Session 00

Session Summaries may include some mistakes. Please be careful :)

1st Session

The campaign opens in a grim and oppressive cell, where Wurinn Fuuldrusch, Mordecai Reverance, and Chenris Tallfellow find themselves chained and surrounded by despair. Each character’s personality shines through their introductions: Drache’s strength and kindness, Mordecai’s theatrical charm, and Chenris’ calculated demeanour. Their captivity is short-lived as they cleverly free themselves and defeat two cultists who enter the cell. Banding together, they explore the corridors of their prison, discovering the horrifying mark of The Red Cult and encountering another prisoner, Steve, whose bitterness contrasts with the group’s dynamic. Despite his initial hostility, they free him, bolstering their numbers.

Venturing deeper into the cult’s lair, the group arms themselves from a barracks before encountering a massive chamber filled with chanting cultists surrounding an ominous altar. The cult leader mocks them before commanding an attack. A chaotic battle ensues, with Drache’s sheer might, Chenris’ calculated spells, and Mordecai’s dazzling magic holding off the cultists. Steve, though less skilled, fights with determination. Just as their stamina begins to fail, golden-armoured soldiers storm the chamber, cutting down the remaining cultists with surgical precision. Their leader, the ostentatious Captain Bridges, introduces himself with theatrical flair, both saving the group and emphasizing his importance.

Despite their victory, the cult leader escapes, leaving the party frustrated and on edge. Captain Bridges, taking charge, offers to escort them to Silkhorn for rest and recovery, noting the cult’s heinous deeds and his regiment’s efforts in dismantling their operations. The group, with no memory of how they ended up in the cult’s clutches, reluctantly agrees. As they march toward Silkhorn, Bridges repeatedly asserts his name and authority, leaving the group to ponder the mysteries surrounding their capture and the challenges still to come.

2nd Session

The journey to Silkhorn, led by Captain Bridges, offered the group a chance to reflect on their escape and bond amid the tense atmosphere. The quiet forest trail, marked by dappled sunlight and the faint scent of the sea, provided a deceptive calm. As Bridges shared the region's history, the group learned of the Organisation of Free Cities (OFC) and its unique credit-based economy, posing a challenge to their reliance on gold. Entering the weathered port town, the adventurers found its resilience remarkable despite its scorched buildings and wary inhabitants. At the Adventurers Guild, they secured membership and lodging while navigating strict regulations, including a law against unlicensed magic. Chenris complied, purchasing a licence, but Mordecai defiantly refused, setting the stage for future complications.

The guild offered three quests, and the group chose to investigate Balance Ranch, a nearby town devastated by conflict. The ruins were haunting, with skeletal remains and charred structures bearing testimony to the violence that had unfolded. Among the wreckage, Drache found a child’s doll, a poignant reminder of the town’s lost lives, and resolved to return it to its owner. Their search led them to the town hall, where a hidden hatch revealed a chilling underground chamber. Confronted by the undead, the group fought with skill and determination, blending Drache’s strength, Chenris’ magic, and Mordecai’s precision to prevail. The chamber yielded modest treasures and a disturbing discovery: the small skeleton of a child reaching for something unseen.

Drache, driven by his earlier resolve, placed the doll into the skeleton’s outstretched hand, triggering a radiant burst of golden light that engulfed the room. As the light faded, the group felt a surge of newfound strength and determination. Their harrowing journey through the ruins not only deepened their bond but also prepared them for the greater challenges that lay ahead, offering a glimmer of hope amid the darkness of their surroundings.

3rd Session

As dawn approached, the flames roared unabated, transforming the once-quiet forest into a blazing inferno that cast a grim shadow over the party’s escape. The caravan had narrowly avoided catastrophe, thanks to the combined efforts of Drache’s leadership, Kal † ’s relentless labour, and the group’s coordinated defence against the goblins. Yet, the cost of their survival weighed heavily on them. Kal’s accidental ignition of the fire haunted his thoughts, his earlier confidence replaced by guilt and self-doubt. The merchants, though shaken, expressed their gratitude for the party’s protection despite the devastation left in their wake.

Chenris remained silent as they pressed onward, his mind burdened by fragmented memories of his dream and the haunting revelations it had uncovered. Aeloria ’s words echoed in his thoughts, cutting deeper than any wound from the goblins. Mordecai, ever attuned to the emotional undercurrents around him, kept a watchful eye on the elf, refraining from prying but ready to offer his irreverent support when needed. Meanwhile, Drache’s steadfast presence provided a sense of stability to the group, even as his stern admonishments reminded them of the dangers of carelessness in their chaotic lives.

As the group finally reached a safe distance from the inferno, they paused to regroup and assess their situation. Exhaustion etched lines into their faces, and the eerie glow of the fire illuminated their shared sense of failure and determination. Despite the setbacks, the party resolved to continue their escort of the merchant caravan to Two Pines Estate, though the road ahead now seemed fraught with both external threats and the heavy toll of their own mistakes. The inferno behind them served as a stark reminder of the unpredictable and often destructive nature of their adventures.

4th Session

The forest fire slowed unnaturally, frozen in time as the party watched in awe and confusion. When Kal’s attempts to interact with the suspended flames failed, shattering his dagger upon contact, the party ’s alarm grew. A mysterious figure emerged from the haze, manipulating the stillness around them with intricate gestures. Introducing himself as Aiden, he revealed his ability to close temporal distortions, which were caused by the chaos-bringing deity Chronovorus. Though he provided little detail, Aiden joined the party on their journey to Two Pines Estate, his enigmatic presence adding to the tension of their travels.

Upon reaching Two Pines, the party discovered whispers of missing children, including a local noble’s daughter. Aiden kept his distance, preferring solitude, and during the night, he encountered a terrifying faceless figure in the forest, encased in black, bark-like armour and exuding a primordial dread. Though its presence vanished from his memory, the encounter left Aiden deeply unsettled. The following day, the party ventured into the woods and found a child’s drawing pinned to a tree, only to face the same faceless figure. Overwhelmed by its power to erase their memories, the group scrawled desperate warnings on their skin before fleeing back to the village. There, they discovered similar drawings in the noble’s daughter’s room, which appeared to act as a compass toward an unknown destination.

The party then travelled to Blackwall, a sprawling city dominated by the imposing Black Tower. They split up, with Chenris, Mordecai, and Aiden seeking answers in the tower’s grand library while Kal and Drache delivered a mysterious package from Foxtail Orchard. Chenris uncovered information about the Ethertwist Haunter, a herald of Chronovorus with the power to manipulate time and erase memories. Meanwhile, Kal fell victim to a goblin trap and was turned into a magically compelled suicide bomber. With no way to stop Kal’s march toward the Black Tower, Chronovorus himself appeared, offering to resolve the crisis for 25 years of their lives.

Chenris rejected the offer and disappeared, finding himself in the presence of Aeloria, the Goddess of Light and Knowledge. She offered him the means to dispel the ancient goblin magic in exchange for a portion of his magical abilities. Accepting the deal, Chenris returned to Blackwall, dispelling the magic and saving Kal. Chronovorus, amused and intrigued by the group, warned them that the cost of retrieving the missing child would rise with each passing day. With their encounter resolved, the party regrouped, the weight of Chenris’ decision and the looming threat of the gods shaping their next steps as they prepared to delve deeper into their perilous journey.

5th Session

The shadow of the Ethertwist Haunter loomed over the party like a smothering shroud, warping reality with its chilling presence. Guided by whispers in Blackwall, the group uncovered a lead pointing to an abandoned tower east of the city. Upon arrival, they found its twisted architecture teeming with lifeless thralls carrying out gruesome rituals. Using stealth and wit, they infiltrated the tower, but a mishap alerted the guards. Mordecai, in a desperate gambit, disguised himself as a cultist, but the ruse backfired, leading to both him and Aiden being captured. Within the tower’s upper chamber, the cult leader attempted to use Aiden as a sacrifice to the Temporal Harbinger, but Aiden’s immunity to the ritual’s effects allowed him to resist.

As the cult summoned a time rift, Aiden worked frantically to close it while the rest of the party launched an all-out assault. Overwhelmed by endless waves of cultists, their strength was nearly depleted when Aiden finally sealed the rift, its collapse leaving a grotesque scene of twisted bodies and blood-soaked stone. The group claimed a sinister dagger, Edge of the Onyx Sands, and Chenris uncovered a critical page for the Black Ritual, along with a staff of swarming insects. The ritual’s price—a burning of sacred pages and cherished possessions—left them grimly aware of the sacrifices ahead. Following the pull of the pages, the party ventured into a dark forest that transported them to a decayed mansion of malevolent energy.

Inside the mansion, they encountered a spectral old man clutching a page and an infant’s decayed body. Using illusions, Mordecai tricked him into relinquishing the page, but the man’s anguish summoned the Ethertwist Haunter. The battle was brutal; the Haunter’s incorporeal form resisted their attacks, and Steve Ulan fell to its tendrils, his screams echoing through the cursed halls. Drache and Chenris managed to retrieve the page, while Kal’s near-death forced Aiden to act swiftly, saving his life. The group escaped through a flaming breach, leaving the mansion to burn as Strixhaven mages arrived to extinguish the blaze. Their silent judgement weighed heavily on Chenris, a haunting reminder of his past. Weary but resolute, the party moved forward, knowing their perilous quest to banish the Haunter was far from over.

6th Session

The party, weary from their battles, found themselves ensnared in a massive spider web suspended high above the forest floor. Aiden managed to free himself first, crashing to the ground with a thud, while Chenris and Mordecai struggled, their shackles rendering their magic useless. Drache freed his companions just in time to confront a gargantuan spider creeping toward them. Meanwhile, Kal attempted an elaborate escape using an arrow and rope but ended up tumbling to the ground. After regrouping, the party defeated the spider and resumed their journey to collect more ritual pages. Before leaving, Chenris noticed a deer with unnervingly human eyes watching them, a smile playing on its lips before it vanished into the woods.

Their quest for the ritual pages took them repeatedly into The Black Woods, each time arriving at a clearing with a house in various stages of decay. Each mission brought them closer to the house's original state, revealing more of its history and its occupants’ tragic past. On their second-to-last mission, the party encountered a man building a home alongside his pregnant wife and child. The man recounted a harrowing tale of leaving Snowport and making a deal with Chronovorus to survive a treacherous sea journey. In exchange for safe passage, the god claimed their second-born child, an act that still haunted the family. The party acquired the page but left in stunned silence, burdened by the cruelty of the god and the suffering he inflicted.

For their final mission, the party found the house fully intact and occupied by a seemingly happy family. Mordecai, Drache, and Chenris distracted the family with a clever ruse, even dining with them, while Aiden and Kal attempted to search the house from the shadows. Despite their efforts, the page eluded them until the sound of a war horn shattered the peaceful facade. The family revealed it signaled an approaching invasion by the armies of Ehobel. In desperation, Mordecai persuaded the family to entrust them with an heirloom—a hidden page from the ritual. As they made their escape, the party witnessed the tragic destruction of the home by elven invaders, the family and their dreams consumed by fire and war.