1.2.0 A city overrun
In this session we will conclude the introduction through the Catacombs and do a time skip to current game time.
Opening Monologue¶
Light sears with a burning radiance, you squint against a pain you cannot feel. Slowly the light gives way somehow, like a horizon slowly moving towards you. A buxom woman in clad in full plate astride a silvery white horse gallops towards you. She cuts a stern figure and you daren't look upon her face. You stand rigid as if naked before her. She dismounts and you feel the warmth of her, it is hot - like a flame focused upon every single point of you. She moves herself upon you, as if in embrace but suddenly - her form and its blistering heat vanishes, as a soft voice echoes hauntingly into your thoughts.
hello can anyone hear me?... are you out there? if you're listening, I am trapped here...and I need your help...
The next voice you hear you recognise, its gruff and all too familiar. Hanzt leans over you with a wide grin and pulls you up from your back.
"Valhalla can wait, there's more work to be done for you!"
You remember now as you shift aching muscles and patch wounds from the battle. You are in the depths underneath that cursed Elven city. It is a strange place with its tiled floors. You remember doing battle with a group of [[Kobolds]]. [[Scree Scree Rah]] clan their mage said. You remember the column and how it shifted clicking into position revealing the secret passage through the Elven mural of Odin. You remember this most recent battle with the Elves, fighting like demons and the blow which you thought had killed you.
You stir and sit up. You look around at your weary but miraculously - alive, comrades. It can't all have been a dream can it. That voice, ..you thought [[Valkyries]] didn't speak, and why would they need your help?
hello can anyone hear me?...
You look over at the portal. It is a shimmering surface. It contains a substance which reminds you of water but you are unsure what it is truly. A magical elven device, there is no doubt. You note a red ruby the size of a fist inlaid delicately at the peak of the device throbbing with magic. You're sure the voice is coming from within. It echoes hauntingly...
please...
Scene 1¶
A Damsel in distress...¶
- ask the players what they want to do about the voice, initially everyone but Hanzt hears it but in time even he can hear the quiet whispers from the portal
- players can investigate the portal with arcana (15) or occultism (20)
- players can communicate with Hannah through the portal although she will complain it is hard to hear
- players can visit Hannah by stepping into the portal, if they do this the High Magister of the Elves will give them a safety announcement;
"Alosrin Farfir - High Magister You have chosen to visit the prisoner in her demi-plane, be aware that being killed here may have consequences to your healthy return. This area has been curated for her imprisonment and there is much we can learn from her. Be aware that the prisoner obviously cannot be killed and will bear no lasting impact of pain or suffering however her memory of the trauma may affect her willingness to cooperate, and wiping her memory again is exhausting so refrain from such actions unless deemed absolutely necessary
- if within the demiplane Hannah can communicate freely but she will be unable to answer any real questions as she does not know. The imprisoned soul is of the demigod Half Elven Hannah but at this time she has no knowledge of her mother and father, other than a farmer and his wife
- the portal is destroyed simply by removing the red ruby which shatters into a fine red dust instantly if it is prized from its location in the portal.
- The portal MUST be destroyed for the magical barrier covering the exit to be lowered and for us to progress
When the PCs remove the red ruby
_The ruby as soon as it is removed from its emplacement shatters into a fine red dust and explodes outward with a shockwave of pure magic. Everyone is blasted back and smashed against walls, tables and floors. The wave is a cacophony of noise and magical power made physical force with its pure density. It smashes through walls passing through their being, shaking and challenging their steadfastness. It spreads equally outwards in every direction escaping the ruby and releasing everything contained within.
_a soft voice echoes out, an aftershock moments after, thank you...
Odin's Eye Mural¶
The mural on the wall features Odin again but noticeably here he has both eyes, in contrast to earlier
Across the top of the mural it says in Elvish
"I once saw all, yet now see more,
For wisdom's price, my sight was sore.
One eye dark, the other bright,
Bound with wisdom, bathed in sight.
Yet gaze upon me, count them true,
Something false, but out of view.
If wisdom thrives for costs were paid,
What remains is false, merely a shade."
The party must feel Odins right eye which crumbles under pressure and exposes a small ring which, when pulled, triggers the doorway to swing open.
Loot - All party members may add any common item up to a level of 4 to their character. This is what they found in the Elven treasure vault.
Scene 2¶
As the group climbs what seems countless steps from the Catacombs they emerge from a mausoleum structure into Upper Hammerfall.
_The streets of Upper Hammerfall stand frozen in time, abandoned yet untouched. The scent of perfumed oils lingers in the air, mingling with the cold bite of stone and gilded wood. Golden goblets sit half-full on polished tables, meals laid out but left to rot, as if their owners had only just stepped away. Fine silk curtains ripple in the breeze, though no hands remain to draw them shut.
_The grandeur of elven craftsmanship remains, yet it feels hollow—chairs pulled back from elegant desks, quills resting in inkwells, pages of half-written letters waiting for words that will never come. In the great halls, chandeliers burn low, their wax dripping in silence. A harp, its last note long faded, leans against a chair, its strings quivering as if something unseen had only just let go.
No footprints mar the dust settling over marble floors. No whispers echo through the towering halls. Only the absence remains—a sudden, unnatural void where life should be. Upper Hammerfall is not merely empty; it is suspended, as though its people had been plucked from the world in an instant, leaving behind only the husks of their vanished presence.
PC's level up !
Scene 3¶
10 years have passed. Hammerfall is a very different place.
The Black Tide Tavern - Mongeet All describe why they are there. Then we do some social stuff. And plan next week.
Brawn Looking for a fresh start. Had his run in with the law. This is a nice place to avoid them.
Riven Looking for his friends. Trying to get information about them
Gunnar Merc / Bounty Hunter, associate of "The Pack". After work, down the local see the old friend Balder.
Hanzt Changed his look considerably, hasn't been seen in awhile. When he turns up at the Tavern.
Balder Working at the tavern, need money to feed his alcohol addiction
Balder describes a job for the Rat King, leader of Loki's Hand. He just wants some protection for some merchandise he's smuggling into the City. Take a rowboat out, meet the delivery escort it into safe harbor. Easy peasy