Eye of the Storm
The city of Elorta is doomed. An apocalyptic storm is approaching. The Gods have decided to race through the storm, confronting Kasmir, the Rot at the center of his ruinous power. Beyond him, their sights are set for Kreniko, the site of the Plague Engine and its keeper, Prince Mazaru Eramzir.
Aboard their imperial warship, the Gods could confront Eada about her betrayal without her potentially calling on local allies or escaping into a crowd. They interrogated her and found her true identity: a shapeshifting agent of Safia, the False Halcyon, transformed by a powerful lieutenant of the Adversaries. She had been the mysterious false druid that Potha had fought on her journey many months ago. Safia had ordered her to abandon her form and post to embed herself in Potha's party. Eada had pushed her memories away; she simply shaped herself into what others wanted her to be. The Gods were not sympathetic as a whole and locked Eada in the brig until a judgment could be made. After a few days of heavy storming, Eada vanished from the ship, leaving behind a sympathetic note. Zofara, the only other companion taken along and who was assigned as a guard, was in a magical daze, and Eada was completely vanished from the ship.
While Potha was sad that Eada had abandoned them, there wasn't much time to mourn or process. The ship was soon in the thick of the storm, a hurricane of nightmarish proportions. The Gods helped the imperial sailors keep the ship afloat, but one by one the crew was dying. The ship was ragged and broken and the crew was down to just the captain and a few others when the storm suddenly cleared. A truly enormous corpselike Leviathan grabbed hold of the skeletal ship as the waters calmed. The group had found Kasmir.
Kasmir, the Rot descended upon the ship on wings of wispy night. The remnants of the once-grand warship warped and rotted at his touch, and a shadow of decay began creeping across the ship. The Gods faced him down even in the clutches of his power. They challenged Kasmir to resist what he saw as his inevitable role, and encouraged him to turn away. He became angry in response and condemned the Gods for their hypocrisy - promising a freedom never delivered (that he believes is impossible), trapping mortals in a confusing world of suffering and turmoil with no purpose or end, and claiming a morality that they only expect from others. In his rage, he began to possess and almost kill Zofara, but the Gods were able to de-escalate the situation.
Kasmir ultimately agreed that the Gods should have a chance to prove their points against him, and also did not particularly want to stop them from killing the troublesome Prince Mazaru Eramzir. So, he let them flee the ship for the distant shore, and warned them that after an hour he would resume his obligation to try and kill them. The group used all the magic and tricks in their toolbox to quickly flee to the distant shoreline, carrying Zofara with them. The Zeruan crew could not be saved. After reaching the shore, the Gods could catch their breath and rest for a moment, but it wasn't long before the storm resumed. And then, the water began to recede - Kasmir was sending a tidal wave their way. They took some local horses from a waterlogged farm and fled up a nearby hill. The tsunami swept the rest of the land away, turning their hill into an island.
After resting, the group began a long journey across the storm-flooded ruins to Kreniko. The distance wasn't particularly long, but the terrain was extremely rough. Potha helped the party chart a course through the debris-filled floodwaters and high-speed winds, jumping from island to island as the storm raged on. The Gods prioritized speed and refrained from saving or helping other survivors along the way - they decided that stopping the Plague Engine would save more lives in the long-run.
The Gods finally arrived in Arnadba, a suburban town at the edge of Kreniko, as one of the last groups of storm refugees let in through the town gates. Strangely, the storm stopped perfectly before Kreniko, which was totally untouched. Clearly, the Prince had managed to assert some power over the Rot's destructive magic, at least locally. Unfortunately, the Prince also seemed aware that the Gods were approaching - the guards had new orders to close the gates and were likely to start searching incoming refugees, though thankfully they seemed too overwhelmed with people to search those already inside. The ruthless approach of the Gods had paid off in a way, as they were able to vanish among the already-accepted survivors.
The group settled into Arnadba and began assessing the situation. There were a lot of ominous signs - notably, that the prior garrison commander of the town was hanging from the gallows along with a number of local townsfolk for supporting a recently-suppressed "Usurper" who had recently rebelled against the Prince. The Gods began to help the other survivors, caring for the injured and helping establish safe housing, water, and food. The soldiers and town council quickly took to these useful helpers, and tipped them off to the potential threat of the town's new garrison commander, Captain Yarzin Torizir. Captain Yarzin was assigned to looking for potentially dangerous newcomers and had a set of criteria for a specific group that the common soldiery didn't know much about. He was also not especially popular, as he had become increasingly intense and ruthless since he had taken command. The Gods found out that the Captain was riding into town to check the survivors and bar further entrance, and decided to ambush him between the town and the castle to quietly take him out of the picture. The Gods hid in the greenery at a muddy bend and laid a trap where the water had flooded onto the path. The captain and his companions were quickly cut down, with minimal noise and no witnesses. It didn't take much effort to get rid of the evidence, with the storm so close by.
The group found the captain's orders - unsurprisingly, it was to look for them. They also pocketed the key to his office and postbox in town. The Gods washed off and returned to Arnadba, where they talked with some of the local community pillars. The owner of the Elder Wreath tavern recommended that they talk to her sister in Kreniko, who owned her own tavern called The Dancing Crab for a safe place to stay in the city. The group snuck into the Captain's office and also found the address for his house in the city, along with letters from his sister Taihosha Torizir who was staying there. The Gods decided to check both spots to see where they could best stay.
Stormy Waters
Speak with Death
Drowned Lands
Arnadba Approach
Components
Goals
QUEST:
- Destroy the nascent Zeruan Plague Engine, to prevent a new Plague Variant
- Scout out the powers and weaknesses of the Nemeses
- Make connections and allies
- Marshal resources
Relations
Protagonists
Makar: The Masked One reborn, from Etekamo . Divine Soul Sorcerer, Courtier Background
Potha: Halcyon reborn, from the Sarana Tribe . Beastmaster Ranger, Outlander Background
- Coco: a friendly moa with a sweet tooth, Potha's bonded companion
- Cobi: a determined falcon loyal to Potha
- The Prison Rat: a rat with a sense of style, loyal to Potha
- Darana, a Nefkan Vesper priest who can speak with dead and resist fear, but requires burial of the dead
- Kiji, a Calazan Kobold explorer who can help Arzet super-leap, returns thrown weapons, but requires curiosity
- Sarwen, an Inasan dryad scholar who can see disease auras and helps with research, but requires everything to be recorded
- Siru, a Bilgazan Healing Church alchemist who can help Arzet make healing potions and increases Arzet's speed by 10 ft/round, but requires that the secrets of alchemy be kept guarded
- Thuma, a Nafenan squiddle blackguard who can help Arzet turn invisible underwater (when not attacking or casting) and increases swim speed by 30 ft/round, but requires Arzet to take no quarter against any foes
Allies
Zofara: A fatalistic warlock who presents as hyper-goth. Sworn to the Scarred One.
Neutrals/Bystanders
Eada the Sellsword: A mercenary and shapeshifter experimented upon by a strange magician
Adversaries
Kasmir, the Rot: The Great Adversary, the physical vessel of plague and decay
Prince Mazaru Eramzir: The "Emperor" of the Cult of the Stormlord. A brazen opportunist seeking to use the Rot as a weapon for his own aims. Currently controlling the Plague Engine in Kreniko.
Captain Yarzin Torizir: New Captain of the Arnadba garrison and loyal servant of the Prince, seeking to find and catch the Gods.
Plot type
QUEST
Parent Plot
Subplots
Related Characters
Related Organizations
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