The D&D Dynasty: The New Path of Alzar the Mighty

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar loads up the shattered shards of amber from the first golem that died (worth 4750 GP and weigh 525 lbs) in a chest from the room and heads out. Alzar swings over and hours more pass and he flies over something odd. There is a force of 140 (148 actually) soldiers marching from the east. Alzar flies down and there are a group of dervishes and adjuncts from places to the east. Some of there were guarding places like the Pyramid of Amun-Re, among others. They are heads west, and then south to link up with the reserve force.




Alzar rests with them tonight after securing the amber away. In the morning he heads out with his golem and familiar on the carpet.

He skips an enemy patrol a few hours into his flight. He heads down to check out the patrol and lands onto some sandy area in between rocks on the east and south. From here, the patrol can be seen almost a mile away, but to far to make him out. He slips over to consider what to do.

As he walks a tremble can be felt, and then suddenly, a bunch of heads pop from the sand beneath him and a sand hydra is attacking him with its 9 heads!

Alzar takes 29 damage from a few head.s Because he no longer has a magical axe, he is using a backup weapon – his +2 Pesh-Kabz, a dagger-like weapon. He does know how to use it, so he gets 3 attacks every 2 turns, and the shield-bash too. But its harder to hit and such. He casts Hold Monster while the golem moves in. And….-4 penalty to the spell (Can the monsters get unlucky three times in a row…rolls a 9, - to 5 – that’s a fail). Paralyzed. Alzar slays it easily.

The Carpet heads on a few moments later.

[Abe Sargent]

An hour later, an army of at least 1000 soldiers is moving south from the north. This looks like the enemy. They are marching in groups by tribe. Together, but each own with the standard of their own kin. Once again he’ll drop an Earth Elemental in their path, and once again, it’ll slow them down and kill some folks. He flies on by at the edge of sight.

The way the army came is followed for a few hours, and then ends up in foothills, by an…abbey?

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar floats down. And heads in. It’s located in the hills, near the mountain. A large point of rock juts out from above the level of the surrounding area, and on that, the abbey was built. It’s another ancient building that was built in the pre-Sand Mire days, and unlike most of the Sand Mire, it’s been attended to and kept nicely. There are several buildings in the abbey, and Alzar can see them as he closes. There’s even a wall here to keep out invited guests.

According to legend, the abbey has never fallen, remaining a mighty bulwark against the forces of chaos that rule the Sand Mire. Alzar lands and knocks. A handful of monks arrive and welcome in Alzar and his entourage.

They warn that the abbey has been put under a curse by the Master and that at night the undead and other creatures walk the night.. Alzar is welcomed for a few hours. Alzar surreptitiously uses the Detect lie on his Bright Barrier, and they are lying. There is no curse.

A;lzar welcomes them, and they regale him of talks of a man who is not a man, and accept Alzar’s aid when offered. But he knows they are lying to him. He asks who they are – humble monks. Also a lie..

There are stables here, and a food storage shack as well. Two monks lead Alzar, and they tell him about the monster that strikes at night., That’s true. They want it killed. Also true.

[Abe Sargent]

Let’s see what they’ve got.

Alzar agrees to check it out. In case they are using DLie back, he wants to keep his statements neutral.

Alzar checks out the Abbey and finds a meditation chapel, sleeping chambers, a guest house, and a lot more. There’s even a well here – very rare, but they must be so high up they are able to drain water from an aquifer.

They suggest checking out the area where the blacksmith was. He heads back out and finds bellows and anvil and such in good repair, but disused. The air is icy and cool. Alzar can feel something down there, icy cold. Not necromantic, but something else.

Alzar grabs a hammer and smashes the ground. With his ogre strength girdle, he tears into it easily enough. In a few moments the ground cracks open, and a creature awakens, and pops out. This is a frost salamander, an ice version of the flame salamanders you often see. Alzar talks to it as it approaches, but it doesn’t make out his language, so he unstoppers the Iron Flask and tries to capture it (it’s an extra-planar creature). It works.

(I am not making this up. In this smith room are a pair of magic items that shake loose in the battle with the salamander. According to the module they are: Ring of Invisibility and Battleaxe +2. Wow)

Alzar finds an item that shock loose. It’s a battleaxe, but just a +1 one. It’ll work for now.

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar heads back and as the sun sets and dinner is held, the monks here all transform into their true forms:






They appear undead, and have their defenses but they are not and Alzar can’t control them or anything. His new axe is out and Golem leading. He vamp Touches one and kills it to heal himself from the desert hydra today. He takes a few hits, and then kills some and a few more. (Random.org)

Alzar is – 31/60 at the end of battle, killed 12 of the 19 bhut and used a few spells. The rest run away to other places in the abbey.

[Abe Sargent]

They search and find classrooms, storerooms, an abbey kitchen and more. Deep in the complex is a temple compound that features a ornate gate, and an abandoned shrine in here. There is nothing here to demonstrate the evil of the bhut is here, the temples, shrines, holy symbols, robes, and more have all been subsumed into their lives, without defacing, replacing, or creating new.

Before entering the library, Alzar found a few bedchambers of major bhut leaders that had some gems and such he pocketed. But this is the goal, the library. He orders his golem to guard and begins to look around. This is a sprawling library. One section has books on the history of the abbey, and another on religious and theological debates, and a third on the other religions on Hamedh. There are thousands of scrolls and books here. Alzar reaches through to the spellcrux, grabs Detect Magic, casts it, and takes those that glow.

4 scrolls of cleric spells (to be determined later)

He then heads out after finding two more Amulets of Finding and resting the night. Everything seems to indicate that the great pass through this mountains is down the trail less than a mile away.

He skips the rest of the abbey, and heads out the following morning.


(Items he missed were a Ring of Djinni Summoning, and a scroll in the library that would have increased his Wisdom by one, but I chose not to include it).

End of X4. Master of the Desert Nomads

Obviously I had to change things up and move things around. But I think that’s a pretty fun module! Armies on the move, battles underway, and a lot more. It’s a very epic level adventure module.

[Abe Sargent]

Next up:

X5. Temple of Death



This is the grand finale of the Sand Mire. David Cook, deserts (I’ll make some changes again geographically to fit in everything. In X4 you cross for days, here Alzar did so for a couple since he was flying, and we changed the geography and some of the base concepts considerably. But the basic stuff is all there)

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar heads out with the golem and familiar towards the location of the great pass as indicated in the abbey’s archives. As the rock rolls away, the great pass is revealed. It’s a tunnel carved into the side of the mountain. One of the highest mountain chains in the area is here.

The entrance to the tunnel of the great pass is in a narrow box canyon, a quarter of a mile long. The mouth of the canyon is around 25-30 yards wide, slopes gently and then continues. It’s wide enough to fit wagons or supplies.

The Gem/Star reveals a hallucinatory illusion on the mouth of the canyon, covering the tunnel. This is the great pass – all hidden from view via an illusion.

The tunnel through the mountain is a natural passage, and the floors are irregular and cluttered with fallen stone and stalagmites. The light only penetrates so far so Alzar grabs the iuon stone to use it to see in darkness. In order for the great pass to serve as a way to move an army unnoticed through the mountains, it can’t be too hard to follow.

[Abe Sargent]

As Alzar crosses the open area just inside the tunnel , heading towards the cave mouth, there are wisps of what might be steam drifting from the opening. Around 30’ away there is a great rumbling noise and a cloud of steam billows from the cave. Suddenly the head of a green, dragon-like creature thrusts its head out of the cave and says, “What is this? More of the puny creatures who run the face of the earth? Go now and leave me alone!”

Alzar does an INT check and this is not a dragon, and not an illusion either (which the Gem/Star verifies). It’s a fake.

As Alzar moves forward, there is a second dragon image that appears as well. That’s an illusion though – level 2 spell. Alzar is immune to that one. Someone has really built some defenses in here. Hallucinatory terrain spell covering the place, and then a bunch of people masquerading as a dragon and then finally a fake dragon to back up the fake dragon. Clever stuff, really.

Alzar and the golem move in to the ”dragon.” It comes to them and a fireball flies out and hits for 19 damage, save vs half. The golem and Alzar carve it and it breaks, the framework all cracked. It tumbles away to reveal a fake system with real dragon hide, wooden framework, operated by almost a dozen fighters and a mage. They all begin to flee and Alzar heads after the mage while the golem tries to head off the fighters. The wizard sees Alzar approach and stops, casting invisibility. Alzar sees through it and his axe kills the mage in one hit. The golem is taking out fleeing warriors, and Alzar Sleeps the ones furthest away. A trio of soldiers escaped.

Amulet of Finding, Wand of Fear (9 charges), +1 pesh-kabz

Alzar 51/61
Aegis, Stone Golem – 60/70

[Abe Sargent]

The tunnel heads, and then opens up and there is a large valley in the mountain in here. It’s colder than expected – almost normal temperatures. The slopes of the mountains are all around. The floor of this alley is marred by large areas of barren rock, ripped and damaged.

As Alzar moves across, he makes out a faint cry and Gilded Ears can hear it as well. It’s coming from a great distance up above. The cry goes on, and then a large bird like creature can be seen, flying towards the area, and as it gets closer and bigger and bigger, it spies Alzar in the valley and the giant bird, a roc, attacks. Alzar prepares a Hold Monster spell. Again, -4 to the spell. The roc rolls…a 5. Would have been a fail no matter what. And it falls to the ground, damaged badly, and Alzar moves over and finishes it.

They continue and exit the valley a few hours later. The tunnels here veer off in three different directions, all of which are big enough to accommodate a passing army. After an hour or so or various passages, Alzar begins to make out something nearing, and they run into a wandering creature as a large, giant, segmented worm known as a caecilia emerges from the bend and moves to attack.



They are basically smaller, but no less hungry, versions of the purple wurm. Alzar steps behind the golem, and the golem is an auto win (no ability to hit magical stuff)

They continue on.

[Abe Sargent]

Soon there is a dim light ahead, not the color of a torch, lantern, or sunlight, but instead a pale icy blue glow. Except for a small trail down the middle, the light covers the floor, ceiling, and walls for more than 200 feet. It is bright enough that Alzar can make it out from some distance away, and seems to come from everything – walls, fungi , rocks. As Alzar nears, it advances onto the path a few feet ahead of Alzar and blocks his way into it. The light begins to move down the path towards him.

Alzar tosses a coin at the odd light, and it lands in it, and then quickly becomes a part of the light. He steps back, and orders a retreat to a different passage. It’s just odd. No sense playing around with it.

A few more hours pass as they continue to take various tunnels, and it’s almost the end of the day, and nearing the time to rest. Alzar and company begin to look for a place to call it a night and (Alzar makes a secret save) as he nears a bend in the tunnel, there is a faint light ahead. It’s not a lantern or torch light, but a different light than the previous encounter. Faint smell in the air too.

Ahead the tunnel opens into a giant, at least a mile across, with giant fungi, creeping moss, black and green water oozing from the ground, mold-covered bones, and a lot more. This is a virtual palace of fungi. There is a soft light from a handful of the fungus, and cave newts and insects of various sizes can be seen. There must be an aquifer high in this mountain here (since there was a well at the abbey). The room is giant.

Alzar grabs the Carpet and leaves the familiar and golem behind so he can make a quick sweep of the palace of fungi. There are a yellow musk creeper and more than 20 “zombies” the plant has killed and uses the bodies as defense mechanisms. There are other hostile plants and creatures, many of which Alzar doesn’t recognize.

He could miss things but there is no exit, no passage out, and he couldn’t imagine an army coming through this without carving a large path, and there is none. The Gem/Star doesn’t show anything either, so after a half hour of save-ish scouting he heads back and they will spend the night around a half mile away or so.

[Abe Sargent]

After a quiet-ish night, Alzar memorizes some new spells to replace those used and heads out. 90 minutes later or so they arrive at another of these hidden valleys. At the end of the tunnel is a valley, a broad plain broken by a lot of boulders everywhere. Some of them have been moved, and there’s a trail heading down the center. That’s an auspicious beginning. There are creatures moving around here, a herd of something on the distance. As they get closer, there is a herd of small antelope-like creatures, peaceful. They are a local Hamedhi variety that’s hardy in the deserts, and has a disgusting secretion on its skin that keeps away most predators. They are about 3-4 feet tall.

That helps to sell Alzar on how safe this valley may be. No rocs here! An hour and little bit longer and they have crossed this valley, and re-entered the wide, gently sloping tunnel. There is evidence of carving here, to widen the tunnel and make it easier to cross.

The tunnel curves gently, and ahead Alzar can make out the sounds of fighting. He arrives as a group of around 35 nomad soldiers or so (with around 15 dead petrified) are facing off against a pair of medusa, one damaged badly. Alzar waits at the end of the bend that enters this tunnel, and soon enough the men flee, and Alzar’s Aegis moves in to finish the medusa and the golem tears through them

Nothing of note here. A side tunnel reveals a small lair the medusa used, with nothing here, they must have gone elsewhere to hunt. He returns and they continue along the main tunnel. After a while here is another large valley and it opens up and there is a small defensive palisade along the route. Alzar observes for a while, and there are a number of unusual rock formations and such nearby, and th expected activity. It looks like this is a post for around 100 nomad soldiers from the Master’s army, keeping watch, holding a defensive formation and probably running a stockade of supplies as well.

Alzar slips on the Chameleon Nature and closes to the wall on the east side of the valley and hugs it as he tries to cross. The golem is hard to make out this far, the jackal too, and Alzar’s Ring keeps him hidden. Going slow, it takes more than 2 hours in the valley, but they make it and head into the tunnels again.

The tunnels are so wide that they clearly have been just carved out at some points, rather than merely reinforced or widened like much of the rest of the tunnel system. A wandering giant snake slithers up a side passage as they walk and the golem kills it easily enough.

[Abe Sargent]

It is approaching night. Tonight is the full moon. If the war had not come, Alzar would have finished the circle by now in his tower and would cast Summon Lycanthrope tonight to bind his first minion here on Hamedh, but that was not to be.

Alzar heads down, and they find a final valley. This one is not straight. There is a side valley to the west as well. But as the night begins, Alzar can make out a large defensive structure on the far side of the valley. It’s probably the exit/entrance on the other side.

Alzar spends some time scouting on his Carpet just to get the lay of the land, and as the first rays of the full moon strike the valley, something very odd happens.

In the west side-valley, suddenly a ladder of moon beams moves up from the ground all the way up to the moon. It just hangs there. As Alzar flies over, he sees a large pool, glistening the color of the moon’s radiance, from which the moon beam ladder arises.

[Abe Sargent]

As he approaches to investigate, there is a creature that sees him fly near, and doesn’t like it. Draconic wings arise and a creature lifts up to defend its moon pool, and this is no illusion, no artificial construction. This is a real dragon. A gemstone dragon – sapphire. Militantly territorial and distrustful, it tends not to be inclined toward evil nor good, but just wants to be left alone, and clearly considers the Pool of the Moon it’s treasure or territory and it’s snarling. Alzar uses the Zoster of Zeal.






Suddenly Alzar feels a pain in his mind. Instead of leading with its breath weapon as he expected, it led with mentalism. Alzar commands his golem to march here and take this thing down, but its guarding the entrance and won’t be here until the battle is long over. But Alzar might be able to lead it away. It tries to stun him with Mind Blast but fails (Ring of Free Action). Alzar sweeps up and casts Hold Monster on it and…..no good. This dragon is old enough to have some magic resistance, (25% chance of spell failure) and it never even made it.

Roll for init!

5 vs 3. The dragon does not breathe, it roars. Out comes a concentrated cloud of sonic sound. The “breath” weapon does 10d6+5 damage, save for half. 38 damage. Save? Nope. Alzar casts Polymorph Other at it, with the intention of turning it into a large hippopotamus, which would fall and die from this height.

Now, in order for that to work, we need to crack the magic resistance first. That’s a 1 in 4 chance of the MR working and….Alzar rolls a 3 and makes it. Now the next one is the save. A powerful dragon like this needs to roll an 8 or higher on a d 20. Here we go….19, it fails.

Alzar 23/61

Roll for init.

9 vs 3. The dragon wins and spends this round swooping toward melee range with the flying Alzar, who has been backpedaling a bit and dropping to the ground. It stabs him with a mental attack for 4 damage while it does – it’s only remaining range weapon (until its breath weapon recharges) . Alzar can’t beat the dragon in its own turf, in the sky, and seeks to bring this battle down to the ground. Alzar still can cast a spell back and tries continual light at the dragon’s eyes and…It doesn’t crack the magic resistance again.


19/61

Melee range has been reached, almost to the ground. Alzar forces a win of init with a Quick Action and uses Vampiric Touch and touches it. Magic Resistance fails, and he hits for 23 damage, and takes 11 back. They have landed, but are too far from the golem to see aid.

31/61


Combat – 6 vs 6 – reroll init. 3 vs 8. Alzar keeps initiative and uses his axe/axe/shield to try and bring this thing down. He needs a 7 to hit AC0, and this dragon is -4. He needs an 8 with the axe and the Zoster active. He’ll need a 10 with the Bright Barrier (+2 weapon instead of +1, but -3 to hit for lack of mastery). He rolls…13, 15, 10. That’s three hits for….8, 3, 2 (18, 13, and 10 damage for a total of 41 damage). The dragon roars in anger and bites and claws him for 17 damage, and then lifts off to fly up and out


Alzar - 14/61

Not wanting to see the dragon get away, position itself for another breath attack, or use psionics on him at range, Alzar lifts up as well to follow.

1 vs 3. Alzar drops the shield to the carpet as he flies up after it and swings with the axe before it flies off. He hits once for 16 damage. And then his extra hand quaffs his final healing potion. The dragon stabs out with its mind as it lifts off and Alzar takes 6 mental damage. It’s out of melee range.

Alzar – 18/61

3 vs 5. Alzar tosses the axe at the dragon while he grabs a wand and prepares it for next round. The axe…hits for…15 damage. The dragon spins and uses a psionic attack again for 5 damage. Then it spins and moves off. Getting further and further away.

6 vs 5. Alzar takes another 6 from mental attacks (they do 1d8 each, he’s just rolling really well) and then uses the Wand of Lightning to spit a bolt at the dragon. It penetrates the magic resistance, hits for 6d6 damage (2, 5, 5, 3, 1, 5 – 21 damage, save for half) and it makes the save and only takes 11, but that’s still enough to kill it and it turns, and just drops to the ground heavily.

Alzar 9/61

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar slides down and carves off all of the good dragon-y parts as the golem and familiar arrive. The golem leads Alzar to the lair, right by the moon pool, and in here cast Detect Magic and there is:

Potion of Speed, Infravision
Cleric Scroll of Spiritual Hammer
+2 khopesh
Medallion of Proof Against Detection

And 3400 gp, and some gems and jewels too. Alzar grabs the group and makes a camp, then teleports home with the booty and his familiar, heads to the temple for some healing, drops off the khopesh and scroll to the college, inquires about the moon pool and it told some things for a few minutes from local legend, and then rests in his tower and deposits the rest and heads back the next morning post-spell-memorization with another teleport.


He heads over to the moon pool to verify the tales and drops in a gem he grabbed from the tower’s stash, and it doubles in value. The moon pool is said to punish those who us it twice. Want healed? Drink from the pool. Use it again and you will be poisoned or diseased or somesuch instead. Want to be raised from the dead? It’ll work. Try it again and the body is permanently done for. That sort of things. To prove it, he drops the enhanced gem back in the pool and it dissolves. That’s the moon pool.

[Abe Sargent]

After gathering things, the golem, familiar, and mage head out. He flies up high for a while, and then over the mountain so he can skip this final check-point at the entrance to the great pass. There’s a large army of at least 1200 soldiers moving in and it just be stupid of him to move out. Plus, this way he remains a secret.

Alzar has left the great pass.

Behind it is the first stirrings of the land called Sind by the locals. It’s a small section of the Sand Mire, and it’s not very large. On the northern, southern, and eastern parts of the Sand Mire, the cities are independent, and there is a loose connection, but towns like Bralizzar and Khaibar and such are independent towns. Here in Sind there is a local government that units the small villages and other accoutrements.

After destroying the town of Prama and then the Kasbah of Ber-Gathy, the opposing army was pushed aside, and re-gathered in the central-west part of the Sand Mire, and chased by the main army of the combined forces, somewhere to the south from Alzar. Alzar then penetrated north and found an outpost along the enemies attack vector, and then found a hidden one in an Abbey that has supposedly never fallen (but fell indeed) and then penetrated the pass through the tall mountains of tunnels and valleys.

And here is Sind. The desert is less sand-y here, and windstorms aren’t inclined to turn into sandstorms or dust devils. To the north of Alzar is a mountain chain, and beyond that the end of the Sand Mire. There are several nearby passes out of the mountains up there, and to cities and civilization north.

Sind itself is a sort of meritocratic-theocracy. There is a ruling faith here, just like in the west. The western part of the Sand Mire worships Anu, the one true faith, and other people like the dervishes prefer the older faiths. There are lots of others, and Alzar has found living temples to Set, and Osiris, Nabilah and some others, although most of the local gods have been destroyed, like Ptah, Hextor, Amnissos or the unnamed one in the buried temple Alzar found on the way here.

The worship here centers on one faith as well, although a different nature. Anu worship never really took. Like other places, other faiths are here and there. Because there is a government here, there are official diviners who’s role is to find the “false faiths” and oust them. Since a lot of these faiths are the evil ones of gods like Set, they are pretty popular, and have helped to diminish the number of evil cults and evil religious adjunct services like sacrifices or plagues and such.

Of course, the diviners of the main faith has also stamped on a lot of good religions well, but that has been tolerated by the populace who is happy to get rid of both extremes as long as evil heads away forthwith. This faith extends to nomad tribes as well.

Here in Sind is the center of the Master’s rule. He took over the small nation, and thence extended to the nomads, who soon rallied around his banner as well.

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar flies down not wanting to be seen. He wants to get a nice look, away from the nearby army of 1200+ nomads.

About 40 miles away is a village (Magden). Alzar is looking for the temple that the Master invited him too here in Sind. It’s not a big country, it shouldn’t take long to find it. He swings over to the nearby village to see what he can find.

Magden is about twice the size of Ber-Gathey, at 4,000 people, and like Bralizzar, the town was once larger, but has shrunk with age. It’s swollen in size right out due to the presence of local nomad representatives from a variety of tribes and the infrastructure needed to support the war effort.

Apparently each of the nomad tribes have their own tribal language, but they also seem to speak Sand Mire Common as well. Their tongues can be heard all over, giving Magden an odd cosmopolitan feel to it.

Alzar arrives at Magden and gets in after donating 20 coin for the local shrine. The marketplace is in front, a large bazaar of merchants selling goods such as spices, incense, silks, food, and more. Wood imported from Sandvoyagers traveling north can be found as well, used as firewood or for making various wooded items. There are a pair of smiths operating here, and some permanent vendors or taverns that open into the marketplace.

[Abe Sargent]

There is a shrine to the holy man Hosadus here as well, right by the gate, that Alzar donated to. There are small bowls with various offerings from food and goat milk to coins of various sizes. The statue on the altar of an old, heavily scarred man. On one hand is mace set with small bits of mirror to shine prettily. The other hand holds a bat by its feet. Around the base is the name and date of this long-ago saint – 413 years ago. Odd.

That’s right around when Daffyd, the patron saint of the Bastion of Faith was fighting against the demon of Kahabros, servant-cleric of Hextor. Maybe Hextor’s faith was major here, and perhaps this is where Daffyd journeyed. But St. Hosadus apparently was involved with the founding of Sind. There are scenes from his life on the sides of the shrine that demonstrate that.

Alzar asks some locals and gets more stories about Hosadus and his life, sometimes conflicting ones. There is a temple here as well, and Alzar heads over and down a large street that runs from the marketplace.

It’s a low, one-story building that is partially surrounded by a 10’ high wall. Unlike a lot of structures in the Sand Mire, this was built more recently that the collapse of the area. It’s a humbler building for a humbler people. There are a pair of clerics and a diviner here working and they warmly greet Alzar (golem and familiar are outside of town). They are happy to teach Alzar about their faith and ways.

In addition to verifying a lot of information that he already received, they tell him about their faith and such. He asks where their main temple is, and they tell him. He pulls out a map and they point to the main temple of their faith, in the Dark Woods about 90 miles to the west. He thanks them and is off.

How is there a forest in the Sand Mire?

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar leaves Magden before sundown, not wanting to spend too much time here. He heads off down the road and is joined by golem and familiar. After pausing for a moment to ensure, they head off on the carpet and land in welcoming embrace of some hills a few miles to the north-west and bunker down.

Dawn breaks and spies Alzar already studying and preparing his spell selection. Shortly thereafter they begin to move again, floating over land, close to ground, staying to the north of the road by a couple of miles so as not to be seen overly much. The miles pass quickly enough, with a few stops and diversion to avoid shepherds with their goat herds, a tavern after the road bent towards them, and a small village.


Hours snake by and Alzar nears the Dark Woods. He was expecting trees, and a forest. But that’s not the Dark Woods, not anymore. He should have known better, and asked more questions. The Dark Woods was once a forest, a classic, deep, dark, sylvan forest like many others he has encountered. And then the Sand Mire hit, and the curses and destruction, both magical and natural, followed. And the woods petrified and are now dead trees of stone. It’s dark because it’s silent and foreboding. There is a main road through here though, and there are travelers moving through it, in both directions. In here is the High Temple.


There is an Obelisk poking above the trees, and Alzar heads to it, still on the edge of the woods, and lands. The obelisk is made of stone, and heads about 200 feet above the ground. It’s old – ancient. Made of a glistening blue stone. As Alzar watches, a bolt of lightning comes down from the heavens (it’s a cloudless day) to crackle into the obelisk and the stone glows, and archaic runes are revealed, and Alzar’s Helm of Fun Reading Time can make it out. It’s about the old forest, and the pre-Sind days.

A short while later Alzar has moved into the petrified woods and there is an alcove, with a ring of stones around an altar on a hill. He searches out and tries to find and possess him, so he destroys the altar. They move on.

[Abe Sargent]

The woods pass by, as the temple is just a few miles into the Dark Woods. As Alzar closes, a pack of spectral hounds fade into existence to strike at him.



They are basically evil versions of phase spiders that can phase into and out of reality. Imagine bloodhounds or tracker that can never be slipped or lost. Like evil blink dogs. Alzar’s axe is out and carves one dead, He is bit twice for 13 damage.

Alzar gets another set of hits in. Another dies. Alzar takes some more and a golem punches a doggie for some damage and death

A third dog falls, Alzar finishes the last one with Vampiric Touch, and heals himself.

5 slain Spectral hounds.

[Abe Sargent]

The great temple is built on the slope of a small valley. There are a number of buildings inside a walled compound. Workers wearing yellow and white are around the temple complex milling around and doing some work. A large road leads from the temple compound down to the road back through the petrified forest and then heads out of sight further west beyond the hill. Lining the road are statues of various saints and historical figures that are revered in the local official religion. Just before the entrance are six large statues of dragon-like horses, with yokes and harnesses and look like they are pulling the gatehouse as a great, big chariot. There’s even a large statue of a giant-like humanoid with a chariot whip in one hand.

There’s an old moat around the temple, and since there’s not a lot of water running around, they choose to fill it with tar. There is a water fountain inside, fed water via a permanent create water spell. Locals and priests cast heirlooms into the waters of the fountain in order to secure good luck with things. It only works though on things of sentimental value that were sacrificed.

The temple buildings are made of a soft whit stone, and all of the buildings are decorated with statues, friezes, elaborate eaves, towers, banners, and paintings. Much of the art from Ak’Ridar artisans have arrived here. This temple complex has been the central part of the local religion and faith for centuries, so, over time, various people have worked on it, and various items have been donated, collected, or salvaged.

Alzar takes time to observe things and notices that there are regular activities take by the local priests – certain rites and practices. There are priests in their purple robes, diviners in a rich red, initiates apparently in white, and even a few yellow robes for masters and leaders of the faith.

[Abe Sargent]

There are basically three sections of the compound, past the walls. The first is a building with four tall spires ,or minarets, and the road goes right through it, and it moves a second floor over top of the main path. That path ends at a second wall, that keeps off a smaller 2 level keep-like stature with a square, wide, flat 2 floor look to it. And the up a small incline is the actual proper temple. It’s beautiful, lacing upwards in a spiraling cylinder, stories and stories up, some great holy tower.

Alzar watches the traffic some more and makes out patterns. Initiates seem to be confined to the first building mostly, the regular priests move regularly up to and in the second building. Diviners and high priests move everywhere.

Alzar spends the night spying too, using his crystal ball and more, setting up a camp a short distance away. There are small buildings inside the first set of walls, and built against them, numerous places where people sleep. It seems like a lot of people sleep in the buildings. Alzar heads to sleep (guarded by familiar and golem) and rises in the morning.


There are a few ways Alzar is considering moving into the Temple Complex – he has the invitation from the Master that was handed to him. He could just walk up, hand it to the folks there, and wait. That puts him on the Master’s turf, and could backfire by just being attacked or trapped by overwhelming odds. (It also might skip the entire second half of the module and the part that‘s the Temple in the um…Temple of Death module) But that could be done now.

Another option would be to take out a priest, grab its robe, and head in that way.

He could also quaff a pot of invisibility and slip in that way.

Now the last two require him to do something about the Stone Golem. He’d need to store it in the Warp Marble. But he could certainly do it.

He casts a few spells to get rid of them, and then memorizes some more human-friendly magic:


1st Level - Charm Person, Sleep, Hypnotize, Detect Magic, 1 extra spells to use from the spellcrux
2nd Level – Ghoul Touch, Hold Person, ESP, Continual Light, 1 extra spell slot
3rd Level – Dispel Magic, Vampiric Touch, Suggestion, Haste, 1 extra spell slot
4th Level – Polymorph Other, Evard’s Black Tentacles, Confusion, Wall of Evil
5th Level – Domination, Transmute Rock to Mud, Teleport, Conjure Earth Elemental


He tells the stone golem to not resist the Warp Marble, and he capture the tabi that reappears as soon as it is out. He binds and ties it twice, with two sets of rope, just to make sure. He leaves Gilded Ears here as a guard over it, and then grabs the potion and quaffs it. He tosses on his shiny new Medallion of Proof Against Detection and heads in.

[Abe Sargent]

The wall that surrounds the compound is 20’ high, but not patrolled since people think the tar-moat is sufficient to keep intruders away.

The temple entrance is unguarded and large steps lead up a broad walkway. There are two guard posts here by the guardhouse, and some diviners and soldiers are in each looking around. Alzar crosses a drawbridge and the guardhouse, and enters the compound.

To the left and right, along the walls are the buildings Alzar saw in his scrying last night. They are chambers for initiates and a few higher level orders as well. Alzar heads forward and skips the small little things. They each have space for a lot of initiates or others.

Alzar is heading to into the covered promenade that the first building is built over and around. There is a walk here covered by the arched roof. There are long pillars that support the roof with scenes of holy ancestors and such. On the left war is a large face of a creature with fangs, a long mustache, for eyes and thick hair. Maybe a demon that was defeated? It glares down at all who cross the promenade. There is a patrol of 10 initiates and 2 priests here that patrols. Alzar pauses for them to pass. There are open archways to the left and right, three per side.

He heads right and pass a store room on the right and a stair up in front and a meditation closet in front, with glass panels and a door closed. There is an initiate in here praying. The left is a huge archway, and Alzar passes into here.

This is a large hall, arranged like an auditorium. It has five tiers of stone benches and desks. At the bottom sits a large table and chair, piled with scroll and writing supplies. There is someone sitting there writing, and in the back are 35 scribes at various stations doing work. This scribe’s hall is so large it takes up the next floor as well and the roof is above. There is an archway on the otherwise, and the hallway here heads left back to the promenade and forward to two small chambers – clerk offices. There are some initiates on stools working on desks. Alzar heads over to the other side of the building and finds a variety of scribe offices there are well 5 more. There’s also stairs up and a library here.

[Abe Sargent]

He heads back and the library is a dark and gloomy mess, with mounds of old scrolls and tomes scattered everywhere and no one is even in here. It would require at least a day of searching to find anything here.

Alzar heads up and into an instructional chamber with a classroom where higher level initiates are being taught to become full blown priests. A master and some priests are here lecturing on the ways of pure thought. There are five more scribe offices up here too. Alzar heads back down. He arrives at the Promenade and then leaves this building.

The pathway continues to the second building. There is a gateway here with a second wall that surrounds this part of the complex as well. Two walls help in case the first was penetrated by stuff. Alzar passes through as a group of priests do, and a pair of guardhouses follow.

The second of the main buildings also looks like a keep-ish structure here are well. There are defenses and battlements. It opens into a large Hall of Laws. Running down the center is an unusual mausoleum for the great holy men in the past ages of Sind and the faith. Clear crystal caskets line the walls on both sides of the hall. Under each casket is a plague with the names and personal information of the various people included.

There is a casket marked “Hosadus.” In it lies the body of a heavily scarred old man, like the one portrayed at the shrine. Alzar can’t cast any spells, and can’t get too close – there are a large number of people in here and many will stop and look.

Like the first building, there are archways off to either side. It’s not a promenade, but a large hall, but it works, and Alzar slips to the right. This is the court of greater judgment, ruling by various holy men and used for trials and such. Everything back here is for the court – judge’s chambers, lawyers and scribe ones. Alzar heads upstairs and finds a balcony that is guarded up here, with a few diviners and soldiers. The rest is all quarters for priests, and there appear to 10 such rooms up here.

Alzar heads back downstairs on the other side of the building and arrives at a lesser court. There are two more, and one is having a hearing right now on some aspect of law in Sind. Clearly the Holy Temple is not just the key to ruling the religion, but also to the small nation as well.

Alzar heads out. The first buildings was mostly for scribes and administration, the second for law. The third will likely be for faith.

[Abe Sargent]

He heads up and some large white stone stairs lead up the hill. There is a huge two story gatehouse here, and there are diviners and soldiers all over. Unlike the others, the gatehouse is closed and barred, and there are two portcullises here that are separately operated. He can’t easily slip in with someone else without being noticed, - the hallway is very narrow and guarded are standing side by side. At the base of the tower in front are some gardens, but the only way to get in on this floor is to come through the gatehouse and thence to the main entrance.

Alzar steps back. He needs a new plan. He thought about an alternate way in, and he already prepared it. He grabs the potion from his pouch and quaffs a potion of polymorphing, and changes into a bird. He flies to the top of the tower, five stories up, and there is a 20 foot flagpole and a small compass on a stand that points north. There is nothing up here, and a trapdoor that would have to be opened to head down. He doesn’t want to risk it, not yet. The next floor down is not windowed, but the third floor is. There are bars over the windows and they are all closed.

Inside, Alzar sees:

A circular staircase heading down, and a man dressed entirely in black cloth and armor, covered in a robe. He is on a table, flanked by two larger-than-normal tigers. There is a bed in here, as well as a study area and work area all in one. The man is facing the stairs. There is a trap door from the fourth floor down to this one. He does not have that in his area of vision. Alzar might have a better chance surprising him by dropping down into the room and then attacking.

Alzar looks around the room and plans.

[Travis]

Really enjoying the story/following along. That one on one with the dragon got a bit more intense than I was expecting, was starting to fear that the thread was coming to an end for a bit

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by Travis

Really enjoying the story/following along. That one on one with the dragon got a bit more intense than I was expecting, was starting to fear that the thread was coming to an end for a bit

Awesome!

Glad you didn't have to read a premature ending in the final module of the storyline! (At least not yet......)

[Abe Sargent]

He has a few surprises. He can unleash the golem from the Warp Marble and the Frost Salamander from the Iron Flask that he captured way back. Alzar wants to drop the golem on the stairs. That would force the Master to fight him, and prevent others from coming up and hitting him, but that’s not how the Warp Marble works. It’s not that simple, he has to place the Marble down and then invoke the keyword to release the person inside, it’d take a full round. That would give the Master a round to react. Alzar could also try to end this in one round with a Polymorph or Domination spell or somesuch.

Alzar lands and he has a goal. He’ll open the door, and check the 4th floor. Grab the Wand of Salt, Activate the Zoster of Zeal, and then drop from the trap door, fire the Salt Wand, and then move over to drop the warp marble and summon the golem. Then head over and deal with the Master.

Here we go.

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar flies up and lands and turns himself into a human again, who checks carefully, sees nothing, and then pops down to the 4th floor. He readies himself, and then flings the door open, drops down, and fires off a charge. Then he turns visible.

Meanwhile, the Master looks up in stark shock, and then in a flash gets ready. Alzar is very lucky. The Master is wearing a Ring of Spell Turning – and that does not work against wands, rings, or charges used by objects -just against old fashioned spells.

The Master looks up, hood falling from his head without notice, and Alzar almost pauses. He looks exactly like a younger St. Hosadus, same exact scars and everything.

The Master takes 2d6 from the Wand. 6, roll for save for half – 3. Huge cramps begin, and the Master makes his INT roll and sees what the Wand is and grabs a pitcher of water from the table and quaffs it as the tigers jump in to attack and Alzar unfurls his golem.

Round #3 –

Alzar and Aegis
Vs
Two large tigers – AC6, hp 34, 30; THAC0 15, 3 attacks, 1d6, 1d6, 1d12
The Master – 53/56 hp

Initiative – 9 vs 4. The tigers are ordered to attack Alzar who has a -3 AC so they need a 18 to hit him. One scratch for 4 damage. The enemy casts Flame Strike and Alzar takes…15 (after he made the save). Alzar needs a THAC0 of 7 normally (modified with +1 axe) and his foe is -1 AC – so a 5 (after Zoster bonus). He rolls 11, 14, and 14. The Master just too three hits for….39 damage. The golem misses.

Alzar 42/61
Master 14/56

5 vs 4. The master casts Cure Critical Wounds and heals himself. The tigers miss. Alzar hits twice with axe and shield for 25. The golem punches and connects for…1, 7, 5 – 13 damage.

Master - 6/56

Alzar forces an initiative win with his Ring of Quick Action and carves into the master twice for 28 damage and he dies. A tiger bites for 4. The Golem smashes it back for 7. 2 vs 9. Alzar smashes it dead in one hit and then carves the other tiger badly and drops it to single digits, and the golem finishes it off.

[Abe Sargent]

Fearing company soon, and hearing some noise, Alzar makes a quick decision.

He orders the Stone golem to push the master’s body up to the fourth floor, grabs a mediu sized chest to do the same, and then back into the Warp Marble and casts Detect Magic. From the room he grabs:

2 collars on tigers
Pillow from the bed


Then Alzar grabs the Warp Marble, heads, up to the 4th, and then unstoppers the Frost Salamander and leaves it get all upset and destroy some stuff. Alzar hears noise of people nearing the room from lower levels.

Alzar closes the door and grabs these glowing items from the corpse quickly:

Ring
Amulet
Armor, Warhammer, Shield from Master
Boots from Master
Cube
Scroll
2x Potions

All to be indentified later. The chest is glowing too and a quick Dispel magic removes the trap and opens to reveal some books about the administration of Sind, and the complete plans for the war effort, which Alzar pockets, as well as a Jewel Studded Necklace – 10000 gp.

The folks haven’t arrived yet, so Alzar drops the chest and body back into the room, closes the trap door, and Alzar turns back into a bird holding everything and flies away.

He’s not invisible, he flies to the spot his familiar is guarding, turns back to a human, and drops the spare stuff he was carrying. Now he needs to do one more thing. Kill the Master.

[Abe Sargent]

He polymorphs to a bird again and flies back to the hall and then turns into an insect and perches on the shoulder of a guard and checks it. Yes, this corpse has gotten decidedly fresher. It wasn’t possessing the body of another person (the body didn’t change back or anything odd). Alzar suspects it was a manifestation of St. Hosadus. There are 21 people in here right now, including non-combatants. Alzar flies up to the second floor as a fly, and then cautiously turns back into a person. There’s no one here right now. He casts Hypnotism, Sleep, and Confusion. Before they realize a mage is here, they the attacking each other, falling asleep, dropping their weapons, or milling round in confusion. Alzar jumps down into the hall.

Alzar hears guards approached and he casts Black Tentacles to watch his back. They won’t come into that mass. He grabs his Axe and Bright Barrier and smashes the glass with a thrust to the chest and this for 15 damage. The eyes fling awake and it begins to cast a spell.

[Abe Sargent]

Init.

1 vs 1 – rereoll. 9 vs 3. The enemy casts another Flame Strike at Alzar, and his axe hits once, and then twice (on a naked body) and the shield does too, and after dealing 44 damage the body dies. Hosadus is dead. Probably, these things are odd. People are starting to get close. Alzar checks and see nothing else in here, and polymorphs back to a bird and flies back.

He arrives at the place he used as a camp, and uses the Iron Flask on the tabi this time. He loads up the Flying Carpet with everything he took and flies off before anything can check on a mage, his familiar, or his loot. After an hour of flying north and into the mountains, (Alzar suspects they would look south). He lands and investigates the area. Then he teleports out with various accoutrements and gives the magic shield, armor and Warhammer to the college (they were +2, +1, and +2 respectively) and keeps the rest. He gives the war plans to Arcane Japheth who teleports it to the army after making a few copies, and then distributes them to others around the united eastern half of the Sand Mire.

Alzar spends the night, is the target of a Teleport Other in the morning, grabs everything, and the teleports back one final time and leaves Sind behind.

With a dead Master and a revealed set of war plans, the war will be over soon enough . The coalition he assembled will soon crumble.

Alzar skipped the final temple spire, but did a nice little assassination thing, and slowed them down with his released Frost Salamander. With the icy wounds and damage all over, they aren’t sure what happened until Alzar’s strike arrived in the hall. That was a major turning point. Alzar missed some stuff, but here are the items he found:

2x Collar of Animal Control – Works like the Potion, but permanently.
Ring of Spell Turning
Pillow of Regeneration – Doubles healing rate when used with someone resting
Amulet of Finding
Boots of Levitation
Potion of Undead Control; Growth
Scroll of Protection against Lycanthropes
Spell Scroll – Summon Soul Eater, Dispel Magic, Abjure



End of X5. The Temple of Death

[Abe Sargent]

That’s just a fun duo. Tunnels and valleys in the mountains shift things around and makes things interesting. I changed a few details (in the tunnels, the Roc is trying to give you a ride to the other side, and stops, pauses, and waits for you to climb on, and will gently grab you and place you on its back if it doesn’t). (The nation in the module, called Hule, is beyond the desert, here I made it a part of one, and we also changed the forest to a petrified one – which I think suits things all nicely. I modified the dragon encounter (Why is a red dragon here guarding a Moon Pool without any treasure? And I just moved treasure from other places in the great pass over)


Did you know what – Alzar has spent more than 3 years in the Sand Mire? Yup yup!

[Abe Sargent]

He’s also close to level 12:

Total XP: 732,400 (Level 12 at 750,000)


So after a few days waiting, recuperating and more, Alzar heads right on back.

He teleports back to the western part of the Sand Mire, to face some of the local monsters.

He swings around on the Carpet and looks for anything to kill, but nothing is here. He sails up higher and higher in the sky to see, and finds a purple worm coming out of the ground and attacking a caravan. He sweeps down but he is minutes away from doing anything, and by the time he arrives, half of the caravan is dead.

Alzar moves over to attack. It’s still attacking as he flies in and chops for some damage. It roars and spins around beside him. He flies back up and throws the axe instead and hits for 11 damage. The Worm is decidedly biting and chomps down after leaping up at Alzar faster than he expected and he is chomped for 21 damage.

Alzar swings over for Vampiric Touch and 23 damage. The Purple Worm falls. Alzar swings down and craves open its stomach – large eaters like this, the caecilia, and other major creatures often have magical items inside. Nothing there though.

He splits 18k with the caravaners. He heads back out and scouts with his Carpet and kills a few minor creatures like some giant scorpions and such.

He teleports. He does the same the next day and the next. After a lot of fighting smaller stuff, he has gained enough XP to level up.

[Abe Sargent]

Alzar’s Spellbook: He can cast 5/5/5/5/5/2 spells.



Now that he can cast level 6 magic, he can learn level 7 spells ot get them into his spellbook for later, and he spends a few days in the College’s archives:



Banishment
Descry
Mass Teleport

He also grabs, from the spellbooks he’s already got:


Negative Plane Protection
Finger of Death
Power Word, Stun
Teleport Without Error


Then he teleports over and talks with the Dead King lich and swaps some spells:

Cacofiend


He takes another stint with the College for a while.



End of the Sand Mire Campaign

[Abe Sargent]

22 days later, Japheth Arcane gets a visit from one of the sages that serves Shalfey at the Towers of the Heavens. After having a conversation that lasts some time, Japheth brings Alzar in to his office.


“Alzar, we need to take you to the Tower of the Heavens, right now.”

“Alright, let me grab my gear.”

A few minutes a Mass Teleport spell moves the three of them to the Tower of the Heavens, where Elder Sage Shalfey is there. He looks haggard and beat. He looks worse than when he had been usurped by a coup and Alzar rescued him a few years ago.

Shalfey looks up at Alzar with resignation.

“Sit down Alzar.” Shalfey points out a chair. Alzar sits.

“I’m not going to waste your time on introductions. As you know a few years ago you obtained a new set of the Books of Prophecy for us after the first ones ran their course. The Books of Prophecy tell of major upcoming events for the whole world and involve major players. They do not depict everybody people or their struggles or anything else.”

Shalfey bends down and picks up Book #1 and opens it. “I know you can’t read these letters, only I can. But they say something very simple. In a little over a year, you will take the seed, and destroy Hamedh.”

“…”

“I know, it’s a lot to take in. I’ve spend some time going over it again and again. We’ve never had a prophecy of the entire plane getting destroyed. It’s unprecedented.”


“There are a lot of other pages and other books. Hamedh must go on in order for those to be.”

“Perhaps. Perhaps Hamedh changes or morphs. Or something lingers past the destruction. The unhinging. But we can’t look past this page. We can’t turn it, the pages are as they are.”

“I don’t recall previous prophecies being this specific.”

“They usually aren’t, they tend to be vague or hints. This one is not. I thought about summoning 50 wizards to meet you here and kill you to end the threat. But as you know, people can get raised, or brought back as undead, or even reincarnated if the body dies. Souls can linger as ghosts and possess or you could have a Magic Jar that we don’t know about to use to steal a body and so forth. There’s no easy way to end the threat by killing you.”

“I agree, but I’m glad you considered it.”

“So the best plan is to get you away from Hamedh. If you are elsewhere when the prophecy arrives then Hamedh won’t be destroyed. I’ve had some of the sages here working around the clock and we have a few ideas on your problem and moreover, the possible solution.”

“I used a wish effect from a genie, but it was badly bound to its item. When it failed to get me off Hamedh, it may have been weakened.”

“Alright, we’ll add that to the list of spells and effects we’ll try. Wish. Banishment. Abjuration. And a few other tricks we have squirreled away. We’ll try them all.”

“I know that I am sealed or tethered to Hamedh. Still don’t know the particulars. I’ve thought about what would happen if I were to break out. Perhaps, the moment I left the plane I would snap back immediately. Perhaps breaking out breaks it altogether and we go back to normalcy. Perhaps I break out, but wouldn’t be able to break back in, it would be sealed away. And maybe it would seem like normal, but if I came back to Hamedh, I would be locked in again. We wouldn’t know.”

“Right. We were thinking along parallel lines.”

“Well, I want to get some of my things in order here in Hamedh first. I’ll be ready in a week.”

They agree, and Alzar heads out.

[Abe Sargent]

He spends some time trading his gold, gems, and jewelry for other items, in case he is forced away. Spells, scrolls, and more. He has some mages in the College of Wizardry work on a spellbook with the 8th and 9th spells he would what if he was staying with the College. In case he leaves and can’t come back he trades back the Halberd he got, but frankly, they are okay with him taking the Bright Barrier to another plane.

Alzar teleports to his old mentor and tutor and rhabodomere back in the valley. He learns:

4th

Detect Ensorcellment

This divination spell lets Alzar detect things like curses, charms, and other spells that are on the items, and can be used to backtrace a charm or curse or similar spell to the person who cast it.


6th

Dwoemer Divest

This spell steals an enchantment from an item to give to the caster or other item temporarily. It’s pretty potent.

He secures some items in the Tower in case he is able to return, and makes a duplicate of his major spellbook and secures it here. He packs one chest of Weightlessness with the best books he has, spellbooks, stuff like the Book on how to make a Shade or the one on the Nasnas. The vital info he has.

A week later he is teleported back to the Tower of the Heavens.

[Abe Sargent]

He has all of his things ready to go. A few jewels and gems of massive value, and a bunch of his magic items, spells, scrolls, potions, and more. Anything expendable he traded away for other things or leaves behind.


The first thing they try is to abjure him. There are a variety of magics that will send an extra-planar creature home, like Banishment, Dispel Evil and Abjure. All of these spells are used on Alzar, and one work.

The next thing they try is a proper, honest, Wish. Numerous times magics aren’t able to be ended, except by a Wish. A proper Wish, first to try to send him and then to end it. None of it works. Remove Curse? Nope. Nothing….


“Well, we have one more way of getting you out. There are ways that one can leave a plane without leaving to another plane. There are roads, tracks, routes that are barely understand that can be used. We can knock you unconscious, and you can be taken out by that path and see if it’s unguarded.”

Alzar agrees and is knocked out. Afterwards a Chronomancer arrives, one of a handful of wizards who specialize in the harnessing of the magic of time. There is a underlining dimension of time that is not on the planes. The chronomancer takes Alzar and his belongings and from there heads into the corridor of time, heads along it, and then pulls out in Thorasia, in Alzar’s home plane. Then the time mage casts a spell and disappears back into time’s abyss.

[Abe Sargent]

A few moments later, Alzar awakens here on his home planer of Thorasia. He opens the OtherSpace that he used for storage and a home and places his extra items and books he brought back to it.

In just a moment the demon prince Jubilex appears in front of Alzar. Jubilex is basically the demon prince of ooze.



Jubilex and Zuggtmoy sort of have this romantic relationship thing going, and they share a layer of the Abyss plane. Jubilex is usually not the sort of demon prince to muck about with this sort of stuff. Jublilex curses Alzar, and then forcibly grabs him and they leave Thorasia and arrive in the first layer on the Abyss. Alzar is paralyzed by something major, that leaves the Ring of Free Action behind.

[Abe Sargent]

Zuggtmoy arrives and is quite upset. Through her hissing and such she arrives, with the Orb of Golden Death that Alzar found, upgraded, and used in her hand. There are several major demons here with Zuggtmoy as well.

“My but you are a persistent little one aren’t you. After you banished me from your prime world, and took my little trinket here, the rules of the multiverse prevent me from harming you. So I had my little pet wizards research the most powerful way I could hurt you without “hurting” you. What loopholes could we find? So they created a spell to reverse your timeline and reset you back a few years. And we could banish you to a plane and seal you in. I couldn’t mark you, that went too far, but Jubilex could, and you were marked for a bounty.

We had to wait until you left Thorasia to use the spells, since you banished me from that plane and my minions spells wouldn’t work there. We found the perfect plane to banish you to. You came through a portal and we set back your timeline, forced you to forget, stripped you of every item or scrap you had, send you to Hamedh, and then sealed you in.

And now look. Despite the mark and despite the reduced level and despite the lack of anything other than your skills from years ago, you still managed to survive, to thrive, and somehow to get off the plane. And now you are powerful again, potent again.

So what now? The first curse didn’t work at the end of the day. Maybe we underestimated your ability. Maybe we found the wrong plane. By finding a place where you were weak, we just gave you another route to power. So, now we do this again. You have the combined skills and knowledge of both places, both experiences. So, let’s reignite the concept.

This time we will seal you in a plane where your combined might is weak, where the mightiest of heroes make you look weak by comparison, and where you are a relatively minor power. Say hello to your new home. And goodbye again, for the last time”

Jubilex grabs Alzar and casts him mystically into a new Prime Material Plane, one in a very different part of the Prime Material soup, with some different rules again. Gone are the curses and the marks and the reboot timeline, and instead, something new is happening.


End of the Hamedh Campaign

[Abe Sargent]

Where is Alzar being sent next? Get ready!

By breaking out of Hamedh, Alzar broke all of the curses and magic on him. His transport to his new home is just a simple plane shift spell, and then locking him in, and this time, closing off the loophole that he exploited the last time.

[Tellistto]

Gotta love those demons!

Tell

[Abe Sargent]

Yeah, i didn't know if you all you could see the Zuggtmoy or Lolth angle from the beginning, I had a few very general hints. This was not random. It was punishment for his success. Alzar was spanked.

I think the Sand Mire campaign may be my favorite we've done with Alzar. We basically have 5 campaigns, with some modules begin done in between - The In Search of Adventure Campaign, Isle of Dread, and Underdark campaigns in Thorasia, and the Arjuni and Sand Mire ones in Hamedh.

Now we'll move somewhere a bit colder....