The Imminent Doom
The Imminent Doom is a period in Arath starting in 1521. It is mainly marked by the war between the biggest realms the Democracy of Cahemelle, the Dwarven Republic, the Thanate Empire, the Orcish Diarchy and the Draconian League.
In the centre of this period of war an unlikely group finds its way together. These are the stories of this groups adventures. Though if you want to read what else unfolded during the time and what they might have kick started in other places of Arath then you might want to read the Backstory of The Imminent Doom.
The Fall of Marymar
The party meets aftermath of a contested landing between elves and dwarves. Not having many other options they band together and head out eastwards towards Marymar. There they meet the local Govenor and decide to help him out by collecting taxes in the surrounding villages. Not having the best impressions of the Govenor they stole his treasours and head out further east wards across the wide planis.
In those plains they find a cave inhabitated by a hag, that trubbled them in their dreams. After a short scuffle they then found her cursed treasoure and a ship in a magical bottle. During the following night a headless character finds them and explains that this is the Devilsfall and he would be loyal to the one who found it. In a quick pace they head towards the shore to test this new mans words.
While traversing the plains they saw that some sort of earth ball rise up into the air and then drop down causing a large dust cloud. With their new ship the party decided to investigate the event. They find nothing where Marymar was last and decided to head further west to the next fishing village, where they are told that Marymar is no more.
Wanting to figure out the extension of the damage they head out into the wilds the reach the lumberjack village at the southern forest, which they find almost abandond. After some time and arguing the party decided to head further into the dust cloud only to find a wizard in the deep crator who conjures up a Zombie Beholder.
The fight was tough and resulted in the death of Alloro.
Rebellion in Goblin Town
Hearing of some struggles in the east the party heads out. Finding a valley controlled by goblins. A colourful band of rebells is fighting for their liberty against the repressive regiem of the Goblin King.
The party wants to help and sets out to hunt down some patrols and to pick up supplies. On their way back they decide to take a more dangerous short cut, which lead them into a runied dwarven underground city. The city is inhabited by mutated spiders and a Drider. Fighting their way through the city they then find the Drider in the throne room in which they challange her to battle. Infighting and bickering amongst the party leads to a loss of battle.
The surving members are handed over to the goblins, which parade them through the valley as openly as possible. Allowing the rebels and their crew to locate and free them. Wanting revenge the party sets out to target the King himself.
With the king dead his empire curmbles, his generals fight amongst each other allowing a new dwarven kingdom growing out of it's ashes.
An Excursion to the Hells
Testing the skills of the party the dwarven pirate captain Greybeard asks them to pick up a package from Durnkuldir. Sneaking into the basement of the Genral Axethain they find the young dwarf Ozmock, Greybeards nephew.
Yet soon after Ozmock is kidnapped by Deviles on their way back to Greybeard, prompting them to follow them to the Nine Hells. A place full of fighting and constant struggles for power.
At first the party tries to break into the fortified camp of one of the Warlords, yet the resistance is stronger than they thought. If it wasn't for the support of their friend Captaing Teolgrag they would not have been able to return from the hells with the young Ozmock.
The Breaking of the Council
Being a member of the Council since their first visit to Might Town the party tried to build up releations with some of the captains, mainly with Captain Teolgrag and Capatain Greybeard. Which is achieved by helping out with some tiresome tasks and other favours.
On a return trip to Might Town they find the city in turmoil, knowing their captain is in the city hall they charge in and find Ondas' and Hogans men currently trying to take over the city. In the mean time the Council is informed about a new opportunity, which results in the breaking of the Council.
Fighting to liberate the city the party makes a new friend Captain Tavia.
Current Chapter
Strennun goes Swimming
So we're still on the way to this Elven island somewhere down south-south-east. Can't see shit tho because there's thick fog all around. Not even I can see anything and usually I don't have any problem seeing through all kinds of stuff. Weird...
Anyway, i scout out the area underwater, but can't see shit either. When I get back, somebody yells something about a whirlpool and everybody loses their minds. The ship is on the verge of falling in and the Captain doesn't seem to know if she should steer in or out of the thing. I, for myself, know what I'll be doing, I'm gonna jump in and see what's on the other side. I mean, what's the worst that can happen right??
Strennun yeets himself into the building whirlpool, just as Kylin manages to get a hold of the ship and slowly but surely steer it out of the pool. She does so by jamming her sword into a gap of the steering wheel and with some help from another crew-member and Square.
Meanwhile, Rof saw Strennun jump overboard, but thought that this act of sheer stupidity was not done voluntarily (Because who in their right minds would even THINK of doing such a thing?? What he failed to consider is that Strennun is not even remotely close to being in his right mind...) and made it his mission to go save him. He rappelled himself down the side of the ship into the whirlpool - where Strennun more less happily goes merry-round. He manages to catch him, but gets socked in the face by Strennun and lets him be before getting pulled up to the ship again by Square.
So I get pulled down and over and down and over and down and over and... you get the picture. At some point I get spit out somewhere underwater?
It's pitch-black but I can still see some stuff and can also breathe underwater, so I go and see what's up and also where's up. I swim and swim and swim... and get to the sea-floor. I turn around and swim and swim and swim... and get to some weird structure? Metal? I think? I go along it and get to some pillars that go all the way down to the sea-floor and frame a passage. I continue until I get out of the passage and am in open water.
Meanwhile, Strennun's absence has been noticed on the Devil's Fall and Square is up and ready to replace him with a (more less) trained dolphin - The idea is not met with a lot of enthusiasm. Kylin excuses herself to the Captain's Quarter and lights a candle for Strennun.
So I'm in the water, I don't know where, I don't know why and I don't really know how. I reach out to the dragon-turtle but get ignored for some reason. Maybe I offended it somehow?? But wait! There's a faint light in the distance! I swim towards it and when I reach it, a huge mouth opens with teeth as big as my forearm! I get the fuck out of there and swim up and up and up and up.... for more than an hour. Gotta dodge some big sharks on the way up but I make it. It's open water and I have no idea where I am. Probably not too far off where I jumped into that whirlpool. So if my kalkulatins are correct, this Elven island should be somewhere South-South-East. Gotta reach it at some point I suppose, and I'm faster than the ship anyway, so let's go. I reach out to the dragon-turtle again, but only silence. Welp, swimming in silence it is then.
On the Devli's Fall, Darfin adds the newly 'discovered' whirlpool to the map while Square is trying to teach Ballast how to swim. This is accomplished by rappelling her down the side of the ship (that's moving at 50 knots at the time) and waterboarding her until she starts paddling, before pulling her up shortly before she drowns.
To let off some steam, Ballast goes off to slap Rof, who's had enough and escalates this issue to the Captain. A stern discussion is had and Ballast is sent off to scrub the deck with Rof and will not be allowed to slap any more people. Furthermore, she will be spending half-days with other members of the crew to learn useful skills:
- Rashesh: Cooking
- Darfin: Reading / Writing / Speaking
- Jack: Carpenting / Handiwork
- Brovara: Religion / Morality
- Rof: Humility / Survival
- Kylin: Leadership
- Kurwash: Music and Arts
While Kylin and Square are having this discussion, Rof is under deck and gets jumped by crew-members that are planning a mutiny, because he doesn't want to be part of this mutiny. A tussle ensues and Kylin, Darfin and Square are on scene. The mutineers attempt to frame Rof of starting the mutiny and the Captain is inclined to believe them. The leadership retreats to the Captain's quarters and Square manages to persuade her that this mutiny couldn't have been started by Rof because why would he? He promptly gets promoted to First Mate (Square's role so far) and Square gets delegated to 'Chief Slappening Officer', meaning she'll be responsible for training and security of the crew.
The crew-members who instigated the mutiny are being thrown onto the skiff with rations for three days (not enough to reach the shore) and sent out to sea. One of the mutineers - Rushk'all - hides and grovels in front of the captain and gets sent to the brig instead, where he will be overturned to the authorities in the next port.
Meanwhile, Darfin finally gets to talk with Sulla. He can convince them to agree to a talk with the rest of the leadership - but Sulla only agrees under the condition that they're tied together, so Sulla can't be thrown overboard. They also know that Death itself sent Kylin that strange vision of the Gods fighting against other Gods that she had some nights ago.
Strennun Almost Drowns
Today is Roftag's first day as an officer. Angrily he wakes up Steve and starts scrubbing the deck with him as a habit. I tell someone to fetch me all the officers to have a chat with Sulla in my room. As promised, I tie them in chair form to my buttocks, sitting on them for further safety. Sulla knows that they have to convince the crew with insider knowledge that only an elder god might know.
As soon as everyone is here Sulla introduces themselves as the god of fighting. They also talk about Mortius, the god of death and one of the old ones, who gave the vision to Kylin. She asks about the new gods, and Sulla explains that they were commoners who got more and more powerful, until they challenged the old gods themselves. After they won, they limited the powers of the peasants, which coincidentally was the same thing the old gods wanted to do. Some of the new gods are the Ghostly Lady, who has a brother with a gun, and Milil, a narcissist who cannot take criticism and mocks people to death. The new gods are on Sullas list of enemies.
Lyn asks Sulla about the Dragon Turtle. It seems to predate Sulla and is also more powerful. Lyn then asks if the Dragon Turtle is on Sullas list. Sulla tried to hunt it in the past, but never succeeded. Inspired by this Lyn asks what might happen if you kill a god. Sulla tells us that if you are able to kill a god, you might as well become one yourself.
Square then tells Sulla that she wants to be thought by Sulla and offers them the head of a new god. They tell her that she has to kill to get stronger anyways. Square then agrees and says that she will inform Sulla when she killed people. It was a very strange but fitting conversation all the way.
Sulla then explains that they need crystals filled with souls of those who fell in battle to be able to break the curse that is upon them. This can only be done in a temple that is devoted to Sulla like a big arena, and there seems to be one of those on Conder Isle.
Brovara chimes in by asking why we should help Sulla. They tell us that the can help us and give us power. "This seems kind of contradictory", I think to myself, "they tried to limit commoners powers back in the day, why should they just give it away?" It seems like this needs to be talked about further with the crew only.
After all the questions are asked and all the answers are given Square asks if Sulla wants to stay in her room. Sulla is in favour of this idea, because there is more blood in her room. I'm okay with this, as long as people trust Sulla and get along with them.
The first lesson with Ballast goes smoothly, but not as fast as I hope to. To motivate her I tell her about magic, and how she can learn it too, but only if she starts speaking soon. To prove my point further I firebomb the table that’s standing in my room. Ballast does not seem motivated, but at least she participated in the writing exercises.
During this lesson Roftag visits the captain, and asks her about the Elfo-Dwarven War as he didn't hear about anything while in the underworld. She tells him that the last two months it has been stale around Marymar.
Later that day I meet Square, and she asks me about the lesson. I tell her how it went, but also tell her that for Ballasts psychological development it is of most importance that she is convinced about the advantages of reading an writing as soon as possible, and by everyone around her. Including Square. Reluctantly she agrees.
While having a walk on the upper deck I stumble across Roftag. He asks me if the crow's nest he's building is good enough. I have a look at it, and realize that its only 80cm tall. Nicely I tell him that for taller people it might need to be slightly taller as well.
Meanwhile Strennun is swimming through the sea, restless and exhausted. On the fifth day he gets picked up by a trader's ship. The captain is a well-dressed woman with a black panther, who looks very similar to Kylin. It turns out that she actually is her sister who thinks that Kylin is dead. Strennun has to parlay his way out of the situation to not get thrown overboard.
Later in the week we cross a trader's boat, which turns out to be steered by Kylin's sister. We dock with them, and they reconnect. Turns out they don't seem to like each other. Kylin's sister mentions that their father left in search of Kylin and went missing ever since. She also shouldn’t be using the name Nelson anymore, as she brought shame to her family. Before they leave they bring us Strennun and a small cask. We're all quite surprised to see Strennun again, but not surprised when we learn that they were thinking about throwing him back in the water.
After some more days we finally arrive on Conder Isle, my beloved home country. I announce to the port master that I will guarantee for the foreigners, and he lets us dock for 200g. As I'm looking to see my family again after all these years I cannot wait and motivate the captain that we go and rent a coach, to make our way inlands towards Alse Edhil.
Psych Session with a gaslighting faerie
The cart starts rolling towards Alse Edhil. On the road Roftag turns to me and asks what it entails to be the first mate. I reply that firstly he is second in command to me. That he takes over if I am not around or busy. That he reports to me and that he enforces and hands on my orders to the crew. These instructions seemed to have helped him to know what his job is. The first days journey through these dense woods go past smoothly.
In the evening we arrive at camp site and Darfin instructs us to stay within the camp site, due there being fairies, pixies and willowisps around that are out to kidnap travelers. We settle down for the night with Strennun being still utterly exhausted from his swim. I take over the first watch and see from atop the carriage a bunch of lights in the forest, probably stemming from faeries. Afterwards I hand over the watch to Roftag.
Roftag diligently takes over his watch. As Kylin had pointed out there are some lights in the forest. Curiosity takes over him and he goes off and explores. He then stumbles upon a lone faerie. Roftag also plants his axe into the ground to help indicate to him where the campsite is. The faerie is very inquisitive, and asks for Roftag to follow it. Roftag declines and asks about their nature and about the tricks they play. This leads to philosophical discussion on what are good pranks to play, while the faerie tries to gaslight Roftag on where the campsite is. Luckily Roftag is adamant on where he has to go to return and finds himself back at the site to finish his watch.
The next day we set off on the next leg of our journey. Suddenly Strennun points out that there is the ocean to our left. Embarrassingly I also see this illusion with also the Devils Fall burning. I say embarrassingly because this was and illusion. At the time I did not know and ordered us to head to the beach immediately, which would take us off the safe path through the woods. Despite Roftag not seeing what I saw he begun to try and enforce the order as Strennun and Darfin were not following it. Luckily through some discussion and persuasion we stuck to the path and after a while the convincing illusion disappeared.
The following day saw us faced with another illusion which was a fork in the road. Through some clever magic from Darfin we managed to finish navigating throuh the forest and arrive in Alse Edhil.
Darfins house is as expected elegant and built into a tree. There we were greeted by Elanor, his very charming wife. Over a cup of tea Darfin inquires how his two children Nessa and Orian are doing. Both are doing well in the Ulentil. I send an eagle to Jack, to tell him that we will be staying an additional week.
We then decide to use the rest of the day to go and visit the university where Darfin used to work. The security there were the most uptight elves I have ever encountered, and that's saying something. But as the saying goes: Money rules the world. Once inside we head to the room with the talking furniture in hopes of getting more information on Sulla. There Feylin, a very cozy armchair advised us to head to the library to look for a certain book. Darfin then leads us further through the halls to the library. Here we find out that Darfins nemesis, Aran Silvaris borrowed the book 5 years ago and has not returned it yet. Well I guess we have to pay this nemesis a visit.
