Fargrim is my character for the upcoming Open Grave one-shot. Ashanti Sunborne, who appears in Fargrim's story, will be my character for the ongoing game.
Fargrim was born 35 years ago to his parents Helja and Thorgrim, leaders of a small but prosperous dwarven mining clan in the mountains above a pleasant, fertile river valley. The Grimfell clan traded precious metals and finely wrought metal goods with the larger human town of Rivervale down along the riverbanks, and with the human merchant caravans that occasionally made their way through that town, by road and by river.
Even as a young child, Fargrim displayed an interest in clan politics and relations with the humans. He would often sit at his father's knee during negotiation sessions with local merchants and human leaders. It was during one of these, discussing prices and trade markets for goods produced from a newly-discovered vein of mithral deep in the roots of Black Mountain, that young Fargrim's life changed forever. The clan miners, eager to find the extent of this new vein, broke through into an ancient crypt hidden in the depths of the mountain. Their surprise quickly changed to alarm as first dozens, then hundreds of undead lizard-like creatures swarmed through the opening towards them.
Shouts and screams echoed up through the tunnels and chambers of the clan's home to the audience chamber. The King Thorgrim thrust his young son Fargrim, then only 4 years old, into the arms of his human guest, bade him depart, and then took up arms and led a counterattack of the remaining dwarven warriors into the depths.
The human merchant party fled the mountain, taking young Fargrim down into the human town with them. A militia was quickly called out to assist the dwarves, but by the time they arrived it was too late. All of Clan Grimfell had been slain, and the undead creatures lay in wait.
Fargrim was taken in by a traveling priest of Pelor, Ashanti Sunborne. Ashanti had been traveling with the merchant caravan, and when the trade delegation returned with their grim news, he saw something in young Fargrim. A spark of divine power lay dormant in the boy. Undead monsters had ravaged his home and taken his parents, but Ashanti believed Pelor had given a destiny to the child. The pair traveled together for many years, living on the road during Ashanti's missionary work, and as the boy matured into a young adult, his power grew by leaps and bounds.
Meanwhile, with the loss of Black Mountain and its trade, the human town of Rivervale withered. The trade caravans no longer visit the town, and no river barge captain dares sail upstream so close to the undead-infested mountain. Darkness fell upon the once-shining river valley.
Now, at age 35, Fargrim son of Thorgrim has entered into the final covenant of the invoker. Like Ashanti, Fargrim also believes that Pelor invested him with divine power in order that he might avenge his clan and take back his ancestral homeland from the unliving enemy. He bade farewell to his foster father and mentor, and has set out on his own mission, righteous fury burning in his stout heart.
Gzipped D&Di Character Builder file
And here's Ashanti's CB file (updated 8:48 PM Sunday April 5)
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Recap: "Pointy Eyes? That's Fucked Up."
After killing the warlock and finding proof of the mage's treachery, we headed back to the Seven Pillared Hall to return Longtusk to his rightful owner, get our reward, and question the mage there. Of course, he wanted us to go kill the traitor for him, but he offered some decent pay, so we agreed. He also warned us about bronze minotaur golems that the traitor may have. We followed the silver key to a hidden door in the Labyrinth that opened into a chamber empty except for a teleport circle, and when we entered it, a spectral image of the God Vecna appeared.
Vecna, apparently, wanted our secrets but had no interest in the key to the Court of Bones. We all spent some time telling the bored ghost stories except for Brynn, who just sucked up to it and told it it had nice protoplasm or something, and eventually it said it would let us through if we each gave it a little life force. Everyone agreed except Alaric, who as a paladin of the Goddess of Death said there was no way he was giving a God of the Undead any such thing, and offered it his magical shield instead, which it accepted, and teleported the group.
We found ourselves in an area filled with pillars carved with faces, some with gags and some with blindfolds, and as soon as we moved to investigate it were attacked by a group of 5 norkers. These bitey little bastards were fairly tough, and as we fought them lightning that slowed us and mental attacks that stole our powers came from the pillars. Soon, a second group of norkers joined the fray, and after beating both groups we found that around the corner there were two fleshslicers using some device to create the pillar attacks. These two freakjobs tore off their own faces after we bloodied them, which was a fine how do you do, but we took care of them quickly and moved on to another teleporter.
On the second level a quick look around saw a hallway, with a bronze minotaur patrolling at the very end, and a door. Finjaq quickly looked in the room, saw a giant glass container with a bronze minotaur head floating in it, several tables with alchemical crap on them, a fleshslicer, and a norker, and decided that if we could all get inside before the minotaur saw us we could avoid fighting it. This worked well until, with Finjaq, Brynn, and Quij in the room, it noticed Bakun and Alaric and charged.
It still seemed better to try to slow it down, so Bakun and Alaric moved into the room, Quij cast a web outside the doorway and shut the door, and Alaric and Quij barricaded the door. This allowed the rest of the party to focus on the two idiots who had been in the room originally, and they were quickly taken down. When the minotaur knocked the door down, Alaric moved a table in the way, and when it went around to another door, Brynn moved a table in the way there too. As the minotaur chopped at the second door, Brynn and Quij damaged it at range, another fleshslicer and norker attacked and died, and Alaric and Bakun, bored, decided to trash the glass case.
Upon the destruction of the case, the head rolled free, and the acidic liquid inside it splashed all over the two vandals, but most importantly it pissed the traitor mage Paldomar off enough that he teleported down into the room. He started to yell at us, but quickly got an arrow in the chest, and then we all joined in the curbstomping. At one point, he tried to run for both of the two teleporters, but Brynn stood on one and Finjaq the other, slowing him down long enough for us to finish him off. Alaric, meanwhile, kept the minotaur occupied until the party returned, and it didn't last much longer. A quick rest later, and we decided to go up to the third level and see what loot he may have.
MVPC: Alaric, for starting the breaking of the case.
Vecna, apparently, wanted our secrets but had no interest in the key to the Court of Bones. We all spent some time telling the bored ghost stories except for Brynn, who just sucked up to it and told it it had nice protoplasm or something, and eventually it said it would let us through if we each gave it a little life force. Everyone agreed except Alaric, who as a paladin of the Goddess of Death said there was no way he was giving a God of the Undead any such thing, and offered it his magical shield instead, which it accepted, and teleported the group.
We found ourselves in an area filled with pillars carved with faces, some with gags and some with blindfolds, and as soon as we moved to investigate it were attacked by a group of 5 norkers. These bitey little bastards were fairly tough, and as we fought them lightning that slowed us and mental attacks that stole our powers came from the pillars. Soon, a second group of norkers joined the fray, and after beating both groups we found that around the corner there were two fleshslicers using some device to create the pillar attacks. These two freakjobs tore off their own faces after we bloodied them, which was a fine how do you do, but we took care of them quickly and moved on to another teleporter.
On the second level a quick look around saw a hallway, with a bronze minotaur patrolling at the very end, and a door. Finjaq quickly looked in the room, saw a giant glass container with a bronze minotaur head floating in it, several tables with alchemical crap on them, a fleshslicer, and a norker, and decided that if we could all get inside before the minotaur saw us we could avoid fighting it. This worked well until, with Finjaq, Brynn, and Quij in the room, it noticed Bakun and Alaric and charged.
It still seemed better to try to slow it down, so Bakun and Alaric moved into the room, Quij cast a web outside the doorway and shut the door, and Alaric and Quij barricaded the door. This allowed the rest of the party to focus on the two idiots who had been in the room originally, and they were quickly taken down. When the minotaur knocked the door down, Alaric moved a table in the way, and when it went around to another door, Brynn moved a table in the way there too. As the minotaur chopped at the second door, Brynn and Quij damaged it at range, another fleshslicer and norker attacked and died, and Alaric and Bakun, bored, decided to trash the glass case.
Upon the destruction of the case, the head rolled free, and the acidic liquid inside it splashed all over the two vandals, but most importantly it pissed the traitor mage Paldomar off enough that he teleported down into the room. He started to yell at us, but quickly got an arrow in the chest, and then we all joined in the curbstomping. At one point, he tried to run for both of the two teleporters, but Brynn stood on one and Finjaq the other, slowing him down long enough for us to finish him off. Alaric, meanwhile, kept the minotaur occupied until the party returned, and it didn't last much longer. A quick rest later, and we decided to go up to the third level and see what loot he may have.
MVPC: Alaric, for starting the breaking of the case.
Recap: "Show Me Balls In The Hallway!"
This one is a bit late.
With all four summoning items in hand, we were ready to perform the ritual. That required four of us each taking an item and heading to the four different ritual areas, where the items had to be put down at the same time. Alaric went to the door that it should open, to grab the attention of whatever emerged. Upon dropping the four items, the door very slowly started to open, but more importantly a trap activated in each of the four ritual areas, a green dragon flew up out of the pit in the center of the complex, and a giant spiked ball began quickly rolling around in a track that circled the pit area.
To get everyone out of the traps and back together, we gathered in the central pit area, just inside the deadly rolling ball.The dragon used its maneuverability to the fullest, avoiding the death ball and flying around to the backside of the room using the ball track. It also spit poison and lashed with its tail. Its most effective attack, though, was hypnotism, which it used to make Alaric jump in front of the death ball and Bakun jump into the hundred-foot pit, something that would have killed him if Brynn and Finjaq hadn't jumped down with a rope to save him. Eventually, though, the dragon was killed, and we got the party up out of the pit.
By then the door had opened, leading to a passage filled with mist. We headed through and found a demonic gnoll warlock with wings performing some sort of ritual on two humans in a magic circle, as well as a Bar-Lgura, a skeletal minotaur, and three carnage demons. There were also several giant cauldrons bubbling over with some crap that hid the enemy and were dangerous if we got too close. The fight got pretty nasty, with the carnage demons able to trap Brynn and Quij in a corner and Finjaq going down at one point, but we were able to knock a human out of the circle to stop whatever the hell the warlock was doing, and eventually take him and his crew down. On him we found a silver key that magically told Alaric where the door it fit was, and a letter from one of the mages of the Seven-Pillared Hall tying him to what was going on.
MVPC: Brynn, for saving Bakun in the pit.
With all four summoning items in hand, we were ready to perform the ritual. That required four of us each taking an item and heading to the four different ritual areas, where the items had to be put down at the same time. Alaric went to the door that it should open, to grab the attention of whatever emerged. Upon dropping the four items, the door very slowly started to open, but more importantly a trap activated in each of the four ritual areas, a green dragon flew up out of the pit in the center of the complex, and a giant spiked ball began quickly rolling around in a track that circled the pit area.
To get everyone out of the traps and back together, we gathered in the central pit area, just inside the deadly rolling ball.The dragon used its maneuverability to the fullest, avoiding the death ball and flying around to the backside of the room using the ball track. It also spit poison and lashed with its tail. Its most effective attack, though, was hypnotism, which it used to make Alaric jump in front of the death ball and Bakun jump into the hundred-foot pit, something that would have killed him if Brynn and Finjaq hadn't jumped down with a rope to save him. Eventually, though, the dragon was killed, and we got the party up out of the pit.
By then the door had opened, leading to a passage filled with mist. We headed through and found a demonic gnoll warlock with wings performing some sort of ritual on two humans in a magic circle, as well as a Bar-Lgura, a skeletal minotaur, and three carnage demons. There were also several giant cauldrons bubbling over with some crap that hid the enemy and were dangerous if we got too close. The fight got pretty nasty, with the carnage demons able to trap Brynn and Quij in a corner and Finjaq going down at one point, but we were able to knock a human out of the circle to stop whatever the hell the warlock was doing, and eventually take him and his crew down. On him we found a silver key that magically told Alaric where the door it fit was, and a letter from one of the mages of the Seven-Pillared Hall tying him to what was going on.
MVPC: Brynn, for saving Bakun in the pit.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Game Schedule - March - May
March 20th - D&D Thunderspire Labyrinth (Dave F., Dan, Max, Joe & Jamie)
March 27th - Epic Forgotten Realms (Chris, Jason J., Ben, Paul)
April 3rd - D&D Thunderspire Labyrinth (Dave F., Dan, Max, Joe & Jamie)
April 10th - D&D Open Grave One-Shot (Dan, Max, Ben, Joe & Jamie)
April 17th - Epic Forgotten Realms (Chris, Jason J., Ben, Paul)
April 24th - Epic Forgotten Realms (Chris, Jason J., Ben, Nate, Paul)
May 1st - D&D Pyramid of Shadows (Dan, Max, Ben, Joe & Jamie)
May 8th - Epic Forgotten Realms (Chris, Jason J., Ben, Nate, Paul)
May 15th - Epic Forgotten Realms (Chris, Jason J., Ben, Nate, Paul)
May 22nd - D&D Pyramid of Shadows (Dan, Max, Ben, Joe & Jamie)
May 29th - D&D Pyramid of Shadows (Dan, Max, Ben, Joe & Jamie)
Tentative schedule for March - May, everybody let me know about schedule conflicts in the comments. April 17th is my birthday, but at this point, I don't have any particularly big plans, so I'd just as soon game on my birthday.
Once we finish Thunderspire, I thought I might run a one-off adventure from the undead sourcebook, Open Grave, and you guys could make characters using classes and races from the new PHB2. They'd be the same level as your regular characters, so you could sub them in if you wanted a change or use them as backup characters if one of your characters was to, say, die. ;)
March 27th - Epic Forgotten Realms (Chris, Jason J., Ben, Paul)
April 3rd - D&D Thunderspire Labyrinth (Dave F., Dan, Max, Joe & Jamie)
April 10th - D&D Open Grave One-Shot (Dan, Max, Ben, Joe & Jamie)
April 17th - Epic Forgotten Realms (Chris, Jason J., Ben, Paul)
April 24th - Epic Forgotten Realms (Chris, Jason J., Ben, Nate, Paul)
May 1st - D&D Pyramid of Shadows (Dan, Max, Ben, Joe & Jamie)
May 8th - Epic Forgotten Realms (Chris, Jason J., Ben, Nate, Paul)
May 15th - Epic Forgotten Realms (Chris, Jason J., Ben, Nate, Paul)
May 22nd - D&D Pyramid of Shadows (Dan, Max, Ben, Joe & Jamie)
May 29th - D&D Pyramid of Shadows (Dan, Max, Ben, Joe & Jamie)
Tentative schedule for March - May, everybody let me know about schedule conflicts in the comments. April 17th is my birthday, but at this point, I don't have any particularly big plans, so I'd just as soon game on my birthday.
Once we finish Thunderspire, I thought I might run a one-off adventure from the undead sourcebook, Open Grave, and you guys could make characters using classes and races from the new PHB2. They'd be the same level as your regular characters, so you could sub them in if you wanted a change or use them as backup characters if one of your characters was to, say, die. ;)
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