Closing out the campaign of 2015 – 2018.
DMs Note: This event was brought forward, as I made the decision to move from Adelaide. This is the final summary of the third of the last three sessions, and starts after the final battle of the campaign.
As I find the notes, I will add those sessions (as they were a lot of fun), otherwise I will do it from memory before it fades even further into obscurity.
Epilogue
As they burst through the portal, the party finds themselves in what appears to be Nestorian Legion HQ, partially given away by the sign on the opposite wall that reads roughly the below lettering, where a large black jagged scorch mark has melted diagonally across the plaque.
Nesto-ian
Le–on
He—uaters
Perhaps a shoutout to another campaign…?
You are surrounded by Tactical Tables and their orderlies that are now congested, as they try to get past these dirty great magically hovering carts that have just appeared. People are leaning over tactical tables giving orders, or supervising, speaking into strange headsets, and with others simply just moving to another, seemingly more important, place.
On the opposite wall, you can see 12 large (1×2 ft) cards of the deck, below a large sign that reads “Nestor’s Most Wanted”. Two of the cards, #3 and #11 are alight, slowly burning down from the top. #3 Reads “Magus of Blood, Maltak the Druid of the Uni” and shows Maltak in a dark and foreboding forest, backed by his hounds. #11 reads “Leper of Blood, Tom of Ran” and shows a werebear in full rage, blood spraying everywhere. As the cards burn to nothing, the other cards shift into their new rankings, leaving two holes in places #11 and #12 that are filled by “Herald of Blood” and “Fool of the Fallen”.
On the nearest tacical table to you, you see a strange, poorly lit chamber that you quickly recognize as the one you just left. In it, two figures stand, probably Uzziel and the Lich from before, as a large hand drops off a bunch of corpses and figures back onto the platform followed by the matter-of-fact words: YOU WILL SEND NO MORE.
You realise you had heard that here in Nestor, and in fact you would find in the months to come the words had been heard round the world, always in the listeners home tongue.
Uzziel gestures for the Lich to deal with the pile of bodies that the Iron Knight currently climbs from, and then opens a portal. Looking around before he steps through, his eyes meet yours, before a flash of light and the table changes to the legion red with the 1st coat of arms in the center.
“What a pleasant soul” Remarks Morrowdorn, as he reactivated the table, now look at the scene from a much wider angle from further off.
Uzziel waits for his minions, Sorrow appears and gestures to the pile. The two ascendants converse, fairly aggressively, before Uzziel seems to back down, and as they leave, several corpses are left behind, nearly all clad in Nestorian red or Dwarven blue-grey steel. As Sorrow dissipated, so to did the remaining bodies, leaving behind only pools of blood, broken arms, armor, and shattered dreams of youthful lives ended early.
Tolarion, High Magus of the 1st Legion, summed up the mood with a simple, short expletive, before slumping down into his (prestidigitated) elaborately cushioned stool, as Seviok started to snore loudly from his new location beneath the tacitcal table.
Results
Worldly ramifications
The Goblins of Kharak Sanbell, lacking leadership after Blacktooth’s demise, will sign a series of contracts with the dwarves of Skyshaft, eventually becoming a labour force of the dwarves, paid a mere pittance of Dwarven wages.
Reader sadly reports a new independent card in the deck, Mantle of Air. 💔
Nestor proclaims itself an Empire, now rightfully* ruling over the lands and peoples of three previous nations, along with a number of city states that were absorbed along the way.
Karandar is to be crowned the elected Emperor of the state, some claiming Morrowdorn bribed and intimidated the vote for the Earl of Kervic, Weilder of the Vord Blade.
Shortly before the coronation, Aloi goes into labour with their first daughter.
In the ruins of Temple square, where this all started seemingly years ago when Lengat tried to seize the throne of stone, one of the larger ruined grounds has been allocated to a temple of the lady of the Forest.
Afterwards, Erak and Carabriel (Angel of the Lady) begin his warren training.
Glouphire gains significant renown as the illusionist who kept pace with Morrowdorn, and became a recognized name in the city overnight. While waiting for his next adventure, he starts up a discrete side business of selling his illusions, beautifying shopfronts, sending apparitions to deliver bad news, and the like.
A six legged terror is seen scattering across the rooftops of Nestor each night. Sometimes a rabbit, other times it’s a crustacean looking demonic creature with dark red shell.
It’s eyes glow purple from the gloom of illusions, and the beast seems to always lurking about nearby the Temple District.
Morrowdorn, now always seen with his new staff Itoshing, installed a magical throne into the Baron Chambers, in the center of the grand hall.
Linked to what he calls a “shard of a shard of a warren, held in place by Blacktooth’s miserable excuse for a spirit”, the throne hums with energy.
The Nestorian council sports a a few ceremonial items of stature,
- a staff for the leader of the Battle Magi,
- a circlet for the High magus,
- a scepter for the High Priest
- and a cloak for the Spymaster.
Malkatar sports a new monster of a hammer, and Sevenswords now bears IceBlue, despite constant Dwarven envoys pestering him to return the ancestral to their people.
(DM: Also, if anyone was wondering, my original intention was to kill off Dvoik, Xenth and Reader, but I settled for Striker instead when you left him to die 😇 😛 )
Rewards
Artifacts of Chaos
Who got what?
- TAV’OSH’KII – Glouphire
- THE NEGOTIATOR – Rug
- SHARDGRIP – Erak
- CLANCY – 😉
- RINGS OF THE CHAOS MAKERS – One for each present at the event.
- VORDBLADE, REFORGED – Karandar
- Y’all get a level. Am I not generous?!
- You will all be offered positions in the Nestorian Hierachy now, of various levels.
- Morrowdorn has promised that “suitable rewards will find their way to you” whatever the hell that means. Probably just some bullshit wizard-speak for that translates roughly to “go find your own money, do I look like a damned bank to you?”