Community

While continuing the campaign the heroes now venture forth with some interesting companions- the late Queen Aurula of Aundair and her daughter Queen Correen ir' Wynarn! Venturing into Zendimark in northern Aundair in the pursuit of the trail of Orcish tribes into Stonefang pass and ancient old river ductuary ran dry eons ago now a dwarven mining community. Whilest traveling into the areas that Aurula used as an Eye of Aundair and paths know to her spies they sneek across the Aundair countryside as to not draw too much attention... but the heroes are always on the lookout for wrongs to right. Will the queens doubt the heroes no more after the events that unfold on this secret adventure or will they still doubt the heroes loyalty to the crown and the purge of the darkness that is beginning to flood Eberron once again. Keep your butts glued to your seats .. posts will now begin weekly.

- Valkrim

wood elf/goliath

natural direwerebear lycanthropy

warrior/weaponmaster/druid/ranger/fighter/animal lord/beastmaster

animal companions : Rakka - Dire bear

                                 Malakore - Dire bear Mauler Magebred

                                 Baletraxs - woodling dire bear (comming soon)

The fates have smile upon the adventurers once again. Tar'Nel... victim of his own arrogance materialized upon the surface world of Eberron on the borderlands of Aundair. His prized possessions in the hands of a mercenary chartering them to Breland was slain by the heroes and drew his gaze. Not only did he arrive be he also underestimated just who overs their allegience to the heroes. Tar'Nels body not just hit the ground when Albrathrax , Ancient Red Dragon... covers his corpse with wings of blood red and begins to drain the demon princes life essences... a beller from the depths below reveal father of Tar'Nel ... ORCUS ... is rising... and who does he find above his sons fallen body but the dimwitted Albrathrax... "it wasn't me ... " that's all that escapes Albrathraxs toothy stumbling mouth. As Orcus wand of power catches him under the chin and sends him flying several yards back taking the recoiling poise of a cornered tiger ... bad move. Orcus lands blow after blow into him as his fallen sons corpse begins to wither... the heroes watching in glee. The tail stinger of ORCUS wheels back and strikes forward to deliver the deathblow but stops meer inches from Albrathraxs chestplate... a low laugh escapes his bloody lips... he catches himself and as he follows the still taunt tail downwards towards the master that weilds it he can only think... "was that out loud?" and as his eyes meet with ORCUS whose scowl is but taunt to breaking point he already knows the answer. ORCUS wand reeling towards him Albrathrax is unable to move as the wand makes contact to one side then the other of his head and a final blow to his chin knocking his wits out of him... sprawling the once mighty dragon abroad the market square... ORCUS hears something... faint... he moves inward inches from him and hears " they are here...." and as the light fades in Albrathraxs eyes it is replaced with an image of the heroes already making their move on the flatfooted Demon Lord. Can an aliance be made or will the Demon Lord fall from grace at the hands of the heroes? Only time will tell...

   For over a century an evil lay waiting beneath the city of Brindonford unbenownst to the populace above. This active port city has been the site of several "rat infestations" and these rats are on the move. The people of the city believe a dark force is at work and being Aundairians they are resourceful and despite the mayor's coverups and way arounds the city guard, much to the peoples surprise, also belive that there is some other cause or force at work here. For the past 3 weeks the carnival of merchants and trade vendors have had the city in a hustle and bustle setting. Possibly the increased visitation and traffic has spawn this move underground. The city gates have been taken several times by hoards of RatMen, lycans, and they have been twarted. But it is different now they seem to have focus and they always make their way to the center of town. The only item centered above the gardens is a tower that contains the "bell of fate" strung with the "gong of destiny" two items that have keept evil out. What are the people of the city of Bards supposed to do. They appear to not have the strategy nor the hitting power to deal with this sort of affront. Will you help, Marcus wedding is in 2 days and the city is "overrun".

 

Shades of Darkness (GUILD)

  

The Shades of Darkness group was formed long ago by a mysterious figure named Mourne. Since the remanents of the Last War rumors claim that he hides in undead-infested tunnels below Taarn Draal in the Shadow Marches. He retreated to the Shadow Marches darkest corners, losing himself among Taarn Draal’s delapitated towers where he could study the dark arts without interference, planning and plotting to remove the darkness that other cannot or will not combat. Scouring the many tomes at his disposal he finds loop holes in magics and weakness where their appear to be none in the most powerful and corrupted beings of Eberron. Legend holds Mourne was fathered from drow and had an eladrin mother raped and taken as a slave in the Demon Web Pits deep below Khorvaire. His mother later escaped when a young Drow Male Magnus fleed to the surface escaping his own slavery as the Demon Queen Lolth longed to wrap her webs around him. Later taken by a evil cleric Cyric and sacraficed to open a gateway for the demon cult to escape the pits of the Abyss her son Mourne was left to the care of what drow on the surface had sought other paths. Mourne found the penchant for wickedness his magic demanded, but in the light he felt shame and guilt for the evils he worked. Yet in Taarn Draal, his light faltered, the city razed as the demon lord Tar’ Nel and the evil cleric Jebrix made their campaign into Droaam adn further into Breland. This affront taught him much of necromancy. He sought Jebrix out and in exchange for the tortured soul residing in the broken necromancer as a gift to Jebrix master Tar‘ Nel he learned the much hidden and darkest of magics. Armed with necromantic secrets, Mourne performed dreadful hexes and raised up legions of dead from the abundant corpses littering the city. He indulged in vices that cannot be conceived, all to sate his curiosity even as his wickedness consumed his mind. Yet for all his crimes, the lingering doubts remained and, as his evil mounted, so too did his revulsion at what he had become. Rather than accept the blame for the horror he created, he looked to Tar’ Nel and others like Jebrix as the cause of evil and his current situation. He saw in himself a pawn, moved about as the dark powers willed with little regard for how he was used. The drow Magus that had saved his mother from the demon pits returned to the city to find only Mourne left alive and he vowed that Mourne mother would be avenged as he left Mourne with this "Your so called master would discard you as he had countless others, I have seen thier evil and treachery much have you at this age and you mush know that the path you seek will only bring you more pain. You must take heed and turn your lust into a passion for revenge or be lost in the darkness forever boy." As he made his was out of the city and was nothing more then a memory Mourne fled the City to find a new haven where he could start anew. Rumored to have ventured deep into the Vile Marsh his operation now covers most of greater Khorvaire.

Here Mourne plotted revenge for wrongs done not only to him but the entire plane he called his home. Through the years he found followers who shared his visions and his anger with the will to combat the corruption across Khorvaire. In time, these followers gathered allies of their own and thus the Shades of Darkness Guild was born.

 

Organization

 

 

 

 Philosophy

“Shadow is neither good nor evil. It just is. Those who pervert the darkness for evil ends are as much our foes as are those who cleanse it to serve a greater good.”

  

To the Shades, the Shadow Marches is neither good nor evil. It is a place and nothing more. Yet it is vulnerable to incursion from the Demons and the evil that seems to pour from the wound called Demon Wastes. Only the strong can change the Shadow Marches fate in things.They fear that the Dragon God Tiamet will one day release the creature that we all will fear the Terror King , Erek Has. The god infects the lower levels of the Abyss like a cancer, but they also challenge Orcus, Doresain, and other countless evils too. The members of the Shades have no love for the Raven Queen, though, but her neutrality keeps the Shades focused elsewhere. The Raven Queen does not interfere with the organization, and she even instructs her sorrowsworn to avoid them since each success won by the Shades of Darkness helps keep her throne secure. For now Mourne has bigger evils to dispense and the later would be more grander and sweet a revenge then the direct dealings with the Raven Queen who for now is turned to his blind eye.

 

They hunt evil cultists, rooting out the secretive cabals and putting all to death. The members wage war against Doresain’s ghouls now allied with Orcus legions,also thwarting Orcus’s efforts to claim the Raven Queen’s throne. They even fight Yuan tai  serpents and assassins, watchful for the vile signs of their passing and await the next global war.

 

 

 

 Members have no room for virtue and morality, just as they despise corruption and wickedness. They want only those who can think for themselves and those who don’t let codes of conduct blind them to what needs to be done. Alignment matters not to Mourne only cause and effect on this silent war and the very best souls and the worst are among the Shades.

Shades of Darkness Benefits

 

Anyone affiliated with the Shades of Darkness is given accommodations in the Tower of Sighs when in Shadow Marches , Taarn Draal and access to its training facilities and library. The organization also keeps ritual casters on hand to perform Disenchant Magic Item, Phantom Steed, Planar Portal, Raise Dead, and other rituals at the DM’s discretion.

 

 

 

Heroic Tier:  you can request a potion of aptitude

 

Paragon Tier: You can request on scroll of Shadow Walk each level   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Epic Tier: If you die on a mission and your body can be brought back to Taarn Draal they can perform a raise dead spell ritual at no cost.

 

 

Playing a Shade

The Shades of Darkness have few missions most involve matters concerning the Shadow Marches, and the Conclave expects to receive timeliness on events. When not on official business, the organization does not interfere with their agents’ free time.

Missions

Preserving the Shadow Marches from exploitation by foreign powers is their continuing goal, but protection of the material plane from outside darkness is the foremost concern for the Shades of Darkness, and most missions involve combating those forces threatening to disrupt the material plane’s balance of good and evil. Typical missions might involve information gathering, infiltration, and assassination, artifact recovery/destroy, imprisonment of evil for interrigation. When the Conclave dispatches orders it sends the message by way of a semitransparent humanoid form made from solid darkness who reveals the mission parameters, answers relevant questions, and then melts away until nothing remains.

Advancement

The Shades of Darkness has a simple hierarchy, with agents at the bottom, intermediaries in the middle, and the Conclave at the top. Most members remain agents, regardless of actual level, because to become an intermediary requires extensive sacrifice and funds on the organization’s behalf as well as favor from the Conclave. For those seeking a post in the Conclave, they must somehow prove their worth to Mourne himself or be invited by the Conclave. What criteria they use for selection is unknown by even the intermediaries. 

Joining the Shades of Darkness The Shades of Darkness is a moderate-sized organization spread throughout the Shadow Marches, natural world, and elsewhere. Most agents work alone, hiding within other groups, adventuring parties, temples, and various sects. Isolation means agents can go years without contact many go their entire lives awaiting new orders since the last war that may never come. Others, however, find their lives undertaking mission after mission, often with little explanation for thier purpose or consequences. All members receive orders from the Conclave a grim assembly made up of shadowborn humans, shadar-kai, revenants, and at least one dhampyr. The Conclave does not often deal directly with its membership unless Mourne requests it or other people for that matter.

 

 

THE RISE OF A DEMON PRINCE

 

           It has been nearly 400 years since the wars that ripped these lands apart had finally come to a time of near peace, all races pulling back to their desired corners of this world called Eberron. Centuries of war, centuries of death and conflict with nearly every being and from nearly every plane of existence the Material World had been brought to near ruin. Conflict is still steady in everyones mind and they only wait for the pieces of war to move against them and they will bring to fight what forces they have mustered in the 100 years since the treaty of thronehold.

           It stirs, an ancient evil, far greater then the hordes of demons, the primordials or even the Gods could manage. An evil that began evil, that sprung it to life and unleashed it against the many worlds. Tiamet seeks to gain its trust by claiming the planes of existence and delivering that power to it for a boon. Can you believe it a deity, the Dragon queen herself wished to barter, to deal if you will. Why does she fear it so? What is this evil? Tiamet wages her wars of the planes and in the brink of takeover fates have turned in our favor. A message has been given that we will fight and we will not stand by to be whiped out of existence. She waits now in her fortress on the shadow plane, her forces freeing what primordials of the mortal world they can and delivering them to her as the plane of shadow squeezes in around her forcing her out. This is not where she wanted to be. Who could have altered the gates of sigil for this treachery, the demon web pits are not Lolths plaything and even though she has failed Tiamet for this she is still breathing the deity air. Deep in the abyss the lord of undead Orcus makes his way down the winding paths and darkend voids beneath Khorvaire to make a deal with Mestophelies himself for a few drops of his blood. What does the Demon Lord posess that this Devil could spare his ownselfs essence to attain it? Back in the Abyss Orcus waits for the time in the Draconic prophecies and lets flow the devil blood and the blood from his own hand to spawn a son of both Demon and Devil blood. This succubus better be strong enough... I cannot wait thousands of years for this moment to transpire again. Once complete it will be a piece to our way of living throughout the days of the upcomming darkness, a new tool for distruction.

         He is born, if that is what it is, spawned from evils bowels and nurtured in the way that demons do. He is bred for corruption and from both his fathers the mother Abyss has bred him well. He is Tar' Nel, spawn of Orcus Demon/Devil able to lead the forces from both Hell and the Abyss into battle. But he is young and oh so greedy for power that he makes his own deals and now sides against his father and assists Tiamet on her quests moving troops through the worlds to her call and waging his own wars across the continent of Khorvaire. But he is stopped by is arrogance, as it consumes him he becomes cocky, unaware and it is his demise as we are ready to fight, and we were waiting. As his essence begins to slip away the heroes remain until the end their weapons still wet with Tar'Nels black blood. Without a thought eyes peering through the blackness envelope his body in blood red scales and as the fangs of the dragon ALBRATHRAX draw in the essence of a kill not his a beller, a scream so shaking that the ground itself cracks as Orcus, father of the spawn Tar'Nel appears, unaware of the heroes of Khorvaire.

         The red serpent, He has betrayed Orcus for the last time, the look on his face when he relizes that his face still drips with Tar'Nels essence speaks minutely in an almost wisper, "it wasn't me.....". The 4th wand of Orcus hits home sending the Ancient Red Dragon nearly 100 feet away his claws digging into the muddied ground as the rains begin to come.  " it wasn't me....." as the heroes watch as Orcus begins to pommel Albrathrax their nemesis with blow after blow his life fadding in his eyes. Does he not see us? Orcus black stinger sharpened on the rocky pits of the Abyss nearly hits home directly into Albrathrax's fire lung, but it is a miss. Albrathrax looks down at the fully outstreatched tail stopped dead meer inches from his cheastplate and he can't help but laugh. A fatal mistake. As he peers down the tail to the demon lord that weilds it fear grips him as he catches Orcus's stare. He will die this day. The blow from the wand causes his eyes to go unfocused as it hits home under his chin sending his wits out of him. Orcus lands inches from his face as his grip around Albrathrax tightens and the air ceases to fill his lungs his life being drained into the Demon Lord who notices in his lifeless eyes a reflection behind him. Do his eyes deceive him or could it be true. He turns and tosses the undead corpse of Albrathrax to the side to regain what it is left with. It is them the heroes that plague his every effort to get one more piece to use in the fight to come. They stare back at him ever ready, with death in thier eyes, has he turned them into this. He can't even smile at his work, he has underestimated them yet again. They have proven to be a much better ally but would they let him leave here in more then a bag of holding in pieces.

              Do they know? I fear not and this war is not about our own bickerings of war this is the whole of things, the end of time. I will not fight them now, let them take me if they must but I cannot wait centuries for a rebirth that will not come for me if we do not fight now. They listen but of course they distrust me I am a demon lord, But they do listen I give them that they still hold on to what they belive in. We will continue our fight again when this is over. I know they will be much more then they are if they make it through this. I tell them what I know but only what they will believe or can understand, how can their minds fathom the inner workings of the worlds or the prophecies of those that created it all. I have touched those very pages I should kill them here and be done with it.... what is this.... something stops my very hand and the voice is to strong to go unnoticed. I take my dead spawn with me and my lapdog of a being Albrathrax follows quickly behind. I have much to ponder but so little time to do it. What do these heroes posess that I have been unable to aquire? Or have they yet to aquire it, but will? They will live for now, but I will not forget this act against me Demon or not he was mine to create, and mine to destroy. He had gone to far to control... Mestopholies.... he will find is was unwise to deceive me. I must find a stronger carrier of my spawn, but who? Much to ponder.

                Orcus seeps back into the Abyss to his thronehold, the crown of Aundair no longer in his posession and his bag of holding contain a meer pinch of his collection of vast resources. Let them have it he thinks, they would never research all the items uses in enough time to make them valuable to them. The crown is tainted anyways, it is a gateway into this world sapping the life of the king who wears it. And Marcus late father longs to have it upon his brow, they would never fare well to keep it from him. Foolish king, blood only tainted with the Galifar line.

 

- Location Eberron campaign setting

- continent of Khorvaire

- The realm of Aundair, city of Fairhaven

- the quest begins: The characters arrive in Aundair either together or to be joined as an adventuring group later. Upon entering the city the players notice that the city is in slight disarray from the evil stirring in the demon wastes, an evil that plots as it once did in the old wars of this world. Something stirs in the darkness in the labryith beneath surface the hordes of demons and creatures unbenounst to the world from outworldly plains are moving their pieces. It starts small a simple theft of Aundair's Royal crowns "Orb of True Sight" which the king uses as his eyes and ears of the kingdom. No matter where the players travel in the city they are expected. They are stared at, greeted with high reguard and items are at too good a price to go unnoticed. What is going on? They may ask. But the guards of Fairhaven find them as well, even if they players try to avoid them. They know, the guards, have eyes that are watching them and directing their path. One way or the other the audience with the king will come. Either by force of will or by request, they will converse with the King. It has been nearly 60 years since the treaty of thronehold and the dissapearance/death of the late king of Aundair, leaving his queen to rule with the help of her son Marcus who takes the throne. What will become of this meeting? Do travel papers come at a high price? Should the darkness that has taken Brelands royal throne drawn the adventures there for what they seek. Find out in "Kings Request" 1st lvl - 5th lvl campaign/adventure set