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the-storm-chaser · 11 days ago

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The Accursed Flame

Plot (Will be updating as the campaign progresses) With mentions of @facemeandperish and @akrahan

-The curse is caused by Terrorforger, a Red Dragon who was somewhat responsible for the razing of Luskan (The how or why is unknown currently)

-The curse inhabited the burn for several years, but remained dormant, being supressed by a specific burn salve. Any recent development was triggered by Swiftkiller, Sky and Akmos finding Terrorforger on a reconosance mission, to which the salve stopped working...in which Sky gave up using it.

-Once the curse was revealed to the party, Bean suggested that Sky was a Dragon's 'Chosen', something that he had apparently seen before or at least knew about.

-Benno, the party's paladin, tried to remove the curse. This was unsuccessful, with Terrorforger's Will (?) intervening. The will's visual is a giant dragon eye in the void.

-Panicking that Terrorforger could 'see' Sky, she decided to leave the group, using the party's dilema of multiple objectives to her advantage. Akmos gifted her a braclet, one that could sheild her mind from the dragon (and anything else that tried to access it) but it wasn't built to last, being instructed to break it if needs be.

-Sky went to go find Chik, an old friend of the party who was an expert crafter of Chardylin, a mysterious metal with fiendish properties from the hells. She found him in his forge, promptly leaving as to try to flee from the Cult's clutches

-On the road, the pair worked together to forge Raze - Terror's Bane. The blade was made by melting down her previous blades (a shortsword and a Dragon Slayer blade), half plate (Gifted by Benno which was bought from Absolem of Geldaneth) and some chardilyn.

-Whilst on the road, Sky noticed changes to her physical form. First, scales began to sprout over her body, covering the burn and any previous scars first. Then, a dual pair of horns began to grow from her head, along with her ears morphing into fans. Her teeth grew more fang-like and her nails grew into claws. Lastly, her eyes were covered in flame, mimicking that of a dragon's. All of the above caused untold pain to the lass, lasting several weeks while on the road.

-The changes (namely the scales) caused shredding to her previous clothing, as well as a change in mentality in the girl, what little confidence the woman had dropping further. It was at this point she realised that no one would believe her if she claimed to be Sky, so she had the idea to take another name. Buying a cheap shroud and mask on the road, she took the name Fran, shortened from her middle-name Francesca (Her mother's suggestion).

-Before returning to Akmo's inn, the pair where caught off guard by Fefnir, the Forge Cleric aligned with the Nameless God (an entity wanting to return the world to nothing). Fran tried to protect the Kobold from the cleric, but she wasn't able to, the cleric being resistant to the flames. Chik was taken, and Fran returned to the Inn empty-handed, panicking while explaining to a very confused Akmos what happened.

-When returning to the party, she was cryptic as to who she was, not wanting to worry the group by her changes. She introduced herself as They/Them, as well as a tiefling, depsite her having no tail. She also lied about her alliances, saying that she was an ex-Harper from Mirabar. The party didn't question it as they had just lost their companion Absolem to Fefnir, but it was a lie based on elements of truth, having been to Mirabar a lot as a child/teen.

-Fran knew the location of Terrorforger's base, and aided the group in trying to return to the place where chik was taken. It was during this journey that the party learned that she could not hear Rice, a Skirja (White 10ft tall yak belonging to Bean) who communicates via telepathic means. Swiftkiller can choose to not accept this magic, but Fran just can't.

-The party almost reach the location, but are then caught in a portion of the Sea of Souls, Fran succumbing to it's pull first (Despite Akrahan's best attempts at keeping her back.) Away from the party, she met the soul of her dead mother, Celene, to which she lowered her mask to talk. Celene confirmed her previous allegiance to the Cult, but left on her own volition, apologising to Sky about the 'mess she got left behind to deal with'. Sky didn't care about that, just happy that she got to formally say goodbye to her after the tragedy, although she did question why she left the Cult. Celene was able to mention 'Nethrava' before fading back to the Sea of Souls, it then splitting around her to reveal the rest of the party having similar experiences.

-In the clearing, there was a greater spirit, to which Fran wrongly accused it of 'playing with the souls of the dead'. Luckily, she was able to recognise it meant to help them, not hurt them, but not before Swiftkiller and Lars realised who she was with her mask lowered. Both kept quiet, and listened to the spirit's request to repair the sea of souls, to which it had been damaged by an outside force...and was affecting the Hells. The group were able to journey to a tear in the Planes, which led directly to Gehenna, a city in Avernus.

-Entering Avernus, Swiftkiller pulled Fran to the side, admitting he knew her true nature, as 'Cousin' (Previously established as Sky had some ties to the Griffin Rider's, a Goliath clan she had assisted a couple of years prior). While she didn't know why she had become what she had, she promised she would come clean when the time was right. She then noted his eye had changed colour since visiting the Sea of Souls, something he hadn't realised himself and only she had.

-The party were greeted by Hell machines, to which Fran oneshot one, with some of the others Hijacking another to use as a form of transport in Avernus. When Fran reached the machine, whiles she was not outright able to identify the metal, the party were able to connect the dots that these were made of Chardilyn, and were of Chik's handiwork. Immediately concerned, the party clambered onto the machine and headed to the city, Sir driving them there.

-Reaching Gehenna, the group explored the city, noting the different districts in the city related to the seven sins. They found a collesium in the Wrath district, and visited the Pride district to which....Swiftkiller's demeanor changed.

-After some incredible showmanship between Sir's driving skills and Akrahan's Charismatic advertisement, the group were able to gain Remos, the Pride baron's attention. The group were given a deal to contemplate, but not before Akrahan and Fran made the observation that Remos looks very similar to Akmos, and he was infact the Tiefling's father. He was clearly not happy about it, but allowed the group to take the night to contemplate an allianceship deal.

-Swiftkiller had a revalation, and demanded to talk with the group in private, Bean weaving a silken Tiny Hut. Within the walls, Swiftkiller demanded that Fran kill him, having been fooled by the Pride baron into thinking he was Vanua, one of the Goliath pantheon to which he swore an oath to after his clan were destroyed by the cultists. He revealed he saw his family in the Sea of Souls, which aided in the revalation, to which Fran pointed out that if they had forgiven him, then so would she, and the rest of them. It was at this point that Akrahan and the other's realised that Fran was in fact Sky, as she was the only one to call Swiftkiller 'Cousin', and she didn't deny this.

-As Swiftkiller's bond with Pride was broken and reforged with Tyr and the Goliath Pantheon, Sir quite rightly questioned who Sky was as it was their first time hearing the name, having joined the party during her dissapearance. Sky came clean as to why she called herself Fran, and her true intention of joining the party. Firstly, to learn more about the Cultists and why her mother left. And secondly, to figure out who or what was responsible for the tragedy in Luskan, and try to bring the culprit to justice. She made the same demand as Swiftkiller (now known as Tribeguard), to kill her if they didn't trust her, but Benno scolded the 'Cousins' knowing their conviction and alliances laid with the party, and they didn't need to prove themselves anymore than they already had. Tribegaurd then posed a question to the girl in Goliath, whether she was 'Tribe or not?'. She answered 'Tribe', and that was enough for him to welcome her back into the group.

-The group accepted Remo's terms the following day, agreeing to help him gain all of Avernus's titles in exchange in helping the group understand why the Sea of Souls was damaged, and to explore a factory that had popped up in the Layer, suspecting Chik was being held there. The group was entered into Wrath's Collesium tournament to earn his title...although they required a name to compete. After some discussion regarding Tribeguard's / Goliath naming culture, Sky and Benno came to the conclusion of The FateBreakers, to which the group agreed.

-The first round of tournament was fought against some bandits the group had killed previously, Sky almost dying to poison.

-The second round was Hijacked by Pride, trying to send Tribegaurd a message about breaking his deal. The group fought a mutated Displacer beast with an additional trial, in which Sky lost control of her infernal shackles, succumbing to the curse and becoming more beast-like....nothing more than an animal. She could see what she was doing, but had no direct control of her actions. Despite the group becoming unsure of what she was, she shredded the displacer beast, seeing through its cloned illusions.

-Sky, Akrahan and Tribeguard start to decode a new segment of the journal, but it is discovered that the journal is infact enchanted (with the effects of Contingency - Via Bean). Akrahan suggests 'asking' the journal a question...and when she does so, it answers in a draconic cipher, one that she can decipher. From this, it is revealed that Nethrava, the Blue Wyrm Speaker, had been conducting unethical experiments, creating draconic slaves from the dead in an attempt to rule both the Cult, and potentially Tiamat.

-The next day, the trio learns three new things from the book. The first, that she knew of the Dracorage Mythal, but only what the party already knew. Second, that Nethrava was responsible for the attack on Luskan, reading her final thoughts as she was killed. The last, being that Celene was a Dragon Soul, a high ranking member of the cult before she abandoned the cult.

(Up to date.)

#the accursed flame ~#lore / plot #//will be updating as the campaign continues #tyranny of dragons #Akrahan #Benno #Bean + Rice #Swiftkiller #Tribeguard #Sir #Lars #Absolem #dnd 5e

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