PH Dungeon's 5e Swords of the Realms Campaign


Campaign Journals

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Session #29 (bounty hunters, a meeting with Captain Jack)
Characters: Inspiration (tiefling bard 7), Vala (air genasi warlock 7), Smashmouth (Goliath paladin 7), Father Varis (dwarf cleric 7)

The heroes leave Undermountain and take a well deserved extended rest at the Yawning Portal. The next day they tend to the business of selling of the various loot they acquired in Undermountain and preparing for an up coming auction of magical items, which is scheduled for the next day.

They attend the annual summer auction and bid on and purchase several magic items of interest: gauntlets of ogre power, ring of protection, slippers of spider climbing, +1 scimitar, +1 studded leather, pearl of power. After the auction they make plans for what to do next. They decide to continue to head south to Candle Keep to search for the scrolls of Hazeed Al-Kabar in hopes of learning more about the potential threat posed by elemental evil. Inspiration recalls that in order to gain access to Candle Keep’s library they will need to donate a valuable book to the monks, so he spends the next day scouring the city for a suitable donation. They also purchase supplies needed for the long ride south.

The following day, whilst having breakfast at the Yawning Portal, Inspiration, Smashmouth and Vala are confronted by a band of bounty hunters seeking to bring in Inspiration. Presumably they are acting at the behest of Lord Neverember in Neverwinter. A fight breaks out in the common room. The female bounty hunter is quickest on the draw and throws a poisoned dagger into Inspiration’s chest, nearly killing him. Despite his sudden and terrible injury, he finds the will to cast a darkness spell, slowing down the progress of his attackers.

Vala and Smashmouth do their best to both heal and defend their companion, taking many injuries to keep Inspiration out of harm’s way. Fortunately, the tiefling scares off several of the bounty hunters with a fear spell, and the fight is interrupted by Duran the bar tender and his bouncers. Duran has a reputation in Waterdeep as being a skilled brawler who is not to be trifled with, and his presence is enough to convince the remaining bounty hunters to be on their way.

The heroes tend to Inspriation's wounds and finish their breakfast. Eventually, Phann and Father Varis join them. They gather their belongings and set out on horseback. Inspiration attempts to elude anyone who might come after them by informing the tavern keeper that they are destined for Silverymoon. He also has the heroes head for the north gate to help with this deception. On their way out of the city they run into Captain Jack. He recently arrived in town aboard the airship that they had heard landed near Westbridge many weeks earlier. It seems that he was able to acquire the needed orichialum to fuel the arcane vessel, and he has become the lover of the ship’s captain- the beautiful and exotic merchant mage Jyallah. The ship is now docked in Waterdeep's harbour and he and the captain are staying together at a nearby in while she conducts business and acquires provisions. Jack is introduced to the new members of the party, for he has not met Smashmouth or Father Varis, and is eager to catch up with their adventures. The heroes learn he is heading south towards the Nelanther Isles in search of lost pirate treasure. They agree to help him with this quest in exchange for shares in the treasure and a stop over in Candle Keep.

They spend the night at the inn where Captain Jack is staying (technically it should be First Mate Jack). Here they meet Jyallah, the alluring merchant mage and skyship captain. Phann is instantly smitten with the exotic southern beauty and receives several dirty looks from Captain Jack when he starts flirting with her. The adventurers learn that Jyallah is originally from the near mythical land of Halurra to the far south. During the spell plague several years ago, Halurra was devastated. She had been traveling abroad on her ship at the time and avoided witnessing the destruction of her homeland. However, she has since returned and seen the damage that was wrought. The devastation destroyed her trade guild, and she no longer has the support of powerful benefactors back home. She is fully independent now, and her ship is one of the few Halurran skyships that still remains active in the skies of the realms. She has been taken in by relatives in Tethyr and now uses that nation as her home base. Of course, most of her time is spent on her ship, flying a trade route that goes from Tethyr to as far north as Mirabar and Silverymoon.

The next day the party sets out aboard the Halurran skyship. It sails south along the coast at a speed of about 8 knots, significantly faster than a sailing ship. Consequently, they make good time towards their first stop- Baldur’s Gate. During the second day of their journey the ship is attacked in the afternoon by a giant bird of prey (roc) that seems to think the ship might be food. The heroes, supported by the ship’s crew, try to drive it off with ranged attacks, but they fail to do so before its talons tear a great gash in the balloon structure that helps keep the air ship aloft. The impact of the roc hitting the ship, causes the vessel to list hard to one side, and Smashmouth is flung overboard. Luckily he lands in the protective netting strung along the sides of the ship. Captain Jyallah is also thrown off. She clears the netting entirely, but feather fall magic activates and she floats down towards the sea. Before landing in the water she casts a fly spell and returns to the deck of the ship. The gargantuan bird then flies off out to sea where it later scoops up an orca whale in its talons.

The session ends here with airship damaged and in need of repairs.

The Exchange RPG Superstar 2010 Top 32

Yikes - that trap room sounds really nasty! It also seems way scary for 6th and 7th level characters - I guess 5e is more like 2e in that respect? More of an anything goes vibe...

I finally bought a PHB and MM for 5e and have started DM-ing the Assimilation Strain. So far it's going well, and the players are having fun. It's weird to suddenly have level 7 bad guys against a 1st level party, with about 60 hp, and yet it works.

A few of the group want to take the plunge, but the more fanatical tuners are unconvinced. We'll probably try a level 10 series of encounters to see how that goes. THeir complaints are of the "There's hardly any difference between level 2 and 10" variety. A few more powers, few magic items... how do you feel more powerful?

What would you say?


I guess if you have a bunch of hardcore pathfinder players in your group that really enjoy the shit ton of options that comes with pathfinder, it might be a bit of hard sell. Personally, I like that it all a little less crunchy. For me there's enough going on that it's interesting mechanically, but I can still keep a handle on it. I feel like I know how the classes, spells, feats etc.. all work.

With pathfinder I can't keep up with it all- there's just so much content. For example, I have a player in my pathfinder game running a Kinesisist, and I still don't really have a clue how the class works.

I still saw a pretty significant difference in terms of power escalation for 5e. In the upcoming sessions they start dealing with fiends, giants etc... You aren't going to take on stuff like that at 1st level.

I really like how they've done spells and magic items 5e. They are so much less finicky. For example, instead of have 5 different cure spells, there's just one, and if you want it be more powerful you use a higher level spell slot (as I'm sure you know). The spell ranges are all set and easy to remember. Damage is pretty much set, unless you use a higher level slot, which also makes them easier to remember.

For me, 5e is about the perfect level of complexity. It's definitely, less time consuming for me to prep for as a DM, which is a big plus in my books. Currently, I'm running a pathfinder game, but I'm also playing in a semi-regular 5e game (Curse of Stradh).


I think one of the main problems with 5e, and to some extent pathfinder, is that combat can risk being kind of dull if the players and DM don't get a little creative about it. It is very easy to fall into a routine of just trading blows back and forth, which isn't particularly dynamic or interesting- sure some narrative flourish can spice that up a bit, but it still pretty much comes down to rolling to hit and rolling damage. Of course, the battlemaster fighter has some maneuver type stuff baked into the class, but for the most part monsters don't have too much of that going on. 4e was a lot more dynamic in that regard.

Consequently, when I'm DMing 5e (and pathfinder as well), I try to keep this in mind. For instance, instead of just having the ogre try to hit someone with his club, I might roll to see if he can pick him up and throw him across the cave, or instead of having 3 goblins attack the fighter, I might have two of them try to tackle him, and the third one steal his sword. The problem is, you have to constantly be thinking about what you can do to make things more entertaining, which can get tiring, especially with all the other stuff you need to track as a DM in combat.

I also found that the published adventurers haven't put that much effort into setting up interesting tactical situations for the PCs to deal with. They have thought more about story perhaps than they did in 4e, but a bit less about creating dynamic encounters, and to run a really entertaining game I think you need both. I started to think about that more as I got a handle on the system and we got further into the campaign. For example, the trap room encounter in session #28.


In regards to an "anything goes vibe," I think that may be more my DMing style than the system. I like to throw them into challenging situations and set up opportunities for high risk versus high reward type decision making.


Some backstory for the next quest... This is an adaptation of the Goodman Games, Dungeon Crawl Classics adventure- "Bloody Jack's Gold"

Jack has a treasure map that he began the campaign with.

The map: Captain Jack is keenly aware of the tales of Bloody Jack Dacombe, and in fact he takes his name after the infamous pirate. Bloody Jack roamed the Sea of Swords about a century ago. He is most famous for having plundered a fleet of treasure ships returning to Amn from the New World of Maztica. Afterwards he hid the treasure away on undisclosed island somewhere in the Sea of Swords. Though he was caught and executed shortly afterward, he died without revealing the treasure’s location to a single soul. Old sailors whisper tales of the labyrinth Bloody Jack built to hide his booty in, and the horrible end that came to the unfortunate souls who built it. Many have gone in search of it, but none have returned.

You believe the tattered map you are in possession of (which you believe is scribed on velum made from human flesh) can take you to the island. You are confident that the island is located among the Nelanther Isles, to the west of Tethyr. Unfortunately, the map isn't entirely clear, and you aren't one hundred percent certain of its authenticity. However, you suspect that if you could get your hands on a ship or other means of traveling to the island you could find it.

Tales of Bloody Jack: Jack Dascombe was a legend in his day, a bloodthirsty pirate who raided, pillaged, and burned countless ships and coastal settlements before finally meeting his death at the end of a rope. He was rumored to have once been an officer in Amn's navy who was unjustly court-martialed, and escaped to wreak his revenge on those who wronged him. If so, he seems to have spread his revenge with a very broad brush. Aside from the occasional attempt to ransom a particularly wealthy victim, he is alleged to have killed every prisoner he ever captured and burned every ship he ever took. The songs and stories of his time portray him as a murderous fiend in human form, who delighted in butchery and slaughter for its own sake and led a crew nearly as bloodthirsty as himself.

By the end of his 15 year career, he led a fleet of nearly 50 pirate ships. This sizeable following allowed Bloody Jack to make his legendary Last Raid, plundering an Amnish fleet returning from the new world of Maztica. Journey's to Maztica were more common then. Following the devastation of the Spellplague contact with the new world was lost, and ships no longer make the arduous journey to that far flung land. Back then tribute fleets from Amn were renowned for their impregnability, as can be expected for a fleet that transports thousands of gold and silver coins from the nation's far-flung colonies to its ever hungry coffers. Amn takes its coin very seriously, and no one before or since has replicated Jack’s feat. The songs about Jack’s Last Raid claim that with a combination of infernal sorcery, matchless seamanship, and savage battlecraft, Jack managed to sneak an entire crew aboard one of the armored treasure ships and slew every man aboard before signaling for his fleet to attack the escorting warships. He then rammed the huge treasure ship through the embattled escort and sailed off, abandoning his own fleet to cover his escape.

Though Jack escaped with the loot, most of his fleet was destroyed by the vengeful Amnish warships. Jack hid the treasure and tried to return to buccaneering, but the tales of his treachery had spread far and wide. He found it difficult to recruit new followers. A few years later, privateers from Amn caught up with him. The captain who managed to take him was afraid that Jack would escape, as he so often had before. So he quickly scuttled Dascombe’s beloved flagship before his eyes, before hanging Jack from the yardarm without even a show trial, only a brief (and brutal) interrogation concerning the whereabouts of the treasure. For his reward, the captain was granted a noble title and lands and, shortly thereafter, a trial for treason and a quick beheading.

Legend has it that Jack’s body was buried at sea, and that soon after he rose from his watery grave. Sailors tell gruesome tales of how Bloody Jack’s revenant now roams the sea searching for his treasure in the shell of his sunken ship, the Red Skull, and sinking every Amnish ship that crosses his path. Most authorities, especially Amnish ones, say these tales are foolish superstition, and that Jack is just another dead pirate. Still, one of the best ways to start a bar fight with Amnish sailors is to sing one of the many songs about Bloody Jack’s Last Raid. Amn periodically funds searches for the missing treasure, more than a century later. None have succeeded and most never return at all.


Session #30 (Baldur's Gate, Candle Keep, Nelanther Isles)
Characters: Inspiration (tiefling bard 7), Vala (air genasi warlock 7), Smashmouth (Goliath paladin 7), Phann (half elf, sorcerer 7), Father Varis (dwarf cleric 7)

The heroes discover that the damage to airship's rigid frame balloon is fairly minor. Repairs are made, and the ship is able to continue its flight to Baldur's Gate with only a slight loss in speed.

In Baldur's Gate, Captain Jyallah is busy conducting business with her various merchant contacts. During that time, Phann visits the temple of Sune (goddess of love and beauty) where he makes a large donation in exchange for a heal spell, which restores his acid burned face. Afterwards he manages to convince the high priestess to personally teach him some tricks of the trade that will help to make an even more skillful lover. This is a lengthy and arduous (but thoroughly enjoyable) process that occupies the majority of his time in Baldur's Gate.

Inspiration, Vala and Smashmouth spend time seeing the sights of the city. They visit Rundel's House of Blades where Inspiration acquires a magical rapier. They also scour the market place in "The Wide" and discover a hat of disguise for sale, which Inspiration also purchases. Vala spends a great deal of time in various taverns and gambling dens, where she begins to build some contacts, should she conduct more business in the city at a future date. She also earns some money playing cards, which she pays to Smashmouth (she owed him money for magic item purchases at the auction in Waterdeep). Smashmouth spends his time attempting to gather more information about the Cult of Elemental Evil.

Four days pass in Baldur's Gate, but soon enough Captain Jyallah is ready to head for Candle Keep. The fast airship covers the distance in a single day. There Smashmouth uses the book the party purchased to gain entrance into the Great Library. The remainder of the party spend their time relaxing in the outer bailey at the Candlekeep Inn.

Smashmouth meets Sabine Lanark, Candle Keep's current Keeper of Tomes, who questions him about his reasons for wanting to view the scrolls of Hazeed Al-Kabar. Smashmouth is honest with her and tells her of the the adventures the heroes had fighting the Cult of Imix in the Sumber Hills. He even agrees to submit to a Zone of Truth spell. After hearing his tale, Mistress Lanark personally takes the time to sit with Smashmouth and review the scroll with him, for the document is written in Alzeedo (the language of the southern nation of Calimshan). The scrolls of Hazeed Al-Kabar tell Smashmouth much about the nature of Elemental Evil and its cults, and it helps to convince him that the threat they confronted in the Hills may not have been sufficiently addressed. He has the Keeper of Tomes send a warning to Abbot Doravick with a sending spell.

With their research complete, the adventurers set out again aboard the airship, heading southwest towards the Nelanther Isles. They travel some 420 miles over the course of over two days. Finally they arrive at the island marked on Jack's treasure map. The island is fairly small- only a few miles across at its longest point. A large hill dominates much of the island, and the hill is covered with thick sub-tropical forest. Near the top of the hill they spot the ruins of a crumbling stone monastery.

The ship flies over the ruin, and Inspiration leaps overboard to land in the courtyard; he floats safely to the ground thanks to a featherfall spell cast by Captain Jyallah. Unfortunately, one of the ruined monk cells is the lair for some sort of fiendish boar. The foul tempered creature charges out into the yard, intent on impaling the tiefling with its razor sharp tusks. Inspiration, manages to avoid its attack, and seconds later Smashmouth has landed by his side to help him, hewing the beast with his axe. The remainder of the heroes attack the boar from the safety of the airship with spells and ranged weapons. Fortunately, it doesn't take long for them to bring the foul creature down, and no one sustains any significant wounds.

The party gathers in the courtyard of the monastery. They decide to explore the largest of the buildings first. Smashmouth steps through the doorway with a torch in hand. The interior consists of but a single room, furnished with only a stone dais. A mural on the far wall depicts shadowy creatures fighting one another. As the goliath moves forward to investigate, the "shadows" peel themselves off the wall an surge forward to swarm him. They drain much of his strength with their attacks, leaving him terribly weakened. He is forced to fall back and heal himself while the remainder of the heroes destroy the undead with their magic and enchanted weapons.

After the fight the party takes a short rest, hoping that Smashmouth will regain his strength. Fortunately, the strength drain inflicted by the shadows is not long lasting (5e is kind that way), and he is soon ready to fight once more. The session ends here with the heroes prepared to continue their exploration of the ruins in the search for Bloody Jack's Gold.


Session #31 (Bloody Jack's Dungeon)
Characters: Inspiration (tiefling bard 7), Vala (air genasi warlock 7), Smashmouth (Goliath paladin 7), Phann (half elf, sorcerer 7), Father Varis (dwarf cleric 7), Captain Jack (human fighter/rogue 6)

The heroes continue searching for Bloody Jack's gold. They descend the secret stair they found in the ruined monastery. This leads them to a room with a floor that is covered with waist deep water, but with the aid of a water walk spell they avoid having to wade. Before they can explore the chamber they are set on by a flock of fiendish stirges; the nasty creatures prove to be little more than a nuisance for the seasoned explorers, and after obliterating the nasties, they search the room and locate a secret door in the floor under the water. The trap door leads opens into a shaft that drops down about one hundred feet, ending in a water filled tunnel. Opening the door promptly drains the chamber of its water, and they venture down the shaft, deeper into the complex.

Jack does some exploration, swimming underwater through the tunnel. He soon discovers that the tunnel is infested with fiendish eels. He retreats back to join his companions, and the eels follow him. The heroes destroy the eels with relative ease and proceed to explore the tunnel. It leads to a large circular chamber with a domed ceiling that is partially filled with water. Some branching tunnels, which are totally submerged, lead off from it, and Vala swims down one of them. She has the misfortune of finding a much larger, huge-sized, fiendish eel- the "eel queen". It ravenously attacks her, grabbing her in its jaws and tearing at her with its teeth. Luckily she is tied to a rope, and her companions attempt to reel her back in, bringing the eel along with her. With their combined strength they drag her into the central chamber and give her healing just in time to save her from being killed by the eel queen's fangs. The adventurers stand on a ledge that runs around the circumference of the room, and they attack the eel with spells and crossbow bolts, distracting it from Vala and enabling her to climb out of the water to get healing from Father Varis.

With the entire party of heroes ganging up on the foul creature, it doesn't take long for them to destroy the eel. However, before it dies, it leaps out of the pool and takes a good bite out of Father Varis, leaving the dwarf badly wounded.

The session ends with the heroes healing themselves and preparing to continue their exploring.


Session #32 (Bloody Jack's Dungeon)
Characters: Inspiration (tiefling bard 7), Vala (air genasi warlock 7), Smashmouth (Goliath paladin 7), Phann (half elf, sorcerer 7), Father Varis (dwarf cleric 7), Captain Jack (human fighter/rogue 6)

Phann and Jack venture up a shaft accessed from domed ceiling of the eel queen's lair, while the rest of the party waits below. Phann uses his spider climb boots to climb the shaft, while Jack makes use of an iron rung ladder.

Near the top of the shaft, Jack triggers a trap when he grabs an iron wrung that is the trap's trigger. A scythe blade shoots out of the wall, just missing Phann and gouging Jack in the neck, causing him a horrible wound. He has to featherfall down to the bottom to get healing from Father Varis.

With the trap having been triggered, the heroes climb the ladder and begin exploring the next level of the dungeon. They soon encounter a room filled with undead guardians, who look to be former Amnite soldiers. Father Varis's ability to turn and destroy undead allows the heroes to make short work of their enemies, and soon the heroes press on. They next discover a circular chamber filled with fiendish baboons. The room is seal with a barred door, trapping the apes inside. The heroes avoid entering, and instead they fire at them with eldritch bolts, and other cantrips. It takes some time, but eventually they send the last of the apes screaming back to the lower planes.

Once the room has been cleared they enter the chamber, and they use their wand of secrets. They locate a secret door in the room. They decide to take a long rest before exploring what is beyond the secret door, and the session ends here.


Session #33 (Bloody Jack's Dungeon)
Characters: Inspiration (tiefling bard 7), Vala (air genasi warlock 7), Smashmouth (Goliath paladin 7), Phann (half elf, sorcerer 7), Father Varis (dwarf cleric 7), Captain Jack (human fighter/rogue 6)

Inspiration casts a Leomund's Hut, and the heroes attempt a long rest. However, before they can get far into it, they are attacked by a large force of undead sent to the kill them. The undead are forced to come at them from a long, ten foot wide hall, and the heroes set up a choke point. There are many of the shambling horrors, but mostly they consist of former Amnite marines that have been animated as skeletons and zombies. The ranged casters blast the undead, and Varis calls upon his divine powers to obliterate them. Soon enough the adventurers have halted the attack. The wight commanders think better than to follow their doomed soldiers, so they retreat down the tunnels. The heroes don't pursue, and instead return to their rest.

After their extended rest, they explore beyond the secret door (discovered at the end of the previous session). A short, narrow tunnel leads them to a large room. The floor is covered with dark water. Rising up out of the water in the middle of the room is a big, stone, stepped pyramid. A narrow stone causeway connects the tunnel to the pyramid. The pyramid is defended by several undead, Vala leads the way to confront them, but as she crosses the causeway, a swinging hammers drop from the ceiling and knocks her into the water. Fortunately, the water walk ritual cast by Varis ensures that she floats up to the surface. She is then swarmed by wraiths, prompting her party members to come to her aid. Father Varis is also knocked into the water while trying to cross the causeway, and Smashmouth ends up with him soon after. Again the waterwalk ritual enables them to stand on the surface, but it doesn't make them immune to the attacks of the fiendish barracudas lurking in the water. The nasty fish soon start chomping at their feet, driving the heroes back to land.

Fighting against the wraiths is intense, both Smashmouth and Vala suffer life drain from the undead, and to make matters worse they discover that healing magic is not easily used in the unholy chamber. Smashmouth is forced to withdraw back into the hallway after suffering extensive wounds.

In the end, they persevere despite suffering many injuries. They next proceed to investigate the pyramid. On the top they discover a statue of a strange crab headed humanoid, and using their wand of secrets they learn that there is a secret door beneath the statue. Thus they push it to the side, and find an opening in the floor. It accesses a long dark shaft that descends to a small room containing a large, iron chest.

They tie Captain Jack to a rope and lower him down, so that he remains dangling just above the floor. He inspects the chest and realizes the lock is coated with a contact poison. He uses mage hand to pick the lock, and he then ties a rope to the lid of the chest. Next they raise him back up the shaft, and he then uses mage hand to pull on the rope and open the lid. Doing so causes a barred grate to seal off the shaft, while water starts pouring into the room. Luckily Captain Jack is above the grate. Smashmouth destroys it with his axe, and while the chamber fills with water. Vala loots the gold (having no need to breath, the water filling the room isn't an issue). The tomb raiders return to the Eclipse (skyship) with their booty. It is counted (some 30,000 gp) and divided. The session ends here.


ession #34 (Bloody Jack's Gold)
Characters: Inspiration (tiefling bard 8), Vala (air genasi warlock 8), Smashmouth (Goliath paladin 8), Phann (half elf, sorcerer 8), Father Varis (dwarf cleric 8), Captain Jack (human fighter/rogue 7)

Whilst the heroes are resting on the Eclipse and preparing to return to the tomb to claim the silver they scavenged, the ship is attacked in the night by a pair of bone devil assassins. Father Varis is on watch, patrolling the deck of the skyship with a few other sailors, while the rest of the adventurers are resting in their cabins below deck.
The devils are invisible when they initiate their attack; they begin by slaughtering several sailors with their claws and stinger tails. This immediately turns them visible. Father Varis calls for help and moves to engage one of them. The thing tears into him with a brutal attack that nearly kills the dwarf. Fortunately his companions are quick to come to his aid. They have little time to don armour, but they have their weapons and magic. The bone devils are deadly foes, but the heroes have aid from Sir Korvin- Captain Jyallah's bodyguard. Furthermore, the bone devils aren't interested in a prolonged battle and they quickly retreat once the fight starts to turn against them.

Afterwards the sailors on the ship want nothing more than to get away from the cursed island. Jyallah and Captain Jack agree to their request, and they abandon the remainder of the plunder. They set sail immediately, and the next day they arrive at the city of Velen. The Eclipse and their crew spend a few days in port. Jyallah invites the heroes to join her. She plans to return to her home city of Zazesspur in Tethyr, and after spending some time back at home she wishes to head east towards the Lake of Steam. The party considers her proposal, but in the end they turn it down. Smashmouth is still concerned about the threat posed by the Cult of Elemental Evil and wishes to return north. They convince her to take a detour and deliver them to Baldur's Gate.

Back in Baldur's Gate the heroes spend almost a month of downtime recovering from their recent adventures. Father Varis spends time enchanting his glaive. Phann continues his training in the sexual arts with the Mylissa the high priestess of Sune. Vala does some gambling, while Inspiration spends time performing in various taverns throughout the city. The heroes also spend time scouring the markets for magic items for sale. Over the course of the month they manage to find and purchase a cloak of protection, broom of flying, winged boots, bag of tricks, and stone of luck.


Session #35 (The Battle of Winding Water Ford)
Characters: Inspiration (tiefling bard 8), Vala (air genasi warlock 8), Smashmouth (Goliath paladin 8), Phann (half elf, sorcerer 8), Father Varis (dwarf, cleric 8)

During the course of their downtime in Baldur's Gate, they pick up rumours of attacks on the trade roads being made by humanoids led by fiends. It is speculated that the raiders are operating from Dragonspear castle and that a gate has been reopened in the depths of the castle to the lower planes. As the month goes by, the situation escalates, and soon there are rumors of a fiend led enemy army marching towards Baldur's Gate. The Flaming Fist is mobilized and sent north to confront the approaching invaders. A proposal is put forth by the Dukes of Baldur's Gate offering lands and titles to anyone who seals the gate. The heroes offer their aid.

The heroes set forth for Dragonspear castle in the company of 100 of the Flaming Fists elite heavy cavalry- some of the best soldiers the Sword Coast has to Offer. As they get closer to Troll Claw Ford, they encounter a griffon riding messenger who informs them that the enemy army has crossed the ford and the Flaming Fist defenders are only barely holding. Reinforcements are needed, so the cavalry spurs their mounts forward. The adventurers join them, racing their own steeds to the battle.

When they arrive at the Ford, they find that the infantry forces of the Flaming Fist are being hard pressed. The infantry has formed a shield wall and are about to face a legion of hobgoblins that is pressing towards them, spear headed by a force of giants. Behind the Flaming Fist infantry is a unit of crossbowmen, but they have been rendered impotent by squads of spined devils flying down and attacking them from the air. The Flaming Fist also has a large cavalry unit that stands ready to charge the flank of the hobgoblins, but an equally large unit of worg riding hobgoblins is ready to intercept them. Finally the humans are supported by several griffon riding knights, led by Duke Adrian Abdel. The griffon riders are fully engaged with fighting the many squads of flying spined devils. Up on a hill, looking over the entire battle, is the mighty devil commander and a large force of bearded devils, and waiting patiently near the ford are two large reserve units of hobgoblin infantry.

Lord Byron decides to lead his cavalry unit against the worg riders. They are accompanied by the adventuring band known as the Company of the Black Flame and the Brotherhood of the Scimitar mercenaries. At the same time, the heroes move to join the Flaming Fist infantry and help them deal with the unit of giants that threatens to break their shield wall.

For the next several minutes the heroes find themselves in an intense mass battle. Phann and Inspiration hang back within the protection of the human shield wall to cast spells, while Smashmouth, Vala and Father Varis bravely engage the giants and ogres in melee. Phann makes great use of his magic, hammering the enemy with fireballs and using suggestion spells to turn the giants against each other. Inspiration provides support in the form of healing magic and the odd offensive spell- such as thunderous shatter spells. Smashmouth and Vala both fight bravely. Vala uses her deadly combination of graceful melee attacks and precision eldritch blasts. Smashmouth is a giant slaying machine, and he frequently makes forays beyond the safety of the shield wall where he fells several giants with his mighty axe. Father Varis bravely battles their enemies with his glaive, but also provides divine support by healing the wounded (mainly Smashmouth) and blessing the weapons of his allies with radiant flame. The giants are deadly enemies that hit hard. Smashmouth, Vala and Father Varis sustain terrible wounds from their clubs, and even Phann and Inspiration are not safe from their hurled rocks. However, after much bloodshed the weary adventurers keep the giants at bay, preventing them from sundering the shield wall. This gives the Flaming Fist the edge they need to hold their line and repulse the hobgoblins. Victory is theirs for the moment, but the battle is not over.


Session #36 (Arrival at Dragonspear Castle)
Characters:
Inspiration (tiefling bard 8)
Vala (air genasi warlock 8)
Smashmouth (Goliath paladin 8)
Phann (half elf, sorcerer 8)
Father Varis (dwarf, cleric 8)

The heroes take time to rest after routing the enemy forces. The hobgoblins and few surviving ogres and giants have retreated to the river where they are regrouping and joining the remainder of the defeated worg cavalry and the hobgoblin reserve units. The Flaming Fist has suffered heavy losses and is also regrouping. They hope that soon the dwarven mercenaries will arrive to help, for they aren't certain if they can withstand another assault.

Duke Abdel Adrian flies down and congratulates the heroes on their heroism in taking on the giants whilst flaming fist mercenaries stand in awe of their performance. He encourages them to continue on with their mission to close the gate to the Nine Hells at Dragonspear castle, for every moment the gate is open more devils can enter the world. He offers them griffons to hasten their journey, and the heroes accept without hesitation.

They fly northeast into the evening and rest in the wilderness that night. The next day they continue their journey, and soon they are approaching the High Moor and the ruins of the castle. However, before they arrive, they spot a company of one hundred or so hippogriff riders coming from the northwest. The heroes decide to conduct a parlay with the riders. They discover, they are from Waterdeep, and they heading for Dragonspear Castle and are also intent on trying to shut down the gate. The two groups agree to join forces to help take down the gate. The hippogriff riders plan to attack the castle from the air with the intention of providing a distraction that will enable smaller strike teams to infiltrate the dungeons below the castle and neutralize the gate. The adventurers volunteer to be one of these strike teams.

Under the cover of darkness, they move in on the castle. They find a river that cuts its way into the hillside beneath the castle. The heroes decide to investigate the river in the hopes that it may provide an less secure access point into the castle. This gamble pays off, though they are forced to hold their breath and swim through areas that are completely submerged.

They eventually emerge form the water at a stone dock with a set of stairs leading up. A pair of bearded devils are standing on guard duty on the docks, and the adventurers manage to get the jump on them. They take them down before they can sound the alarm, and then the adventurers make their way up the stairs. They come to a sealed door, but Vala is able to cast a dimension door spell to get past it. She brings Smashmouth with her, and the pair discover two more bearded devils on guard behind the doors. She distracts them while Smashmouth lifts the bar from the door, allowing the rest of the party to join the scuffle. The devils are outmatched, but they soon have reinforcements in the form of ten legion devils. Luckily, Inspiration knows a little of these fiends, and he is able to warn his companions that legion devils fight as one. Until enough damage has been inflicted on them to kill them all not a single one will fall, and when that does happen they will all fall as one. This makes them more dangerous than they might otherwise be, but the heroes are now seasoned warriors, and they hold their own. Eventually the devils are forced back to the Nine Hells, leaving the adventurers free to delve deeper into their stronghold.


Session #37 (The devils Dragonspear Castle)
Characters:
Inspiration (tiefling bard 8)
Vala (air genasi warlock 8)
Smashmouth (Goliath paladin 8)
Phann (half elf, sorcerer 8)
Father Varis (dwarf, cleric 8)

The adventurers continue to explore the dungeons of Dragonspear Castle in search of a portal to the Nine Hells that they know they must close. They hear horns from above telling them that the hippogriff riders from Waterdeep had begun their assault on the castle. They also soon come across several spined devils that are in the process of exiting the dungeon through small tunnels, presumably so that they can fly up to aid in its defence. The heroes wait, in hopes that they will all leave, but a half dozen devils stay behind, and the adventurers decide to confront them rather than risk the fiends attacking them from behind later. The spined devils are little match for the heroes, but one of them does manage to escape to warn his superior officer. Fortunately, his superior is a bearded devil charged with trying to get a pack of barely sentient lemure devils to clear away fallen rocks in a nearby chamber.

The companions engage this next group of devils and hack through them with ease. To their right they spot another long set of stairs leading down. This one takes them to a long, narrow room that is blocked off at its far end by a wall of magical fire. The room is flanked by balconies, but the balconies are shrouded in magical darkness. The hall itself is defended by a four bearded devils. Father Varis leads the charge, and the devils converge on him dealing deadly wounds to him with their glaives and beards. Vala and Smashmouth are forced to come to his aid. Phann and Inspiration hang back in the stairwell. Once the melee fighters are out in the hall several devils hidden in the darkness up on the balcony begin hurling motes of fire down at them. Soon the companions are terribly wounded and starting to fall. Fortunately, Inspiration's healing word spells saves them from dying. Inspiration also clears out the darkness on one of the balconies with a dispel magic. Phann casts a web spell on the dark balcony in hopes of halting the attacks from that side. However, the devils conjure their flames to burn the webbing away. He adds additional support by casting a haste spell on Smashmouth and then using his magical slippers to scuttle along the walls onto the now visible balcony and start blasting the barbed devils with lightning bolts. Varis, Smashmouth and Vala finish off the bearded devils. Smashmouth then performs some much needed self-healing. He then climbs the railing to join the half elf. Vala levitates up as well, and Varis remembers he has winged boots, giving him access to the balcony as well. The barbed devils are nasty bastards, and significantly tougher foes than the bearded devils. It takes a lot of abuse to send them back to Hell, but send them back the heroes do.

They then turn their attention to the other balcony where two more barbed devils have continued to pelt them with magical fire. Inspiration dispels the final area of darkness, and his allies prepare to engage the final pair of devils. Suddenly two more bearded devils emerge from the wall of fire. These two head straight for Inspiration. Smashmouth and Brother Varis are ordered by Vala to go down and help him, while she harries the remaining barbed devils with eldritch blasts. Smashmouth is reluctant to heed her advice, but in the end he, along with Varis, leaps off the balcony into the hall below and helps Varis fell the bearded devils. The two barbed devils also jump down to join the final melee. They fight well, but in the end they too are finally defeated.

The fight is over, and the heroes have spent nearly all their magic. They are wounded and desperate for a rest. Unfortunately, they have no time for such luxuries. If they don't press on they will likely be swarmed by reinforcements from above. They need to get to the gate fast and find a way to close it. However, they decide its vital that they do at least a little healing before pressing on, so they take a very short rest, and they quaff some healing potions and cast a few of their precious remaining cure spells.


GMs Notes: I recall the fight in that session being one of the better tactical combats of the campaign. The devils can see in magical darkness and they are immune to fire, so they had some terrain features in their advantage that made it tough on the heroes, and they had a good combination of melee and ranged support, which forced the heroes to make interesting tactical choices and make careful use of their spells and magic items.

They are looking pretty beat up by the end, and if they want to close the gate, they need to press forward despite being low on resources.


Session #38 (Attempting to seal the Gate to the Nine Hells)
Characters: Inspiration (tiefling bard 9), Vala (air genasi warlock 9), Smashmouth (Goliath paladin 9), Phann (half elf, sorcerer 9), Father Varis (dwarf, cleric 9)

As the heroes are preparing to press on deeper into the dungeon beneath Dragonspear Castle, they hear boot steps approaching from the stairs behind them. They encounter Lady Amcathra and several of her best hippogriff riders. They too are searching for the gate to the Nine Hells, but they are being pursued by a host of devils. Lady Amcathra and her warriors agree to defend the bottom of the stairs and buy the heroes time to find the gate. She offers them a rod of cancellation, which she suggests they could hurl into the portal, which would destroy the gate's magic and seal it shut. She also gives them two of her bravest warriors to aid in the task.

The heroes soon find the chamber holding the gate. The vile portal is at the far end of the long room. Hellish flames and thick, noxious smoke spews through the portal, filling the hall. There are arched openings located along the side walls of the hall, but what lies beyond the openings is concealed by magical darkness. Standing within the smoke, ready to protect the gate is a dangerous looking female devil.

Phann readies the rod of cancellation, then Inspiration uses a dimension door spell to teleport himself and Phann to the portal, where upon Phann throws the rod into the portal. A surge of magical energy bursts from within the portal, washing over the heroes. For an instant all goes black, and when they regain their senses they find themselves floating in astral space. Several devils float nearby them, including the devil warrior woman and a dozen legion devils. Also nearby them is a floating, 60' diameter disk of liquid magenta- one of the famed colour pools of the astral plane that acts as portals to the outer plans. Unfortunately, no one in the group knows where this portal goes.

They are too beat up to risk a fight with the devils, so the heroes recover their weapons, which are floating about nearby (except for Inspiration, who loses his enchanted rapier to a devil). Smashmouth also almost loses his magical axe when a devil grabs it before he can reach it. Fortunately, Phann uses a suggestion spell on the devil, forcing the fiend to return the weapon to the goliath. The heroes flee through the colour pool, taking some attacks from the devils as they escape. Sadly, the two warriors sent with them by Lady Amacthra aren't able to successful reach the colour pool, and they die in battle with the devils.

The colour pool leads to the The Howling Caverns of Pandemonium- one of the lower planes, and a place of madness and despair. Here, in this dark and frigid waste they are blasted by shrieking winds that tear at their flesh and sanity. Eventually, they find some respite within a small crevass in the wall of the great cavern they are deposited into. Here, Inspiration casts a Leomund's Hut spell, providing the band with a shelter where they can take a direly needed extended rest.


Session #39 (Bargaining their way our of Pandamonium)
Characters: Inspiration (tiefling bard 9), Vala (air genasi warlock 9), Smashmouth (Goliath paladin 9), Phann (half elf, sorcerer 9), Father Varis (dwarf, cleric 9)

After managing a rest within the magic hut spell, the heroes use commune spells to help them find a way to get off the plane. They learn that if they walk into the wind they will eventually, find a less than helpful individual who knows a way that they can get back to the prime material plane.

Thus, the heroes set out, walking into the wind. Again their sanity and endurance are tested. Rocks and other debris flung by the gale force winds batter them, but they find the strength to keep pressing forward. Eventually, they come to a large cliff. They are standing on the top, and the rock drops down deep into darkness far below. Using fly magic they descend the treacherous escarpment. The winds are somewhat weaker and less dangerous on the valley floor below. The adventurers continue on, and eventually they reach a river- the first sign of water they have seen since their arrival. Inspiration suspects that it is the river Styx, which, according to legend can devour the memories of anyone who makes contact with the waters. They decide it is best to fly over the waters, and after safely crossing they continue forward.

Finally, they reach a wall- a haphazard wall of piled stone that looks like it was constructed and seems to surround a settlement of some sort. They fly over the wall and find a ruined town on the other side. The town is inhabited primarily by damned petitioners- reconstituted souls of the living, now insane and suffering through an eternity anguish. Only a few of these mad wretches constitute a threat, and they are easily cut down. In the center of town they discover a great tower made from fused bone. It is capped by a giant, horned skull that looks like it may have belonged to a gargantuan demon or dragon. The tower sits in a large, circular courtyard and is surrounded by a moat. It has no obvious entrance.

Inspiration and Vala fly up to the top of the tower, to investigate. They suspect that they might be able to enter through the huge eye sockets in the giant skull. However, as they approach, skulls wreathed in purple flame detach themselves from the sides of the tower and fly to intercept the heroes. The skulls attack with magic spells bombarding Vala and Inspiration with fireballs and magic missiles. Inspiration uses a dimension door spell to teleport them into one of the eye holes, allowing them to allude the guardians before they are obliterated by magic. The skulls show no interest in Varis, Smashmouth and Phann who remain watching from below in the courtyard, and with Vala and Inspiration gone they refuse themselves to the sides of the tower.

A narrow tunnel of bone leads Vala and Inspiration from the eye socket deeper into the skull. They come to a circular chamber filled with hanging cages. Each cage has a tormented, naked, humanoid prisoner within. A simple wooden table sits by each cage, and the effects of each prisoner seem to be laid out on the respective tables. Two individuals are within the room. One is a humanoid wearing a hooded robe standing with his back to the heroes. He is busy inspecting a man trapped in one of the cages. The second figure is much larger. It is a green skinned fiend, carrying a huge axe. It looks like it once had bat-like wings, but they have been clipped, and now only ugly stumps protrude from its muscular back. The demon senses the pair watching from the shadows of the hall, and it alerts its master.

The pair turn and confront the heroes. The fiend seems eager to hew them apart with its axe, but Inspiration uses his silver tongue to speak to them in infernal and quell immediate violence. A tense set of negotiations occur, and, all things considered, the heroes come out fairly well off (amazing persuasion rolls by the bard). In the end the heroes gain a plane shift scroll, along with a planar key to the material plane in exchange for Vala's and Inspriation's rings of protection.

Meanwhile in the courtyard, a mad and deformed giant spots Smashmouth, Phann and Varis. It approaches and offers Smashmouth a rotted carcass in exchange for Phann as a meal. Phann casts a suggestion spell and sends him on his way before a fight ensues.

Vala and Inspiration rejoin the party. Vala calls upon the aid of her dark patron and casts the spell on the scroll, transporting the heroes back to Baldur's Gate. They arrive in the middle of the Wide and find that a large crowd has gathered there. They see a stage set up, and Duke Abdel Adrian is in the midst of giving a speech. He mentions the heroism of the adventurers and how they gave their lives to seal the gate to the Nine Hells. At this point, the heroes move to the stage and make it clear they yet live. The Duke is surprised to see them alive and well, but he invites them up onto the stage where they are showered with cheers from the crowd.

The Exchange RPG Superstar 2010 Top 32

Sounds like a tense, fun time your guys are having! And I don't know if it's just 5e but you're doing plenty of plane-hopping at what seems a relatively low level. The sooner the better, of course :-)


A lot of monsters have lower CR ratings than they did in 3e (which were often a little inflated IMO anyhow), so it means that you can more easily run adventures with planar beings for lower level groups than you might have in 3e or 4e.

However, there doesn't seem to be quite enough good high level threats for 5e, so I feel like finding enough monsters for high level campaigns could become problematic.

The next adventure is loosely based on the Murder in Baldur's Gate adventure, which was made for 5e, but was published prior to the official release of 5e. That adventure was for levels 1-3, so I've made a lot of changes.


Session #40 (Curse of Bhaal Prologue)
Characters: Inspiration (tiefling bard 9), Vala (air genasi warlock 9), Smashmouth (Goliath paladin 9), Father Varis (dwarf, cleric 9)

The heroes spend several weeks of downtime in the Baldur’s Gate region. Each of them are rewarded for their heroism by the Dukes with properties. Inspiration is given the deed to a playhouse in Upper City. Phann is gifted with a notorious tavern/brothel in Lower City that is known up and down the Sword Coast as the Blessed Mermaid. Vala is given a modest townhouse in the Bloomridge Neighbourhood of Lower City; she is also given a pair of twin enchanted scimitars. Finally, Smashmouth and Father Varis are each given large tracks of land south of Baldur’s Gate near the Wood of Sharp Teeth.

Each character spends many days of downtime time getting acquainted with his/her new holdings. Inspiration oversees the repairs needed to fix up the playhouse. He also spends time writing a new play that he plans to produce at the Playhouse. Meanwhile Phann makes himself busy learning the ins and outs of the Blushing Mermaid and its female staff. He continues to maintain a dalliance with the halfling Lydia, as well as Lady Mylissa the priestess of Sune. Vala spends many hours training with her new blades, fostering underworld connections and gambling in various taverns throughout the city. Father Varis hires a guide and dwarven prospector to take him and Smashmouth on a tour of their new lands. He has heard that there are minerals in the hills, and he hopes to establish a profitable mine.

One day, while Inspiration is at the playhouse, Grand Duke Abdel Adrian pays him a visit. The Duke has heard rumours of the bard’s diplomatic skills, and he requests that Inspiration help him convince the Council of Peers to send forces north to help battle the remains of the devil army. His scouts have reported that what's left of the army has moved north from Dragonspear castle and is now marching towards Waterdeep. Waterdeep has requested aid, but the majority of the council feels that Baldur’s Gate has already sacrificed enough men fighting the devils. The tiefling agrees to the Duke’s request.

Seconds after the Duke steps out of the playhouse, Inspiration hears shouts and commotion. He hurries to the doors to see what is going on. Crimson, the female, tiefling leader of the Company of the Black Flame, had been at the playhouse at the time with her halfling friend Lydia, and the pair join Inspiration. They see that the Duke is under attack. Masked assassins are streaming out of the alleys into the square in front of the playhouse. The Duke and his guards are trying to fend them off but are in need of aid. The adventurers join the combat. Crimson summons her bonded great sword to her hand and enters battle with the attackers. Lydia draws her short sword and acrobatically darts out among the assassins. Inspiration remains in the doorway and provides magical support. Vala happens to be approaching the playhouse at the same time, and she see the fight break out and she rushes into the action. The heroes give a good showing, but the leader of the assassins is a deadly foe. He summons clouds of magical darkness and wields an enchanted scimitar that blazes with dark energy. He focuses all his attacks against the Duke, who, although very old, is a retired adventurer with the blood of a god flowing through his veins (Bhaal- refer to the storyline from the Baldur's Gate video game series). The Duke is more than a match for most enemies, but the man trying to kill him shares his divine blood, and eventually Abdel Adrian falls to his foe's dark blade. As this happens, the divine power trapped in the Duke is seemingly transferred to his attacker. The man suddenly undergoes a horrific transformation, mutating into a hulking fiend with an acid dripping maw and deadly claws. This new foe proves deadly, but the heroes persevere and soon destroy it, whereupon it melts away into a black puddle of acidic goo. Sadly the good Duke is dead.

In the days that follow the city mourns the loss of one of their greatest heroes, and there is an extensive inquest into the death of the Duke. Inspiration, Vala, Crimson, Lydia and every other witness is forced to appear before the council to give a statement about the dark events.

Meanwhile, out in the wilderness Smashmouth, Varis, their guide Bran and dwarven prospector Dalgun tour their lands. Smashmouth’s holdings are by and large wilderness, but Father Varis has a couple of small settlements on his lands, including a village. Soon enough they find themselves approaching the village. It is surrounded by a wooden palisade, and a pair of guards stand watch on a rampart overlooking the gate. Varis declares himself, and they gain entrance to the village where they are greeted by the current mayor. They soon learn that trouble is afoot. The mayor has been tortured and imprisoned in the stocks, and a powerful cleric of Talos named Kregan and his band of brigands has taken over the settlement. Varis and his companions catch onto this fairly quickly, and soon they decide to settle the manner with steel. A bloody battle breaks out in the courtyard in front of the lord’s hall. Kregan has many followers, among them are a few berserkers from the Northland Isles.

The heroes find themselves outnumbered, and Kregan brings the power of the storm lord against them, summoning columns of unholy fire and blasting them with waves of thunder. Yet, despite his divine power, the heroes are victorious, slaying Kregan and his followers. Sadly Bran is killed, and Varis and Smashmouth nearly suffer the same fate, but the village is free from the brigands.

Varis learns from the villagers that the nearby hills are inhabited by a monstrous, bull-like creature with an iron plated hide. The beast is said to be capable of breathing a noxious gas that turns victims to stone, but Smashmouth and Varis decide that they’ve had enough excitement, and they decide to return to Baldur’s Gate to gather their companions before dealing with the monster.

The Exchange RPG Superstar 2010 Top 32

My word, those are some dramatic happenings :-D


Session #41 (The Curse of Bhaal, Part #1)
Characters: Inspiration (tiefling bard 9), Vala (air genasi warlock 9), Smashmouth (Goliath paladin 9), Father Varis (dwarf, cleric 9), Phann (half elf, sorcerer 9)

After the Grand Duke’s death there is a noticeable change in the city. It is as if a curse has befallen Baldur’s Gate. Everyone is irritable, some folk murderously so. Violence and conflict are constantly breaking out and the city’s murder rate soars. The watch and the Flaming Fist can’t hope to contain it, and it seems that city may well destroy itself. Whispers say that Bhaal the dead god of murder has returned.

During these dark days Phann is approached at the Blushing Mermaid by Lady Silvershield, the wife of Duke Torlin Silvershield, who is now the most politically powerful man in the city. She has heard the stories of Phann secretly slipping into the chambers of lonely noble women and pleasuring them in exchange for coin. She wants Phann to give her and her daughter one of his special visits before her daughter is sent away to Waterdeep to be wed. Phann, who is ever eager to make contacts among the city’s rich and powerful, agrees to Lady Silvershield’s request, and it is decided that he will see her the next evening just after dark.

The heroes decide they will investigate the curse and see if they can find a means of saving the city- it is now their home after-all. They first pay a visit to Duke Torlin Silvershield, as he is also the High Artificer of Gond, the most influential and powerful priest in the city. They time their visit to distract the Duke while Phann “visits” his wife. At their meeting with the Duke they learn that the Duke has communed with his god and learned that Bhaal has returned. He believes this happened when Duke Abdel Adrian was killed, and his divine energy was freed. They spend some time discussing how they might free the city of its curse. It is agreed that they will travel to Candlekeep where they believe they may be able to find a magical ritual that might purge the curse. To expedite their journey, Duke Torlin offers to loan them griffon steeds.

Thus they fly south towards Candlekeep. On the way they spot a merchant and his small entourage being attacked by a band of gnolls. The gnolls have a troll with them, and the merchant’s guards are clearly over matched. The heroes decide to intervene. They swoop down from the sky. Vala and Smashmouth hurl themselves into melee and focus their attacks at the troll, while Phann fireballs the gnolls. The battle is resolved in moments, and the gnolls prove to be little match for the experienced adventurers.

In Candle Keep, Inspiration heads up the research. He learns of potent ritual called the Song of Spiritual Cleansing. The library has a copy of the ritual, and Inspiration is given permission to study it. He is aided by Vala, and he spends four days learning the song.

During this time Smashmouth, Varis and Phann return to Varis’s lands. They venture into the hills to confront the gorgon. Eventually they track it down, but as they confront the creature, they discover that there are actually three of the temperamental beasts, making the fight significantly tougher than expected. However, the gods are with them, and although they sustain injuries no one is turned to stone. The gorgons are slain, and the hills appears safe for prospecting.

Inspiration recalls an artifact sacred to the goddess Eldath called the Heavenly Harp of Healing, which he believes could be essential in heightening the power of the Sacred Song of Spiritual Cleansing. According to legend, Eldath sometimes bestows the harp on an worthy individual to help bring peace to an area wracked by conflict. Inspiration believes that the situation in Baldur’s Gate might be worthy of the goddess’s attention, and he convinces the rest of the party to undertake a quest for the harp. It is his understanding that to gain the harp they will need to visit a site that is particularly holy to Eldath. At the site they can hopefully commune with the goddess. The only such site he knows of is a sacred spring in the Greypeak mountains far to the northeast. Thus, the adventurers set out from Candle Keep, flying northeast.


Session #42 (Curse of Bhaal Part #2)
Characters: Inspiration (tiefling bard 9), Vala (air genasi warlock 9), Smashmouth (Goliath paladin 9), Father Varis (dwarf, cleric 9), Phann (half elf, sorcerer 9)

The flight to the Greypeak mountains is uneventful, except that as they fly over the High Moor they encounter a terrible and unnatural storm. They are forced to set the griffons down and take shelter, and they lose a day of travel due to the weather.

Eventually, they reach the town the of Llorkh, a rugged frontier town situated along the White River near the Greypeak mountains. The town has seen better days, and it looks like it once housed a larger population than it does now. The adventurers land in the muddy town square. Whistles blow from the walls, and it is evident that guards have spotted them. They wait, and soon a patrol arrives at the square to intercept them.

A parlay ensues, and it is clear that the guards aren’t pleased that heroes flew in without using the gate or paying the appropriate taxes. Vala appeases them by offering the commander five gold. Moments later Lord Protector Luscious Blackmoor arrives, mounted on a dire boar, and accompanied by his entourage. The entourage includes a heavily armoured female goliath named Norgi. She is the first of goliath Smashmouth has seen in a long, long time. She is also Lord Blackmoor’s wife. Blackmoor is the local priest of Bane, and it seems that this dark god holds sway over the town. Luckily, Blackmoor sees the wisdom in negotiation. The heroes are able to convince him to overlook their illegal entry into town, and allow them to go about their business in return for a donation to the Temple of Bane.

He arranges for the griffons to be stabled in the public stables, and he orders his guards to escort them to the Ugly Harpy Inn to get themselves settled. Afterwards they are to visit the Temple of Bane to show their respects. He informs them that Norgi has a sister in town named Yora who is a hunter and who knows the wilderness very well. She may be able to help them find the spring.

The heroes respect the Duke’s wishes, and they stable their griffons, check their weapons at the Ugly Harpy and then visit the temple. Here they make small offerings to Bane. Afterwards Norgi escorts them to meet her sister Yora. Phann hits on her the entire way, but Norgi shows no interest in the half elf. Yora has no love of strangers, but she is impressed by Smashmouth. She too has not seen another one of her kind in many years. It turns out that Yora and her sister are refugees. They came to Llorkh about four years ago after their clan hold in the mountains was destroyed by a blue dragon. They are all that is left of the clan. The heroes tell Yora of their quest, and she agrees to guide them into the mountains to find the sacred spring.

Phann decides that Smashmouth needs to get laid, and he convinces Yora to join them for dinner at the Ugly Harpy. Vala offers to babysit her two children. Yora agrees, as she is clearly quite taken with Smashmouth. That night Smashmouth and Yora shake the Ugly Harpy to its foundations with their love making.

The next day Yora guides them into the mountains. They fly towards the headwaters of the White River. Here they find the Sacred Spring. The spring is a place of peace and rest. It calms the entire party and eases their burdens. Inspiration performs a song at the pool, and his performance is good enough to gain the attention of Eldath. She arises from the pool with the Heavenly Harp, and Inspiration tells her of their quest. She agrees to give him the harp if he can prove that he has mastered the Song of Spiritual Cleansing. With a little luck bending from Phann, Inspiration reforms the ritual song to her satisfaction, and he entrusts him with the harp.

Several days later the heroes return to Baldur’s Gate. They see that the city has been plagued with fire and riots, but it still stands. Inspiration attunes himself to Varis’s winged boots and he flies high into the sky above the harbour. Here he performs the ritual song with the aid of the Heavenly Harp. The harp is a potent artifact, and its music floats out over the entire city. Its magic lifts he curse, making the place far more peaceful than it was before the curse. After the song is complete and the curse has been lifted the harp vanishes, presumably reclaimed by Eldath. The heroes have succeeded in their quest and they have likely sealed their reputations as great heroes of Baldur’s Gate.


Session #43 (Return to the Dessarin Valley)
Characters: Inspiration (tiefling bard 9), Smashmouth (Goliath paladin 9), Father Varis (dwarf, cleric 9), Phann (half-elf, sorcerer 9), Bryce (eladrin, fighter 1/wizard/bladesinger 8)

After spending two ten days in Baldur’s Gate the heroes finally return north to the Dessarin Valley region to confront the Cult of Elemental Evil. Vala remains behind in Baldur's Gate where she hopes to live a more peaceful and quiet existence, for the ritual of Spiritual Cleansing has healed her tormented soul and curbed her lust for adventure and killing.

Their first stop is the Abbey of Goldenfields where Smashmouth and his friends speak with Abbot Doravick of the Emerald Enclave. They update the abbot on their recent adventures and their findings regarding the cult of Elemental Evil. He in turn tells them of reports of a red dragon plaguing the Dessarin Valley and of unnatural weather that has resulted in floods, storms, earthquakes and tornadoes. The adventurers recall rumours of a dragon that was said to have been in league with the fire cult that they had destroyed months earlier. However at that time the dragon had not been making raids on settlements. They logically conclude that the dragon sightings are likely the same creature.

Abbot Doravick also takes time to introduce the heroes to an elf from a fey realm to the east named Bryce Wynne. It turns out that Bryce has come to the Sword Coast searching for his father and for a princess of his distant realm. Apparently the missing pair had been last seen heading into the Sumber Hills in search of a lost dwarven city over a year before. Abbot Doravick had suspected that the city they were looking for was the same one that Smashmouth and company had confronted the fire cult in. Bryce manages to convince them that he is a capable adventurer and that they should allow him to accompany them into the hills and lead him to the dwarf city.

The heroes decide that they will first try to slay the dragon, and Doravick offers to help them by providing them with potions of fire resistance and healing. A few days later they mount their griffons and fly through stormy weather to reach the Sumber Hills. Bryce doesn’t have a griffon, but he does have a flying steed named Elfreed. Elfreed is a strange creature, reptilian like a dragon but with feathered wings like a bird. It is fast enough to keep up with the griffons, and eventually, they reach the remains of the keep where they first confronted the fire cult, and from there they access the tunnel that takes them to the remains of the dwarven city. Father Varis had yet to set eyes on the place, and he is quite fascinated with this lost realm. His takes in the details of the architecture and contemplates the possibilities of restoring it to its former glory.

Soon they come to the vast forge area where they had their final battle against Vanifer and the fire cult. Here they see the great shaft that descends down to a cavern filled with lava. Somewhere down there is where they believe the dragon’s lair to be. Bryce assists them in locating it by summoning an invisible arcane eye to scout. It is sent down the shaft to explore. Halfway down the shaft, before reaching the lava caves at the bottom, it discovers the entrance to another series of tunnnels. He decides to send it to explore this area first. The caves prove to be quite expansive, and he isn’t able to survey them in their entirety, but he does discover one cave of particular interest. It is quite large and within is a small stepped pyramid with a black stone altar upon it. Gathered in the chamber are several individuals that the heroes suspect might be members of the water cult. Their leader stands at the altar, seemingly performing some sort of magical ritual involving a strange orb. The "man" has a disturbing crablike pincer grafted in place of where his right hand should be. His body is encrusted with barnacles, he wields an ornate trident, and his robes seem to be made from kelp and seaweed.

Bryce next directs his arcane eye to venture back to the shaft and descend to the bottom. Here he discovers a series of lava filled caves. One of the caves is inhabited by a huge red scaled dragon, which appears to be dozing on an island of rock strewn with treasure that emerges from a large lava pool. Despite the appearance the dragon is sleeping, it is still quite alert, and it sees the invisible eye. It's eyes flare open with anger. It then uses its dragon magic and dispels the arcane eye.

The heroes discuss their next course of action. They consider venturing down below to confront the dragon, but the dragon appears to be an adult red, which is a dangerous foe, particularly in its lair. Inspiration advises that it may be too dangerous to try to battle the dragon on its home turf, and he talks Smashmouth out of such a course of action. Instead they decide to pay a visit to the water cultists. Father Varis speaks the dwarven command words to activate the enchanted, floating stone disk that functions as an elevator in the shaft. It lowers to the caves halfway down the shaft, and they make their way to the altar cavern. In caves they enter along the way they discover the remains of a summoning circle and an intact and beautifully carved black stone sarcophagus. Bryce believes that both items were crafted by drow elves, which is a little odd since the city above is clearly of dwarven craftsmanship.

Upon reaching the altar cave the heroes attempt to first parlay with the water cultists. Their leader recognizes the adventurers even though he has never met them before. He claims that he has seen visions of them, and he tells his followers that they are the ones that destroyed their enemy Vanifer and her fire cult. The water cultists applaud the heroes. The heroes explain that they had come to kill the dragon, and the cult leader is very much in favour of this. However, he is unwilling to loan them men or magic to help in the task. He does direct them to seek out Queen Du Lac, who he explains is the leader of the cult of Elemental Air, as she might be more able to help in such a capacity. The named “Queen Du Lac” immediately catches Bryce’s attention, for DuLac is the surname of the elf princess he is searching for- the princess that was traveling with his father. He asks where she can be found, and the water cult leader directs them to the palace ward in the city above. At this point, Smashmouth quietly suggests to his companions that since the cult leader is unwilling to directly aid them in battle against the dragon, and that because he has clearly become corrupted by elemental evil, it is their duty to destroy the cultists. Thus the parlay turns into a fight as the heroes rush forward.

The battle is quick and one-sided. The cultists are little match for the heroes. Their leader and his giant crocodile mount are more of a threat, but even he is no match for the seasoned adventurers. Smashmouth hacks with his greataxe, Bryce enters his blade dance and deftly skewers cultists with his rapier and short sword, while easily dodging their attacks. Phann conjures a wall of fire that burns several cultists as well as the crocodile, and Inspiration uses a dominate person spell to take control of the leader’s second in command and use him to attack his fellow cultists and destroy the magical orb on the altar. Destroying the orb is not without effect. Immediately a terrible downpour erupts within the caves. The water seems to to coalesce on the cave's ceiling and it pours down just like a rain storm. Inspiration estimates that if it continues for long enough it might well flood the caves. It isn’t long before they have defeated their enemies, and there is no sign of the rain abating. They spend the next several minutes investigating the area. All the while, the water continues to pour down, leaving them soaked through to the bone. By the time they are ready to leave it is up to their ankles, and in some places it is even deeper.

Completely drenched, they make their way back to the elevator disk. Unfortunately, the rain has also poured down into the lava caves below and attracted the attention of the dragon. It is perched on the disk waiting. Bryce’s bat familiar is leading the way and spots the dragon in time to warn the heroes. They halt their march and decide that they will try to confront the creature, but first they take the time to drink their potions of fire resistance.

The heroes split up. Smashmouth, Phann and Father Varis come at it from one tunnel, while Inspiration and Bryce come at it from another. They begin by casting spells from entrances of the tunnels, which serves to cause the dragon some minor injuries and incur its wrath. It spreads its wings and launches itself from the elevator disk to the ledge that accesses the tunnels. It then expels a devastating cone of flame. The fire gushes through the tunnel containing Smashmouth, Phann and Varis. The flames are nigh impossible to avoid, and it is only through the grace of their potions that the heroes aren’t nearly incinerated. Smashmouth, Varis and Bryce then rush the beast, attacking with their enchanted weapons. Its scales are tougher than plate armour, and it calls upon its magic to shield itself. This makes it very difficult to land a blow against the beast, though the heroes do get in a few strikes here and there. Smashmouth manages to cleave it hard enough to garner its full attention, and the dragon rends the goliath with claws and bite. It also beats its powerful wings and lashes with its tail, smacking all three heroes and knocking them to the ground. Phann and Inspiration try to aid their outmatched companions blasting it with offensive magic, but it is highly resistant to spells, and they are unable to inflict significant damage.

They soon realize they are over matched. Bryce’s uncanny elven agility and shielding magic makes him as difficult to hit in melee as the dragon, so he holds back his own retreat, harrying the creature while Smashmouth and Father Varis withdraw. The dragon beats the blade singer down with its wings and bites and claws him while he’s prone. Inspiration casts the most potent healing word he can and keeps Bryce conscious, giving the elf a chance to call upon his fey powers to briefly step between the material plane and fairy realm to make an escape. The heroes flee down the tunnels, and luckily for them the tunnels are narrow enough that the dragon can’t pursue them.

Healing magic is dispensed, but “rain” continues to flood the tunnels, and with their exit blocked they must find another means to escape. Bryce casts another arcane eye spell, and scouts out more of the cave complex. He manages to locate a cavern nearby that has a dwarven crafted stair case leading upward. The arcane eye follows the stairs and discovers that it leads to the dwarf stronghold above. More importantly one of the halls above winds its way back to the forge area that the heroes are familiar with. They hurry through these tunnels and flee to the surface. There they mount their steeds and fly towards the village of Red Larch to recover and plan their next move.


GMs Notes: so in this session the characters finally returned to the Dessarin valley to wrap up the "Princes of the Apocalypse" adventure. There's still a couple of sessions left, but this is pretty much the climax to the campaign. As of this session, they have now taken down both the fire and water prophets, but the prophets of air and earth are still at large, as is a nasty red dragon.

Also a note on session 42. This was probably one of the only adventurers that I've run in D&D that wrapped up without a big battle type scene at the end. In fact there ended up not really being any actual combat in the final part of the adventure, which was a nice change of pace since my games are usually pretty hack and slash.


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Session #44 (Confrontation with Queen Du Lac)
Characters: Inspiration (tiefling bard 9), Smashmouth (Goliath paladin 9), Father Varis (dwarf, cleric 9), Phann (half-elf, sorcerer 9), Bryce (eladrin, fighter 1/wizard/bladesinger 8)

The heroes fly into Red Larch aboard their griffons (and Elfreed the weird dragon steed creature) late in the evening of the 29th of Marpenoth. At the Singing Sword Inn they rest and chat with a few locals. It seems that Halinaxus the red dragon has been troubling the town. About a ten day earlier the dragon burned several homes to the ground and landed in the centre of the village. It demanded a tribute be raised, and he told the villagers he would be back to collect the tribute in the near future. After this event many villagers decided that was the last straw. Some folk packed up their belongings and fled south. Others decided to go with the Feathergale knights and swear fealty to an elf woman calling herself Queen Du Lac. Only a few folk remained in the village. Thus Red Larch is nearly deserted when the heroes arrive.

While they are chatting with the locals in the common room of their Inn, Bryce takes Phann aside and informs him that they share the same father. Phann isn’t sure what to make of this, but he isn’t overly thrilled to be related to Bryce. Bryce is also confident that Queen Du Lac is none other than princess Du Lac, the elf princess that his father Tomas is believed to be traveling with, and that Bryce was tasked with bringing home.

The next day the adventurers decide that they will head to tower fortress known as Feathergale Spire and try to find Tomas and Queen Du Lac. They are spotted well before they arrive, and after parlaying with a band of Fathergale Knights, Bryce convinces them that he is in fact Tomas’s son. The knights agree to escort them to see Queen Du Lac.

The heroes following the hippogriff riding knights to a cave nearby Feathergale Spire. They keep their distance, as griffons and hippogriffs are natural enemies. Here they land their griffon mounts. Bryce orders Elfreed to keep the peace between the griffons and hippogriffs, and the knights escort them through a lengthy underground tunnel to the palace ward of the lost dwarven city. They are taken into what was once the palace of the city’s dwarf royalty. Now it is the residence of Queen Du Lac. In the palace, they gain an audience with the queen. Several refugee villagers from Red Larch are in her great hall, but most of them look like they haven’t eaten in days and they seem strung out on some sort of narcotic.

The “Queen” is guarded by Tomas, Bryce's father and talented eladrin bladesinger, and she is eager to speak with Bryce and his allies. Inspiration does much of the initial talking, and the tiefling explains that they hope that she might aid them dealing with the red dragon. He is not in an overly diplomatic mood, for he knows that she is a corrupt prophet of elemental evil, and he likely suspects they will have to destroy her sooner or later. She finds Inspiration’s disrespect intolerable and is on the verge of ordering her knights to attack. Phann puts on the charm and calms her down, and Bryce manages to convince her to allow Tomas to speak with him and Phann for a moment in private. They learn from Tomas that Queen Du Lac has gone mad. Tomas thinks it is connected to the magical spear she now possesses. He believes she can still be redeemed if she can be separated from the weapon, and he is willing to help the heroes if they promise to try not to harm her. Phann continues to use his charm, and he convinces her that they will go attempt to slay the dragon if she offers the support of some of her knights. He also convinces her to escort them out of the palace and to the entrance of the tunnel where they will have to go to return to the forge ward and find the dragon.

Once they have her outside the palace, away from the bulk of her followers they turn on her. Phann is walking arm and arm with her when he suddenly grabs the spear from her hand, handing it to Inspiration who casts a dimension door spell and escapes with the weapon. She shrieks in rage at this treachery and orders her knights to attack. A fight breaks out, and the adventurers realize quickly that she has many kenku and cultist reinforcements close by. Inspiration hasn’t gone far, and he casts a dominate person on Queen Du Lac. He takes control of her and forces her to turn on her allies. She casts a cloudkill spell, conjuring a toxic gas to go roiling over the knights, driving them back and keeping the kenku and cultists at bay. The heroes disengage from the remaining knights and retreat with Tomas and Queen Du Lac back into the tunnel where Inspiration awaits them. Phann covers their retreat with a wall of fire, buying them time to make a getaway.

They flee with Queen Du Lac, and force her to harmlessly cast off her spells. They then gag and bind her, and after Inspiration uses invisibility magic to sneak back through the palace ward and retrieve their griffons they take her back to Goldenfields as their prisoner.

In Goldenfields they hope to cure her mind from the spear’s elemental evil corruption.


So as of session #44, three out of the four prophets of elemental evil are taken care of. Only the prophet of earth remains.

I decided to find a way to do a big wrap up to this campaign in a single final session.


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Session #45 (Confrontation with Ogremoch)
Characters: Inspiration (tiefling bard 10), Smashmouth (Goliath paladin 10), Father Varis (dwarf, cleric 10), Phann (half-elf, sorcerer 10), Bryce (eladrin, fighter 1/wizard/bladesinger 9)

The heroes fly back to Goldenfields Abbey with Tomas and their prisoner, Lady Du Lac (prophet of elemental air). Back at the abbey, they brief Abbot Doravick on the events of the previous couple of days. Here Inspiration performs the ritual song of sacred cleansing to cure Lady Du Lac of the madness inflicted upon her by the enchanted spear (an artifact possessed with the power of elemental evil). Father Varis casts a legend lore spell on the spear and learns that is called Windvane; he learns its properties and learns that is an enemy of elemental earth that even the primordial Ogremoch fears.

With Lady Du Lac's mind cured, she is much more lucid, and she decides that it is in fact time for her to return home. Tomas will escort her, and he tries to convince Bryce to join him. Bryce declines the invitation, as he still wants to experience more of the realms and aid his new companions against the evils they are about to face. Knowing that Bryce will soon face terrible peril, Tomas offers him the family moonblade, which Bryce accepts. The blade in turn accepts Bryce as his new wielder.

The following morning a massive earthquake rocks the region, destroying several buildings in the abbey. Smashmouth receives a vision from the gods. In his vision he sees the source of the quake- Ogremoch the ancient and evil primordial of elemental earth has been brought into Faerun and is on the move, destroying everything in its path.

There is no time to waste; the heroes mount their griffons and fly towards the Sumber Hills. From the air, they see that Feathergale Spire is in ruin, and a massive sinkhole has claimed the entirety of the lost dwarven city where they had previously been battling the cults in Marching through the sink hole, is Ogremoch. He is a walking mountain- a being over one hundred feet tall, composed entirely of earth and stone. With every step he takes, he seems to get bigger and bigger. It's as if he absorbs the land on which he treads into his form. Accompanying him is a small army of earth elementals and flock upon flock of gargoyles. The heroes can also see that the red dragon they had previously battled is attempting to fight Ogremoch, but even the mighty red dragon looks tiny compared to the primordial, and the adult dragon seems no match for it. Ogremoch soon swats the dragon away, and it is nearly knocked from the sky. It retreats and is followed by a swarm of gargoyles that start tearing into it.

The heroes come up with a plan. Phann decides to bond with Windvane. This costs them an hour, but Phann thinks doing so is their only hope of defeating the primordial. The heroes approach Ogremoch on their griffons, but they keep their distance. There is no sign of the dragon at this point, and the heroes are uncertain its exact fate. Bryce turns Phann invisible, and Phann borrows Smashmouth's flying broom. Then the invisible Phann flies towards Ogremoch with Windvane in hand. The rest of the party is clearly visible, and a large flight of gargoyles moves to intercept them. Phann lands on a ledge formed by Ogremoch's enormous eye cavity. The primordial's eye is in fact a glowing, green crystal structure that has a diameter the size of a man. Phann balances on the ledge and thrusts the spear forward. Its crackling tip shatters the crystal eye! The detonation of the eye blasts Phann with crystal shrapnel. Fortunately he is well protected by a stoneskin spell, and this vastly mitigates the damage. Ogremoch bellows in pain and rage. His body sways violently and Phann loses his footing. He plummets towards the ground, but manages to activate his broom and fly out of the tail spin.

Meanwhile, the rest of the heroes see the gargoyles closing in; they fly their griffons to the ground, dismount and ready themselves for battle. Phann, who remains invisible, flies back up to Ogremoch's other eye. Again he attempts drive his spear in and shatter it. His first strike fails to penetrate, but the second attack destroys its remaining eye. Once more, Ogremoch reels in agony. This time Phann uses his spiderclimb slippers to keep from falling, but he is again blasted with crystal shrapnel. With the final eye gone, Phann sees an opening. There is a tunnel like cavity before him that appears to lead into Ogremoch's head. At the end of the tunnel is a cavern-like chamber that houses another large crystal structure- Ogremoch's primordial analog to a brain. Phann bravely makes his way forward, intent on bringing down the walking mountain.

As the gargoyles close in Father Varis calls upon his god and summons a flame strike that blasts the flock. Inspiration finishes them with his own devastating spell, and nearly a score of gargoyles plummet from the sky. The gargoyles aren't the only threat. Earth elementals begin to rise up from the ground. Smashmouth and Bryce move in with axes and swords. The elementals swing their massive stone fists and try to beat the heroes into the ground. Their attacks are clumsy and the adventurers evade most of them. Inspiration casts a potent shatter spell that inflicts terrible damage on two of the elementals. However, this draws their full attention, and they pound him into the dirt. Father Varis comes to his aid, and he dimension doors both of them to safety. At about this time, Phann drives his spear into Ogremoch's crystal brain. This proves to be the killing blow, and the mighty primordial lets out a final bellow of rage before his earthen body crumbles. The strike also shatters Windvane, removing a terrible artefact from the world. Phann flies out of the collapsing primordial with rock raining down on him. He has lost concentration on his stoneskin spell, and he's thoroughly battered, but he still lives, and with Ogremoch defeated the heroes easily take care of the elementals nearby. In fact, all of the elementals in the vicinity crumble, and it seems that they were somehow being sustained by Ogremoch.

The battle is over. Ogremoch is defeated, and the adventurers are victorious. They tend to their wounds and fly back to Goldenfields to celebrate their great victory over elemental evil. In the days that follow they make their way back to Baldur's Gate where they each take some extended down time to recover from their adventurers and pursue other goals.


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This final battle was surprisingly quick and easy to run, but it still felt epic and appropriate. It had a certain Star Wars vibe to it, with the final scene of Phann flying out of the collapsing primordial being very much like the Millenium Falcon escaping the Death Star as it explodes in Return of the Jedi.

Even though the campaign ended here, with the completion of the Princes of the Apocalypse adventure. I did end up running another session several months later, though I didn't get to doing a journal for it. A year of game time had gone by and the heroes were asked by the Dukes of Baldur's Gate and Lords of Waterdeep to go deal with the devil general of the former devil army that had emerged from Dragonspear castle. He had holed up in some ruins in the Lizard Marsh near Daggerford and the remains of the devil army were troubling the trade road. The heroes flew in on their griffons and took out the remaining devils in a pretty hack and slash session of combat.

They have since more or less retired, though I may get to picking the campaign up again and running another adventure or two at some point.

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