Gaming

This D&D campaign takes place in a modified form of the “Points of Light” background. There is a large amount of information spread across several books about the immortals. Some of it is intentionally contradictory so that there is no one right answer. As a brief overview there are five primary types of immortals in this universe which include the Divinities, Primordials, Primal Spirits, Far Realm Entities and Archfey. There was an event called the Dawn War in which the Primordials and Divinities fought. Ultimately the Divinities became dominant and saved the The World from destruction. The Immortals now stay in their own planes of existence. When in the mortal World any Immortal can be killed. So Immortals normally work through followers in the mortal world such as Clerics, Paladins and other chosen followers. I have already had a few Immortals meddle in some events but I have not connected all the dots yet for you. The following is a brief description of some of the Immortals and the Planes.

Divinities

Most dwell in their Astral Dominions in the Astral Sea. At the height of the hierarchy are the Gods themselves. Under them are their Exarchs and Archangels.

Gods

• Avandra: The goddess of change, Avandra delights in freedom, trade, travel, adventure, and the frontier.

• Bahamut : Called the Platinum Dragon, Bahamut is the god of justice, protection, nobility, and honor.

• Bane: God of conquest and tyranny, and patron of goblins. (Originally called “Achra”)

• Corellon: The god of spring, beauty, and the arts, and the patron of arcane magic and the fey.

• Cotillion: The god of assassins, dark, poison and balance. Cotillion was a noble in the Nerath Empire before ascension. Cotillion is allied with the Raven Queen and reigns from the Shadowfell. (Created by DM)

• Erathis: The goddess of civilization and the muse of great invention, founder of cities, and author of laws.

• Gruumsh: The chaotic evil one-eyed god of destruction, and lord of marauding barbarian hordes.

• Ioun: The goddess of knowledge, skill, and prophecy.

• Kord: The storm god and the lord of battle, who revels in strength, battlefield prowess, and thunder.

• Laeris: God of trickery, reported to either have been killed by Vecna, or hiding from Vecna when he tried to steal a draught called the Final Moment.

• Lolth: The chaotic evil god of shadow, lies, and spiders, and patron of the drow.

• Melora: Goddess of the wilderness and the sea.

• Moradin: God of creation and patron of dwarves, artisans, and especially miners and smiths.

• Pelor: God of the sun and summer, he is the keeper of time.

• Raven Queen: Goddess of death, winter and fate. She was once mortal and ascended to godhood after death. Unlike other deities, she reigns from the Shadowfell rather than the Astral Sea.

• Sehanine: Goddess of the moon and autumn, and patron of trickery and illusions.

• Tharizdun: The chaotic evil god who created the Abyss, and is now chained in the prison plane Carceri.

• Tiamat: The evil goddess of wealth, greed, and envy, and patron of the chromatic dragons.

• Torog: The evil god of the Underdark, and patron of jailers and torturers.

• Vecna: The evil god of undead, necromancy, and secrets. He was once mortal and ascended to godhood after becoming a lich.

• Zehir: The evil god of snakes, darkness, poison, and assassins, and patron to the yuan-ti. Killed by Cotillion.

Archdevils

The Nine Lords of Hell

1. Bel: Archdevil and lord of Avernus, the first layer of Hell.

2. Dispater: The Father of Strife, and an archfiend who rules Dis, the second layer of Hell.

3. Mammon: The King of Greed, an archdevil who lords over Minauros, the third layer of Hell.

4. Fierna: An archdevil who rules Phlegethos, the fourth layer of Hell.

5. Levistus: An archdevil imprisoned in Stygia — the fifth layer of Hell over which he is lord — by Asmodeus for slaying Asmodeus’ first consort.

6. Glasya: Asmodeus’ daughter, she is an archdevil who rules Malboge, the sixth layer of Hell.

7. Baalzebul: The lord of flies and the archdevil in charge of Maladomini, the seventh layer of Hell.

8. Mephistopheles: An archdevil who rules Cania, the eighth layer of Hell.

9. Asmodeus: The evil god of tyranny and domination, patron of devils and ruler of Hell from Nessus, the ninth layer of Hell.

Primordials

These creatures of destruction dwell in the swirling maelstrom of the Elemental Chaos, beaten back by the gods in the Dawn War.

• Another long list of immortals that I will not be using. I think of them kind of like the Titans of Greek mythology.

Slaad Lords

• Ygorl: Lord of Entropy

Demon Princes

• Orcus: The demon prince of undeath.

• There are a ton more. I removed them from the list as they will not be used in my campaign and the list of immortals was getting long.

Obyriths

Vile entities that once presided over a dying universe and introduced the shard of evil into the Points of Light, and who now pose as demon lords in their quest to conquer the multiverse.

Primal Spirits

Dwelling in the World, these powerful spirits called an end to the Dawn War. Most of these spirits’ names are found only the description of powers of Primal classes.

• Death: The grim harvester.

• Fate Weaver: A great spider said to have created the bindings between the planes

• Hunter of Winter: Tiger patron of Tigerclaw Barbarians (Added by DM)

• Soul Serpent: Keeper of the gate of dreams.

• World Healer: The force that mended the world after the Dawn War.

 

Far Realm Entities

Bizarre alien creatures from beyond reality, they infect the world with madness. Little is known about these creatures.

• I don’t currently plan to use Far Realm Entities. I leave this here as an FYI that they exist. If any appear imagine their Gods are much like Cthulhu.

Archfey

Lords of the Feywild, these creatures govern the capricious world of the fey.

Fomorians

Court of Stars

Gloaming Court

Sea Lords

Summer Court

• Tiandra, The Summer Queen.

Winter Court

• Aurilandur: The frost sprite queen

Enigma

• Lady of Pain: The ruler of Sigil, it is unclear who or what she is.

• Primus: Lord of all modrons, it may be primordial, or god, or something entirely unique.

• The Red Witch: Patron and creator of the Vrylokas

The World Axis cosmology

4th edition uses a simplified default cosmology with only six major planes, each of which has a corresponding creature origin.

Fundamental Planes

The fundamental planes are two vast expanses from which the other planes were formed. It was the conflict between the inhabitants of each fundamental plane that constituted the Dawn War.

The Astral Sea

The Astral Sea corresponds to the Astral Plane of earlier editions. The Astral Dominions, counterparts to the Outer Planes of earlier editions, are planes which float within the Astral Sea. The majority of the gods dwell in Astral Dominions. The Astral Sea itself is spacially infinite, but the Astral Dominions are all finite. Creatures native to or connected with the Astral Sea generally have the immortal origin.

 

Astral Dominions in the Points of Light setting:

• Arvandor, the Verdant Isles: A realm of nature, beauty and magic similar to the Feywild. Home to Corellon and (sometimes) Sehanine.

• Baator, the Nine Hells: A place of sin and tyranny, a world of continent-sized caverns. Home to Asmodeus.

• Celestia, the Radiant Throne: A great mountain that drifts in a world of silver mists. Home to Bahamut, Moradin and, sometimes, Kord.

• Chernoggar, the Iron Fortress: The rust-pitted iron castle, where mighty warriors fight and die endlessly. Home to Bane and Gruumsh.

• Hestavar, the Bright City: a luminous metropolis which floats above sandy beaches and crystal-clear lagoons, the center of astral civilization. Home to Erathis, Ioun and Pelor.

• Kalandurren, the Darkened Pillars: A dominion that plays host to demons. It belonged to the god Amoth before he was killed by the demon lords Orcus and Demogorgon.

• Pandemonium: The former dominion of Tharizdun. The tower of the lich god Vecna is said to be hidden within it.

• Shom, the White Desert: The former dominion of the mysterious God of the Word. Astral giants loyal to the goddess Erathis fight for control of it.

• Tytherion, the Endless Night: A dark, arid wilderness where serpents and dragons lurk. Home to Zehir and Tiamat.

 

The Elemental Chaos

The Elemental Chaos corresponds to the Inner Planes of earlier editions (excluding the Positive and Negative Energy Planes), also containing some aspects of Limbo. The Elemental Chaos contains Elemental Realms, which are themselves planes; the Abyss is one such realm. The only god who dwells in the Elemental Chaos is Lolth, who resides on the 66th layer of the Abyss. The Elemental Chaos is spacially infinite, the Elemental Realms are not. Creatures native to or connected with the Elemental Chaos generally have the elemental origin.

 

Locations within the Elemental Chaos:

• The Abyss: A place of utter evil and corruption, the result of a mad god’s attempt to control the whole cosmos. Lolth’s home, the Demonweb Pits, can also be found here.

 

Parallel Planes

The World

The equivalent to the Prime Material Plane or Material Plane of earlier editions. This plane lacks a formal name and is most often referred to as the World, although titles such as the Middle World and the First Work were also presented in Manual of the Planes. Creatures native to the world generally have the natural origin. The gods Avandra, Melora and Torog have their homes in the World. The god Vecna wanders the whole cosmos (Sehanine is prone to doing this as well).

The Feywild

One of the two parallel planes, the Feywild is a more extreme and magical reflection of the world with some thematic links to the Positive Energy Plane and the Plane of Faerie of earlier editions and settings. Creatures native to or connected with the Feywild generally have the fey origin. According to the 4th edition Manual of the Planes, this plane has some sort of unspecified connection to Arvandor, and is suspected that the Dominion of Corellon can be reached by here. Important locales within the Feywild are known as Fey Demesnes.

The Shadowfell

The Shadowfell is a type of underworld, and the thematic successor to the Negative Energy Plane and Plane of Shadow from earlier editions. The Raven Queen makes her home here rather than the Astral Sea. Creatures native to or connected with the Shadowfell generally have the shadow origin.

• Gloomwrought, the City of Midnight

• Letherna, Realm of the Raven Queen

• The House of Black Lanterns

• Moil, the City That Waits

• Nightwyrm Fortress

• The Plain of Sighing Stones

• The Shadowdark (Underdark of the Shadowfell)

Demiplanes

Demiplanes are relatively small planes which are not part of larger planes. The most prominent demiplane is Sigil, the City of Doors.

Anomalous planes

Anomalous planes are planes which do not fit into other categories. The most prominent of these planes is the Far Realm.

The Far Realm

An anomalous plane, the Far Realm is a bizarre, maddening plane said to be composed of thin layers filled with strange liquids. Visitors to the Far Realm can only exist in one layer at a time, but large Far Realm natives can exist in multiple layers at once. Creatures native to or connected with the Far Realm generally have the aberrant origin. A crystalline structure connected to the Far Realm, known as the Living Gate, stands in the Astral Sea. Creatures such as the Beholder or the Gibbering beast are very corrupted by these realms.

Picture taken from my groups adventure last night. I’m enjoying my new game table set up.  I made a small collapsible 3×4 table for the game map. Underneath that I have a 4×8 table top that separates into four sections. It really gives more room for the map and everyone’s papers with the double-decker set up. I was just getting frustrated with the limited space of the kitchen table and wanted something  I could pull out just for game night.

Conclusion of Game 7
At the conclusion of Game 7 we left our adventurers after just having defeating the Goblin ambush in the night and discovering that a Boggle had decided to steal all the bedrolls while you were fighting. Splug had been unable to stop the Boggle as it was using portals to jump around your sleeping area.

Start of Game 8
Lennie looks back and notices for the first time that there is a giant walking tiger standing in the doorway. He yell’s “Moonster!” and smashes the Tiger in the head with the flat of his Maul before the Tiger can react. The Tiger falls unconscious and transforms back into Thomas’s character Mathos. After waking back up Thomas explains that in his tribe the Tiger of Winter is revered as the Tribes god and that he has given some to shift into a feral shape. He has been gifted more for some reason and can transform into an aspect of the Tiger of Winter. Since Thomas was not there, I was a little sketchy on the details.

Encounter in the Crypts
After moving back into the Keep you see a skeleton down a hallway you missed before. Mathos rushes after it smashing it but activates a double row of Sarcophagi which spew undead out. After defeating many of the undead the Sarcophagi deactivate. The adventurers find some alters which have six totems of the Platinum Dragon Bahmut.

Sir Keegans Tomb
Beyond the Crypts you enter a room which holds a tomb with the carving of a Knight on it. After drawing close to the tomb the lid opens and an armored ghost steps out and identifies himself as Sir Keegan. He tells his story after speaking with you tells you the dragon totems will help you in some way in the upcoming fight. He also draws his sword Aecris and gives it to you and tells you to keep the rift to the Shadowfell shut at all costs.

Hidden Armory
Just before the stairs you notice a hidden door. After unlocking and opening it you discover a small room. You notice the wall is an illusion and Mathos runs into the room. A zombie attacks him in the dark and everyone else tries to enter the fight with several other zombies. After defeating the zombies you find a weapons rack but have to solve a riddle before you can take an item due a magical ward.

Conclusion of Game 8
At the conclusion of game eight you reach the stairs and shout out the password found on the Underpriest to the guards at the top.

Start of Game 9
The guards shout, “Underpriest Nelven is dead. RELEASE THE BEAST!” Apparently the password in the letter was a plant to confuse the adventurers if the Underpriest was defeated,

Release the Beast!
The adventurers run to the bottom of the stairs and see two Hobgoblin guards blocking the stairs while two others run to a room behind them. Other guards enter the battle from rooms to the left and right. Near the conclusion of the battle a Deathjump spider (the beast) as large as a man bounds into the room and continues the attack but is ultimately defeated.

Hobgoblin Barracks
Continuing on you hear some noises ahead. The group charges in and defeats a barracks full of Hobgoblins. The shield walls the Hobgoblins form make it difficult for most players to defeat but it puts them in perfect formation for burst attacks from Kitsune. You find two casks of ale and send Splug to take them to a safe place. If offers you some rat kabobs before departing but you decline.

Ambush from Behind
After departing the barracks the players rush towards where the ritual is taking place led by Kalarel Scion of Orcus. The players then are attacked in the rear by a group of Hobgoblins which were in an unexplored room. The goblins hit the rear of the group hard but are ultimately defeated.

During these adventures the players have amassed treasure which Philip has been tracking and has amassed weapons which the group has divided up as they found. I have not attempted to list all of it in the summary but I hope you are all tracking it on your character sheets.

4e Summary – Game Session 7 (The Dead Walk)

Douven Staul and Ninaran arrive at the Keep and tell you about the situation in the village. Essentially undead are overrunning the country side and have the village under siege. The Winterhaven Regulars are keeping the village secure. The Militia is saving villagers on farms and bringing them to village. Some villagers have already been captured. Sister Linora and Eilian the Old have been captured looking for the source of the undead.

Douvon and Ninaran scouted out the graveyard and saw that Ninaran’s family was also held there. They are sacrificing villagers to power the ritual to raise the dead. Ninaran would have tried a rescue everyone but he lacked his families weapons.

Douvon and Ninaran ask for the parties help in rescuing the villager’s. Ninaran tells you there are at least a dozen undead in the graveyard (last he saw) and more around the village and it appears one priest of Orcus. The graveyard is a relic of a town abandoned after the fall of the old empire. The graveyard is four hours travel from the Keep back towards Winterhaven.

The squad agrees to save the village by destroying the ritual that is raising the dead. They weigh the choice of leaving the Keep but they decide that saving the village is more important. The squad decides to take Ninaran’s help and give him his weapons and gear back.

Upon exiting the Keep you notice a pile of Goblin bodies piled from Lennie and Will. Apparently they had ambushed a group of Goblins that were returning from raiding the country side. At the graveyard you confront a large number of zombies and a priest of Orcus. Kitsune is successful in disrupting the ritual that was producing the undead. During that time the rest of the group kills the undead, again. You successfully rescue Sister Linora, Eilian the Old and Ninaran’s children. Ninraan’s wife and a few other villagers were already killed to power the ritual. Mathos callously makes a joke about Ninaran’s wife being dead after which Ninaran shoots Mathos and storms off with his stunned children. An awkward silence follows and the others don’t interfere or offer healing to Mathos.

The group then deduces they have disrupted the threat to the village and travel back to the Keep. They arrive late and find Lennie and Will have killed more goblins that were in the area. You set a guard and sleep through the evening. Just before dawn a patrol of Goblins attack the ruined farm house that you are sleeping in. During the battle Mathos transforms into a walking were-tiger and attacks the goblins. After defeating the goblins part of the group enters the decrepit building to find Splug running around with a large spoon. Apparently while the battle was going on the Boggle that has been stalking you decided to steal the bedrolls. Splug tried to slap the hands appearing through portals in the room but he failed from stopping the Boggle.

Notable Characters for this session:
Sister Linora (Priestess of Avandra – Goddess of Change, Luck, Trade and Travel)
Eilian the Old – Old farmer and regular at Wrafton’s Inn.
Ninaran – Elf Hunter, once spy in Winterhaven after his families capture.
Douvon Staul – Villager of Winterhaven and treasure hunter
Will – Best friend of Shawna (Human Hunter)
Lennie – Large simple minded friend of Will and all villagers.