Mark's Campaign

Once back at the Rising Sun, they are greeted by Abel who is sitting on the railing whittling a dark piece of wood (darkwood) into the vague shape of a bear. “Welcome back, my friends! It is good to see you whole and no worse for the wear. Since you’re here, I’m assuming that your mission was a rousing success.” As he chuckles and you’ll see the other instructors come on deck.

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“We’ve had some personnel changes around here, so let’s hit the galley and I’ll fill you in.” You and Abel go to the galley where food and drink are waiting. In here, you see the shy half-elf Livini, who you already know and a person you’ve never seen before; a young looking half-elf, wearing leather armor and a fine tunic and cloak. His pale skin has blotches of purple-red in various places and he gives off a strong odor of alcohol.

Abel turns to Livini – “Livini, my dear, tell our friends what has transpired.”

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Livini looks at all of you, then swallows nervously and looks at the table. “We were sent into the city of Triela on a mission, the five of us. We were to travel north up the river and… well, we didn’t make it very far. That first night, well, Elmast suggested we go to a tavern to toast our first mission and you know Jacor, he just kept drinking and drinking and then got really rude. We left the tavern after a couple hours to find a place to sleep but then these sailors started making crude jokes about his, uh, well, his race and all. Of course, the idiot Trent was offended by that and then everything happened so fast. I fell over something large; I think it was Elmast, then there were sounds of fighting, then steel on steel and when it was quiet again…” She sighs loudly. “They were all dead. And the sailors were going through their belongings. I was so afraid, but I must have been hidden because they didn’t notice me. Once the sailors left, I hid in town for the night then came back to the ship. I don’t know what happened to the others though…”  

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Abel pats her gently on the shoulder, “Don’t you worry more little lady, we’ll be taking you home soon enough.” He then turns to the stranger. “And I would like to introduce you all to Master Denodir.” 

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He look at you and says, “Please, call me Rory.”
Abel prompts him, “Go ahead son, tell them your sorry tale, heh!”

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Rory takes a deep breath and looks down at his plate. “Well, I don’t know how much you know about the Verduran Forest? (DC 20 local knowledge to know of current strife) You see, there is a war going on there right now. Not the kind with armies and horses, but still a deadly war. The Lumber Consortium pays well for harvesting the Darkwood trees, but the local fey in the forest are creating a resistance. The druids do what they can to mediate between the sides, and there has been more success on the Taldor side of the Verduran, but on the Anduran side… it’s getting brutal and deadly. We need to find a way for all sides to exist peacefully, but it will be difficult. My family is not happy with my choices, but I think that the safety of the forest is more important than the huge profits of the Consortium. I have been sent by a good friend of mine, a druid called Harwyn to find help for him to prevent an impending disaster for the forest. He wouldn’t tell me exactly what the danger is, but I have known him since I was small and I trust him. Abel says that you may be just the group to help.”

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<let the group question him if they want>

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Abel will interrupt at this point. “Get some rest today. We sail back tonight for Triela. There’s some important things we need to do there and maybe you’ll last longer than the night in town!” Livini looks self-consciously away. Abel leaves and Livini will tell the group that she is going home and that this is not her ‘thing’. A good library sounds wonderful and she is not cut out to be an adventurer. The group can get to know Rory who will be joining them on their next task.

During the first evening, at about midnight, Po will gather Meridian and Tark to the hold area where they typically train.

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“Part of your training under my direction will require you to develop your own… style, if you will. You will find that we users of magic may be a silver per dozen, but there are a few of us who stand out among the rest and thus make ourselves a more valuable commodity to the rest of the world. The key to this value is your skill to personalize your abilities. Your first assignment from me is to create your own, new and never before seen, spell. We’ll start out with a simple first level spell, then see how you do. For now, I only want you to think of a rough description of something new. This is a lot harder than it seems on the surface. First level spells are useful but not devastating. I’ll help guide you in the proper direction soon, but I brought you down here to show you one of my own creations. It is called The Shadow Gate spell. Please follow me onto the deck.”

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Po leads you up to the forecastle of the ship and you can see a clear night with stars reflected in the water below. There is no sign of lights or land nearby. He sits down near the bow and begins to chant a complex incantation. Soon, spidery filaments of arcane energy begin stretching from his fingertips out in front of the ship creating a circular ring about 30 feet in diameter. Through the ring, you can see the ocean, but it looks like the waves are more turbulent. 

“What you are seeing is a view of the ocean a long distance from here, approximately 100 miles. My spell allows us to see what is on the other side of the shadow gate, and if all is clear…” His fingers pull back toward his body and the ring begins to swallow the entire ship.  “…we can sail through.