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wrathoftiamat · 11 months

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SESSION ONE: The One Where The Party Is (Mostly) Naked In The River

Cy, Elio, & Jupiter are introduced and each make their way to the town of Greenrest where they inevitably collide. We are introduced to each character and aspects of their past and current goals and a threat looming in front of them.

Cylanestriel Blackwood is an elven vengeance paladin who has been a member of the Keepers of the Secret Hoard for seven years after her death and subsequent resurrection. When she first arrived, the dogma of the cult centered around the veneration of dracoliches. In the last few years, with the return of a cultist named Drea Silrajin and her upheaval of the cult, their focus has shifted to prepare for the return of Tiamat. Since her arrival, Cy has ascended in the ranks to the position of Dragonsoul, a military rank under the Wyrmspeakers, the most powerful in the cult. It was her job to break in and train new recruits. Most of the cult is underground, woven through lava tunnels and magically carved barracks For the first time, Cy has been allowed on the surface of the caldera. The air is crisp, the sky is clear. Drea stands above the cultists gathered on the rim of the caldera, amplifying her voice while giving instructions on how the keepers are beginning to mobilize, their efforts to recruit dragons and raids to find treasure for Tiamat's hoard. She finishes with the words, "We will be the only, the holy remembered." Cy has been summoned to Drea's quarters. Along the way, Rezmir, a black dragonborn and one of the wyrmspeakers, gives Cy a butch nod. When Cy arrives, the door of Drea's chambers are cracked open, and she catches a glimpse of Drea looking weary, sunken into her chair. Her little red pseudodragon Nelvik settles onto her shoulders. When Cy politely knocks, she sees Drea reassemble her presentation. Drea wishes to send Cy out into the world on a mission. Cy is eager, yet polite. She has been tasked to go to Greenrest and find Bahamut's Holy Avenger, to claim it for Tiamat's hoard. Cy accidentally reveals she once lived there, and later, instinctively lied about who she was with, to protect the one secret she felt was her own. Halfway through the conversation, Morena Eclissi barges in, evidently late for the meeting. She and Drea share tense eye contact before Morena sits and joins the conversation. Drea reveals that Morena will also be coming to Greenrest, only days after Cy. While Cy has been tasked to retrieve the Holy Avenger and return to the cult, Morena and Rezmir have been tasked with heading an invasion and finding a civilian who has been unraveling secrets about the keepers. When Cy is excused, she lingers, eavesdropping on Drea and Morena. She listens to them briefly flirt, before Drea explains that Morena is to cause as much clamor and attention as possible. Cy leaves when they start to flirt again and realizes there's no more information to be gained. [FULL TRANSCRIPT]

Before she leaves, Cy retrieves less ornate armor that will not betray her allegiance. She travels on horse to Greenrest, the very same path she took when she left all those years ago. It's the first time she's been alone in years and she still feels like she's being watched. She didn't expect to lie about her time in Greenrest, it's the one secret she was able to protect when she was indoctrinated by the keepers. It is hard to reconcile that with her zeal for Drea's vision.

Elio Eclissi is a dragon-blessed young man, the scion of Bahamut. Recently, he had returned home for the first time in a couple of years to visit his family before completing his Paladin training. When he arrived home, he discovered that his twin sister, Morena, cursed by Tiamat, was nowhere to be found and his parents had no interest in finding her. We meet him dressed in fine, ceremonial armor in a carriage with his father on his way to the temple of Bahamut to swear his oath. Benicio, his father, was rushing the ceremony along, so Elio could compete in the Melee of the Pious. It's an important day, however, the disappearance of his sister, and his parent's indifference, is weighing on him. His carriage is stopped in the street by Fizban, who telepathically communicates with him about his doubts. He tells Elio to choose his own path. Elio wants to go find his sister. Fizban gives him a single golden-scaled gauntlet and tells him to find its owner. He offers to distract Elio's father, Benicio so he can slip away, and asks Elio to do his grocery shopping. Elio slips away into the crowded streets of Waterdeep and finds himself at the shop of Ava, a tiefling blacksmith with fused circular horns. She has often tailored his armor and forged his sword. She looks at the gauntlet and tells him that it was crafted during the last Dragon moot; it was Dwarvish, and he could likely find more information in Greenrest. She gave Elio her cloak to help him disguise his appearance, it's rather large on him and the hood blocks his vision when pulled up. He then does Fizban's shopping and goes to his flat in the city, uses a key to drop them off, sees Fizban's dragonchess board and plays an opening move. He procures a horse, a large white percheron named Odette and sets out onto the road alone for the first time in his life.

Seven years ago, a half-elf, Jupiter King's name was not Jupiter and he was not free. He was an indentured servant, sworn into contract and swimming in debt in a traveling carnival. He was one of their finest aerialists. Tonight, the circus had a bevy of important guests. His boss, a summer eladrin named Caprice cornered him and pressures him to perform a truly incredible act, with only twenty minutes until curtain. Jupiter originally mouths off, but then reluctantly agrees to 'get it together'. When Caprice leaves, Jupiter flips him off. Foxglove, a shifter, attempts to comfort him by giving him an awkward shoulder pat and more information on the mysterious, important guests. The night proceeds with the circus' best foot forward, performances full of air and sophistication, except for a displacer beast too many. Eventually, it is Jupiter's turn to perform. HIs specialty is in aerial silks and trapeze. He starts with a silk routine, set to ethereal music to appeal to the visiting fey. It is full of sudden drops, twists, and turns. At one point he makes eye contact with a small dragon, settled on a pillow. She has opalescent scales, large luna moth wings, and they're watching Jupiter intensely. When he gives them one of his performance smiles, she appears to be delighted. When his performance is through, Jupiter begins to do maintenance backstage. Caprice is furious. He berates Jupiter for upstaging his other acts. Jupiter is sweltering from the heat of Caprice's rage, who punishes him by making him collect trash on the grounds like he did when he was a child. Foxglove cuts in and gets Caprice to back off for now, but his rage is far from quelled. Armed with a broom, Jupiter heads out as the crowd disperses, accidentally bumping into a taller man with locs in platinum armor. Jupiter is unaware that this is Bahamut. Jupiter furiously doing chores. As he goes to take the last bit of garbage out, he sees a small group gathered farther away from the tent at the edge of the light. This group includes the same man he bumped into, the faerie dragon, and an archfey. He immediately tries to eavesdrop. The faerie dragon Dasha gossips with the Archfey, who has glittering silver fish scales across his body. Both Dasha and Bahamut catch him listening, though Dasha is the one to speak. She is captivated by him and impressed that he is self-trained. She gives him their name and he introduces himself as Enivyre. Dasha asks to have his name. He's not doing much with his name. He gives it to Dasha. In return, she tells him that soon someone will change his life and hit him like a bolt of lightning, and that some time in the future, the name Silvergleam will be important to him. She gives him a gift, evidently, a regift of something Bahamut gave her. A vial of glowing liquid that functions as a lantern of revealing. When Jupiter looks up, Dasha is gone. When he comments on this, the fish Archfey is also gone. Only Bahamut is left. He converses briefly with Jupiter, telling him he enjoyed the show before walking off. Two weeks later, with the help of a paladin named Cassiopeia, Jupiter escapes. Now, Jupiter King is an inquisitive rogue running odd jobs for Rian Nightshade, a spy in an organization that operates in Waterdeep. She has a job for him. Rian instructs him to find Jenna Silvergleam in Greenrest. Jupiter, with some friendly banter and complaining, leaves towards Greenrest. While he goes south, Cassi is heading north. When they depart from each other, they ask for Ilmater, her deity, to watch over each of them. [FULL TRANSCRIPTS]

Greenrest is a small mountain town nestled around a central keep. There's a river winding its way around the far side of town, a small church, businesses and homes litter the street. There appears to be some sort of festival in swing.

Elio is the first to arrive, a knight on his white horse, however, his cloak is covered in dirt and he looks haggard. He is not used to living on the road. A villager approaches him and offers him a circlet of autumnal foliage which he accepts. He learns that they are celebrating the harvest. As he enters town he is pointed towards the leaders of the town:

Governor Nighthill, a regal looking human man. Estéban, a dwarven man, the castellan of the keep who appears to be who's holding the town together. Ellie, An "oddly helpful half-elf".

Elio asks them if they have any information on where he could find a blacksmith who could tell him more about the gauntlet he has. He shows the gauntlet and Estéban is stunned. It is his gauntlet that he lost during the last Dragonmoot. Elio informs him that he was given it by Fizban and is happy to return it to its owner. He is directed towards the keep where he is able to find a place to sleep in the barracks. Elio immediately leaves his things on his bed, including his extremely expensive, gaudy ceremonial armor, and takes his dirty self, clothes, and a bar of soap down to the river to wash himself and his clothes.

Cy rides into town after him and similarly, finds a place for herself at the keep. She sees Elio in the water and doesn't immediately recognize him, but is interested by his massive executioner's sword on the riverbank. She says hello to him and he ends up inviting her, not in any flirtatious way, if she wants to join him in washing her clothes. She accepts. Upon Elio introducing himself, Cy immediately realizes who he is and begins to gauge who he is. She begins asking him questions about himself, realizing her perceptions of who he is based on his sister's viewpoints aren't entirely the person she sees. She begins to empathize with him, but is also beginning to plan on if she can hand him over to the Keepers, specifically Morena.

Meanwhile, Jupiter also enters town. He opts to go under the name Ceres and attempts to ask Estéban and Ellie if they know Jenna Silvergleam. They both seem to but are not sure of her current whereabouts. He also gets directed to the keep and ends up sharing a bunk with, who he doesn't know is Elio. Jupiter sees the extravagant armor on the bed and takes a moment to snoop through Elio's belongings. He doesn't take anything, simply leaves a note telling Elio not to leave his stuff out unless he wants someone to take it. WHen he leaves the keep he notices Elio and Cy by the river, in their underwear, now sparring with their greatswords.

They have very different fighting styles. Elio is controlled and like he's unsure of his own strength, still coming into it. He swings a massive sword but his attacks are still careful and not meant to seriously injure; he's coming at her with the blunt edge. He's much stronger than he looks. Cy hits fast and savage; she still strikes with the flat of her blade but is less concerned about injuring him. Her sword is slimmer and she relies on getting under his guard. Despite this, Elio is overpowering her, that is, until Cy blurts out that she saw Morena on the road on her way here.

This abruptly ends their sparring as Elio is stunned, and shows Cy a picture of Morena inside his locket, trying to ensure they're talking about the same person. They are. Elio is too naive to clue into this coincidence. He is so overwhelmed and thankful, he asks Cy if he can hug her. She accepts; this is the first time she has been hugged in seven years.

Once again, Jupiter has been watching this entire exchange, from half-naked washing their clothes, to half-naked sparring, to half-naked hugging. He is perplexed. Elio eventually sees Jupiter watching and invites him to come down and talk to them. Jupiter is slightly off put, but does, and tells both of them to call him King. They introduce themselves and Jupiter mentions that he is in town looking for someone, but doesn't specify who. Cy says that she's looking for an ornate sword. Elio suggests, since they're looking for things in town and he's waiting to see if his sister arrives, that they could help each other out and keep each other company. They agree to meet later to have pastries.

While Elio waits with pastries, Jupiter continues to poke around town and finds little information. Cy visits the house she used to share when she lived in Greenrest. She almost doesn't recognize it, it's a completely different structure. With some investigation, she realizes the foundations of her home are still there, just blackened and charred from a fire. In those ruins she also finds a rusted, dirty, yet ornate sword with a dragon-wing shaped hilt. The blade is stuck in the scabbard. Later, Elio deduces that it's a magical effect, not mundane rust. Apparently Fizban had passed through the town a few weeks previously, mumbling about fresh produce, and left the sword behind.

The party sleeps through the night. Jupiter wakes early to once again circle town, unable to keep himself from wandering. He notices as the sun rises, a dragon rapidly approaching on the horizon. He turns and fires an arrow at the keep's bell to alert everyone. As the bell rings, we end the session.

#campaign: recaps #tyranny of dragons #i do not think i am going to tag this with every single character. that would be. many.

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soulslayer2020 · 4 months

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Some of my current D&D Characters!

Hanyuu - Soft on the Outside, Ice Cold on the Inside

Name: Hai'Ryuun 'Hanyuu' Kori Race: Levistus Tiefling Class: Fiend Warlock (4) Campaign: Icewind Dale

Don't let the baby face and soft voice fool you. This seemingly innocent little tiefling is actually a warlock and cultist of Levistus. A street urchin who fell into an icy lake and was rescued in exchange for her soul, Hanyuu uses her innocent appearance to her advantage to infiltrate adventuring parties to find the one mentioned in a cult prophecy as the ones to bring back the sun. Is she truly the puppeteer controlling the party from the shadows, or is even she being kept in the dark about the cult's intentions...?

Sagitta - Rebel Pirate of the Stars

(Commission by @pauloz_art on twitter) Name: Sagitta Luminis Race: Half-Astral Elf, Half-Eladrin Class: Wild Magic Sorcerer (9) Campaign: Spelljammer Academy/Light of Xaryxis (Non-RAW)

Part of a union of space rebels knows as the Auriga Alliance, Sagitta was once Spelljammer to her adoptive father - Captain Perseus of the Auriga Alliance's Carina fleet - but was taken to Toril by fellow fleet leader Captain Gideon of the Vera fleet when her ship was attacked by Neogi. Now a Spelljamming Academy graduate who has suddenly found herself go from first mate to captain of her fellow graduate due to the sudden loss of their captain and close friend, Sagitta is tasked with gathering allies on the Rock of Bral, finding her old crew, and leading her friends to victory against the Xaryxian Empire.

Drifter - From Royal to Renegade

Name: Princess Xochitl 'Drifter' Xaryx Race: Astral Elf Class: Swords Bard (11) Campaign: Post-Light of Xaryxis Homebrew

The youngest of the Xaryxian royal siblings, Xochitl left her old name and life behind to become Drifter - a renegade astral elf who sought to end the Xaryxian Empire's conquest, which she succeeded with after meeting a ragtag crew of Spelljamming graduates on Toril. With the empire now in shambles and her siblings fighting to rule what little remains it, Drifter and co. have set out to find a way to stop her siblings once and for all. But deep down, Drifter wants nothing more than to end things peacefully; the last thing she wants is to lose what's left of her family.

Lynn - Broken Past

(Her look throughout the campaign so far, from left to right: Starting/Cultist, Caravan Disguise, Restored Memories)

Name: Lynn Historia Race: Moon Elf Class: Assassin Rogue (8), Fighter (1) Campaign: Tyranny of Dragons

Awoken on a riverbank with no memories aside from her name, Lynn found herself travelling with a caravan towards Greenest where she found herself not only confronting dragon cultists but her past. Once chamberlain to Prince Neronvain, Lynn ran away with him to join the Cult of Dragons and worked her way up through the ranks alongside him, even leading a secret coup against the former Wyrmspeaker to allow Neronvain to take over. But after being ambushed by Harpers during a scouting mission, Lynn was knocked into a river and fell unconscious, losing her memories. Determined to convince Neronvain to leave the cult, Lynn managed to organise a meeting between them in Daggerford. But when Zhentarim began to storm their once-thought-to-be-secret meeting spot, Neronvain offered to teleport her away with him to escape. Not wanting to drag her party into trouble, she agreed. After pleading Neronvain to let her go find her party as well as a way to convince him to leave the cult, he agreed - albeit a tad somberly - to let her go, even giving her a teleportation tablet to bring her where he guessed they'd most likely be infiltrating. Now reunited with her party and her memories fully restored thanks to Neronvain's aid, Lynn is determined to save her crush dearest friend from the cult and prevent Tiamat's return.

Marcy - Caring Clutz

Name: Marcillia 'Marcy' Caligo Race: Wood Elf Class: Drakewarden Ranger (9) Campaign: Tyranny of Dragons (Temp Character)

Name a more iconic duo! Marcy and her adorable silver drake companion, Zephyr are the right-hand (hands? hand and claw?) of Prince Alagarthas. Sent to keep a distant eye on Lynn's meeting with Neronvain after learning of them both still being alive after 15 years of being missing, Marcy saw the Zhentarim try to storm Lynn's meeting and the two teleporting away. Unsure of what to do, Marcy offered to join Lynn's companions in continuing to track the cult until Lynn was able to find her way back. Clumsy and socially awkward, Marcy is a lovable doof with an equally lovable drake that acts more like a hyper puppy at times. But cross them on the battlefield and you'll see exactly why Alagarthas chose them as his trusted protectors. What? No, Marcy's not crushing on Alagarthas! Shut up!!

Nadirah - Guardian of the Veil

Name: Nadirah Strigoi Race: Dhampir (Formerly Dusk Elf) Class: Grave Cleric (7) Campaign: Curse of Strahd (Non-RAW)

Once a proud cleric of Mother Night and protector of the Dusk Elves, Nadirah fought hard against her older brother Rahadin to prevent his genocide at Strahd's orders. However, her strength wasn't enough as her closest friend Kasimir had his ears cleaved off, his sister Patrina was murdered in front of them, and she was dragged off to Castle Ravenloft to be turned into a thrall as punishment. However, something intervened and prevented her full transformation, causing her to become a dhampir instead. Sealed away in the catacombs, Nadirah remained there for over a thousand years. Her only company was one of Strahd's consorts named Escher, who would bring her food. The two became friends over time and even started to fall for each other. One day, Escher 'accidentally' left her cell unlocked which allowed Nadirah to escape and flee the castle. Finally free, Nadirah swears to avenge her fallen kin, find a cure for her dhampirism and maybe even Escher's vampirism so he can be free of Strahd, and most of all: kill Strahd and free Barovia for good.

Crow - Holy Liar

(Art by u/LuciusG_Dean on Reddit)

Name: Crow (Real Name: Mycareth Baenre) Race: Drow Class: Vengeance Paladin (1) Campaign: Out of the Abyss

Kidnapped from House Baenre and raised as a slave in Faen Tlabbar, Crow spent most of their life never knowing their past, not having a name of their own, and yearning for freedom, which they managed to achieve at 150. Fleeing to the surface, Crow chose their own name and joined Bregan D'aerthe, where they (unbeknownst to both parties) worked under their uncle, Jarlaxle Baenre. But freedom wasn't enough. Crow wanted to make those who enslaved them suffer. Shortly after becoming a paladin of Cyric - lord of lies - Jarlaxle sent Crow down to the Underdark to investigate rumours of a demon threat and deal with it if they think it could effect dealings with the towns below the surface.

#dungeons and dragons character #dnd character #dnd #icewind dale #rime of the frostmaiden #spelljammer #light of xaryxis #tyranny of dragons #curse of strahd #out of the abyss

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