Arcana Unearthed Summer 2004

Time Frame: Arcana Unearthed
Genre: Arcana Unearthed - D20 Fantasy
Progress Level: AU = Arcana Unearthed
Life: Rhodin and Bandits
Setting: The Diamond Throne
Plot: To find out more about the Banana Throne
Goal:
Characters:

Aleen Songstorm is an Unfettered Quickling Faen played by Mandy	Homerus Shortsword is an Unfettered Quickling Faen played by Ian
Jetawn Shahin is a Magister Quickling Faen played by Manuel	Rofjol is a Warmain Verrik played by Mike (deceased)
Dak is a Greenbond Human played by David	Gi-la-gad is a Giant Champion of Justice played by Mark (deceased)
Cedric is a Verrik Witch played by Mark
Rogarr is a Litorian played by Mike

NPC
- Janos - merchant of some sort
- Nazar - rogish human played by Bill

Hero Backgrounds:

Jetawn Shahin is a Quickling Faen, magister

Home Community
Quickling Faens refer to two or more towns within a day’s walk as a county; the most populous ones have close to 5,000 inhabitants. Jetawn's grew up in a community such as this one town called Hearn, the other Kollar.

Climate
Jetawn feels at home in high altitude and rugged lands where vegetation is sparse above the tree line, but forests and meadows predominate lower down. Jetawn grew up with cold winters, but warm summers.

Education
Jetawn showed an affinity for the arcane arts. Jetawn has apprenticed with a sprite magister for arcane instruction. Jetawn studied religious texts and philosophy. He was taught that magic should not be abused and moderation should be used.

Events
Jetawn was born under a comet in the sky racing across a blue moon. Jetawn found a unique talent such as extremely keen understanding of fire. Jetawn has learned many tricks which enable him to enhance his magics with fire.
Unfortunately, he cannot see color. A large, cohesive group of loresong moved to Jetawn's home community, creating friction with the existing community. As a result, Jetawn was exposed to a new culture of magic.

Family
Jetawn was raised as part of an arcane order. While Jetawn's “family” didn’t have much direct income, it had access to resources through the magic of sprite magisters likely provides the resources. Jetawn's family has no internal organization. Family members are responsible for their own actions. Jetawn's family maintains a low level of readiness including a few weapons and an occasional discussion of how to defend against raiders or low-level monsters. Jetawn's family has neutral ethics or no consistent family ethical direction. Whether Jetawn's family is unfairly painted as lacking magic, it’s clear the community of loresong have the wrong idea. Jetawn's family supports the current political structure and ruling Giants. Jetawn's family openly venerates multiple deities while privately seeking others. Jetawn's family is known as stalwart companions. Jetawn and family are settlers in the community. Jetawn's ancestor owned a magic staff of unusual note that would have become a family heirloom.

Relationships
Both of Jetawn's parents are alive and healthy. Jetawn has 37 older siblings. All four of Jetawn's grandparents are living. Jetawn knows dozens of relatives of various generations. Jetawn has a light and pleasant relationships with many people but few if any significant ties. A top-notch instructor Perla taught Jetawn more advanced arcane techniques. A fellow apprentice of the arcane arts developed an intense dislike for Jetawn because she was a loresong and Jetawn a Quickling, perhaps because Jetawn was the instructor’s favorite.

Jetawn feels that the Giants eliminated a great and powerful race in the Dahmojh, but overall he doesn't care just as long as the Giants don't interfere with his life as he wishes to live it.

Jetawn loves sweet wine and spiced cider and is often found eating various juicy fruits and tossing down wild game. Jetawn enjoys being with people of all races because he feels they all have something of which he can learn from. Jetawn speaks Faen, Giant, common, undercommon, and Litorian.

Jetawn is quite in tuned with his culture to identify deities and he usually takes great effort to keep an eye out for new deities as they reveal themselves.

Dak is a human greenbound.

Firstborn boy of the Arrin family, a minor Noble house with strong merchant ties (and a good bit of wealth), Dak's life was plotted out for him at an early age. After several years of schooling under a capable tutor, he was to take over the family's businesses from his father, Hal Arrin.

Or so it was thought. Things seemed to be going well for a long time. Dak showed natural skill in running the business, and got along well with all he met. A brilliant Mojh Magister, Yetheren, was hired on as his tutor, and Dak studied hard underneath him for several years. Unknown to his family, however, Yetheren was not only a Magister, but also a Darkbond, a herald of death and destruction.

When Yetheren lost control of one of his creations, an Undead creature he had named Lorath, his true nature was revealed. In his escape, Dak was wounded, infused with Dark energy.

No one really knew then, or knows now, why Dak lived through Yetheren's attack, but when he awoke he was a changed man. As his body has purged itself of the Dark energy Yetheren has shot through it, the Green had replaced it.

Days after his recovery, Dak disappeared from his home city, with what supplies he could gather and a small amount of money. A note left behind explained his need to go out into the wilderness, and a promise to eventually return.

That was several years ago, and Dak has not been heard of since. His family continues to look for him, and occasionally catches word of him from one place or another. Taking up the life of a Greenbond, however, most surely means his former plans of being the head of the family's business are over.

Dak feels that in many ways, the people have simply replaced one ruler (the Dramojh) with another (the Giants). Still, the Giants seem to rule fairly, and if stories are to believed, much kinder than the Dramojh ever did. More importantly, the seem to have a deal of respect for the Green, which is Dak's primary concern. The Green commands his loyalty above all other things, and the Giants respect for it alone gives them many points in his book.

Aleen is a unfettered quickling faen and she tends to get along with the giants more than any other race due to their kindness.

Homerus is a unfettered quickling faen

Rofjol is a verrick warmain

Gi-la-gad is a giant champion of justice

Campaign Background:

The world was once ruled by nasty, draconic creatures called the Dramojh. They enslaved and oppressed all the other races. They were into magical experiments that would turn people into monsters. At that time, the Giants and and their faithful servants, the Sibeccai, were living on a distant eastern continent.

About 500 years ago, the Giants and Sibeccai found out about the Dramojh. The Giants consider themselves caretakers of the world, so they sailed west en masse and launched a war against the Dramojh. The Giants were victorious, and all the other races were freed. They set up a new kingdom in the western lands.

The Giants are benevolent rulers, and treat the other races with respect, though they can be a bit patronizing at times. It is important to note that a typical Giant does not consider himself to have any particular authority over people of other races, even though the Giants technically rule the land. Nevertheless, some people resent the Giants.

Our game will be set on a separate continent from the main Diamond Throne lands. This continent was liberated by the Giants somewhat more recently than the main setting, about 300 years ago, so things here are not quite as settled.

I'd like you to give some thought about the way your character feels toward the Giants. Do you admire them and appreciate what they've done? Do you resent their assertion of authority?

What does your character think about the Dramojh? There are some humans who actively seek to uncover the secrets that died with the Dramojh. Some of them even undergo a magical transformation to become Mojh (a draconic, Dramojh-like, humanoid race).

Adventure 0 : A Book for Mathios

It was a rainy evening in the city of Cragnos. A group of young travelers huddled around a table in the common room of the Brass Wagon, an inn in the section of Cragnos known as the New City. They had come to Cragnos looking to make their fortune, but thus far no opportunity had presented itself. The group was approached by a plain-looking, middle aged man. In short order, he offered the group 2000 gold to do a job for him. The task was simple. He asked to group to acquire for him a book, titled "Archive-1385", and he conveniently offered a map to a building in the Old City where this book might be found. The group waited until the dead of night, and then departed for the Old City under the cover of darkness. The rain had lessened, but enough of a drizzle still fell to soak the group's clothes and make them cold and miserable. They travelled down the main Boulevard, crossing the river into the Old City. Eventually, they arrived at the alleyway the man had marked on the map, picked the lock on the gate that was barring their way, and approached the building from behind.

Then, two thugs entered the alleyway. The thugs identified themselves as members of a gang known as "The Wyverns", and demanded that the group get off their turf. The group chose to fight. They quickly dispatched the thugs, hiding their bodies in some trash at the end of the alleyway. Breaking into the building and retrieving the book was simple. The building appeared to be some sort of archive where books were stored. Back at the Brass Wagon, the group examined the book. It appeared to a book detailing the floor plans of various buildings in the city that were built several hundred years ago. They noticed that one page seemed to be dog-eared. The page corresponded to a building on "Lot 121", however, the book gave no indication as to where that building may be located. The group slept, and then returned to the common room the next day at the appointed hour to meet the man. However, as the hour approached, the man did not appear.

Adventure 1 : Escaping Cragnos

The group returned from their rest to meet at the Brass Wagon tavern in Cragnos. We waited for Mathios to show, but there was no sign of him. After a bit of investigating, the giant Gilagad asked the bartender if he knew Mathios. The bartender told Gilagad that Mathios may have died last night. The group found this interesting and scarry. So, we set out to find Mathios' home. At his home we found quite a lot going on. People were preparing for what appeared to be a funeral. Gilagad asked a nearby house guard what had happen, and indeed Mathios had died last night. Gilagad told the guard that we had dealings with Mathios that were incomplete, so the guard referred us to a business building across the street.

At this business we met Janos, a former employee or business associate of Mathios. He was glad to find that we had acquired the book, but told us he had no payment as of yet. He suggested that we leave the book with him and head to a friend just north of Cragnos in the hamlet of Thunderbrook. His friend Aynar would certainly pay us. Rofjol, the Verrick, decided against leaving the book with Janos. Janos told us that we were possibly in trouble and we should leave the city at nightfall via some secret tunnels beneath the city. Gilagad asked Janos if he had heard of some thug group called the Wyverns, but Janos had no knowledge of such an organization.
He told us that Mathios' warehouse contained a secret entrance to the tunnels underneath his desk in the warehouse office.

We hung around the Brass Wagon drinking sweet wine and enjoying some wild game until it became dark enough to visit the warehouse. I, Jetawn, had to keep silent Gilagad before he mentioned the Wyverns out loud, since apparently two had been killed the night before. It was raining out and Orla "Drippy Drop" the divine of misty rain "much less than a torrent" revealed herself to me. I told the others, but they looked at me with confused gazes.

So, we went directly to the warehouse and we found it unlocked. Gilagad went in with Dak, the Greenbond, casting a globe of light for us to see by. I rode on Gilagad's back to see what I could see. Moments into the warehouse a light went on and a town guard, Stelio identified himself and proceeded to question us. I figured we had every right to be in the warehouse since Janos told us to come here. Stelio though differently and so a skirmish broke out. Aleen and Homerus, my Quickling cousins, immediately attacked Stelio when a another man revealed himself above some crates by shooting a crossbow bolt at us. Dak threw a mudball at Stelio and he cursed us as he wiped his eyes. A third man showed up and Rofjol and Gilagad approached him. I swung with my staff, but it did no good. Rofjol and Gilagad hit him good and knocked him unconscious after he attempted to flee. Aleen and Homerus made quick work of Stelio as he fell to the ground unconscious. Gilagad attempted to heal the guy he knocked out and I, Jetawn, hopped down from his shoulders to run around and readied my crossbow. Rofjol ran around some crates to try to get an advantage on the man on the crates firing bolts at us. Homerus started climbing the crates near the guy as quickly as he could. Gilagad attempted to heal Stelio next. Moments later Rofjol and Homerus had taken out the sniper.

Gilagad carved something about "Freedom" in the side of a crate. I went with Dak to a side door to investigate a small office with a desk while the group looted the bodies of Stelio and his men. I found a secret door beneath the desk, just as Janos had told us.

After a few minutes, the entire group dropped down a ladder and headed into a long cavernous tunnel. After a few hours we spied a small opening in the cavern wall leading to a room with a pool in it. Gilagad and I were leery about entering but Aleen, Dak, and Homerus had no problem with exploring the outcropping. After a bit Aleen discovered a backpack full of gold and wine. I tasted the wine, it was not sweet at all, I suggested that the human Dak take it. We continued further down the long cavern passageway and were surprised by a weird claw-like arm dropping from the ceiling to grab at Homerus. With swift action, the party killed this Choker before it could eliminate Dak who it had grabbed hold of. Rofjol was the one who killed the choker, not thinking twice about his own safety.

We finally made it out of the cavern just as Anabhayin, the protector of long caverns revealed himself to me and I thanked him for allowing us safe passage. Orla "DrippyDrop" kept the rain pouring down upon us through the night as most of us camped out in the mouth of the cave. Dak slept out in the rain and took comfort in Orla's protection.

After the early morning nap, we looked around to see the road leading to Parselis north of Cragnos. We decided that Janos had told us the truth about this cavern and headed north to find the hamlet of Thunderbrook. As the day progressed, we came upon a bridge, which Dak said should not have a toll on it, but there were two walls made of logs that barred the opposite side of the bridge. A voice from the logs told us to toss a sack of 10 gold coins towards the opening in the logs. Unfortunately, we didn't have a sack, or no one volunteered their sack. I suggested that I walk over and give them the gold personally, but they wouldn't have it. Rofjol told Gilagad that they could easily rush the pile of logs and push them over onto whoever was standing behind them. So they did. I got down from Gilagad before he did such a thing, and readied my crossbow. Homerus readied his crossbow as well. Gilagad toppled his log pile with ease shouting something about "Freedom", and a man stumbled out from it to attack Gilagad. Homerus missed the man, but my bolt struck true and the man fled. Just as Rofjol approached his log pile, a man stepped from behind it and swiped at him. Rofjol ignored the man and pushed his stack of logs over, even more impressive than Gilagad's push. The guy swung again as Rofjol drew his weapon. An arrow came from behind some trees and a man snuck out to attack Aleen. She quickly turned and with the help of Dak and Homerus he was killed quickly. Rofjol killed the man who had taken a few swings at him as Gilagad speared the running man with an awesome throw. Rofjol tossed a rock at the guy in the tree and he killed a squirrel. The group converged on a man hidden in the trees and he had no chance after being surrounded by Homerus, Dak, Gilagad, and Rofjol. Aleen looted the bodies and I heard some horses off the road, so I approached them. I found 4 horses and a chest. Homerus opened the chest to find a few coins. We decided to take the horses and ride, I would ride with my two quickling cousins. We hoped that the horse could bare Gilagad's weight, he is well armored.

Adventure 2: A Day in Thunderbrook

We took the horses and began riding north towards Thunderbrook. Along the way we saw a Verrick man on horseback with a cart in tow. Our party was quite unfriendly, so we didn't say much more than good day as he passed. He looked a bit nervous, but we shrugged it off.

That night we found a small clearing a bit hidden from the road and set up camp. During the night a band of Rhodin attacked us on Homerus' watch. Within seconds Gi-la-gad was almost struck down, but Rofjol sliced through 3 of them while Aleen killed the last. I had to toss a firey mudball at the largest to help Gi-la-gad escape the blinded Rhodin.

The next morning we rose, continued our journey and made it to Thunderbrook. We quickly found a manor where Aynar resides and went for our payment. Gi-la-gad handed Aynar the note in the sealed container and he promptly paid us 200 platinum pieces. Aynar also put us up and he had some nice sweet wine delivered to our table that lunch.

At lunch we met a fine Sibeccai woman named Ellara who told us about some bandit attacks. We had noticed a fallen wall outside the compound where workers were fastly putting stones back upon. Ellara told us of a spy Korath, a Mojh and she also mentioned that we should talk to the Litorian elder Zacharus. Rojol wanted to meet the Litorian and didn't much care to speak with a Mojh, so we began our afternoon searching for Zacharus in the town.

Zacharus greeted us warmly and told us he no longer dealt with town defenses, he was a retired warrior who preferred to construct beams in his free time. He offered us some magic arrows if we choose to defend the town with them. He told us of a town elder Tolon, and he told us that Korath was probably just accused for his race.

After leaving Zacharus we headed to the common hall to see Korath. A few questions and Rofjol sensed that Korath wsa hiding some guilt. Korath was quite interesting, but gave us no information we could use to help him out. Gi-la-Gad was bent on freeing the Mojh for some unseen reason.

Tolon is a town elder quite elderly at that, and we visited him just before dusk. He had no more information for us except that he mentioned an old abandoned castle, once ruled by the giant Lar-Karras.

I asked around to find some red gems, but this town apparently had none. I now had some money, but no gems to buy for my fire magic.

We headed back and some were resting as Dak and I, Jetawn, were sitting quitely in the courtyard drinking sweet wine. We heard some noise beyond the fallen pieces of wall and we noticed some townsfolk arguing and shouting something about bandits. I ran to the front door and called to the others.

The bandits attacked as Dak ran out the front gate and I took cover to wait for bandits to come through the makeshift wall. Rofjol and Aleen were first to back me up. Rofjol killed on Litorian bandit easily while Gi-la-gad ran up behind Rofjol. Aleen was hit badly and withdrew. Homerus was closed in by two guys so I had to create a fireburst. I burned one litorian to death. The other hit Homerus. A witch attacked Rofjol with a green beam and he fell silent. Homerus wounded the man I had burned, but we stabilized his wounds to interrogate him later. Gi-la-gad finally killed the witch.

Adventure 3 : Castle Lar-kar-ras

We went to sleep to rest for the next days journey to the Castle Lar-kar-ras. We figured we should pick up Korath, cause he claimed to have worked for a giant, perhaps he worked for the giant Lar-kar-ras. Aynar let us take Korath, but he told us to keep an eye on him.

Korath was indeed familiar with the castle, and he mentioned the fact that he had just recently visited it. He mentioned a Litorian "Tersa" who worked for Lar-kar-ras and that he saw her during his return visit. She was wearing an evil crown that attracted evil minions to her. She apparently chased Korath out of the castle.

We rode for a few hours to find that the castle was in shambles, but Dak spotted recent activity such as a camp fire nearby.

Our group approached a side tower that was partially collapsed and Gil-la-gad and Aleen went in. Aleen was almost hit by a rock that someone through at her from a collapsing 2nd story ledge. Rofjol and Gil-la-gad climbed up some rubble to get to the Chorrim while Dak through sling bolts and Homerus shot crossbow bolts at him. Aleen attempted to climb the rubble, but failed multiple times in her haste. Jetawn fired a bolt or two, but Jetawn can't hit much with his crossbow.

After a bit of hacking and slashing Rofjol and Gil-la-gad took the Chorrim out. Aleen finally made it to the 2nd floor where she found Rofjol's arrow he fired earlier and 5 rubys which she pocketed for herself without telling anyone.

We proceeded to the front entrance of the castle and immediately saw 3 bandits hiding out, but after they saw the mighty Rofjol, they fled down some stairs. We chased them, but lost them in some catacombs. The group investigated and as soon as Rofjol turned a corner he was ambushed. Gil-la-gad and Homerus ran to his defense. Jetawn ignited a flame burst on the two litorians and they burned quite well. Gil-la-gad and Rofjol made quick work of one of them as the second bandit fled.

Just then Dak was suprised by another bandit and some ghastly zombie-like Litorian with a crown. Dak took some severe hits and fell to the ground. Aleen tried to help, but couldn't hit anyone but the bandit. Rofjol ran down the hall to fight Tersa. Tersa hit Rofjol. Homerus went to stabalize Dak, by getting the potion of healing and pouring it down Dak's throat. Jetawn ignited another flameburst and burned both the bandit and the undead. Jetawn also caught Rofjol, Dak, and Aleen in the blast as well. Tersa hit Rofjol and he fell unconscious. Aleen finished off the 3rd bandit. Gil-la-gad tried running around some catacombs to catch Tersa from behind, unfortunately, Jetawn ignited another burst which caught him just after Tersa had hit him. Gil-la-gad went down in a crispy blaze. Korath couldn't save him and the rest of us couldn't get to him. My blast also caught Homerus who fell as well. Jetawan attempted to cure Rofjol after realizing that only he and Aleen were left standing. Jetawn got Rofjol up and Rofjol was able to barely kill this undead Tersa with a slash of his blade. Jetawn grabbed the evil crown and slipped it on his belt. Rofjol, Aleen, Korath, and Jetawn dragged the 3 bodies of our buddies out of the castle and into the falling tower to rest for the night. After Jetawn healed Dak, he continued to heal the others. We searched the ruins but didn't find much more treasure.

Adventure 4 : Leaving Thunderbrook

The next day the group decided to explore before returning to Thunderbrook Jetawn couldn't imagine trying to lift the giant's body onto a horse with only the help of Aleen, luckily Rofjol and Dak were capable the next morning. The group then decided to leave Gi-la-gad's body and Jetawn burned it to a crisp and spread the ashes around the castle Lar-kar-ras ruins.

After much rest and wound transferring, the group investigated the catacombs some more. Homerus found numerous secret doors and passages that eventually led the group to a few hundred gold and some gems. Luckily there was one red gem of value to Jetawn. The group left Gi-la-gad the crisp and his stuff and the bandit's stuff we couldn't carry and left for Thunderbrook.

We decided to head back to Thunderbrook. At Thunderbrook, the group gave Aynar some of the loot, but Aleen bluffed her way out of giving up the gems. Thunderbrook through a celebration in our honor. We convinced the town council to release Korath. Two adventurers were introduced to us so they joined the group. One was a shify human, the other is a Verrick witch of some sort.

We were told by Aynar that we could return to Cragnos so we left the next morning.

Our journey seemed uneventful with a few nights of peaceful rest. During a days ride we encountered some Rhodin again. Our shifty friend fired into the woods, we saw nothing. Moments later several Rhodin attacked us from all sides.

The largest Rhodin struck Homerus right off the back of the horse. Jetawn dismounted to attempt to heal Homerus with success. Our roguish friend killed a Rhodin with one crossbow bolt. Rofjol came to our aid slaying a Rhodin as he approached us, but the big Rhodin turned on him and struck him multiple times, Rofjol went down a bloody mess.

Dak and our new Verrick friend killed the third. After a combined effort and a few energy hawks, the Rhodin fell dead. We were victorious, but Rofjol was dead. Dak prayed for his fallen comrade.

The rogue booked out and headed back to Thunderbrook scared.

We continued south to Cragnos and found the bridge destroyed. We spent numerous hours trying to figure out the best way to cross the river, but found nothing workable for horses and dead men. Aleen found a dead body with animal claw marks on its body. Jetawn tried to detect any beasts, but found nothing in the area.

At long last we decided to head up river east of the road.

Adventure 5 : Returning to Cragnos

The group decides to head to the coast where they find a shack with an old man who is quite friendly after the party explains the demise of the bandits. The group picks up a traveler, Rogarr, a Litorian who was heading to Cragnos.

The group is escorted across the river by boat and they allow the horses to swim across unencumbered. One horse isn't strong enough and is swept out to Cragnos bay. Jetawn thanks the god of river outlets, Konsu-Kons'tei Kor.

The group makes due with 3 horses and slowly returns to the road where the bridge was out. One the way, the group encounters some lizard like entities and kills them.

Jetawn finds it odd that the god of hexagonal clearings, Mergran, doesn't allow the group a nights quiet rest. Every time they are accosted by woodland dwellers.

Adventure 6 : Working in Cragnos

After finally reaching Cragnos, the group reports directly to Janos who Dak gives the book to promptly since the group was actually paid for it. Jetawn catches Janos up on the groups adventures and finally asks for some work. Janos tells the group to return the next day.

Cedric and Aleen go sell their items they picked up and return to split the loot with the group. Homerus and Cedric get a room at a nice inn.

Jetawn goes to some gem stores to purchase many gems to pulverize for his fire magic.

Jetawn searches the city for someone who might know something about the 600 year old parchment the group found on the Rhodin. The paper is a promissory note of some kind, but the faen writing describes only about 100gp face value. Jetawn is sure the note is worth more, but he can't find anyone who knows anything about it. Luckily enough, he does get word that there is a Fergus the smith in town, perhaps an ancestor.

The next day, the group finds Janos and he offers them a job to remove some beast holding out in a distillery of Mathios. After a bit of research and asking a worker about the beast, the group proceeds to the location where the beast was last seen. The group finds a cellar and makes it past some equipment to find a small passage leading to a larger chamber.

The group sees an Otyugh which seems quite upset at the new arrivals. Jetawn quickly casts fireburst as his friends move in on the beast. Homerus and Rogarr quickly strike at it. Cedric the witch performs a psychic stab at the beast. The Otyugh attacks Rogarr but misses. Jetawn lights it up again with another fireburst and Rogarr and Homerus kill the beast.

The group returns to Janos to collect their pay of 100 gold pieces each and which includes room, board, and bar for the remainder of their employ with Janos.

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