DM Podcast/The CTS/Campaign Chronology

The Shield:

• Unther Ravenhelm - core
• Szchulan "the Dark" Darkoon - 2nd wave
• Azhurdean Alamfor - 2nd wave
• Mohrgret Tregennis - 2nd wave
• Oolathana Peerznine - 1 adventure at age 16
• Erling Despaecher - core
• Zinaida Moorland - core

Recent Campaign Chronology:

18 Kythorn 1373: A thick fog surrounded the PCs as they approached the risen Temple of the Black Triad. Soon they were attacked by hellish figments and Leaf examined the glassy rift in the earth while Pavel studied the black skulls that lay upon the ancient outdoor altar. Burnt scrolls and diamond dust shrouded the area in which the bodies of a dozen dead priests of various faiths were strewn.

Mauros sunk into quickearth as a great Mud Golem arose from the upturned dirt. Animosus lifted him out and the party dispatched the creature and the undead, one-eyed sentinal that floated around the temple's perimeter. Leaf redeemed a hand written assembly of holy text of Shaundakul and other items from the carriages that were without horses. Leaf used the ring he'd found to unlock 32 seperate locks on the massive entrance but the ring devoured his finger and fell into the open pit. The party soon entered and battled the BoneClaws and Hellhounds while the power of the portal disk ignited the birthing process within Claudia's petite frame. It was there she screamed in pain, suddenly growing to full term. Pavel cut her open and extracted the new life, a small newborn boy, Theadn.

Immediately, at the expense of his life, Pavel used his last "gift" upon the priestess of Kelemvor and she was ressurected and restored in all rightful ways. But the child was the product of evil magic, a living phylactery, but otherwise a child like any other. Only Pavel's possessions remained, his body assumed elsewhere.

An explosion destroyed the war trophies upon the tiny altar and opened a secret door. In the next hall the temple came to life and tried to destroy or tain the paladin. Throughout the subsequent descent, the temple tried many times to devour Animosus Constans, but his will was far too powerful to be taken from him.

Undead were dispatched in the chamber that housed the Crypt Creature who warned the party to turn back with their lives. A relocated tomb there held the corpse of a Holy Warrior of Myrkul from millenia ago. Kelestri's jem showed the way to the third level where the petrifying eyes of a gorgon destroyed Animosus faithful steed, sending it back to another plane. The company discovered the Holy Imperceptor's library and rescued the Kurth city jeweler, Aventi. But the party would soon lose both he and the archeologist, Sorgen, to the power of the temple.

Amidst the battle with a dungeonbred chimera, a woman of pure virtue radiantly appeared, her visage like that of an angel, and she bestowed a message from Tyr and a blessing upon Animosus. At the sight of her, fear was removed from the Company of Light and Darkness.

The final staircase opened into a battle in the hallway with 12 horrible undead priests, and Mauros fell in combat but the priest of Tempus revivified him. The final chamber revealed the unholy codex being used to channel the powers of the prayers of faithful past, for only the power of good could lift the firey crown from its hidden place.

There, Claudia committed patricide, severing the head of her adopted father, the man she had searched for, Victor Zhenovasar. And in that moment, she was forever broken.

But Victor's death stopped the crown from lifting from the crevasse, and Animosus leapt heroically across the pit, skewering the crown upon his sword. Szchulan spit hatred and anger at him, insanely acusing Animosus of being his own brother. And it was then that the son of Glar Constans cast the crown back into Shaundakuls rift! The Imperceptor, obsessed with the crown—jumped in after it, never to be seen again.

Throughout these battles and the final encounter with the Vrocks, the entire company worked together including Kelestri's powerful flame and acid blade and the mighty spells of the War Priest, Nemeseth. The vault in this chamber was a treasure trove, and included amongst the magic, might, and money was a writ for the Church of Waukeen in Mulmaster worth 210,000gp.

The party was dismayed that Slyl's body was gone from its perch in the tree where Mauros had secured it. And heartbroken, exhausted, and unknowingly victorious, the party pressed on through the fetid muck that is the Flooded Forest.

At twilight, Maerstar Brunlock and other more threatening Cloaks of Mulmaster ripped the child from Kelestri during a failed negotiation. The child was a casualty along with one other powerful wizard. This attrition was influenced by Animosus' judgment—and he learned that night that his paladin powers were stripped from him. Perhaps a result of his choice or the culmination of events in his arduous campaign against evil—an evil that networked and appeared around every corner, combatting him seemingly every moment for far too long.

Leaf led the party to high ground using the detailed map. They rested.

19 Kythorn, 1373: It was a clear morning, though somewhat overcast and threatening to rain that day. The party arrived at Ssethuan, the fortress of King Yarshag of the Dark Talon tribe. They hatched a plan to offer an expensive crown to Yarshag as a means to bypass the lizards of the town. It worked! Animosus' glib and silvery tongue negotiated the life of the party. But here's where it gets nasty...

The party, blindfolded, descended the sprial stairs in the ancient Sarukhian Ziggarat. They descended into the earthen jar that is the home of stolid Dark Talon warriors and priests. Soon they met Yarshag, a tall and fierce king. He stood there near his massive stag beetle familiar, the room lit by the blue magical radience and glow of the pool.

Perhaps they didn't expect to get this far? But there didn't seem to be a plan for after Yarshag accepted the crown, and Animosus could not press his luck any farther. The Company of Light and Darkness was sealed in a locked room of the cheif shaman, its walls adorned with Sarukh writing and symbols, and a pile of twisted shrub growth and leaves lay threateningly in one corner.

Is this the quiet whimpering end of the company? Is this how the story ends? What will happen next?