Date: ??? Attendance: Wulrakas, Jareth, Virgil (Written months later, as the vague recollections of an unknown entity): After reuniting with Virgil in the "real" world, the last three adventurers try to make out what's on the slip of parchment that Wulrakas was unable to decipher. Virgil is successful in this endeavor due to his magical affinity. It reads: "The Home of Sevrdras Meno." In order to understand who this individual is, they decide to teleport back to Gradsul. Here, they discover that the world is at the brink of destruction. There's constant earthquakes, the sky is an eerie purplish black, and horror can be seen on the faces of the townsfolk. They manage to get to the Academy in Gradsul after pushing through a crowd of people; inside, they head to a library to find the old teacher they'd spoken to before. Unfortunately, a large red dragon escapes captivity and breaks through the library, immolating a handful of apprentices before it's put down by the trio. They then talk to Magnus Finch, the teacher, and learn that Meno was once the Grand Druid. They also learn that he had an undersea palace that was given to none other than Drawmij. Eventually Virgil is able to teleport them (and Finch) to this place, using the arcane scroll he deciphered before. Magnus runs ahead and they trudge through the dungeon after him, destroying shield golems. They also discover the body of Alena , stuffed in a burlap sack. Virgil remembers that he and she were left behind by Rexi while the others were searching for the Cat Killer; that the woman who was so keen on assisting them literally left them to die. Virgil had managed to escape, but Alena... They then encounter a small room with a fountain in the middle and trees sprouting around the perimeter. Magnus lays dead at the foot of the fountain, and atop it is a man with the body of an oak tree; it's as if his flesh is made of it. They find out that he is Meno, and that he intends to impede their progress through battle. If they prove worthy he will let them pass. Rather than fight, however, he's convinced to join the group in an attempt to stop Drawmij and -- in effect -- Yothagos. So the four individuals continue through the dungeon, picking up holographic journals of Drawmij along the way. After collecting them all, they're able to piece together his motivation: he wished to stop Yothagos the only way possible, time travel. The group's refusal to join him in this endeavor has caused many setbacks, and time is short. His child, clone body will not last much longer, and so he's taken the only step he can think of. He's decided to become a lich by sacrificing Alena. Unfortunately, as Yothagos is the only God-Being able to reach Oerth at this point, the very thing he wished to destroy has become his patron. In any event, the group eventually makes it to a giant 'aquarium' of sorts. Inside is a Dragon Turtle. Wulrakas tries to convince it to help them, but he isn't successful. Still, it's enough for the Dragon Turtle to opt against confrontation. Finally, in the throne room of Drawmij, the group comes face to face with the Undead Antagonist. Behind him is a strange, mechanical, otherwordly machine. He tells the group that they're fools for coming, bringing the key to the machine -- Jericho's gem -- with them. The final battle ensues; Meno is immediately killed, but the rest of the group successfully destroys Drawmij. They use Jericho's gem in the machine and are whisked away. ... To a previous time. Here they stand in the Oates Manor, many years before. A young Clifton Oates is staying with his family, and the sudden appearance of three strange men frightens them. Clifton's father talks to the three; some previous knowledge leads the group to believe that he is the source of Yothagos' summoning. Sure enough, there's an ominous summoning book in his possession. Virgil manages to convince him to destroy it, thus preventing the End of the World. Or this world, anyway. Before departing, Virgil has an emotional reunion with Clifton. He gives him the manticore tooth they took so long ago, and with that, they leave. ----------------------------------------- Music for your soul. And so ends the year long struggle with Yothagos. Victory is bittersweet, however. What became of the others, their friends and loved ones? Did they perish with the world, or is this that very same world, just at a different time? Days pass. Months. The group stays together for a time, but they are inevitably drawn away by fate. They are strangers here, and they feel it. It's as if they're in an alien place, a place that looks so similar to the Oerth they knew, yet so inexplicably different. Do alternate versions of themselves exist here? For Wulrakas, no; his very birth was the result of Yothagos. But for the others... More years go by. Five. Ten. Fifteen. But they don't feel any older, all except Wulrakas, who experiences a strange pull on his very soul. It's as if he's fading away piece by piece, growing weaker and weaker as the years pass by. Despite this, the Dragonborn travels the realm, helping others along the way. He becomes a symbol of Good and Justice among the lowly folk around the world. A simple-minded, but heroic dragon-creature. Falx Templamut, still alive here, is given a vision of the events of A New Era through Bahamut; he immediately calls his 'son' to his side. Here Wulrakas is told that his very existence is fading. He was never meant to be in this world, or Oerth in general. His people were a means to stop a threat that never existed here, so he shouldn't even be here at all. There is one option, however. He can take to the stars, out in the Greyspace, on a planet inhabited by gargantuan silver dragons. Edill. It is a strange planet completely unlike Oerth. Whether or not he takes the offer... Virgil, meanwhile, wanders as well. His magic is strangely different -- wild, yes, but drawing from an unknown source that is not Yothagos. It takes a while to adjust to the change; a decade passes before he's able to cast the spells at the level he was at before. Curiosity gets the better of him at some point during this, and he heads to his home village. It's destroyed, burned by a raid from Keoland's enemies to the west. A brief glimpse of a young boy's charred remains causes a powerful headache, nearly toppling him over. Was this child him? Whatever the case, the event draws the attention of the arcane world. The Circle of Eight tracks down Virgil, discovering that he's not of this "timeline." Drawmij votes to kill Virgil on the spot. He's overruled by the rest, however, much to his chagrin. Virgil is made an honorary associate of the most powerful group in the Flanaess, given a nearly endless coffer for whatever he deems fit. But he's made a powerful, all too familiar enemy in the process. Finally, Jareth returns to Gradsul in hopes of reclaiming his old line of work. His detective agency is brought back, and it is much more successful this time around. He's able to buy a large estate in the high end of town, and he's even able to hire detectives to assist him. But the case that gnaws at him the most is the mystery he cannot seem to solve: the fate of those the trio left behind. In every stray kitten he sees glimpses of Cat. Sometimes he even finds himself talking to the ones that wander into his estate, hoping they'll respond. On one dark night many years after the final battle, Jareth awakes in a strange room. A body lays sprawled out before him, covered in blood. Examining the body reveals a face almost identical to his own in youth. A headache wracks his brain. He nearly passes out, but a hand steadies him. A strange hand covered in metal. "It is over now, and balance has been restored," says the deep, grating voice. When Jareth turns around, the source of the voice is gone. Returning his gaze to the corpse, he discovers that it, too, has vanished. And so he returns to his Agency, ready to take on the next job. -------------------------------------------- OOC: Wanted to take a final opportunity to thank you all for the awesome campaign. As I've learned in recent months, it's not the material that makes games great. Hell, it's not even the DM. It's the players. They make the story; I just provide the material. I feel like I'm going to have a hard time topping this. Maybe I never will, and I'm okay with that. If someone ever asks me, "What was your most favorite campaign?" I'll likely answer this until the day I die. It may have been a mess story wise, it may have had lulls of downright horrible-ness (looking at you, sea voyage), but I enjoyed it immensely. And that's solely because of the people I was playing with. And with that... it's finally over. Hope you enjoyed!
