by Adrian "Cronin" Cronin
It warmed my heart to see my allies from Blackwood present as well as a few new faces and some seasoned veterans of the realms. I felt confident with the troops I had brought but teamed with such legends, I felt the cold of Stonewood dissipate for a time. Morale was high as we munched on treats provided by the tavern keeper who I am sure was just happy to have breathing patrons once more. But alas this is no tale of merriment, it is a tale of battle.
The tavern was set upon by undead and we were quick to respond, with both steel and spirit we obliterated the undead forces but as expected they were only the tip of the spear. We pushed through the undead forces and to our surprise found a lone warrior who was in need of our aid.
A Justicar paladin fought valiantly by herself, and so we attempted to aid her but to no avail. These particular undead were possessed of some magical defenses it seemed. The paladin taught us the trick, which was to use “taunt”, scrolls we had picked up as plunder along the way. Once we mastered the technique and dealt with the undead, we moved onward through the forest fighting all the while.
We found a large fortress in the woods where a man named Stonewall resided. He welcomed us and gave us shelter that we may plan our next move. He had with him a key, which he agreed to entrust to us if we could prove that we could defend it. And so a battle ensued between our forces and his. His warriors shouted compliments and gave advice throughout and ultimately we were victorious. He gave us the key which we hid amongst ourselves as best we could.
The undead beaten back and the key to the rift obtained, we took rest in the tavern. But due to certain parties calling out to powers beyond their comprehension, rest would have to wait.
Zargon, god of death and undeath appeared in the tavern. He gave a speech about the hornet's nest that was was kicked and reminded the party of their responsibilities.
All the while, and far after Zargon had gone, our mystic Artair had remained within the tavern aided by Tempest and Elizah in deciphering scrolls which detailed the dangers and detriments we would have to choose to face in the final battle.
Finally, we laid our heads down to rest and recover.
Saturday morning we saw our forces bolstered by many new warriors and mages. With the key in hand and a party united in purpose, we went into the wilds to find the rift. Battling through the undead forces, we encountered several challenges of the mind.
We found a magical barrier of sorts that we needed to get magical orbs and place them into containers, which would be simple if the orb didn’t destroy our arms upon touch. We conquered the challenge and moved forward to a cave.
Within the cave were several bats, stalactites, some of which could only hold a small number of people and some of which needed many to stand upon to trigger a statue's hand to open revealing very small skulls which we would need later to be sure. Bats flew about the cave claiming the lives of a few but we were able to raise them and escape as is our way.
Once free from the cave we headed back to the tavern. From there we used a large magical arrow to find the rift itself. This too presented a large amount of undead to deal with as well as magical challenges beyond my perception or understanding. I was, after all, battling a large plant monster and keeping the undead from reaching the rift as our mages and Druids did their work.
At some point in the chaos, we lost Elizah into the rift. And despite my protests, we didn’t immediately go in after her as I would have liked. I have learned to trust my magical advisors and not to lose faith in battle so I agreed to move forward.
From the rift, we found a large podium with five symbols upon it. We also had five pieces for which to place upon the podium would result in our ability to track and engage the demon lords.
The time has come to face them and pick our first detriment. The order in which we fought the demons seems to escape my memory so I will do my best to save time and detail the demons and their detriments as a skald.
“We faced Botis the Viper, a poisonous foe.
Lacking armor on the left from thigh to toe.
We cut the head from the snake in that wretched place.
And moved to the next demon lord with determination and haste.
Yoram the diseased, had the speed of a steed.
We were slow as the tide as we had all agreed.
We destroyed his swarm, and cleansed his pool,
Then surrounded him and made him the fool.
Zigibreth the Mage Slaver, was cunning and cross.
We chose to be hunted, and many casters we lost.
We persevered and rescued our friends.
The battle was fierce til the demon met his end.
Alastor the Tormentor, was prideful and strong.
We allowed our enemies to silence our song.
We stood in our chains attacking friend and foe.
Until alas we were freed to Alastors woe.
Uvall the seer was smartest of all,
We chose to speak truth no matter how small.
We built half a bridge and watched it crumble away.
And Uvall escaped us having won the day.”
With four of the five demons destroyed the battle was won but the war would persist. Uvall, as many of us would agree is the most dangerous of the five and so we will need to return to the lands of Stonewood once more. Voraniss will answer the call when Uvall rears his ugly head once more as I am sure many others will as well.
Until then, I honor the heroes who battled into the bitter cold night against the forces of darkness. I will clean the blood from mail and prepare.
*OOC
This event was incredible, mechanically innovative and tremendously immersive. Stonewood remains the standard for dynamic questing and I am so happy to have gotten to hit this event.
The npc’s and the pc’s had a synergy that was remarkable. Hero fights mixed with legitimate realms fighting, npc’s taking early deaths for “cool moves”, etc. and generally communicating mechanics and shots back and forth really respectfully is a touch of what is generally hard to describe unless you were there.
The npc’s often wore sashes to indicate difficulty which was fun because we were able to both roleplay the danger and prepare for challenges instead of having to lose people to become aware of danger.
The grandest spectacle was the night quest lighting. This was the highlight(no pun intended) of A Grave Discovery and it seemed as if they doubled down on it for this event. Approaching a field covered in lit up crystals of various sizes and colors was a wonder to behold.
I could go on for another three pages but instead, I’ll say this: this event was a huge success. Great attitudes, dedication to high stakes roleplay, grand mechanics and lighting and more.
Well done Stonewood team. Can’t wait for the next one.