(Plot summary for the first few sessions of Flamekeep campaign)
Sometimes, at the beginning of the end, forces gather to stand against the inevitable darkness.
On the ancient harbor of the city of Flamekeep under the watchful eye of the single torch that gives the city its name, the first overt strikes against the civilized lands were felt. A long planned assault of the harbor took place. Gnolls secretly entered the city from the river, and from the North and the South. They were able to set the harbor patrol houses afire before any defense could be mustered. The few remaining patrolmen were ambushed and killed before they had a chance to raise the alarm.
With the patrol put almost completely out of commission in a fell stroke and with smoke rising from the district, the city guard chose to close the gates to the city proper and contain the mysterious attack. The Gnolls were unconcerned. The forces directing their actions knew that the person and the items they sought were already in the harbor district. The city guards’ actions had simply played into their hands.
The Gnolls successfully kidnapped Elander, perhaps with the help of denizens within the city. Certainly, someone struck deep into the heart of the town setting the wizard’s tower on fire. However, thanks to a handful of unsuspecting heroes, that was the only success they had at the harbor.
The Gnolls and a secret Guild working within the city also sought the Hand of Kalgus (the Plague Demon). Tales tell that when the sorceror’s turned their back on the city of Ekulon so many years ago, the magic wielders and priests who were left trapped in the plague doomed city tried to make a pact with Kalgus, to save themselves and the other dwellers of Ekulon. The demon betrayed them and only through great sacrifice was the demon held at bay, presumed destroyed. That was not the case, though its hand had been lost in the terrible battle, the beast had only been forced into a dormant state. Now, the demon’s followers seek to bring him back, but they require the hand to allow him to regain his former strength.
Trollish does not know how he ended up with the Hand on that cold morning. Certainly chaotic energies filled the air and made the unlikely at least feasible. There is no doubt he would rather not have had it, as evidenced by the fact that he has it no longer.
So it was that Euthic, an unusual servant of April; Shikan, a desertling tortured with dreams of the apocalypse; Elka, dark apprentice to the High Wizard Elander; and Chara, a mercenary out of the legendary north, were thrown together to halt the Gnoll attack on the town. What at first was a struggle to escape the conflict became a stand against the invading monsters.
The fight inevitably found its way to the pub, ‘The Dead Phoenix Inn,’ thanks mostly to the inquisitive Innkeeper, Eland. With a moment to breathe, introductions were made and
Chara delivered a package to Elka that she held for Elander, a strange inscribed disc about 3” across. As they planned their next moves, a Halfling rogue who would later betray them, arrived at the inn offering bounty for the heads of the Gnolls.
In the meantime, the Gnolls attacked the Inn from the rear cellar entrance while the Halfling was acting as a distraction. Trollish rushed in the front of the inn being tailed by more Gnolls and the Halfling made a run for it out into the streets and Elka observed him giving away their position to more Gnolls. Meanwhile, the attack within the inn awoke a travelling monk (name?) who quickly joined the fight against the monstrous beasts.
On one of the raiding barges on the river, Doomhammer, an imprisoned Half-Orc broke free of his prison and escaped, after having a short conversation with Elander and receiving an egg for Elka. The barbarian made quick work of the remaining guards on the barge and then ran out into the square to kill more Gnolls.
With most of our heroic band in place, the remainder of the battle with the Gnolls went quickly. Elka chased the Halfling into an alley followed by most of her new friends. There, the Halfling, obviously a member of some kind of secret guild or cult, confronted her. They learned that the primary goal of the Gnoll strike on the town was to retrieve a magical artifact, a skeletal hand that Trollish had found in his pocket when he awoke only a few minutes before. The Halfling offered to pay for the Hand. The heroes clearly understood the importance of the artifact and would not give it up. After much bargaining, threatening and an attempt at subterfuge, the Halfling gave up having run out of time, as the gates to the city were being reopened.
Elka received her egg from Doomhammer. The egg contained a message from Elander, asking that he be rescued and that the Hand be returned to the demon. Elander believes that the demon cannot be permanently dealt with until the creature is made whole and brought completely into this plane. The egg also contained a tiny reptilian creature, Elka’s new familiar.
With the Gnolls gone, normality is quickly restored in a City where the unusual is commonplace. A large ocean going vessel from Midion seems to worry Chara and the group finally decides to head for Elander’s tower to make plans. On their way, several of the group notice ‘Wanted’ posters with portraits that look like Chara. The Gnome notices something unusual in the market and heads over to one of the stalls in time to see and be affected by an unusual magical explosion.
At the remains of Elander’s tower, the group meet Solomon. He doesn’t seem very trustworthy at the outset. He does have reasonable claims to have been working for Elander. He offers the group the unusual document that Elander sent him in search of. It is a timeline and family tree of sorts showing the strange life path of a girl who seems to have made appearances in different decades over many centuries. It is not clear from the timeline whether the child is long-lived or she has skipped over years. Elander believed that the mysterious girl was required to vanquish the force of the Demon. Solomon had used the family tree and other evidence to determine her location, Windbrucke, in the Upland Reaches.
Euthic went home to collect supplies and ran into a couple of acolytes who told him that there had been a visitation of April at the temple and that he had been guided to protect that which would destroy the Demon. The others gathered money and supplies at the Tower. Ilka found a magical staff that, not least of which, seems to cause visions of far away places and also indicates the proximity of some kinds of creatures. They get on the road, unaware of the shadowy figure who is following them.
The band of heroes spent about four days reaching Windbrucke. Along the way, they encountered a number of caravans and traders who spread news of the developing war in The Three Kingdoms to the south and the growing difficulties in travelling. They fought off a goblin band and were reunited with their friend the gnome and a mysterious wizard.
On their last night of camping before arriving at Windbrucke, after continuing arguments about their goals, the group settle down to rest. The Wizard, the gnome, Doomhammer and Trollish disappear in another puff of chaotic magic. Shikan goes up the road to scout ahead. While the group is fractured, a Drowen ranger enters the camp and seeks to talk to Elka in private. Shikan returns and understandably miscomprehends the situation and assumes the Drowen mean trouble. He awakens the group.
The Drowen tell them that they have come to rid the group of the menace called Solomon. They know him as a double-crossing scoundrel who has killed in cold blood before, in the name of a profit. They offer, specifically to Elka, to kill him for the group. They also tell the group of a renegade Drowen who hunts Chara for bounty. After further arguing, the group decides that Solomon is too useful to them for now, but clearly he has become quite nervous about this group who are even considering turning him over to the dark elves.
Once again the group settles down to sleep. Euthic and Chara sneak off to get supplies from a local monastery known to the priest. Solomon makes his move, deciding that now is the time to break with the group but first he must deal with something. He quietly sneaks over to Shikan, dagger in hand. He is caught in the act and almost dies at the hand of Shikan. Doomhammer mysteriously reappears out of the void and always ready for violence. Solomon’s moments seem numbered, but he is not been alone. From out of the shadows an arrow flies, striking Shikan. A mysterious voice with drowen overtones order the group to release Solomon. There seems to be little choice and Solomon gets away.
Next morning, the band get back on the road and arrive at ‘The Three Barrels Inn’ in time for lunch. The inn seems to be doing a good lunch business but Elka learns that the innkeeper does not get as many overnight guests as he used to. He has a problem with thieves at night and rumors that people’s goods go missing at the inn have been spread. Several of our heroes also notice, rune like scratchings on the frame of the door to the Inn. Shikan identifies them as the markings of the church of the Seventh Prophet. His people practice this religion, but there are tales of corrupted versions of the cult being practiced outside the Windrift desert. Further rumors of war in the south are also being spread around at the inn.
The group head into town and first decides to investigate the rundown and ransacked remains of the temple of April. Within, they see a shadowy figure heading into the crypt and they follow.
The band is unsuccessfully ambushed and battle ensues with a group of gnolls, their shaman and the undead creatures it commands. They push the gnolls back, deeper into the crypt and then choose to hold off. Though, it seems strange that the bands antagonists are once again Gnolls, rarely seen, today, this is not their most important battle. They must find the child…
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