Cormyr, once a thriving and secure kingdom, has fallen on hard times. First the wyrm Nalavarauthatoryl attempted to reap her vengeance on the kingdom through terror and by coaxing orcs and goblins from their dark holes to terrorize the land. Only the mobilization of the kingdom's army and the self sacrifice of Cormyr's king, Azoun IV, to destroy Nalavarauthatoryl, saved the land from her wrath. In the power vacuum the nobles started to plot and fracture to fill the void. To make matters worse, the horseman Famine joined War as crops failed, farms were destroyed, and food became scarce. The kingdom soldiers on; fighting the good fight and battling to bring prosperity back to its people. It is the late summer of 1374 DR. You find yourself arriving at the port of Urmlaspyr in Sembia. Cormyr is a few score of leagues to the west and many adventurers and groups are converging on the kingdom to seek their fortune, gain some fame, or to show off or hone their skills. The journey onboard has been uneventful and several other adventurers are also traveling aboard the ship. You're all on a similar journey, and realizing there is safety in numbers, a group of you have decided to band together to journey west.

Campaign Information -

Errata & Updates:

None at this time.

CHARACTER CREATION GUIDELINES -

The method will be 4d6. You may roll three sets of six attributes, choose one set, and place the scores into your desired abilities. Characters get maximum HP at first level. Additional level HPs will be gained by rolling the appropriate die for the character class. We will be starting with characters no higher than ECL 3. The total of a character's equipment and money is not to exceed the value from table 5.1 in the DMG based on your character's class level(s).

Variant Rules -

Death from Massive Damage will be used. I forget to use this a lot. Please remind me all the time. Players always remind me when they inflict it, but never remind me when they receive it!

Critical Kills will be used. If the initial attack roll is a natural 20 and the confirm roll is also a natural 20, a third roll is allowed with the same bonuses. If the third roll breaches the target's AC, a critical kill will be scored. This only matters for creatures that are effected by criticals. If the target is immune to criticals, and a critical kill is rolled, I allow critical damage to be applied.

House Rules -

Character Death Rule: If a character dies and the player wants to start with a new character, the new character will be created at two levels below the original character bounded by the party's lowest level less 2. Example: If the party is at 3, 4, 5, 5 and one of the 5's dies, the new character would be at level 3. However if the 3 died, the remaining party is a 4, 5, 5 which means the lowest limit is now 4-2=2, not the 1 that 3-2 would yield. There is a lot of discussion (read complaining) about this rule. I do it to discourage the practice of having a character die and creating a new character to avoid the level loss with raising or res'ing. Dying comes with a penalty in this game, so this rule is to mitigate players starting anew because it is easier and more advantageous to do so.

New Player Rule: New player characters join the campaign at the average of the party's levels (rounded to the nearest whole number) less two level. Example: The party is 3, 4, 5, 5. The average is 4.25, which rounds to 4 so the new player is at 2. If the party had been 4, 4, 5, 5; the average is 4.5 which rounds to 5 so the new player would start at level 3.

I'm egregiously stealing the following House Roles from fellow DMs

FATE POINTS -

A character can gain fate points in the following ways: At character creation they start with 3. When gaining a level, the experience over and above what was needed to gain the level is sacrificed so a fate point can also be gained with the level (i.e. on gaining 4th level, Jane ends the session with 11025 xp. 4th level was gained at 10000 xp. If Jane wants, she can sacrifice 1025 xp to gain a fate point). This can only be done immediately after gaining the new level. They can be spent in the following ways: To change the result of a die roll to whatever the player chooses. This change can be made at anytime but must be declared before the players makes another roll. (i.e. you can see if the roll was successful or not before using the fate point) To negate all attacks against your character from a single foe during a specific initiative round. Say on initiative 12 the BBEG and two of his minions go. One of the minions tags you with a crit and the BBEG unloads on you with three attacks. The result is the BBEG attacks took you to negatives and the crit would then slay you. After the segment is done, you may spend a fate point to negate either opponent's attack(s). Once the fate point is used it's as if the attack(s) simply missed. At any time your character can spend a fate point to step out of time and take a full round action. You may use this to try to keep an ally from dying, to try to do one last assault on a foe to defeat them, to cast a spell, or anything your character can do. You may spend multiple fate points but cannot use them for the same action. If you step out of time to do a full attack, you can then step out of time to cast a spell or save an ally but not to do another full attack. Once another player has taken their regular turn, you may freely choose your step out of time action. Fate points may be turned in for gold, the amount of gold is equal to the square of the number of fate points spent x 1000. (i.e. 1=1k, 2=4k, 3=9k, etc.) You can spend two fate points to give another player one fate point. Treat this as a swift action.

FEAT EMULATION POINTS -

Characters get a number of FEPs equal to their ECL when gaining a new level. These points do not carry over to new levels. You may spend one FEP to gain the abilities of a given feat for one turn. You must meet all the prerequisites for the temporary feat, but can use multiple FEPs for a stacking effect. Example: John the wizard is caught with only his dagger in a fight against goblins. He is very strong thanks to a Bull's Strength spell but can't do much as a wizard. He decides to use three FEPs to give him Power Attack, Cleave, and Great Cleave. For the next turn he can subtract from his to hit bonus to add to his damage bonus, attack other threatened enemies if he kills an opponent, and continue to attack as long as he scores a killing blow.

Deities

Bane: God of Fear, Hatred, and Tyranny. Bane is considered the patron deity of Zhentil Keep. Bane, was believed destroyed after the Time of Troubles, but was resurrected by subsuming his son's body. Bane is opposed by the deities of The Triad, as well as Helm, Lathander, Mystra, and Oghma.

Mystra: God of Magic. Mystra is in control of the Weave, her construct to harness the raw power of Faerûn's magic so that mortals and gods alike can craft their spells.

Shar: The Mistress of the Night. Counterpart to her twin Selûne, she presides over caverns, darkness, dungeons, forgetfulness, loss, night, secrets, and the Underdark. Among her array of twisted powers is the ability to see everything that lies or happens in the dark. She is the creator of the Shadow Weave, her opposite counterpart of and antithesis to the Weave.

Geography

Cormanthor: A large woodland located from the southern shore of the Moonsea and extending south east to the western shore of the Sea of Fallen Stars. Home to the ancient elven kingdom, Cormanthyr, this region is revered by elves, coveted by drow, humans, and those seeking its riches.

Dragonmere: An arm of the Sea of Fallen Stars, the Dragonmere extends scores of miles west into the continent giving this portion of Faerûn access to the Sea of Fallen Stars.

Moonsea: A freshwater inland sea to the north of Cormanthor, it is connected to the Sea of Fallen Stars through the River Lis. It is surrounded by many kingdoms in the North, including Zhentil Keep.

Sea of Fallen Stars: This large inland sea is the conduit for trade within the heart of Faerûn. It has many reaches to the east and west, north and south, allowing the efficient transport of goods by water.

Vast Swamp: The Vast Swamp is an area of amalgamated bogs, marshes, and true swampland that acts as a de-facto border between Cormyr to its west and Sembia to its east. It is flanked to the north by the Thunder Peaks mountains and to the south by the Dragonmere. The terrain is dominated by wetlands and aquatic vegetation with little clear dry land to be found anywhere within its borders. Black gum, cypress, water ash, water birch and willow trees choke the region making it appear more like a flooded forest than an actual swamp. Stunted oaks and broadleaf trees surround its borders. Fog from the Dragonmere coast rolls north into the swamp constantly shrouding the area with a murky mist. Even on the clearest of days the swamp seems coated with a thin haze making it difficult to see more than a mile. Other features of the swamp are the disease-carrying insects, noxious clouds of gases, patches of quicksand, the bone-chilling rain that falls, and the creatures that call the swamp their home. The Vast Swamp is the source of the Darkflow, a river which flows from the Vast Swamp south into the Dragonmere and forms part of the border between Cormyr and Sembia.

History

Time of Troubles: In 1358 DR, the deities of Bane and Myrkul stole the Tablets of Fate from the over deity, Lord Ao. Lord Ao's punishment was to reduce the Faerûnian pantheon to mortal avatars until the tablets were returned. Though powerful, the avatars were mortal and many deaths among the deities were caused until the tablets were returned.

People

Alusair Obarskyr: The Steel Regent. Alusair is using her position to restore Cormyr's status as a leading power in the region. She is an accomplished tactician and seasoned adventurer.

Political

Battlerise: A small settlement very near Cormyr's eastern border with Sembia. Recently, Battlerise has become a forward base in the kingdom's efforts to rid its lands of marauding creatures in the aftermath of the Goblin Wars. Many adventuring parties are staging out of the small settlement and focusing their efforts on the Vast Swamp.

Cormyr: One of the few long-lasting monarchies in the region, Cormyr is ruled by the Azoun family. The current king is Azoun V but his rule is currently advised by a regent as he is still an infant. His father, Azoun IV, perished during the Goblin War by killing Nalavarauthatoryl, the elf-dragon, at the cost of his own life. The war was ended but Cormyr's victory was Pyrrhic with the death of its king. While the war is over, the kingdom is still rife with isolated bands of marauding orcs and goblins, nobles squabbling over the power vacuum following Azoun IV's death, and pressures from Sembia, Zhentil Keep, and the the Shadovar kingdom to its north.

Daerlun: The westernmost of Sembia's metropolises, Daerlun (pop: 52,477) enjoys the closest relations with Cormyr. Centuries of intermarriage and tight trading contacts with their neighbor to the west have provided the citizens of Daerlun with a blend of Sembian business acumen and Cormyrian warmth and courtesy. Cormyrian traders who can't stomach interacting with other Sembians feel comfortable in Daerlun, a fact that the Daerlun traders are quick to exploit.

Dalelands, The: A loose gathering of small communities. The Dalelands boast about a dozen small areas that are allied by common causes and ideals. While the communities politics are not always aligned, they do maintain their loose affiliation for trade, protection, and a common identity.

Sembia: An plutocracy and oligarchy (a plutarchy) of merchants. While steadfastly neutral in the politics of the region, it's merchant underpinnings feed a rich black market of information, goods, and services. Money rules here and if the price is right, even morality can be bought or swayed.

Urmlaspyr: A Sembian metropolis port city (pop: 26,239) located on the north shore of the Dragonmere, Urmlaspyr is near Sembia's western border with Cormyr.

Wheloon: Wheloon is a town (pop: 6,692) at the junction of the Wyvernflow River and the Way of the Manticore in southeastern Cormyr. It straddles the river though the 'center' of town lies on the Wyvernflow's west bank. Until the Goblin War, Wheloon was only lightly populated but refugees from Arabel have changed that causing a small population explosion. Most of the city's inhabitants are hardworking craftsfolk who enjoy their lives. Wheloon is also noteworthy for its roofs. Bright green slate is almost exclusively used mined from the nation's largest quarry situated not far to the north of the city.

Zhentil Keep: The cradle of the Zhentarim. Zhentil Keep is a city state on the far western shore of the Moonsea. While its power has waxed and waned, the city has seen its share of boom and bust. Currently it is being rebuilt and expanded as the Zhentarim are once again gaining in power.

General

Tablets of Fate: Created by the over deity, Lord Ao, the tablets were made to sustain a balance between Good and Evil, Law and Chaos, and to limit the areas of which the Faerûnian pantheon could control. They were stolen from Lord Ao in 1358 DR, causing the Time of Troubles.

04/11/2011
The group followed a sign from Azuth, which lead them to a wooded knoll. A stone plinth there marked an ancient sarcophagus, but the party found that the site was guarded! Hiding in an illusion of a great oak tree, a colossal black dragon skeleton prevented their entry into the tomb. Their hard fought victory allowed them to open the sarcophagus to investigate.


04/18/2011
The group entered the tomb of the lord of Shadowdale and his wife (Lord Aumry Obyrskyr and Anastra Sylune Silverhand), fought a strange magic eating creature, and freed Sylune, the Ghost Witch of Shadowdale, from her prison. They learned that Shar was again at work to unravel the weave and that both the Zhentarim and the drow were at work in the subjugation of Shadowdale. Sylune's warning pointed to dark rituals occurring at Castle Kragg and of drow incursions into the Twisted Tower.
Below is what Sylune said to the group after freeibg her from her crypt and before she bestowed on you her boon (the kiss):

"My time grows short as Mystra calls me home, but I shall do what I can to contain the unwinding of the weave. I hope you shall use what time I can buy you to end Shar's dark ritual and to free my beloved Shadowdale.

Take up the staff and the cloak of my beloved and use them to throw off the shackles of the Black Network. There is a portal in the newly risen Castle Krag through which the Zhentarim can summon reinforcements. The Lady of Loss works her dark ritual in secret beyond the Grinding Gulf. Look to the Realms Below for a way into the heart of the Twisted Tower, but beware the remnants of Maerimydra.

The dalesfolk shall rally to your cause if you show them you are leaders worthy of the true pendant of Ashaba!"


07/06/2011
The party fought its way into Castle Kragg, fought many Shadow Mastiffs, and investigated a couple of rooms. Still numerous doors and a hallway to a stairway lay unexplored before them.


07/26/2011
The party delved deep into the lower level of Castle Kragg. Though a cleric of Bane managed to escape, the group defeated the Dread Wight Jyordhan and blocked a portal to Zhentil Keep that the Black Network was using to keep their army, occupying Shadowdale, supplied and up to strength. Their exploring of Castle Kragg having nowhere obvious to continue, the group has paused to take stock on where to proceed.


08/09/2011
Ascending from the catacombs, the party discovered another adventurer with a message for Belnan! Stranded after delivering his letter, the wayward adventurer joined the group.
Exiting the tower, their work was not done, for the golems they fought on their entrance had been freed! However, with their new members, GoCI was able to secure the keep.
They moved cautiously into town and found that they blended in with the groups of mercenaries that were, in part, occupying Shadowdale. Picking a fight in the Skull Inn did not bring the wrath of the Zhentarim upon them but did get them a contact in the Dale's underground...


08/16/2011
The group decided to investigate the Twisted Tower but discovered it was heavily guarded and warded. However, they did notice a group of robed figures, leaving the tower, and traveling to Fox Ridge. Following their path they came across an ancient tomb and began to delve it for its secrets. After crossing an extremely harrowing chasm, filled with levitating tumbling boulders, Grugg bid the party to continue as he would stay behind as a rear guard. Somehow the group knows they will not see Grugg again!


08/30/2011
Finding a well disguised cave entrance the party discovered an alcove to a door flanked by two statues. One of the statues was of exquisite workmanship and caught the group's attention. Through magic they changed the statue to flesh to discover it was a petrified adventurer. Calling itself Choppa, it joined GoCI.

Entering the doors another room full of statues was found and doors on the other three walls. The far door revealed a room full of illusions: a door, an alcove and a beholder! The other door was an opulent room that housed an ambassador, a sophisticated lady and her retinue. The group discussed things with her before leaving. The ambassador suggested the party look to "the night below" for the answers they sought.

The final door led to a descending stairwell. Many hundreds of feet it descended until it opened onto a system of tunnels. A soft glow drew them to a large cavern, where some drow were camped before a large set of bas-reliefed double doors. Drow being what they are, the party attacked and was victorious.

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Displacer Beast:
Description:
The displacer beast is a stealthy and savage carnivore that resembles a large feline with blue-black fur, six legs, and a body that is lithe and muscular. A pair of tentacles sprout from its shoulders and end in horny-ridged pads. A displacer beast is the size of a Bengal tiger, about 9 feet long and weighing about 500 pounds. The displacer beast, due to its magical nature, has a light bending glammer that has it appear to shimmer and makes it harder to hit with melee or ranged attacks.
Society:
None

Dragon, Chromatic:
Description:
These immense, reptile like, creatures have large muscular bodies, maws filled with piercing teeth, claws that tear and rend flesh, tails that batter and crush, wings that buffet and propel their great bodies through the air, scales harder than armor, and spew destruction from their mouths with awesome breath weapons. Most are possessed of awesome intelligence and a proclivity to magic. They consider themselves at the apex of evolution and the summit of mortal achievement.
Society:
Said to be the spawn of their dark Dragon God, the chromatic dragons are generally evil. They tend to live solitary lives, choosing their lairs away from humanoid civilization. With their extremely long life spans, dragons do gather great hordes of items, baubles, and treasure, which most guard jealously. Bargaining with a chromatic dragon is difficult but not impossible. The negative side of such a deal though, often involves the dragon getting its way and a free meal or two in the bargain.

Goblins:
Description:
Goblins are a small humanoid race. They average 3 to 3 ½ feet (91 - 106 cm) in height and weigh 40 to 45 pounds (21 - 24 kg). They are bipedal and their arms reach down to their knees. The race is known to have red to yellow eyes that are usually dull and glazed. Their broad nose sits on a flat face above a broad mouth with small, sharp fangs and their ears are pointed. A goblins skin pigment ranges from a deep red through nearly any shade of orange to yellow. Though there are many variations, members of the same tribe tend to have the same build, skin color, and height.
Society:
Goblins usually live in patriarchal tribes, ruled by the strongest goblin. It is common for non-goblinoids to rule goblin tribes. The tribes vary in size from gangs of 4-9 to groups of more than 100. Larger tribes have ben known to domesticate wolves or even dire wolves as mounts, or ally themselves with worgs, which also carry them into battle. Goblin tribes are known to settle near civilized areas to raid for food and supplies.

Orcs:
Description:
Orcs are humanoid carnivores, standing approximately 6' and weighing from 180 to 280 lbs. They are easily noticeable due to their features: green to gray skin, lupine ears, exposed lower canines resembling boar tusks, and muscular builds. Orcs often stand in a bent over shape making them appear more bestial than human.
Society:
Orcs live in a patriarchal society, taking pride on how many females and male children they have. Often bestial and savage, orcs band together in tribes, living on hunting and raiding. Believing that the only way to survive is by expanding their territories, they have developed enmities with many other races: dwarves, elves, humans, gnomes, halflings, as well as goblinoids and other orc tribes. Even though they can have good relationships with other evil humanoids, their chaotic nature stops them from fully cooperating unless forced to do so by a powerful leader. Orcs like scars and take pride in exposing them, whether they are of a victory or loss.

Wolf, Dire:
Description:
These animals are larger, more feral, more savage versions of their common kin. Usually of large size, Dire Wolves are powerful and cunning hunters. Using their size and speed they can close quickly and bring down their prey with powerful bite attacks and their trip ability. Generally having mottled gray or brown fur, Dire Wolves attack with many large fangs and boney spurs that protrude from their shoulders, upper legs, and neck.

Society:
Dire Wolves are often solitary animals as their temperment does not fit well with typical pack social structures. However, particullarly viscious specimens can maintain the subserviance of others of their kind and command a pack of as many as two dozen animals.

Zombies:
Description:
Zombies are corpses reanimated through dark and sinister magic. These mindless automatons shamble about, doing their creator's bidding without fear or hesitation. Zombies are not pleasant to look upon. Drawn from their graves, half decayed and partially consumed by worms, they wear the tattered remains of their burial clothes. A rank odor of death hangs heavy in the air around them. Because of their utter lack of intelligence, the instructions given to a newly created zombie must be very simple.
Society:
None