Chapter 6 - Flowers, Kings, and Butterfly Wings

Elric - You appear, standing on the edge of a pool of water. On the far side of the pool, a small water fall flows into it. The pool is nestled within a private grove, in a forest somewhere. As you look around, some features become clear, and you realize that you are in the elven nation of Cormanthor. This is your families private moon pool. They are said to have magical powers of luck. They also, more frequently, said to keep one clean. In the pool, on the far side, lounging under the falling water, is an elven female. You recognize her. Her name is Szimbur, and you remember with fondness, the times you had with her when you last visited Cormanthor. She doesn’t seem to have noticed you yet. The air is warm, as it always is in Cormanthor, and it is night time. You can hear some music playing somewhere nearby, it reminds you of your long time tutor, Githinian. A butterfly flaps by tickling your cheek as it bounces across your face. You find that you are wearing very little but a bathing robe. The moon plays nicely on the rippling water of the pool. Moon pool, good luck. Best of luck when used during a full moon. These memories come back to you easily.

<The dream went on for a while, and Elric talked to many old elven friends, who told him they were under attack, and asked him all sorts of strange questions about elven troop forces and mage powers, under the pretense that they wanted him to help plan their defense, but what did he remember of their forces before they continued the discussion (so they could update him accordingly. Well, much information later, Elric suddenly realizes, he's just been spilling his guts about the abilities and defenses of the Elves. He was being tricked, he was being probed for answers. So he began lying, then, suddenly:>

You glance down at your arms, and quickly pull up your sleeves to see the flesh of your arms parting with extreme pain, the sinewy muscle below being revealed. Searing pain flashes through your body. You hold up your hand, your revealed muscles squeezing and squirting blood, and you see a cut around your finger appear, going deeper and deeper, until your beautiful talented finger fall off. Blood flows down your hand as your scream. The world around you deteriorates and you find yourself in a dark room, still screaming, as the strange creature cuts off your finger. Your arms are bloody. You are strapped to a table, with one arm somehow kept out in front of you. The strange furry man that reminds you of a furry cat man, with yellow eyes finishes with your fingers, leaving only your pinky, your thumb, and three bloody stumps. He smiles as you continue to scream in pain and anger, and blood drips down onto your face. Before you black out, an images appears in your mind, you see Cormanthor burning, and you see the furry cat men standing tall, as the elves cower for mercy. A butterfly flaps maddeningly as it’s wings ignite and it’s ashes fall to the ground.

Janayus - You appear standing at the end of the courtroom of Cormyr. Ahead of you, down the plush carpet, past the guards, and up the steps to the dias, sits Steven Obarskyr, your uncle. Just to his left, standing with golden robes and a smug look is the diplomat from Mulhorand. To the left and right of the king are guards, and a crowd of people in colorful court clothing. All eyes are on you, all watch you with a look of anticipation. A guard behind you to your left pushes your forward with a sneer. You see chains upon your wrists and legs as you stumble forward down the plush rug. Even as you look, the image of a plush beautiful rug shrivels to one of ruin and age. The whole throne room becomes dark and aged. Cobwebs hang on the curtains and corners. The kings robes are tattered and old. A rat pokes about in a corner. The crowds joyous clothing become rags, and the people nothing more than beggars. Steven, king of beggars. You continue forward down the tattered old mat, dust coming up with every step, it’s dryness chokes your throat, mouth, and nose. As you reach Steven, a hard push from the guard puts you to your knees. Steven looks at you with contempt, the Mulhorand behind him, still in shining golden robes, whispers into his ear. Steven says, "So, Janayus, you thought you could complete your fathers work when you came back." He motions to the left, and the crowd parts to reveal a figure, chained to the wall, in rags, his eyes are gapping holes, and hands and feet are stumps. He is clearly dead and rotting. He is your father. Steven continues, "Not so. Your friends are gone, you are all that remains. The Mulhorands were kind to us. They let me know that you would return and try to murder me. You do not know what you do, here, let me show you what they have given us. The Mulhorands are great. You are picked up and guided to a courtroom window. Outside, the ruins of once proud Arabel lay before you. Dark, destroyed. You can see the flags of Mulhorand floating above the castle. Steven says, "The Mulhorands have provided us with this destiny. We helped them win their war, and we were much weakened, while they remained powerful. They helped us to bring us back to our power, as you can see. I will not let you disrupt that. I will not let you tell lies about our masters."

With that, the guard pushes you to the ground, and four of them draw their swords, and approach.

You are laying in soft grass, next to a rock. Looking about, the rock extends straight up, in some unnatural parody against nature and gravity. As you get your bearings, you see that you lay at the foot of a city wall, on the inner side. Some distance away you hear the squabblings of a market place. Glancing at the flags floating above the city, you see it is Immersea, and also that Steven is here. His flags float gently in the cool wind.

Morgoth - You awake in a cell. The darkness here is oppressive, but from the thin line of light coming under the door, and through the doors tiny barred window, you can see it is a fairly roomy place. A figure on the far side of the cell you recognize as Luther. Another figure lays near you, unconscious and unmoving. From it’s features, you can see it is Elric. As your crawl up to him, you feel a stickiness and realize he has lost a lot of blood. Looking about his body in the dim light, you see that three of his fingers have been cut off but bound up. His arms are all sliced up and also poorly bounded. The blood has finished flowing, but the wounds are all badly tended to. You glance at yourself and see only a few tattered rags.

Even as you consider what to do about Elric, you hear two pairs of feet approaching, and a dragging noise. They stop at the door, and there is a jangling, some scraping, then a click and grind. The door grinds open.

Two humans hold between them another familiar human, Xej, his beard is tangled and dirty, his eyes are open but unseeing. He droops between their arms and is obviously unconscious. The two guards have daggers at their sides, but no other apparent weapons. With a toss they throw him heavily into the cell, and close the door. With a loud click it is locked, and the sound of their steps fades away.

Xej - You appear, standing in the middle of a room. From the rounded shape of the wall just to your left, you figure it must be tower. A small window about 1 foot by 1 foot is in this same wall. The room has only 2 other walls, stone and flat. The fourth side of the room is open to an indoor garden. The roof just outside your small alcove stretches up and away, to about a 40’ high ceiling above the garden. Through the garden you can see other alcoves, some sitting areas, and a couple sets of stairs down or up. The garden itself is something to be awed by though. Gigantic flowers of every kind of color bloom here, some 5 feet high, others towering over 10’ high. They all fill the space with a sweet colorful stuffy atmosphere. A constant mist is falling down upon them, making the air in here wet, but warm. You see a few insects buzzing to and fro, and a small lizard scoots across the walkway that cuts through the flowers.

He can feel free to explore this odd and strange tower. Outside he can see it is always dark, though sometimes it is a slightly lighter darkness. The rock is dark. The landscape outside is some kind of strange alien one, with black rock outcroppings standing alone and 10’ high. Far in the distance, down in a valley, miles away, the glowing lights of a city can be seen, they appear to be a huge city, full with light. It must be miles across.

The tower was full of odd imagery, and a large garden with huge flowers that seemed to watch him. He met a small lizard creature that talked to him, and also found a pool of water, from which he could watch what he presumed was his real body, lying in a dark cell, with Morgoth and the others. It wasn't until he killed a plant, and rubbed the gooey stuff on himself, that the lizard said, "that should do it", and leapt into Xej's hand, appearing as a large moving lump in his arm, which began to make it's way upwards towards his body. Watching in horror, it reached his chest, and dispersed, and he awoke in the cell.

Luther - wakes up in darkness, quiet scraping sounds can be heard. (in cell)

Eldorin - dreams he was in his place of birth, a dwarven stronghold, and they talked about supply lines, and other tactics, and then he thought it strange. He awoke to great pain.

Chapter 7 - The Dread Blade

In this chapter, the PC’s escaped from the prison (were saved), and met up with an old friend from the past.

Wolanin has a part to play here. His sword ability far exceeds anybody else in the realms, but he has been lost to the world, and is now in the islands east of Kara-Tur, on a small island. After Kara-Tur was destroyed by the alien hordes, the only ones left to fight for Kara-Tur end up to be the pirates and thieves. He is part of a mid sized armada of every ship they could scrounge. They are causing the occupying army headaches. Wolanin is known as The Dread Blade.

Sitting in their cell for many days, in poor conditions, all injured, and unable to heal, finally something breaks the monotony. From outside their tiny universe, they hear a whispering voice. "Xing cha ka poshney forsor pay’nereku?"

The voice was speaking eastern common. A few minutes later, they hear some more noises. And they hear many feet passing by, and they hear a loud grind, click, and clang, and the door slides open. A man stands there. He has a short curved blade at his side, and is wearing all black clothing. He has rope, and grapple, and a short bow. He also has several assorted blades, and an axe. He tosses them down, and motions for them to follow. He then walks away. They can see other passing by as they watch, most of them are eastern, and by the looks, prisoners.

As they headed down the complex tunnels and dungeons they passed a few dead bodies of dark skinned humans from time to time, and then they will begin to hear noises of battle. As they got closer they could suddenly see a bright flash and the roar of a fireball. They were nearing a large exit when the crowd they were following broke into a run. As they exited the huge doors they saw the crowd surge towards the left and as they glanced around they could see that they were in a huge building, and they had come out into a city. Dark skinned warriors battled with slaves, and mages in the air and on roof tops hurl spells down into the crowd. A majority of the slaves ran to the right where the city wall could be seen, and a huge hole was in it. Near the hole, many non-prisoners defended the hole, while prisoners ran through, and crates of supplies were thrown through the hole.

Through the hole, there was a short span of ground (10’) before it droped off, and there was a 50’ plummet down the cliff face and into the water below. The ocean stretches off. At the bottom, pirates with nets in the water pull survivors and supplies out of the water as quickly as they can. Archers and a couple mages defend the 5 ships. One of the ships will blow apart as the PC’s are being dragged onto deck. It’s whole deck exploding and the mast tipping and collapsing into the water as the whole world shakes from the thunder of the blow. The rest of the ships begin heading out immediately. Many dead bodies float in the water, and the chunks of timber and debris float everywhere. The light from above reflects on the water revealing the grousum scene. The ships flee quickly into the night, as the survivors of the rescue cough up water and blood, and lay on the deck relieved to be free.

The ships sail all night and early in the morning come into a small harbor of a small island. In the harbor, 5 more ships sit at anchor, and a small make shift town of tree forts, and tents web the beaches forest with activity. On the beach, many long boats, and all sorts of supplies lay strewn about. This is obviously a temporary and very new base of operations. The ships slow, set anchor, and the long boats are lowered into the water. An announcement is made to everyone in eastern common. Then after some fumbling, a man who looks to be in charge leads another to the PC’s, points, says something, then walks away. The eastern man looks at the PC’s and begins talking.

"You have been rescued from the Gyshin by The Dread Blades forces. In exchange for this rescue, and the bringing back to health that will occur, you are owing The Dread Blade your lives. The fate of those in the dark place is well known. In exchange for your lives, The Dread Blade requires only 6 months of service in his forces. You will be fed, taken care of, and be among your humans, and free from slavery, much better than the Gyshin offer. If you do not agree to these terms, you may jump into the water now. Do not approach our camp, you will be killed."

They agreed and were taken to camp and received some healing. It was only later, when Wolanin was looking through the crowd of rescued prisoners, that the reunion took place.

Here Wolanin spoke to them about the invading armies, how they weakened Kara-Tur by starting a massive 4 year internal holy war, and then, when they were at their weakest, this powerful army of dark skinned warriors, and a myriad of other races tromped across Kara-Tur (staying clear of the western lands) and had a one year conquest of all of Kara-Tur. One year, to defeat all of Kara-Tur. It is known that these armies are actually all enslaved, and that the Gyshin, some sort of invincible super race who rules high over them, are here from another world to take over Toril. It is thought that the races they use are from the conquest of other worlds. And now they are here, and have already half succeeded taking over a half of Toril’s major continent.

Then one last thing had to happen. The world seemed to shimmer, and a wave of magic crossed reality. And then clerics around the world called out in pain. They could speak to their gods no more. Somehow, someway, all access to Gods that resides on the Outer Planes was cut off. Mulhorandi priests still had their God kings power, and Clerics of Grumbar, the earth elemental still had power, but no others, not even Mystra. (though magic still worked)

Chapter 8 - There’s No Place Like Home

The party realized they had to take these tidings home, and put them to use where they could still do some good. Wolanin decided to accompany them. They decided they would have to return to the town where they were imprisoned, and force their way to the teleporter, which some people said were in the ruins under the citadel of the stars.

Taking approx. 300 people from Kara-Tur, the PC’s planned a rough idea of chaos and confusion in the city to allow them to make their way to the Citadel of Stars where the ancient portals wait. The 300 were people who wanted to go back to the battle, and leave their defeated Kara-Tur, so that they might win it back from their occupiers. 32 people made it back, after their rough plan was nearly totally defeated, and only a few managed to make it into the portal. Of those, Marian and Xej did not make it. Some time later, Xej used a teleport spell to jump back to Cormyr, Arabel to be exact. Morgoth and company made it through the portal, and traveled north where they stopped the Mulhorands from blindly attacking Unther, and instead informed them of Kara-Tur’s defeat. The Mulhorands, to thank them, teleported them to Immersea where their emissary is still trapped.

In Mulhorand, the crusade was over. The horde pressed forward, but thanks to knowledge of their counter-plans, more counter plans could be made. Still though, they made it to the capital, and it was there that Horus-Ra destroyed the whole city in a massive explosion of energy, that destroyed 80% of the horde that had run into the city. Mulhorand, in practical ruins, had decided to take it out on Unther, who had done nothing more to help them but deflect the horde into Mulhorand, but Morgoth told them of the Gyshin, and how they started internal strife, and thought perhaps Unther was not to blame, please, speak with him before you wage war.

So, Xej and Marian get back to Immersea by flying, Morgoth, Wolanin, Eldorin, Luther and Elric make it back by teleporting, and Janayus and Crane were already there, after traveling to Arabel and capturing one of the desert mercenaries. They have him captured and are waiting to interrogate him further. His leader he knows as Desert Claw.

As well, with the sudden and unexpected loss of cleric ability throughout the realms, things have become slightly chaotic in many terms. People still revere clerics, but many clerics have left, wondering what they have done wrong, and people have begun cursing that the gods have turned away from man. Lyorn is taking a lot of flak from this, people blame him taking over the country for this, though the mere idea is laughable that anything like human politics in Cormyr have any affect on gods. However, the priests of Fate have stepped up, and they are taking control, telling all, that though the gods turn away, Fate is always here, and will always be here, and that their power gained from the simple existence of Fate has not wavered. They have gained a lot of power. They refuse to take sides in the issue of Cormyr, and say that Fate will run his course. They help both sides equally, though will not take part in any conflicts except to advise, and heal the wounded.

The PC’s spent there time wisely, I guess. They snuck out of the besieged castle in search of more information. A wise decision. They also questioned their captive desert warrior and then let him go shortly after. The found that regular letters are sent between Desert Claw and Lyorn. (Suzail to Arabel)

The PC’s forgot about intercepting a message, and made there way to Suzail. There, they met Mip, and just about made her leave as they goofed off and made fools of themselves. Mip gave them information about Lyorn, and they decided to give him a visit after wondering at his ambitions. They hope to convince him of there need, and to stop this inane bickering and work as one. Meanwhile Mip is dispatching some people to try to find out who the ships belong to that are blocking the channel. She also is in charge of getting a message to the returning crusaders to not attempt to force their way through.

(a blockade of some sort is blocking the neck channel, waiting apparently for the troops who are returning from Mulhorand)

Chapter 9 - The Lion

Lyorn admitted that he has hired ships to watch for the incoming soldiers, but it is only to enforce his will, and make sure that they don’t fight out. If they do, he will be forced to sink them, rather than lose even more lives in a war. He’d rather lose a few pirate’s then even more Cormyrian’s. Even at that, they will only sink as many as they need to, to force them to stop. This was told to Arvid after he was captured.

The PC’s managed to break in, and spy on Lyorn for some time. They also find letters to Fane Darkwolf, that detail Fane's efforts to pretend to resist Lyorn, as to attract more resistors and deal with them. It has worked to attract Stamp's brother to him. Lyorn decides, as the PC's spy, that he's waited long enough. He writes a letter to Fane Darkwolf that instructs him to leave Tyrluk where he is pretending to make a stand, and instead head for Immersea where Stamp is making a stand. Then pretend to break through the lines of the siege and ask Stamp to let you and his brother (and your army) into the gates, before the siege army gets organized and crushes him against the walls. Once inside, take care of things.

But then something went wrong, and Lyorn and his men were set off, and Xej escaped with Mip and Arvid was captured. Arvid explained to them that they were just spies, hired by Xej, (Stamps court mage) and that they were just spying. Lyorn, ok, well, what’s going on? Arvid explained something about some invasion of this world, and Lyorn decided that he should meet with Xej then, to discuss this invasion and what to do about it. He did explain about the blockade after Arvid said they wanted to know about the boats.

Arvid is set free, and leads Lyorn back to rest of the PC’s where they manage to capture a number of the PC’s. There is a rescue attempt, and Xej is made feebleminded, but they manage to rescue everyone. They decide that they must go to the blockade and make sure the crusaders return home safely. They also dispatch a message to Stamp to warn about Fane's betrayal.

Chapter 10 - Turning Tides

The PC’s took a small boat with Mip through the blockade, organized the fleet, dropped of most of their ships and had a huge fleet battle in the middle of the night. They lost 8 of 10 warships, and 4 of 10 troop carriers, but got another 6 warships from the enemy. They lost 500 soldiers. They took the troops and made headway for Immersea with greatest speed, leaving 500 slower conscripts and their boats and siege engines behind. They have 1000 conscripts, 500 mounted knights, and 500 soldiers. They arrived at Immersea on about the 30 of October. They found the castle taken over by Lyorn, and after some scouting found that Stamp had fled north into the dark wild forests of Cormyr with but 30 men. They immediately decided to set siege upon Immersea with their 2000 troops, and to send maybe 40 men forth in search of Stamp. Among these will be the PC’s.

Morgoth left the party and went north east in a quest to find the elves and seek their attentions and help.

The PC’s are chasing Stamp into the dark forest of Thorn Wood, north of Immersea. While they are gone, the priests of Fate will appear to the army, and show them their power, and offer their help. They say, "Fates time is among us, and we will not stay our hand."

The church of Fate puts at the armies disposal, 1 level 9, 2 level 7, 4 level 5, 5 level 3, and 10 level 1 priests.

Fetching Stamp back from the dark woods in a matter of 4 days, they return to find the army full into the siege, and a few kind priests to help. Stamp immediately takes charge, and decides that he must attack outright. His reasons are partly that he feels bad for Lord Gvethst in the dungeon, and wants him rescued, and partly that he doesn’t want to spend a long time in siege, he has neither the supplies, nor the time.

When questioned about if he got the warning about Fane, he said yes, but couldn't trust the sources, so he was as cautious as possible, but still Fane betrayed him and took the castle.

That evening, an mage rescues the lord, and the army lays an attack on the keep. They manage to get the gates down, but walls of blades and fire appear to block the door, and the army is halted. The battle goes badly for some time, and in the end Stamp calls a retreat. 350 soldiers lost, though half (200) on the inside also lost. That night Wolanin confronts Stamp and his captains. He asks what is being done about the Gyshin, and expresses how fruitless he feels this whole battle is. The information about the Gyshin is told to the captains, and they react badly. With some pressure, and a feeling of hopelessness, Stamp says he will travel to Suzail and surrender to Lyorn. He tells the army to surrender in one days time to Fane Darkwolf inside Immersea keep. Meanwhile, Stamp’s family, Lord Gvethst, and the PC’s are travelling to Sembia with a few priests of Fate. There they say they will be able to get a spell to heal Xej (who is still feebleminded). Stamp’s family will live in exile there, as will the Gvesthst family. So, Stamp leaves to surrender to Lyorn, and the PC’s and their companions leave for Sembia. The army surrenders and is chopped up, each group of about 100 soldiers told to report to certain towns for duties. The conscripts are released from service. The captains are to surrender their troops to whatever town, and then be held prisoner until Lyorn decided wether or not to show mercy.

The PC’s go to Sembia, and find everything rather calm here. The nobles are fair and peace is abundant. Everything here seems rather normal. However Sembia is mostly wild land, foresters, and farmers, and they are still under Chondath. The lords are mostly unhappy about being here, and not in their homeland, but they are fair, and relaxed. The major priesthood’s are still about, though much fewer people actually go to them. Priesthood’s of Fate are quite a bit more abundant. Jacob and the Obarskyr’s, and Lord Gvethst have quite a bit of money, and set about seeking new homes here. They will have no problem.

The priests will bring the PC’s to the priesthood, and also have no problem.

So, the PC’s arrive into an ambush very near the temple of Fate in Ordulin, Sembia. As things stand, the PC’s would have probably fallen here. At least, if it weren’t for two elves wandering through. Elric and Morgoth returns to find the elven nation in ruins. Only a few small elf homes stand, their ancient magic holding well. The elves are practically all subdued though, and the armies of Fate simply wait, holding them in. Right now, it would cost far too much to destroy them, for they are still strong, however, they are now pinned, and held useless. Perhaps only 10 000 elves remain in all of Cormanthyr. (from the 250 000 or so of before). They reported all they knew about the Gyshin, and the elves took council. 4 days later, they decided that Morgoth and Elric must bring word to the human nation and stop their in-fighting, and then find out as much as they can about the Gyshin. They were given 5 message scrolls, and told that on the first of each month, the elven captain Silver Sky will leave the protected elven land to a peace grove where the PC’s will be able to scry on him and he will report all the elven nation knows at midnight. This is how many will be updated of the current situation. Elric and Morgoth left for Cormyr, after Elric’s hand and missing fingers were healed.

akadi