Sir Edwyn Rainecourt Letters

On the 13th of May of the year 1026, Sir Edwyn Rainecourt addressed the following letter to the Realms:

To the Peoples of the Realms,

You call me monster. You are not wrong. I was once what many of you still pretend to be: a good

man in polished steel. I knew banners and vows. Shared laughter in cold keeps, and the warmth of a

hand that waited for me at dusk. I put duty and honor before everything else. And because I did, and

others did not, my wife died alone.

My commander gave the order. Hold the line. I held it. Because duty demanded it. On the day my

wife died, I stood where I had been ordered to stand. My Knight Commander gave the command,

and I obeyed. I did not run to her. I did not break formation. I did not choose personal well-being

over the greater good.

You worship choice as though it were sacred. You raise your children to prize it. You tell yourselves

that freedom is what makes life beautiful. Tell me, how beautiful was her death? How beautiful is

the freedom to abandon a friend? To betray a vow? To watch a stranger suffer and decide it is not

your concern?

A hundred small freedoms colliding like blades until all that remains is blood. You worship this

chaos and call it virtue, but it is not. It is the first and oldest cruelty. It is why the powerful betray

their people, why parents bury children, and why neighbors burn one another’s homes, and why

every promise made beneath the sun eventually withers into dust. Given freedom, mortals choose

selfishness. Given power, they choose tyranny. Given fear, they choose violence. And, given grief,

they choose vengeance.

Choice is not a gift. It is a weapon handed to every coward, every tyrant, and every selfish little soul

who wishes to excuse what they have done. And I have seen what lies beyond it.

My brothers and sisters march without doubt. They do not falter. They do not betray. They do not

leave one another to die because fear whispered louder than loyalty. They have no need for freedom,

because they have something better. They have peace.

Two of our beloved order have fallen to your hands. You think this delays me. It does not. It reminds

me why I must continue. I will tear the burden of choice from this world so that no lover will again

wait for a door that will never open, and no soldier will again be ordered to choose between duty

and love. There will be no more choices. There will only be peace.

Once, no one offered me a mercy. No one asked whether I wished to stay at my post. No one told me

I could put love before obedience. No one gave me the chance to choose differently, and I will

remember that. But I am not so cruel.

So hear me now, peoples of the Realms: I will give you what I was denied. A choice to stand aside.

Lay down your banners, your crowns, your petty little freedoms. Step willingly into the stillness I

offer, and the pain ends. No more fear. No more betrayal. No more impossible decisions made in

impossible moments. You will call this tyranny at first, but every chain feels cruel to the hand that

has only ever known flailing.

Or you can resist.

Cling to your freedom. Defend it with your trembling hands and righteous speeches. And when I

break you, when your bodies rise in my ranks and your minds obey, you will finally understand

what peace costs. But at least it will have been your decision. That is more mercy than was ever

shown to me.

Either way, you will serve the same end. I do not ask for your surrender, I offer you absolution.

Soon enough, each of you will face the same question I once did. Hold the line…or break it. Only

then will you learn who you truly are. When the hour comes, and it always comes, we shall see

whether you hold the line…or whether you join it.

Sir Edwyn Rainecourt Knight of the Aberrant Gate

Two days later, on the 15th of May, he received the following response:

Unto Sir Edwyn Rainecourt of the Corrupted Court of the Knights of the Aberrant Gate,

You have suffered a terrible loss to which no one should be subjected, and I would like to offer you

my most sincere condolences. But I will not justify my moral position to you whose conscience has

been suffocated under the crushing weight of that loss, and the lust for power it has brought forth in

you.

That tragedy, and the horrors it has fueled, have carried you to a most curious destination. For

should you succeed in your conquest, one individual alone would retain the power of choice:

You.

It is thus my assertion that the act of choice, which you have framed as a burden upon us all, is in

fact a power you covet for yourself, and yourself alone. You claim that all mortals inevitably choose

selfishness and tyranny; violence and vengeance. And yet from where I sit as I pen this letter, the

one I see who has chosen these is you, Sir Edwyn. And as you have chosen these things, your ego

demands you claim that all others would make the same choice, if only given the chance. I

wholeheartedly reject this assertion on the grounds that your personal pride is insufficient evidence

upon which to indict all mortals of your own failings.

Despite the tarnish your legacy has suffered at the hands of your present actions, I concur that you

were once a good man. Perhaps I may even have once described you as a great hero. The order

whose name I carry was in part built on that legacy, and even now its weight is not lost on us.

Although the time of your service may be long past, I believe it has earned you an honorable and

dignified death befitting a true knight. And it is that death to which we shall deliver you, out of

respect for the man you once were.

Until we meet again,

Anthony Warder of Stonewood

High Priest of Arius

Squire to the Knights of the Sable Dragon

Squire to the Knights of the Aberrant Gate

Penned on behalf of the collective forces of the Realms

What You Missed - Voraniss Questing V

 By: Keith "Harkel" Palmer-Poirier

Greetings individuals of the Realms.

For those that were unable to journey to Rathkeale in an attempt to stop the efforts of Sir Edwyn Raincourt and his undead generals from the old Knights of the Aberrant Gate, I have prepared an after action report to aid in your awareness of the situation. I have also included a record of the spring festivities many of us enjoyed in Voraniss the evening before.

Friday Night:

The night in Voraniss was a pleasant one, with many arriving including one who insists on being called Traveller (though that is not their name) bringing seven ships despite living in the woods. The night featured many entertaining activities, such as games like fairy ring toss, and tossing the cookies into the milk as well as a tournament of ‘Don’t Touch Mogar’s Hog’, a game where a hog is protected by one individual as groups were called into the ring in an attempt to snatch it away. The winner of the activity specifically was one Baron Diamond. Additionally, Cinnamon’s tea trove provided good drinks for those involved in the festivities, alongside Voraniss’ traditional spring ritual of renewal; a ritual centered on the return of life, letting go of the past, dark months of winter, and setting oneself up for growth in the new year.

In addition to this, the evening saw Margaret (Bri) ascend to the new position of Raven Caller within Voraniss, a position which is made to assist in communications, court heralding, and record keeping for Voraniss (and also one that Bri was noted to have already been doing before the creation of such a role).

After Action Report:

Saturday:

The battle within Rathkeale began before we even reached its shores, with the waters infested by both sharks and pirates. In addition to these hostile forces, Rathkeale had a barrier preventing entry until it was able to be brought down by disabling pylons across the expanse of water. Once that was taken care of, the assembled adventurers and our accompanying army moved ashore to take stock of the situation.

After deliberation, we left commands for our troops to aid in the defense of Rathkeale while we adventurers split into two parties. One left to save prisoners and hold down a supply route into Rathkeale featuring a large bridge. The other group besieged a castle to recover many vital members of Rathkeale.

Those of us doing battle on the bridge pushed a group of undead back and we were forced to fix damage to the structure as we went. Following this battle, we continued on into the forest beyond. While half of the prisoners we set out to save were recovered, the other half unfortunately perished prior to our arrival.

Meanwhile, the team attacking the castle managed to blow a hole in the side of the castle after a great deal of difficulty attempting to breach through the front door. From there, with the help of some explosives, they were able to rush in and kill the majority of the undead forces present before rescuing the members of Rathkeale who had been trapped inside - including the Portalmaster.

In preparation for the encounter with Dame Gloriana Stanwode (one of the old Knights of the Aberrant Gate who was attacking Rathkeale) the group which breached the castle also attended a tavern party in a building with undead, from which they managed to obtain a potion able to protect our undead forces from the influences of the hostile undead generals.

Following a ritual which split Gloriana into multiple aspects, we managed to force the aspects back together before forcing Gloriana into a ritual sigil, containing and then banishing her. Finally, we summoned the ghost of her sister and members of various orders, including Lord Sir Elwyn as the Knight Commander of the Knights of the Sable Dragon, Ser Fern Eberhardt as Knight Commander of the Knights of the Aberrant Gate, Magus Prime Swift as Magus Prime of the Magi of the Realms, and Sir Rosetta of the Knights of the Red Branch were able to break her sister’s chains, killing Dame Gloriana Stanwode.

Sunday:

Following the death of Dame Stanwode, the remainder of the party moved in to free the spirit of Dame Miriel Castillion, an old Knight of the Aberrant Gate who had yet to be raised against us. By the time the team arrived at the crypt, Dame Carrion was in the process of attempting to sacrifice Karrai (the grand Vizier of Stonewood) and raise Dame Castillion against us. Through fighting Carrion’s forces we were able to bypass her defenses, and got to her just in time for her to escape. Dame Castillion was then put to rest in a ritual witnessed by Saint Wilmot and the original squires of the Aberrant Gate in a ceremony led by Squire Tony Warder of the new Knights of the Aberrant Gate.

Across these days of battle in Rathkeale, we, as adventurers of the Realms, managed to kill one of Edwyn’s generals. We stopped him from gaining a new one. Just as important, we prevented his forces from overrunning Rathkeale.

That is all,

Harkel

Why I Want To Go - Voraniss Questing 5

Written by: Ethan "Jean Baptise" Goldman

I do not care for Eddy Raincoat.

Was that a hot take? Do we still even call him Eddy? I have been in my closet sulking for so many years that things have kind of blurred away. I know Fern has desperately tried to keep track of every secret hand and ancient unbidden thousand year grudge, but Fern isn’t doing the WIWTG. I am.

So in the spirit of the common demon, I decided to embrace the blindness.

The point is Eddy is invading Rathkeale, we knew he was attacking since 1023 and so far Elric has held the line. Which is really impressive since Necron fell in what, a DAY? Really puts into perspective who the REAL best undead nation is huh? However what with the New Aberrant Gate order being made, Eddy is a little salty salty. He's been hurt, someone made a club named “The Club Eddy used to be in but he cant be in now because he smells bad”, and frankly speaking, he’s a smidge peeved. 

Remember this is the same Lich who sent revenant assassins to kill anyone who ever made fun of him, so Rainecourt isn’t the kind of person who, works out their feelings in a constructive manner. And he ALREADY invaded Blackwood and that didnt pan out as intended so Eddy needs a win.

And Eddy’s schedule is running out of tombs to rob, which means Eddy got less to do then unload a trauma dump of genocidal proportions upon the Silver Chalice. And frankly if that's a real object he's going to steal that too, he’s certainly the type.

Now slightly less hot take, I like Rathkeale, I once tried to take Rathkeale but was told “No that's a stupid idea” by… everyone I asked about it. Ah youth. Anyway I have long since pinky swore to defend Rathkeale from well its kinda a blur, there was a castle? But I was reminded of my oath.

They called me Bapbeast once, I was a hero for a time. And, since its so necessary, I can be one again.

You see I like war. I am good at war. And war, war REALLY likes me. When I needed a Pike, it appears in the dirt, when I ask war to kill, people die. And when war comes calling, the least I can do is give a proper answer.

And so the call to war has come calling, its the drum beat of a thousand boots in the mud, its the clang of the teeth of sword biting into the metal of plate and cracking it like a crab. It is the piper flute of hate and red and it says my name, it says your name too.

Little Eddy Raincoat is afraid of the rain.

Let us give him a storm.

What You Missed - Voraniss Questing Tree Fiddy

 By Dan "N" Hudon. and Stephen "Laika" Sanford

Saturday:

Greetings mortals (and otherwise)! Here is my account of the events that transpired during our raid of Dame Gloriana's Spelltower.

Upon arriving at the teleport pad and stepping into Dame Gloriana's tower, we entered into a room with a number of animated brooms sweeping the area clean and destroying any dirt they came across, including our dirt from Stonewood that provided our emergency escape route. They had to be disenchanted to retrieve keys from them which could be inserted into a door. (There was also another door that exploded when opened as some sort of security mechanism). Most of the keys when used enacted various curses (releasing imps that mocked us, getting Elwin stuck in a time loop, turning people into animals, making a flesh blanket...) but eventually we found the right one and moved on.

We snuck through a garden courtyard with patrolling sentries that detected movement and vicious dogs sensitive to sound. At the end we killed the guard dog and used its key to enter the next room.

There was a control room of sorts manned by gnomes who had been there since Gloriana's time. They told us that the tower itself is a device for interplanar travel but had fallen into disrepair, and we needed to fix certain mechanisms in connected planes to be able to access the central chamber. The portal would send us to the planes in a random order, with the first being the Elemental Plane of Fire.

In the Fire Plane, the floor was insta-rending lava except for certain stony areas, and a path could be made by killing fire elementals, causing them to cool and turn into stepping stones. It was super slow going, especially for those trying to carry Sir Wilmot's casket, but there were periodically-placed water obelisks that when assembled would turn all the lava to stone for a short period of time, letting everyone move forward quickly before it turned back to lava again. On one of these times, I ran a bit too far before realizing the rest of the party was stuck behind me dealing with some more elementals that had appeared. Realizing that I was in the middle of nowhere with no stepping stones for when the floor heated up again, I found the nearest isolated fire elemental and killed it with a single, quick piercing blow to create a place for me to stand. I was stranded far behind the elementals' back line, but luckily no elementals noticed me. When the next obelisk was activated I started running again, since we were close to the end and someone called out to run as far as we could. But the end was further than we thought and some elementals appeared to stop the main party in their tracks, in an area with no stepping stones and time quickly running out. Apparently at this point the party had resigned themselves to death, with the healers in the back still on stones figuring out how to deal with the mass rending that would soon occur. But as the countdown for the floor becoming lava started - 10, 9, 8... - I, alone on the rapidly heating lava far ahead, suddenly saw another water obelisk near me, and rushed over to try to put it together as my (and the party's, though unbeknownst to me) only chance of survival. Using one hand (since my other hand was unusable due to a magic item power) I frantically assembled the obelisk's pieces - 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, "The floor is-"

Half a second before the word "lava", I put the final piece in place. ((I looked up at an npc nearby, asking if I got it in time. They called out to Renee (who was marshaling the countdown), saying that I had gotten it just *barely* in time, and she announced that the floor was still stone for now.)) The whole party was able to run forward and make it to the end, without any more casualties from the lava!

So, we reached another portal in the fire plane that lead us back to the tower, where there was a room with a furnace. A chimney sweep was trying to clean a poison monster out of the furnace but got eaten. So did J'ortsa, but we got him out. Anyways, eventually we figured out how to get rid of the monster and we started loading in coal that entered the room in the form of coalems (coal golems) when we pushed a button. Luckily there were pickaxes to deal with those.

With the furnace active, we went through another portal to the Fae Wilds. We had to deal with a bunch of goblins, a scarecrow, mushrooms, and a snake (which Bubbles bargained with for a cool hammer) to gather ingredients for hags who looked like gnomes due to a glamor spell. They led us to an alchemy workstation and taught people how to do some alchemy for the next part of repairing the tower. While that was happening (which went well), some of us talked about the memories we'd been seeing.

So, throughout the day there were these floating crystals that when touched would show people memories of things that happened in the tower. I didn't see all of them but heard about the ones I didn't see. They showed Gloriana's sister, Priscilla, getting killed by a mind flayer Aberration, and Gloriana burying herself in her research on teleportation to the point where gnomes had trouble getting her to eat (though James Swift was able to use divine aids to somehow make her eat the food, or at least make it so we could see the part where she does). The memory in the Fae Wilds was of Gloriana being asked to squire to the Knights of the Aberrant Gate by Sir Wilmot, with her agreeing when he said she could make sure what happened to Priscilla wouldn't happen to others.

After Fae, we went to the Abyss to get some abyssal rocks. The Abyss is a truly awful place where there's tons of demons with armor piercing pikes and such who only take damage from magic weapons. Not a fan of those! There were also some rending pits, and some entities that people made ill-advised deals with for cool daggers. Anyways, we got pretty much wiped and people had to make deals (including with an entity who was *totally* just a messenger and not Asmodeus himself, yup definitely) to get the demons to stop attacking and let us through. The portal out had a sensor that would only let humans through (the first of the "Speciesist Doors") but Rosetta was able to disable it temporarily with a Force of Will. Hopefully not too many demons got out.

We were then in a room with Abyssal rocks to mine while some more demons attacked (guess they didn't get the memo). Luckily, I had lugged the pickaxes from the furnace room all day and we had those to mine them quicker. Less luckily, the stones put a random curse on you when you broke them, but we were able to get the pieces of Abyssal Rock (and candy) inside.

As night fell, rhe next plane on the list was the Negative Energy Plane, where healing magic was useless but any dead were revived after a minute. There were all sorts of creatures of darkness attacking while we made our way through, and interestingly, there were some sort of memory apparitions of Gloriana and Priscilla lost in the darkness, who couldn't see or hear us but reacted to and followed our lights. We got them out and they disappeared, letting us get into a room with a compass we needed to fix.

In this room, when someone touched a memory crystal, this time it played for everyone present. We witnessed Gloriana's knighting by Sir Wilmot, with several of the other Knights (Dame Claudia and Sir Roman) present. Gloriana had just finished the teleportation research and would be heading to Lostpeak to join the other knights.

In this room, we had to act out true stories of the Realms in four categories - romance, tragedy, history, and adventure - in order to fill magic books that go on each point of the compass. With the joyous atmosphere and tales of the good old days, it almost felt more like a campfire than a room in an old wizard tower. I could take the time to recount the stories once more, but it would be better to hear them some time in a similar atmosphere of merriment.

Next was another Speciesist Door, except this one didn't just prevent non-humans from entering, but segregated us and teleported us into a cage! It was quite offensive. We were trapped while the humans (and a few others, like Laika and Rosetta - the sensor must have made a mistake) looted the central sanctum of the tower. While trapped, we noticed that behind another layer of magical barrier behind us were all sorts of terrible creatures! Suddenly the barrier in front of us broke down, letting us free along with a gnome and a mushroom. But then, the next layers of the barrier started going down, letting more and more creatures free and sealing the room until we dealt with them all.

There was a chimera, a mind flayer, a bat creature, a giant cyclops skeleton (like Hugo from the siege of Blackwood), a beholder, and a dracolich, and we had to fight them all at once! It was hard, but we succeeded! ((And yes, the big ones were all full giant monster rigs, and they were *amazing*!))

We finally killed them all and were able to leave the tower, our mission complete. People are hard at work transcribing the results of our raid, which will hopefully give us a leg up in our fight against Sir Edwyn Rainecourt.

-N

WYM: VQ Tree Fiddy Sunday

Divine Intervention

After a long day of exploring Gloriana’s tower we rested and were ready to go to Rathkele to fight Edwin’s forces. What we didn’t expect was we were teleported in our sleep and woke up in hell. Fortunately for my own wellbeing I woke up as a fighter as I was a 3 path the day previously with all the extra energy to pick up a 6’6” and fend off the demons we are now surrounded with. 

Inside hell we were presented with various wards in the form of Demons who were of various aspects where people needed to make a promise or do an action opposite of the aspect the Demon represented. 

These were the following trials:

Apologize to a friend for doing something against them

Swear to commit a crime within a year

Confess an atrocity that you have done and be judged by the crowd around you.

Do something evil to you. In Rosetta’s words– Do something that makes you icky. 

During the final room no magic worked with the exception of intervention and certain powers. We found a frail old man who claimed to have been asleep for a long time. Rosetta cast Identify and he got the answer “God”. This old man claimed to have a piece missing from himself and awoke in hell a year ago. I do have my suspicions on who this man is, I have no concrete evidence and for the sake of preventing misinformation I suspect they are a god that was locked away to prevent the end times.

The old man offered absolution to a demon and removed it of all sin, past and future. Several adventurers also took on the absolution, once the fifth adventurer took the absolution we were sent out of Hell. The old man has now escaped and we learned the absolution is a curse which will spread.  

Those that took his absolution are the following:

Tara, Jasper, Vesper, Jortsa, Wisteria, and a Demon 

Overall It was a great Sunday quest that was just long enough to give us a good work out and with enough suspense and mystery to keep us questioning. 

Thank you Tom, Matt and the VQ Team

-Stephen "Laika" Sanford

What You Missed - Voraniss Questing 4: The Ruins of Lostpeak

Written by: Kelly “Fern” Perfetto, Jay “Odd” Weil, & Travis “Elwin” Wilcox

A lot happened at Lostpeak. Odd and I have written one summary, and Elwin has shared his perspective. As a scholar, I would encourage everyone to read both articles. As a person who knows how busy saving the world can be, we have provided a quick summary. ~ Fern

Fern: After a group ritual of renewal Friday, Daekara was inducted into the Knights of the Eternal Flame. Grarr was sworn to Voraniss. Merrix became a Druid of Voraniss and Evie became the Archdruid. At Lostpeak, we traveled through many teleportation circles to finally reach the Aberrant Gate and the ghost of the former Knight Commander. With squire swords bestowed to four of us, we escaped the corrupted court, bringing the Knight Commander’s casket with us, upon his request. 

Odd: Sunday, all of the allied groups we know assembled and took on students from the adventurers present. During our time with them, we learned new skills and what each of their orders were about. Irri was named the leader of the newly created Circle, and Fern was named Knight Commander of the new Knights of the Aberrant Gate, bestowing Benevolence to Pilpus.

Friday

Fern: As has become tradition, we gathered in Voraniss the night before we set out to deal with the Knights of the Aberrant Gate. Before dusk fell, we socialized and enjoyed the food everyone had brought. The Church of Aurora and the Church of Vandor had competing dishes of meatballs and pulled pork, while many others competed in an appetizer challenge. As it grew dark, Voraniss called all to court around a large fire. 

Merrix opened with the Voranian springtime ritual of renewal, speaking of reinforcing beliefs in ones community and in oneself. After those who wished to do so spoke of renewed commitments, winners of competitions were announced. For appetizers, Odd took first place, and Guilliam won the Boar Pits. 

Tony stood to announce his new position as the High Priest of the Church of Arius, and his commitment of bringing new life to the church. 

Cronin announced the beginning of the Voranian Museum of Fine Arts, a traveling museum that will display the artistic culture of Voraniss. 

The Knights of the Eternal Flame were called up next, to induct their newest member, Daekara. I wish I could repeat each and every one of the Knights’ speeches about Daekara’s commitments, convictions, and willingness to grow and improve. I think for now though, his place among peers and his own actions can speak for themselves and show why he deserves to stand with the Knights of the Eternal Flame. 

Voraniss then had their own inductions to make. As of Friday, Grarr is an Oathsworn of Voraniss, and both Voraniss and I are glad he has found a home there. 

Kindrianna called Merrix forward, and asked him to join the Druids of Voraniss. I think the aptness of the title Druid of the Old Ways can be illustrated by the fact that many of us already saw him as a Druid. Evie was also asked to be the Archdruid of the order, leading them all into the future of their nation. 

After court, things turned a little more dire. Those who had become corrupted were finally able to be aided in overcoming Sir Edwyn Raincourt’s influence. Meanwhile, a demon who shall not be named set its sights on some of those present. Luckily, that being did not seem present after the spirits of Voraniss whisked us away to Lostpeak. 

Saturday

Fern: We entered the lands of Lostpeak with the help of the spirits, and met up with our ally Percival, and his colleague Nerilynn. For those who do not know, Lostpeak is an ancient ruined city far to the west of the Realms. The lands are alive with magical energy. This is the site of the Aberrant Gate, which was physically destroyed by the Knights of the Aberrant Gate. We knew this threat could be awoken with magic at any time. To travel across the lands of Lostpeak we had to activate teleportation pads. Our ultimate goal was to reach the tomb of the Knight Commander of the Knights of the Aberrant Gate. There his spirit held tools to help us defeat the corrupted court that were his former siblings in arms.

Our first challenge was connecting massive wires to charge the focus of the teleportation system. After a few magical explosions we were able to charge it properly. In the process, we learned of the color coding system for the magics of the area. We teleported into a large area filled with local goblins and more of the blue magical creatures that we had already been fighting. A ghost moved about, asking what the most important virtue was, and saying wrong to every answer. I kept at it, as did many others, and after ‘virtues’ such as lust, proper nutrition, and extra dry socks were proposed, I suggested “me”. After I repeated a few times, the ghost said “you are learning” and left. I was not able to tell anyone at the time, but the deeper meaning to the question was about tenacity and perseverance. Personally I liked my first answer of confidence.

The challenge to connect the next portal increased as we found out more about the area. The magic creatures would absorb magic we were casting to heal themselves, the goblins started stealing magic items, and then the Revenants appeared. Pilpus was attacked by one of the beings, but Blackwood brought him back after the Revenant finally left. 

The next teleportation circle split our group. The area I was in was an enclosed space with a bottomless pit. Only by killing the magical creations did we manage to traverse the area, by essentially walking across puddles of floating magic. I do not know much about what happened to the other group, but I think our bottomless pit that put us back at the beginning if we fell in was more pleasant than the mud pit they described. 

Odd: The rest of the party was teleported to a site that seemed to be some kind of ancient laboratory underneath the mud. In the center was a massive automaton that had a space on its arm to input a command code. While the automaton was currently unresponsive and violent, strewn about the lab were ancient sheets of paper detailing breakthroughs made for the creation and controlling of it. Along with the massive automaton were more of the blue magical creatures and a new creature that functioned as a sort of ‘mana leech’, stealing circles of magic from those who had it. While able to be warded and enfeebled, this creature proved enough of an annoyance to be remembered beyond the laboratory. 

While the more combat inclined members of our group fought to keep the monsters at bay, myself and a few others began attempting to find a way to control the automaton. The bottoms of the aforementioned pages had messages written in an unfamiliar set of runes. After a look at Hedda’s rune book, it was determined that these were runes none of us had ever seen. After a Séance to the original creator of the automaton, the rune set was revealed and we were able to input the code needed for control. 

During the fighting and puzzling, more of the spirits of the KotAG asked some difficult questions. One was inquiring about the people we were traveling with, who they were and what they meant to those that were asked. The second was asking us to bring forth the individual we most disliked, and speak three good things about them. While I did not have a good answer - I spoke on the nasty weather - I have heard talk that Lord Sir Elwin’s was particularly funny. The third ghost asked whether the word of the law or the good of the people was most important. Most I spoke to answered the good of the people. Though the ghost gave no indication, I believe we were all correct. 

With the puzzle completed, we were able to power up another teleportation pad, and rejoin the rest of the party.

Fern: We all converged once again in the same spot. A horrible teleportation box mimic taunted many of us as we struggled for a while to retrieve important documents from inside of its toothy maw. Somehow it was finally defeated so that we could teleport away. Meanwhile, ghosts of the squires of the Knights of the Aberrant Gate asked challenging questions, trying to determine who might be worthy to wield their swords. 

Most of our group teleported away, though I and some others stayed behind to deal with other matters. Apparently there was a two headed ettin that had been collecting the magic items the goblins had stolen. Everyone looked a little singed after that. 

Odd: I stayed behind working on other matters as well - namely the pages retrieved from the mimic, which turned out to be pages of a spell book. Learning these runes proved invaluable for the oncoming location. I plan to share the script with as many as I can.

Fern: I caught up as the others were teleporting… and I found myself in a small prison cell with about ten other people. As we shouted to the others, we saw the lovely familiar faces of Dame Carrion - followed by new cultists - and Rev as they came to speak to us. Apparently the teleportation had been set up centuries ago by one of their order, and they had rerouted us into a prison above the Aberrant Gate. In my cell, Saegan, Irri, Liana, and Liselle worked to solve our way out and coordinate with the others. I heard Elizah and Hedda doing a lot of the solving and coordinating as well. I am glad they were all there. We ran deeper into the catacombs, pursued mainly by Dame Carrion’s… I’m not sure if it was sobs or laughter.

Next we encountered another pit, this time only seventy feet deep. I believe in my last View article I wrote about the virtues of bringing rope on a quest and never regretting it. Friends, bring rope. Incredible tool.

The Aberrant Gate is… abrupt. I rounded a corner, avoiding vicious undead, and was overcome with nausea as my eyes landed on it. The stone gate appeared suspended in the moment it was destroyed, massive boulders floating in the air as if weightless, green energy emanating from the center. It felt as if any moment the pieces could continue in their trajectory, impaling us all with shrapnel. What’s more, I could see our negative energy and our magic flowing into it and empowering it. I began moving throughout the area, asking people to share their positive emotions and share calm with others. Meanwhile, some among our group approached Sir Edwyn’s sword. Upon touching it, they would be transported to a fight with Edwyn himself. Even as more of our friends appeared destroyed after their battles, I could see calm radiating outward. I was not alone in the work. Every single person who I spoke to spoke with others to calm and bolster them. Two people stood out to me especially. Swift used angelic powers to ease fears, and Irri… well, was Irri. I could see the path she traced as well, and I could see others feeling better and being prepared to share after talking with her.

Odd: While some worked on how to remove Edwyn’s sword - named Absolution as we would soon learn - from its resting place, others began working in parallel with Fern to downpower the gate. Aelias, Mistral, Liselle, Swift and a few others worked a ritual bolstered by Divine favor that waned the gate’s energy, further aiding our escape. The ritual completed just as Elwin emerged victorious from Absolution, claiming the sword as his own. I feel that both the ritual and the claiming of Absolution were instrumental in allowing us to reach Sir Wilmot’s resting place. 

Fern: We left, Elwin with Edwyn’s sword in hand, and the Gate diminishing in power. One of our more time-aligned mages informed us it was just after one in the morning.

Finally, finally, we approached the resting place of Sir Wilmot. His casket was there, covered in symbols of his order and candles. And his spirit was there, to ask four of us to become sword bearers and guide his order into the future. Valiance, for Vesper. Conviction, for Tony. Exaltation, for Gordon. And Benevolence, for me.

As soon as the last sword was given, I saw Dame Carrion entering my periphery. As instructed, some of us got Sir Wilmot’s casket out of the tomb immediately. I do not know all of what happened, but as I ran back I saw most people exiting, and Roman throwing Pilpus out of the tomb. From what I hear, it was total chaos the instant Sir Edwyn and his corrupted court entered.

Still, we escaped with everyone we had entered with. We now had an additional body within a casket, which was declared the Triumph of Saint Wilmot. Six swords of the order were now with us, one still in Sir Wilmot’s hands. We rested. 

Sunday

Odd: After awakening from our rest, those of us remaining were greeted by Angelique of the Order of the Saintly Shadow, Percival of the Enlightened Quill Society, Squire Raelynn of the Silverwing Justicar and Sir Wilmot. Sir Wilmot (Saint Wilmot now? I am not sure how best to refer to him) thanked us for keeping his final resting place out of Edwyn’s hands, and Angelique stated that despite the Saintly Shadow’s desire to finish things on their own, other groups allied to our cause would be needed. It was upon this statement that a group of bards rolled up beside the pavilion we were sheltered in, playing loud music from the back of their ‘tour bus’. They introduced themselves as ‘Crossbows and Roses’, a group which I’d had a brief correspondence with. Once introductions had been completed, and Grimpaw - the leader of the Circle of Crows - arrived, each of the groups chose students to take on, teaching them valuable new skills that would aid us in the coming battles. Sir Magus Kara and I were taken on by Crossbows and Roses, where we learned how to harness the power of song in order to give boons to our allies. 

Once all of the students had been taught and tasked with how to advance their knowledge, a final meeting was called. Each group shared what had been learned, and several made further announcements. Irri was named the leader of the circle that had just been formed, and announced the discovery of Group Prophecy. Next, those who carried the Squires’ Swords and Sir Wilmot spoke. Wilmot stated that he wished for the Knights of the Aberrant Gate to be made anew, and that to do so, a  new Knight Commander would have to be named. Fern was chosen to lead, and bestowed their Squire Sword, Benevolence, to Sir Pilpus of Blackwood. 

There is hope in the air, I can feel it. This was a victory unlike any other in this journey to defeat Edwyn. Our efforts will continue. They will not be in vain. 

((OOC: Thank you so much to the Voraniss Questing team for another great event! I had a wonderful time and am super excited for the next installment. The amount of work that goes into every combat, puzzle, prop, and NPC is evident, and it is always incredible to participate in such an engaging story. Can’t wait for next time! - Jay))

Travis: Greetings friends, I would like to just put this OOC piece in here before the whole, what-you-missed-part. I can’t say enough good things about this staff and I would like to personally thank each one of them for providing an amazing time for us through all the challenges that we faced. I will give you a hint, it was the weather, and the special effects that they apparently went overboard on last year and needed to use up some more supplies this year. First, Renee, I would like to say thank you for the wonderful story that has been written here. You did an amazing job as always and I look forward to more to come. It was compelling and moving. Derek, your props were absolutely on point. From the commissioned 3D printed crystals to the absolutely amazing gate I can’t imagine how you are going to top this but I am really looking forward to it. Josh, the sound set up was great as usual and seeing the hard work you put into your scrolls, runes and all the random paperwork we could find was on point as usual. To the rest of the staff, I wish I could take the time to sing your praises individually but I fear that this would get far too long as an intro. So thank you NPC’s for your great fighting, amazing RP and hilarious antics. Thank you behind the scenes staff for the beautifully made weapons, and the hard work put into getting everything set up and torn down between areas. Thank you Shandar/Josh for reminding me I am old as hell and can’t run anywhere close to the way I used to. Thank you all. Another great event on the books and something people should aspire to compete with.

Post-Outing Field report by Lord Sir Elwin O’Bearikin of Stonewood

We arrived in Voraniss for their Ritual of Renewal. Members of their nation spoke of what they were proud of for themselves and invited others to do the same. It was wonderful to hear people able to see the good within and share it with others. This was not done in arrogance but instead in affirmation.

In addition to that Squire Grarr Seawoods was added to the list of Oathswarn in Voraniss. He placed his mark and swore his oath at the Oathstone. It was good to see him enter as a full member of their ranks. 

Three other orders of business came up within the Voraniss ranks. Merrix Oreryn was given the name Druid of the Old Ways and Evitta Jainrose Blackthorne was promoted to the rank of Archdruid. Finally Warlord Cronin Barbara was returned the sword Azurewrath after some time apart from it.

Also, Squire Anthony Warder of Stonewood, took up the mantle of High Priest of Arius with hopes of spreading the word of truth and growing the church. I wish him the best of luck in this endeavor.

The Knights of the Eternal Flame had two orders of business. The first was to award Tulkhan a Fireball. After hearing the kind words from Shandar, all of which were true in my opinion, Tulkhan turned down the Fireball. I quote his statement here: ((This is also OOC)) “While I appreciate the recognition and acknowledgement for my work I could not accept. I have grown up in the realms, looking up to the Knights of the Eternal Flame and watching the knighthood grow as I have. Yet through the years I have seen faults in the knighthood. Achievements earned yet then the fire to strive for better no longer there. It's these faults that I do not want to happen to me, and my fear is that if I said yes they would. So until I can see a change in the knighthood to ensure that it won't, I had to politely decline. With respect, Adam”

Next they inducted a new Knight into their ranks. With many heartfelt words and praise Daekara was given his belt and the honors that come with it.

In addition to all this we can not forget that Evie’s Tavern was open for business, providing drinks for all. They had a couple of interesting bubbly drinks and one, special drink that had people raving about it, whether they wanted to or not. 

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that the whole of the group came together to cleanse the horrible corruption that has been plaguing Sir Bones and Sir Elizah. In a great ritual the two of them had the corruption removed. It was an act of unity with nearly everyone present that was able to purge them. It has been a long time coming and I can say I am relieved to know they are both well and sound of mind again.

The night wound down and we settled in knowing that in the morning the true challenges would begin.

In the morning we woke and had breakfast. The Wyvern College provided food for those in need and it was a good fare. I strapped on my armor and weapons and prepared to face our day, rain or shine. It was rain. With our first venture out we found a strange large crystal and a bunch of cables. A scholarly lady by the name of Nerilynn was already at the site when we got there. We deduced that we needed to string the cables from individual power points and then connect them to the crystal itself. From there we had to cast a spell at the power point of the correct type to power up the crystal so that we could activate the control pad that controlled a teleporter. I won’t lie, I didn’t understand half of what was going on beyond connecting the crystal. I did have my helmet on after all. What I do remember is needing to be the bridge between the cable and the crystal while sending a lightning bolt through it. After some mishaps we got the crystal working and that drew the attention of some unwanted guests. While we fought off what I can only describe as mana constructs, the others worked on getting the control panel working. From my understanding after much work on the panel Aelias called out for Divine Intervention to Luna for aid. In frenzy it seemed like a craze surged through him and he began tearing the panel apart finally revealing our first teleporter pad. We all began to pass through the teleporter to travel to another area of Lostpeak.

When we arrived at our new destination there were goblins everywhere. For the most part they were just normal scavenging goblins but that would turn bad very quickly. While they were possessive of everything around they were particularly interested in magic. Unfortunately we let our guard down far lower than we should have around goblins and I was killed and robbed by one of the little buggers. The goblins proved to be trickier than most of the ones we have faced in the past and took true advantage of our distractions of trying to activate the next teleport pad and fighting off the mana constructs. They killed several more of our allies and stole more magic items from them. It was alarming how many they acquired. With some divination cast we found that they were being delivered to their boss. After some light interrogation I found out that their boss was a two headed ogre mage. It was during this time that we faced the spirits of the Squires of the Aberrant Gate. They asked many of us questions and I could tell we were being tested. Little did I know how deep the tests would actually be. All the while we had mana constructs and goblins. When we finally assembled the teleporter pad we jumped to our next location.

Arriving at our location we found that the party had been split. I honestly can’t say what happened on the other side but we found ourselves looking down a massive pit. There were goblins with hats that let them fly as well as more mana constructs. We found that if we killed the mana constructs over the pit they would form a sort of a tile of force that we could stand on. In true adventurer fashion we began slaughtering them to make our walkway across the pit. This went swimmingly until we found out that the goblins could steal the magic away and drop us down into the very deep pit. We eventually made our way across the pit with a few mishaps. On the other side was another control panel that we had to activate to teleport out again.

When we arrived at our new destination we found a Mimic. It held several treasures within but would only part with them at a trade for, “food.” We also discovered that it was the next teleporter pad. Needless to say, deals were made and in the end we were able to convince the Mimic to let us pass.

I was running behind the rest of the group when it came to making this transition. I was in need of food so I took a couple minutes to grab a snack. When I arrived on the other side of the teleporter I found a bunch of dead adventurers, magic items that were previously taken strewn everywhere, and a two-headed ogre mage summoning fireballs from all directions. The ogre mage was also absorbing magic every time it was hit with it. When it filled up, it released its “ULTIMATE POWER!!!!” and had swirling death around it and even more fireballs flying around. The loss of life to this creature was staggering to say the least. The fight was very tough but in the end we felled the beast and recovered all of the items that the goblins had stolen from us.

Now, at this point I would love to say that things got better and we downed the great beast that tormented the area, but that would be a lie. We managed to open another teleporter and things just went from bad to worse. Little did we know that the creator of these teleporter pads was also sitting on the Corrupted Court. When we passed through the teleporter we all found ourselves in jail cells. I found myself in a jail cell with Grarr, Percival and one other from Creathrone whose name escapes me, I apologize for that. In our room we found a single red crystal and a stack of weird papers. After a moment we deduced that they were the runes we have been seeing around. Fortunately for us, I remember a very important thing. I am terrible at runes and was going to be absolutely no help here. I am however very good at barking orders loudly. I also remembered that Odd knows this runeset by heart. We started calling out what we had in the most crude way I think is possible and like a champion Odd was able to interpret my babble and give me good solid answers. This went on for a good long time until we had all of our runes decoded. To make things more difficult of course we had to contend with Dame Carrion and her broken madness. In addition to that Rev had been present as well. He proved to be useful to some, and as I hear, detrimental to others. I will cut this section of the report a bit short as some hijinks ensued with Vesper running around and helping people as well as others hiding when they escaped. When all was said and done we decoded the runes, said our word and the bars unlocked. When all of them unlocked we found an escape route out the back and took it.

We continued down into the structure in which we were captured with hopes that we could get to the Aberrant Gate, as well as find the remains of Sir Wilmot, before Sir Edwyn arrived. We came upon a large drop off and with the combined efforts of every circle caster available and probably more, they linked their ropes together so we could repel down. When we made it to the bottom we had found our first goal as well as a dear friend. Standing before us was a sight I have never seen in such spectacular and horrifying detail, the remains of the Aberrant Gate. Standing opposite it was the Spirit of Sir Wilmot and at his feet, Absolution, the blade of Sir Edwyn. With the gate sucking in our magic and causing all sorts of chaos as well as the threat of it opening we set to power down the gate. Sir Aelias Softshadow led a group in a ritual of faith to remove power from the gate and allow us a respite in our fear of it opening. He was joined by Liselle Silvermaple, Magus Prime James Swift, Squire Anthony Warder and Mistril. With their ritual it drove back the power of the gate and saved us from a most horrible fate. The fear of the gate opening was real and it was with them that we ensured we didn’t let that happen. On the other side was Sir Wilmot. He stood in front of Absolution, formerly Sir Edwyn’s sword before he fell to the darkness. By the time we got there however we found Hedda and Sir Makhta dead and soulfired on the ground. After a long conversation with Sir Wilmot we found that the sword was a challenge. Ser Gordon Lightfoot took up the challenge and touched the sword, he was asked to choose one. He chose me. With, I’m sure, a look of shock on my face, we were teleported spiritually into the sword where we faced off against an imprint of Sir Edwyn. With short work he dispatched us and chewed up parts of our soul. The words he said stuck with me though. “Who are you, that I should listen to you?” After recovering thanks to the grace of Seraphym, I thought on the situation. “Choose one. Who are you, that I should listen to you?” I waited for Sir Wilmot to have a break with the conversations he was having to ask him, “If I do this challenge, will you go with me?” He agreed and we faced the imprint of Sir Edwyn together. It saddened me to see the disappointment on Sir Wilmot’s face and the sadness of his words when he spoke to Sir Edwyn. A fight broke out, and the two clashed. I waited for the opportunity and struck true, vanquishing the image. In a flash I was standing back out in the hall, Sir Wilmot gone, and my hand grasping the handle of Absolution. The blade flared to life and the exit from the room opened. I was in shock. Shaking out of the daze I made my exit after everyone else had left.

After our hasty retreat we knew Sir Edwyn was on our tail. We had to ensure the safety of Sir Wilmot’s body. We returned to the building that we had escaped and continued further down. Entering, we saw Sir Wilmot standing over his Ark in a beautifully decorated room. He welcomed us and I was relieved to see he was unharmed, well as unharmed as a disembodied spirit of a man slain long ago by horrible aberrations from beyond a dark portal can be. After speaking with him, heartfelt words were exchanged and he began to name those who had shined during the challenges faced throughout the day. Those who stood out were gifted the blades of the Squires. Fern, Tony, Vesper, and Gordon each received a blade. Shortly after the ceremony, Sir Edwyn arrived. I hadn’t noticed at the time but Liselle and a handful of others grabbed the Ark and made a swift retreat. We stood our ground against Sir Edwyn and his Corrupted Court and for the first time, we dealt damage. We were still no match for them at the time and many of us fell. I am told that we were allowed to leave due to some bargain being struck by Sir Pilpus. I am not exactly sure what deal was made but we are thankful it was.

After we returned back to the encampment, Sir Wilmot revived the dead, and restored the very dead. We all took some much needed rest for the night and prepared for what the next day would bring.

As we all gathered in the morning we found that some of the allied orders had formed. The Order of the Saintly Shadow, The Silver Wing Justicars, The Enlightened Quill Society, the Circle of Crows, and the newly come, Crossbows and Roses were all gathered and were taking members in. I took time to speak with Sir Wilmot when the other orders were off learning and practicing. Those who had Squire Blades were given the task to choose a new Knight Commander of the Knights of the Aberrant Gate and after much hard discussion they chose Knight Commander Fern. Fern handed their blade off to Sir Pilpus when they took up Sir Wilmot’s blade, Officium. With that final act and warm goodbyes we departed the lands and made our ways home.

This concludes my field report. I am sure there are details that were missed and for that I apologize. I am sure there are others who have their own accounts and will fill in the gaps that I may have missed. Be well all and may your adventures always lead you home.

Why I Want To Go - Voraniss Questing 4: The Ruins of Lostpeak

Written by: Zack "Anthony" Emmert 

IC:

Heroes and Adventurers of the Realms,

In a few days time, we travel far to the west, to the ruins of Lostpeak. This was the site of thel ast battle between the Knights of the Aberrant Gate, and the Miscreations that lie beyond that very gate. It was here that each of the Knights, save Sir Willmot D’Aubert and Sir Edwyn Raincourt, split up and left the site of the battle. Sirs Willmot and Edwyn fought against the miscreations together, and while they were able to destroy the physical structure of the Gate, Sir Willmot fell in battle. Several of the miscreations escaped the site of the battle, who later killed Sir Edwyn’s family. The combined loss of his family and his Knight Commander was the tipping point that drove him to become the lich we now face.

The Enlightened Quill Society and the Silvering Justicar have established an archeological dig site at the ruins, and we hope to recover artifacts and information that will help us as this conflict evolves. The Knights of the Aberrant Gate do not yet know that this is our destination, and we hope to keep it this way as long as possible. I hope to see you all there.

Good luck and godspeed,

Anthony Warder of Stonewood

OOC:

This questing series is my one-stop shop for story driven questing with deep and expansive lore, and never fails to get me fired up and ready to fight for my life. With each passing event, the plot staff have blown me away more and more with their dedication to their craft. From the costuming and props that bring the world to life (I’m looking at you, Flesh Blanket™), to the immersive roleplaying and top-notch NPCing, to the cohesive and well-crafted worldbuilding, Voraniss Questing is easily one of my favorite quest series in the Realms. I’m looking forward to seeing what the plot team has in store for us next!

See you all at Lostpeak,

Zack Emmert

What You Missed: Voraniss Questing III- The Siege of Necron

 by Travis "Elwin" Wilcox

This is the field report of Lord Sir Elwin of Stonewood. We have just returned from our venture into Necron, and these notes should be recorded somewhere.

First, I will start off by saying upon arrival, we showed up to Evie's tavern. A wonderful spread of food stuffs and drink were provided by our host as well as adventurers coming in. Among the things provided were Almiraj Alchemy and Dryad's Delight. These two drinks were equally as good to me, but I hear rumors that one of them was making people act a bit funny. I question how they came upon these drinks, but nonetheless, they were tasty. Through the day and into the night, Voraniss held their trials for who would be Champion as well as High Mystic. After many tests, the titles were retained by Mogar as Champion and Merrix as High Mystic. The one title that did change hands was the title of Magistrate. While it was formally held by Druid Evie, it was transferred by vote to Voraniss' newest oath sworn, Zula. After the formalities of court were concluded, the bardics began with the trio of Maestro, Melethiel, and Arbide tying with Ryu for first place. It should also be noted that Arbide did win the Artistry competition as well. With all of that concluded, everyone grouped up outside, and those who wished to participate in this year's Wild Hunt stood to a side to be picked by the spirits to participate. Once the teams were chosen they were sent to the woods in a kill-the-queen-style event. I must say it did run very late, and I was not around for the conclusion of this event. I undid my bedroll and settled in for the night to get some rest before what was sure to be a long campaign into Necron.

The next morning after being briefed that there were relics of power spread out across all of Necron, we were looking to go in. The scouts that were helping us reported back that we had two available options of entry. With Sir Edwyn's forces already entered we had the option of trying to storm the main gate or go in through the sewers. While the main gate was closer to some of our targets and would have provided easier access to our end objective, Sir Edwyn was not aware of our location at that time. Pushing the front gate would have caused a significant amount of noise and alerted them of our presence making the whole campaign much more difficult. The sewer entrance was on the opposite side of the enemy's forces and would have provided us an easy way in undetected where we could work with relative ease. We chose to go through the sewers for our initial entrance.

Entry was, to say the least, difficult. First, our fighting forces ran into some rats. Now normally I would think this an easy task, but it appears Calladen decided to focus half of his might and power into these three rats as they held off our line of adventurers for a good long time and help was called for after the first few minutes. I was not on that front line on the first push so I can not say why this was so difficult. From what I experienced with the rats I fought, they were resilient with their regeneration and were agile fighters. Once we made it through the first onslaught of enemies, be they rats or skeletons, we found ourselves confronted with a sewer grate. Now, I am not sure why people were surprised that there was a locked sewer grate that would allow entry into Necron, but for some reason, I was met with questions about why anyone would lock a sewer. Needless to say, we cracked the lock on the grate and made our way in.

Once we crawled our way out of the sewers, the scouts that were made up of the Enlightened Quill Society, the Silverwing Justicar, the Order of the Saintly Shadow, and the Circle of Crows set up a forward camp for us so that we could prepare our next move. After a fair amount of debate, we had the basis of a plan. We would travel north to try and recover an artifact that was pointed out to us. We had time to kill as the inner city was closed off to us until nightfall.

The trek north was riddled with undead. Apparently, Calladen did well in stocking his defenses. Our hopes were that Sir Edwyn's forces were facing the same resistance we were. The push forward was long and difficult as we were funneled into narrow corridors, and our fighting strength was reduced to a fraction of its capabilities.  As we fell to the resistance forces, we found what appeared to be pieces to some form of scroll broken into what seemed to be a hundred pieces. If it was in this place, we were sure it must be important, so we began assembling it as we found the pieces.  In addition to those pieces, we also found copper links that we realized formed into chains. Once we pushed forward further on our journey, we found an opening, and I was told that the ghosts needed to be bound to set them to rest. While I was not working on that particular task, I can not say exactly what happened with that as I was on the front line with the Northern Alliance shield wall and some other companions holding off the relentless swarm of undead filtering up to us. We created a barricade at the entrance and held strong for a good long time. With time draining away and the looming threat that Sir Edwyn's forces were on the move, we called for the push to break through the hoard of undead and make it to our next checkpoint. From what was reported back to me, we did, in fact, deal with the ghost issue and were able to set them to rest.

 We arrived at our new forward camp to find that our last location was filled with corruption. That could only mean Sir Edwyn knew where we were already. From that point, it couldn't be helped, but we did do some investigation to see what the cause was. We did find that it was in part caused by someone in our ranks. With only a little time to investigate, we were unable to pinpoint who the exact person or persons were. At this time, we also were made aware that a Dracolich had entered the field under Calladen's control. That was a problem for another time, though. We had to keep moving.

With that, we planned our next move. We were going after a relic that we knew the location of. With a little time to gather our gear, we set off to our next task. When we arrived at the location, there were blood rituals all around the area and what seemed to be blood wraiths and more undead. Without hesitation James Swift made quick work of the blood ritual circles to break whatever foul spell was being woven at the time. In the center of the area was an undead creature with some intellect. In front of it was a skull caged in bone and three vials around it. One of the vials was filled with blood, and we needed to figure out how to fill the others. After a bit of research, it became apparent that the solution to this was to kill the blood wraith on the ritual spots that had been burned away. As I can not and will not abide by blood magic, I set out to simply try and destroy as many of the creatures as possible. After a bit of time, I found that the skull was freed from the cage, and Mathias had it. When he held it, all healing magic moved from its normal purpose to its undead equivalent. With heavy suspicions in hand, I told Mathias to go and destroy the relic. We watched as his weapon struck the skull, and it then was no more. The effect had ended. It was time for us to make a quick retreat back to our forward camp.

Upon arrival, we saw the movements of the enemy and began to check on suspicions. Unfortunately, what we feared was true, and the relic was not in fact destroyed, but instead sent off to Sir Edwyn. With that knowledge in hand, we began to make our preparations for the move forward. The understanding that all of our hard work was simply handed over to the enemy was disheartening and was a blow to the group's morale. Nonetheless, we had to push on while we processed this information. Beaten, battered, tired, and disheartened, we moved forward. We needed to start making our way to the docks to make sure that we could get into the inner city by nightfall. They were going to be a bit away, and we had another challenge that we had to face. We had reports back that to pass through the area to get to the docks, we needed to pass through in both silence and in the dark.

After a little travel, we arrived at a building that we needed to pass through. It was extremely dark in the building, and only the illumination of corruption provided any form of light. Fortunately for us, the creatures in the building only reacted to sound. Unfortunately for some, they scare easily. Shortly after we started sending in people to scout the room, we heard an ear-piercing scream of terror followed by what can only be described as a cacophony of carnage as the creatures within swiftly descended upon the person and savagely tore them apart. Shortly after, I entered the main area. There was corruption almost everywhere. Only near the exit was free from it. After silently making my way deep into the room, I saw a circle of corrupt power that was filled with plague rats. They seemed to be nesting on something. After trying to pass my hand over the circle, it melted the flesh off from my bones, and with a muffled grunt of pain, the creatures in the area didn't hear me. At that time, the corruption from the room also tried to overtake me, but I was narrowly able to push it off and retreat to tend my wounded hand. In moments I returned to attempt to get the item again. This time I bolstered my protections and knocked away some of the rats before recovering my hand unharmed. I did this a few times and realized that this would be futile. Digging into my resources, I was able to disrupt the circle surrounding the object, and that only left the rats to attend to. I was able to burn a few of them away, exposing what seemed to be a tablet, and with only a swift motion, I grabbed it and, as quietly as possible, ran from the biting little bastards. All the time I was doing this, others were working on the locking mechanism that blocked our way through. From my understanding, every failed attempt left two people rendered. It took a bit of time, but eventually, the lock was foiled, and we were permitted to pass.

Reaching our forward base before the dock was only a little relief as our time was running extremely short to be able to make it through the gates before our momentum broke. The forces of Necron were absolutely against us at this point, as when we opened the door to head to the docks, we were met by a torrential downpour. For those who are unaware, this makes for terrible sailing conditions, and when in enemy lands, it is even worse. We made a quick hustle to the docks and were relieved to find three vessels to carry us across the plagued waters. I boarded the largest of the three vessels, and we spread out among the rest. James Swift took flight on his flying carpet and deftly navigated the waters. After only a bit of sailing, we were set upon by a group of undead in boats. Our vessel faired well with the skill of Nos, Fern, and I defending our ship as we sailed. I am not sure who was captaining our ship, but they had us running fast in the waters so the enemy never made it past our stern. Just before we beached our sizable vessel, a Kraken emerged from the depths and made chase. This was a truly large Kraken at that. Only after getting out of our ship did I see that the other ship did not fair as well, as it looked akin to a death barge upon its landing. We quickly pulled the ships further inland so as to not be completely destroyed by the vicious tentacles of the Kraken as we might have needed them for our escape. After collecting any stragglers and grabbing our dead, we made a speedy retreat to our new forward camp.

Soaked, tired, drained of many resources, and struggling to stay on our feet, we knew we still had to get through the gates before rest could come. When I say we were pushed hard for a time and everything was given, I do not stretch the truth on that. Collectively we gathered our gear and our resolve and made our way to the gate. In a small building before it, we came face to face with Calladen. He was furious and believed we were attacking him. He thought we were in league with Sir Edwyn and had come to destroy him. If only we would have taken the chance to do so. Sir Edwyn was in pursuit of us, and within minutes of our arrival, he was there. The two of them began wrestling for control of the undead in the area, taking command back and forth. In an attempt to slow the process and possibly give my allies a reprieve, I released a blast of energy, laying low all lesser undead in the area and taking my stand fully in this fight. It was a short-lived reprieve, and with that act, I may have made myself a person of interest to Sir Edwyn more so than I had already. As I navigated from my location, I froze in my tracks as a clear voice rang out over the cacophony of battle, “Sacrifice!” Never in my adventuring career has one word ever sealed the fate of a campaign. I spun around to see Rev over the slain body of Calladen. The battle of tug-of-war was over; our chances of regaining control of Necron were lost. This was no longer a battle but a retreat. Sir Edwyn had become victorious in taking Necron in one strike, and we were then set to steal what powers we could gain from the areas as we could on our way out. It is important to point out we had a few minutes to speak with Rev once Sir Edwyn had moved on. Rev had said that after his victory, he gained the clearest understanding of the mistake he had made. He realized that he was blinded by vengeance and, because of that, had doomed the Realms.

 The rest of the night was spent tending the dead and licking our wounds. We had made it in, but the cost was far beyond anything we ever expected to pay. With Calladen dead, his power distributed, the weapon handed off to Sir Edwyn, and relics being collected constantly, as well as Sir Edwyn gaining the control of a Dracolich, it was not a price we thought we would have to pay. Rest was difficult, and as if to spite us, the chill fell in the air cutting us to the bone as we slept.

 The next morning we awoke and made our way to the map. The scouts reported in that we were locked into our location, there were forces coming in behind us, the enemy had also made it into the inner wall, and we had three major targets to consider. We had a mausoleum, a tower, and a library. Given our position and the position of the enemy, we only had one real choice to take by foot, the library. We did have another issue on our hands. We had an enemy at both gates, and we didn't have an escape route, so we needed to find one. After deliberation, we found out that our best course of action was to teleport out. Unfortunately, the lands were not kind to our magics, so it was going to take more than we had to do that. We cast some spells to find out that the Tower had a portal in it that we could use to escape. Now we had a plan. Rush to the library, teleport to the tower, and then use the portal to escape. We also found out what items of power were in each location. In the library were remains of Lucius the Red, the tower contained parts of Zermarx, and the mausoleum held a metal lord of adamantium.

In our travels to head towards the library, we came across another location of importance. This held undead that were plagued and would endlessly regenerate. Fortunately for us, they were very slow. Also, fortunately for us, we were provided with a convenient pit to dispose of them so that we didn't have to worry about them regenerating behind us. When we opened the back door to the building, we could see down quite a ways and saw that there was another relic that we could get to deny Sir Edwyn a source of power. Unfortunately, we also found out that the pit we had been dumping the bodies of the undead down also deposited down to where that relic was that we now needed to get. Some of the adventurers tied off a rope and began repelling down into the area below to try and obtain the item, unfortunately, that took a while to do, and it left the one who just got down alone to defend themselves against much higher numbers of plagued undead. This is twice as bad because when they died, they would be corrupted to kill all those around them until they were cured. This plague was a massive issue to deal with. After I realized that the pit we dropped the bodies into dumped out down below, I threw myself into the pit to get down quickly. Immediately after landing, I was put to the test of trying to survive until help could join me. At the time, I was faced off against eight undead as well as Bones and a couple others. With nearly everything regenerating in the pit, it was a battle of attrition against my resources until help arrived. It felt like an eternity, but eventually, help arrived and then began to come in faster and faster until I had room to breathe and think.  The relic at this location was a long weapon coated heavy in plague and held fast by the putrid stuff. Styx and I worked quickly at curing the plague away until it was loose enough to pull out. I am thankful for my resistances; the mere act of touching that cursed item could cause the plague to spread immediately. Once we escaped and retrieved our friends, James Swift and I got to work on purifying the weapon so that it could not fall into the hands of our enemy. It was quite a task and, in the end, caused a few people to go crazy and start killing, but we were successful.

When we reached the library, we quickly made our way to the laboratory of an alchemist of questionable sanity. We found through magic that it was in our best interest to help him with his experiment and then found out why. He cared only for the results of his work and not the fruits of it. Caged within hands of bone was a box that exuded immense evil. We knew that had to be the remains of Lucius the Red. While he shouted out components that he needed, we worked as quickly as possible to retrieve his demands and ensure he continued working towards our end goal. We gathered many liquids in vials as well as random body parts from things we killed and seeds of pure corruption. There were many other components, and apparently, some people were tested upon part of the way through the process and grew grotesque appendages that would have to be removed and regenerated. Upon completion, we received the box, and Vesper brought it outside so that it could be destroyed in a great purification ritual. With that done, we then made a quick execution of our plan to teleport to the tower. Aelias and Liselle worked their magics together, gathering us in a circle and teleported us to our destination.

After landing at our destination, we quickly moved into the tower and came face to face with Dame Carrion as well as Sir Roman. Dame Carrion was trying to play a game with the adventurers where five of them would sacrifice blood up to her for a chance to pull a vial of blood from a circle. One of the vials contained the blood of Zermarx. While that was a tempting prospect, the risk was far too high. Warlord Saka and Odd were collaborating on a workaround to try and gain the blood, but unfortunately, time ran short when Sir Roman made the call for his minions to attack. Just before this happened, we found out that to be able to open the portal, three people would have to fuel the portal with their souls. With almost no deliberation, Sir Vesper, Magus Prime James Swift, and myself took our positions as everyone else rushed for the portal. When the group was in place, the three of us activated the portal opening it and allowing the rest of the party to escape. In that act, our souls were obliterated. As I say, never go into a situation without an escape plan; I regenerated my soul and then came back to life only to find Sir Vesper gone and just a husk and dust of Magus Prime James Swift. After a time, I was able to find my way back to the group. With the combined efforts of Aelias, Liselle, and the rest of the adventurers, as well as the good fortune of having an extra piece of James Swift's soul floating about, we were able to bring him back as well. Sir Vesper was also alive, if not fully well. Given the severity of the circumstances, this could have ended far worse than it did.

This concludes my report. There are some instances missed by omission or by oversight. I would strongly suggest talking to those who were there to find out more as there was a lot that was happening and only so much that can be put to pages. Heed my warning, though; we did not win the day on this; we merely denied the enemy some resources. We did retrieve a couple things that may help in the fight, but far less than the enemy gained.

-Lord Sir Elwin of Stonewood

OOC: There is so much I could say here about this event. I will try and keep it short, given the length of the IC report though. First, I would like to say thank you to all of the Event Holders and staff for this event. Thank you to the NPCs, both combat and non-combat. Thank you to the prop masters and storywriters for the event series. This staff has shown that even after throwing a ton of events for the year, they do not falter on quality, even under the massive stress of the changes that needed to be made for the weather. I can not express my gratitude enough for the staff. I know I missed covering some of the mods that we went through and some of the key interactions that happened, but there were just so many of them. I look forward to the next event in this series as well as all of the pieces that fall into place between events. Unfortunately, I can not name all of the staff individually in this post as they had a ton, so please, take my thanks; you know who you are. Every one of you did a great job. To the NPC crew, great job at knowing your opponents and making sure they had fun no matter who they were and no matter their skill level. Absolutely blown away. Prop masters, you guys did an unbelievable job, from the living book to the flesh wall, to the Kraken to everything else, and I know there was a bunch more we never saw. Thank you all. I wish you all the best and can't wait until next year for the next event.

Why I Want To Go: Voraniss Questing III- BBEG Edition

Depending on who you ask, omens are powerful things. Dreams can be prophetically significant, as can mysterious whispers in the dark. An animal may guide your path to discovery and realization, or an ancestor. The specifics in this case are less important than the following warning you receive:

_______________________________

You wander the dark until you discover a large tent surrounded by torches. The flames are a sickly green, their unholy light slithering through the shadows like putrid tendrils. Despite the cool autumn wind, the fire is still, as if boasting some dominance over the forces of nature.

This isn’t a place you want to be. Deep in your bones, you know it isn’t right, but you keep moving forward, drawn past your fear and toward the truth.

You linger by the entrance to the tent, an uninvited guest. There are voices within.

“Calladen was a fool to leave behind such treasures. With weapons such as these, our forces will sweep through the countryside and put an end to this childish resistance,” says the first voice. It is both callous and exhausted in tone, speaking with certainty rather than optimism.

“Not enough blood left in those remains, Roman,” says a second voice.

“Edwyn doesn’t need the blood, you lascivious dizzy-eyed pumpion. Any piece of Zermarx or Lucius will do,” Roman snapped at his companion.

There is the sound of a whimper in response, but it rapidly grows into a girlish giggle of delight.

“You must really want to make them hurt. Do you think they will cry?”

“That is no concern of mine.”

“You’re no fun, Roman. I want to play with them and hear them sing beautiful dying songs.”

“We are at war, Claudia. Your childish games are secondary to fulfilling our master’s purpose. Pull yourself together, or have you forgotten that we already failed to retrieve the vial of the Serpent God’s blood? If we are to be worthy of our order, we will return in victory. I will not have the Knights of the Aberrant Gate and all our deeds again mocked in a public court.”

A feeling of unease grows in the pit of your stomach. There is a crack of red lightning across the sky, and that’s when you realize you’re standing in the middle of a war camp, not merely beside a single tent. You are surrounded by lifeless soldiers still as statues, and the red light of desecration flares to life within their sunken eye sockets. Their numbers go on for miles, and at that moment, you awaken.

Why I Want to Go - Voraniss Questing III: The Siege of Necron

 A Compilation Featuring Odd, John "Gordon" Rescigno, & Justin "Grarr" Balanca-Hawkes

Upon my return from my home in the west, something in the air had changed. Something beyond the chill of winter creeping its way down from the north. On my return journey, the woods whispered secrets as the wind rustled their leaves- a language I could not understand. I heard that those in the Voranian war effort were successful in their efforts and for that I am grateful. I still regret disappearing so suddenly, and I hope they can forgive my absence. 

Word has spread around the places in Chimeron I frequent and I fear my intuition was right. A new threat has descended upon the lands. I do not wish to dwell on the future should Necron be taken by this lich's forces. I only hope I can be of use to those I consider friends in this race against time. I do not fight by nature, but I will take up arms in their name. If I do not, I am not sure I could forgive myself. 

-Odd

This is an awesome plot team. I have enjoyed all the Voraniss events I have been to thus far, and this is one of my favorite event sites. There are so many facets to this plot for new and older players alike to latch onto and take part in. 

A few keywords for those who are thinking about going that hopefully won’t spoil anything:

Vampires, fallen knights, ancient evils, nostalgic baddies, morally grey good guys, and Evie’s Tavern!

-John

You guys get a special three-for-one deal today! I’m going to keep it short, sweet, and to the point because Odd already did a fantastic job of getting all of you excited and ready to go fight endless ranks of undead minions. 

As I’m sure most of you know, I absolutely love the Voraniss Questing series and it never fails to get me fired up and ready to go fighting like my life depends on it (usually because it does). So far all of them have been a great mix of challenging combat with interesting mechanics, great puzzles, and strong role-play opportunities. The risks, rewards, and punishments have all been meaningful, impactful, and most importantly fair for the circumstances. I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it many more times I’m sure: to me, Voraniss Questing feels like the Dark Souls of the Realms. If you think you might enjoy anything that I’ve talked about here then you absolutely should come this weekend and help us push back this threat and hold the line!

Until next time,

Grarr Seawoods

What You Missed - Voraniss Questing 2: The Rise of Hugo

by Zack "Tony" Emmert

Friday night opened with an evening of merriment, with a return of Evie's Tavern, an arm wrestling contest (which Mogar won, to no one's surprise), as well as Voraniss Court and the summer Wish Burning Ceremony. During Court, Chrysanta Morris was made a full Oathsworn member of Voraniss, and given the name Dream Weaver. Margaret August was also sworn into Voraniss, and given the name Lightbringer, as well as squired to the Knights of the Crown under Sir Laika En'Naur. Magistrate Evitta Jainrose was named to the Circle of Druids of Voraniss, given the title "Druid of the Emerald Song" and became an Initiate to the Order of the Lunar Aegis. Magi James Swift became a Squire to the Knights of Dragon's Ire under Sir Elwin. Jean Baptise of Neden formally accused the Knights of the Abberant Gate of derilection of duty in their stated mission of defending the Realms from extraplanar threats, and formed an order known as the Watchers of the Skyless Sea to fill this void and monitor incursions into the Realms from other planes.

The Knights of the Abberant Gate took this accusation personally and sent Dame Carrion to make that known. She arrived with a cadre of undead and marked myself, James Swift, and Jean Baptiste for death. The Raven spirit Miragairos informed us we would be hunted by revenants until we were wiped from existence. However, Ser Elizah of Blackwood volunteered to take my mark upon herself, and after much deliberation and consideration, she did so with the help of Prince Seagan.

Saturday morning opened with an assortment of tasks that needed completing in order to earn the favor of Gaia, so that we might dispel the corruption of the undead in the land. We rescued people from poisonous vines in the Grove of Gaia, guided spirits to their rightful resting place, did battle with bandits and rescued their captives, first Elnaril Moonarrow, and later Magistrate Evie. Some got high licking frogs, others were taunted by pixies, and good times were had by all.

Once we gained Gaia's favor, we conducted a large ritual in her honor, led by Liselle and Dame Twenaria. With our dancing, chanting, and planting seeds, we called out to her and she appeared before us. She granted us her blessing in battling the undead forces, and Liselle her powerful staff.

Then came the war council.

We were informed by Warlord Cronin and Thane Tulkhan that Edwin Rainecourt's forces were moving against several nations of the Realms. His forces had raised fallen soldiers on both sides of the battle to defend Coventry against the Lost Kingdoms, and they were marching on the western border of Voraniss. Simultaneously, a second army marched north to Blackwood. After the War Council, and before the break for our evening meal, Druid King Hygar Athame was, at long last, knighted as a Knight of the Eternal Flame.

So following our evening meal, we split our forces. Voraniss and Invictus defended Voraniss's western flank, while Blackwood, Chimeron, Stonewood, the Northern Alliance, and others went north. But to get to Blackwood in time, we had to make a dangerous journey through the Voranian spirit world.

Guided by Miragairos's lights, we walked through the spirit world, assailed by spirits that draw out your worst fears, and can only be harmed using copper or ghost bladed weapons. And yet onwards we marched, through the darkness. From one lone light to the next, until we made it to Blackwood.

We arrived in Blackwood, and found a mostly empty fortress, save a small number of undead. We quickly dispatched them, and inside found a healer's tent, a forge, and castle gate. And we knew: We were about to be under siege. Sir Orion prepared the shield wall as Rainecourt's forces arrived under the command of the vampire Sir Roman, and Knights of Blackwood made a stand outside the gate, in one last effort to negotiate with Sir Roman. And when these negotiations turned to battle, the Knights of Blackwood took their place behind the walls, and the siege truly began.

Pikes stabbed, shields held, and boulders were thrown as the siege waged on, until I gazed over the top of the walls and saw a truly terrifying weapon of the lich arrive: A colossal 15-foot skeleton wielding a sword as tall as a building was bearing down on our position. It crashed through our walls, and to the credit of all those on the shield line, only then did the enemy breach.

(OOC note: Derek and his prop team are truly incredible! Hats off to all of them)

Our pikes were the only weapons long enough to harm them, and so they went to work as the skeletal monster crashed through any attempt to slow or trap it. What ultimately took it down was a ritual of banishment cast by N, and two bolts from a ballista loaded and fired by myself and Tarsus of Clan Riverhawk, and blessed by the angelic powers of James Swift. A ballista that I personally dragged to Blackwood through the Spirit World.

But even with that terrifying enemy felled, our work that night was not yet done. I received word that to the south, a temple to Arius, my god, was under attack by Edwin Rainecourt's undead army. Unfortunately, we arrived there too late. We found the temple desecrated, and littered with the bodies of worshipers and priests. And before the altar we found a scrying skull of the lich himself, surrounded by unholy runes. After raising the priestess dead upon the altar, we discovered the head priest had been kidnapped because he knew the location of a powerful item that Rainecourt sought after. I spoke to the scrying skull, and though I don't remember the conversation as I was rended immediately after, I'm told that I said to Edwin Rainecourt's face - or skull, rather - that he is unworthy of the title of Knight. I stand by that statement. We finished the night having reconsecrated the temple, ready to set off and rescue the head priest the next morning.

Sunday morning, we set out to rescue the head priest from Rainecourt's undead forces. We found him nearly rended, as he refused to give up the location of the object. Through the efforts of myself and many of my close allies, we were able to earn the trust of the head priest, and he showed us to the location of the item Rainecourt was seeking. Upon recovering it, I was intent on destroying it, however Sir Vesper and Sir Bones, along with divination magic graciously provided by Sir Aelias, convinced me that doing so was too dangerous, and it should be locked away and kept secure until destroying it could be safely done. Our work for the weekend finally complete, we returned home.