hero for the common people. friendly, positive, and

courageous young man, he sees himself as a swashbuckler and a sword

against evil forces in the world. Played by game designer Sean K

Reynolds.

Sister Mara von Witten is a female human cleric of the %hurch of

*othian originally from Tarsis. 7he's motherly and of middle age andhas climbed back up through the levels following a terrible

e!perience;draining incident at the hands of the priests of Father%law.


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near;slaying of the frost giant @mrik, who threatened to plunge Ptolus into 7hadow.

Played by Wizards of the Coast senior game designer $r#!e R. Cordell.

Aliya Al-Mari is a female human monk9sorcerer. 7he came to Ptolus

from far;off :raA and +oined the &rder of the Fist. 7he has made close

friends with Mara, 7hurrin, and particularly 7erai, although some of7erai's recent actions have brought their relationship into Auestion.

liya has died twice, and the e!periences have scarred her somewhat

she is careful but deliberate in her actions now, knowing full wellthe danger she faces each day. For reasons unknown to her she is

somehow linked to a woman held captive in the 0ark )eliAuary. 7he's

able to see this poor soul thanks to her natural affinity for mirror

magic and scrying. liya commands the respect and admiration of allwho know her. 6er martial prowess is well known, and the fact that

she wields a little sorcery is a valuable ace up her sleeve. Played by Wizards of the Coast

senior editor Mi!hele Carter.

Zophas Adhar is a male aasimar paladin9Bnight of the Pale. 6e

hails from a small, isolated community in )hoth where thereligion of *othian still holds total sway. Thus, he finds the

cosmopolitan atmosphere of Ptolus to be bi>arre and

uncomfortable as he searches for the truth about his celestiallineage. Is he the spawn of demons or a child of heavenC ard cohort 1phendus is no help, for the frail wi>ard

seems more interested in books than real life. =ophas' holy

greatsword, the Ankh of J#sti!e, was created by 1phendus andMara working together. It has felled many a foe, and is sure to rid the world of even more

demons and undead in the days to come. Played by Erik Mona% editor"in"!hief of 0ragon

and 0ungeon magazines.

Udalaag is a male half;dragon who is also part umber hulk, and

part... well, we're not really sure.


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The Company of the Black Lantern

Veander Sangreal is a male shoal elf sorcerer9rogue from north

of Ptolus. 6e never took to the life of a sailor, instead preferring

to hone his growing sorcerous power. fter arriving in Ptoluswith his archer friend %hanticleer, De!ander soon fell in with a

group of adventuring elves who later dubbed themselves 8The

%ompany of the #lack *antern.8 Together, these elves have

ventured into a number of the dungeons beneath Ptolus,including recent e!plorations of the fabled ruins of

0warvenhearth. Though he's been known to act rashly at times,

De!ander's agility and Auick thinking usually get him out of problems without too much difficulty. 6e knows his luck will run

out at some point, and he trusts that his companions will bail him out as he has done for

them such as the time he goaded a red dragon into facing him rather than finish off thecritically in+ured Eaerioth". Played by Wizards of the Coast game designer Andy Collins.

Sercian Lorenci is a male shoal elf rogue9fighter9sorcerer. 6istwin brother 7erai and he traveled to Ptolus in the company ofliya l;Mari but split up after that, although they still get

together now and again to trade stories and for 7ercian to borrow

money from 7erai. 7ercian +oined the %ompany of the #lack*antern and aided them in their e!ploration of the ancient city of

0warvenhearth beneath Ptolus. 6owever, 7ercian was captured

and secretly replaced by a dark elf. &nly recently did he escapeand help drive off the impostor. $ow he seeks to lead the #lack

*antern and other elves to the dark elf stronghold where he was

held prisoner and crush his former +ailers. Played by Wizards of the Coast design

manager Chris Perkins.

!ellian "iverborn is a male shoal elf cleric. $ew to the city of

Ptolus, Tellian is a devotee of $avashtrom, god of strength andharmony. lthough good;natured and honest, Tellian has done

most of his work in $avashtrom's name from behind a nocked

arrow. If Tellian has a fault, it's that he tends to see the will of $avashtrom in too many things. 6is unAuestioning confidence in

his god's will has made him more trusting than most seasoned

delvers and left him willing to overlook the darker side of hisnew adventuring companions in the %ompany of the #lack

*antern. Played by former 0ragon magazine editor and !#rrentWizards of the Coast deelo*ment manager Jesse -e!ker.

#aerioth Shado$hand is a male harrow elf monk from Bem and a follower of the

#rotherhood of the


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him out into the world as an aedras, a wandering monk tasked

with a specific Auest. $ow he travels the world searching for the

tec artistry and 7amurai armor" and the mastery

of his body. %urrently, the monk has devoted himself to a singlecause( the destruction of the dark elves beneath the city.

Walking

on the broad ba!k of winter ( am *ier!ed

by yo#r terrible eedle/

Ptol#s

From the ournal of Eaerioth 7hadowhand.

Played by former 0ungeons G 0ragons brand manager Keith Strohm% !#rrently Paizo P#blishing0s !hief o*erating offi!er.

member of the &rder of the 0awnthe 1mperor's personal cadre of knights

!horeaen Lightbringer was assigned to infiltrate the %ompany of the #lack *antern to

keep tabs on the increasingly powerful and roguish group. This devout elven paladin of

*othian has an intelligent sword that is perhaps even more devout than its wielder. 6e

never shirks from e!punging evil. Played by former 0ungeons G 0ragons brandmanager Keith Strohm% !#rrently Paizo P#blishing0s !hief o*erating offi!er.



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How It All Began


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and his twin brother 7erai. %learly, the assassins had mistaken him for his brother.

The fight forged a tight friendship among the elves. %hanticleer +oined the &rder of the#ow as a trainee, but still pledged to help e!plore the areas under the city with the rest of

them %hanticleer hoped to one day find the $ow of Ahaar , a magical weapon said to be

lost below Ptolus".

First things first, however. Following a lead, they tracked down a contact of the assassins

and soon found themselves in way over their heads with a half;orc named Toridan %ranand his gang of cutthroats. They managed to learn that these gang members had some

connection to a powerful priest named 6elmut Itlestein.

bout the same time, the other group learned that their troubled young friend PhonHuarterman was having an affair.


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The Story Continues7o Mara, liya, 7erai, and 7hurrin continued in their struggle against the rat men in the

sewers. They learned that officials with the Temple of the )at Eod, whom they knew to

be in league with the rat men, were seeking someone with knowledge of machines to help

them with a +ob. Posing as criminal mercenaries, they went to the temple discreetly andoffered their services, as 7erai did indeed know a little something about machines. There

they met a motley assortment of villainshumans who consorted freely with rat men,

and priests who seemed to revel in filth and disease.

They discovered that the temple had somehow gotten hold of a chaositech golem. Posing

as someone who knew much more about what he was doing than he actually did, 7eraiinvestigated it and learned a little about how it worked+ust enough, in fact, to sabotage

it. The golem ran amok, and the P%s +ust barely escaped the ensuing battle.

That adventure taught the characters some valuable things. pparently, there was a looseconfederation among the various cults of chaos gods, many of them fronts for mysterious

evil beings called the Ealchutt. 7omething big was afoot, and it was definitely cause for

concern.

fter a short rest, liya learned that, before she could +oin the &rder of the Fista well;

known but small group of monks who practiced a philosophy of goal;orientedempowermentshe would have to perform a Auest. 6er Auest was to rescue a soul;gem

that held the soul of Huideth Minisham, the lover of order's leader, ard named lchestrin.pparently,


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to figure out how to get into the ruins through an old window hidden within the cliff wall.

fter they returned the woman and the man she picked upwhose identities were never

revealedsafely back to the city, they made their way back to the cliff wall and throughthe window. There, they found ruined areas originally built by a wi>ard named 7okalahn.

7ome goblins and bugbears occupied the place now. The bugbears utili>ed some tricky

lever;operated portcullises to get the characters to face some owlbears, one of whichkilled Eaerioth. In that pitched battle, the adventurers encountered a device that once was

probably a magical dragon monument but now amounted to little more than a deadly fire;

spraying trap. The group's only source of light, a lantern, was blackened and scorched inthe melee. Thus, from that point on, the group called itself the %ompany of the #lack

*antern.

The P%s escaped back to the city and got Eaerioth raised.


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Crypts and Crime Lords7hurrin the fighter9rogue, 7erai the sorcerer, liya the monk, and Mara the cleric of

*othian had been to the $ecropolis once before. They had gone there seeking an odd old

man named Igor )eichstav, who seemed strangely preoccupied with the flies that were so

prevalent in the vast cemetery. Through him, they found out important details about therat men and the location of their warrens.

#ut Igor lived in an old crypt on the very edge of the place. This day, they had to go rightto the center of the foul $ecropolis. To get help, they enlisted their friend Feruch, a

paladin who had +oined a group called the Beepers of the Deil. The Beepers speciali>ed in

hunting and killing undead, so Feruch seemed an appropriate ally to bring along.

They sought a circle of standing stones bearing a special magical mark( the mark of

lchestrin, a long;dead wi>ard who had once imprisoned the soul of a woman they

sought to rescue. The standing stones would point out the location of lchestrin's tomb.fter much searching, the group found the mark on a crypt and went inside.

To the surprise of no one, the crypt was filled with hostile undead. fter muche!ploration of an entire underground comple! beneath the tomb, they discovered that this

was not the tomb of lchestrin at all( 7ome of the crypt's walls had been built with the

repurposed" standing stones they had sought. Fortunately, thanks to an ancient carving inthe crypt, they were able to learn where the stones had originally stood.

7o finally they arrived at the old hill where a few stones remained. 1rected long beforethe entire area was a cemetery, the old sarsens surrounded a stone plug. 0eciphering

writing atop it, the adventurers reali>ed they could remove the plug only at nighta

scary proposition in the $ecropolis.

They went back to the city, where they promptly fell under attack by Dai assassins. The

Dai apparently were still unhappy that the group had stopped them from killing a young

woman named Phon. fter fending off their attackers, they discovered that Phon was nowmissing. %ould this have anything to do with 6elmut Itlestein, the priest with whom Phon

was having an affair and the father of her unborn child"C

The adventurers could dredge up no leads as to Phon's whereabouts, so they went back

into the $ecropolis to try their hand at removing the plug. &n their way, they came upon

a small lake with a bridge reaching from the shore to an island. They had found

%lasthamus Isle( a place controlled by a powerful druid named ndach and his younghalf;elf disciple, 6ennam. ndach kept this sacred isle free of undead by the power of

magical stones in the bridgethe 7tones of Thamus. 6eartened by the discovery of this

new ally in an otherwise terrible place, they trekked farther into the $ecropolis. Their plan was to go to the standing stones and wait there until nightfall.

They never made it. They encountered and waylaid" a Forsaken courier who carried amessage stating that the 8Dault of the Bython8 had been found and the 8$ight of



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0issolution8 would soon be at hand. The notefrom a high;ranking member of the

despicable, undead;loving Forsakenwas an attempt to gain support from *ilith, an

influential member of the Fallen the Forsaken's earthbound demon allies". pparentlythe Forsaken wanted the demons to help them with whatever it was that they were doing,

but the leader of the Fallen, )aguel, seemed slow to act on the matter. The Forsaken were

clearly in league with the chaos cultists the adventurers had already encountered.7omething big was afoot.

#ut before they could give it much thought, demons and Forsaken leaped upon them,capturing the characters and taking them straight to the worst place imaginable( the 0ark

)eliAuary, home to both Fallen and Forsaken.

Meanwhile, the %ompany of the #lack *antern members grew tired of the dungeonsaround the city's Prison and bribed some Prison guards to sneak them out on a supply

boat. &nce in the city again, they decided to look into the individuals they had linked to

the Dai assassins who had attacked them by mistake, thinking that 7ercian was his twin

brother 7erai. They found a connection between these brigands and a man namedMalkeen #alaca>ar. Malkeen was the son of Menon #alaca>ar, a power crime lord who

dealt not only in typical malfeasancee!tortion, gambling, prostitution, and simple theft but also in items relating to black magic and dark, forbidden things.

fter being thoroughly scrutini>ed by Malkeen?s probably vampiric" bodyguard, someof the company met with the younger #alaca>ar and wound up working for him as

bodyguards for his nephew. It seemed that someone was out to kill this nine;year;old

child while he performed in a play at the %loud Theater.

In a thoroughly comic escapade, the %ompany of the #lack *antern sought to safeguard

the cast of the wholly awful play 8The #oy who %ould 7ing8an oeuvre clearly written

around Malkeen's nephew. The plot made no sense but was +ust a showcase for theyoung boy to keep his unclethe theater's chief benefactorhappy." 6ired thugs did

indeed make an attempt on the boy's life but were thwarted by the efforts of the 8heroes8

in the crime lord's employ.

The %ompany of the #lack *antern wondered why anyone would try to kill the lad.


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The Union of Two Adventuring CompaniesEetting out of the 0ark )eliAuary was going to be really difficult. $ot the least of the

group's worries was that a marilith named 0rusii took an interest in them once they

arrived and were put in a cell.

:p until this point, liya had not told the others about her little secret. 7ince a young age,

she occasionally would see in mirrors a face that was not her owna similar face, but

nonetheless not hers. 7he didn't know why this happened. @et while the adventurers werein a cell in this stronghold of demons and undead, 0rusii briefly showed herself in the

form of this other woman( the face that liya had seen all these years.


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Full of undead guardians and magical traps, this place was very dangerous. In fact, it was

more than the adventurers could handle. )epelled by the defenders, they fled back up andout into the night, where they were further hounded by undead shadows and other terrible

things that haunted the dark $ecropolis. They decided to make for the island they had

seen earlier( %lasthamus Isle and its druid protector, ndach. %rossing the old stone bridge, they were relieved to see their undead pursuers did not follow them.

They took shelter there until daylight, for the 7tones of Thamus protected the island, +ustas ndach had said. They retreated into the city and recruited some friends to help them(

namely, the %ompany of the #lack *antern.

Together, the combined group plundered lchestrin's tomb, defeating its powerfulguardians and even lchestrin himselfundead now, his rotting intestines writhing and

attacking them with mouths as he cast spells. &ne harrowing fight later, around the evil

wi>ard's terrible undead tree that produced vampire spawn in its seed pods, the

adventurers proved victorious. 7adly, though, there were casualtiesboth liya and 7eraifell in battle.


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himself and ended the pregnancy.

7o when 6elmut came home, accompanied as he often was by his shield guardianconstruct, a fierce battle ensued. The adventurers defeated 6elmut but could not bring

themselves to kill him. Instead, they threatened to e!pose his treasonous political plans if

he harmed any other children. It was a terrible position for the adventurers to be in, andnot all of them agreed with the decision to let him go. The two groups parted, few of

them really believing that this was actually over.

Next Time: 1he Com*any of the $la!k 4antern gets a key to the mysterio#s #ndergro#nd

!ity of -warenhearth and on the way there ends #* finding a *la!e to !all home.



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Dungeons and (Three) Dragonsfter dealing with 6elmut Itlestein, the %ompany of the #lack *antern turned back to the

affairs at hand. 7pecifically, the reward that Malkeen #alaca>ar had given them for

protecting his nephew( a strange circular metal key. Truth be told, he did not give it to

themit was on one of the would;be assassinsbut Malkeen seemed to know ahead oftime that it would be there. More importantly, he knew the location of the door that the

key fit.

This was a key to 0warvenhearth, a very old dwarven city that lay under Ptolusmuch

older than the current human city. $o one, the P%s knew, had been to there for centuries.

ar's directions and found an old set of catacombs beneath the ruined clock tower

in &ldtown. They met with strange resistance( orcs and other creatures with some sort of

magical aid. It took many forays to clear a path through the catacombsforays that

ended the lives of 7ercian by a troll covered in magical rune tattoos", %hanticleer, andthe opinionated $P% *aethando both by a red dragon". That dragon was so fierce, the

company was forced to make a deal with it in order to escape. They promised it a vast

sum of treasure if they could only escape with their fallen friends. They agreed on a dateupon which they would bring the money and left a magical sword as collateral.

They then returned to the surface and raised their friends. :nfortunately, they reali>ed thedeadline that they'd given themselves was far too pressing to either prepare for battle or

gather the needed amount of treasure. #ut they also believed that, if they could not get

past the dragon, they would never get to 0warvenhearth. 7o they bought three cows andled them through the city, down into the catacombs, and used them as a bribe to buy

themselves more time.

@es. @ou read that right.

nd it worked. The dragon was happy to have a beefy meal and gave them a bit more

time. Meanwhile, the company members converted some of their belongings into cash,7ercian borrowed money from his brother 7erai, and the %ompany of the #lack *antern

spent the vast amount of money they would have given to the dragon on weapons and

spells to help defeat it. ar's

directions led the company right into an old dwarven tower currently occupied by an evil

wi>ard named )essad. 8%oincidentally,8 )essad was a foe of #alaca>ar's who had betrayed the crime lord a year or so previous." This, clearly, was the wi>ard behind the


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opposition they had fought beneath the clock tower. 7ince they were so very prepared for

a battle, they assailed the wi>ard's home.

&ne harrowing battle later, the members of the %ompany of the #lack *antern were the

proud owners of a tower in a cavern deep below the earth. They immediately went to the

surface to hire mercenaries to help defend it and to buy some supplies for the place. Theyintended to use the tower as a base of operations as they e!plored nearby 0warvenhearth.

&nce they were settled, they plunged into the large cave to find the passage to0warvenhearth. They found an underground river and an ancient dwarven bridge guarded

by a single 7tonelost dwarf and his pet girallon. lthough they attempted diplomacy, the

company members' contempt for dwarves ensured that the encounter ended in a fight.

Much to the elves' dismay, they could not get past the dwarf. 1ven after they haddisarmed him and taken away his #rgrosh, each time an elf attempted to get across the

bridge, the dwarf grabbed him and threw him into the river. 1ventually, they tired of this

and retreated back to their new tower.

The ne!t day, they found the tower surrounded by angry dwarves from Baled 0el, a

fortress within the cavern. They wanted the bridge guardian's magical #rgrosh back. Thistime, cooler heads prevailed, and the %ompany of the #lack *antern not only made peace

with the dwarves, but gained them as allies. The dwarves had had no love for the wi>ard

)essad and were happy to see him defeated". The P%s even convinced two of thedwarves to +oin them on their ne!t mission.

nd this mission would be a dangerous one, for the elves had not forgotten that there was

still a dragon to deal with. &n the appointed day, they prepared for battle again and brought no treasure+ust sharp swords and many defensive spells plus two dwarves

with big guns". #ut the dragon was e!pecting betrayal at this point, so he brought his

sister along. The battle was glorious, and in the end two red dragons lay deadbut not before one attempted to escape and reach their older sibling.

That didn't sound good. 0eciding to be pre;emptive, the P%s licked their wounds, rested briefly, and hunted down the last dragon. 6ansk, the dwarf that survived the first dragon

battle, went with them. They made their way through side passages that led from the

Eiant's 7teps into a fungi forest. 1ventually, they found the lair of the three dragons, now

occupied by the oldest sibling. &ne more dragon to slay, and slay it they did.

Next Time: 1he Com*any of the $la!k 4antern e6*lores more #ndergro#nd !aerns% and

the other gro#* gets tele*orted to... well% far% far away.



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Getting in DeepThe %ompany of the #lack *antern continued to poke around the cave where the slain

red dragons lived. The P%s managed to ally with a strange creature named Monmorath, a

sort of fungus druid. 6e told them of a group called the Pactlords of the Huan, a

confederation of monstrous creatures. They would encounter Monmorath again muchlater, but in a more surprising form...."

#ut the Pactlords would have to wait. The company members had obtained a key thatallowed them into fabled 0warvenhearth, and they had put off their +ourney there long

enough. Fighting through umber hulks, orcs, and giants, they reached the sealed gate and

crossed over into an old, untouched subterranean city. The dwarves who lived thereevacuated the place and sealed it tight hundreds of years ago, so it would not fall into the

hands of an evil entity named Ehul.

0warvenhearth was vastlarger than the characters had even dared to speculate. Inside,they ran afoul of devious dwarven traps set up to keep out intruders. They found that

some of the dwarves had sacrificed themselves to become eternal, unliving guardians of

the city. They also encountered 1rebaccus, small bands of insane dwarves who had beenleft behind or rather, the children of those left behind".


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shipment at the 0ocks. It was well guarded and obviously magicaland for some reason,

its handlers were not transporting it by magical means, but by ship. evicca simply

wanted to know what it was.

The group agreed to find out. 0isguised as city guards, they intercepted the boat at the

docks and confronted those guarding a strange chest. The P%s had to travel to thenefarious 0ark Market under the city to purchase their disguises, which they didbut

only after buying the slaves sold there and setting them free." fter being befuddled by

illusions, the characters got into a scuffle with the chest?s guardiansa pair of githyanki,a swordfighter named Dlad, and a bard named :rieth. The fight brought a number of real

city guards and an Imperial official to the scene. In the ensuing melee, 7erai made the

chest invisible to see what was inside, and inadvertently triggered the powerful device

that lay within. In a flash of darkness, they disappeared( all four of the group's members,all four of those guarding the chest, the si! guards, the official, and a paladin of *othian

who had +ust arrived in the city.

They reappeared in some sort of teleportation ne!us called the Tourbillion. This,apparently, lay within an ancient stronghold of one of the Ealchutta being named

7hallamoth Bindred. The displaced characters formed a Auick alliance, including the paladin( an aasimar named =ophas dhar from far;off )hoth. They began to e!plore the

stronghold filled with magical traps and horrible demonic creatures. They had no idea

how they would ever get out.

Next Time: Aliya dis!oers she has a strange affinity for mirrors. And more is learned of

the ,al!h#tt% the 7ested of the ,al!h#tt% and the nat#re of demons.


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The Lords of Dust and Ash7ister Mara, 7erai, 7hurrin, liya, and their new ally =ophas found themselves in a weird

placetransported via the Signet of Shallamoth Kindred to a strange chamber called the

Tourbillion. or".

Finally, with both lamps in hand, the group returned to the Tourbillion. &n the way there,

they came upon the archeologist they had rescuede!cept that he claimed to have never

seen them before. #ack at the Tourbillion, they found another version of the samearcheologistthe one that they had rescued. 0uring that confusing encounter, they

discovered that a plasm had replaced the archeologist and that doppelgangers had killed

and replaced the two githyanki who had wandered off.

&nce everyone's identity was sorted out and the shapechangers were defeated, the

characters prepared their escape. :sing the lamps to activate the magical transporter, the

group returned to Ptolus. They learned that, after the Signet had sent them off, the IronMage had shown up at the 0ocks to take it away. $evertheless, they earned their money

for finding out what was in the bo!.

Next Time: We+ll ret#rn to the !ity and !he!k in on the Com*any of the $la!k 4antern.



20/78

Bonds ForgedThe %ompany of the #lack *antern had been driven from 0warvenhearth after a surprise

attack by dark elves somehow already inside the city. :ndeterred by this turn of events,

however, the members went back in, more prepared than ever. &nce inside the ancient

dwarven stronghold, they found a temple comple! and began to e!plore, harassed bydwarven vampires that served some greater master( a dark elf vampire named =achean.

=achean also controlled a large cadre of stone giants and the orc tribe that served them.Pitted against all these foes, the company was forced out of 0warvenhearth again.

Meanwhile, another #lack *antern plan began to take shape. 1ver since they had

occupied the wi>ard )essad's underground tower which he had taken from the dwarves",their friend and Erailwarden dwarf ally 6ansk had watched over the place. $ow the

company set to fortifying it. The characters even hired elven mercenaries and warriors to

help defend the place while they were away. The group now had a base deep

underground.

They began establishing themselves, both in the local area under the city andthrough

word of mouthabove ground. People began to take notice.

Meanwhile, 7hurrin, 7ister Mara, 7erai, liya, and =ophas investigated the now;

abandoned Temple of the 1bon 6and, a church devoted to chaos. The %ompany of the#lack *antern had, long ago, dealt a serious blow to the cult, and since then the cultists

had disappeared. Eoing on instinct more than anything since they were still interested in

finding out more about chaositech", the adventurers found a few traps and cultists in thelower reaches of the templeas well as a secret passage into an e!tensive and still

operational chaos temple hidden underground. More importantly, however, they

discovered that a shipment of newly discovered chaositech from the Dault of the Bythonwas being shipped up into the city in a few weeks through a place called Mahdoth'ssylum.

#ut they could investigate those leads no further, at least not for the moment. They owedtheir old druid friend ndach a favor, after he'd saved their lives in the $ecropolis. 6is

secret grove;home on sacred %lasthamus Isle lost its protective magical wards on one

night a year, on the feast of Eodsday. The adventurers had pledged to go to the island inthe middle of the $ecropolis to help him defend it on that night.

Eathering help from the vigilant Beepers of the Deilamong them, their undead;hunting

friend Feruchthe group met with ndach and made plans. They would hold the bridgeleading from the $ecropolis to the isle, and the druid and his apprentice 6ennam along

with a legion of animals and awakened trees" would defend the rest of the island from

invaders that flew, teleported, or swam.

terrible battle ensued on the one bridge to the island that night. :ndead, the Fallen

demons", and the humans who worked with them both the Forsaken" stormed%lasthamus Isle, the only place in the $ecropolis where they held no power. Ehouls,



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skeletons, wights, and far worse creatures came in wave after wave. The demons flew on

magical pentagram;platforms and made ranged attacks. #ut the defenders held.

They even survived a terrible betrayal( 6ennam revealed herself to be a Forsaken agent

positioned there months ago to help build a magical gateway onto the island from the

Forsaken's headAuarters, the 0ark )eliAuary. The forces of good emerged victorious,although many fell. ndach himself was slain by a powerful lich, one of the original


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The End of the Company?The %ompany of the #lack *antern was still determined to e!plore the une!plored. The

members ventured into 0warvenhearth yet again, with a new member in their ranks( an

elf named &koru from a land far to the southeast called Bem. #rother to one of the elves

the company hired to guard its tower, &koru had a talent for wi>ardry that soon becameobvious to the group. They asked him to +oin.

Inside 0warvenhearth, they found that some dwarves had dedicated themselves through aritual to be eternal guardians of the city. These unliving but not undead" guardians, the

soulless, proved to be harsh opponentsparticularly because of their use of ancient

firearms and cannons. ards of all sorts.

7till, the real threat were the dark elves who had managed to get into the city before the

#lack *antern elves. *ed by the vampire =achean, they set up ambushes to attack theadventurers as they proceeded ever deeper into the vast underground metropolis.

round that time, a few of the company began to notice that 7ercian, the rogue9fighter inthe group, was acting a bit strangely. 6e was developing a particularly hard edgebut

with all that was happening and the constant fighting underground, who could blame

himC

The %ompany of the #lack *antern eventually returned to its tower for some long;needed

rest. 7ercian went up into the city, +ust as his twin brother 7erai came down to visit. 7eraimentioned that he hadn't seen or heard from his brother in a while and wanted to find out

whether everything was all right.

0uring the visit, dark elves struck. They launched a well;prepared and well;e!ecutedattack with great ferocity. 0uring the fight, the #lack *antern elves learned that at least

one of their opponents, an ogre monk mercenary, was hired in Ptolus +ust for this fight(

specifically to battle the archer, %hanticleer. The dark elf spellcasters seemed to knowe!actly what spells De!ander the sorcerer would cast and either countered them or had

eAuipped themselves with appropriate protections ahead of time. This harrowing fight

carried on through the night, but eventually+ust barelythe elves were victorious.6owever, only two of them remained standing when the sound of battle ended. The

company suffered great losses, as 6ansk, their dwarf ally, was slain, along with

%hanticleer's cohort, Huilambril.


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0warvenhearth. In fact, they were enemies of =achean and his house. These attackers,

from 6ouse Drama, sought entry into 0warvenhearth to find out what =achean was after,

and the #lack *antern's key was simply the most e!pedient means to that end.

The group's second reali>ation was that their foes had gained very e!acting information

on the members of the company. They found among the dark elf leader's possessions aletter from someone named Dastare that detailed each of them individuallyright down

to the tactics and weaknesses of each character.


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The Box of Shadows, Part 1Warning: 1his arti!le !ontains s*oilers for the adent#re #eyond the Deil, *#blished by Atlas ,ames.


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life. $ow stirred by the activity of 0aersidian's friends, the ghost of 7toramere haunted

the surrounding area.

The heroes +oined battle with 7toramere in his lair that day. The dragon;ghost dwelled in

a pool of acid with many living half;dragon spawn to serve him. In the horrific conflict

that ensued, liya was slain while fighting the ghost dragon alone, hand to hand. @etultimately the heroes were victorious and destroyed the ghost of 7toramere forever by

doing what no one had ever done before( challenging and beating him in his own terrible

lair.

The Aftermath

$ow, unbeknownst to the others, liya and 7erai earlier had begun a bit of a romance.

ed what 7erai

was up to.


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An Asylum and a PalaceMuch earlier, 7erai, liya, 7hurrin, and Mara had learned that a shipment of chaositech,

discovered in something called the Dault of the Bython, was coming into the city through

Mahdoth's sylum. The time had come for the shipment to arrive, and so the group

moved to intercept it. It had always been 7ister Mara's mission for the %hurch to stem thetide of dangerous chaositech into the city, and the others agreed with the goal to varying

degrees 7erai had a slightly new outlookhe actually wanted some of the chaositech for

himself, to study.

Mahdoth's was an underground asylum for insane spellcasters, those afflicted with mental

maladies that no remedy or spell seemed to allay. Most of the place utili>ed magic;dampening fields, which made it e!tremely hard to use spells there. The group members

didn't know whether those who ran the asylum were a part of the chaos cult conspiracy or

not, so they went in cautiously. Their plan was to turn 7erai over to the asylum as an

inmate so he could observe things from the inside. The rest of the group would wait closeat hand in case trouble started.

nd of course it did. 7erai spent a strange night among the inmates and soon found ane!it from the asylum to passages that went much deeper underground. From there, the

cultists were transporting large gray cubes as well as a variety of weaponry and devices.

7erai attacked, and all manner of chaos broke looseso to speak.

Mara, liya, 7hurrin, and =ophas intercepted the chaos agents coming down from the

city to meet with those bringing the shipment up. In the ensuing battle, which e!tendeddown into the asylum itself, some of the inmates were freed, including a particularly

dangerous mage whose name was unknown, even to the staff. 6e used soul magic to

con+ure a tyrannosaurus into the middle of the battle, then escaped.

The administrator of the asylum believed that the adventurers were attacking the place

and did his best to hold them off with his own guards. Finally, who should appear but

Mahdoth himselfa beholder who had long ago been reformed of his monstrous ways bya group called the #rotherhood of )edemption. Mahdoth would tolerate no threats to his

chargesthe inmatesand thus began attacking everyone, both the cultists and the

player characters.

7erai discovered the hard way that the strange gray cubes were storage containers holding

some sort of liAuid powerthe pure essence of chaos itself. This liAuid began to spurt out

of a pair of cubes after he used a fireball to attack the cultists transporting them. Thecultists also brought with them kython( horrible monstrosities from ancient times, when

the chaositech was created. These creatures were amalgams of serpents and insects.

1ventually, the characters defeated the cultists and the kython, and recovered most of the

rest of the chaositech. 7ome was turned over to the %hurch of *othian for e!amination.

7ome 7erai took. The asylum returned to normal, although a few guards had perished inthe fight, and the nameless mage had escaped. 1ven Mahdoth himself was appeased.


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Back to the Dragon's Lair

#ut the characters still wanted to e!plore the rest of 7toramere?s lair. fter a good long

rest, they again went deep underground with =ophas' new wi>ard cohort 1phendus Thal"

to the strange ethereal island;palace. There they encountered one of 7toramere's bi>arre progeny, a half;dragon9half;umber hulk named :dalaag. )ather than fight the pitiful

creature who had been persecuted by its half;siblings for hundreds of years due to its

slow;wittedness", they befriended it, particularly 7ister Mara. fter much coa!ing, Mara

even convinced 1phendus to lend :dalaag his headband of intelle!t so that they couldmore thoroughly Auestion him.

They also found an intelligent elvish dagger named 7hayla. 7hayla claimed to have beenmade by the wi>ard;priests of $i;Eorth almost K,555 years earlier. These wi>ard;priests

were the very same ones who helped create the Lewels of Parnaith, which some of the

group had heard about earlier from an intelligent magical pool in the $ecropolis abode oflchestrin. They had learned the ewels were vital in their Auest to stop the rise of chaos

and the Ealchutt's return.

$ow, however, 7hayla told them that the ewels were not ob+ects, but places. 7pecifically,they were ethereal islands that could be reached by 8colordoors8 and the use of a magic

item called the illitor . 1ventually, they found the strange illitor in the dragon's palace a

ring, a bracer, and a belt made of bron>e, all connected by a bron>e chain" and decided toreturn to the surface to learn more about all of this.

&n their way back up, shadowdancers and shadowmages in the employ of 6ouse 7adar,one of the noble houses in Ptolus, ambushed them. The servants of 7adar demanded from

7erai the key to the bo6 of shadows, the very ob+ect that started the whole Auest. fter a

bitter fight, the characters escapedbut now they reali>ed they were hunted by one of the

most powerful forces in the city. They knew they needed to find that bo!and Auickly2

Next 8 1he $o6 of Shadows% Part :2



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The Box of Shadows, Part 27o, 7erai the sorcerer, 7hurrin the roguish priest of Mirresh, 7ister Mara the cleric of

*othian, liya the monk of the &rder of the Fist, and =ophas the paladin of *othian had

+ust left 7toramere?s lair. &n the way, though, they were hounded by shadowdancers and

shadowmages. Their ears to the ground, the group learned that their assailants were fromone of the noble houses in the city( 6ouse 7adar, also called the 6ouse of 7hadows.

less than reputable family, they were known allies of the evil Dladaam noble house.


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defeated @mrik and his most trusted henchmen. #ut they did not have the bo!.

The bo! was in the hands of Thurvan, an old friend of 0aersidian )ingsire who had alliedwith @mrik after being obsessed withlater consumed bythe bo6 of shadows. Its dark,

shadowy power tempted all who came in contact with it, granting power to a willing

character but forever stealing the poor creature's soul. 7o it went with Thurvan. $ow, hewielded the shadows of the bo! like a weapon. 0aersidian had told 7erai long ago that

the key wasn't important because it could open the bo!, but because it could close and

seal it. It was clear now what had to be done. The group entered melee with Thurvan, andfinally 7hurrin was able to knock the bo! from his hands. They closed and sealed the bo!,

defeating Thurvan.


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The Revenge of the Black Lantern#ack in the surface city, Eaerioth and 7ercian learned from a monk of a minor order that

there was some trouble at an apartment house in &ldtown. Investigating, they found the

whole place strangely sealed and very Auiet. ed him as :rlenius, the 7tar of $avashtrom.

6e was a boisterous cleric of the god of harmony and strength, and a representative of the

#rotherhood of )edemptionthe group that turned him from his evil, monstrous ways.es.

It was during this adventure that the #lack *anterns noticed more and more often that7ercian was acting very strangely. They had noted this behavior before, back at their

tower and in 0warvenhearth. There was also that odd comment from :rlenius as the

group made its way through the sewer back to the surface( 8I thought that elves and darkelves didn't get along.8

$o one reali>ed at the time that he was using tr#e seeing and looking at 7ercian.

s the clues began to lead to the revelation of an imposter in their midst, 7ercian went

back down to the tower the group held under the city. They had left the place in the hands

of their dwarf friend 6ansk, whom they had raised after the last battle in the tower.Eaerioth followed 7ercian and, once in the tower, asked him what was going on.


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0warvenhearth, so they might learn what was going on in there. These dark elves were

enemies of the dark elves who had already gained entrance to the ancient dwarven city

and served the vampire =achean. The ones who'd captured 7ercian were from 6ouseDrama they?d taken their prisoner to a stronghold of theirs and branded him a slave.

The group also learned that Dastare had slain 6ansk and taken much of their treasurereserves. t that moment, the %ompany of the #lack *antern stopped whatever else they

were doing and swore vengeance upon 6ouse Drama and Dastare. They spoke with the

most powerful elf they knew in the city, 0oraedian Mythlord, seeking aid. 6e told themhe thought he knew of some elves that might want to help them.

6e also told them about an artifact that might prove helpful in fighting dark elves( the

Eye of Ardaen. rdaen was an old elvish god of light and the sun who died long ago. Theartifactliterally his eyecommanded powers of light that would surely be of use

against dark elves. 6owever, an evil cult serving 0anansk, Eod of a Thousand Pains, had

stolen it and secreted it away from the powers of good in a hidden vault on Tridam Island

in the underground 7hadow *ake. The company knew that a group called the Pactlords of the Huaan maintained a stronghold on that same island.

The %ompany of the #lack *antern put out a call for mercenaries, hoping to gather a

number of them Auickly. lso +oining them was 7ercian's brother, 7erai, who wanted to

help them get revenge for what the dark elves did to his twin. >les, a ma>e, and false orbsnot to mention fearsome demonic guardiansthe

group found the artifact they sought and returned home.

They gathered their army of N5 mercenaries led by aren Thor a human fighter" an elite

unit of elven fighters led by %haldakin


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sorcerer9fighter".


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Chaos and DeceptionWarning: Some s*oilers for the ;iery -ragon adent#re Hueen of *ies a**ear below.


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decided to leave without going any farther. They dealt the cultists a terrible blow,

however, virtually destroying the temple.

Then they prepared to go yet again into the 0ark )eliAuary. This time, they sought to free

their friend. liya also had her own, secret agenda...

Dark Elf Hunt

Meanwhile, the members of the %ompany of the #lack *antern led their army down into

the deep reaches of the earth to find the dark elves of 6ouse Drama. &n their way, they

encountered a small city of kuo;toa as well as some other monsters. The kuo;toa provedreasonable, accepting a small tribute for allowing the army to pass. nd for the most part,

the monstrous beasts of the subterranean realms seemed to give the large group a wide

berth.

fter days of travel, the #lack *anterns became wary, and rightfully so. s they entered a

large cavern, dark elves charged out in ambush. 7ome rode velociraptorlike li>ards, while

others were accompanied by bugbear warriors. The #lack *antern brought their ownmercenary army to bear, and the two large groups clashed. fter a tremendous battle, the

#lack *antern troops emerged victorious. lthough many were gravely in+ured, the

clerics among them healed them Auickly, keeping overall casualties low. The group pressed on.

It wasn't until well into the underground +ourney that Eaerioth noticed that the dwarfleader, 7oren %lanstone, was acting strangely. 7pecifically, he noted that, when the group

reached a watering hole, 7oren didn't drink from it, but sat Auietly. Eaerioth told the

others, and they watched the dwarf carefully for a time. Finally, 7erai grew tired of the

situation and grabbed 7oren, tricking the dwarf into teleporting with him back to Ptolus.

8e that 7oren was actually the dark elf Dastare in a magical

disguise. This dark elf of 6ouse Drama not long ago impersonated 7ercian, which

sparked this whole Auest to begin with. t least he could do no more harm to their Auestnow.

Next: 1he Com*any of the $la!k 4antern rea!hes )l"-rakkan% fortress of 3o#se 7rama.

1he others enter the -ark Reli5#ary and find more than they e6*e!ted. And there+s een aillain who shows #* in both *la!es. $#t how !an that be9



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Heroes Against EvilWarning: Some s*oilers for the ;iery -ragon adent#re Hueen of *ies a**ear below.

7hurrin the fighter9rogue9cleric, liya of the &rder of the Fist, 7ister Mara the cleric of

*othian, =ophas the Bnight of the Pale, %anabulum the minotaur wi>ard, and :rleniusthe 7tar of $avashtrom decided to enter the 0ark )eliAuary to rescue the trapped soul of

their ally, ndach the druid. The 0ark )eliAuary, home to the Fallen demons" and the

Forsaken undead and those who work with them", was a terrible place the first time themembers of the group were taken there. They +ust barely escaped with their lives. $ow

they were going back intentionally.

=ophas got three of his allies from the Bnights of the PaleDestra, 0artalus, and

%ardillianto go with them. &n their way through the $ecropolis, they saw a huge cage

made of wicker in the shape of a man, with children inside. :ndead were about to set it

on fire. &f course the heroes intervened to save the children, only to discover that thewhole event was set up as an ambush( Their enemies knew they were coming.


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They encountered 0rusii but used magic to force her away. fter even more horrific

battles, they found the girl, whose name was %alista. They also found a deva named

Falstef who had been imprisoned there for decades, his wings ripped from him. Theyfreed both and sought a way out. ust as they thought escape was close, they found

themselves surrounded by demons. The creatures told them that their master, )aguel,

wished to speak with them. )aguel's lover, *ilith the only creature 0rusii answered to",was present and seethed with angershe wanted the heroes dead for their attacks. 7he

also did not want them to leave with %alista, who was an important key to the whole

situation. #ut that comes later..."

They were brought before )aguel and left alone with him. Much to their surprise, )aguel

was not a demon, but an angel. 6e e!plained that long ago his parents, two of the 1lder

Eods, put him in charge of the netherworld. s new powers, such as 0emogorgon and&rcus, arose over the ne!t twenty thousand years, )aguel began to lose faith in his own

position. 6owever, all attempts to contact his parents failed. The 1lder Eods were gone.

7o he and the Fallendemons that still served himcame to the world to learn what was

going on. $ow, some of them, encouraged by *ilith, wanted to ally with the forces thatsought to wake the Ealchutt and bring upon the 8$ight of 0issolution.8 )aguel was

unsure.

6e told the heroes he knew they planned to visit the 7even ewels of Parnaith. 6e gave

them a small silver orb that floated in the air and told them that, if they agreed to take itwith them, they could all leave safely. If they found what he thought they would find in

the ewels, )aguel said, it would help him decide to uphold peace for the innocent people

of Ptolus, rather than allow a horde of demons to sweep into town.

The heroes took the orb with grave reservations and, together with %alista and Falstef,

they walked out of the 0ark )eliAuary. $othing stood in their way.

Dark Elves and Chaositech

Meanwhile, deep under the city, the %ompany of the #lack *antern encountered another

bastion of the dark elves( a tower held aloft high by webs above the floor in a riftlike

cavern. The adventurers battled a number of dark elves, as well as the bebilith who'dmade the webs. %apturing the tower, they learned that the fortress of :l;0rakkan lay +ust

ahead in their path. They positioned their mercenaries in the cavern while the company

moved ahead.

#efore reaching :l;0rakkan, they encountered a dark elf from an opposing dark elf

house who wanted to help them attack 6ouse Drama. 6e told them about an agent withinthat they could contact for aid, once inside.

:l;0rakkan consisted of three towers carved out of natural columns in a gargantuan cave.

The path in was guarded by a number of bugbears and a fire giant, who repelled thegroup members. They retreated and took a different tack. 7erai made himself look like a

dark elf and entered surreptitiously. &nce inside, he found the agent they?d heard about

and obtained a special tuning;fork;like ob+ect that the spy said would allow one to


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teleport in safely( a teleport key. &therwise, entering :l;0rakkan via teleportation was

impossible.

#ut 7erai's scouting mission took too long. The others assumed he was in trouble and

attempted to teleport in to help. Their spell rerouted them into a pit whose bottom was

wrapped in an antimagi! field . 7erai learned what had happened and reached them tohelp. )eunited, the company began its assault on :l;0rakkan from the inside.

lthough many battles with dark elves followed, the largest took place on a bridge that +oined two of the towers of :l;0rakkan more than 55 feet above the cave floor. They

learned two important things then. First, the dark elves had demonic allies. &ne, in fact,

was a foul;mouthed succubus whom the other group had encountered in the 0ark

)eliAuary." 7econd, the dark elves had recently stolen a vast amount of chaositech fromthe kython. &ne of the demons, a massive glabre>u, was there to help them understand

how to use it. #ut helike many of the dark elves? demonic associateswas actually

more spy than ally. ed and reacted to the company's attack. Thecompany found itself trapped at the top of a tower in a room full of chaositech and a

demon, with a veritable dark elf army on the way up.

It was Tellian the cleric who made the decisive move. 6e told De!ander the sorcerer to

teleport away with their monk friend, Eaerioth, then made a deal with the demon to get

himself and 7erai?s twin, 7ercian, safely away. The demon said he would name his pricelater, and Tellian agreed. The demon happily gave 7ercian, a budding sorcerer, two

tele*ort scrolls and vanished. The two elves teleported away 7ercian failed with the first

scroll, so both really were needed" +ust as the power cubes e!ploded in a burst of pure

chaos energy, destroying the entire tower and slaying a horde of dark elves.

They were all safe. #ut now the #lack *antern elves hated 7erai for what they took as a

betrayal. They returned the ne!t day via teleportation" to their mercenaries' camp andmarched with them back up to the surface. They had dealt 6ouse Drama the blow they

had come to deliver.

Next: Ptol#s noble ho#ses get inoled.



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The Challenge Is IssuedWarning: Some s*oilers for the adent#re The #anewarrens a**ear below.

6aving walked, unaccosted, out of the 0ark )eliAuary, 7hurrin the fighter9rogue9cleric,

liya of the &rder of the Fist, 7ister Mara the cleric of *othian, =ophas the Bnight of thePale, %anabulum the minotaur wi>ard, and :rlenius the 7tar of $avashtrom a reformed

ogre;mage" deserved a nice long rest. Their rest was troubled, however, for they now

found themselves in possession of a mysterious floating silver orb given to them by)aguel, leader of the Fallen. lthough he seemed more angel than demon, the heroes

hardly trusted him. They decided to push on toward the ewels of Parnaith, as they had

planned.

$ow, Parnaith was once the wife of 0anar, a powerful and altruistic cleric who lived

aeons ago. 6e built the #anewarrens, an underground vault where he stored the worst of

all evil artifacts, so that no one could ever get at them. It was the evil of the #anewarrensthat created the spire of Ptolus, legend said. 0anar became known as the 0read &ne when

he fell to temptation and threatened all of creation with his dark might.

#efore all that happened, however, Parnaith, in con+unction with the wi>ard;priests of $i;

Eorth, created a series of seven ethereal islands, each reachable only through magical

!olordoors opened only by a device called the illitor , which the group already had. &nehad to travel through the islands seAuentially. To get to the first, a special &rrery showed

where a !olordoor accessible from the normal world would open. Thus, the characters

had to find this &rrery.

They turned to their friend *ord Birstol 0allimothan, head of 6ouse 0allimothanalso

known as 6ouse 0ragon. In an ancient tome in the family's library, Birstol found areference to the &rrery. It was stolen long ago and ended up in the possession of anothernoble house( 6ouse Dladaam, an evil and corrupt line of diabolic powermongers.

7hurrin, %anabulum, =ophas, and =ophas' wi>ard cohort 1phendus decided to sneak intothe estate of 6ouse Dladaam and take the &rrery. They contacted another old friend,

Baira 7wanwing, an elven member of an order called the Bnights of the Eolden %ross.

This ancient order had vied with the Dladaam family since before recorded history, soBaira was more than happy to help. 7he gave them an idea of the layout of the estate and

had some of her people create a diversion at the estate gates while the four adventurers

flew over the wall and onto the estate?s grounds.

They broke into the manor house without much difficulty and wandered through its back

rooms. Their burglary was interrupted by some of 6ouse Dladaam's guards, who

promptly turned into werewolves. )eally large and powerful werewolves.

Things got worse when the family members at home woke up. Most members of the

Dladaam family were powerful spellcasters, rogues, or fighters or all three". lthough afew lucky breaks allowed the heroes to hold their own for a time against Eattara and



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liaster Dladaamboth powerful magesthe swarm of werewolves separated the group

into different rooms. In fact, at one point, 7hurrin found himself trapped in the study

where he thought the &rrery was it wasn't there" behind an ar!ane lo!ked door while theothers were overwhelmed. Dicious werewolf blows knocked 1phendus unconscious, and

=ophas was mortally wounded, soon to die. 7hurrin managed to get free of his room +ust

in time to greet the arrival of yet another DladaamEodfredwith yet more werewolfguards and a soul;devouring h#ngersword . %anabulum used magic to clear a path, then

grabbed =ophas in one arm, beckoning 7hurrin to come with him, to retreat out of the

terrible place. 7hurrin tried to comply, but he soon found himself on the wrong end ofEodfred's h#ngersword . %anabulum grabbed 7hurrin's body as he fell and flew out.

fter this terrible defeat, the group reali>ed that the direct approach was neither wise nor

ethical. They needed a new plan. Birstol 0allimothan again provided a great deal of help.

#ut meanwhile, 7hurrin was lost in the beyond. #y all rights, the h#ngersword should

have consumed his soul forever. @et his soul was rescued by his goddess, Mirresh, with

the help of her much more powerful sister Eaen, goddess of light. The two told 7hurrinthat in e!change for his life he must swear his allegiance to Eaen, 8whose might will be

needed in the coming months,8 they said cryptically. &f course, 7hurrin agreed, and hisfriends were able to get him resurrected.

#ack at 6ouse 0ragon, Birstol told the heroes about the ancient )ites of %ustom, obeyed by the noble houses since long before the 1mpire. 6e e!plained that a thousand years

ago, the area of called Palastan around Ptolus was ruled by a king, and all noble families

answered to him. The nobles developed a code called the )ites of %ustom that they all

obeyedor the others would gather together and destroy the offending family. Theserules governed the nobles for centuries. ard;priests of $i;Eorth. ard;priests long gone, theyreasoned, 7hayla was actually the &rrery's rightful owner. s their last sentient heir, she

owned all that once belonged to the wi>ard;priests. nd that was all the +ustification they

needed.

noble must issue a challenge against another noble, and Birstol did not hesitate to

sponsor his friends' cause. The formal challenge, then, as presented to the Bing, was this(



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8#y the *aws of %ustom and the ncient )ites, I, Birstol 0allimothan, in league and

fellowship with Mara von


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The Challenge and AftermathWarning: Plenty of s*oilers for my online -ard;priests

of $i;Eorth as a means to locate the only way into the 7even ewels of Parnaith, theintrepid band of heroes formally challenged the item's current holders, 6ouse Dladaam.

The day of the challenge loomed close, and many allies gathered. In addition to Mara,7hurrin, liya, =ophas, 7erai recently returned from forays against the dark elves", and

%anabulum, the challengers had as allies *ord Birstol 0allimothan, his friend ndach the

druid, and a celestial named Mooncry. ndach, of course, was already known to theheroes and owed them Auite a favor for rescuing his soul from the 0ark )eliAuary.

Mooncry was one of the Malkuth, the group of earthbound angels in the city. 7he

represented the angel Falstef, whom the heroes had also rescued from the 0ark )eliAuary.

7ince Falstef was still convalescing, she would pay back that favor for him.

The challenge was held in an ancient and hidden ceremonial spot in a crevice partway up

the 7pire that overlooked the city. The challenge was moderated by the mysterious andancient figure known only as 8the Bing,8 who seemed to be only a spirit. 6ouse Dladaam

responded to the challenge by sending Eattara Dladaam, an e!tremely powerful

cleric9wi>ard, as well as various rogues and fighters associated with the house, and their8ringers8( a beholder, an ancient vampire fighter, and two pit fiends.

The challenge for the &rrery of $i;Eorth was an epic battle. It Auickly became clear that6ouse Dladaam's strategy was to focus most of their attention upon *ord 0allimothan.

7ince this challenge stipulated that no one slain in the battle could be raised, the

Dladaams were very interested in eliminating the head of a powerful rival house. The beholder and the vampire, led by Eattara, attacked the others. #ut underestimating0allimothan's allies was their undoing. 7hurrin killed the beholder with one thrust of his

grandfather's rapier. ndach obliterated the vampire with a spell that called down the

power of the sun. concentrated effort even managed to overcome Eattara herself, whothought she was invincible in her ar!ana form which 7erai managed to dispel".

Thus the heroes came to *ord 0allimothan's aid, lending him support and healing as hevanAuished the pit fiends. In the end, a few of 6ouse Dladaam's representatives fled the

challenge area and the rest died. Miraculously, all the heroes survived.

6ouse Dladaam turned over the &rrery to 7hayla the magical dagger, whom the heroesrepresented.


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dark day indeed2

#ut it got worse. lmost as soon as the storm struck, in early morning, the word spread(The 6oly Palace was under siege2

The huge and lavish home of the Prince of the %hurch had for the last few yearssince barbarians had sacked the capital of the 1mpirealso been home to his father, the

1mperor of the %hurch. The 6oly 1mperor had recently declared himself to be not only

the 1mpire's religious leader but its secular ruler as well. This move harkened back to theearly days of the 1mpire, when the 1mperor led the %hurch as well as the realm.


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Black RainWarning: Plenty of s*oilers for my online -


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The Jewels of Parnaith, Part 16aving gathered everything needed for a foray into the mysterious 7even ewels of

Parnaithincluding the intelligent dagger, 7hayla the &rrery showing the con+unction of

the !olordoors that provide access to the ewels and the illitor , a mysterious device

intended to create specific tones to open the !olordoors the adventurers were ready togo. They even had the strange floating orb given them by )aguel in the 0ark )eliAuary.

The ewels were, in fact, ethereal islands created by the wife of 0anar )otansin hewould later become the infamous monolithic figure known as the 0read &ne". 0elving

into the ewels were 7ister Mara von


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reali>e that 0aystral was attempting to use sophisticated illusions to fool everyone and

that 7hayla was attempting to warn them but the illusions prevented them from hearing

her". Thus they did not fall into 0aystral's trap, but fled instead. s they did, they cameupon a pit surrounded by runes. These runes were actually a part of a soul magic spell

that forced %anabulum to cast itanother trap2 The spell freed a horrible spirit of icy

winter named Bartana )oton. 0uring this encounter, a strangely garbed mage named Borand a bard named sa showed up and got involved both were terrified of Bartana )oton

and wary of the adventurers as well. In the end, the group wisely +oined forces with Bor

and sa to defeat Bartana )oton, imprisoning her back in the pit.

Bor and sa revealed much about the ewels of Parnaith to the group. 1ach ewel, they

said, revolved around a distinct concept.


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Lies Within Lies#efore Eaerioth left with the other adventurers to e!plore the 7even ewels of Parnaith,

he, 7ercian, De!ander, and Tellian took a well;deserved rest. They had +ust dealt a terrible

blow to their enemies, the dark elves who had kept 7ercian prisoner for so long.

0uring their break, 7ercian was approached by a woman claiming to be the figure they'd

once escorted into the Prison for the recovery of her husband. 7he said she needed help in

another matter now. book, important to her family, was stolen and she wanted itrecovered. 7he offered a very large sum of money for its return. 7he would not say what

the book was, only that it had a lightning bolt on the cover.

The book was stolen, she said, by a crime lord named ggah;7han. ggah;7han operated

a number of gambling dens in the city, some legal, some not. &ne illegal establishment

the group Auickly learned of was a tavern called the %ock and #ull in the 7outh Market.

This, they discovered, was the most likely place to contact ggah;7han, a mysteriousfigure who rarely met with anyone.

The group did some investigating and learned that the woman was Fransin $agel, leaderof 6ouse $agel. %onvinced that the offer was legitimate, the %ompany went in disguise

to the %ock and #ull and cased the place. 7ercian posing as his brother, 7erai", managed

to speak with ggah;7han's lieutenant, $aosh, a half;orc. fter more wrangling, he gotan 8audience8 through a magical mirror" with ggah;7han, although he could not see the

crime lord clearly.

6oping to gain some information about the book, draw ggah;7han out, and potentially

ingratiate himself, 87erai8 told him that his new enemies, the %ompany of the #lack

*antern, were after the book. 6e even told him where they would be later on. The crimelord indicated that he did indeed have the book, and thanked 87erai.8

Meanwhile, the rest of the company gambled, gathered information, and tried to find a

secret door or some other way into a private area where ggah;7han might be. Eaerioth became very tempted to take on a minotaur gladiator in a fighting pit. 1ventually,

however, they all left so they could wait in ambush for ggah;7han or some of his

powerful servants to show up where 87erai8 had told the crime lord they'd be. If ggah;7han himself didn't show up, at least they could Auestion some of his servants.

#ut neither ggah;7han nor his servants showed. Instead, to the surprise of the company,

the crime lord tricked some of his own enemies, the 7huul, into attacking them instead.The 7huul were a secretive organi>ation devoted to order and the old waysthe use of

firearms, steam;powered clockwork mechanisms, and so forth. The %ompany of the

#lack *antern, assuming that the 7huul were allies of ggah;7han, attacked and defeatedthem.


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forces of chaos, not order, and thus the conflict with the 7huul must have been a mistake.

Tired of all this maneuvering, the #lack *antern elves decided they +ust needed a way to

confront ggah;7han directly. 7pending the money to get some help with powerfuldivinations, they learned that he was working on a huge machine. 7ercian remembered

his brother speaking of a forbidding door with a huge serpent on it in a chaos temple they

had raidedbehind which, 7erai had said, they?d heard the workings of a vast machine.Putting machine noises plus chaos temple together, the group developed a hunch that they

could find their new nemesis there.

Eaerioth, however, had to leave to +oin his friends going to the ewels. 7hort one

combatant, the group was happy to welcome into their ranks an elf who belonged to the

&rder the 0awn the 1mperor's personal knights". This elf, Thoreaen *ightbringer, was

actually sent by the office of the 1mperor to infiltrate the %ompany of the #lack *anternand keep tabs on the increasingly powerful and somewhat roguish group. Together, they

prepared to go to the chaos machine, find ggah;7han, and recover the book.

&f course, the whole thing was predicated on a lie. Fransin $agel never contacted7ercian. That was a falsehood that he and a woman friend of his came up with. woman

whom they both knew the rest of the company would not want to work with. womanwho really wanted to recover the book. woman 7ercian was beginning to fall in love

with( Fesamere #alaca>ar, daughter of Menon #alaca>ar, the worst of the city's crime

lordsand Auite a capable rogue and thief in her own right.

Soon: 1he Jewels of Parnaith% Part :



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The Jewels of Parnaith, Part 2Following 7ister Mara?s divination, the groupwith new allies Bor and saattempted

to breach 0amarcan's tower from below. They soon discovered why Bor and sa could

never do so before( The path was filled with traps, magical barriers, and iron golems.

fter a hard;fought battle in which Eaerioth was slain by a golem but raised by Mara",they reached a chamber that gave access to the tower above.

1ntering the tower, Mara, =ophas, liya, %anabulum, 7hurrin, 7erai, Eaerioth, and:dalaag all saw at the center of the main chamber a floating energy sphere. The sphere

itself was surrounded by a column of force. 7uddenly, however, the silver orb )aguel had

given them flared to life, emitting a beam of energy that nullified the force barrier. ed that an invisible intruder was with them2 :sing a spell to dismiss the invisibility,

they found a tall, lean creature with blue skin and a massive greatsword0amarcan, theruler of this ewel2


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disappeared.

They reappeared in a small structure floating high above Ptolus, unseen from the streets belowmuch like the place where they found the first !olordoor . 6ere, they used the

illitor to open the second !olordoor to the ne!t ewel, &nd. Bor does not accompany

them, but instead goes down into Ptolus using a fly spell."

The group members appeared in a cavern, their morale a bit low after reali>ing they had

set the evil 0amarcan free presumably either into Ptolus or into &nd" and wereeffectively cheating their way through the ewels of Parnaith thanks to a magic item

given to them by the lord of the demons in the 0ark )eliAuary. 7oon thereafter, they were

beset by evil elementals and strange incorporeal undead. They learned that, although

history held that Ehul, the 7kull;Bing had died in &rr, he actually managed to reach &nd before he was slain. pparently, Ehul also moved through the ewels with a silver orb

that allowed him to cheat. This lowered morale among the group members even further."


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succeeded and gained access to the sphere of Imn. s before, they were blessed by the

rays. They took precautions this time, making sure 0amarcan was not nearby. =naam

e!plained that the power this tower generated was the path out of Imn. To depart thisewel, they would have to climb to the top and +ump down into the bolts of electricity.

They were obviously a little leery at the thought, but finally believed him.

t the top of the tower, 0amarcan made his move2 6e attacked, trying to get hold of the

silver orbhis goal was no less than to reach the final ewel and attain divinity.

6owever, 7erai put a stop to his plan with a new spell he had +ust learned( disintegrate.s 0amarcan's ashes blew away in the ethereal winds, the heroes leaped into the

cascading energy, on their way to v.

Next: (n the Jewels of Parnaith Part >% Mara and ?o*has find some #n#s#al fellow 4othianites in an #ne6*e!ted *la!e. $#t is it tr#e that 4othian himself has branded the

two of them enemies of and traitors to the Ch#r!h9 Pl#s% what/or who/really waits for

them in the seenth Jewel9



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The Jewels of Parnaith, Part 36aving made their way out of Imn, the ewel of 1nergy, Mara, =ophas, liya,

%anabulum, 7hurrin, Eaerioth, 7erai, and of course" :dalaag, passed through the ne!t

!olordoor using the illitor into v.

Av, Jewel of the Mind

They found themselves in a realm of nothingnessutterly blank and devoid of anything

other than whiteness as far as they could see. They pressed on to investigate this place

and hopefully find an e!it. ed from his distant homeland of Bem. 7erai e!perimented by casting a spell

through the hole and caused the hole to become slightly larger.

The group pressed on into the nothingness.

1ventually, they found something else in the white void. The blank space gave way to a

verdant wilderness teeming with life.


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outside the fort, 7hurrin met a sibeccai named Malteris the 6eretic, who re+ected 7avan

and his 8words of *othian.8 Malteris helped 7hurrin sneak into the fortress to free his

friends.

terrible battle ensued, 7avan disappeared, and the adventurers and Malteris" fled down

a sealed shaft that led below the fortress and back into the white void. The sibeccairefused to enter the void, and the group was safe.

ed that v, the ewel of the Mind, was shaped and controlled by

subconscious and sometimes conscious" thought. ation, they achieved

enlightenment and actually mastered the ewel, not needing the silver orb to 8cheat8 as

they had in the others.

:sing their mastery of this concept, they focused their minds +ointly on finding the 8key8

to the ewel. sphere of energy appeared and fired beams of light at them, as in the other

ewels.

#efore leaving, they summoned an astral deva to go to $alsek and see if he could behealed of his madness.


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They offered to use their power to bring Faranastra back from the dead. ma>ed by such

power and willingness to help, two members of the order swore a new oath to follow theadventurers and aid and protect them. Their names were mlond and Imuit.


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trap the Ealchutt and keep them from getting at the rest of the multiverse. $othing that

came into the world could ever leave, and the peopleincluding the adventurerswere

all wardens of this prison. The %reator had given them all power with which to fight theevil machinations of the Ealchutt, he said... and with a touch of the small boy's hand, a

mystical rune suddenly appeared on the face or hand of each hero. ll people of the

world were runechildren, he e!plained.

6e told them that great changes were coming. fter a 35,555;year absence, the Dallis

moon was returning, and along with it the *ords of the 7even %hains. These chains werethe physical representations of the forces that bound the Ealchutt to Praemal and kept the

world together. These terrible lords of chaos sought to break the chains and thus destroy

the world to enact their escape.

6e assured the heroes that all was not lost, however. Many safeguards e!isted. 6e urged

them to seek out the city of 0reta Phantas, where already the ancient elves were making

preparations. 6e told them of an artifact called the diadem that could protect them from

the power of the Ealchutt, but cautioned that 0anar )otansin who would become the0read &ne" had mistakenly considered it an evil bane and hidden it away long ago. The

boy also promised them that the 1lder Eods were returning as well and could aid them intheir struggle.

*astly, liya asked the boy about %alista, recently freed from the 0ark )eliAuary. For allher life she had felt a connection with this woman but didn't know why. The boy told her

that %alista was her cousin. The demons would not have held her prisoner for so long

unless she had some purpose or knowledge vital to themand perhaps to everything.

Then 1sh faded, and the adventurers found themselves back in Ptolus, with a shining new

green moon in the sky overhead....

Next: $a!k to the saga of the $la!k 4antern% the !haos ma!hine% and not one b#t two

li!hes2



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A Tale of Two LichesDe!ander, 7ercian, Tellian, and Thoreaenthe current roster of the %ompany of the

#lack *anternneeded to find a criminal in Ptolus named ggah;7han, who had stolen

an important book they were hired to recover. ggah;7han operated a number of illegal

casinos in the city, all of which featured a new game called Mrathrach. Theirinvestigations uncovered the fact that the game was magically sapping chaotic energies

each time it was played and directing them to some terrible machine hidden beneath the

city. :sing clues garnered from their adventuring comrades, they learned the location ofthe machine and went to confront ggah;7han directly.

Of Kython and Aggah-Shan


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Fesamere #alaca>ar, into the picture although he did not reveal her9their deception with

regard to the book". 7he suggested that they go to ggah;7han's most e!clusive casino

and high;class bordello( the one called the %onflagration". These vaults were created in

ancient days to hold evil artifacts and terrible curses, keeping them away from the world.The vaults were called the #anewarrens and 0anar, the saint who created them, was

eventually corrupted by the evil therein. 6e became the entity known as the 0read &ne,1slathagos Malkith, and it was he who created the fortress abel 7hammar at the top ofthe 7pire that rose above Ptolus.

The group assumed they had to get past 7okalahn to find a way into the #anewarrens tofollow the dark elves. They were mistaken in this belief, and it cost them dearly. They

suffered a terrible defeat at his hands and were forced to teleport away, leaving Thoreaen

behind. It was around this time that Eaerioth returned from his aborted attempt at



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e!ploring the ewels of Parnaith, so he reinforced them when they went back down.

7ercian, however, chose not to accompany the group.


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This Is the Way the World (or at Least the City) Ends7eers had been speaking foreboding omens for a long time. The heroes had been hearing

about things like 8the return of the Dallis moon,8 and 8the $ight of 0issolution8 for some

time.

)umors that the barbarians of the far east had become restless again had been circulating

for months. It was these same barbarian tribes that had, +ust a few years earlier, sacked

the city of Tarsis and in many ways brought the Tarsisan 1mpire of which Ptolus was adistant part" to an end. )ecently, however, the 1mperor of the %hurchhaving fled to

Ptolus when Tarsis fellhad not only declared that he was now both the secular 1mperor

and the 6oly 1mperor, but that Ptolus was the new capital of the 1mpire.

7o now the barbarians marched on Ptolus.

0ays before the invasion, a mysterious green light appeared in the night sky, growingstronger each night. 7eers and diviners proclaimed it a horrible omen, but truth be told,

no one knew e!actly what to make of it. Meanwhile, the people of Ptolus prepared for a

barbarian invasion. 7ome met the thought of it with fear, but most with e!citement.0espite the barbarians' past victories, the people of Ptolus had faith in two things( the

%ommissar and his battery of powerful cannons, and the mages of the Inverted Pyramid,

the most powerful and renowned arcanists? guild in the world.

In fact, on the day the barbarian armies reached the gate, the people of Ptolus gathered

atop tall buildings and even the city wall to watch the spectacle. They waved flags anddrank ale and munched on bread and cheese, e!pecting a good show. Fesamere

#alaca>ar invited the members of the %ompany of the #lack *antern to +oin her where

she watched on the wall, along with her sister Maystra mother of 8The #oy


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#ut forever finally came to an end. The Dallis moon had returned. Its sudden influence on

the flow of magic disrupted that flow and brought it to a halt.

Magic stopped working all across the world. nd the Ealchutt began to awaken.

$eedless to say, there were screams of horror and shock as the Inverted Pyramid's battle

barges came crashing down, and the most powerful wi>ards and sorcerers in the city died

a terrible, fiery death, all at once.

$eedless to say, the magical protections covering Malkeen #alaca>ar's vampire

bodyguard failed and he was caught out in the middle of the afternoon, on top of the city

wall, on a cloudless day. 6e e!ploded in flame.

$eedle

ptolus campaign journal

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