Songam/Campaign Log

Act I

Canto I

The party, the Bruiser and Artful Rogues, the Sorcerer, the Bard; assembled by coincidence at a countryside inn, interrupts a rowdy drunk fight. Three men (Kanis, Harald, and Ogland) who introduce themselves as merchants see the group's combat prowess in action, and ask them to ferry a heavy bound tome for them to the nearby city-state of Taraheil. They tell the party to find a Marion of the Golden Goblet, an Inn. They learn that Harald tried to read the book, and it severely stunned and dazed him, leaving him in a drooling stupor. Hence, actually reading the book is ill-advised.

Canto II

The group agrees, although they are accosted by goblin raiders on their way to the town. As they arrive, they meet the Druid, who joins the party. Once in town, they deliver the book to Marion, who reads it without ill effect. He then also suffers an attempt on his life as a coin delivered by the party - which was also tracking them - detonates in Marion's hand. He regenerates, showing he is decidedly not human, though he appears to be. Weakened, he explains that the book is a fake Manual of the Infinite Planes and that a real copy could be used to travel any and all planes at-will. He goes on to explain Ogland and Co. have been competing with Marion to acquire the real copy, and that Marion has reason to believe the real Manual is in Taraheil.

Canto III

The party searches for the book, picking up the Paladin along the way. They begin by breaking into the Prison of Asat beneath the city and combating Ogland agents, a zombie abomination, and a giant crocodile in the city sewers. They successfully retrieve two scrolls that identify how to retrieve the Manual, and pocket them for transport to Marion. After stopping at the Inn, the party deduces the location of the Manual is a cave outside of the city proper, and travel there to battle cultists who have taken up residence, and some evil fish. The Bard travels to the Port Authority to seek information on an Ogland and Co. ship, which the Artful Rogue sneaks aboard and accidentally triggers a bomb that sinks it. They both narrowly escape being implicated for impersonating city officials and being caught at the scene of the explosion. Meanwhile, the Druid sneaks into a house that is the scene of a recent murder, the Bruiser Rogue accidentally tricks his way into a drug ring, the Sorceror is accosted by a man with a dagger that can do no harm, and the Paladin learns more of his lineage from a historian in town. The party reassembles when a Bulette attacks a market square, and they defeat it.

Canto IV

Learning of a potential plot to kill the King of Taraheil, the party teams up with a friend of Marion's and an agent of the city, Tywin. They investigate (and brutalize) an Ogland and Co. warehouse. They learn from some ledgers that a shipment of something obviously dangerous left just before they arrived for the royal stockhouse, and the party rushes there. They find some more agents, slay them, and unleash the cargo: a rapidly multiplying ooze that threatens to engulf the warehouse. Tywin flees while the party tries to fend it off, only to return with an alchemical freeze-bomb that he uses after the party evacuates to flash-freeze the ooze. The royal guards that also arrive address Tywin as Prince, which he definitely was and just didn't bother to tell anyone.

Canto V

The party returns to two Marions, both of whom explain that there were several temporal incidents that effectively caused plot holes at set points during the adventure. The second Marion explains that his presence is to warn the party of the interference, and that in doing so he cannot travel back again. Instead, each of the six party members is tasked to travel back in time alone to induce the proper timeline's events by interfering with a different party member in the past, without being detected. The ritual is cast, but unfortunately...

Act II

Canto I

The Druid, Sorceror, Paladin, and a newcomer - the Ranger - awaken sporadically in a cave, blindfolded and restrained. They eventually break out, find Marion entombed in a magical sarcophagus in a nearby room, and beat back waves of Hobgoblins while Marion opens a gate to teleport the party out of harms way. They succeed, and land in a cave that Marion deduces is not far from the city of Eingazel. This is fortunate, as he discovered there lies an item of power there that will be necessary to use the Manual. He also reveals the scroll from Azat is still in his possession, and explains that it is one of several items also needed to use the book. He explains one more thing he has been able to deduce: the time interference presumably performed by Ogland and Co. was not the first incidence, and there was a previous party - the Chakat, the Cleric, and the Artful Rogue - that has come before and were lost to the temporal changes except the Rogue, who has no recollection of Phase 1 (with the Cleric or Chakat). The entire party, Marion included, also finds it difficult to piece together their own personal history of events, and Marion postulates that the shift effects up to six months into the past. They defeat a Behir in the cave, and an Astral Deva visits them and gives them Divine powers to aid in their adventure. They travel through the long desert, fighting assassins, eventually making it to the city of Eingazal after several battles with wildlife and more assassins from the Far Realm.

Canto II

In Eingazal, they meet the Fighter and Boeldieu, who gives them guidance by casting a spell to identify the party responsible for the time shifts. They also learn that the city of Taraheil had its King assassinated despite the party's success in previously averting the attempt, and that Tywin and his sister the Princess are currently in a battle of wits to avoid taking the crown. Duke Alandros is the ruler of the city-state in the interim, and has decreed the party members to be kill-on-sight for their alleged involvement in the assassination. In reality, Ogland - who Boeldieu reveals is responsible for the temporal shifts - is feeding the Duke intelligence about the current party and its affiliates, to make sure the KOS list stays up-to-date with the party. Leaving Eingazal, the party assists Captain Morris by rescuing some of his airship's parts from impound and stealing a large amount of gold from a royal merchant airship. Upon doing so, Morris immediately takes them back towards Taraheil.

Canto III

Above the forests to the south of Taraheil, the party is attacked by Reginald in his true form of a black dragon. Killing the crew and destroying the airship, the party barely survives while Reginald flees and Morris is narrowly rescued. Marion leads the survivors to his unmaintained Barony estate, where he once participated in an adventuring group and protected the surrounding lands. Repairing the Base, they proceed to do odd jobs around the countryside while Marion researches the artifacts necessary to use the Manual of the Infinite Planes. Said odd jobs include:

• Breaking into Taraheil and the Golden Goblet to smuggle some of Marion's equipment out of the city, meeting the Spider Druid and incorporating them into the party in the process.
• Rescuing a band of goblin refugees and incorporating them into the estate's labor force.
• Tracking down the Libram of Khundia, a white necromancer's book containing healing magic spells for any spellcaster to use.

Canto IV

Marion is able to track down Marrskeins, the key needed to open the Manual. Travelling to Patriun, Kena, and the Cairn Estate, they fight various wild beasts, meet a stone golem that directs them to a nearby mine, rescue the last surviving member of another adventuring party, and eventually confront a massive Roc that holds the key. Defeating it, they return with the key to Marion.

Act III

Canto I

The party opts to rescue a baron missing from a nearby city, having been abducted during a tour of his own city by a Rakshasa. Delving into the Rakshasa's demiplane hidden inside a model boat in a museum, the party defeats crabs, eels, and the Rakshasa to rescue the Baron. The Spider Druid also bids the party farewell at this point to return home.

Canto II

Marion is able to find another artifact rapidly, in a small inland sea to the southwest. He sends ahead for a dredging team to provide equipment for the party. Trying to travel there, the party instead gets caught in a surreal space-loop where the only thing they approach on the road ahead is a variety of merchant carts. They recruit the Assassin into the party along the way, and eventually reach the dock where the dredging team was supposed to be, only to find their disused boat sunk into the shallow water. Diving to recover the Eye of Vecna, they deactivate it, which in turn brings space back to normal. They pass through the town of Yaraeh on their way back, avoiding the merchants they saw on the road in favor of returning to Marion quickly.

Act IV

Canto I

Marion discovers two more artifacts, but with sobering news: one is in Hell with no easy way to bring it back to the material plane, and one is far to the north near Svalbard. Choosing to wait for Morris to acquire another airship and return, the party instead travels to investigate some dragon attacks on a village to the south named Greenest. Arriving, they find the village destroyed, and recover a dragon artifact that was hidden in a secret compartment of an intact home before being captured by Langdedrosa. Awaking, Langdedrosa cuts the party a deal: get paid, agree to a Geas to remain silent about the cult of Tiamat near Greenest and a nonviolence pact towards the cult, and he'll allow them to leave alive. They agree (mostly - the others only being knocked out again and hauled off by their allies), and return to Marion who realizes they're under the effect of a Geas spell. He deigns to investigate, and Captain Morris arrives and the party leaves for Svalbard.

Canto II

Partway through the week-long journey to Svalbard, Morris sets the ship down on a deserted, icy island in the northern sea to allow the sailors and player to fish for some supplemental fresh food. When the ship sets down, the group beneath the ship collapses to reveal man-made structures underground. With the sailors and ship safely hovering nearby, the party rappels into the cavern to explore the OHN_Lab. The party finds numerous audio recordings from the personnel that lived and worked in the facility, eventually encountering creatures made of black, sludge-like star-stuff. The party defeats them all, recovering OHN equipment in the process for both player use and to improve the base. However, it becomes apparent from the last audio log and some creatures the party witness moving out of the cavern when it first collapsed that the void sludge creatures may have escaped intact. Morris and his crew follow-up in exploring the facility, burning and bleaching out any remnants of the contaminant in the facility itself. The group then departs, continuing along their way to Svalbard, contacting Marion along the way to inform him both of the equipment recovered and the creatures unleashed.

Canto III

Arriving in Svalbard, the party is made aware of tesla-like defensive towers protecting the town from approaching airships. Landing and proceeding inside the city on foot, they're set up in the local caravanserai. Then, they met Marion's contact, Annette Thoreau, who explains her past as an artificer in the employ of Doctor Demiven. She - and others - were kicked out after Demiven became more and more obsessed with Warforged, culminating in him self-modifying into a Self-Forged. From his floating Stormkeep, he was preparing a large army with which to do as he saw fit, defended by similar tesla-towers. At Anne's suggesting, the party recovers Sir Belk, a Warforged of Demiven's, and an artifact from the iron lord Herod to protect them from the Stormkeep's defenses. Approaching the Stormkeep under the artifact's protection, the party disembarks with Sir Belk and proceeds to blap the crap out of the entire assembled forces and Demiven himself. Thus, they secured the Chain, and proceeded with Sir Belk and Annette back to the south and Marion's fief.

Act V

Canto I

hell act?