Exploring the Dark Island

General Summary

When the Scuffling Partizans wake up in the morning they notice the usual refreshment of a night's rest lacking. All but Bilbo Barbarian have been troubled by nightmares, and sleep on the island proves far from relaxed. They do however fight off the tiring drain of energy that suffuses the land, and manage to keep their wits about them. To Razyle came a nightmare in which she was once again the prisoner of Napoleon who, along with Alexander Inquisitorius set about interrogating her about her intentions as well as those of her friends. To this end he tortured her horribly, seeing in her dreams how her bones were broken, her skin got flayed and her nails pulled out. To her regret she heard herself betray her friends completely, and one by one saw them captured, tortured in turn and succumb to their wounds. Napoleon however seemed insatiable as he appeared to enjoy the pain and sorrow he caused and never stopped thinking of new ways to hurt Razyle. She wakes up in cries of agony, trying desperately to get away from some terrible instrument. To Yorratra Melith Mitoré comes the vision of Everlight. His trance, usually something he pretty much controls himself, is wrested away from him as his vision is taken to the center of the city. The taint that troubles the city takes the form of roiling black clouds, crawling along the ground, dark tendrils curling out to grab whatever is in reach and pulling the darkness behind it. Ever further the darkness expands appearing to be pulled along by misty tentacles. Every living thing it reaches seems to wither and rot and the cheerful light the city gets its name from is swallowed up. Screaming elves, crying children, howling animals, everything is mayhem as death and decay spread ever further through the land. Looking up in desperation to the moon, hoping for some hope or strength as the dark mists are surrounding him, Yorratra watches the tendrils grabbing even the face of Sehanine Moonbow and swallowing the last bit of light. Yorratra screams in despair as he pulls from his trance. To Scaramouche Fandango come the streets of Neverwinter. He is walking confidently through the city, and happily greets passersby. He is not greeted in return however. At first he shrugs this strange situation away considering the possibility the person has a bad day, or might be in a foul mood. After several moments of being ignored however, he starts to feel doubts. At this point he notices his clothes being torn and dirty. Suddenly he realizes he is one of the city's urchins, dirty, smelly and miserable. Such is also the way he feels at this point. Very miserable indeed. At that moment someone spits on him. As he tramp away he catches the words of the man with shock: "Filthy shithead." Another angry face walks by telling him his kind is not wanted here. And why doesn't he take a long holiday to the Abyss. Now he is being pelted with rotting eggs and vegetables. As he gets hit square in the face by some foul smelling cabbage he starts running. As spoiled produce and insults are flung at him from all sides he runs crying through the gates and into the waking misery of his present location of the Dark Island. Randy Jones finds in his dreams the well known battlefields he has seen several times while conversing with Hextor. After a while he hears the familiar voice of Hextor coming from behind. Turning however, he sees not the visage of Hextor but that of Gruumsh One-Eye. Gruumsh wants Randy to be proud of his orcish heritage and fight him in single combat. Randy, being proud already in his service to Colonia refuses to fight and sheaths his weapon, not even defending against the strike of the mighty spear of Gruumsh that brings him to his knees. He then proceeds refusing to bow to Gruumsh and is attacked once more by the Orc god. He wakes with a start yelling in pain as he draws up his hands in protection. Bilbo Barbarian dreams of soaring through the skies in the shape of a platinum dragon. The voice of Tymora whispers in his ear as he draws close to the Dark Island. She tells him he may choose several locations on the island to scout out. Luck is with him clearly as he manages to scout 6 locations on the island. He notices the dangers ahead towards the tower and spots the safe paths through treacherous terrain. He notices the location and history of Lord Soth near Greenvale. He finds the lair of the Dracolich and the range that it patrols. He sees the capitol of Crackton and notices the skeletons and spirits risen from the corpses of the former inhabitants of this city, are still bound to their professions and businesses of old, still guarding and patrolling the city, still manning the watchtowers on the surrounding peaks, still going to and from their stores and houses. Lastly Bilbo also sees into the events to come as concerns the Mage tower in the center of the island. He spots an expedition of The Black Robes returning to the tower coming from the dark ravine to the northeast. Later he also notices the undead knight the group had seen before near Greenvale arriving at the tower and being welcomed by the Black Robes. As his vision blurs and darkens, he opens his eyes calmly, waking up normally as the only one in the group. Randy quickly notices he has lost his connection to his deity, and turns to brooding as the group set out to the north. With the insight Bilbo has gained, and him leading the way, while Razyl, Yorratra and Scaramouche are watching for enemies, the group manages to travel safely for several days, staying clear of the many kinds of undead creatures inhabiting this horrible land. The nights however remain horrible and hardly refreshing, and even Bilbo now has nightmares, seeing his family murdered horribly while he himself is unable to move to their help or rescue. Randy seeks contact with his god again and is told by Gruumsh that under the present circumstances he will have to learn to live with the new appearance his god has taken. Still fighting this concept he notices the personality of Hextor is still around in the image of Gruumsh, but is made clear that the church he belongs to has moved away from that alignment. Finally, out of sheer necessity and far from content with it, Randy kneels for Gruumsh and regains full access to a paladin's magic and skills. After the first three days of travel, the Partizans arrive at a particularly difficult part of the cliffs and need to work out a way to go on without losing too much time backtracking and taking a detour. Bilbo misjudges the height of the cliff face however and happily lets Scaramouche down into the crashing waves beneath. Being immediately attacked by some kelp somehow infused with the life and will to move and hunt. Through the skill and teamwork the partizans are getting renowned for, they manage to kill two creatures and have another swim away, and the group climbs, dripping and soaked, out from the sea and back up the cliffs. Further travel along the rocky coast goes through without a hitch, and the group finally manages to once again reach flat and earthy ground where hardy and and touch grass covers the rolling fields. They use the final rugged cliff walls to have some semblance of cover as they prepare for another uneasy night.

Campaign

Colonia's Hegemony

Protagonists