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[[Category:Campaigns]]

 {{Breadcrumb Unnecessary Evil}}

=Details=

* '''Time Played''': 2008-2010
* '''Historical Era''': [[Dawn Age]]
* '''System''': Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition
* '''GM''': Jason
* '''Players''': Alex (Torn), Hank (Makal), Kate (Ember), Sam (Atrius), Steve (Kosh)

=Summary=

It was originally supposed to run in a mere 32 weekly sessions, for just over half a year. The extensions were largely due to scheduling delays and unexpected narrative elaborations. The game was designed to run over an internet voice chat service using online game table clients for tactical gameplay. The system was a moderately house-ruled version of 4th edition Dungeons and Dragons. The mode of play was participationist, with elements of player authorship (each player was able to write major portions of the side quests for other characters).

The plot centered around the heroes of prophecy: Atrius, Ember, Kosh, Torn, and Makal, and their quest to defeat the demon-corrupted Emperor of Acrolon, and the goddess of Summer and desire, Lascivia, thus ending the Dark Age.

This campaign involved my first foray into balanced [[house rules]], specific to the campaign. The characters included:

==Atrius, the "Late Arrival"==

Male Tiefling Wizard, Blood Mage, Null Soul

===Backstory===

Son of Emperor Horchus, Atrius fled the Empire conflicted between the feelings of genuine love he felt for his mother, Lily (Exarch of Innocence) and his training as an Imperial prince. He joins the Heroes of Prophecy  in disguise as Uther Bord, not believing their validity, expecting that he is merely infiltrating them for the glory of the Empire of Acrolon. Little does he know that this is exactly what the Linessa knows to be the case, and his royalty and conflicted history plays a vital role in the prophecy.

===Summary and Epilogue===

Atrius' disguise as Uther Bord lasted until the crossing of the Great Sea. There he discovered that he was being hunted by The Voice of the Wind and Soulhunter Demons. There were several very close calls and escapes across the ocean, and he was finally captured in Sicaestus. Separated from the party, Atrius was taken back to the Emperor's Isle of Acrolon where he would finally be crowned the new Emperor, though he would become forever possessed by the spirit of the old Emperor in the process. There he dodged this fate, and in the process was able to destroy The Voice of the Wind and save his mother, Lily, from destruction. His sacrifice redeemed the line of Emperor's and Lucidus declared him The Last Emperor of Acrolon. No Null Soul had ever lived as long as Atrius had, combined with the strange circumstances of his death, led to his ascension to become a Strange God.

===Epic Destiny===

Atrius's epic destiny was through special breeding to create a "null soul": a vessel perfect for indefinite possession, which was the goal of the dark emperor of Acrolon. Null souls who live too long become incredibly powerful (reaching epic levels), but also become very unstable.

==Ember, "The Burning Shield"==

Female High Orc Paladin of Lucidus, Champion of Lucidus, Exarch of Lucidus

===Backstory===

Ember tried to live a simple life in a dark age. She kept an inn with her husband and children, until the demons came. They burned her family alive in their inn. What they did to her she does not speak about. Her blood burns with the need for vengeance.

===Summary and Epilogue===

She became a demigod of Lucidus when she risked her life to save the party from a deadly attack by Shilari. She lent her powerful shield to Kosh and Torn when they descended into the Abyss, staying above to fight in the Third Godswar.

===Epic Destiny===

Her epic destiny was becoming the Exarch of Lucidus.

==Kosh, the "Stalking Darkness"==

Male Fire Drakeling Rogue, Dagger Master, Raven Knight

===Backstory===

Kosh was born to a death-worshipping tribe of fire drakelings on Flamespire isle. There he witnessed one of his own kind, Xidnak, betray the tribe to a demon lord in exchange for some mysterious source of arcane power. Kosh swore vengeance on Xidnak and the demons ever since.

===Summary and Epilogue===

Kosh met Nexia, and in time talked her out of from her self-torture of killing Anastasia before the Dark Age. In exchange, he became her Exarch. He also exacted revenge on Xidnak, but then reversed that fate and bestowed Xidnak his deepest wish: to become the first of the Dragons Reborn. He was one of the two heroes of prophecy to reach the bottom of the Abyss, thanks to his deathly nature, and kill the Demon Queen - resisting her charms with his complete devotion to the only force greater than Desire.

===Epic Destiny===

Kosh reached epic destiny by becoming the Exarch of Nexia.

==Torn, "The Mangled Man"==

Male Human Dust Pact Warlock, Feytouched, Storm Sovereign

===Backstory===

Torn was an ordinary youth who became swept up in a provincial rebellion against the demons.  The revolt was utterly crushed, and Torn was cast into a dungeon for idle torture at the hands of bored demons.  Unknown reserves of body and mind allowed him to survive the torments and the exposure to demonic taint.  When he was cast aside at last, the Obyrith, exiled lords of the Abyss came to him in visions, offering him a pact.  He would be healed and given power, and in return, he would return the Abyss to its rightful masters.  Torn accepted.

His mangled flesh was stitched back together, leaving a maze of scars that form occult sigils.  His missing eye was replaced with a green, slit-pupiled eye; a gift from his patron, the Oracle of Dust.  His fading life was replentished with the chill of the Obyrith, leaving his flesh cold to the touch.   He was spirited away, appearing in an unnatural storm beside the sea, where the Children of the Golden Throne found him, just as had been prophecied.

He has since been a driven student, but apart from his work, he does or says little, simply staring at the air with mismatched eyes or tracing his scars with his fingertips.  He now answers to the off-color nickname given him by one of his keepers, never having spoken his true name.

===Summary and Epilogue===

He bested Flex Mission of Missionholme and rested the Claws of the New Lord. He was one of the two heroes of prophecy to reach the bottom of the Abyss and slay the demon queen, resisting her charms with the complete erosion of his humanity and his entirely Strange mind. His village returned to life by the machine in Aeon's lab, Torn left his humanity behind entirely. The affect of the Abyss on his mind made him immune to the whispers of Zhudun. He ate Zhudun, for lack of a better verb, and reached the Locus of the New Lord. From then on he traveled the world acting as a strange harbinger, guide, prophet, and liaison of the Great Ones.

===Epic Destiny===

Torn's epic destiny was becoming one of [[The Lost]], [[Strange Gods]] of [[The Veil]].

==Makal, the "Stone Man"==

Male Goliath Warlord, Knight Commander, Exarch of Aedifica

===Backstory===

Born in the reclusive tribe of Hajadin on northern Vashad, Makal followed the omens of the shamans to join the heroes of prophecy.

===Summary and Epilogue===

Soon he discovered that his destiny was more complicated than ending the reign of the demon queen. He was also to unite the divided people of the Hajadin and the Biashar, and in so doing, heal the factured mind of Pellex, god of form, who would become Aedifica, trans-goddess, allowing her to join the Third Godswar.

===Epic Destiny===

His epic destiny was becoming Exarch to Aedifica, Primarch of Form.

==Story==

===Chapter 1: The Threshold===

The heroes are assembled by the Golden Throne in a lone monastery outside of the city of Qalat Khasab in the kingdom of Sekhim in the lands of Vashad. They train together and learn to be a team. They are shown a mural in the basement, linear geometric shapes carved into the sandstone. One central sunlike star shape is actually an aperture with a reflective material deeper within. They are told that they are prophesized to return with the key to unlock this treasure. When dark imperials attacked, the heroes had to flee, fighting a tanari hound to escape, making their way to the Southern Tabil Forest.

Making their way through the Northern Tabil Forest, they encounter a goblin settlement that made their living ambushing forest travelers. The party vanquished the goblin leader causing the rest to scatter into the wood. Resupplying, they ventured onward.

The party then arrived in the town of Mulhar, becoming embroiled in a drama involving a bewitched Shah, a conniving swindler, an innocent innkeeper, and an ancient crone. The party unraveled the deceptions and were able to find a peaceful solution by returning a stolen amulet to the witch in exchange for a cure for the Shah, foiling the swindler's plans.

Reaching the Southern Tabil Forest, they found the hidden cabin where the Golden Throne kept the prophetess Linessa. Linessa had fallen into a strange trance at the age of 17 and muttered random phrases for 61 years. It wasn't until 50 years ago, when one of her phrases predicted the return of the Sun and the end of the Dark Age, that her gift of prophecy was revealed. That's when the Golden Throne found Linessa and hid her from the Dark Empire of Acrolon who became interested in her prophecies. It was in this most recent hiding place that the party finally met the prophetess that predicted their victory over the Dark Empire of Acrolon and the Demon Queen, Lascivia. They learned how the Golden Throne learned to interpret the seeming babble of words, as they heard their own names mentioned. Piecing together the phrases that seemed to address them, they learned that Linessa's words were not random, they were just jumbled in their sequence. Linessa awoke from her visions and gave the party some optimistic words before telling them how they would find the road to their destiny, by crossing the ocean to the east.

On the way to the lawless port city of Istilqa Matar, the party helps a merchant being attacked by drug-addled halfing gangsters calling themselves the Hamstringers. In thanks, the merchant gives them a letter of recommendation to a pirate captain named Kasima. The party followed the road south and found the small encampment of the Hamstringers. There Makal participated in bare knuckle fighting to earn the respect of the Halflings, and when the leader dropped his guard, the party took out the violent gang leadership, causing the gang great setbacks.

Finally arriving in Istilqa Matar, the party had to avoid the attention of demonic patrols searching for them. They also encountered a number of portents that Linessa had warned them about, hints at their future fates. They rescued a small band of pirates from a demonic patrol, and those pirates turned out to be crewmates of Kasima, captain of the Sea Serpent. The party showed their letter of introduction and secured passage across the waves to the east.

Before the Sea Serpent could sail, however, the party had to help Kasima get out from under the manipulative thumb of Numal, vizier of the city, who turned out to be a Nalfeshnee demon in disguise. The battle with Numal was the climax of the first chapter and propelled the party into the Paragon tier of their careers.

===Chapter 2: Across the Sea===

The party set sail and as they entered the Strange Seas, they were attacked by a group of Slaad. The Slaad were proving victorious, and the only means of escape from the creatures seemed to be flight into the Source of All Storms, the City of Fury. So the Sea Serpent set sail.

In the City of Fury, surrounded by storms, the party became wrapped up in the courtly intrigue of genies that had apparently escaped from the massive piece of the Apparatus that made up the island city. There they also learned of a human scholar who was enslaved by one of the genie lords, and set to study the City of Storms to find a way for them to escape. They party was able to maneuver the courts of the genies in such a way to gain access to the scholar. There they learned that the scholar had been captured by the storms of the City, but that he was a scholar of the Apparatus and was content to remain, even though he had a ritual that would allow escape. In exchange for escape, the party agreed to help the scholar with an investigation into the nature of the City of Fury. They succeeded in the investigation and learned that the city was actually once a star in the Astral Sky. It had fallen, and apparently had been some kind of home for these genies. The scholar kept his word and performed the ritual of Seven Strange Winds, which would propel the parties ship on an impossible path to an impossible destination.

The party then sailed the Strange Seas through some kind of vision quest and arrived on the shores of an unknown island. The island held the ruins of an unrecognized temple. Within the temple the party found priests of Umbrus, the long lost god of Destiny. They explained that Destiny no longer functioned and that their god long ago abandoned them. Ember asked if there was anything that she could do for the priests, as it was Linessa's parting advice to her that she would heal a rift between gods by helping the lost priests of Umbrus. They said that their only lament was the Umbral Blot. They showed the party to the basement, where there was a massive well of inky blackness. They explained that the Blot was a vestige of all the hate, fear, and anger of the god Umbrus, but they didn't know how to heal it. Just then, the inky blackness surged from the well and Tears of Umbrus formed to swallow the party.

The party awoke in the Shadow Realm, a twisted shadowscape of sinister visions and eerie sounds. This session was played as a large scale social LARP at a convention, with over 20 players. The party found their way through the shadow lands to the city of Blodheim. There they were invited to a grand festival, which was apparently held every night. The festival was held to stave off the Nightmare, a dark dream that everyone in Blodheim shared and which threatened madness. To stay awake, the festival was held. It was an attrocious affair. Every dark and twisted pleasure was entertained. Servants were murdered for fun and consumed, and the party discovered no one could actually die in Blodheim. Everyone was fated to return to life the next festival. And so murder was the primary diversion of the festival. By the end of the murder party, Kosh and several Blodheim leaders were all killed and through some inscrutible rules, Millicent, the leader of

=Canon=