When a half-orc bruiser, a dual-souled bard, a tiefling with sticky fingers, a thunderous cleric and a sorcerer who's still figuring out the whole "magic" thing form an adventuring party, you'd expect disaster. You'd be right—but you'd also be surprised.
What begins as straightforward monster-hunting quickly spirals into underwater negotiations, Feywild heists, and battles against dragons who really should have known better. Armed with questionable decision-making skills and an alarming talent for turning simple tasks into apocalyptic scenarios, Bogrud, Sam, Dolion, Heknom and Greg careen through a world that seems determined to kill them—whilst they're equally determined to loot it first.
These five forge ahead with the kind of confidence that comes from surviving things that should have absolutely killed them. Because sometimes the best heroes aren't the chosen ones—they're the ones who choose to keep going, even when "going back to the tavern" would be the sensible option.
And let's be honest: when have they ever chosen sensible?
The world of Evalthon is a realm teetering on the edge of darkness. For generations, its diverse kingdoms have known a fragile peace, but a shadow lengthens across the land. A powerful and malevolent figure, the tyrant Balthazar Bane, has marshaled his generals and unleashed his armies, threatening to plunge the continent into an age of despair. His influence spreads like a plague, corrupting the land and turning neighbor against neighbor. This document chronicles the journey of a band of unlikely heroes—a group bound by fate and necessity—who rose from humble beginnings to challenge this encroaching shadow. Theirs is a story of discovery, betrayal, and sacrifice, an epic saga forged in the crucible of a world at war.
The heroes' journey began not with a grand quest proclaimed by kings, but with the unsettling discovery of betrayal in their very midst. This initial conflict, rooted in the insidious threat of shapeshifting enemies, exposed a web of deception that would follow them throughout their travels. Yet, from these murky beginnings, they were granted a pivotal asset—a vessel of unique promise that would become their home and fortress, defining their adventures across land, sea, and sky.
This session opens on a sombre note as the party discovers the grisly remains of Bob, their fallen companion—merely an arm and a leg recovered from the sharks. After some dark humour and heated debate about burial customs (Greg suggesting throwing him in the sea, much to everyone's horror), they lay Bob's remnants to rest in a wooded area befitting his nature-loving character. The local gnome leader Grenell expresses gratitude for their defence of the islands whilst Frilink investigates the tower. The mood shifts when the party ventures underwater to explore mysterious ruins, where they encounter sahuagin forces holding merfolk prisoners. The session concludes with the party racing after sahuagin dragging away one final captive merfolk, setting up a tense rescue mission to begin next time.
In this special Christmas-themed session, the Evalthon crew experiences a dramatic teleportation from their underwater adventure straight into a frozen village under siege. Sam, Dolion, Greg, and Bogrud find themselves stripped of their diving apparatus and thrust into the middle of a supernatural winter battle, where animated snowmen and ice elementals threaten the settlement. The party reunites with Butch, their old guard friend from Eagle's Nest, who's desperately fighting off the magical attackers. As the battle intensifies, the group discovers that ice statues scattered throughout the village are actually frozen villagers, trapped by the malevolent magic. The situation escalates when the Winter King himself appears—a powerful ice elemental commanding the assault. Greg steps up heroically, taking on the Winter King in single combat whilst his companions deal with the remaining snowmen. Through clever tactics, explosive fireballs (yes, on snowmen), and Greg's touching attempt to befriend the Winter King before ultimately destroying him, the party manages to save the village. The session concludes with the mysterious teleportation reversing, returning them to the ocean floor as if no time had passed, leaving them to wonder about the nature of their strange Christmas adventure and the magical gifts they received from the grateful villagers.
The session picks up with the party deep beneath the ocean, having just defeated initial merrow forces and discovered enslaved merfolk. Rolling initiative for a new encounter, Bogrud charges ahead using his magical boots to bog-a-pult underwater, engaging multiple merrows whilst the rest of the party provides support. Sam unleashes devastating eldritch blasts whilst Dolion and Greg contribute with sneak attacks and chaos bolts. The battle intensifies dramatically when an aboleth emerges from the depths, using its psychic abilities to dominate Bogrud and turn him against his allies. The half-orc fighter, now under the creature's control, begins attacking Sam and the others, forcing the party into a desperate defensive position. Despite Sam's valiant attempt to command the aboleth to flee, the ancient creature proves too powerful, continuing its assault and using its slime to transform Sam into a water-breathing creature, trapping him in an aquatic form. Just when defeat seems imminent, a bronze dragon arrives to aid the party, helping them drive back the aboleth. The session concludes with the exhausted party returning to their ship, where they're offered rest and recovery—though Sam remains transformed and must float alongside the vessel, tied to the hull whilst the crew offers reassurance that help awaits at the surface.
Their new vessel's unique capabilities were soon put to the test in a dramatic fashion. Following the whispers of an ally, the ship was magically submerged, descending into the dark waters of the ocean. The party was then faced with a daunting choice. Equipped with specialized gear provided by their ally Veer, which would allow them to survive the crushing pressure and cold, they were told to take a "leap of faith" and abandon the ship for the open depths. Plunging into the abyss, their initial exploration revealed a hauntingly beautiful underwater world. As Greg’s excitement grew, his helmet began to fog up, a small, relatable moment of panic in the crushing, alien silence of the deep. Around them, glowing, mushroom-like flora illuminated the silent, ancient ruins of a forgotten age.
The serene beauty of the ocean floor soon gave way to its hidden dangers. Alerted by the flick of a massive tail among the ruins, the party came face to face with their first major underwater threat: a monstrous, sentient creature best described as a "giant fish man." The ensuing battle was a chaotic introduction to the challenges of fighting in a three-dimensional, water-logged environment, their blows slowed by the immense pressure. As they struggled against the powerful guardian, they also fought to protect captured merfolk who were being dragged away by the creature's minions. This first taste of the dangers lurking beneath the waves was a brutal test of their abilities and resolve, and it would not be the last strange turn their journey would take.
The sensory whiplash was absolute. One moment, they were battling for their lives in the cold, crushing silence of the abyss; the next, they materialized in a blizzard of chaos, the crisp winter air stinging their lungs. This abrupt and inexplicable teleportation served as a stark reminder of the powerful, unpredictable magic that governed their world, plunging them from one desperate fight straight into another, met not by soldiers but by a farcical army of magically animated snowmen.
The party materialized in a small village under attack by a bizarre army of animated snowmen. The battle was as strange as it was sudden. While his companions fought for their lives, Greg, ever the agent of chaos, took a moment to playfully build a snowman of his own amidst the mayhem. The tide of the fight turned with decisive actions from the party: Sam, wielding his new "lullaby rapier," slid dramatically across the ice and sliced through one of the creatures with a flourish, while Bogwood unleashed his destructive "stomp collar," annihilating another with a thunderous explosion.
Fighting alongside the party in this sudden winter war was a man named Butch. He had been in the thick of the fight when the heroes appeared, and he seamlessly integrated with them, lending his strength to push back the bizarre, snowy assailants. Though his appearance was as unexpected as the snowmen themselves, he proved to be a temporary but valuable ally in this strange new environment.
Once the last snowman had fallen, the party finally had a moment to process their radical change in scenery. In a state of shared confusion, they tried to piece together what had happened. "Honestly," one of them explained to Butch, "we were just fighting some undersea monsters... and now we're here." This bizarre interlude was a powerful, if bewildering, demonstration of the mysterious forces at play in Evalthon. With the immediate threat handled, their thoughts turned back to their primary journey and how to return to it.
Returning from their strange winter diversion, the party found themselves once more embroiled in the dangers of the ocean. Their rescue from the depths, however, led not back to the familiar sea, but upward into an extraordinary new domain. Ascending into the clouds on the back of a dragon, they discovered new civilizations among the floating isles of the sky, where they would soon face threats of a truly colossal scale.
The party's return to the sea was perilous. Sam, with only a minute of oxygen left, was already breathing in seawater, his lungs burning as the last of his magic failed. Just as consciousness began to fade, he was rescued by a mysterious winged creature that pulled him back toward the safety of the ship's magical bubble. Soon after, a she-dragon appeared, revealing she had heard their call and offering transport. The party, having tied themselves down, experienced a thrilling and terrifying ascent as the great dragon carried them on her back, soaring high above the ocean and into the clouds.
The dragon delivered them to a sanctuary of floating islands, the home of the Aarakocra. These peaceful, bird-like people lived in a harmonious, self-sufficient society, keeping to themselves and maintaining a deep-seated caution towards outsiders. They avoided surface folk, they explained, because "they seem to destroy everything they come in contact with." When the party mentioned their quest for the City of Gold, the Aarakocra expressed a complete lack of interest, having no need for such treasures. This encounter highlighted a stark clash of cultures and priorities, a reminder that the party's ambitions were not shared by all the denizens of Evalthon.
Against the Aarakocra’s advice, the party learned of an isolated settlement of Cloud Giants on a nearby island and resolved to travel there. Their arrival was met with immediate and shocking hostility. A giant, enraged by their presence, leaped across a chasm and viciously wounded two Pegasi from the Aarakocra's flock. This unprovoked attack instantly sparked a tense and unavoidable confrontation with the colossal inhabitants of the sky.
The battle against the Cloud Giant was fought on a narrow bridge shrouded in a magical fog cloud he conjured to obscure the battlefield. The party struggled to navigate the disorienting mist, fighting an enemy they could barely see. The conflict reached a dramatic peak when Dalian was shoved from the bridge, plummeting into the empty sky below. In a miraculous turn, he was rescued from certain death by a majestic Phoenix that swooped in, caught him, and returned him to solid ground. With powerful, mythical forces now clearly at play, the heroes departed the sky islands, their journey returning them once more to a life at sea.
The campaign's focus shifted as the heroes journeyed to a new land and were drawn into a new conflict. Arriving in the Dragonborn Lands, they discovered a hidden rebellion fighting a desperate shadow war against a tyrannical ruler. This marked the beginning of their direct involvement in the great war of Evalthon, as they pledged their strength to the cause of the resistance.
The week-long sea voyage to the Dragonborn Lands was a period of relative quiet, with the party training and preparing. This peace was shattered by a sudden, chaotic attack. A swarm of giant crabs crawled from the sea, their clattering claws echoing on the deck as they swarmed the ship. During the frantic battle, a massive crab knocked Greg clean through the deck, tearing a hole in their vessel. Seeing they were being overwhelmed, the party made a tactical decision to escape, activating their ship's unique ability to rise into the sky, leaving the crab swarm behind. As they ascended, a new debate began: whether their defeated foes would make for a good meal.
Following a guide, the party arrived at what appeared to be a desolate, shipwrecked coastline. However, this was merely an illusion—a powerful spell hiding a secret rebel base. There they were greeted by their contact, a dragonborn named Jesmila. The atmosphere within the hidden village was somber and focused; these were resistance fighters hardened by a long and difficult struggle, and they looked to the party as a new source of hope.
Jesmila briefed the party on the grim state of the Dragonborn Lands. The region was under the oppressive rule of a tyrannical and evil dragonborn, Verus Emberscale. His reign was one of cruelty and exploitation, enforced by a powerful military. Jesmila presented the party with several strategic targets where they could strike a blow against Emberscale's regime, including heavily guarded slave mines and a nursery where children were being forced into labor.
During their stay at the rebel base, a pivotal discovery was made. Bob produced a book detailing the legendary weapons of ancient heroes. Using the text as a guide, he was able to unlock the hidden, true properties of both Sam's rapier and Dalian's powerful bow, "stormbreaker." This revelation connected the party's own gear to a legacy of heroism, suggesting they were inheritors of a power greater than they had imagined.
Their quest for one of these legendary weapons led them to a desert tomb, which they journeyed to astride giant lizards. The tomb's interior was a maze of illusory traps and ancient puzzles. They navigated a corridor of magical, heatless fire and solved a riddle presented by five engraved battle scenes on a wall. Their path forward was ultimately revealed by a strange potion; following the cryptic instructions of a riddle, they had to drink the foul liquid but spit it out before swallowing to reveal the hidden doorway.
In the final chamber, the party confronted the tomb's guardian: the powerful spirit of a spectral orc hero. The battle was difficult, as the spirit fought with the strength and fury of a legend. In the climax of the fight, the spirit connected telepathically with Bogwood, showing him visions of its life and revealing the hidden location of its legendary weapons. Its duty fulfilled, the spectral hero found peace and faded away, leaving the party with the prize they had sought and marking the end of a perilous quest.
The party's path took a sharp turn from ancient tombs to the gritty underworld of urban intrigue and classic dungeon delving. Their journey led them to a secret fight club, where martial prowess was put to the test, and then to the treasure-filled lair of a deadly dragon. These encounters would test both their strength in combat and their nerve in the face of unexpected betrayal.
Seeking information and perhaps a bit of glory, Bogwood entered an underground fighting tournament. The establishment was an elite, high-stakes operation, drawing in the wealthiest patrons from across the region. While Bogwood prepared to prove his might in the ring, Sam, feeling confident, placed a massive bet of 750 gold on his companion. Bogwood did not disappoint, emerging victorious in his brutal bouts.
The celebration of victory was cut short by the discovery of a hidden passage leading from the fight club to a secret cellar. This dark, damp space was the lair of a vampire and its undead minions. A fierce battle erupted, culminating in a staggering display of power. Bogwood, already a champion of the ring, unleashed a furious combination of blows—a sequence of crushing, magically-infused punches that landed with impossible force. The vampire, stunned by the assault, was utterly annihilated. In a twist of fate, the final, devastating combo dealt exactly 130 damage, the precise amount of life the vampire lord had remaining.
Following a lead from the fight club, the party infiltrated the lair of a young green dragon named Sullivan. They battled the beast amidst a massive hoard of gold and treasure, a brush with a lesser evil that would prove to be a chilling foreshadowing of a future conflict. After defeating the dragon, they claimed its riches, discovering several valuable items, including a new, exquisitely fancy rapier that Dalian immediately claimed as his own.
Laden with treasure, the party escaped the lair, only to make a shocking discovery: their ship had been stolen. They raced back to the rebel base to find it under attack. In the chaos, Jesmila’s hope shattered. "Everything we've built, everything we stand for is burning," she cried out to them. "You've brought us nothing but despair." The party fought frantically to reclaim their vessel and made a desperate flight into the skies, cementing their realization that they needed to find powerful new allies to have any hope of winning the wider war. Their next destination was clear: the mountainous lands of the Dwarves.
The heroes arrived in the mountainous realm of the Dwarves, seeking an ancient weapon to aid their cause. Instead, they found a kingdom already embroiled in a desperate war against the forces of darkness. Their quest for a single weapon quickly transformed into a defense of an entire civilization, forcing them to become frontline defenders of a city under siege.
Upon entering the Dwarven lands, the party was temporarily separated. Bob, traveling alone, stumbled upon a Dwarven family under attack by orcs and made a valiant stand to protect them. The full party soon reunited and found themselves in the middle of a much larger battle: the defense of a Dwarven village against a brutal army of giants and spine devils. It was here they met Heknom, a powerful healer who joined their efforts to repel the invaders.
The assault on the village was relentless. A second wave of attackers emerged from the sea, with hordes of ice crabs scuttling onto the beach, led by a monstrous, multi-headed ice hydra. The battle on the shore was chaotic and desperate. Greg fell into a cleverly hidden trap, and the party fought to contain the regenerating beast. A key moment came when Bogwood, using his Cloud Rune, cleverly turned one of the hydra's own attacks back against it.
Seeking respite and information, the party entered the Dwarven capital's Thieves' Guild, a place where all magic was nullified. In this vulnerable state, a painful truth was revealed, echoing the party's first wound. Dalian confessed that he had given away a precious, powerful shield—one of the legendary hero weapons—to the guild to protect his sister. Just as with the doppelgangers, the deepest wounds once again came from an ally, a recurring scar on the party's trust.
The fallout from Dalian's confession was immediate and disastrous. He was promptly arrested by the city guard for his betrayal. At that very moment, a massive, coordinated attack was launched on the Dwarven city itself. With the capital in chaos and defenders desperately needed, Dalian and Greg, who had also been detained, were released from their cells and ordered to join the defense.
With the city on the brink of collapse, King Nobain entrusted the party with an urgent and secret mission. He led them to a hidden exit tunnel, explaining that their only hope was to seek reinforcements from allied armies. Emphasizing the dire state of the war, he tasked them with escaping the siege and carrying the desperate plea for aid to the neighboring Elven lands.
The party arrived in the Elven lands on a mission of grim justice. They were tasked with hunting down one of Bane's generals, Victor Crimsonbird, who was responsible for the assassination of an Elven leader. This investigation would lead them through a heavily fortified castle and culminate in a cataclysmic battle against one of the oldest and most powerful green dragons in the realm.
The heroes' primary objective was to infiltrate Crimsonbird's castle and bring him to justice. The assault began with a characteristically bold move from Bogwood, who launched himself over the castle walls with his "Bugger Pult." While the rest of the party engaged the guards outside, Sam used his stealth to slip into the castle and begin his reconnaissance of the interior.
The battle for the castle raged on multiple fronts. While a brutal fight took place in the courtyard, Sam found himself in a solo encounter against a deadly Ice Devil deep within the fortress. The party eventually reunited for a final, decisive confrontation with Victor Crimsonbird himself. They defeated the general and successfully retrieved the stolen Elven Crown he had taken.
With Crimsonbird defeated, the party turned their attention to finding the final hero weapon: the Crown of Elara Shadow-weaver. A complex statue puzzle revealed the location of a hidden dungeon, which the heroes descended into. Inside, they discovered a tranquil, magical healing garden that restored their wounds. However, as they exited the dungeon, they were ambushed by a group of young green dragons, minions of a far greater threat.
The ambush was a precursor to an epic confrontation with the ancient green dragon, Sullivan, the same wyrm they had fought in his youth, now returned in his true, terrifying form. The great dragon's devastating poison breath ravaged the party, pushing them to their limits. In a mysterious turn of events, a wizard named Harry appeared, casting the Fly spell on Bogwood. Seizing the opportunity, the massive, enlarged Bogwood took to the air and delivered a series of critical, earth-shattering blows—a final, thunderous percussion that silenced the ancient wyrm's heart forever. As they stood victorious, new enemies began tunneling up from the ground below, a grim reminder that their fight was far from over.
The theater of war shifted to the once-pastoral lands of the Halflings. The party arrived to find the peaceful populace enslaved and forced into brutal labor. In their quest for liberation, they would not only free the oppressed but also uncover a key piece of Bane's war machine, leading to a high-stakes intelligence operation that would grant the rebellion a powerful new weapon.
Upon arriving in the Halfling lands, the party came across a grim scene: lines of halflings in chains, being forced into a mine by cruel captors. Wasting no time, the heroes launched a swift and decisive attack. The combat was brutal but brief, as they quickly overwhelmed the slavers and freed the enslaved Halflings from their chains.
To rescue the captive halfling leader, Ladia, Sam undertook a daring infiltration mission. Using his skills of deception, he disguised himself as Lord Bane and strode into the enemy-occupied manor. He engaged in a tense interaction with the minotaur lieutenant, Zaruk, successfully bluffing his way through the encounter. Using a combination of authority and stealth, he rescued Ladia from her captors and escaped the manor.
The party's next target was a floating airship island, a key strategic asset for Bane's forces. The assault began with Bogwood being launched onto the island via the Bugger Pult. He was soon joined by Heknom, who made a dramatic, "Thor-like" arrival amidst a storm cloud. Together, the heroes battled the island's formidable champion and his guards, ultimately seizing control of the dock.
With the battle won, the party made a stunning discovery: four fully stocked airships, prepared and ready for an invasion. This was a massive prize for the rebellion. Using the "Speak with Dead" spell on one of the fallen enemies, they extracted a critical piece of intelligence—the location of a secret teleportation circle that led directly to Balthazar Bane's main island. With a new fleet and a direct path to the enemy's heartland, the final act of the war was about to begin.
The campaign reached its climax as the heroes prepared to strike at the heart of the enemy's domain. Journeying through the secret portal, they found themselves in a frozen fortress, the center of Balthazar Bane's power. Here, in the icy depths of his stronghold, they would face a final, desperate battle against the tyrant himself and his most powerful commanders.
Stepping through the portal, the party arrived in the middle of Bane's icy fortress and were immediately thrown into combat. They battled the fortress's guards, fighting their way through the frozen halls. During the fight, they were confronted by a familiar foe: a clone of the Spider Mage, the sinister arcanist they had faced before, now returned to defend his master.
Pushing deeper into the fortress, the party faced an even greater challenge. Greg, in a moment of pure chaotic inspiration, managed to charm a Frost Giant, turning the colossal creature to their side while the rest of the party fought against powerful, ice-themed guardians. Finally, they breached the throne room, where the two final antagonists were revealed: the tyrant Balthazar Bane and his most powerful lieutenant, the Prince of Frost, Pharis Kai.
The final battle was an epic confrontation of steel and spellcraft. The heroes engaged in a desperate, coordinated assault against both Bane and the Prince of Frost. Intense exchanges of blows, fierce counter-spelling duels, and tactical maneuvers defined the chaotic fight. In the end, the heroes' combined might proved to be too much. Balthazar Bane, the tyrant who had brought so much suffering to Evalthon, was defeated. Seeing his master fall, Pharis Kai made a tactical retreat, disappearing via teleportation.
In the immediate aftermath of the battle, Greg, ever the pragmatist, claimed Bane's body with the intention of reanimating it as a servant. The party stood victorious in the silent, icy throne room, reflecting on their long and arduous journey. From the discovery of doppelgangers in their own ranks to the overthrow of a would-be god-king, their path had been fraught with peril. A new dawn was breaking for Evalthon. The war was over, but the heroes understood that the monumental task of rebuilding the ravaged lands had just begun.