Ascension
General Summary
Meako decided it was time to finally deal with the strange note he'd found posted up a few months prior. Gathering together three of his most trusted friends together he headed home to his farm, ready to face the trials the stranger had in store for him. As the farmhouse grew quiet, soon the four of them were whisked away to a strange place blanketed by a deep, shimmering purple fog. A lighthearted, unfamiliar voice spoke to them through the fog, introducing itself as the one who wrote the letter, but nothing more. And as a path lit up and led Meako deeper into the fog the trial began.
Meako met his first trial with apprehension. A memory flashed that matched the scene before him. A cart loaded with shiny trinkets ripe for the taking. But by the council of his friends and the strange voice he resisted. Then in the second trial he found himself standing in the center of his old village. Watching as his people were put in chains and prepared to be led away. While initially he was ready to send an arrow straight through the captor's skulls, clearer heads prevailed and he begrudgingly chose to talk with the drow who seemed to be leading things. After a long interrogation of his motives Meako found his bloodlust waning, and eventually chose to leave his people to pay for their apparent crimes.
With the trials over the voice congratulated Meako for his showing, while his cloak bemoaned Meako's lack of selfishness. But confusion grew as Meako didn't return from the trial, instead a new kind of path lay at his feet that the trialmaster had not set for him. Following this Meako found a familiar face, his uncle. A man who had been chasing him for some time. After a short conversation Meako found it prudtent to fill the elderly gobling full of arrows and leave him for dead. With the man keeping him there dead he was able to return and find who the true trialmaster was.
As he awoke things had changed slightly. Not only was there now a very recently hatched void dragon sitting amongst them, but a pair of massive void dragons sat just above their heads, staring down through a caved in roof. Apparently the hatchling's parents. It was then the baby void dragon revealed himself to be the trialmaster and offered Meako a deal. In exchange for fighting to expand the Arbour Kingdom without delay the hatchling would offer Meako its loyalty. Not wanting to risk making enemies of his friends, Meako refused. As the child left, its parents, apparently angry at their child's oath being turned down, attacked the party. But the seasoned adventures made short work of the proud creatures.
With the dragon's slain, the cloaker who resided on Meako's back spoke up, offering a deal of its own. Seeing Meako wasn't willing to recklessly expand his borders, he hoped Meako would turn his gaze inwardly upon the kingdom. To ignore the plights an treaties of places not within his kingdom's borders. But Meako refused this also, choosing instead a measured approach of both looking inwards and outwards as he ruled. The cloaker insisted Meako take this deal frantically, but Meako refused. Ultimately leading to the cloaker's demise as it burned from within. Falling to some unknown curse as it was unable to sway Meako to its whims. Its corpse did not remain motionless for long though. As a great power flowed through it and the corpses of the dragons nearby began to crackle with energy. Their scales lifting from their corpses and arranging themselves along the back of the now dead cloaker, and with another flash of light, a legacy was born.
Rewards Granted
Loot:
Armor
[6,175 gp] +1 benevolent defiant studded leather armor
Potions
[300 gp] potion/oil of undetectable alignment (CL 3)
[750 gp] potion/oil of protection from energy, cold (CL 5)
Rings
[42,000 gp] ring of inner fortitude (major)
Scrolls
[1,125 gp] arcane scroll of cone of cold (CL 9)
[375 gp] arcane scroll of beast shape i (CL 5)
[3,000 gp] arcane scroll of incendiary cloud (CL 15)
[3,000 gp] divine scroll of summon monster 8 (CL 15)
Spellbooks
Uncle's spellbook
Experience:
Covak (ECL 15): 2,156 XP = 0 (A wolf to remember) + 281 (Shackled and Shamed) + 750 (A Shade of the Past) + 1,125 (Wrath of the Void)
Nightfall (ECL 13): 6,094 XP = 731 + 1,219 + 2,194 + 1,950
Meako, Prim (ECL 12): 7,800 XP = 900 + 1,500 + 2,700 + 2,700
Armor
[6,175 gp] +1 benevolent defiant studded leather armor
Potions
[300 gp] potion/oil of undetectable alignment (CL 3)
[750 gp] potion/oil of protection from energy, cold (CL 5)
Rings
[42,000 gp] ring of inner fortitude (major)
Scrolls
[1,125 gp] arcane scroll of cone of cold (CL 9)
[375 gp] arcane scroll of beast shape i (CL 5)
[3,000 gp] arcane scroll of incendiary cloud (CL 15)
[3,000 gp] divine scroll of summon monster 8 (CL 15)
Spellbooks
Uncle's spellbook
Experience:
Covak (ECL 15): 2,156 XP = 0 (A wolf to remember) + 281 (Shackled and Shamed) + 750 (A Shade of the Past) + 1,125 (Wrath of the Void)
Nightfall (ECL 13): 6,094 XP = 731 + 1,219 + 2,194 + 1,950
Meako, Prim (ECL 12): 7,800 XP = 900 + 1,500 + 2,700 + 2,700
