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Year of the Warrior Princess
Uktar 27
Year of the Warrior Princess
Uktar 27
After a few well deserved days of rest our party is summoned to the Harper's guild hall and waiting for them there is Ellanzo! They have not seen him since mid-Ches, almost 5 10-days ago. He greets them and thanks them for their efforts. He also has a very important favor to ask them. Ellanzo explains to the group about the Famous Ruby Phoenix tournament that is held in far away Kara Tur (the Orient) every 10 years. It is held on a small island near the city of Khalab on Brightstar Lake. Khalab is considered to be in Kara Tur, but also shows up on most maps of Faerun on the far eastern edge. There are several reasons he explains, but he only mentions one right now. "There are 7 teams from Faerun that have been invited to the games, the 5 major factions and a team from the nations of the Whisper Gnomes and the Terra-Green Elves. You will represent the Harpers of course, but also we need to you assess the other teams from Faerun as well as the ones from Kara Tur. Find potential allies in the war against the World Scar. He hands Hannibal an envelope "Take this and open it once you get to Nethentir in Thay. Find our contact Grand Master Torch. He is an independent operator that works for the Harpers on occasion. He is an expert at "finding things"; he will find fast transportation for you to Khalab. Traveling with you part of the way (at least until Nethentir) will be the team from the Emerald Enclave led by Willow Stongtree." The last champion of the tournament 10 years ago is a half elf named Marthysan the Righteous, he is originally from the Dalelands north of Cormyr, seek him out once you get to the games, he could be an ally for us and you.
The Five Factions most active in Faerun:
The Harpers - A loose alliance of free peoples across Faerun
The Order of the Gauntlet - Followers of Help, Tyr and Torm
The Emerald Enclave - Rangers, Hunters, Druids and other nature types
The Lord's Alliance - City states from the Sword Coast that have militarized against the World Scar
The Zhentarium - A shadow network of Spies, Assassins, and Rogues. Zhentil keep leadership
The party leaves the next day along with the team representing the Emerald Enclave, led by Willow Strongtree. Willow and Landon hit it off immediately and become fast friends. They ride across the Sea of Fallen stars on large sea mammals and turtles courtesy of the druids they are with. The party makes good speed and are dropped off near Emmech. On the way to Nethentir they are waylaid by 4 Bone Devils and 4 Bearded Devils! They are hard pressed and Landon pays the ultimate price with his death coming a few rounds into combat. After the fight Willow offers to cast a reincarnate on Landon out of friendship. The party debates for a while with Hannibal and Azten out voting Riddick to take Willow up on her offer. Landon is reincarnated as a Lizardfolk! The rest of the journey to Nethentir happens without incident.
After passing though the gates of the city, Willow announces that her group will part ways with our adventurers, good luck on the rest of your trip she shouts with a smile as they head off. Hannibal opens the letter from Ellanzo. It states they are to find Grand Master Torch at a brothel and to tell him some code words so he knows they are the ones he was paid to help. Ellanzo also writes that another reason they are in the tournament is that the winner gets to take one item from a horde of items the Ruby Phoenix collected over her many hundreds of years life. One of these items the Harpers believe is a part of a very, very ancient artifact that can help them reverse Lolth's ritual. Hannibal has a drawling of the artifact to help them find it when the time comes.
It takes a few hours but they find Grand Master Torch in a run down brothel in a seedy part of town. He tells them he can help but needs them to "borrow" two artifacts from the Museum of Antiquities on display there in a section called "Elberron". He gives them some cards from a modified Deck of Illusions that will render them invisible for 2 hours. They sneak in near closing time and head to the Elberron area and duck into the bathroom. They use the cards and then work on a plan to "borrow" the two items they need. An unfortunate janitor got in the way of Riddick and was assassinated by him in cold blood. The party figures out how to steal the items and makes their escape! They head back to the brothel and Torch. He takes the items, one he keeps for himself, the other he attaches to a carpet of flying! They carpet will guide them to Khalab without the need for a map, very nice.
On the way out of the city they are chased by police riding their own carpets! A game of cat and mouse ensues with Hannibal using every bit of his ride skill to our maneuver the police and escape over the city walls! As the group journeys out of Thay and into strange lands they are accosted by a group of Jinn. Hannibal remembers the Thayian token he exchanged with Odolan back at the tower of Skullshank and the Jinn let them pass without issue. Several more days go by and the party finally enters Khalab. They descend and see the city is in the midst of a huge festival, the Festival of the Ruby Phoenix Tournament, the very one they will enter and try to win!
 | ||
| Our Group's Route |
The Harpers - A loose alliance of free peoples across Faerun
The Order of the Gauntlet - Followers of Help, Tyr and Torm
The Emerald Enclave - Rangers, Hunters, Druids and other nature types
The Lord's Alliance - City states from the Sword Coast that have militarized against the World Scar
The Zhentarium - A shadow network of Spies, Assassins, and Rogues. Zhentil keep leadership
The party leaves the next day along with the team representing the Emerald Enclave, led by Willow Strongtree. Willow and Landon hit it off immediately and become fast friends. They ride across the Sea of Fallen stars on large sea mammals and turtles courtesy of the druids they are with. The party makes good speed and are dropped off near Emmech. On the way to Nethentir they are waylaid by 4 Bone Devils and 4 Bearded Devils! They are hard pressed and Landon pays the ultimate price with his death coming a few rounds into combat. After the fight Willow offers to cast a reincarnate on Landon out of friendship. The party debates for a while with Hannibal and Azten out voting Riddick to take Willow up on her offer. Landon is reincarnated as a Lizardfolk! The rest of the journey to Nethentir happens without incident.
After passing though the gates of the city, Willow announces that her group will part ways with our adventurers, good luck on the rest of your trip she shouts with a smile as they head off. Hannibal opens the letter from Ellanzo. It states they are to find Grand Master Torch at a brothel and to tell him some code words so he knows they are the ones he was paid to help. Ellanzo also writes that another reason they are in the tournament is that the winner gets to take one item from a horde of items the Ruby Phoenix collected over her many hundreds of years life. One of these items the Harpers believe is a part of a very, very ancient artifact that can help them reverse Lolth's ritual. Hannibal has a drawling of the artifact to help them find it when the time comes.
It takes a few hours but they find Grand Master Torch in a run down brothel in a seedy part of town. He tells them he can help but needs them to "borrow" two artifacts from the Museum of Antiquities on display there in a section called "Elberron". He gives them some cards from a modified Deck of Illusions that will render them invisible for 2 hours. They sneak in near closing time and head to the Elberron area and duck into the bathroom. They use the cards and then work on a plan to "borrow" the two items they need. An unfortunate janitor got in the way of Riddick and was assassinated by him in cold blood. The party figures out how to steal the items and makes their escape! They head back to the brothel and Torch. He takes the items, one he keeps for himself, the other he attaches to a carpet of flying! They carpet will guide them to Khalab without the need for a map, very nice.
On the way out of the city they are chased by police riding their own carpets! A game of cat and mouse ensues with Hannibal using every bit of his ride skill to our maneuver the police and escape over the city walls! As the group journeys out of Thay and into strange lands they are accosted by a group of Jinn. Hannibal remembers the Thayian token he exchanged with Odolan back at the tower of Skullshank and the Jinn let them pass without issue. Several more days go by and the party finally enters Khalab. They descend and see the city is in the midst of a huge festival, the Festival of the Ruby Phoenix Tournament, the very one they will enter and try to win!
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