Far to the north, off the coast of the mainland lies an island permeated by mystery. Garos has long been regarded as a cursed place, and to be sent there is a worse punishment than death.
Naturally, I had my party start out on a prison ship bound for Garos. This is the intro to the world I created for my D&D campaign.
The players:
- Katie Miller as Orma, a half-orc barbarian whose drive to rescue her father is equaled only by her desire to kill the wizard who took him and slaughtered her village.
- Chris Miller as Tihgomma, a wealthy dragonborn paladin whose family became destitute in the search for his father, dispatched by political rivals. (Chris and Katie, is your dad okay?)
- Jamie Trost as Saiorse, an elf rogue who like, killed a lot of people.
- Kelsey Witt as Vaerfina, the halfing ranger with no known past.
- Matthew Becker as Ruvin, the dwarf cleric who keeps them all from dying.
As they neared Garos, a sudden storm swept upon their ship and destroyed it. They and the ship's captain, Aslar, were the only survivors, rescued by a group of other prisoners. They discovered that though the island is dangerous, there are many who have survived by banding together into clans. In order to assess their abilities, the clans had our heroes fight against each other.
They impressed three of the clan. They chose to accept Echidna's offer to join the spider clan, who have remained safe from the island's horrors by building the treetop village of Loften.
On the way to Loften, two night wolves (think a wolf the size of a small house) attacked the spider clan. They were defeated, but the spider clan lost Caris, one of its strongest warriors. Before moving on, Saiorse found a pale pink crystal on Caris's body and retrieved it.
The rest of the trip to Loften passed without incident. The party rested there for the night. In the morning, however, after being equipped from Loften's armory, they heard a commotion outside. A crazed woman covered in spiked armor was standing over Echidna, now unconscious. The rest of the spider clan was gathered around. The woman entreated the spider clan to join Rophidian, saying that he had already taken the Cradle of Souls -- a revered place on the island where the souls of the dead are sent to rest peacefully.
The woman left as quickly as she had come, and the spider clan was left to make a decision. Should they travel to the cradle to confirm the woman's words? Or should they fight the forest fires to the north or the giants to the the east, both of whom were threatening to press in closer to Loften? With Echidna down, leadership fell to the second strongest in the clan -- now Orma.
She decided to organize an expedition to the Cradle. She took her fellow survivors (minus Aslar), an intellectual named Clyde, and some redshirts. It was to be a three-day journey.
As they neared the edge of the treetop platforms, the expedition was ambushed by a group of paint-faced warriors: natives of the island of whom little is known. After a drawn-out battle, the natives retreated. The fallen natives also carried pale pink crystals, which the party took. Clyde explained that these crystals are how souls are stored. After a week with a corpse, the soul leaks into the crystal, which is then sent to the Cradle. Without a crystal, the soul will dissipate forever. Saiorse also found a hammer-pendant necklace adorned with two chunks of crystal, one on each face of the hammer.
The expedition pressed on. Three times they came across a huntress named Della in the woods, who invited them to share her meal. Three times they refused. She gave them an uneasy feeling. They thought they may be going in circles, but Clyde the guide confirmed that they were still moving forward.
Along the way, he mentioned they could take a brief detour to a tree that answered any question asked of it. They decided to go.
Upon being asked what they should do about the Cradle of Souls, the tree whispered in words of wind: "you must release what has been bound".
Orma asked where her father was, and received the response "you are where you need to be".
After this, they continued onward, and finally reached the end of the forest. As the trees gave way to rolling yellow fields, the expedition was attacked once more, this time swooped down on by Aarakocra -- bird people.
The party prevailed once more with minimal injury. This is where they remain, until next we meet to continue the story.
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