The Chronicles of Amn

A story exploring the ties of family, couched in as many console RPG clichés as the DM could possibly find. This is the second campaign run by Bwh, and the third campaign in this Faerunian timeline.

The players in this campaign were a part of the Jade Lion Mercenary Group.

The Story
This campaign is, at first indirectly, the continuation of Mists of Cormyr.
 * ''see also: Citadel of the Raven (battle).

Back Story
The nation of Amn, one of the Lands of Intrigue below the Sword Coast city-states, was wracked by problems. Its Council of Six was proving ineffective at leading. The kingdom of Tethyr to the south was rattling its sabres. Ogre-mages sacked the city of Murann, cutting off half of the nation's revenue and all contact with the land of Maztica.

With the armies of Amn busy fighting the Horde to the south, the city of Athkatla began to recruit mercenaries ... and local restrictions upon magic were loosened slightly. An influx of adventurers moved into the city, providing new revenue and order in the streets.

Amn
One such group of adventurers was a troupe working out of the Jade Lion Inn (noted as the venue in which Keldoc Mirrorwind once performed). These mercenaries, the Jade Lion Mercenary Group, included upwards of twenty to thirty low-level sellswords, each seeking to make his/her way in the world.

The Maelistair Family
Six of them were picked up by Alden Brightwater for a specific task: the guarding of Juron Maelistair, a prominent nobleman and a suspected member of the Council of Six. The troupe rode north, encountering problems with local peasants along the way, until they reached the Maelistair estate.

There, a mystery was encountered. Juron expected to die. Artwork was missing. The neighboring serf-village was in tatters. And one of their number, Cyrilla, seemed hell-bent on killing the stable-boy.

Despite their best efforts, an assassin (an obvious representative of the Xanathar Guild, in Waterdeep) killed Maelistair. Unbeknownst to them, this was all a part of the greater plan.

The Corp then rode south, escorting the last of the Scorpion's Sting with them, despite Cyrilla's itchy dagger finger. After a tongue-lashing, the group is sent to the town of Amnas, an unmarked hamlet which has been ravaged multiple times by goblin forces. Aerik Maelistair is working there to rebuild ... and the group charges off to rescue some kidnapees before they can even be asked. With the help of Sorienne and Eridu, this is no trial at all ... but Amnas's celebration is soon cut short when an envoy from the Sylithisian Empire (the force that sacked Murann) comes with a notice, demanding one Karakas or Else.

Wilderness and Wealdath
The group returns to Athkatla, which is busy trying to find shelter for a host of refugees. Brightwater hands them the problem, telling them to solve it ... and thus was founded the community of West Weng. Still, a lot of intrigue is afoot, back in Athkatla, and the group soon departs, knowing they need to put forth a more valiant effort.

The Corp is next given a particularly dangerous assignment: travel through enemy ranks and through the wilderness to reach Darromar, the capital of Tethyr, there to deliver a message to the Queen and her King. The group set forth at once, only to encounter ... the body of the Xanathar assassin, floating face-down in the river. This is revealed to be Midori, Asmodian's mother.

Near the chaos of Murann, they could hear the army camps pounding their war drums ... and they saw a massive black dragon with a mighty man astride it.

In the mountain passes, they encountered giantkin and dragons of their own, the latter of which incinerated Melfaren down to the bone ... the group had him resurrected shortly thereafter.

In the woods, they discovered Kaskus the panther, who they had last seen back at Amnas. He was guarding what could only be described as a Green Elemental Prison ... which contained a surprised-looking druid. Still, there was no obvious means to free the man without killing him in the process, so they let him be.

At the end of the Wealdath, they were attacked by werewolves. Melfaren's fireballs destroyed them, but only served to anger the Werewolf Lord of the Wealdath, a creature so fearsome that it gave the heroes pause. They fled to a narrow canyon pass ... and, not realizing they were one hundred yards and around a corner from a Tethyrian garrison, stood to fight the beast. The creature tore most of them to pieces ... it was only Asmodian's ingenuity in using the breath glands of the red dragon to ignite the beast that killed it. The Tethyrian garrison, upon hearing the commotion, rode to their rescue.

The letter delivered, they were teleported back to Athkatla via a new point-to-point transport between the two cities ... but there was more to come.

The First Murann War ... and Insurrection
The heroes, finally earning the grudging respect of Brightwater, were finally assigned to infiltrate Murann and rescue Karakas ... revealed to be Asmodian's father. They took an unreliable ship led by one Alarik, a wholly unreliable man but excellent sailor ... and were met at the docks by brute force; they were promptly imprisoned. They broke out soon enough, though, and they found that they were in a tower not native to Murann ...

They climbed two separate spires, working through painful puzzles and defeating shadowy foes. They finally turned the key to reveal ... Karakas, preparing to sacrifice a small boy: Cyrilla's son, Lukas. He'd acquired the boy via the Scorpion's Sting, then had his associate Antheri Grimward annihilate the organization via the Shadow Thieves she controlled.

Karakas was stopped, but only after the group slew two ogre mages and tackled the man. The last figure in the room was Dharamon ... Laharl's father. The troubled paladin ran after the dark-armored man, leaping off the balcony and landing on the dragon. The two disappeared west, over the ocean.

The Amnish forces swept in from the northeast, and Tethyr from the southwest, eliminating the mighty army in between. The group fled the scene, moving along the coastline. Some of them noticed, though, that would-be rogue assailants were mysteriously dead before they could act ...

Reporting back to Athkatla at last, it was discovered that Aerik was making a claim for kingship, liquidating the Council of Six ... which had included both Karakas (the people's favorite) and Antheri Grimward (the head of the Shadow Thieves and cohort of Dharamon.) More disturbingly, Laharl's body was found in a coffin under the rubble of the Murann tower ... a place it had no business being.

During a parade to celebrate Aerik's ascenion, a would-be assassination was quickly foiled, and the group rushed to the palace to save Karakas ... only to find Antheri waiting. While she proved an ingenious foe, using silence stones to neutralize casters, Asmodian realized he could use mage hand to trigger the explosive devices on her belt.

The Lands of Intrigue
Their work in Amn done, but with clues leading in multiple directions, the Group headed south, into the less civilized lands, to explore the connection between Antheri Grimward, Dharamon and the mysterious figure known as Mordeth.

Tethyr
The crew arrive in Darromar to discover that Miranda duLaras is leaving her position in Tethyr to take on more dangerous assignments. Cyrilla quickly gathers some horses ... and they head south, toward Calimshan. Their first scuffle with hill giants, though, requires an immediate trip back to Darromar for healing ...

Calimshan and Dharamon's Fortress
The group could see the tall mountain in the distance, with the fortress upon it. Still, there was no obvious means of approach, and climbing such a mountain would be a fool's errand ... so they moved on to Calimport.

Calimport was a vicious city filled with vicious people. They immediately tried to rob and sell the group ... only to discover that the Corp. were not people with whom to trifle. Their earnings were stolen, though, by a mysterious figure who led them on a chase through the sewers and into the Trade Ward, where a rickety house revealed it to be the home of ... Confectus Tenabrae.

Confectus reveals their path, for an exorbitant price (which elicits howls of anger from Melfaren). But the heroes are soon on their way once more, into a homegrown magical labyrinth which involves dropping down pits, walking forwards and backwards through hedges filled with minotaurs, climbing enormous shafts, sneaking past mighty creatures ...

They arrive at the top to find that Dharamon's home is an abandoned temple surrounded by gargoyle statues. Wary, they make their way inside to discover: (a) a Red Elemental Prison, with Miranda duLaras inside; and (b) an enormous amount of treasure in the back room, surrounding an obsidian throne. Also there is a green key.

Miranda is freed, only to have it reveal that it is, instead, a succubus. The creature immediately entrances Asmodian while the others engage in combat with other demons. Once the rest are dead, the temple begins to collapse. Asmodian grabs the green key, Melfaren grabs the treasure, and Laharl sits on the throne ... and promptly vanishes. Sejanus's unconscious body was grabbed by Confectus, who shot a teleportation arrow off the mountain entirely ... bringing the two of them to the base in a heartbeat.

The Elemental Prisons
The group has been divided, inadvertantly, by the obsidian throne, but each works to disable resident Elemental Prisons, of which there are six ...

Phlan
Hedjtep and Melfaren find themselves in a city known as Phlan, in an abandoned warehouse. They make their way to an inn called the Happy Halfling, where they settle in for the night ...

... except all the coins in Melfaren's bag were magically enchanted to transmute into wood-eating insects, if taken from their owner, and they quickly escaped their bag. The result was the ''Great Insect Plague,' an event which would haunt Phlan for years.

In the ensuing chaos, they discovered two individuals ... the dying form of Talis, scarcely with identity and who had imbued himself into a pair of bracers ... which were first given to Miranda, and then to Asmodian. The second was Loralei, the insane priestess, whose son was taken from her by Dharamon.

Loralei led the pair into the Blood Marshes, to the fallen Tower in the center, and led them inside. Hedjtep and Melfaren ended up losing arms over this. But therein was the Yellow Elemental Prison ... containing Harriet. Hedjtep cut out his own eyes to be able to see the prison properly ... and Selune, for his actions, granted him an odd form of vision to compensate.

More notably there was the figure of Nassim Molrin, obviously beyond human, who took off for somewhere in the sky after giving them sagelike advice.

The party travelled south, then, into the city of Saerloon in Sembia, where Melfaren talked to his estranged family in order to secure a transportation pass to Bezantur, in Thay.

Silverymoon
Sejanus made his way, thanks to Confectus, into the dark space between planes, where he discovered an odd magical book and some other documents on a dead wizard guy. He followed the signs to Silverymoon, whereupon he fell into a swamp. One battle with trolls later, he fell into the company of Arteus, Ulfgar Ironwill and Maledd, and posed them with the problem:

How does one free Keldoc from the Blue Elemental Prison?

The end result turned into a city-wide debacle of drunkenness and debauchery; their subsequent arrest led them to the attention of Alustriel, who had been careful to avoid the event. She finally made her way to where Keldoc was imprisoned and, behind closed doors, did whatever she had to do to free him.

Sejanus and Arteus climbed back into the swamp to head to Bezantur, leaving Ulfgar and Maledd behind to clean up the mess.

The Wealdath and Westgate
Asmodian and Cyrilla, who wrangled each other mercilessly, appeared close to the Wealdath ... so they took the green key to free Harithan. The druid and his panther soon recruited Alarik out of Murann, and the destructive quartet let loose havoc upon Amn before moving to Westgate.

Westgate had, in the latter days, become an extreme bastion for Right and Good, with zero tolerance for deviation from ideal values. Further, an energy shield surrounded it. Asmodian promptly had his nose incinerated, and the group was arrested on spurious charges. They never knew just how close to execution they came. Instead of freeing Bantil from the Purple Elemental Prison, though, they took the next ship to Bezantur, leaving the odd cleric of Oghma to his fate.

Heart of Darkness
Laharl, finally, was transported somewhere above the world, into a place he had only seen in his dreams. He saw the encased form of Mordeth ... and the very real swords of his father, who proceeded to gut him viciously.

Sensing that Laharl could be turned, though, Dharamon stopped short of a second killing blow and sent the falling paladin to destroy the innocent ... in the town of West Weng. Laharl squared his beard and slaughtered the entire town: women, children, babies. He toppled the statue built to his former comrades, beheading the Sejanus statue out of spite, and burned down the Melfar Inn, stealing all of the accumulated funds.

Dharamon then took Laharl on a business trip: first to the Shaar, where Dharamon's dragon was stabled, and then to Thaymount, to meet with Szass Tam, Zulkir of Necromancy and nominal ruler of both the Red Wizards and Thay. Szass teleported Laharl to his next destination, where he was to betray his comrades to their deaths ...

... except Miranda, who was already waiting and similarly prone to betrayal, got the upper hand. When Laharl attacked, Miranda came within a single sword-swing of killing the fallen paladin. Her final blow was held by a fortuitous sending from Hedjtep, who had just arrived in Sembia.

Thay and the Final Battle
Once all parties are gathered, they sit down and discuss the plan. Blue Wizards have coordinated with Harpers to attack all of Thay; the heroes will sneak into Thaymount in the confusion and free Brenalli from the Orange Elemental Prison. Miranda herself had the orange key; they had but to get inside.

This proved more difficult than anticipated, as the teleportation circles were not only guarded by Red Wizards, but the battle itself was unleashing tarrasque-esque monsters upon the countryside. Still, they made their way into Thaymount, disabling the prismatic wall at the base.

Confectus was turned to stone and revived. Loralei was killed and simply put in a bag of holding. Then they hit the factory floor, where the Red Wizards had been manufacturing creatures for generations ... where Mordeth and Miranda were both created, as was Talis and the Shards. As was Confectus as well. The tiefling loses his mind and runs down a corridor, leaving a smaller group to handle battles.

The corp. work their way up the tower, free what they believe is the proper Brenalli ... only to realize that the second key is being held by Szass Tam.

Tam has no quarrel with the Jade Lion Mercenary Group ... but he exposes Laharl for what he is ... which evokes a powerful response from Asmodian's bracers. Eventually, he and Hedjtep work together to place a geas of atonement upon Laharl.

With Brenalli freed, Confectus recovered and Loralei resurrected, the crusaders return to Athkatla ... to discover that they are on the brink of the Second Murann War. Mordeth has been using all of the death and destruction to fuel his ascension, and this last war, even without the crystals, will give him all he needs to become a Greater God and seize any portfolio he wishes. Confectus, Alarik, Loralei, Brenalli and Arteus head to Murann .... Cyrilla, Asmodian, Sejanus, Hedjtep, Melfaren and Laharl head to Athkatla, where Laharl's coffin is stored. With a few quick twists, they open it up on ...

... an oddly lit room somewhere above the world.

The form of Mordeth is visibly moving, beneath the ice of his coccoon; all that stands between them and saving the world is Dharamon.

Miranda first destroys the connector to the Purple crystal, nearly killing herself in the process. Dharamon moves in between spontaneous walls of force, chopping the heads off of his foes, including his own son.

Mordeth breaks free ... only to be grappled by the archon Nassim. While the servants of Mordeth are alive, though, Nassim doesn't stand a chance against the might of the newly minted God ...

The final blow is delivered to Dharamon, who drops dead. Miranda then says goodbye and kills herself ... leaving Mordeth without any worshippers whatsoever. Nassim destroys Mordeth and salutes the heroes as the building above the world begins to collapse ......

Epilogue
A short montage ensues:

Hedjtep goes on to become the leading cleric of Selune in the nation of Amn; his official title is 'Bishop,' although 'Cardinal' might be more appropriate;

The brothers Bauduril, Sejanus and Melfaren, enter a vortex, after an amusing discussion, in search of more money and more whorin';

Sorienne is seen wandering the woods of the Wealdath, as part of the new border patrol, the interwoven green and silver fragments of her glammered armor glistening in the dappled daylight;

Eridu and Alwar are back-to-back in a massive tavern brawl at the Jade Lion Inn, because some things never change ... Eridu picks up the gnomish monk and hurls him at a half-orc;

Cyrilla, her son safe, turns her back on Amn and returns to her late husband's estate near Baldur's Gate, only to be greeted by her brother Vohr Kethon;

Loralei and Harriet stand on the docks in Starmantle as Alarik, the head of their insane little household, heads off to steal the daily bread from the boats of the rich as a part of Vohr's pirate fleet; Loralei then heads off to instruct children at the temple of Tymora there;

Asmodian, after a poignant farewell to Karakas, sails north for Waterdeep, where an old friend is waiting anxiously for news of his safety;

The skeletal figure of Szass Tam, whose motivations none can guess, smiles a little smile to himself and turns his attention to the destruction of any and all papers relating to the construction of automatons;

The paladin Laharl, son of Dharamon, kneels at the preserved bier of his father, set into his family's home estates. His blond beard, square as ... well, a Turmian beard, glistens with faint tears;

Confectus disappears for a time, beyond the reach of prying eyes, to search for meaning in the face of the sudden revelation of his creation;

Ulfgar, Maledd and Arteus return to their usual duties, because the three of them are, if nothing else, solid men;

Oryn and Saldar arrive in an unknown glade deep in Cormanthor, carrying an urn. The moon elf and the dark elf smile at one another and approach the center, with hope in their eyes;

Keldoc and Alustriel walk a little too close to one another as they discuss the future of the Silver Marches and this experiment called democracy;

Harithan, Brenalli, and Kaskus the Panther negotiate with the Westgate criminal Schara the White for the release of Bantil from a now-defunct prison;

''No matter where they are, though, they all look up at a clear evening sky on the eve of Shieldmeet, in the year 1376 (by the Dale Reckoning), and watch two stars meet in the sky -- one falling up, and one falling down. In their own ways, they say a quick prayer for Nassim, for Talis, for Miranda ... and then exhale as one, for their tasks are now over, and Faerun is safe once more.''

''And with a bit of light piano music, the credits finish scrolling by and the campaign comes to a close. The words 'The End' appear over a sepia-toned set of three photographs: one of the Wandering Guardians in Amn, one of Cirque de Suzail in Immersea, and one of the Jade Lion group standing on the battlements of Murann.''

The Main Characters

 * Hedjtep Kanut, a cleric;
 * Sejanus Bauduril, a fighter;
 * Melfaren Bauduril, a wizard;
 * Asmodian, a bard;
 * Cyrilla, a rogue;
 * Laharl, a fallen paladin.

Other Characters Played

 * Sorienne, a ranger;
 * Alarik, a pirate and scoundrel;
 * Eridu, a barbarian;
 * Maledd, a snooty mystic theurge;
 * Arteus Starshin, a solid man;
 * Ulfgar Ironwill, of the Cirque de Suzail.

Non-Player Characters (Main)

 * Mordeth
 * Dharamon
 * Miranda DuLaras
 * Karakas
 * Aerik Maelistair
 * Antheri Grimward
 * Billum
 * dead-guy from the Scorpion's Sting.

Supporting Cast

 * In the prisons:
 * Cirque de Suzail: Harithan and Kaskus, Brenalli, Harriet, Bantil
 * Wandering Guardians: Keldoc, Confectus
 * Szass Tam - the undead Zulkir of Necromancy and ruler of Thay.
 * Nassim Molrin - formerly, the Lord of the Light.
 * Juron, Juron's monarlais
 * Karakas's wife, Karakas's maid
 * (head of the Temple of Selune)
 * (rulers of Tethyr)
 * Alwyn Brightwater, that asshole in Amn.
 * Lucius Cyrillus - the son of Cyrilla.

Themes
User:bwh writes:

When I originally set up the goals for this campaign, it was to close off all the errant background stories and threads which had been running around. While this was eventually accomplished (through some rather deft maneuvering), the introduction of new characters at the beginning left me with a bit of a mess.

Then their histories started to arrive ... and I found they could easily be interwoven into one story, revolving around one basic theme: family.


 * Mordeth was the unbegotten offspring of a demon and the original Miranda duLaras; he had no family and resented the world for its happiness.
 * Miranda, the clone, was left the wander the world and watch her family disintegrate and forget her over five hundred years.
 * Dharamon, Mordeth's main servant, abandoned his family.
 * Karakas had a family he never knew existed, and preferred it to the family he actually had in Amn.
 * Laharl tried desperately to emulate his father, to the point of slaughtering a peasant village. He took Dharamon's corpse back to his mother and had it enshrined.
 * Asmodian met his true father, after years and years of searching, but ended up leaving Amn at the end for the man who'd help to raise him instead.
 * Sejanus and Melfaren Bauduril were separated brothers, reunited through a telepathic connection only twins would understand. Melfaren also met up with the family who separated them.
 * Selista Cyrillus was a mother hell-bent on revenge after her son was stolen and husband was murdered.
 * Alarik and Harriet formed an odd family, two against the world; later Loralei, whose own son was stolen from her, would join them.

Each character became, in his or her own way, a study on the nature of familial connections and how they impact a group dynamic. In the long run, the group pulled apart and went their own separate ways, so that the adventurers could be with their families. (The lone exception, of course, being Hedjtep, who had his own reasons for not returning to his homeland.)

Criticisms
Jason Stapels summed it up nicely:


 * "The plot was just too damn big to grasp. I was so confused through most of the campaign. There just a few too many people, a few too many characters, and a few too many places for me keep track of it all. Of course this partically my own naivety on the world of FR."
 * "I felt a little third-wheel in regards to the history, PLEASE don't misunderstand this as me feeling third-wheel during the game. I often felt like I was the center of attention a lot more than I ever expected, so I'm very happy I was included in the story, it's just that I had NO clue who all these people were most of the time. This is mostly just because I'm the newcomer and I don't have the history everyone does."
 * "There were a few weekends where you seemed unprepared to DM, mostly due to lack of sleep methinks. In those cases it might have just been better for us to run into some random creatures and let Laharl errrrrr Sejanus beat them up tongue."
 * "Things seemed to slow down a lot because we spent a lot of time looking up rules over and over. Unless you're stalling for time, I think it would be better to just make a DM decision and then if later (during a bathroom break) we determine a mistake was made, you can fix it via some clever plot device."

Console RPG Clichés
As part of a running gag, the DM inserted as many different elements from certain games into the campaign as he could. This practice was continued from Mists of Cormyr and is not apt to be repeated. (Intentionally.)

Side Quests

 * You Do Not Talk About Fight Club: there were combatants to be fought in every major and minor city. The first would have been Hambo (Ftr5) in the hamlet of Amnas.
 * Starmantle: if the Cyrilla/Asmodian/Alarik side quest had taken off, plans were in place for them to encounter one Vohr Kethon on their way across the Sea of Fallen Stars. With time to spare, they could have stopped into Starmantle and helped set a few wrongs right ... and a few rights properly crooked.

Unanswered Questions
Answer: This question was not fully resolved within the 3E continuity, but hints appear in Shrouded Wings. Answer: it is believed that he became an archon of the Triad. Given the actions of Oryn Silverrain in the time of Shrouded Wings, though, the story may not yet be over.
 * The divine portfolios of Hatred, Deceit and Tyranny (amongst a few others) remain unclaimed, from the falls of Bane, Cyric and Mordeth. Who will become the new Evil Overpower of Faerun?
 * Just what happened to Nassim, anyways?