Campaign of the Month: September 2019

The Cold Truce

Aftermath VIII

Revelation

Razvahn makes his way to meet Sandier on the outskirts of town near the Rail yard. He arrives at a run down two story shack, vermin of all sorts scurrying about the plot of dried weeds and rickety structure. He is told to enter when he knocks on the door, and is greeted by an unsettling site inside. An ancient Hag sits in an off kilter rocking chair. alley_hag_by_prodigyduck-d7pymbe.pngRats, insects, and other small bugs, seem to crawl on and about her. In the center of the room sits a small simmering couldron over a fire, the smoke drifting up and through the floor boards of the shack. Razvahn quickly approaches the monsterous woman and demands to know where she has seen the skull of a Shadow Raven, as only powerful magic can preserve one before the creature simply evaporates into shadow when destroyed. She laughs, centipedes and spiders crawling out of her mouth when this cackle turns into a cough. She tells him “I have seen a thousand ravens in a thousand worlds. I see many things when I Drift”. She offers to show him one, and after whispering some words into the pot, scoops some of the liquid out of the cauldron and offers it to him. Without hesitation, Razvahn chugs down the Hag’s brew, and blacks out…. When he opens his eyes

he is standing before a glowing white light, emanating from a tear in the air itself in front of him. He has come here with his clan to prove that he is fearless, that he willing to do anything necessary to prove himself to the Raven Queen. He is not afraid.2BE64A68-D7DB-458A-B756-FE614417C6B4.jpeg What ever this thing is that has been emanating arcane energy here in the Lighted Place, Razvahn will overcome it. He steps forward, then looks back to his fellow clan members behind him, nodding to them that he is continuing. Among them, he sees an old Hag, bugs and rats crawling about her feet and clothes. He does not recognize her. She seems out of place, but she stands beside his clansmen, smiling with a mouth full of rotted fangs. Something scratches at the back of his mind, but he is not concerned. He turns back and steps forward toward the rift. There is a

a flash of light. He suddenly finds himself

running through the streets of Split with his party members. Behind them, towering higher snd higher, is the behemoth crushes buildings and showers the city with slime from its giant tentacles. d4f8379f8f3a6f31228fbd427fe3a56085ea9e81_hq.jpgThey have to make it to the portals in the Grand Library if they hope to escape the city before being killed or turned into one of the horrible creatures pouring out from the ally ways into their path. From the corner of his eye, Razvahn spots an old Hag standing still among the chaos. Rats and insects scurry around her feet. She smiles a wicked grin of rotted teeth, and he suddenly remembers who she is. He stops, and witnesses his party and even himself continue running on. This is not happening. This is a memory. He approaches the Hag to confront her, but

she grabs his shoulder before he can speak. The day light around him turns to night and he

instantly recognizes his new surrounding. He is home. He is back in the Shadowfell. And the scene before him startles the brave shadar kai. He is surrounded by the abandoned buildings of a once large and great city. images.jpgHe has been here before, but did not make the connection while in the material plane, that this place is the dark reflection of Split. And before him, rising high into the sunless sky, is the behemoth. It’s form is exactly the same, and the down swing of its appendages are the exact movements that he was just witnessing in his memory of the Second Catastrophe. It begins to emit the same cloud of green mist that befell the city.The Hag as not let go of his shoulder, and

with another painful squeeze

he finds himself once again transported. The Hag’s clawed hand still clasps his shoulder. The new sunlight in his eyes is blinding. It comes not just from the sky, but reflects off of the brilliant foilage around him. Vibrant colors of the entire spectrum sting his eyes, and the shadar kai is forced to squint. This place is new and almost alien. He does not have time to fully adjust before he registers fully what is happening before him. High elves are pouring out of the forest in front of him. Their screams are starting to be drowned out by the screeching of c8b25ec5cd9e4d4882b286ec6c413f8e.jpgcreatures chasing after them. Behind all of this, rising above the trees, it is there. The behemoth. The cloud of poison is starting to fall now and envelope the trees and the high elves trying to escape.

Razvahn, still unsettled by the scenes from the Shadowfell, feels his stomach tighten. Anger fills him. This is not simply a creature. The sacrifice of Krase fd19f1b44bb66b0f3d22088fd71ae271.jpgwas not made just to cause wanton chaos and stir tensions in the material plane and Arnëa. This is more. Whatever the Broker brought up from the bottom the sea floor is pure evil. Its attack and presence across all three planes at the same time means that this is not isolated. This is a threat to everyone. To this place, to the material plain, and most importantly, his home. He must know what this is. He must know how to stop this across the planes. He must know know who to seek and how to gain their help. As he turns back to question the hag,

he wakes with a start. Razvahn finds himself laying on the floor, back in Sandier’s shack. He quickly demands answers. She agree to give them to him, at an undisclosed price. When he asks “Does the raven Queen watch?” She tells him the cost will be three of his fingernails. Confident that she does watch, Razvahn declines the gruesome proposal, and asks his next question…

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