Party 

Kevralyn Soulfire – Red/Black Sorcerer – Party Leader

Finn Darkflame – Black/Green Sorcerer

Harlequin Voidstalker – Yellow Sorcerer

Lancorrin Bloodcall – Wolfhold Hunter

Ezekial Bramble – Grey Warden

Aruna – Red Wizard

Puke Scumgrief – Reaper, Former Realmlord of Battle on the Plane of the Sleepless Dead

Lupus – High Priest of the Grey Gauntlet

Thumper Kneebiter – Iron Guard Veteran and Fight Circle Champion

Maggot – Dark Brethren Priest

Cuddles – Priest of the Hospital

Garrett - Pathfinder

Anubis – Former Aspect of Death

Mission Summary

Earth Day

The party journeyed to the area of the Darkwell, a former node linked to the Plane of Shadows and Maeglor, from which Otion Wraithchild is said to have recently emerged.

Approaching the Node, the party encountered several followers of Agoth.  At the site where the Node had formerly been was the Plane of the Sleepless Dead.  Lurking at the boundaries was a more formidable group of Agoth worshippers, led by a Soul Reaver.  More detail on the different types of Agoth followers will be supplied at the end of this report.

Having secured the area, the party summoned Yana’s Hut where further instructions were relayed by Lord Bael and the Patriarch of House Drannath.

A Herald of the Kalid Valdemar arrived with a proclamation concerning the Kalid Towers.  There are now just three Towers: the Kalid Tower, containing all the Trueblood Kalid Legions; the Tower of the Sword, containing the Valdemar and all ‘loyal’ Kalid; and the Tower of the Hunt, containing the Stone Panthers, Children of the Brood and Crimson Feast.  All other former Legions are no longer part of the Kalid – this includes notables such as the Earthwarp and Dothloadass.  This follows recent actions by a KVA group that disrupted the flow of water magic which the Kalid were using to mask a lack of status needed to maintain their former five Towers.

Some members of Barad Tirgul were in the area also investigating the Node.  They attacked Yana’s Hut with morgul wraiths but were unsuccessful in claiming it for themselves.

The Hut was set in motion, with the direction provided by Sorcerer Finn, using his connection to an unusual type of magic known as ‘darkfire’.  Apparently this type of travel is pioneering work by the Seer Sect, as formerly the Hut could only travel to a specified destination.

Fire Day

Having arrived early morning, the party departed the Hut to learn more of the Plane on which they had landed.  It later transpired that this was Yort, a realm created by The Chorien, another former aspect of Death.

The party established that the plane was divided into two factions.  The ‘Ord’ – orc-like creatures with unusual fire magic capabilities, and Drow who claimed to be from a House ‘Zelnin’, although none such exists in Annach Morannonil.  One of these ‘Zelnin’ believed that they were on the Plane of Murandir, but had not heard of the Empire – placing them from distant times past.  The two factions held but pure hatred for each other, and frequently mis-took the Drow or half-orcs on the party to be either of their bitter enemies.

After a fight with Thumper, the orc component of the party persuaded the Ord champion that they should meet with the Ord King.  He agreed on the basis that the party bring him the heads of some ‘Zelnin’ in a nearby building.  These turned out to be members of Wolfhold so clearly this was not an option.

One of the party’s first tasks had been to locate and assist a somewhat formidable group of Drow from House Drannath, who had travelled to this location ten moons earlier unsuccessfully seeking the legendary scrolls of Lenzin Dor.  Those members of the group still present were provided with the means to return to Orin Rakatha and duly departed. 

The Drow group relayed that the creatures of the Plane seemed to have a memory span of 4 days, and that the local orcs took on a spiritual form at night time.  The Ord champion regarded their disappearance favourably, and as such the meeting with the Ord King was set, which took place later around midday.  The Ord King possessed an artefact which the KVA orcs were seeking.

A figure resembling The Chorien (distinguished by hooded appearance and large scythe) stalked over the horizon, casting darkfire spells at all those who approached, and left.

The party journeyed to the ‘Zelnin’ safehold – a warded building known as The Refuge.  The ward was of unlevelled magic, and indicated that a password was needed for entry.  A half-orc attempt at brute force entry received a shocking grasp from the ward; Kevralyn’s praise of Lloth was more successful with a Zelnin appearing, announcing himself as Rothec, the 1^st Warrior, although the door remained closed.

The Chorien-like figure re-appeared, with nothing adversely affecting him, although he dealt out a number of exceptionally firm magical, weakening blows with his scythe in return for basic bolts.

As night fell, the atmosphere of the place seemed to change and Anubis recommended heading back to Yana’s Hut.

During the outings, an Ord leader and Zelnin woman engaged the party in fights, only to call upon the power of Lenzin Dor and vanish just as they were about to be slain.  For future reference, these were later identified as ‘Lenameus’ and ‘Leneh’, respectively.

The Ord later visited the Hut in spiritual form, as per the earlier Drannath information, however these versions of the individuals could remember greater than 4 days and were able to relay part of the tale of the betrayal that took place on their plane.

After years of war, Rothec, the Zelnin 1^st Warrior challenged Hillesca, the Ord Champion to a fight.  Hillesca was unique among his kind, as he was the only one to survive being dipped in magma as a child, and was thus exceptionally tough.  They fought, and Rothec fell in battle.  However, Hillesca was so impressed with Rothec’s skill that he sent the Zelnin a ‘Gift of Peace’ – a golem transporting a box containing much food – as the Zelnin had been slowly starving within their refuge.  Unbeknownst to the Ord Champion or King, the food was poisoned by the malignant advisor, Lenameus’, and thus the remaining Zelnin within the refuge did also pass away.

The Ord King advised the party that the components of the Gift of Peace were scattered about the plane, and it could be reconstructed.  The party determined the sensible thing to do would be to rebuild it, and take the places of the players in the theatrics that played over and over again in this cycle of 4 days – but this time the gift would not contain poison.  It would therefore be necessary to visit the Refuge during the daytime, while events played themselves out.  It was clear that if the fabled Scrolls of Lenzin Dor were anywhere, they would be found in the only ‘unbreachable’ part of the realm, the warded Refuge.

The KVA group departed the Hut that evening in search of parts of the Gift of Peace, and were met by the spiritual form of the Zelnin 2^nd Warrior.  He was unable or unwilling to say anything useful, and so he and his minions were slain.  A mask and hood used by the original golem were claimed.

Distant shouts led the party to discover an Agothian group performing a ritual to summon a Vere to the Plane.  The ritual was, however, a double-bind – it was allegedly completed by the death of those performing it; thus the traditional Valley activity of destroying all participants was manifestly unsuccessful.  The ritual would summon a Vere of Agoth to Yort in the passing of one day.

Aruna suddenly collapsed, and an interactive vision of The Chorien presented itself: a memory.  The Chorien, along with the Valkyrie and Anubis, had secreted part of himself away out of the reach of Agoth.  The KVA need to recover all three of these: The Chorien’s scythe, the Valkyrie’s chariot, and Anubis’s feather.  The Chorien’s scythe was here on Yort, and must be claimed by Aruna.

The spiritual Rothec also visited the Hut, and confirmed aspects of the Ordish story.

Steel Day

Early in the day, Agothians appeared within the boundaries of the Hut itself and were summarily dealt with.  They were apparently attracted there by the presence of Puke.

The party set off to claim the parts of the Ordish “Gift of Peace”.  After fighting Lenameus’, who once again disappeared at the last moment, 6 golden panels and adornments were found.

Despite it being day, the spiritual form of Rothec was encountered guarding the final components of the “Gift” – plaques enscribed with (slightly mis-spelt) elvish magic runes.  Rothec announced he was honour-bound to defend the plaques, so his form was slain.

Returning to the Hut, a small group assembled the construction with useful guidance from Thumper, while the rest meditated and mnemoniced.  The Gift was carried by four strong party members to the Refuge, where it was donned by Finn taking the place of the ‘golem’, and party members supplying their own food.  The door to the Refuge swung open, the Gift was accepted, and Finn found himself outside once more.

The Chorien-like figure once more appeared around the Hut, dealing out darkfire magic.  However, it ceased when Finn cast a darkfire-bolt upon it, and demanded of him why he was there.  Finn answered that he sought knowledge, and suddenly the group was split into two parts along brute force/intellectual lines.  The orcs were drawn into the Hut, where they saw a number of visions concerning the fate of Zelnin and the origins of Lenzin Dor.  The drow-based group faced a number of tests (strength, stealth, courage, diplomacy and fortitude), which culminated in being drawn into the ‘Heart of Fire’ – a place were magic was negated.  Here, a blue sorcerer by the name of Tanis Shadowsclaw, was being held captive. 

The two groups then switched places, with the orcs rescuing the captive sorcerer, and the drow entering the Zelnin refuge – finding within the scrolls of Lenzin Dor and numerous pages of runes.  With time running low, and the scrolls unable to be moved from the building, the group deciphered the instructions and arranged the scrolls in such a way as to be able to call upon their powers.  Kevralyn, Finn and Aruna thereby claimed new darkfire spells for their own use.

The visions were roughly thus – Harlequin has the full translation of Lenzin Dor’s history.

The Zelnin had many enemies upon Murandir, and finding their safehaven breached, fled to another place that their Patriarch deemed safe.  Initially, they were not concerned about the local Ords, as they considered these creatures below their attention.  However, as time went on, the Zelnin found themselves caged in their sanctuary, fighting numerous battles against the Ord.  After much suffering, the family Patriarch decided to return to Annach Morannonil with a contingent of Warriors, where he claimed he had allies who would assist them.  He abandoned his three adult children in the Refuge, promising them he would return.

His daughter, Leneh, was captured during an ambush and violated by one of the Ord, the advisor named Lenameus’, becoming with child and bringing much shame to the family.  In the meantime, the moons turned and the Patriarch did not return as promised.  With food supplies wearing thin, the 2^nd Warrior encouraged his brother, Rothec, to seek an honourable one-on-one combat to guarantee the family’s safety against the Ord Champion.  Rothec lost, but well, and the family were sent a ‘Gift of Peace’ by the Ord.

Leneh was the last to die of the poison, hanging on by force of will to give birth to her child who ate her heart to survive.  Lena then returned as a revenant, a form of undead, to pass on her teachings to the child.  He grew up, learning magics of both kind but most of all that he should trust not a soul and question the motivations of all.  This was a child of Zelnin - Lenzin - and the Ord - Dor.  This child was Lenzin Dor.

Later on Lenzin Dor came to meet his father, Lenameus, who had also poisoned the rest of the Ord.  Lenameus ‘offered’ Lenzin Dor the chance to rule with him as father and son but Lenzin Dor, schooled throughout his life to trust no-one, ripped the beating heart from his father’s chest.

Outside the Hut, the Chorien-like figure demanded to know what the party had learned of him and his nature.  Upon hearing of the traits revealed of Lenzin Dor, he presented Aruna with his scythe and vanished. 

The party returned to the Hut, fighting the ghostly Lenameus once more on the way; and then for a final time with Leneh as the story disintegrated.  As the ghostly forms disappeared into the aether, the more youthful form of Lenzin Dor materialised.  The realm he had created housing these painful memories was falling apart, as the forces of Agoth encroached.

Indeed, back at the Hut, more Agothians followers appeared and tried to snatch The Chorien’s scythe.  They were defeated although both Kevralyn and Harlequin were “marked” by a strange Agothian construct, and Aruna declared she must return immediately to Wolfhold to present The Chorien with his scythe, otherwise all might be lost.  Lancorrin agreed to accompany Aruna to assist with and enable her access to Wolfhold.  Calling upon a power embedded deep within the scythe, they departed the realm as the waves Agoth started to wash over it.

Sun Day

Without blesses, all the party bar Ezekial and Anubis succumbed to the Plane of the Sleepless Dead’s nature the next morning, becoming imbued with undead.  These were beaten out of each party member and long-term spiritual protection was immediately then applied.

The Ord King arrived in his daytime form, and appeared surprised at the party’s presence – each ‘day’ for the party was several years apart by his reckoning.  He was still willing to give the KVA group an artefact sought by the orc component of the party, provided that they perform some challenges for him first.  Lupus, Woolf, Thumper and Puke volunteered themselves as the four most worthy individuals.  They fought two-on-two, then had an insult-exchanging round – and the Iron Guard veteran Thumper more than floored her opposition when it came to insults.

During the third and final round, the Ord King and minions were slain by outsiders, concluding the story of the place, and the artefact was taken from his corpse.

Making a direct route back to the Hut, the party encountered several swathes of Agothian followers.  Having endured much humiliation from his fellow Seers all weekend, the Hut navigator Symian suddenly proved reluctant to move Yana’s Hut until Kevralyn persuaded him otherwise.  The party would need to defend the Hut for a spell’s duration and then have one minute in which to enter inside before it departed the Plane.

A Herald of Agoth arrived, announcing the arrival of a Vere, who wished to speak away from the group with the party leader Kevralyn, already knowing who she was.  The Vir indicated that Kevralyn would be quite an asset for the Agothians and invited her to serve.  She declined, saying she already served another.  At this point the Vere tried to attack her, and then began to assault the party.

During this final assault, the scout Garrett fell dying to the ground on the Hut’s veranda.  Ezekial put a protective ward around Garrett so that he could tend the scout unmolested.  As the doors flew open, the party rushed into the Hut, however Ezekial refused to leave his ward – believing it would condemn Garrett to his death – and no-one could drag the Warden from it.  The Hut doors swung shut and the Hut departed as per Symian’s clear instructions.  As soon as the Hut was in transit, the party looked outside to find Garrett – who had survived – but no Ezekial.

Yort, former realm of the Chorien, no longer exists – having been claimed by Agoth.

Agothian Undead

Agothian Followers – distinguished by their white, red and blue apparel and distinctive ‘A’ marking on face.  Usually (weak) humans with normal capabilities.

Soul Reaver – capable of casting numerous ritual level evil invocations at vocal length, including Shroud and Terror.  Strikes with large spiritual blows with lay evil invocation attached.  Destroyed with ranged neutral power (powerhammers). Seems to have an aura which interrupts any connection to the Good Sphere.

Construct – was able to raise fallen Agothian Followers – had a mask-like face, possibly purple coloured.  Removed via a level 8 dispel.

Herald of Agoth – seemed uninterested in fighting, striking this creature rebounded in an unpleasant way.

Vere – Struck with magic blows that one might expect of the best of Red Sorcerers.  Dealt out numerous wizardry spells without any effort, notably white (cryostasis, mass freeze) and green (mass slip, mass slow), and level 8 dispels.

Creature accompanying Agothian Followers who were summoning Agoth to the plane – cast many mind-affecting ritual evil invocations (beguilement, feeblemind), and pain-inducing (spiritwrack).  Was removed by Good Sphere invocations (Remove Pain).