So I guess this is the last rpg campaign I'll be running with my main group for a long time. We found this to be module to be the best adventure that I'vee ever ran for our group. Even without my own modifications. Below is an Epilogue (unedited I'm afraid) that I wrote out of love of the characters and the adventure.
Dramatis Personae:
>Stanis Berathom:
Chelish Inquisitor and monster hunter, turned Hellknight of the Order of the Pike. A man for whom seeks to maintain order above all else. The Groups leader and Tactician.
>Adro of Steel Thunder:
Travelling Nexavarian Wordslinger. One of the few to incorporate Firearms and alchemy into his spellcasting. Tends to shoot first and study it's corpse later. The Groups scholar and Mage.
>Tron Duur, the Mad Axe:
Dwarven Mercenary who seeks conflict and coin above all else. His signature Dwarven Maulaxes are feared accross the empire. The Groups Dungeoneer and Hired Muscle.
>Sabreena Nix'varis:
Gnome water witch whose spent her life gathering the lore and folk recipes of costal communities for decades. Tho much of her magick comes from evil sources, she seeks only to use it for good. The Groups Healer and Guide.
>Nevyn:
Sabreena's familiar and greatest friend. An Imp exiled from an Sea Devils court, disguised cunningly as a black cat.
>Gerlach:
Waterborne Sorceror and Apocathery to the people of Blackcove. His search for a Cure for his people's curse lead him to Nal'Kashel. Where his new master promised him ancient knowledge in exchange for his servitude.
>Mohl'Omog:
Heretic Aboleth imprisoned by his fellows for the dual crime of paying homage to a Demon and experimenting with reality. His mental influence was being the events of the adventure.
Dramatis Loci:
>Hellsmouth Gulf:
Section of Cheliaxes coast which has been plagued recently with sightings of strange aquatic beings and strange omens.
>Blackcove:
Isolated fishing village whose population is descended from the spawn of Gillmen and Ulat-Kiri. It's population was enslaved by the awakening Aboleth.
>Nal'Kashel:
Island which holds the ancient ruins of an Azlanti mages college. The place is warped due to experiments with reality. It is here that Mohl'Omog was imprisoned.
(may contain spoilers and a bus load of grammar/spelling errors)
Shore to Sea Epilogue
As Gerlach, Servitor of Mohl'Omog was on the verge of defeat. He used the last of his strength to blast through the last barrier between the prison of the Natatorium and the now flooded excavation tunnel. As the water rushed in, the group chose to save their injured allies and recover what they could of Gerlach's cure: 4 vials. In the confusion: Mohl'Omog the herald of Dagon escaped through the flooded tunnel and into the open ocean. Their foes greatest servitor, Gerlach lay defeated. His mind destroyed, his form warped, his notes destroyed in the destruction.
Though they had saved a town from being enslaved to the Aboleths will, they knew that the threat was not over. Their warnings were not heeded, dismissed as fanciful at best and insane at worst.
Years passed, and the name Mohl'Omog was forgotten once more... But those four... Remembered. They kept a vigil over the Hellsmouth Gulf and vowed that should the signs come again, they would reassemble and face the threat once more.
Though they had failed to prevent his escape, they had stripped the Aboleth of its weapons and its servants. Leaving it with a memory of these heroes and a respect for their lands, long after the land they protected fell to fire and ruin...
Sabreena, the Water Witch made a sacrifice upon leaving the isle of Nal'Kashel. With only four vials of Gerlach's cure, she chose to forgo her own vial. Instead, she used the knowledge granted to her by her familiar Nevyn to dilute it down and enhance it. Trying to spread the cure to the people of Blackcove, alleviating the worst of the mutations. For several years she sought she travelled the world, consulting powers high and low. Searching for a way to replicate Gerlach's cure. To remove the 'Oceans taint', not just from herself but from the village and it's people who she had gained acceptance from. But whatever knowledge the Aboleth had whispered in Gerlach's ear had long been lost to time... But not to all.
She was made an offer, and paid the price. Her friend smiling. When finally she returned to her newfound home, glowing cure in hand, she found it empty. The people for whom she had travelled so far had embraced their nature completely, one by one returning to the sea long ago... Noone knows what became of her then. Maybe she like them, heeded the call. Maybe... Noone knows...
His mind broken by powerful illusions that shattered his view of reality and forced him to relive all of his actions from his victims perspective. Tron Dur's mind snapped, forcing his allies to commit him to an asylum for many years. He had many visitors, but he called them strange names. Pawns of those who play as gods. One by one his friends despaired of him, and he fell deeper into his delusions. Too stubborn to accept aid from magick or medicine, he passed years in solitude. Lost to his ramblings.
When eventually he was released, the unhinged mercenary began taking on more and more dangerous jobs. The greybeard had a reputation, too be sure, and neither he nor his axes wanted for foes to slay. Believing the world was a game, and he just a player. The 'Mad Axe' strove to seek out greater and greater challenges, his combat prowess and love of battle disconnecting him from the danger or the morality. Eventually he met his end single handedly fighting a brine dragon, many years later. Or so they say. These tales were told of in stories, til one historian tracked them to an old doctor of sorts. Who'se notebooks held many other fanciful tales...
After falling in the Battle with Gerlach, Adro nearly drowned by the Skum Sorceror blasted through the excavation wall and flooded the chamber. Adro was left with an obsession for hydromancy and the secrets of Nal'Kashel. Both fearing it's potent majesty and fascinated by it's evershifting nature. Ever the scholar, Adro spent his days travelling from Mage collegiates to hermit sages. Earning his passage and tuition with gunpowder and arcane words.
He learnt of the being Dagon and the from old tomes in hidden libraries, and through his studies came across mentions of the Dark Tapestry here and there. Tangible hints, unravelling only small pieces of a larger and unobservable truth. It was in the former holdings of the whispering tyrant where he first learned of the old cults and their forbidden knowledge. Powerful entities, ancient beings whose very shadows warped space and time. Orbiting our small plane like a moon, shifting the tides of reality with their passage. This he found was the knowledge that began to slake his thirst. In his knowledge of alchemy and the destructive magicka of Nex, he thought himself a master. For he found these things easy. Here were powers few could comprehend! The more he read, the more he found he understood. The more the veils of reality parted and began to see the world as it truly was. Flawed perfection. Bending to the will of deities and elder beings that defied comprehension.
One day he closed his final book, took his dusted revolver from it's case and walked outside his study to find himself a professor of long tenureship. It was a student who spoke to him last, and heard his whispered words. He declared that he now knew that could be gained through others, for the rest he would have to see it for himself. The exact meaning of these words, and where the Mage disappeared to after are unknown.
The Order of the Pike at first did not believe the words of Stanis Berathian. Ancient Gods? Floating Islands? Men turning to fish? But their truth-finding revealed all, shocking the group into sending another team to investigate the island and wipe out the corrupted souls by asmodeus's will. They never found the island, nor the village of Blackcove. Leading many of his superiors to believe whatever psychic force has altered his memories. But Stanis recognised his foes deception, and decided instead to bide his time. To prevent mockery and persecution, he cut all ties to 'the Blackcove incident'. Leaving his former collected to their fates, untainted himself by their insanity.
Despite the stain of his first mission, he climbed quickly through the ranks of the Hellknights. Earning a reputation as cold, level headed and an impressive strategist. Distinguishing himself in wars against the Strix, the Duerger, the Goblins of Chitterwood and the Gnoll Cultists of Lamashtu. He became a Paralictor, Choosing to establish his chapter house the wilds of the Devils peaks, overlooking Hellsmouth bay. In this capacity he acted trainer of new warriors of law and order. Teaching troubled youths the way, and instilling in them both loyalty and the sense of a debt to him in particular. Though many times he saved a particular artifact of azlanti origin from the chapter vaults. None questioned him, for tho his superiors had not realized. He had built himself both an army and a stockpile of weaponry. He spent his life maintaining this vigil, waiting for the day when he could fulfil his vow. Many thought he too was myopic, he too was delusional, he too was obsessed.
One day his superiors send an inquisitor of their own to question his actions, sensing an edge of chaos influencing his thoughts. They found his chapter house long abandoned, it's armoury and vaults emptied. The locals, told of a column of black armoured knights marching with purpose into the ocean and a great storm wracking the bay for days. Soon after the rotting and bloated corpse of creature neither squid nor whale or eel washed up on shore. Then another. Then another. Their hides pierced with Spears and burned with unholy fire. After that the omens came no more. But of the hellknights, no trace was ever found.
That is really, really awesome. So neat to hear how the adventure shaped your party and told the story that it did at your table.
That's always the weird thing for adventure writers. After you make this thing and set it free into the world, you know that lots of GMs are out there playing it (or, at least you hope so!), bringing it to life in unique ways. But you rarely get to hear about it. Sure, reviews will come and go, or you can catch snippets of a game being run at a convention, but hearing about how it affected campaigns where players have weekly investments in characters who interact with the events and NPCs you create -well, that's the good stuff.
I appreciate you sharing it!