Storm King's Thunder

Summary

Puny adventurers must rise to the challenge, gather their strength, unlock the power of ancient runes, and take the fight to the giants' doorsteps.
Ages ago, giants and dragons waged war. These battles are long forgotten by the human civilisations of today, but ancient relics remain. And now, the land shudders once more with the thunder of giant footsteps.
Hill giants raid farms for food and livestock, as stone giants lay waste to settlements in their path. Frost giants plunder coastal towns, as fire giants gather slaves. Cloud giant castles drift across the sky, casting ominous shadows on the cities of Terra Caelum. But no threat compares to the wrath of the storm giants, who stand betrayed.
We follow adventurers who start out with their own goals, but eventually work together with the hope of gaining strength and notoriety as adventurers for helping put and end to the giant attacks at the source.
The timeline of events relevant to this campaign can be found here.

Chapter 1: A Great Upheaval

Session 1

Nightstone is a fortified settlement located a few miles south-west of Ardeep Forest, in the untamed hills of the Salzenstadt region. A lonely wooden signpost, standing where the trail to Nightstone meets the High Road, points the way to the settlement.
Nightstone's closest neighbours are the elves of Ardeep. Hunters from Nightstone have incurred the elves' wrath on multiple occasions. However, elves are the least of the settlement's problems, as fledgeling heroes who come to Nightstone unknowingly in search of adventure quickly discover.
Caity and Cathy Allbright travelled to Nightstone after being summoned from Salzenstadt City by Lady Velrosa Nandar. Cathy was in the city of the dwarves, preparing to take her oath for the Order of the Gauntlet and truly become a paladin, when the paladins there received the call, and decided to send the trainee out to investigate. The longstanding and seemingly irreconcilable conflict with their neighbours had led Lady Nandar to call upon some mediators to help resolve the dispute.
After travelling the High Road for a few hours with a rented horse and cart (the horse being named Shade), they spotted a wooden signpost next to a trail that led east to the hills. Nailed to the post were three arrow-shaped signs. The two marked "Salzenstadt" and "Mirabar" followed the High Road but pointed in opposite directions. The third, marked "Nightstone," beckoned them to follow the trail.
After following the trail, they began to hear the ringing of a bell. The sound grew louder as Nightstone came into view. They saw the river flowing around the settlement, forming a moat. The village itself was contained within a wooden palisade, beyond which they saw a windmill, a tall steeple, and the high-pitched rooftops of several other buildings. Apart from the ringing of the bell, they detected no other activity in the village. The trail ended before a lowered drawbridge that spanned the moat. Beyond the drawbridge, two stone watchtowers flanked an open gap in the palisade.
South of the village and surrounded by the river moat was a cone-shaped, flat-topped hill on which stood a stone keep enclosed by a wooden wall. The keep, which overlooked the village, had partially collapsed. A wooden bridge that once connected the keep to the village had also partially collapsed.
Caity and Cathy hitched Shade up to a tree, and proceeded carefully into the village, on alert. They immediately noticed the remnants of an attack on the village, and noted the general features of the location.
A 15-foot-high wooden palisade encloses the village bailey. The palisade's logs rise to sharpened points, and the gaps between the logs are sealed with tar. The palisade and its stone watchtowers can't be climbed without the aid of climbing gear or magic, such as a spider climb spell. All the buildings in the village except the watchtowers are made of wood and have steep, shingled rooftops. Muddy paths connect them.
Water from the river fills the moat to a depth of 15 feet. The moat is 30 feet wide, narrowing to a width of 20 feet under the drawbridge. The moat is home to schools of trout.
The keep overlooking the village stands atop a constructed, funnel-shaped hill called a motte. The rocky slopes of the motte are covered with loose shale, and scaling these slopes without climbing gear would be extremely difficult.
Encircling the motte's keep is an 8-foot-high stone parapet with a 15-foot-high outer curtain wall made of thick wooden planks perforated with shuttered archer windows. The outer walls of the keep are made of smooth, tightly fitted stone bricks. The keep and the outer curtain wall can't be climbed without the aid of climbing gear or magic, such as the Spider Climb spell.
Heading towards the keep, to find Lady Nandar, the twins bumped into two survivors of the attack- a firbolg named Jayden and a human-looking man named Dirk. After short introductions, it seemed that Jayden and Dirk had been resting in Nightstone before continuing on their adventures when rocks began falling from the sky and the village was attacked. Moreover, in the attack, Jayden's polar bear Diesel had been kidnapped!
Looking around the village, they noted ample evidence of a vicious attack: rocks embedded in the earth, holes punched through rooftops, shattered wreckage, and dead villagers buried under piles of debris. The rocks were 3 feet in diameter and weighed about 500 pounds each.
The four entered the town's windmill, to see if anybody there had survived. The windmill stands atop a 10-foot-high grassy hill. Two sets of goblin tracks were clearly visible in the muddy path that led up to the hill to an open doorway in the northwest side of the building. Within, the interior was dark, gloomy, and filled with wooden gears and cogs that help turn the millstone. Two goblins named Longo and Yek were climbing among the rafters near the roof, roughly 25 feet above the floor. They heckled the intruders, only for Longo to be shot and killed by Jayden and Yek interrogated by the group.
Upon interrogation, Yek informed the group that the "sky had been falling", and then his clan of goblins used the distraction to raid the village and kidnap the villagers, dragging them back to the Dripping Caves north of the village. Jayden then put him down with an arrow to the back of the head.
The hills around Nightstone are riddled with caves. The villagers were dragged to the Dripping Caves, located a mile north of Nightstone, after the cloud giant attack. After being given directions the group discovered a gaping cave mouth on the south face of a rocky hill topped with pine trees.
The Dripping Caves are naturally formed and have the following features in common.
The Dripping Caves contain no light sources. The goblins and ogres rely on their darkvision to see. The caves get their name from the water that constantly drips from the stalactites in the main cavern. The sound of dripping water echoes throughout the complex but isn't loud enough to drown out other distinctive noises.
The tunnels leading away from the main cavern are 7 to 8 feet high and range in width from 2 to 5 feet. Ogres and other Large creatures can squeeze through these passages, but they suffer the normal penalties for doing so. The walls are damp and slick, but thanks to an abundance of handholds and footholds, they can be climbed.
The party arrived at a yawning cave mouth, 12 feet wide and 20 feet high. Beyond the cave mouth is a vast cavern with a forest of stalagmites in its center and 10-foot-high ledges along its walls. Water drips from the stalactite-covered ceiling, which rises to a height of 30 feet in the middle of the cavern. Six naturally formed tunnels lead from this central cavern to other parts of the cave complex. The floor is littered with broken spears, broken shields, and drops of bat guano.
The party encountered a male ogre named Nob bathing in a 5-foot-deep pool of hot mud near the cave entrance. They fought the ogre, with Jayden again taking the killing blow. Exploring the cave, the group encountered more goblins before finding the goblin chief's secret room hidden behind a boulder. After finding the secret room they found the goblin chief's cave.
This 10-foot-high cave contained Hark, the goblin boss, two female goblins (bodyguards) named Ratcha and Zukluk, and seven giant rats (Hark's beloved pets). When the characters entered the cave for the first time, Hark and his bodyguards were gleefully watching the rats feed on the corpse of a slain villager.
Hark had collected all the weapons and shields belonging to the captured villagers and stashed the equipment in a western alcove behind rocks.
At the north end of the cave is a smaller cave where Boss Hark kept prisoners before feeding them to his giant rats. Cowering in the back of this 6-foot-high larder was Lady Velrosa Nandar's terrified lady-in-waiting, Daphne Featherstone. Daphne was in the village when the cloud giants attacked. Unable to make it back to Nandar Keep, Daphne was kidnapped by the goblins too. She appeared to be next to be fed to the giant rats.
The party negotiated with Boss Hark to get his guard down, but eventually decided to engage in combat. After defeating the goblins, they released the villagers.
Once he was safely back in the village, Morak Ur'gray took stock of the damage, and began to make arrangements to deliver news of the giants' attack to Salzenstadt. He plans to urge the characters to bring the message.
Resting in the Nightstone Inn, the party decided to talk to Lady Nandar the next day, but after twenty minutes, Daphne awoke the twins to tell them that Lady Nandar had perished in the battle.
The party then rested for the night, hoping to deal with the problems in the morning.

Session 2

After a long rest, the party enjoyed a cooked breakfast together courtesy of Morak the Innkeeper. Daphne Featherstone, still rather shaken by all of this, said she was going to starve herself to be reunited with her former master, Lady Nandar. The party also met Kella Darkhope in the Nightstone Inn, and her pet flying snake, Snoodle.
The group checked out the state of the village. They discovered that the rock that was taken by the giants was a strangely magical purple crystal with runes etched onto it. As they headed to Nandar Keep, they were introduced to Binchild Goldcoin and Mae, who arrived in the village. Bin informed them that he was looking for Cathy Allbright as him and her had history. Bin told the crew that his best friend, Binjoe, had been kidnapped in a similar raid to that of Nightstone. Believing it to be connected, and a strange coincidence, the group now decided to expand.
After the trip to Nandar Keep, the group went to settle negotiations with the Elves of Ardeep. Before leaving the village, Jayden sold a ring he had stolen off of the body of Lady Nandar to Kella's shady friends, who had just arrived in town, and Bin identified as Zhentarim agents. Kella's lover, Xolkin, happily purchased the ring. Kella then propositioned the group to help her take over the village in the name of her trading circuit and wanting to turn it into an outpost for the Black Network. The group refused this and left.
The group then reached the Ardeep forest. Aludiane, the village elder, said that now that the last of the Nandars are gone, their issues with the people of Nightstone are no longer important. Binchild also purchased a chicken off of them, and named her Henny.
Returning to the village, it appeared that the town had been taken over by Kella and her cronies, and the group fought back against them, especially after one of them shot Jayden down with one strike of his Zhentarim longbow. Daphne and Mae aided the group in taking down the Seven Snakes (the Zhentarim crew) and then restored Nightstone to peace.

Interlude XVI: Oathday

Session 3

The party returned to Salzenstadt City to report about the attack on Nightstone. Cathy Allbright also went to the Stormbringer's Cathedral, the largest cathedral of Talos in all of Terra Caelum to take her paladin oath. She pledged her oath with the paladin Ser Dragomir Thann as her witness. Dragomir also bestowed upon her the Allbright Moonblade.
Dragomir informed Cathy to go to Goldenfields to track down Cait Sídhe to train in the art of the moonblade.
That night, most of the party went carousing. Caity and Cathy had a quiet night at the inn near the Stormbringer's Cathedral and got to now Dragomir a bit- finding out he was related to House Thann of Anthor, but was sent away to take a paladin oath to the god Talos.
After their misadventures, Dirk, Binchild Goldcoin and Jayden awoke in precarious positions. Binchild, came to his senses strapped to a pillory in the middle of a spanking and whipping session, ran by the town guards meant to discipline and punish him for all of his drunken adventures. After a while, he was fined 16gp and released when Mae paid for it. Dirk had his pants on his arms and over his head, and his shirt was on his legs. His socks and boots were laced up on his hands and a stuffed fake horse's head was crudely attached by string onto his underwear (and backside). Something unspeakable and foul was inside the stuffed head. Jayden woke up face down on the street, just outside where the party was staying. He didn't know how long he'd been sleeping on his arms but both of them had gone to sleep entirely and he could not manipulate either, only swinging them limply.
The group reconvened to have breakfast together before leaving on their trip to Goldenfields, to learn more information about the giant attacks and to practice the moonblade. Before they left, Mae informed Binchild she would stay behind in the city for a while before rejoining him, but that he could borrow her cart and Heehaw.
Along the way they met a weird old man who appeared to be selling dogs. Jayden bought a sausage dog and a pug off of the man, as well as leads for them.
The party travelled swiftly to Goldenfields and arrived by early evening. When they got there their cart was searched thoroughly by Emerald Enclave guards. They travelled to the town, passing the shepherd Shalvus Martholio on the way. They found themselves at Northfurrow's End, conversing with the various inn patrons there. Caity donated a few copper pieces to Grandma Maggie, Cathy went to talk to Cait Sídhe while Dirk and Binchild went to talk to the innkeeper, Yeti.
Binchild and Jayden first spoke to Theresa Campbell, a woman in disguise with a tight cut dress and a wide brimmed hat with a black veil, who said she was trying to catch her husband in the act of cheating on her. Jayden, tipsy, tried hitting on her, saying she should take revenge on her cheating husband by consorting with him. She said she wanted proof first. Caity Jayden and Binchild then spoke to Felsa, a nekomata tradeswoman who offered them magic items for exorbitant costs. While trying to befriend her, Jayden stole a Candle of Invocation off of her, her most expensive product.
Binchild was a little drunk and left the inn, wandering into a pumpkin patch. Four pumpkin oozlings grew from the ground and tried to hurt him. Binchild thought it would be a good idea to set the highly flammable pumpkin patch and surrounding fields on fire, setting it all alight with his tinderbox, however, it swiftly led to him almost getting burned alive. The oozlings were stronger than they looked, and even the help of Caity and Jayden was barely enough. Cathy and Dirk were busy having an arm wrestle in the tavern at the time.
The satyr cleric Gaius helped them heal up, and started healing Bin, when a mighty yell shattered the night's silence. "We're under attack!" the voice called out. "To arms! To arms!".
Cait Sídhe headed into the inn, then brought out special equipment just for the adventurers. To Caity, she gave the Spectral Shroud. To Jayden, the Quiver of the Frost Queen. To Dirk, the Black Jack, and to Binchild, the twin daggers Trick and Treat.
A low mist had blanketed the quiet gardens to the north and slinked between the rows of darkened longhouses to the south. Two large silhouettes became visible in the mist and fog- the silhouettes of giants.

Chapter 2: Rumblings

Session 4

The adventurers teamed up with Cait Sídhe to take down the giants. After killing Lob and bringing Ogg to death's door, the attack was cut to a halt. The captain of the guard of Goldenfields, Ser Strog Thunderblade, put the surviving ogres and giant to execution to make an example for future giant and goblinoid raids. The party received free lodging for the night and stayed at Northfurrow's End.
While Cathy Allbright was sleeping and snoring loudly, Caity heard a light knocking at the door. It was Grandma Maggie from the tavern below. She thanked Caity for her kindness and gave her directions she'd written on a napkin to find a dungeon that had been shut down due to health and safety violations. It was abandoned, and the only danger was the sheer structural weakness. Caity went downstairs to get away from Cathy's snoring and talked to Naxene Drathkala, a wizard from the Watchful Order of Magists and Protectors sent by Laeral Silverhand who was investigating the giant attacks. She said she had heard rumblings that Mirabar had been attacked. Ivan, the retired paladin who served as her bodyguard, informed Caity that stone giants hailing from Deadstone Cleft were behind this particular attack on Mirabar, and that giants of all kinds had been terrorising the east and pose a threat to the west.
Ivan also gave Caity some adventure leads in case she was "the adventuring type", as he putted. He mentioned a lich named Waldemar Halfchild was somewhere in Anauroch and guarding a treasure of draconic artifacts, and that there were rumours of the resurrection of the Kraken Society in Thornhold.
Binchild Goldcoin, sleeping in the bin out back, remembered that while he was on death's door, he had seen a strange shadowy figure towering over Caity in the fight, that looked like it had the head of a hyena. While in the bin, he also met Blart, a bugbear hailing from the Great Worm Cavern. He was sorrowful as his clan had been killed by hostile purple worms who had emerged from the cave. Bin told him that he would be his friend and that they would avenge the bugbear's clan together.
Dirk, in his slumber, thought he'd seen someone walking around his and Jayden's room, however, when he checked again it seemed to be nothing more than a coat rack.
In the morning, the group decided they'd follow up on Theresa's husband, who they learned to be a Dragonborn named Vex. Vex had dark green and black scales and worked as a guard on patrol. They intuited that he was not cheating on her, but was still up to something suspicious. They waited for night to fall before followin him. Before night, Cait Sídhe told Cathy that she had to go, however to seek out Harshnag- a friendly frost giant who she had last seen in Minyahr. He might have more insight on the reasons as to why the giants might be causing so much trouble lately.
That night, the party followed Vex out of Goldenfields, and to the east. Caity figured out that he was going in the direction of the abandoned dungeon Grandma Maggie had told her about. When they went down there, they found that the dungeon was half-flooded. Binchild found Slippers of Spider Climb in a trapped chest, and then they went to follow Vex. Vex was in the middle of feeding the corpse of the shepherd, Shalvus Martholio, to a pair of hyenas. The adventurers tried to remain stealthy, however Dirk suddenly started feeling pain due to his Dragonborn Virus, and cried out. Vex panicked, drawing his longbow and preparing to attack.
As the hyenas continued to devour his freshly killed body, the hyenas began to transform into gnolls, and they started cackling, ready for a bloody mess of a fight.

Session 5

Within the dungeon, while Dirk was in serious pain from the spreading of his Dragonborn Virus, the party fought against Vex. Jayden and the satyr cleric Gaius arrived just in time to help out.
The party killed Vex successfully, but after the party was finally exposed to the sight of Dirk's virus. Cathy Allbright demanded he explain himself, pointing her weapon at him. Caity tried to disarm Cathy, with Cathy only responding by almost breaking her sister's wrist. Gaius stopped the infighting, saying that he had pledged to support the party as Jayden had easily convinced him to do so.
Leaving the dungeon, the party saw a large wagon, pulled by Shade, Heehaw, and Gaius' elk Melk. The wagon was long, with a well-kept garden at the back of it. The windows were fogged up and warm light glowed from within. The wagon had an extradimensional space within, meaning it was bigger on the inside. In the wagon, there was a sizeable kitchen, six separate bed chambers, a bathroom, and a kennel for all of the party's animal companions. Gaius informed them that he lived in the wagon, but had modified the rooms to accommodate all the group.
The group went to Theresa, informing her that her husband had been found dead, and then they were off to Minyahr to find Harshnag. Most of the group got heavily intoxicated as they travelled along the road.
The wagon stopped abruptly after an hour or so. The party was kept at a standstill by Felsa, the nekomata. She ordered them to hand over what had been stolen as well as all their money or else she would kill them. The party attacked her, though her magic was extremely powerful, and she almost beat them. She had knocked the entire party unconscious and on their feet, and she almost murdered them, only that someone who had noticed the road blockage swooped in to assist. The frost giant, Harshnag, had found them before they could find him, and he took care of the ice mage.

Chapter 3: Castle of the Cloud Giants

For as long as giants have walked the world, cloud giants have been one step below storm giants in power and influence. Now, with the ordning dissolved, a few cloud giant nobles have seized the opportunity to rise above the storm giants and thereby fulfill their lifelong dream of becoming the true, undisputed aristocrats among giants.
One such noble is Countess Sansuri, who believes that her destiny lies buried in the past, waiting for her to unearth it. Sansuri's ancient ancestors, anticipating the fall of their great empire, reportedly hid their magical knowledge and wealth in vaults and left markers for future generations to find them. The greatest of these troves was a cache of "dragon magic"-spells and artefacts plundered from the lairs of powerful wyrms. Sansuri wants to find this cache and use her newfound power to destroy her ambitious rivals and convince the rest of giantkind to kneel before her. Sansuri believes the gods will reward her appropriately for doing so. When that day comes, all other cloud giants will thank her for doing what they could only dream of.
After using telescopes to scour the land below for clues, Sansuri has come to the realization that her maps are woefully out of date. She hasn't found a single marker pointing the way to the trove she seeks. When a curious and danger-prone bronze dragon named Felgolos paid her a visit some weeks ago, Sansuri played the role of benevolent host. She tricked the dragon into helping her and, when its guard was down, captured and imprisoned it. When the adventurers come knocking, Sansuri is in the midst of torturing the bronze dragon for information, hoping it knows where one of the ancient Ostorian markers might be. The dragon's roars of pain can be heard for miles.
In this part of their mission, the characters travel to Lyn Armaal, Sansuri's cloud castle, and meet the countess and her family. The countess shares the place with her castellan and consort, Cressaro; her younger brother, Count Thullen; and her twin children, Alastrah and Kaaltar. The characters seek to rescue Binjoe and Diesel from the giants.

Session 6

Shortly after joining forces with Harshnag, the party rested to recover from their fight with Felsa. Dirk was the first to wake, enjoying breakfast with Gaius.
After conferring with Harshnag, the party decided to travel to Lyn Armaal, home of Countess Sansuri and her cloud giants. They snuck into the griffon aviary on the underside of the castle, and confronted her straight away. They fought her, killed her, and released the dragon Felgolos, who was being held captive. They then began their trek through the castle to find Diesel the polar bear.

Session 7

The party made their way through Lyn Armaal, fighting cloud giants as they went, until they found Diesel and Binjoe. The two were being held captive in the playroom of Countess Sansuri's disgusting infant children, whom Count Thullen (a cloud giant met along the way) described as monsters. Binjoe was revealed to be a rat, with psychic abilities, and a talent for cooking.
They escaped from the castle on the back of the dragon Felgolos, with Count Thullen saying that he would find them and destroy them.
After returning to land, they regrouped at Bethany, and to celebrate, went on the sesh. Dirk, Binchild Goldcoin and Jayden went drinking in Minyahr.
Caity Allbright remained at the wagon, getting slightly wine tipsy. During the night, she realised her unseen servant, Brooklie, had been summoned. However, she had not summoned him. She questioned him, to which he responded frantically and in a panic. He then disappeared.
When Dirk awoke, a familiar was waiting at his bedside for him to wake, and refused to leave his side. The familiar was a tiny sandstone golem, that carried a tiny umbrella, which it uses to glide around. It has enough strength to jump on a shoulder.
Binchild, while drunk, swore an oath to perform a great deed on behalf of a local church. In their temple. Standing on their altar. During a ceremony. He woke up to some priests who thought Binchild was some Reverand Thomas.
Jayden woke up with a terrible headache, and was inside a closed casket turned upside down in an abandoned warehouse. After emerging from the casket, it was clear that the warehouse was holding crates of Grandma Maggie's Preserves, a brand of jam. A note that read, ‘Be more careful next time’ was stuffed in his shirt pocket and he could not remember who signed it and put it there.
The group, for various reasons (including glory and revenge) decided they wanted to seek out and destroy more of the giants. They conferred with Harshnag, and he told them that to do so they would have to travel to the Eye of the All-Father, the centre of giant religion and worship known as the the Ordning.
After a few days travel, they arrived at this hidden temple, only to find a runic lock on it. It read that only a runemaster could unlock it, as there has been a security breach recently. Jayden realised that he actually did know a runemaster- a firbolg named Simon, who lived in his home town of Pumpkin Patch.

Interlude XVII: Pumpkin Patched

Session 8a

Gemini, leader of the Ace Ventura guild, owed the Red Wizards of Thay a favour. After a therapy session with the warforged psychiatrist Sigmund, he received a letter asking him to investigate a disturbance in the Weave in a town called the Styes. He tried to contact Lizzy and new ally Art (who had trained him in paladin techniques), but he made the first stretch of the journey himself. He had also received a bounty for the barbarian Syken Nightblaze, who had been causing issues in the town of Von Maus. Luckily, this was on the way, so Gemini made his way there.
Gemini confronted Syken, and discovered he was a Lycanthrope and an Uthgardt Great Chief. He was having a conversation with a vampire temptress, and they appeared to be plotting. Gemini gassed them both and took them prisoner. Gemini killed the vampire, but left Syken alive, telling him to go home. He then made his way to Pumpkin Patch, where he would relax in Magrieth's Rest.
Meanwhile, the main party had been stuck in Pumpkin Patch for a month now, to the point where it was already leading up to Candlenights. Jayden was trying to learn rune magic from runemaster Simon, with very little success. The rest of the group were essentially waiting for him to complete his training before continuing with their quest. Binchild Goldcoin got a job as a bartender in Jayden's family tavern- Magrieth's Rest.
When the party regrouped at the tavern, it quickly became the target of an attack by the Grey Wolf Tribe. After taking down the threat, Gemini joined the group, and informed them that he had heard the Grey Wolf Tribe was thinking of taking over Pumpkin Patch and the surrounding town. They informed Jayden's dad, Leachlainn, and Leachlainn told them to split up- half of them going with him to defend the walls, and the other half going to check on Simon at his quarry.
At the quarry, a barbarian of the Grey Wolves was interrogating Simon for information. The group took her down, and questioned her. Her name was Envir Sykensdottir, daughter of Syken Nightblaze, and she had sworn that she would prove herself as worthy of becoming the next Great Chief. They killed her, and Simon informed them that the Grey Wolves were performing some kind of sacrifice in the woods south of Pumpkin Patch.
Meanwhile, at the town gates, Dirk and Cathy Allbright stood guard. Cathy was feeling particularly bloodthirsty and her moonblade was crackling with dark energy. The Uthgardt shaman of the Grey Wolves, Viren, was giving ominous premonitions and told Dirk that they were trying to gain renown among the other tribes by committing a sacrifice to the old ways for Candlenights. She told Dirk that she needed one final elf to complete the ritual, and that Cathy would do. Dirk declined, and struck her down.
Both groups reformed and travelled south to find the ritual site. It appeared to be a triangular bonfire with three sharp pikes on each point of the triangle, with two of them having corpses of elves impaled on them. The Grey Wolf Tribe had already abandoned this site as their leader and shaman had both been killed, and the conflict seemed won. However, Binjoe the rat climbed into Cathy's hair and controlled her to stab her hand on the last pike. With her elven blood dripping onto the wood, the bonfire ignited, and from the woods emerged a creature of horror. "Hello, children," it said in a soft voice, before baring its sharp jagged teeth and revealing itself fully. It appeared to be a 9 foot tall creature with goat like features including hooves and two twisted horns with bells strung between the two. Over its shoulder was a sack, moving of its own accord. This is the mythical Krampus, the product of a story made up to scare children into being good... or so it was thought.

Session 8b: Candlenights Spectacular

Gemini had left further east to the Mere of Dead Men as the Red Wizards had demanded, and he was accompanied by Lizzy and Art. In the Styes, there was a hidden portal linking to a strange realm called the Winter Wonderland. There, an aspect of Tharizdun called Santa Claus (brother of Krampus) threatened to kill them before being taken down by the party.

Interlude XVIII: Loyalists and Zealots

Session 9

The party bested Krampus in the fight, sending him away in a black mist. Left behind was a satchel, and in the satchel were three high elf children. The children did not have pulses, but were somehow alive. They had been in the satchel for around 4000 years, and had been indoctrinated in an imperial elven mindset. The party brought them to Yerentil and sent them to the Trinity Orphanage, for adoption. While the party were there, Cathy Allbright learned that her school (nun school, as she called it) had been shut down for suspected collusion with the terrorist organisation Eclipse.

Session 10a

After a brief investigation, Cathy Allbright forced the party to visit the Allbright grandfather Raloxidor to ask why Zealot Seiddit's Preparatory School for Righteous Girls had been shut down. Raloxidor seemed suspicious of these questions however informed them that the place had been used to brainwash students and to carry out experiments of some kind. There was a heated discussion between Raloxidor and Caity Allbright before the party left to investigate Zealot Seiddit's.
Beneath the school, the party found a secret facility with Black Rose Clan and Eclipse technology. In the archive room, Cathy discovered secrets of her family heritage. Her mother's true name was Morwel, and it was said that she was a famed Hellrider of Elturel. The notes also detailed that she had sold the soul of her daughter Caity to the devil Zariel of Avernus. Cathy pocketed this information before the party advanced through the facility.
In the room at the end of the corridor, Matron Marguerite, Cathy's class matron, was there by a giant mechanical beating heart. She appeared as a four armed deva, who told Cathy to follow her dark destiny and use the power given to her by Obscurus to strike her down. Cathy, disgusted that she had been lied to, refused Marguerite, and proceeded to walk away.
As they all tried to leave, Marguerite clobbered Lir across the side of the head, knocking him unconscious. Caity had no problem dispatching of her, and XE12 healed Lir back up. However, standing at the stairs with an unconscious Binchild and Cathy was Raloxidor, with his own Moonblade drawn.

Session 10b

In the battle against Raloxidor, Dirk lost his right hand, Gaius lost his magic trying to heal Dirk, and Caity Starflower killed her grandfather with Lir dealing the killing blow.
During their downtime, Caity visited Allbright Manor and torched the place, XE12 gained an upgrade, and Lir made a woodcarving.

Chapter 4: The Chosen Path

After the loss of Gaius' magic and the departure of Cathy Allbright and Dirk, the rest of the party travelled to Free Peach City to recruit a new healer. They hired Diona, a cleric of life who had a newfound freedom this Candlenights and wanted a taste of adventure. The party returned to Pumpkin Patch, and rejoined Harshnag and Jayden, where Jayden and Dirk shared a brief bro hug before the latter left to the Elk Tribe.
During the journey, Caity found documents that Cathy had taken from the Black Rose facility and hidden in her room on Bethany. These documents detailed Cathy's records, the history of her mother, now her name known to be Morwel, and a full history of the holy city of Elturel and its fall into the layer of hell known as Avernus. She learned that her mother had been a part of Elturel's holy paladins known as the Hellrider.
Guided by Harshnag the frost giant, the adventurers travelled to the Ice Kingdom, travelling across tundras to reach a temple built by the giant lords of Ostoria. Within this complex, they found the Eye of the All-Father, a chamber that the ancient giants used as an oracle.
The party, now with Jayden versed in rune magic, travelled back south on Bethany to find the Eye of the All-Father. With Jayden's rune magic, the doors unlocked.

Session 11

The party entered the Eye of the All-Father, only to find members of the Uthgardt Great Worm Tribe. They dispatched of the Uthgardt, then proceeded to the central chamber of the temple.
They investigated the central chamber. Thick frost clings to every surface of this 100-foot-high vaulted chamber. Seven enormous statues dominate the room. The largest of them is an 80-foot-tall robed giant, his arms outstretched and his face hidden beneath a stony cowl, facing a glowing archway in the east wall. Kneeling in rows to each side of this statue are six statues half its size, each impressive in its own right and depicting a paragon of a type of giant: hill, stone, frost, fire, cloud, and storm. These smaller statues face the bigger one in the room's center. In their outstretched arms, five of the giants hold weapons-gifts for their All-Father. Only the frost giant statue is unarmed. The archway is 40 feet wide and 40 feet tall. Six different runes are carved into it, each one inlaid with mithral, and a glowing mist fills the arch. Niches in the walls on either side of it contain empty, ice-covered sconces made of iron.
The double doors that lead to this chamber are 30 feet tall and open into the room. The double doors leading to areas 4 and 7 are covered with a 4-inch-thick layer of ice that must be chipped away or melted before the doors can be pulled open from this side (either physically or with the aid of knock spells or a chime of opening). A Fireball spell produces enough heat to melt the ice on one set of doors. Otherwise, it takes a character using a weapon, a pick, or a similar tool 1 hour to chip away the ice covering one set of doors, or 1 hour to melt the ice with a torch. Multiple characters working together to remove the ice shorten the time proportionately.
One who would search the temple for secret doors find two secret doors behind the frost that covers the west wall. These slabs of stone are 40 feet tall by 20 feet wide, and each pushes open to reveal a chamber. Each secret door requires giant strength check to open or close.
The iron sconces are bolted to their niches and radiate faint auras of Conjuration magic under the scrutiny of a detect magic spell. Touching a sconce with an open flame causes a spectral fire to appear above the sconce. This flame sheds light and heat like a normal torch, and it burns until smothered. If a sconce is taken from its niche, it loses its magic forever.
The big statue in the middle of the temple depicts Annam the All-Father. The statue's face is a mask of bare rock, bereft of facial features. The giants who carved the statue had no clue what Annam looked like, and they dared not misrepresent him.
The six smaller statues depict the sons of Annam. Five of these statues grasp giant-sized weapons that can be removed. Thrym's weapon is missing and can be found in the feast hall. Removing any of these weapons from the dungeon causes it to vanish and reappear in the appropriate statue's grasp. If the statue is destroyed, the weapon has nowhere to return to and disappears. The table shows which statue holds which weapon, as well as the weight of each weapon and the archway rune associated with each weapon.
Six mithril-inlaid runes empower the archway. Prying out the mithril or defacing the runes causes the archway's mist to fade away and renders the archway inoperable.
The six runes include a haug (hill) rune, a stein (stone) rune, an ise (frost) rune, an ild (fire) rune, a skye (cloud) rune, and an uvar (storm) rune. The characters have to figure out which rune is which through trial and error, or with the aid of magic such as the divination spell. A character who has proficiency in the Arcana skill can tell that the runes are magical, but not what the runes mean. Harshnag is familiar with the ise rune and can identify it; the other runes are unknown to him. Iymrith, Klauth, Claugiyliamatar, and most other ancient dragons know all of these runes by name and appearance.
The mist in the archway dimly illuminates the temple. A detect magic spell reveals an aura of conjuration magic around the archway, but nothing happens when something enters the mist. While the archway is inactive, cold rock wall can be felt beyond the churning mist.
The archway is a portal that connects the temple to the divine oracle, allowing instantaneous two-way travel once it is activated.
Exploring the temple northwards, some party members split off into an adjacent tunnel leading somewhere deeper into the mountain. This part of the temple contains quarters where visiting giants used to rest, with two sets of stairs leading to an upper level.
A 60-foot-high hall stretches northward. The hall is inclined at a slight angle so that the floor in the north end of the hall is higher than in the south end. The slope isn't so great that the frost on the floor presents a hazard. Fourteen 30-foot-tall archways spaced along the west and east walls lead to 60-foot-square chambers furnished with frost-covered stone couches that serve as beds. Some of these beds have tattered furs atop them. A fissure in the back wall of the centre room on the west side leads to a network of natural tunnels.
Those who remained in the north corridor had to deal with a trap; a huge boulder rolling down the hall. This hallway contains a magical trap, and a Detect Magic spell can reveal certain clues. The trap triggers when one or more creatures that aren't giants travel too far down the hall, a 40-foot square section of the hallway. It triggers even if they fly over or move invisibly through that area.
The boulder crushed Binchild repeatedly, until he died. Binchild's soul is now in the hands of a demon, while his body is no more. The only hope for him would be to retrieve his soul and either Reincarnate him or find someone who can cast True Resurrection.

Session 12

Caity, Jayden, Lir and XE12 continued through the caverns and dealt with a nest of ice spiders. In the cavern, trapped in an icy cocoon, they found the rogue fortune teller Lady Satine K'Fortune.
After recovering Thrym's steel greataxe from the dining hall, they worked to figure out the puzzle of the various runes around the archway that would lead to the oracle. They discovered that to activate the portal, a giant of the hill, stone, frost, fire, cloud, or storm variety (or a creature polymorphed into one of these forms) must take a weapon from one of the statues of the six lesser giant gods and touch it to the appropriate rune on the archway. The wielder must use the weapon belonging to the god that corresponds to the wielder's physical form; for example, Harshnag (a frost giant) can activate the portal only by using Thrym's steel greataxe, and only by touching it to the ise (frost) rune. As soon as the archway activates, the weapon vanishes and reappears in the hands of the statue it came from unless that statue has been destroyed, in which case the weapon disappears.
They travelled through the archway and emerged in a large hexagonal chamber. The ghost of a cloud giant named Eigheron informed them that this was the oracle's chamber, and informed the adventurers how the oracle works.

Session 13

The party asked the last few questions of the oracle that they needed before the temple was attacked by a great blue wyrm dragon named Iymrith. Harshnag and Felgolos helped defend the party against it, but died in the encounter. With the statue of Annam All-Father desecrated, the temple collapsed on the corpses of the dragon and the giant.

Interlude XIX: Spa Day

Session 14

Jayden hunted down some ash drakes in the town of Krezk and traded some magic items in exchange for upgrading his longbow, Killskull. He experienced the presence of a divine entity known as Buck. Meanwhile, the rest of the party experienced many fun downtime activities with hilarious repercussions.

Chapter 5: Hold of the Storm Giants

Session 15

Armed with a Conch of Teleportation from new party member Leon Sylphine, the adventurers travelled to Maelstrom, the stronghold of the Storm Giants. They encountered Mirran and Nym, daughters of king Hekaton. They found that the two sisters were complicit with the king's disappearance, and exposed the court vizier as Iymrith in disguise. With this information, Serissa (Hekaton's daughter who had become queen in his absence) decided to side with the small folk to oppose the draconic threat. She gave the party the only clue she had to Hekaton's abduction, which led the party to the city of Ballay in the Anauroch region.

Chapter 6: Caught in the Tentacles

Session 16

The clue was a wooden gambling chip with the image of a golden goose on it, which Lir tracked down to the Grand Dame in Ballay. The Grand Dame housed the Golden Goose Casino, and so the party followed up there. They interrogated Khaspere Drylund and found that he was a member of the Kraken Society, a faction that revered and worshipped the kraken Slarkrethel.
The party convinced Lyra and Nym of the Hot Discourse

Session 17

The party fought Slarkrethel, sinking the Hot Discourse in the process. However, the party managed to defeat the kraken and rescue King Hekaton.

Interlude XX: Chaos

Session 18

Blart finally got to enact his vengeance upon the purple worm that devoured his clan as well as pay a visit to the Great Worm Cavern to prove a point to the Great Worm Tribe that Blart Ball-Baul Bop was not to be trifled with.

Session 19

The Zhentarim had some of the party members commit a great heist and steal from Diamond's Oddities in Ballay. The party received a mighty share of money earned from the items stolen and managed to secure Diamond's Purple Deck.

Session 20: Sarah of Yellowcrest Manor

The characters were caught up in an unsolved mass killing in the city of Ballay—after the ghost of one of the victims sought them out. The victim in question was the sister-in-law of Lir (sister of Malakos Margaster) who had been killed while working for the Yellowcrest Manor.
The mystery began when Lir was visiting a book shop. The air around them grew suddenly chilly. A cloud of vapor began to shimmer along the nearby shelves, growing thicker around a nondescript leather-bound book. The mist suddenly coalesced into the vague form of a young woman—a translucent spirit wearing a servant's uniform and bearing the symbol of a tree outlined by a rising sun at her shoulder.
The figure wept aloud, tears running down her cheeks. She opened her mouth as if to speak—which revealed that her tongue was gone. Moaning in anguish, she reached toward them. Then the mist shredded away to nothing, and the spirit faded. Lir looked down at the book in their hands, and flipped through the first few pages, seeing that it was the diary of Sarah.
Where the diary begins, the book became a firsthand account (written in Common) of the life of Sarah, who described herself as a servant in the Ballayan manor of Lord Viallis Yellowcrest and Lady Maria Yellowcrest. The diary entries were not on consecutive pages, and most were undated. In addition to writing about her daily obligations and life in the manor, Sarah also wrote about Lady Maria, who came from a poor family and empathised with Sarah's own lack of education. Lady Maria's genuine affection for Sarah led her to teach the young servant to write, and to give her the leather-bound book that became the diary.
The last entries of the diary, dated just over five years earlier, changed in tone as Sarah worried about the strange conduct of Lord Yellowcrest, and his habit of spending too much time with ancient books in his study. In her diary, Sarah tried to draw the image of the cover of an old tome Lord Viallis was reading. The sketch showed a monstrous creature with a bulbous head, long arms, tentacles for legs, and multifaceted eyes.
Five years ago, Lord Viallis murdered his family, Sarah, and three other servants as part of a ritual to contact an otherworldly entity. The ritual was successful, and with the magic circle he had scribed, Viallis established contact with a kraken called Slarkrethel. This aberrant patron offered to grant Lord Viallis arcane powers in exchange for establishing a cult dedicated to him, which meant inducting Burnt Tongue Initiates.
Lord Viallis, empowered by Slarkrethel's otherworldly magic and wanting to get away from talk of his family's death, moved to the village of Greenfast, a day's travel southwest of Ballay and the home of his business partner, Faerl. Claiming that he wanted to have his family interred close to him, he took the remains of his wife and children along, with evil intent. For the last five years, Viallis had been building a cult to Gaernoo around himself, calling it the Burnt Tongue Cult for the sacrifice that new members had to make before being accepted.
After accepting Sarah's mission, the adventurers investigated into Yellowcrest Manor and the secrets of Lord Viallis, eventually picking up on the trail and finding Greenfast. They tracked Viallis down to the Temple of the Burnt Tongue Cult and went deep underground to face Viallis and his aberrant creation, Marth.
The heroes got justice for Sarah by enacting vengeance on Viallis and by releasing the souls of the Yellowcrest family. Learning about the actions of the Burnt Tongue Cult shocks the folk of Greenfast and neighbouring communities. They undertake the process of clearing out the cult site, making what restitution they can to Viallis's victims, and collapsing the tower to seal off the entrance to the temple. The attacks along the trade routes drop off immediately. The farm folk are grateful to the heroes for their actions and vow to become more watchful for unseen threats.
The cult is no more. Because Viallis shared none of his magical knowledge with his followers, any cultists who might have escaped have no connection to Slarkrethel or the entity's power.
The ashes of Lady Maria and her three children were spread in hallowed ground to grant them eternal rest. As the ashes were interred, the spectral forms of Lady Maria, Malik, Janus, and Tianna materialised before the characters. In silence, Lady Maria hugged her three children close to her as she met each character's gaze. Sarah's ghost appeared, her connection to the diary broken as her quest was fulfilled. The five spirits then vanished, their forms scattering like flower petals on the wind.

Session 21

To earn some last-minute money, the group went pit fighting (to the death) in the Ring of Fire stadium in Ballay. Caomhán, Lir, Jayden, Blart and Diesel went and challenged the champions; the Headless, the Ghast, and the Tritonic Terror. They vanquished the champions, winning a lot of money.
After the adventure, the party picked cards from Diamond's Purple Deck. The cards were however unlucky and the pulling of Donjon meant Jayden was sent to be imprisoned by Iymrith, as well as Lir's soul thanks to the Void card. Binjoe's true identity as Tharizdun was revealed, and because of the soul coin trading done with Calypso, the disembodied soul of Sarah Margaster was able to possess Lir's empty body.

Chapter 7: Doom of the Desert

Session 22

Dealing with the repercussions of the Deck of Many Things, Diesel used the power of the Deck's Fates card allowed him to resurrect Binchild. The Fates card brought Binchild back as if by a Reincarnate spell, bringing Bin back as a halfling. By then, Diona had already confronted Binjoe and killed him, finally trying to sever the ties between her and Tharizdun. The lack of rats made Binchild distrust the party, so he ran, far away from the rest of the group.
The adventurers then went to Maelstrom to meet with Hekaton and Serissa to plan their attack on Iymrith. Connections to the Zhentarim allowed for an opportune way for the heroes to distract Iymrith long enough to trace the Claw of the Wyrm Rune into her lair in Ascore.

Session 23

The night before the attack, Diona made a Heroes' Feast, to fully prepare against Iymrith. In the morning, the heroes got the Feet of Maple to disclose to Dyrvirad the Glimmering Guardian the location of the Blue Dragon Mask. When he went to the Dragon Archivist headquarters, it distracted Iymrith long enough for the heroes to infiltrate her lair. Lir and Caity set to work at scribing the Wyrm rune into the sand.
However, they did not have enough time to successfully scribe the rune, and Iymrith teleported back to her lair. When she did so, Hekaton rose to his full height and challenged her to attack him, and the battle begun.
Thanks to a choice use of a Wish, Sarah Margaster (in Lir's body) managed to heal everybody who had been struck down, which gave them the upper hand in the fight.

Epilogue

While Ballay celebrates, there is no rest for you Diona, as you are almost ready to go home to Binroad Drive. You’ve packed your things, and you think you’re ready to move out. You’re dreading having to see Binchild again, but knowing that you’re packing up all your stuff to live somewhere new is exciting. You’ll finally be free of the city life, you’ll get to see the world like you never could before.
You take a break from packing to go have lunch with your friends. Though you are flooded with admirers (including a very forward Merchu who absolutely insists he knows all of your party personally) there isn’t anybody you recognise. Except…
In the crowd, you make out two familiar faces. You see Fridae and Dŵr, your housemates down in Binroad. You leave brunch for a minute, and go over to catch up.
Fridae grins brightly. “Hey Di. I was in the Phandalin area, then went to Goldenfields, and I heard about you and your friends from the Enclave guys there. That’s really cool, friend!”
As you three reconnect, Dŵr starts to look a bit distant, as if he wants to get something off of his chest. After a few more minutes, You're able to take Dŵr to the side. You ask if everything is okay, knowing it’s not.
“Diona. There’s something I want to tell you.”
After a deep discussion, Diona, you are jittering. You twitch, and a cold tear falls down your cheek. "You killed my parents?"
“I’m sorry,” says Dŵr. “I should have told you. I tried to forget what I’d done, hoped that I could repent by… helping you. But you don’t need my help. You never did. I’m sorry.”
High above the river valley juts a quiet promontory upon which looms a sepulchral mansion, its turrets capped with fairytale cones, its towers lined with sculpted battlements. A third of the structure has collapsed, as has part of the roof, but the rest appears intact. A dark, octagonal tower rises above the surrounding architecture.
Out of the fog comes a distant peal of thunder, quickly accompanied by the howling of wolves in the woods below, but the house stands silent, seeming like the fossilised remains of some long-dead thing smote upon the mountainside.
Caity, following the directions given to you by Calypso, you approach this manor. Flagstone steps flanked by stone railings climb to a landing in front of a pair of tall, wooden doors with rusted iron bands and knockers shaped like small dragons. Carved into the lintel above the entrance is the word ARGYNVOSTHOLT.
You knock, only the see the door slowly swing open. The interior of the mansion is decorated nicely, with floating crystals illuminating the entrance hall. A hooded man creeps around a corner and looks at you. If he weren’t hunched over, he could be almost 6 feet tall. He lifts his head to you, revealing pale green skin and eyes like dark emeralds.
“You’re the warlock Calypso told me about. The nice one. I’m glad you came to me,” says the half-orc, his face still mostly hidden under his hood. “I was once tied to a fiend of hell, myself. Bloody hard work getting that pact broken, but by the gods do I feel free. I’d be happy to show you the ways.”
You approach him, eager to hear of his journey and how he broke his pact, and after a week or so of training, you leave the mansion clutching a scroll in your hands.
Satine, after slinking off and disappearing with the reward money, you find yourself on a warship with Captain Lyra and First Mate Nym. You’re above deck, sipping on a martini in a lounge chair, while crewmates are below deck polishing the Mighty Servant together. Satine, you're on your way to more and more riches— you had never considered a pirate’s life, but then you realised, it’s not a crime if you don’t get caught, and there’s no police in the ocean!
Blart, before Satine had heisted the Mighty Servant, yourself and your nephew Thimdul cleared out your keep in Ebonside. You have since cleaned it up, and made a name for yourselves. The keep even came with a small village that fits in perfectly with the existing town of Ebonside, and some of the members of the circle of friends—such as a lovely halfling named Fifi and her kids—have moved into the village. It’s a quiet town, and it will be nice to finally settle down and have a home for yourselves. You even think you’ve heard that a few businesses will open, including a smithy and a flower shop.
Lir, after Calypso brought back your husband from the beyond, your entire life has been taken in a new direction. Eager to get out of the gloomy town of Fog Harbour, you took Malakos and his father and moved to Ebonside. The opportunity provided by Blart’s small village felt so cozy, not to mention the Zhentarim presence would always keep Lir employed. Your father in law was a master smith in his time, and now that you’ve gotten back in the good books of the Margasters for bringing Mal back and saving Sarah’s soul, he has started to train you in the art of smithing.
Caity, it has been years since you’ve been to this place. As you stroll down the dirt road, you turn the corner, and the cottage comes into view. Starflower Cottage and its faded yellow walls are still standing after all these years. Though overgrown and abandoned, the place is still structurally sound, and you approach the small stone wall that encircles the property. You run your hand along the top of it, feeling the moss brush against the palm of your hand, and you stop when you reach a simple wrought iron gate. You unlatch the gate, glancing down at the Starflower family crest embossed in the metal, then walk towards the cottage. The good memories from your youth still linger in the air. After setting your bag down in your childhood bedroom, the first thing you do is boil the kettle, and you sit down at the kitchen table. You place the scroll that the pact-broken warlock gave you and unfurl it and begin to pore over the contents.
Jayden, yourself and your brother Caomhán are standing knee-deep in snow. You have travelled to the frigid coast of the Ice Kingdom, and while you are typically accustomed to these regions, you still find it to be freezing here. You kneel, pressing your forehead against Diesel’s. In the distance, you can see several other polar bears, a mother and her cubs. Diesel looks up at you, tears welling up into his black beady eyes. “I’ll see you again, papa,” he begins, “I promise. You changed my life, papa; you saved me.”
Diesel lifts his paw to your face, then nuzzles into your neck. Jayden, you wrap your arms around your polar bear and give him one last long hug before you let go.
“Your days are numbered, my friend.”
Binchild, you look over your shoulder. You could swear you’d heard…
No. The kitchen is empty. Silent. As always. It’s hard being the only cook in the kitchen, but at least your restaurant is open now. As you go to continue washing the pans, you hear the voice again.
“No, it really is me. Turn around.”
You turn, ever so slowly. Sitting on a kitchen island is a raccoon. A normal looking raccoon, however… there is something about him that is so familiar.
“Binjoe?”
“Yes, Binchild. It’s me,” says the talking raccoon. “But I have to tell you something. I… am Bincoon, now.” Binchild, you and your best friend for life embrace one more time, so thankful that you could be reunited, and you have a luxurious evening as Bincoon cooks you a five-course meal.
That evening, Binchild, as you lock the doors, with Bincoon safely by your side, you hear a wagon pull up. You see Caity and Diona exit the wagon with purpose, the latter woman going toward the house next door. Diona, as you go to unlock the door, you turn in the direction of the Demon Dish. Closing up the restaurant for the night, you see Binchild. He’s wearing a formal black shirt with the sleeves rolled up messily and curled up by his ankles; you see a completely innocent looking raccoon. You look him up and down, and you notice that Binchild is staring right back at you. Your gazes lock on to one another, briefly, before you turn your back to him.
You enter your soon-to-be-former home in Binroad District. You close the door behind you quietly, taking off your leather jacket and hanging it on the coat rack in the hallway. You stroll into the sitting room, where all that remains in the fireplace are some fading embers. Curled up on the nearby rug is Sir Cuddles.
You twitch with anger and unsheathe your blade. The bastard had known about what became of your parents, and after years of living together, never came clean. You have a choice. Do you enact a minor bit of vengeance?
You cast a 5th-level Spirit Shroud and call forth spirits of the dead, which flit around you. The spirits are intangible and invulnerable, and they vaguely resemble your parents, Indrazi and Zirlavin. Blaven shimmers a pale purple as you plunge Blaven into his stomach, dealing 14 damage. He wakes and widens his eyes. He opens his mouth, but you shove your boot in his face to keep him quiet. As he struggles, you summon your Spiritual Weapon candy cane at 3rd-level, choking him and dealing him a further 8 damage, and then you place Blaven up to his throat. The sword shimmers again as you cast a 6th-level Inflict Wounds upon him, dealing a critical 56 necrotic damage, finishing him off.
You go up to your room, packing up everything in your wardrobe and all your little trinkets into your Bag of Holding. As you finish packing up, you look to your bedside table. Sitting there is a small framed photograph of you and your housemates, Baby, Fridae, Dwr, Nick, and Cuddles. You close your eyes before picking up your bag and stepping out the back door. Strapping your bag to the side of Mr Hi’s shell, you check your map. First stop, Ebonside, then Starflower Cottage.
A few months pass. Standing atop a rocky crag overlooking the Azuloran Sea, the massive citadel of Candlekeep has endured the elements for centuries and defied the degradations of time. Visible for miles around, Candlekeep has an eye-catching silhouette: a high wall interspersed with towers. This wall encloses a large space from which more towers rise. Those who behold the edifice say it looks like nothing so much as a cake decorated with an overabundance of candles.
The entrance to Candlekeep is a double gate that stands at the end of the Way of the Lion, the only road that provides access to and from the outside world. The route follows a lonely path across the peninsula where Candlekeep stands.
Those who gain entry discover a cloistered community of scholars milling around inside Candlekeep's walls, a place of enlightened conversation and friendly debate. No better place in Terra Caelum exists for those who have a love for or a need of knowledge and who want to pursue such interests alongside fellow seekers. The required entrance fee for admission into Candlekeep is a work of writing not already collected therein. Those who show up at the gates without such a gift are kindly but firmly turned away.
The enormous double gates of Candlekeep are three times the height of a human and wrought of black metal magically warded to foil attempts to damage them. Both doors are emblazoned with the sigil of Candlekeep. One of the two gates stands open far enough to admit visitors during the day, and the other is kept shut. Bedecked in purple vestments, five Avowed priests of Talos oversee the front gates, examining and discussing written works presented by hopefuls trying to gain entrance.
We see a familiar looking wagon approach the double gates, and sitting in the front is a satyr. His hair is long, his beard is thick, and beside him is a black knapsack.
“I request entry, oh esteemed Avowed of Candlekeep. I wish to join your ranks, and learn what has happened to me. I am a doctor, a scholar, and a writer. Please, take this as a tribute,” he says, as he reaches into the knapsack. He pulls out a book. It is bound in leather, tinted a dark blue. There is Sylvan decoration on the corners of the cover and Giant runes are inscribed with gold. The spine reads, in ornate black lettering; “Storm King’s Thunder”.
“This is a firsthand account of some of the new heroes of our land. A tale of those who wanted to fight back and defend, of those noble of heart and filled with courage. I was there, I saw it all.”
And after that, you all get your happily ever after. You and Caity live together. A Teleportation Circle is set up between Starflower Cottage and your flower shop in Ebonside. Every day, Caity practices her spells to try and expel the pact from her system, and practices Druidic rituals. Lir and Malakos live together in a perfect house in a perfect little village. Caomhán and Jayden become adventurers for Ace Ventura together, often visiting Ebonside for a weekend here and there. Dirk becomes a hugely respected warrior in the elk tribe, winning great favour with the other Uthgardt folk. Cathy finishes her training under the Harpers to best understand where she came from and how to become a better person, and now tries to stay in healthy contact with her twin.
Merchu eventually gives up gladiatorial combat in pursuit of a life that doesn’t leave him dying over and over again. He meets two tieflings and a gnome, and joins a circus run by a strange family of drow. Binchild gets his restaurant, Satine gets her criminal career.
And what did Blart get? What did he find in this adventure? Well, Blart is a simple man. A bugbear with simple dreams. He has his keep, he has his weapons of bonking, everything he ever wanted. But the best thing that he found is the same for everyone else in the group.
You all found family.
And so ends our tale of the Storm King’s Thunder.
Two years pass. We are now in February of 8011. Diona, you lock the doors to the shop, pocketing the keys. You go into the garden, under the flowery archway, and in moments the established Teleportation Circle brings you to Starflower Cottage. As you start to move to the cottage, you hear a soft rumbling noise. Being so late in this spring night, it is pretty dark, but you see a small glowing orb near the wrought iron gates from where you stand in the gardens. You tilt your head, then squint, and notice that the sphere is growing. Slowly but surely, it expands until it is a large sphere of infernal energy ten feet in diameter. You rush into the house to get Caity to attention, and you both stand side by side at the front door of the cottage, ready to face whatever this infernal magic holds.
After a minute passes, the infernal magic crackles and out flop two humanoids. One is a tiefling in plate armour, armour that is visibly damaged. The other is a dullahan. You see Lir crawling on the garden path, and the portal behind them closes. All of you are now suddenly shrouded in the darkness of night. Diona, you cast Light on Blaven, making it shed bright light in a 20-foot radius. Illuminated by your sword, you see Lir and Malakos. Malakos has acid scars all across the right side of his body, and you see that it has eroded most of his right ear. You see his right eye has turned a milky white, and then after looking him up and down, you see his armour is severely battle damage, as if he was cut down and then pounded with bullets from a shotgun. While Lir appears to have their original head back, they seem to be in a debatably worse position. Lir is missing their left arm, and their +3 plate armour has been completely battered. All of their Spellwrought Tattoos have been used up, and they look to be almost on death’s door. Diona, you cast Beacon of Hope, and Caity uses Cure Wounds on the two of them.
Caity, you prop Lir up against you. “What happened?”
Lir, you spit up some black demon ichor onto the lawn, and you prop yourself up on your right arm. You only have the strength to say one word before you pass out.
"Elturel."

Cast

The following is the cast of players and their characters, in order of appearance.

Caity Starflower

(Session 1-20, 22-23)
Caity is a level 13 high elf warlock-druid played by Ciara. Caity was born in a rural area of the Free Peach, where she lived for the first 5 years of their life. After her father's death, she and her sister Cathy went to live with their maternal grandfather in the elven city of Yerentil. Caity and Cathy never knew their mother as she was exiled from civilised society for selling Caity's soul to a demon. Growing up in Yerentil, their grandfather strongly favoured Cathy as he expected her to continue the family's paladin legacy. Caity's original surname was Starflower, but upon moving to Yerentil her grandfather changed it to her mother's family name, Allbright.

Cathy Allbright

(Session 1-10a, 23)
Cathy is a level 11 high elf paladin played by Siobhán. Cathy was born in a rural area of the Free Peach, where she lived for the first 5 years of their life. After her father's death, she and her sister Caity went to live with their maternal grandfather in the elven city of Yerentil. Caity and Cathy never knew their mother as she was exiled from civilised society for selling Caity's soul to a demon. Growing up in Yerentil, their grandfather strongly favoured Cathy as he expected her to continue the family's paladin legacy. Cathy's original surname was Starflower, but upon moving to Yerentil her grandfather changed it to her mother's family name, Allbright.

Jayden Magrieth

(Session 1-8a, 11-17, 19-21, 23)
Jayden is a level 13 firbolg ranger played by Eoghan. Jayden was born in early spring of 7987 in the village of Pumpkin Patch, a village found in the Glacies Mountains. In his late teens, for some reason or another, he left as he was not getting enough attention. He became an outcast and travelled far and wide around the east of Terra Caelum. In the summer of 8008, Jayden met Dirk, an uthgardt with a taste for adventure. Dirk told him that he was suffering from the Dragonborn Virus, and that he wanted to travel together. They first met when Dirk rescued Jayden and Diesel from a pack of remorhaz, and the group camped within a cave in the nearby hills. Jayden and his dudebro Dirk had been passing through Salzenstadt right before the raid on Nightstone. They had already been travelling together, along with Jayden's animal companion (a polar bear named Diesel) before the cloud giant attack. They awoke in the town, finding Caity and Cathy sneaking around the town. With the polar bear missing, the four travelled together to the Dripping Caves, just north of Nightstone.

Dirk son of Dak

(Session 1-9, 23)
Dirk is a level 3 Dragonborn barbarian played by James. Dirk is an uthgardt barbarian, hailing from the Uthgardt Wastes. He was a member of the Elk Tribe, based near Flint Rock. The Elk tribe is an uthgardt tribe that wanders the Uthgardt Wastes north of the Rubygold Mountains, specifically between Fog Harbour and Sarastobin. The Elk barbarians shun civilisation. Dirk is a member of this tribe, who left his kin after he was infected by the Dragonborn Virus. He had cut down a witch's tree, and in return, he was cursed by the witch with the virus. He left, and on his journey, joined a party of adventurers shortly after the Attack on Nightstone. Since then, he participated in the Attack on Goldenfields, and from there, his scales have been growing more and more prevalent up his arm.

Binchild Goldcoin

(Session 2-8, 10a, 11, 22)
Binchild is a level 13 human rogue played by Medb. Binchild was born in a bin. More specifically, he was born in 7989 in the back streets of the Free Peach City. He built his life from the ground up with his best friend Binjoe at his side. He helped run a restaurant, with Binjoe being the brains and skill behind the establishment. In early 8008, Binchild moved in and shared a flat with Mae in Free Peach City. Together, they had simple low paying jobs that barely covered the rent, but Mae seemed to always be preparing a big score of some kind. Months later, Binchild started a plan to break Binjoe out of prison. When he got to the prison in question, cloud giants attacked Free Peach City, and apparently, Binjoe had been kidnapped. Binchild sought out Cathy to help him, knowing she was off to paladin training in Salzenstadt. He died in the Eye of the All-Father. Binchild was resurrected by the Fates card from the Deck of Many Things.

Gemini

(Session 8a-8b, guest star)
Gemini is a level 14 warforged plague doctor played by Rin. Gemini is a warforged plague doctor who is the leader of the Ace Ventura. Gemini travelled to the Mere of Dead Men to visit the Styes, as requested by the Red Wizards, to investigate a disturbance in the Weave. The disturbance appeared to be a planar gateway opened by an entity calling itself Santa Claus, however the brief investigation in the Styes brought up the name Tharizdun. Gemini updated the Red Wizards, then promptly returned to the west.

Elizabetha deMontajay

(Session 8b, guest star)
Lizzy is a level 14 halfling ranger played by Ciara. Lizzy was born in Breantis on 11th December 7978. She grew up with one older sister, Phoebe de Montajay. Unbeknownst to Lizzy, Phoebe had a twin named Jason who was adopted by the Stonewall family. When Lizzy was in her early 20s her family was killed and she became heir to the throne of Breantis. Gemini called upon her to join him on his adventure to the Styes.

Hilbert

(Session 8b, guest star)
Hilbert is a level 14 high elf sorcerer played by James. Hilbert is a Red Wizard of Thay, and was sent by the organisation to investigate a disturbance in the Weave in the Styes.

Tahlulah

(Session 8b, guest star)
Tahulah is a level 14 yuan-ti pureblood wizard played by Karolina. Tahlulah is a Red Wizard of Thay living in the Mere of Dead Men and hailing from Apophis. Like Hilbert, she was sent to investigate a disturbance in the Weave in the Styes.

Art

(Session 8b, guest star)
Art is a level 14 satyr paladin played by Eoghan. Art was a simple artist who took the Oath of the Ancients and became a paladin. He fought in the Satyr Siren War and afterwards aligned himself with the Harpers, becoming a Harper Agent. He was called in by Gemini as he was the one who taught Gemini how to channel paladin abilities.

Lir

(Session 9-23)
Lir is a level 13 dullahan rider-sorcerer played by Rin. Their partner, Malakos, went out further than usual and never returned. Malakos' ship was wrecked, and their bond broken. Lir, being able to see if a person is fated to die within the next ten days, is still skeptical that Malakos died as no timer was visible. Their bond was just broken. Since then, Lir has been alone, their wedding band hanging off a chain around their neck. Lir and XE12 met in late October of 8008. Lir had just lost their head and was searching for a replacement when they came upon the remains of a XE12-travelcompanion warforged, left to rust in a cave. They accidentally activated the automaton, bringing it to life. Now they travel together, XE12 regarding Lir as his saviour.

Diona Ambriel

(Session 11, 13-14, 16-20, 22-23)
Diona is a level 14 aasimar cleric played by Ashley. Diona is an aasimar cleric drawing her divine magic from the Blinding One. The Blinding One answered the call when Diona's parents attempted to receive the blessing of the fallen god, the Companion. In 8008, during the Candlenights kidnappings orchestrated by the monster living under Jooge's Barbershop, she was made aware of the Krampus' involvement when he stopped her and her friends trying to investigate further into the mystery and put an end to the kidnappings. She met Sister Garaele at this time, for the first time meeting someone else who was a cleric of Krampus, however it was unsure how much Garaele knew of the nature of the entity. She tracked Krampus' dark magic to the city of Okhathage, which had been plunged into despair on this Candlenights. After banding with bards from the City of Sing, she managed to slay Krampus and take his eyes for her own. When she took down her chaotic patron once and for all in the end of the campaign, she regained her sight and now cannot be blinded.

Lady Satine K'Fortune

(Session 12-18, 20, 22-23)
Lady Satine is a level 15 human rogue played by Medb. She is a master thief and an oracle, and she can read fortunes from Tarokka decks. This might imply she has the Vistani gift of sight. She is from the small town of Arkney, and though she is wanted in many cities, she has always managed to evade the City Watch.

Caomhán Magrieth

(Session 18-23)
Caomhán the Self-Made is a level 13 firbolg fighter played by Jessica. Caomhán is one of Jayden's brothers, who joined the party shortly prior to their preparation to fight Iymrith. He was an athlete in the town of Pumpkin Patch, gaining respect from the townsfolk there as a professional fighter. With the absence of his little brother Jayden, he decided to go adventuring himself.

Merchuiu Sedellath

(Session 22-23)
Merchu is a level 15 triton sorcerer played by Kenneth. Merchu was a shadow weaver with a career as a champion in the Ring of Fire stadium in Ballay. He was beaten by the adventurers and subsequently recruited to join them in the fight against Iymrith.