GoCorral

This post recounts the second half of our final session, which you can view here.

Blendegad was slain at the end of what would be 396 BCE.

395 BCE

Over the next month riots consumed the Xorian Empire. Rioters stormed the estates and homes of those who were previously dragovinians. The upper class population was gutted along with any “dragovinian sympathizers” who had cooperated with dragovinian brutality for their own benefit during the regime. The groups with a shred of authority in Xoria were:

• Princess Tarigananata, the rightful heir to the throne. Tagenadi ensured that the Crown of Kingship, the Diamond Sword of Xoria, and the Gauntlets of Martial Skill were put into her hands. He stayed at Tarigananata’s side to assist in securing her throne.
• The Amazons, who had to select a new queen since their previous one had died (or been imprisoned within an acorn).
• The Rebellion, with close ties to Tarigananata. The main leader, Major Dacitirian, mysteriously disappeared, leaving Alkmene and Tarigananata in charge.
• The Alliance, led by Fauxmalius had the largest organized force, but would they project that power outward or would the Alliance collapse without an exterior threat?

City states broke off from the Xorian Empire’s control left and right. Gazeara remained separate and its strong sense of community led to a democratic government led by Logan taking hold. Jeutontic split off under the leadership of the Alliance backed Duke Brevenditu. Colchis, Cecilia, and Crafterton declared independence to return to their previous culture and form of government prior to Xorian occupation. Colchis entered a decline as the city’s population emigrated into the countryside. Without the iron hand of undead Aeëtes, the rightful ruler was unclear.

Makotako and Petar ostensibly remained within the Xorian Kingdom. After the riots settled down captains of the Rebellion rose and fell within the cities as despots who paid lip service to Tarigananata.

King Staynard at only nineteen years old ruled the Aractrashan Kingdom. Amalgami still held King Ballard’s soul captive. Hektor made contact with the lich and offered a trade, his shadowstaff for the king. Amalgami declined. Unable to secure his previous liege, Hektor acted as an occasional advisor to King Staynard. As a courtier, Hektor instituted an immigration policy to control the flow of Eastern Cimmerian refugees into Aractrash. Hektor enforced the policy by creating simulacrum copies of himself to patrol the border. Additionally, Hektor sought out talented individuals and provided them with incentives to immigrate.

Bradel Fields’ population was eliminated by King Jevaninada’s death bomb. The city was now a literal ghost city inhabited by ghosts, ghouls, zombies, and skeletons. The few citizens that were revived by Amalius trading the Lots to Hades gathered a few miles east of the city. A small settlement formed there that supplied adventurers who went into the city to clear the undead scourge and reclaim the valuables of the deceased.

Greshendale was in a similar boat. Thousands had died in the city’s crash. The captured elementals that powered the city were now free in Greshen Valley. A chaotic maelstorm formed as the different elementals attempted to establish their elemental domains within the material plane. The city’s destruction had unleashed many other magical forces. These mysteries combined with the elementals, and the already extant spheres of annihilation made Greshen Valley completely uninhabitable for most mortals. The one exception was Preta’s cabal of wizards who began researching the complex arcane powers at work in the area.

Phoenix remained a drowned city.

Thousands of refugees existed in Eastern Cimmeria, many of them previous soldiers. To feed themselves, many of these people became bandits. Trade between cities reduced under bandit raids and the city states of Eastern Cimmeria became more insular and self-sufficient.

Danar and Fauxmalius attempted to alleviate these problems by founding a new city for the displaced people. They built Mo’nyoq on the southern shores of the Aral Sea. Danar founded a fighting school in his city. He taught that true strength only came from a combination of magic and martial prowess. His initial focus was on anti-dragon and anti-undead techniques.

The Alliance found itself with the responsibility of protecting a slew of artifacts that the Xorian Kingdom had previously stockpiled. This included:
The Staff of Not which Darudanano used to freeze the party during the final fight.
The Crescent of Wrath which destroys everything the blade touches.
The Ring of Impervious which were both worn by Jevaninada in the final fight.
The Mace of Slaughter, the Sanguine Belt of Nyx, the Orb of Omniscience, a Staff of the Magi, the Invisible Ring of Cats, the Fork of Horripilation, the Ten League Boots, the Face of Gods, the Prismatic Blade, Sin’s Mask, the Ring of Draconic Wizardry, a Hammer of Thunderbolts, a Deck of Many Things, and the Green, Black, and Silver Dragon Orbs.

Talon, the previous Cerebremancer and leader of Greshendale, saw it as his responsibility to safeguard the artifacts. He volunteered to construct a new place to contain their power with the financial backing of King Mero III. Hektor lent his aid to the construction process as well.

Gorwinua started a successful rumor that she had died in an unnamed village in the Orc Lands. She adopted a new name for herself, Euphonia. She toured Cimmeria singing a new set of songs that emphasized cooperation and forgiveness. In time there was a subtle shift in the culture of Cimmeria as people shied away from what they had thought were the necessary evils of war.

Eathirilu went to his enclave in Demeter’s Garden. He had lived a long life and was ready for death. Gorwinua joined Eathirilu after her tour. They spent Eathirilu’s final days together, reminiscing about the Xorian War, but also their past together during the Dragon War. As Eathirilu’s time grew short he shapeshifted into a banyan tree in the center of the marsh. His mind quickly slowed and he went to sleep. When Gorwinua was sure he was at peace she sang her farewells and went on her way.

Danar led an expedition with Hektor, Tagenadi, King Mero III, and Alabaster to hunt down Invernix and Sartoria. They found the pair, slew them, and brought their heads back to Mars’ Oasis for safekeeping.

Tagenadi used his share of the fortune from the wars to fund research on how to destroy the Black Crystal of Horror.

Hektor spent his time researching powerful divination magic. He wanted to find Barakah and Divine Amalius to end any would-be threats to the security of Cimmeria.

Torin returned to dwarven society. He helped them reclaim the Underdark in Western Cimmeria that the Xorians had turned into an undead nightmare. In the process Torin secured many political alliances with various dwarven noble families. The future was safe for his royal cousins.

Fauxmalius and Denara’s son was born. They named him Amalganus after Amalius’s father.

394 BCE

With one year passed, Tagenadi went to see his friend, Amalius. The mortal version greeted Tagenadi and after a polite dinner with his family, brought him into a private study. Away from all prying eyes, Fauxmalius and Tagenadi were joined by Divine Amalius. The angelic figure waved his hands and Tagenadi felt his skeleton growing new muscles, nerves, and flesh. His organs reformed and blood flowed through his veins. He was alive again!
Tagenadi was brought to tears, “Thank you my friend.”
Fauxmalius clapped his hands and a plate materialized with the same dinner they’d just finished eating. “Would you like to try eating with a tongue and stomach again?”

Tagenadi ate the meal, the first he’d enjoyed in over a year. While he ate the two Amaliuses chatted with their friend about their activities over the last year. Divine Amalius was vague and dodged questions, but complimented Tagenadi’s own actions in bringing stability to Xoria.

Tagenadi expressed that he missed Divine Amalius and felt that Fauxmalius wasn’t the same. Divine Amalius told him that there was no meaningful difference between Fauxmalius and the man that Divine Amalius once was. He offered to enter Tagenadi’s mind and correct any discrepancies, but Tagenadi declined.

Danar performed some magical research into the persistent immortality of the elder dragons. He learned they had a connection to the physical plane of Tartarus that sustained them, but little else.

Tagenadi learned that the Black Crystal of Horror could be destroyed, but only if every undead that was ever created by it were destroyed first. Tagenadi set up bounties on such undead, but put no more effort than that.

Hektor’s immigration policy had diminished success. His attempts to restrict immigration seemed like they were undercut by other mages. Hektor’s copies turned people back at the border, but the refugees always seemed to get into Aractrash through other means.

Disinterested in fixing the immigration problem, Hektor focused his energy on confronting Barakah. He collaborated with his friends, Torin, Tagenadi, and Danar to find and kill the possessed giant. Their combined divination tracked down Barakah. Hektor teleported the team to his location and battle ensued. Barakah killed Tagenadi and Torin, but died by Danar’s hand. Amalius showed up during the fight and siphoned off a portion of Barakah’s elder power. Fortunately, Zelus was freed from the chasm of Barakah’s stomach.

Tagenadi’s underworld time was split in half. He’d broken his deal with Hades and the God of Death would punish him for that, but Tagenadi had also saved Zeus and been promised a place on Olympus after he died. Tagenadi spent half his time in Tartarus being tortured and the other half on Olympus in semi-eternal bliss.

Zelus brought Tagenadi back to life, but he could only bring Tagenadi back from his reward half. Tagenadi would be transported to Tartarus for half of every year for the rest of his life. There, Hades’s servants tortured him with fire and knives. Tagenadi spent his alive half as an honored member of Fauxmalius’s household. He became the godfather for Little Amalganus and helped raise the boy.

With Barakah defeated, Hektor began intense research into how to predict and intercept Divine Amalius’s actions. His goal was to find the errant psion and reclaim the piece of divine Zeus that Amalius stole.

Danar traveled Cimmeria for a few months to learn and improve the style he taught at his school. He became friends with Talon of Greshendale and invited the dromite to teach at his new school. Talon accepted. In Sheerzen Danar formed a bond with one of his descendants, Lys’andra. He brought her to Mo’nyoq to be tutored personally by Talon. Alabaster came to teach at the school as well, bringing a set of anti-mage fighting techniques he’d learned from ancient Sumerian texts. The growing school came to be known as the Battlemind Academy.

Gorwinua, with her new name as Euphonia, traveled Cimmeria as a bard, singing a new epic poem dubbed the Cimmeriad. It told the story of the Alliance’s struggle against the dragovinians and Xoria.

393 BCE and Onward

At this point we decided we were mostly done with smaller actions and wanted to fast forward to the end of the characters’ lives. How did they spend the rest of their time on Earth?

Hektor hunted Divine Amalius and laid traps for the angelic psion. Hektor predicted that Divine Amalius would attack Queen Tarigananata as she possessed a divine piece of Ammutseba just like Barakah did. Hektor and Danar protected Tarigananata during Divine Amalius’s attack, but failed to save her. They did succeed in driving off Divine Amalius before he could absorb her power.

Hektor and Danar brought Tarigananata’s body to the artifact vault in Mars’ Oasis for safekeeping, but Hektor was concerned that Ammutseba’s presence would corrupt the artifacts stored there. Hektor contacted the immortal and powerful Sherlock the Warlock for a solution. Sherlock agreed to take Tarigananata’s body to keep it separate from the other items in the vault.

Over the next few decades, Hektor continued hunting Divine Amalius with a single-minded obsession. He foresoke all attachments in his quest and when he grew old he finally succeeded. At the end of Hektor’s life he found Divine Amalius and managed to kill the psion. With his mission completed, Hektor collapsed and passed on to Olympus.

Tagenadi was tortured by Hades for half of his life. The other half he enjoyed with Fauxmalius.

Fauxmalius planted seeds of anarchy in the minds of thousands across Cimmeria. He gave people the means and motivation to resist the institutions of monarchy and state religion. The conclusion of this challenge to the Olympian Pantheon remains to be seen.

Danar remained at Mo’nyoq as an important teacher for a new generation of heroes. He urged many of his students to reclaim Bradel Fields for the living.

Euphonia anonymously published the Cimmeriad, an epic poem that detailed the events of the First and Second Xorian Wars. Her natural life ended soon afterwards and she passed away in peace.

Credits Roll

We were satisfied with the Epilogue there. I played a credits video for the players that I’d prepared.

We had a meta conversation after the campaign about our favorite sessions and the players’ portrayals of their different PCs.

Alternate History

Once we were at a good stopping point I talked about my original plan for the campaign. I’d thought the players would spend more time in the war section of the campaign, organizing attacks, negotiating to get supplies, moving armies around, etc. That would take a lot of the Alliance party’s time. By the time they were done with all of that, the Rebellion party would have had time to “catch up” in levels to the Alliance party. The final fight would’ve been each player controlling two of their own PCs. The players ended up not enjoying the army part of the campaign, so I didn’t focus on it. This led to the Rebellion party lagging behind the Alliance party and their later role in the story was cut.

I had an original plan for the epilogue, but after playing for so many years, my original ending seemed like it would no longer be as satisfying for the players. I tabled it, but with the plan of telling the players afterwards, which I did.

The original plan was based on an old Japanese RPG, Lunar Silver Star Story. (Interesting fact, one of the cities in Lunar, Vane, is what Greshendale was based off of). The villain, Ghaleon, is encountered many times in the story. The first time he defeats you. The second time you defeat him and he runs away. You chase him down to his mobile mechanical fortress. Inside the fortress you face him once more and kill him. You rescue your girlfriend that he kidnapped and all seems right with the world. Ghaleon is dead at last and it seems like the game is about to be over.

And then this happens.

Ghaleon isn’t dead. You haven’t saved the girl. There’s a whole ‘nother super dungeon for you to take on. Only after that is Ghaleon defeated and the game completed.

My players came up with a great epilogue for Xorian Wars, but consider if you will, if the story hadn’t ended that way. Take your minds back to the moment Blendegad fell. Amalius shows up and attempts to seal the power within himself. He is thwarted by Eathirilu cleansing Blendegad’s power with the Touch of Nature. A blast of healing energy washes over Cimmeria. All the dragovinians and vampires were healed, turned back into regular people.

And then…

The foundations of Nox Castle began to shake. A woman’s voice rose high, singing. The walls cracked and crumbled around the party. The ceiling tumbled to the side, deflected by some unseen force. A dark shadow covered the sun up above. The tapestry behind the throne was swept aside by a great wind revealing an enormous dark mirror behind the throne. A spreading black shape emerged from the mirror behind the throne. The sound of stones crashing against stones filled the party’s ears and they could still hear the woman singing. Umbral tendrils peeled themselves off the body of the black shape and began whipping around the room. The woman’s singing died down and a sinister laugh filled the throne room, one that some within the throne room recognized. It’s the voice of Amalgami! Any who tried to move, cast a spell, or say something felt restrained by the air itself.

The spreading black shape remained, but the mirror was no longer dark. It didn’t reflect the room, but instead showed a blizzard blowing across the tundra. The party’s vision was drawn into the mirror and for a moment the air cleared. They saw a valley. On their half of the valley, only snow. On the other half the ground dipped sharply downwards. In the resulting pit, four pillars of land rose up, forming a rhombus. Upon each of those pillars a stone castle was built. The closest small, the middle two stout, and the final castle a towering achievement of architecture. The castles were linked by bridges.

The blizzard returned and the party found themselves back in the ruins of the throne room. Lightning struck where the black shape had been before breaking the magma throne of Xoria into a thousand pieces. As the smoke cleared, Amalgami floated before the mirror.

Amalgami chuckled, “Amazing, isn’t it? The long forgotten land of Hyperborea.”

“Now open for you to explore. You really can’t imagine the satisfaction I feel right now. Everything going as planned. Each step you took exactly as I wished. You’ve done so much more than led to the deaths of every authority figure of note in Xoria. You brought Mars’ Oasis out of isolation and onto the world stage. An aggressive power ready to expand. You let me assassinate King Ballard while you were present, demanding Aractrash’s entry into the war, while simultaneously planting the seed of doubt in the minds of the Aractrashan citizens. Who had killed their king, their enemies or their new allies? You burned Greshendale to the ground. Bradel Fields is a ghostly ruin. Phoenix is drowned. Poseidon is imprisoned. Strife rules the land and I barely lifted a finger!”

Amalgami pulled the Golden Apple of Eris out of his robes and held it before him. He continued, “Everything you have done has always brought you closer to this moment. This day! This event! The end of order. The beginning of the Age of Strife. Cimmeria will be consumed by conflict for another thousand years before it recovers from this. Unless you can defeat me. Find me in the blizzard at the top of the tallest tower!” He pointed behind himself into the mirror. “Cast me down and perhaps your precious Cimmeria can be saved!

“And if you think to leave without entering the mirror… consider the consequences.” Amalgami snapped his fingers and revealed his captives
King Ballard, still trapped within his soul gem.
Amalganus, trapped within a different soul gem.
Tagenadi’s sister, Danarananena
Amalius’s wife, Denara
Eathirilu’s raptor animal companion, Toothy
The corpse and belongings of Tracy the Halfling, a friend of Danar’s
The Crown Prince of the Hill Dwarves, Tibern son of Dainlin
Amalgami and his captives turned into a black mist and disappeared into the mirror.

Breaking it Down

The players liked the reveal, but agreed that the resolution they had was more satisfying. But maybe we could play the attack on Hyperborea at a later time as an alternate timeline.
Out of character, I revealed that Amalgami was the architect of the Xorian War. He’d wanted chaos and strife to cover Cimmeria, so he had manipulated Blendegad and the party to ensure the pain of war spread far and wide. How had Blendegad allowed himself to be trapped in a forcecage? Because he was kind of a gullible idiot who’d fallen for Amalgami’s whispers.

Ben had expected the campaign to end with Divine Amalius using an implanted command word to instantly charm every member of the party. He thought I would then reveal how he’d taken each party member and secretly broken their minds to serve his purpose. Shitty DM move, so I didn’t even consider doing it.

What Divine Amalius did have is a level in the Shadow Mind prestige class. It allowed him to hide his magic almost completely from even the best magicians.

Trajan revealed that Gorwinua had let Divine Amalius escape instead of “failing.”

We discussed Hektor’s single-minded obsession. This was partially a reflection of Ben’s desire to finish the campaign, but it became a personality point for Hektor. When his king died, Hektor snapped.

We talked about how I’d planned events to occur without the party’s actions. I read a brief timeline of events that the party reacted to, showing what the villains were doing behind the scenes.

We talked about what happened to Aldarian. He fell in love with Eamorataj, the tutor of Amalius’s children.

We talked about the strategy of the dragovinians in the final fight. The half dozen or so dispel magic spells stripped tons of protections off the dragovinians. Blendegad’s god stuff was stripped away by Zeus after the resurrection. Losing the villains’ ability to dispel magic by trapping the priests in the forcecage was similarly devastating. The players talked about some of the choices they’d made during the fight.

After that we talked about a lot of stuff that had happened in my campaign world in previous campaigns.

I discussed the different builds of the dragovinians (reminder that this campaign was played using D&D 3.5 rules).

Barejando was a Kensai, but with a focus on being an army general. He didn’t have a good build compared to the other combatants. His biggest contribution was with Instill Power to give Jevaninada an extra +10 to attack at the expense of Barejando taking a -10 to attack.

Darudanano was a Knight combined with the 3.0 prestige class, Devoted Defender, and a splash of Monk. His charge was King Jevaninada, allowing him to protect the king really well. He had a bunch of things stacking his AC really high. He would intercept every attack sent at Jev, but Daru himself would be impossible to hit due to having an AC in the 70s.

Jevaninada was a Dark Paladin (Blackguard laid on top of Paladin), an Occult Slayer, and a Pious Templar. His saves were crazy high due to Dark Paladin. He had Mettle from Pious Templar and Evasion from a magic ring, making him immune to most save effects. Finally, his feat selection made him the ultimate anti-mage.

We talked about the changes that happened in D&D since we’d started playing in Cimmeria. 4th edition had come and gone. 5th edition was out and popular. Prestige classes had gone through some evolutions. We chatted about the PCs builds and our experiences with different rulesets before wrapping for the end of the session. We said goodbye to the single viewer during the stream and signed off!