Summaries

Castle Rend: The Orcs that killed the Baroness are held up in Castle Rend outside of Gravesford. 'The Rend' is a forest that is technically outside of Suu and is just considered 'off limits' due to unknown dangers that lurk there. The Orcs have captured Edmund Suu, last surviving member of the Suu family. He would be the rightful heir, even though he is a male (Suu typically has a baroness, but if there is only a male heir it would fall to him). One of Lord Saxton's knights is also looking for the Orcs, he wants to gain more favor with his Lord. The players have the chance to clear the castle of the Orcs or negotiate for them to vacate, they will also have to decide what to do with Edmund. The knight will also eventually come for the Orcs and/or the party and assault the castle. The spirits of Blue Dragonborn knights also haunt the place... more on that in another section. Raxivort: Having an heir to the barony of Suu in the open could worry you, if you find out about it. Also, the presence of the Blue Dragonborn spirits would be a red flag if you hear about it. If the party could somehow create new bodies for them to inhabit it would be a powerful force for Torm to rally against you.   Dragonborn Ascendancy: I just put this together this week. I had the players each pre-roll on the follower charts (I'm using Matt Colvill's Strongholds & Followers book) so I knew what to prep. They don't know what the rolls were for. Sparhawk will be getting a Dragonborn Ambassador, so I fleshed them out real quick. They are a whole society dedicated to inward quests. They are monastic and seek self-improvement and enlightenment. They have no gods and even believe actual dragons to be myth. They are 'gemstone' dragonborn, who have a slant to INT and WIS, and also possess minor psionic abilities instead of breath weapons. They typically are isolationists and do not interact with the other races, except they do play a 'watcher' type roll over the Primal Island. They feel some responsibility to the balance there since their Metallic Dragonborn kin inhabit it. As far as they know, Chromatic Dragonborn do not exist. They have recently had issues with White Tusk orcs in their western reaches, therefore they sent an envoy to Suu Keep. They arrived just after the coup and Lord Saxton (being a Human supremacist) insulted them and threw them from his court. They were ambushed on their return trip, most of the envoy being killed, and the Ambassador was captured by the Orcs and taken to Castle Rend. Raxitvort: A society that doesn't worship a god and has powers not derived from arcana or divinity would be worrisome.   The Green Knight: Hope will be receiving the service of The Green Knight if they take Castle Rend. He was a faithful servant of Melora near the end of 'the kingdom that was'. During the time that the gods were under attack, Melora focused as much of her energy into him as she could, without notice. This transformed him into what he is now... His skin is living wood armor and he can commune with the trees of Forest Rend. He is basically a Tree Golem Paladin (Oath of Ancients). The event messed with his memory and he has been alive for so long he doesn't remember who he was or how he came to be, just alway was. He has acted as a protector to the forest for over a thousand years and is one of the reasons the forest is 'off limits'. He was captured by the Orcs when he tried to drive them out. He will be drawn to Hope due to her connection to Melora. Raxivort: Little interest, except that he harbors some of Melora's divine power.   Winter Eladrin: Caelynn will be receiving the service of a unit of Winter Eladrin infantry, known as Blizzard Company. I plan on describing them like the White Walkers of GoT. The story will be that Erravan has been hopping planes and was in the Fey Wild for a time. They owed him a favor so he sent them to Caelynn to give aid if needed. (If Erravan ever shows back up I plan on it being years since he left, from his perspective.) Raxivort: Only concern if you learn of this is that the party is making connections on other planes.   Firbolg Fungus: This plot isn't 100% planned out, but I have a basic outline in my head. The fungus seems like a threat, and it technically is, but it was sent by Melora. They don't remember, but the Firbolg were created by Melora (her children) and their grove still has her essence (that the power they protect). She knows what could infest the wood so she created the fungus and seized an opportunity to send it from Shadowfell to the grove. She did so hoping one or more of her children would step up and follow the trail. They could find and release Melora from her prison. Thinking maybe Raxivort or the Lord of Shadowfell imprisoned her with some type of fungus which she manipulated for her own goals.... Raxivort: Obviously, Melora is one of the more powerful gods you imprisoned and her escape would be a major blow to your plans, but she is a more neutral god who just wants to be free. She's more likely to empower someone to fight on her behalf than fight herself.   Torm, The Vigilant Shield, and the Blue Dragon Phalanx: I see Torm as the main god in the 'Last Great Age'. The Vigilant Shield were a major force in the realm and held up the Kingdom on their good works. The lineage of Kings were also wise and benevolent, but much of that can be attributed to the counsel of the order. During their reign it was a time of peace for around 1000 years. Them losing their power (Torm being cut off) would have sent the Kingdom spiraling. The Blue Dragon Phalanx were an artificially created race of Dragonborn with blue scales. They were created using a mixture of natural, arcane, and divine energies (druid, wizard, cleric), and imbued with life by the grace of Torm. They acted as the personal guard to the King, unmatched in their loyalty. They could not reproduce. When a Blue Dragonborn died, their soul was transferred into a new body in a sacred ritual. Outside of the capital (Caldoon), they were gifted Castle Rend as their home. The spirits of these dragonborn remain in Castle Rend. If new bodies can somehow be created these spirits could live again. Raxivort: You know what power they held in 'the kingdom that was' and absolutely do not want their return. The capture of Torm is your greatest achievement and is what allowed you to move forward with your plans. You keep a close eye on him now and will move him from Shadowfell if the situation becomes dire.   Sealynn of Ravenwood: Due to the time dilation of Shadowfell she has been working for a LONG time as an enforcer in Shadowfell, growing her power, but also constantly reminded by the Lord of Shadowfell of her slave-like status. Her persona is known in Shadowfell as 'The Raven Sister'. My thought is that if the party meets her, realizes who she is/befriends her, and they are able to overthrow the Lord of Shadowfell, she will try to claim the throne and become 'The Raven Queen', and at that point I plan on giving Caelynn the option of changing her Cleric level(s) to Warlock (Raven Queen Patron). Raxivort: If Sealynn takes the Shadowfell throne it would be slightly troubling, but you still have a contract/agreement with her. In order to keep Caelynn safe she will not act against you, but she may not be as subservient/helpful as the previous rulers. You may need to get any gods you still have imprisoned out of Shadowfell for safe keeping.     The World Below: The Council of the Trinity has a deal with the Duergar and Illithid to take arcane magic users into the 'world below'. The Council sees this as a way to remove arcane power from the world, leaving divine as the sole source. They don't know or don't care why they are willing to take them. The reason is basically the 'Night Below' adventure that Matt Colville uses... the Illithid and Deurgar work for Aboleths deep in the 'world below'. The 'world below' is actually another dimension that you get to by going through the traditional underdark. The Aboleths are creating a 'machine' to dominate the material plane and take control by amplifying their psionic powers. The arcane powers of those captured fuel the machine. The party is in possession of a relic that the Aboleth need to complete their machine (taken from the victory over Kalarel). There have been a couple 'tests' of the machine, but unfocused, and the party has no idea what it is. They hear a weird sound, make a WIS save, and anyone who fails goes glassy-eyed for a few moments. The players do not currently have a direct thread into this plot, and may not act on it. It's possible that Ezra, Sparhawk's follower, could be captured because he's currently with the artifact and he's an Eldritch Knight. That may spur them into this plot. Raxivort: If you find out about the Aboleth's and their plan it's a HUGE problem. You don't really understand Psionics, but know that they could erase much of your power base. You may actually want to help the party if you find out and can offer it.   Lord Saxton: Lord Saxton is a human supremacist, highly intelligent, and ambitious, but is just a man. Through his place in the Suu court he found out about the Council's deal with the Duergar. He also perceived the Baroness' pull back from the Council's counsel, and saw it as a time to act. He knew the Council of the Trinity would not fight his claim of Regent if they thought he was bringing Suu 'back into the fold'. He does NOT trust the deal with the Duergar though (mostly due to his human centric ideals), so he contracted Black Thorn mercenaries to assist with the rounding up of arcane slaves. This was actually a 'undercover' mission for him to learn about the true plans. He knows there is a grave threat to the realm and is using it as a rationale to fuel his take over. He wants to build up Suu's military might and has designs to unify the baronies all under the guise of dealing with this threat, but he really just wants power. Raxivort: Lord Saxton isn't a direct follower of yours, he started as a simple pawn. He could be a valuable asset given the right choices.   Mars: He is based on my character from another campaign. He's a lower level demi-god, making him easy to control. He really just loves war and causing war. His physical form is a red dragonborn with powers similar to conquest paladin. His followers in Kaan are already military minded, and he will be whispering in their ear as Suu's coup is going on, causing them to ramp up preparations and send troops to the borders. Raxivort: You chose wisely with this one, he is easy to please and could prove valuable as larger battles loom on the horizon.   Yuzzhan: She is based on another of my characters for yet another campaign ;). She is a Yuan-ti Divine(evil) Sorcerer/Death Cleric. She is adept at infiltration and influence. She has a preference for psychic damage. For Kurt I see her as nourishing paranoia among the people there, making them think that the other baronies want what they have and sowing distrust of non-humans, but in subversive ways (not the bold xenophobia of Kaan). Raxivort: Feel free to expand on this. Willing to change for something better.