Master Plot: A Terror in Tourceia
Structure
Exposition
Call of the Catalyst
Four adventurers: an aaracockra, a half-orc named Barthlomew, a wood elf named Adora, and a silver Dragonborn found themselves all exploring the same cave just outside of Torham. This unimportant group of people would discover something that would forever change their own lives, as well as the history of Tourceia. The Catalyst. An artifact of legendary power, lost for centuries, hidden by the brother of Greenfell’s last king. The four adventurers fought an undead Minotaur in order to acquire the Catalyst, although the artifact they found was not the legendary weapon forged by the Metallic Order centuries prior. Filled only with a cracked Golden Gem—which allowed the scepter to morph into a sputtering longsword—the adventurers had no idea what they had just unearthed. The Aaracockra died in prison the following day, losing the Catalyst to local authorities, where it was then taken by Tylus Freeman, the Royal Ranger of Torleigh.
The Golden Catalyst Gem
Trouble in Torleigh City
For Kings and Countries
The newly formed party of adventurers, who had taken in a bard by the name of Jebediah Stevens, decided to travel from the small town of Torham to the bustling capital of Torleigh, after hearing of the imminent visit of the High Prince of Wistonland. Adora attempted to assassinate the High Prince, a plot which was foiled by the rest of the party, but she was ultimately able to escape unrecognized. The party then managed to gain an audience with King Henry Stalbaro of Torleigh, where they learned that the king had acquired the Catalyst. The party asked what they could do to regain the Catalyst and King Henry offered them the Catalyst in return for finding truth to rumors of an underground criminal organization in the city. The party accepted, unknowingly stumbling onto an organization much bigger than what could be seen on the surface.The Poisoncloak Problem
The silver Dragonborn of the party enlisted his brother's help for their mission, and the party set off to find the mysterious organization. They would start their search for clues in a tavern, hoping to catch a stray rumor. They were incredibly lucky, being just in time to watch an agent of the king fall to the floor, dead. They were able to determine that he had been poisoned, and after investigating the body they were to find a note which had only the name "Poisoncloaks" written on it. They continue to search around the town more, when they come to a shopping center where a shop owner complained to them about the manhole cover always being moved when he came in to work in the mornings.The party decided to journey deep into the sewer, where they fought unnaturally large crocodiles—which stole the lives of the two silver dragonborn. Eventually, the party stumbled across the lair of the Poisoncloaks, where they promptly bumbled into a room full of assassins. In the confusion, two agents of King Henry, Steve George and Leafy shed their disguises, joined the party, and helped defeat the assassins. The party then went deeper into the criminal lair, where they fought and killed the Green Dragonborn leader of the Poisoncloaks—who they would later come to know as the Poisoner. After his defeat, the party managed to find his ring, embossed with two entertwining snakes, which formed two C's—later discovered to be the logo for the Cult of Chroma. They also found a letter from a mysterious sender, marked only as "K"—which would later be discovered to be short for Khothax The contents of the letter detailed a plan with the High Prince to convince Torleigh to join their war against Berfordia, and to kill and replace him—should he refuse. The party rushed back to the palace to inform King Henry of this information and the king arrested those involved in the conspiracy. He then sanctioned Adora's wish of assassinating High Prince Volariil, which the party took. The king then rewarded the party with the Catalyst and made Jebediah Stevens his new diplomat to Berfordia. The party then began the journey to Berfordia in order to forge an alliance between the two countries.
A vial of poison used by the Poisoncloaks
The Berfordian Bloc
Gone with Granhowey
On their journey to Blech, Berfordia's capital, the party docked in a Berfordian town by the name of Granhowey. After going to a tavern for dinner, the party learned that the town had an almost complete lack of meat, due to a mysterious beast showing up in the night and taking their cattle. The party decided to wait out at night to catch the beast, but were shocked to discover that a wyvern was taking the cattle. In a short encounter, it destroyed a few buildings in Granhowey, before flying away. However, the party tracked it to its lair, where they slew the beast and took its egg. Steve George would later raise the child, naming him Todd. Adora disappeared during the fight, and Barthlomew decided to stay behind in Granhowey to help rebuild the town, retiring from adventuring.The Capture of Causterford
The party docked next in Causterford, another Berfordian village. Upon their arrival, they were met with a crying woman who begged them to help her find her blacksmith husband—who she believed was kidnapped. The party enlist the help of a local priestess, Illa, and attempt to find the blacksmith. The trail of clues eventually lead them to a hidden church in the middle of the woods, where they find the blacksmith imprisoned in the basement. The blacksmith reveals his artificing nature, and tells the party that the dark elves who captured him were trying to build a portal to the prison plane of Kalemir. The party journeys deeper into the church's basement, where Steve George found a magical necklace shaped in the symbol of the death god Mirtis. He put the necklace on, and it began pulsing with dark energy—sending smoke swirling around his body. He refused, however, to take the necklace off. Throughout the party's fight through the church, the necklace actively hindered Steve George and began taking control of his body. During the final fight with the church's high priest, the necklace would not even allow Steve George to attack. Steve George resorted to attempting to grapple the priest. The priest slipped through the party's grasp, ultimately teleporting away. Before the party could go after him though, they elected to try to cure Steve George of the necklace's effects by going to the town's church. Although, just as they reached the church, Steve George's body went limp, his eyes rolled back into his head, and he smiled a cold, evil smile. Steve George was no longer in control of his own body. Mirtis was.
The Necklace of Mirtis
When the party returned from Karalmir, they find out that three months have passed, giving the priest who escaped their clutches ample time to recover. It also gave him enough time to raise an undead army large enough to take over the entirety of the town. The party fought their way through zombies, saved townspeople, and ultimately drove the dark elf necromancer from Causterford. From this point, they continued their journey to Berfordia's capital.
Murder at the Oaken Palace
Upon arriving in Berfordia, the party is welcomed with open arms into the Oaken Palace. Their first meeting with the Princes of Berfordia seemed to go well, however, the next day Prince Yinric is found dead. The Palace shut down, closing all entrances until the killer was found. The party had to investigate the murder and find the true assassin in order to clear their own names. After following clues and talking to the Palace staff, the party ultimately discovered that the cook, Taesbon Oceanwatcher, was the murderer. Known better by his alias of Estabon the Irate Pirate, he took his revenge on the Princes of Berfordia because they had left him to die at the bottom of the ocean years prior. After the party managed to kill him, they discovered that he was using one of Berfordia's Primal Beads—artifacts of immense power created to represent each of the eight Primordials. It was also revealed that he had been working for the same organization that the Poisoner was a part of. This was discovered by the party seeing the same symbol on a letter paying Taesbon to assassinate the Princes, and directing him to lead them to the rest of the Beads afterwards. The party decided that they had to foil the organization's plans.Rising Action
The Primal Beads
The Fire Bead
The party decided to first go after the Primal Bead of Fire, as they saw it as the largest threat. They travelled to the Temple of Fire, a temple erected at the site of one of Berfordia's largest wildfires, and successfully retrieved the Fire Bead. They encountered little resistance from the mysterious organization during this encounter, except for one grunt who attempted to stop the party, but was quickly dealt with.The Air Bead
The party decided next to go after the Primal Bead of Air, as they saw it as the second largest threat. However, they knew that if they went after the Air Bead, the Earth Bead would most likely fall into the hands of the unknown organization. They travelled to the Galetower, and successfully retrieved the Air Bead. In the process, they also killed a group of young white dragons who had nested in the tower. At this point, the party were called back to Blech to attend Prince Yinric's funeral, and update Prince Zauberer on their progress with retrieving the Beads.The Life Bead
After Prince Yinric's funeral, and old wood elf woman approached the party, asking for their help. She introduced herself as Mrs. Cloudberry. Apparently, some sort of wolf creature had been coming in the night and killing her cows. Since her husband had died, and her son was off fighting in the war, she had been unable to do anything about it. The party accepted, pitying the old woman. She allowed them to stay in her home, and gave them a wonderful home-cooked meal. The party immediatly took a liking to Mrs. Cloudberry, and spent the hours until nightfall chatting with her about her life. Then, they got to work on setting a trap for the beast. After setting the trap, they hid, waiting for the beast. When the beast finally appeared, they were surprised to discover that it was actually Atsa, Prince Yinric's primal companion, who was eating Mrs. Cloudberry's cows. Atsa had previously seemed very domesticated and intelligent, but this Atsa seemed more like a feral creature than the distinguished Royal Beast the party had met prior. Atsa escaped from the trap and ran away, but the party was able to follow her, eventually through a portal which she opened in the trees. The portal led them to a forest where they met Medsvar—the Primal Dragon—who was guarding the Primal Bead of Life—which nobody knew existed. The party convinced him to give them the Bead, and they were able to use it to reawaken Atsa, bringing her back to her more intelligent state. They said their goodbyes to Mrs. Cloudberry, and began following rumors of the Earth Bead's whereabouts.
The Life Bead
The Earth Bead
The party followed the rumors to Stanton, where they met Richard Spheres II, the Duke of Stanton, after looking around the town for someone going by the alias of the Collector—someone they believed to be higher up in the mysterious organization they had been tracking. Duke Richard approached the party, welcoming them into Stanton and asked if he could be of any assistance. The party was invited to stay in his mansion for their time in Stanton, an offer they quickly accepted. However, upon further investigation of his house, the party found a bookcase door that led to another floor of the house. The party heard Richard come down the stairs from his room late at night, and hid, not wanting to be found exploring his house—as they were now suspicious of him. Illa, however, did not hide from Richard, who was wearing dark robes and attempting to go through the secret entrance. He offered to walk her back to her room, which she accepted, and then he murdered her. The rest of the party slipped through the secret entrance while this was going on into a large basement. Then, they killed the grunts, and waited for the Duke to come down, where they then killed him. They then explored the rest of the basement, eventually finding the room where the projections of the Dragon-Chosen were supposed to meet with the Collector. Steve George disguised himself as the Duke, and listened in on the meeting, gaining much needed intel on the organization. During the meeting, the party heard the organization referred to as the “Cult of Chroma.” They learned about the structuring of the Cult, and they also found an altar to “The Great Wyrm.” After the meeting they explored the compound more and found a room with eight pedestals, one for each of the Beads. Two of these pedestals were filled. One with the Bead of Order, the other with the Bead of Chaos. They also found a marking on a large map in the compound labeled “Death.” They believed this to be the location of the Death Bead, and began the far journey to it.The Death Bead
After travelling all the way from Berfordia, through Wistonland, and into the Tutherian Empire, the party at last came to the location of the Death Bead. They retrieved this Bead, but not before encountering a boneclaw, which appeared to shake up Steve George. After the Bead's retrieval, Steve George and Leafy decided to found the Royal Bureau of Secret Terrorism Investigation—better known as RBOSTI—with Barthlomew and Jebediah Stevens, in order to continue fighting the Cult of Chroma.Berfordia's Blight
Four months after RBOSTI was formed, the mysterious Blight disease has been released and is quickly infecting Berfordia. The new party was a unit of RBOSTI made up of Oberebus, Leocan, Ukar, and Jack. They were tasked with figuring out what the cause of the Blight was, and how they could stop it. The party travelled to Blech and saw the horrid impact of the Blight on the city. People lay in the acid-stained streets, pustules exploded, hundreds died. They figured out that the Plague, a member of the Cult, had created the Blight. They also discovered that the Blight acted as an extension of the Plague. In order to better know their enemy, they travelled, for about a week, to Medsvar's Wilds and learned about the origins of the Plague from Medsvar himself. Once they returned to the city they found it overrun and infested with Blighted Zombies. They were thrust out of a portal and into a battle with these zombies, where they successfully saved Prince Zauberer's life. However, the sheer numbers of the zombies were overwhelming, and the party had to escape from Blech. Fortunately, once they escaped, the city was able to quarantine itself, locking the Blight and the Plague inside of Blech. They regrouped at Mrs. Cloudberry's house, and were able to form a plan of action. The party was able to stealthily infiltrate the Oaken Palace, which the Plague had taken control of. Once inside, they fought the Plague and almost defeated them, before he killed himself in a final act of defiance. The party used the Life Bead to cure the Blight, and were thanked by Prince Zauberer, before a portal suddenly opened in the Palace. Two armed Saltashesian guards stepped through the portal and arrested Oberebus, for accounts of mass murder and arson.A Platinum Presence
The party followed Oberebus through the portal and into the town of Presford, in an effort to try and clear his name. Oberebus was taken to prison, but was soon broken out by his father—the Demon. The Demon attempted to sway Oberebus over to the side of the Cult, but he held steadfast. The rest of the party had no idea where Oberebus was at this point though, and had to look around the city for clues. They came across a travelling merchant named Taz, who conveniently had everything they needed to break Oberebus out. He provided them with the rumor that led them to the Demon's lair, provided them disguises, provided them with the Platinum Gem, and a Platinum Dragon Egg. Oberebus was able to keep the Demon distracted long enough for the party to reach him, at which point the Demon challenged them to a fight in the town square. The conditions stated that the loser of the fight must leave Presford and never return. Taz also provided the party with fire resistance potions in order to assist them during the fight. The party was badly beaten by the Demon, who—surprisingly—let them live. Taz met with the party after the battle and told them that in order to defeat the Demon, they would need to grow more powerful. He also told them that the Island of Greenfell had more information on the Catalyst Gems they'd collected so far. He gave them a letter, which they were told to give to a Captain Riptide in Skipinley, who would help them get to Greenfell.Gems in Greenfell
When the party first arrived in Skipinley, they helped Captain Riptide save his first mate Flicker. This—in addition to the letter—allowed them to gain his help in travelling to Greenfell. They escaped from a ship working for the Gatrinhian Government after the ship was destroyed by a mechanical sea serpent from Greenfell. The party discovered that Greenfell "Island" was actually an archipelago shrouded in illusion. In the archipelago they discovered a diverse society of warforged who had made their home on the islands after a cataclysmic event known as the Collapse.The Shimmering Island
On the Shimmering Island, the party managed to defeat warforged pirates and acquire the Copper Catalyst Gem. All of the party members, save for Ukar, were called back to RBOSTI headquarters, and replaced. Heigolor and Elandril were brought to the archipelago by Steve George, and Micnik was discovered on the Valtis.The Ruined Isle
The party then discovered the Undercity, where many of the warforged had survived since the Collapse, and discovered that the Cult was also in Greenfell. They learned that the Engineer had learned how to replicate warforged into his own image, birthing the dragonforged. The party defended the Undercity from an army of dragonforged, after helping save the city's democratic ideals. The party also began hearing a distorted call from RBOSTI Headquarters, but chose to ignore it.Breathfire Island
Afterwards, the party released Anksto—the Gold Dragon of Greenfell—from his imprisonment in Mt. Breathfire. Anksto rewarded them by sharing a brief overview of the Metallic Order and the terrible Night Terror. In addition to this, he also fixed the Golden Gem, which allowed the gem's Inhabitor—Pirmas Karalius—to speak to the party.The Roaring Island
The party was then able to defeat the Engineer on the Roaring Island—with the help of a new party member, Oswald—and acquire the Brass Gem.Whisperwood Island
Afterwards, they journeyed Whisperwood Island and defeated Pikvarn, an evil deep crow shrouded in illusion. They also saved the Conduit—a giant tree in the center of the island, that happened to be situated on a magical leyline. They were also able to acquire the Bronze Gem and upgrade the Valtis with livingwood.The Frozen Isles
The party then decided to go after the other Dragon-Chosen cultist in the archipelago—the Captain. They then journeyed to the Frozen Isles and were captured by the Captain. Ukar attempted to kill him by repulsing him down a chasm, but he was able to survive. The party then acquired the Silver Gem—unknowingly releasing the Dragon Guardian of Greenfell from its prison.Descent of the Dragon
The Captain's true plan was revealed when it was discovered that he was alive, and piloting the Dragon Guardian. The party were able to defeat the Captain, but not before he started the Guardian's self-destruct sequence. the party was forced to make the impossible decision of where to crash the quickly descending Dragon Guardian. Ultimately, they chose the Kraken's Maw, which destroyed the Kraken Guardian, and wiped out an entire civilization of seaforged—who had been living in an underwater cavern under the Kraken's Maw. However, the party did not have prior knowledge of this civilization's existence. The crash also caused a tsunami which partially flooded the Undercity, killing an estimated 3,000 warforged.Aftermath
The party then spoke with the newly formed government of Greenfell, and left the archipelago on good terms. They finally decided to heed RBOSTI's call, and travelled back to the organization's headquarters in Torleigh. Captain Riptide and the rest of the Valtis also decided to continue travelling with the party to Torleigh, where they discovered the ruins of RBOSTI, destroyed by Steve George. They discovered that message calling the party back to RBOSTI Headquarters was a ploy to execute all of the members of the organization at one time. Leafy and Barthlomew were killed. Jebediah Stevens was said to be MIA.
Plot type
Master Plot
Related Organizations
Related Locations
