Legends Never Die

Summary

Act One: For the Throne

In the year 8001, the land of Terra Caelum had just suffered a great, yet long overdue war. The tyrannical rule of the Dragon King had come to an end.
Dragon King was a position passed down by bloodline since the very first of them. The Dragon King sought out and vanquished all the dragons in the land until there were none left. It brought him much fame in the east and allowed him to take control. His slaughter was in direct betrayal of a pact he had made with the ancestors of the Lion King of the Reynolds Kingdom. But this was ancient history.
After a long summer of harsh fighting, the reigning Dragon King was taken to Yerentil- the elven capital, opened to the public for the first time since the First Era- and publicly executed before thousands. Thus, his kingdom collapsed, his lords and thanes scattered. A treaty was agreed to between the people of the land and it was decided that land would be divided into small regions, independent states. Monarchies, of course, remained, the largest standing kingdom to be that of the Reynolds. Keep Draco, the stronghold of house Draco, and the heart of the Dragon Kingdom, lay in ruins, yet the world rejoiced.
In this new world, the Reynolds keep to themselves as the lords of the east organise themselves into smaller colonies, smaller groups.
The kingdom of Breantis, domain of halflings, was revered in the war for remaining neutral and helping those who desired safety and asylum. It became a beacon of hope, and it had had this image throughout the ages as the most peaceful society in Terra Caelum. However, two weeks prior to Candlenights of 8001, the capital city Okhathage burned down, killing the king, the queen, and their eldest daughter, leaving only Elizabetha DeMontajay alive.
The reason why? Unclear. The only ones who could decipher a peculiar arcane phenomenon, according to Archmage Meredith Greytower, would be the Archmage Council. The problem there would be that they had disbanded shortly before the war, and were now either in seclusion to meditate, working on their own projects, or ruling their own settlements. There was an archmage for each school of magic- Abjuration, Conjuration, Divination, Enchantment, Evocation, Illusion, Necromancy, Transmutation; as well as the newest addition, Invention.
The Archmages were petty, but they are the best at what they do- casting and identifying magic, and after the party cures the plague in Slyridge, Meredith tasked the party to find the other Archmages until they could figure out what occurred on that fateful night.

Chapter 1: Like the Plague

The chapter began in the morning light, by a tavern near the Whiteclaw silver mine. Princess Lizzy of Breantis had hired Enel and Ayfa to accompany her on her adventures. Whiteclaw was sparsely populated in the mornings, making it relatively easy for the princess and her companions to leave the town unnoticede. No horses were available to hire this early, but the group had decided to go on foot anyway. And so, they left Whiteclaw, following along the path of the Breantian-Peachavian River.
The group made their way down the Breantian-Peachavian River, and they passed through a few towns and villages but none especially catch their interest. As the day got to early evening, they reached the town of Skaversby, a neat "ideal" town in Yerentil near the border of the Free Peach with small farms on the outskirts and a big woodcarving community. The town was surrounded by a stone wall, and they had to pass through a large wooden entrance gate to get inside. There didn't seem to be any guards, and at first glance, a small but bustling community could be seen, with market stalls and commercial signs above storefront windows.
As they headed further into the town, they saw a tavern with blue painted wooden walls and a sign that read "The Drowned Rat". They entered the tavern and it seemed that the majority of people in there are human, same as in the town itself. A bell rang as they pushed the door open and the barkeep saw them enter. Everybody kinda gave the party distrustful looks. The barkeep seemed like he was not much for conversation, and turned to quickly get on making the party drinks. He turned his head to look at the other two and nodded.
The bar doors were suddenly pushed open, and people turned at a strange figure standing in the doorway. This was Doctor Glee Bloom. She was wearing her typical dark robes that fully covered her figure, with a silver plague mask. She panted and began to speak, her voice muffled by the mask, as people were staring her down. "It's a- a long story, but something has happened and nobody is willing to help!"
She explained she was from the town of Slyridge, to the south of Skaversby. She was a doctor, and there was some kind of outbreak of plague, and she needed people to help her save her sick patients. They arrived in the town of Slyridge, and they immediately noticed it looked a lot sadder than Skaversby. The town walls being run down, and two small deteriorated lookout posts standing at either side of the town entrance.
Gloom led the party down to one of the sturdier-looking buildings, a round tower with a steel door on the front. The sign above it implied it was some sort of medical building. Gloom explained that the town didn't take kindly to her, nor to strangers. She fumbled for an old key and unlocked the steel door, shuffling in first and allowing the others to follow. The walls of the interior of the tower had shelves with medicine bottles, flasks, test tubes, vials, all the sorts and medical instruments are hanging neatly on the walls.
On a cold stone slab lay a man, all sorts of tubes and steel professional-looking tools attached to him. The doctor shuffled over to the patient and shook her head. "I believe the disease is spread by touch. However, I really cannot be sure as he's been in quarantine since he contracted it. It's been almost a day since he entered the coma."
Gloom explained that her theory to remove his disease was to use Arcanum Flowers as they have a unique property of being able to draw raw magic energy away and destroy it. She said that the only place they could be found were in a large greenhouse in the Free Peach City. Arcanum Flowers were kept safely under lock and key by the priests, so it would be difficult for them to enter and retrieve them, but the party said they would try.
They left for the Free Peach, getting looks from guards as they entered, and it was here they met Malik Dustbranch. Malik, a street urchin practically adopted by the local branch of the Mage's Guild, knew his way around the city and through the catacombs beneath the Greenhouse of the Gods helped the group retrieve a few Arcanums. While in the Free Peach, the Archmage Meredith Greytower called Lizzy to Okhathage to discuss something that had occurred; this of course being the Breantis Incident  .
On the way back, the group passed through Ilburgh, finding a building had been burnt down by the Eastern Raiders. When they returned to the town, it seemed like the entire population had gathered to watch Gloom burn at the stake for being a "poisonous witch". They went to the drow living on the outskirts of town, Felynfynn, for help, for her to give them aid in the form of potions and advice. They returned to town, challenged Minister Cragspark after Lizzy rejoined the party, and got the flowers to Gloom for her to do her work. They got Cragspark on their side and all joined together in the town hall.
The patient, now revealed to be Doctor Li, lay on a medical bed, the grey disease spreading across his neck and chin. His hands had been drained of colour, and he was still in a comatose state. Gloom waved the Arcanum Flowers across Li's chest, and grey energy started to attract to it, almost being magnetically pulled towards the stalk of the flowers. The crowd outside continued to shout, yell, and push at the doors and Cragspark muttered as he repeatedly casted Mending on the doors whenever a crack was made in the glass. The party watched as Malik readied his dagger and Sally guarded the door by Cragspark's side, diligently. The cure worked, with Li slowly returning to consciousness.
Suddenly, a portal opened on the wall, a dark-skinned elf in a heavy white overcoat stepping through, who Lizzy recognised as Meredith. She managed to get Cragspark, Gloom and Li through the portal and closed it, before opening another.
"Hurry, hurry, a horde of idiots outmatches a gaggle of heroes."
Standing there perplexed at her words, the party and their companions were pushed through the portal, and they found themselves in Gloom's laboratory.
There wasn't much time and Ayfa grabbed a sack of gold pieces as they left, Enel grabbing the plague doctor mask as a memento from the party's first adventure.

Tattoos and Tribulations

The party returned to Skaversby, acquired tattoos and ran into the Drow Bounty Hunters for the first time, taking the hand off of their leader Alfynn.

The Spirit Groves

Wandering about in the woods, Enel found a mysterious sunken church in the Wild Woods guarded by rusalkas.

Two Days in Funland

Lizzy went ahead of time to scout out Funland before the rest of the party got there. Upon arrival, she was seemingly trapped within the bounds of the fairground. Here she met her rival; Alexandra.

Chapter 2: Funland

The players travelled to Funland in hopes of finding Alfreda, Archmage of Illusion. However, they only found an imposter in her place- Alexandra. She put the party through trials, a roller coaster, a big wheel, a dunk tank, and finally the carousel as she traps them in Funland. Eventually, they find the real Alfreda, and put an end to Alex’s games, killing her on the stage of the big top. From a blesséd Deck of Many Things, Lizzy won three powerful gifts. The Oathbow- powerful holy bow, the keep of Okhathage restored, and three wishes to be spent at her disposal.

Dream On

Enel began having terrible dreams after leaving Funland and she found out that Alexandra had once been a handmaiden to the Archmage Alfreda.

A Candlenights Miracle

This interlude took place during Candlelights, in the city of Slymere in New Transylvania. Ayfa and Minister Cragspark killed the leader of some ratfolk, apparently the one who spread the plague that almost killed Dr. Li to begin with. Lizzy had a conversation with Meredith, learning for the first time of the Arcane Relics and their immense cosmic power, and met Lisín for the first time. Enel ran into a friend from her past- Shaun- and some lackeys of his who were from the Five Spires, and they committed a robbery in Slymere together.

Chapter 3: Into the Shadows

The gang went to retrieve the Archmage of Necromancy, the one and only Count Dracula. They travelled to the Castle of New Transylvania to meet him. To recruit him, they needed to solve the serial murders of several vampire-kin, and to aid them they had to retrieve a relic from his "basement". Secrets were uncovered, such as those of the corrupted vampires, the friendly demon who may be an entity of Callatti in the Sisters of Blood chapel, and that of the less friendly banished fey demon who had been forcing the youngest members of a family of monster hunters to start killing to collect undead souls. As they killed the admittedly very alluring demon, they didn’t realise this would mean breaking the pact that had been made to keep the little girl alive. Thankfully, Captain Becker, a vampire paladin of the Circle of the Cross put her in a comatose state, and brought her to the arcane research facility in Yerentil for examination.

Heroes of the People

The gang returned to Breantis for the festival of Vigo, after being invited by Enel’s old flame Sindreth to see her star as the lead role in a musical, to find that there was some kind of election going on. Wait, an election? In a monarchist state?
Somebody came home to contest the rule of Elizabetha. An estranged, yet legitimate twin brother, named Jason Stonewall had returned. While he was the elder, the law of Breantis states that if the political council deems the ruler’s claim "confusing" and "vague", it can be put to a general election between the two most likely candidates. As Lizzy went to commune with her parents to question the legitimacy of his claim, Enel and Ayfa went to the theatre. The theatre, in fact, collapsed in black smoke, and the two of them felt despair coursing through them as a result. Stonewall made his acceptance speech before the result had even been called out, just as Lizzy used one of her three wishes to bring the vote in her favour.

Grimhallow Crypt

The party stopped briefly in the town of Autumnhand when they heard that undead had begun pouring out of the crypt of the long dead Lord Grimhallow. Grimhallow was a wood elf paladin of Talos, and buried with him was the Strídhammer Talos, a legendary holy Warhammer once held by Talos himself.

Chapter 4: Forbidden and Forgotten

Two houses, both clouded by enchantment, In fair Vorana which we now lay our scene, From this falsehood grudge comes a newfound sentiment, Where heroes' steel make fool's minds clean.
Or from forth the conflict of these two foes, A pair of star-cross'd teens may take their life; A misunderstood case of arcane woes, With their love or their death, bury their parents' strife.
In either case their hurried fate, And the continuance of their parents' rage, Which, only their children's bond, could hope to debate, Is now the many session'd chapter of our Discord server; The which if you with patient ears, eyes, and dice attend, What has been corrupted, our party shall strive to mend.
The group arrived in Vorana to team up with the Archmage of Enchantment. The two big families of the town were in a huge scrap at the time over some unclear matters. It turned out that the Archmage, Friar Depp Fryre, had messed up on a spell that was meant to pacify them, instead accidentally making them ten times more intense. The Capulues had a son named Julius, and the Montaguets had a daughter named Ramona. Ramona had a crush on Julius and perhaps if they dated, the families could end their feud. In a few days there would be the Day of Heart, where they could finally connect. Currently, however, Julius was engaged to a woman, London.
The party got to the ball on Day of Heart, where Ramona was all dolled up and will get a chance to talk to the man himself! Tomorrow was to be the pre-wedding party, in which Julius and London would finally meet in person, and the day after would be the wedding- depending on how the wedding party went.
After setting up Julius and Ramona at the dance, doubt was put into the former's mind- should he go through with his wedding to London, a woman he's never met? While he had feelings for her, he'd never considered the fact that he doesn't truly know her at all, however after a single evening of spending time with Ramona he seemed to have taken a shine to her. At the ball, Lizzy also had a heart to heart with her brother, Jason Stonewall, and received a silver horn that when used would call the nearest Stonewall soldiers for assistance.
The next day, at the pre-wedding party, everybody turned up. The Capulues eagerly awaited the arrival of London and her entourage, while Ramona and her mother Lady Montaguet lurked in the shadows. When London Carnation finally arrives, Lord Capulue attempted to begin the festivities when he was rudely interrupted by Lady Montaguet's arrival. The physical strife finally began then and there between the Montaguets and Capulues.
This strife took place at Keep Capulue with lots of lawn chairs, buffet tables, a cake stand, some bards and a lot of upper class civilians in the vicinity. Lord and Lady Capulue and Lady Montaguet were armed and ready to fight, each of them with magical black smoke of despair coming from their mouths as they breathed. It was the duty of the Yerentil Vice President Alyssum to protect London, and put the pre-wedding party at ease. Lady Montaguet refused to allow the high elves to join with the Capulues and take over land, as she was worried it would give the Yerentil Empire a tactical advantage for war and invasion of the Reynolds Kingdom.
When the elves escalated the violence, Jason Stonewall created a Teleportation Circle around himself and helped the entire party escape to Breantis.

A Monster in a Cave

After assembling what Archmages they had, Lizzy Enel and Ayfa were invited by Jason and his first general, Lynn, to see what was going on at Whiteclaw Silver Mine. There was some kind of beast hiding in the mines. When the group descended, they found it was a void dragon that had once been a dragon with perfect diamond scales.

Chapter 5: For the Throne

The battle between the party and the void dragon had begun. Jason was under the command of darker forces here, black energy commanding him to attack the party too. But in the end, there was a clear victor here.
The dragon collapsed, with the black voice clearing and showing off the pristine diamond scales and the bones of a long-dead diamond dragon. The generals had disappeared. Ayfa had had to kill Jason in the fight, and Lizzy was trying to revive Meredith, kneeling on the floor beside him in tears
Alfreda conjured a stretcher to put Meredith on, and another for Jason.
"We need to have a funeral..."
A reaper that had briefly shown up at the meeting in Breantis was standing against the wall by a Dimension Door she has conjured up.
Moreover, Alfreda looked very distraught. "Meredith is- she might pull through, but the pure force and necrotic energy... she needs to be healed from a strong source of magic."
Alfreda informed the party that there was a shrine to the moon that revive Meredith, or alternatively they could use the Spirit Groves, or even a shrine to the sun.
Alfreda took Meredith through the Dimension Door and brought her body to the Spirit Groves, for her to resurrect her as Meredith the Green.
The whole kingdom had a day of mourning for Jason. It was a big royal funeral, and statue of Lizzy's parents was replaced with a statue of the whole family including Jason, and also it was made known he died because he was good and tried to help them kill a dragon.
None of the Stonewall soldiers showed, the entire prospect of the Stonewall Empire seemed unaligned to him once he had died.
A week passed.
They still hadn't seen Meredith, and the Stonewall Empire's settlement at the Silver Mine disappeared almost overnight. Alfreda called a meeting with the Archmages, inviting the party to join. When they arrived at the Archmages' manor, they headed up to the meeting hall. Fryre, Alfreda, Dracula were there, and standing by the window was a woman in a green button-up top, holding herself up on a willow walking stick. She had meadow green hair, cut into a pixie cut, and she had long elven ears. She had dark skin, and earrings that resembled emeralds shaped like leaves.
"Hey. I've- I've missed you, ever so much. I suppose I should explain... firstly, my new title is... Meredith the Green. And I should come clean."
She had in the palm of her hand, a necklace with a crescent moon painted onto a small wooden circle.
"Have you heard of the Moonlight Brigade?"
The party had not, but they recognised the crescent moon. They had seen it everywhere, Meredith's apartment, Funland, Malik- the symbol was practically everywhere.
"During the war, the Moonlight Brigade worked to help prisoners of war, and fought against the dragon king. We... I was a leading general. Responsible for the capture of the dragon king himself. Will you- will you join our cause? We need to heal this land, the corruption has spread, so far, and... my magic is gone. The arcane relic responds to you, and it means the- the true of heart..."
Meredith appeared to be extremely weak. Lizzy put her hand on hers to comfort her.
"I understand if I have seemed cagey... but please..."
Meredith directed Lizzy to a small shop in the city centre of Okhathage- the Open Eye. This was where Lizzy had communed with her dead parents. Outside was the neon sign, Lizzy entered and there was a lot of crystal decoration and behind a tall counter was the tiny halfling woman. Lizzy showed her the necklaces and she gasped, disappearing to the back room.
The tiny halfling stood on the table, beside her crystal ball. She placed Lizzy's hands on the orb, and immediately she saw an eye flicker in the orb before it blinked open. The rest of the room went dark, and then the halfling woman began to float, a third eye appearing on her forehead.
"You speak with the Vizier. Trusted friends of Meredith, hear my message. The darkness that infected your brother, Elizabetha, the despair that infected fair Vorana... the dragon, the soldiers of Stonewall. The dark lord Obscurus means to break free from his shackles, but as long as hope is strong, he will remain beneath.
What needs to be done, is that the god-killer - Talichtoli, who defeated Zudris, Gafsyn, Halena, Resdis- he must be stopped. His murders must come to a close. Only those as strong as the Raven Queen could do it, however she is now limited in her strength.
Archangels, Archdemons, Talos, Lolth, Pan... none are true of heart yet command power that would destroy the feared Talichtoli.
Hero- do you accept this trial?"

Act Two: To Kill a God

The Archmages Meredith (evocation) Alfreda (illusion) Dracula (necromancy) Fryre (enchantment) and Malachi (abjuration) were recovered by the characters. At the climax of season 1, it was learned that Jason Stonewall- Elizabetha’s estranged brother- had secretly been serving a dark lord, and said dark lord had created a void dragon that had destroyed the keep and city. Lizzy was revealed to have one of the arcane relics (most powerful magical items in the multiverse) and that she has the potential to wield it. Meredith died, but was resurrected as Meredith the Green- at the cost of losing all her magic. Celestial gods are slowly dying, and now in season 2, the players- now part of the Moonlight Brigade- are attempting to stop the perpetrator, Talichtoli; god of murder.
The gang the favour of Pacoba, lady of the islands, Queen Sardinia and the underwater kingdom of Azulora, the Circle of the Cross, and are currently going through the Nine Hell to gain favour with Lilith, or whoever will become the new ruler after they kill the current king, Asmodeus, and potentially release the Archmages if they want to. The main enemies however remain to be the Stonewall Empire, the Yerentil high elves, and of course Talichtoli himself.

Eclipse at Von Maus

Chapter 6: X Marks the Spot

The Sea Queen and the Raven Queen

Chapter 7: Paladin on Parole

Tinkertown

Chapter 8: Trials of the Nine

Chapter 9: The Twisted Crown

Legends Never Die

Chapter 10: To Kill a God

Chapter 11: Hope

Epilogue

Mom! The Gronch Tried to Steal Candlenights Again!

The Legends

Though many players have come and gone, the following is the cast of true legends, in order of appearance.

Elizabetha de Montajay

Lizzy is a level 14 halfling ranger played by Ciara. Lizzy was born into the noble de Montajay family. She grew up with one older sister, Phoebe de Montajay. Unbeknownst to Lizzy, Phoebe had a twin named Jason who was adopted by a peasant family. When Lizzy was in her early 20s her family was killed and she became heir to the throne of her kingdom. As a result of that, she grew into an almost legendary hero and heralded the aspect of hope in her kingdom.

Greg

Greg is a level 12 human fighter played by Dani. Greg is the whitest man of all. He was a soldier in the Breantian army who was enlisted in the Stonewall Empire. He became a part of Stonewall's hive mind before he was cured by Lizzy's arcane relic. After joining the party he eventually helped the party conquer the Nine Hells in the name of Lilith, and since then has been a guardian of the ninth layer.

Cain

Cain is a level 12 tiefling sorcerer played by Philip. Cain was thrown out of his tiefling village at a young age after accidentally injuring some of the elders when they were trying to teach magic. Cain's powers caused destruction and even death when they became evident, and he was treated as a criminal. He was never truly accepted anywhere as a tiefling and thus travelled from place to place. After the adventure, he managed to manipulate Arcane Relics to the extent where he was corrupted by the magic and became a lich. Since the destruction of Old Barovia, he has been locked in Amber Temple by the demon Narrian.

Belurth

Belurth is a level 12 half-orc warlock originally played by Jack before becoming an NPC. Belurth was born between a human male and an orc woman. They stayed together for the nine months she was pregnant, and when his mom said she was going to take him, his father kidnapped him and returned him to the human village. His father was constantly trying to fix him, changing his teeth and such to make him appear more human. At the age of 15, he fled from his father and made a life in the woods, eventually making a deal with his patron Belial. Eventually, he also found himself living in a hut near the outskirts of Tinkertown where he met Lizzy and her party.

Kosvir

Kosvir was a level 12 tiefling rogue-cleric played by Rin. He was a blacksmith in Crescent Cove who eventually joined the crew of the Cassiopeia, and after that, the Moonlight Brigade. He died in this campaign, however, was brought back as a reaper by the Raven Queen to help fight Obscurus when Lizzy's party needed his help.