Campaign 01: Quest for the Quintus Gems
The Barrel Boys adventures began in the Forgotten Realms when they were hired to deliver supplies to a dwarf named Gundren. This quickly became a much more dangerous adventure when they discovered Gundren had been abducted on orders from a mysterious man called the Black Spider. The adventurers were successfully able to rescue Gundren and several of the dwarf's associates before discovering the legendary Forge of Spells inside a fabled lost mine. There they found and defeated the the Black Spider, allowing the dwarves to begin restoring the mine to its former glory.
They were then summoned by a scholar seeking adventurers to explore a ruin he couldn't examine himself without missing a conference. Unknown to the Barrel Boys, this scholar was in fact Dumathoin, Dwarven God of Mining, in disguise. Following a map the disguised deity gave them, they followed a tunnel underground until they came to a collection of dwarven tombs. The walls were lined with murals depicting dwarven heroes fighting monsters and other enemies throughout the ages, often depicting the lead hero with a weapon sporting an embedded gem. The Barrel Boys spotted such a gem on one of the tombs and the whole tunnel system began to shake as Myster E picked it up along with a simple but well cut & polished rock. The adventurers fled for the surface, unaware that this was not a natural earthquake but Dumathoin transporting the tunnels they were in to a different world.
Breaking through to the surface, the adventurers immediately noticed that they recognized none of the constellations in the night sky. Unsure of what happened or where they were, the Barrel Boys found a road nearby and began following it in hopes of locating a settlement. Not long into the trip, they saw a wizard and hobgoblin fightin near a wagon with several corpses around them. They subdued both parties and learned the wizard was the last of bandits who attacked the wagon while the hobgoblin was the last of the guards hired to protect it, as well as a member of the Red Banner mercenaries. Thankful for their assistance, the mercenary offered to guide them to the village but the welcome they found was far from hospitable.
The village had been overtaken by bandits led by a powerful cambion who ruled the inhabitants with an iron fist. The Barrel Boys decided they were having none of that and were quick to overthrow the cambion, killing his men & monsters while forcing him to flee. It was around this time that the polished rock found in the dwarven tomb began to move on its own and a tiny creature popped out of it. The little creature appeared humanoid by lacked the ability to speak, though his charades made it seem like he wanted to look at a map. He pointed to several spots on the map that lit up in different colors, with the village they were in lighting up black. Figuring these lights must be connected to the magic gem found in the dwarven tomb, the adventurers set out in search for the rest of them.
And so the quest for the Quintus Gems began. On their journey the Barrel Boys battled all manner of creatures from bandits to giants to even an adult dragon as they began to gather these mysterious gems and learn more of their history. They made both friends and enemies along the way, eventually discovering that both infernal and demonic forces had come to this nation called Jezero in search of the gems to tip the scales of the Blood War in their favor.
It culminated in a battle that engulfed the largest settlement in the area, the Battle of Lakeview. The devil Dunames had spent many months gaining political power and slowly corrupting the citizens of Lakeview into sin before using the Red Quintus Gem to open a portal to the Nine Hells an army of devils could march through to slay the citizens and claim their souls. The demon Cedra made her move at the same time, her cultists summoning demons into the city as the Blood War was fought in the streets a Lakeview among the terrified citizens.
It was at the dawn of this dark hour that the Barrel Boys fighting their way through the city while using their own Quintus Gems to open portals that summoned the Red Banner, Altmera's elven army, and many other allies the adventurers had made during their journey to fight back against the fiendish hordes. The Barrel Boys themselves focused on taking down the enemy leaders, slaying Cedra, Xalkin, and Kishin to send the fiends souls back to their home realms before facing Dunames.
In their journey, the adventurers had been transformed into demi-gods through a wish granted by a noble marid and were much more powerful than they were during their previous encounters with Dunames. Nonetheless, Dunames had been promoted to a higher rank of devil for her recent successes and made the Barrel Boys work for their victory, albeit not very hard given the massive power they now wielded. But a greater challenge emerged from the infernal portal as Dunames superior, Glasya, Archduchess of Malbolge, emerged from the rift to claim the Red Gem her subordinate had secured. Glasya made it clear that despite the group's great powers, defeating her was still far from a sure thing. Despite this, Glasya chose not to fight and returned to the Nine Hells with her remaining forces, leaving the validity of her statement somewhat in question.
In the aftermath, the Barrel Boys were hailed as heroes by their allies and the surviving citizens once the last fiends and cultists still lurking in the city had been put to the sword. Among those congratulating them as the god Dumathoin, who made a personal appearance in his true godly form to thank the adventurers for all they had done protecting the Quintus Gems in this era. Secure that the gems were now out of danger of being united for an evil purpose, the dwarf god gave the group his blessing before they parted ways to carry on with their personal lives and fulfill their own goals.
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