1st: Bring Him Back Alive:

        The campaign began in the southern Forgotten Realms city of Sheirtalar. The party members had separately gathered at the Stumble Inn when a wealthy merchant named Marcaeus arrived in distress asking for aid. From this, the party was formed. Their first mission was rescuing the merchant's son, Lucente, from a group of Mites led by an evil Shaman named Kamalda before Kamalda could turn the boy into a Mite.

 

2nd: The Crypt of Bethesda:

        Their second adventure begins with the party still in Sheirtalar, happening upon a murder scene in the cemetery district. Soon, the party finds themselves accused of the murder by the city guards, unless they can solve the murder themselves. Now accused of a crime they didn’t commit, some people needed help and found them. They followed the clues into the sewers and finally the Crypt of Bethesda, where the killer is revealed to be a wormwraith. The party eliminated the threat and cleared their names.

 

3rd: Against the Barrow King:

       The third adventure began with the party being contracted in the Stumble Inn to help a nearby village in need. The village elder named Obed explained that cloaked figures had come from the mists and taken their strongest men. This led the group to the underground crypt of the Barrow King. While the king was long since dead, an evil adept named Mordiggian was performing experiments in the lair. The party destroyed these villains and won the day.

 

4th: Sons of Grumsh:

       The party returned to the city of Sheirtalar to find themselves summoned by Woarston Nanther, one of the city’s most powerful and influential noble merchant houses. It seems his son and the young adult children of other noble merchant houses had been playing at adventuring the past few months. They had been exploring the surrounding areas and were now all missing. The merchant houses were offering big money if their scions (noble children) could be found and recovered. After navigating some political plots in the city, the party moved on to explore the nearby wilderness.

        Some months prior, Jurrg, an orc adept, received a vision from Grummsh, god of orc-kind. The vision promised a savior would come from the Underdark in the ruins of an abandoned gray citadel known as Xul-Jarrak. The adept and her brother awaited in this gray citadel until three Orogs arrived from the Underdark. The orcs promised to serve Thrull, the leader of the Orogs, and his brethren whom they called the Sons of Grumsh, and began raising an army at their request. This event, along with the recovery of the long-lost Hammer of Grumsh, heralded a zealous reaction from all the orc tribes in the area. Soon, a small army was occupying the Gray Citadel.

        Unfortunately, this was the same Gray Citadel that the Scion adventuring party had come upon, and now they were being held hostage. The party fought their way through the citadel and the complex underneath, killing many orcs and orc-kind. They recovered the scions and returned to Sheirtalar. After surviving a last-minute ambush and mass assassination, the party received their just reward. It was during this mission that Benny, the familiar, was slain.

 

5th: The Red Hand of Doom: Part 1: The Witchwood & the Flight of Drellin’s Ferry:     

         In the southern central Forgotten Realms beneath the Shaar lies a region known as the Cannath Vale (Elsir Vale in the elven tongue). Egress to the vale from the east comes through the city of Cannathgate, while in the west it’s the town of Drellin’s Ferry. At the center of the vale lies the capital city of Rethmar. These cities and their trade routes represent the civilized peoples and areas of the vale. Outside these regions, tribes of hobgoblins and other evil denizens have existed for centuries. Approximately 20 years ago, a warlord emerged from these tribes. His name was Azarr Khul, a half-dragon hobgoblin priest of Tiamat (Goddess of evil dragons). Over the next two decades, Azarr Khul began to gather all these disparate tribes under one banner, that of the Red Hand. A few months ago, the last holdout against the Red Hand fell. These were the Sons of Grumsh orcs based in Xul-Jarrak. Much of their upper leadership, including their master, the Orog Thrull, had been killed. Without leadership, they were defeated and later subsumed by the Red Hand. Having allied all the monstrous tribes, Azarr Khul began to use payment, coercion, and many other methods to bring the more powerful monstrous beings into his service. The mightiest captains and monsters in his army are called Wyrmlords, and each wields great power.

        At that point, he had the largest army in the vale, and soon he and his Wyrmlords set their sights upon the civilized realms of the vale.

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       Having traveled into the vale from the west, the party fell upon a large band of hobgoblin marauders ostensibly under the command of Wyrmlord Koth. The party traveled to Drellin’s Ferry to warn them of the coming danger. They became allied with Town Speaker Wiston and the Captain of the Guard, Lady Soranna Anitah. The town leaders asked for the party’s help in keeping the trade road to the west open. Lady Soranna also recommended the party seek out the woodsman Jorr if they needed aid near the Witchwood. After defeating a hydra at the Blackwater causeway, the party enlisted the aid of Jorr the woodsman to help them follow tracks into the Witchwood.

          In the depths of the Witchwood, the party came upon Vrath Keep. Here they killed many hobgoblins, a manticore, and a minotaur. Unfortunately, the bugbear sorcerer known as Wyrmlord Koth escaped. In addition, the party learned that these forces were but a small part of a much larger army. On the return trip, the party managed to befriend a very old forest giant named Warklegnaw. Warklegnaw agreed to contact his people to possibly assist the forces of good.

           The party returned to Drellin’s Ferry with the news of the impending armed invasion. It was decided that the city must be evacuated. In order to buy time for the evacuation, the party was dispatched to destroy Skullgorge Bridge. Upon reaching the bridge, the party killed hobgoblins and hellhounds but were soon set upon by the green dragon Ozyrandion. Ariel used his druidic shapeshifting ability to become an owl. This allowed him to reach a damaged area of the bridge. He then used stone shape to weaken the bridge enough to collapse it. With this, the party fled as did Ozyrandion.

                The party returned to Drellin's Ferry in time to help complete the occupation. In the days that followed, the refugees from Drellin’s Ferry and its surrounding environs made their way toward the capital city of Rethmar. Rethmar, having the largest standing army and most effective fortifications, might provide the best chance for survival against the horde. As the refugee caravan traveled, more people from smaller scattered settlements began to join. Word of monsters blocking important passes to the north trickled in. Other rumors spoke of yet another Wyrmlord inhabiting the ruined city of Rhest. The party plotted their next move as it became clear that the Red Hand of Doom, having taken Drellin’s Ferry, would now steamroll east, encompassing all the towns and cities of the Cannath Vale.

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6th: The Red Hand of Doom: Part 2: The Ruins of Rhest:

          The party was escorting the refugee caravan from Drellin’s Ferry for a few days. They would travel back and forth to explore surrounding areas. During these times, the party would have various skirmishes with outer remnants of the Red Hand Horde. They faced Hobgoblin patrols, Chimeras, Hellhounds, Ettins, Barghests, Ogres, and others. Eventually, the party elected to seek out the rumored stronghold in the swampy marshland area known as the Blackfens. It was here that the party first learned of the spawns of Tiamat.

       These were infernal abominations combining chromatic dragons with other monstrous creatures. Among the first encountered were the Blackspawn Raiders and the Greenspawn Razorfiend. They also befriended the defenders of this realm, Killiar Arrowswift, Sellyria Starsong, and the Tiri-Kitor Hunters, a small tribe of giant owl-riding wild elves inhabiting a mound called Starsong Hill.

      Finally, in the depths of the swamp, the party found the ruins of the lost city of Rhest. Inside, the party defeated Hobgoblins, Ettins, Wyrmlord Sarvith (a Goblin Scout), and a young black dragon named Regiarix. In the battle against the Black Dragon, Artemis was melting by acid before Idris could fell the dragon with an arrow. It was revealed that this was actually a lizardman lair and that the horde had brought them to obedience through violence. Once the horde members were killed, the lizardfolk agreed to help stand against the horde. In addition, the party obtained the phylactery of the Ghostlord, yet another servant of Azarr Khul. The Red Hand was still marching on the vale, but now the party was beginning to make strong moves against the horde and its leadership.

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7th: Hellbound (A Halloween Spooktacular)

       The party, having unsuccessfully negotiated with the Ghostlord, decided to head back to Rethmar, where the fate of Cannath Vale would be decided. As they were preparing to rest, the very moment Wolfe began his teleportation, they were suddenly pulled out of time and space and transported to an unfamiliar realm.

They quickly made contact with the cleric Wolfe, but were baffled by the thick fog that surrounded them. As they examined their surroundings, they noticed the large number of bones scattered at their feet, a grim indication that a massive battle had taken place here long ago.

        Before they could fully comprehend their situation, the bones began to rise, animating into skeletons. Unshaken, the party stood firm, knowing they had the mighty Paladin Imron among them. Imron used his turning power to smite the mockery of life before them. The rest of the party used their abilities to finish off the remaining undead.

Just as they were deciding their next course of action, a new wave of zombies began to crawl from their shallow graves. Undeterred by the sight of these decaying horrors, Wolfe called upon the power of Bahamut to destroy the soulless creatures in a surge of radiant energy.

But the battle was far from over. A third wave of undead emerged—this time, Bugbears, Ogres, and Minotaurs, their rotting corpses charging at the party from all directions. The clergy among the group faltered, unable to turn these new, more powerful undead. Realizing they were outmatched, the party decided to flee, though the thick fog made it impossible to know where they were going.

        As the fog began to dissipate, they saw a horde of petitioners in the distance, forcing them to change direction once again. A dilapidated tower came into view, as well as a white dragon lich standing ominously in the distance.

Before they could react, a devil lord named Pazuzu approached them. He moved with an unsettling calmness, offering parley rather than combat. His baritone voice was smooth and well-spoken. Pazuzu offered to help them return home, but only if they could solve a riddle. To sweeten the deal, he proposed that the party wager the soul of Wolfe the Pious, the good cleric of Bahamut.

  Pazuzu spoke:

       "Riddle me this:

        I twist and I turn, with words that confuse,

        I hide myself in various clues.

        If you wish to fight me, a sore head you'll have,

        or you can follow me down a long winding path.

        I am the middle of middle and also the end.

        A pencil would be better for yourself to defend.

        What am I?"

 

     The party quickly began to guess, trying to game the system, but Pazuzu didn’t react. Finally, after much deliberation, they settled on the answer: "Riddle." To their surprise, Pazuzu confirmed they were correct and handed them a magical device that would transport them back home.

      Just as they prepared to leave, the dragon lich began to descend upon them, but to their shock, it turned on Pazuzu, shouting, "YOU FOOL!" As the lich attacked, the party was transported back to where they had started the night—just in time to avoid the conflict.

Though they were safe, they had earned the enmity of the devil lord Pazuzu and were left with more questions than answers.

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8th: The Red Hand of Doom: Part 3: The Ghostlord’s Tower:

           The party next traveled into the Thornwaste to assault the tower of the Ghostlord. They felt they had the upper hand as they were in possession of his phylactery (a magical life-essence containing item). Inside, they faced Varanthian the fiendish Behir, two Ghost Brute Dire Lions, dozens of hobgoblins, a large Gray Ooze, Doom Fist Monks, Doom Hand Clerics, Wyrmlord Ulwai Stormcaller, Ghost Dire Lions, Lesser Bonedrinkers, and eventually the Ghostlord. An attempt to make a deal with the Ghostlord failed, and he escaped. Soon, the party was contacted by Lord Jarmanth of Rethmar, who sought their aid as an attack on the capital city seemed imminent.

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9th: The Red Hand of Doom: Part 4: The Enemy at the Gates:

10th: The Red Hand of Doom: Part 5: The Final Confrontation: