DND Campaign Intro

Campaign Backstory

Once again a time of troubles has hit the land of Faerun, though perhaps not The Time of Troubles where the gods fell from their place in the heavens. In Evereska, the last home of the elves on the mainland, the elf Galaeron and his tomb wardens encountered a group of human crypt breakers in the tombs of their Vyshanti elders. The humans were from Vaasa, nobles of the granite tower, wielders of the darkblades and servant to Telamont Tanthul, a netherese arcanist from the city of shade. Although these humans were breaking into the ancient elven crypts, they were not after the jewels and riches hidden in the tombs. They brought along a beholder, and were using its disintegration rays to dig deeper into the walls of one of the ancient tombs, to reveal the Sharn Wall.

The Sharn Wall is an ancient work of magic erected by the Netherese, along with the help of the Sharn, a relatively unknown race of sorcerers. The Netherese are citizens of Netheril, the greatest and most powerful civilization of human wizards. They were famous for using their magic to create floating cities by severing the top of mountains and inverting them to build their floating cities. Near the end of Netheril's reign, they fought against an enemy called the Phaerimm, a race of floating wormlike creatures armed with powerful magic, the ability to eat magic, and the ability to spawn their young by implanting their eggs within their victims. They came from the outer planes, and are one of the most deadly invaders Faerun had to face in its entire history.

The most powerful mage of the time Karsus wanted to end the war between the Phaerimm and Netherese as neither side could gain a definitive advantage over the other, and as time went on, the Phaerimm were draining the life out of the earth where Netheril stood. Karsus in his hubris could not bear this blemish on the land that he owned, and decided to gain control over all magic in the world to use to eradicate all Phaerimm simultaneously. Due to his power he actually succeeded and wrested control of the weave of magic from Mystryl the goddess of magic at the time. However, he could not handle the influx of information and did not have the control necessary to direct his new powers, resulting in the fall of the Netherese cities. The Phaerimm now held an advantage but with the help of the Sharn and the new goddess of magic Mystra, the remaining Netherese were able to lock the phaerimm behind the Sharn Wall, in the Plane of Shadow. However, this was where the last functioning city of Netheril fled to. Shade, the city of shadow arcanists, fled to the plane of shadow right before Karsus caused the fall of Netheril. However, they were also locked behind the Sharn Wall with the Phaerimm in the plane of shadow, destined to fight for against its denizens for all eternity.

Through what is thought to be a misunderstanding, a magic missile from Galaeron and a bolt of shadow magic from Telamont, mixed together which caused a breach in the Sharn wall. This allowed a few phaerimm to escape, and the pride of the elves caused them to underestimate what was necessary to push them back. Soon more Phaerimm escaped, and Evereska is now in a full scale war. All active Chosen of Mystra have been called to help deal with this threat, with only a few exceptions. Elminster Aumar is now missing, due to an accident involving the princes of the city of Shade, Elminster was forced to fix a rift to hell caused by yet another blending of shadow and pure arcane magic. He was unable to seal the rift from Faerun, and is now lost in Avernus the first of the 9 hells. The Simbul Witch Queen of Algarond is likewise missing, as she searches for her consort Elminster. Sylune, the witch of Shadowdale, remains dead. Qilue, servant to Elistraee goddess of the the good aligned Dark elves, as well as Chosen of Mystra is busy protecting her temple in Undermountain, as the disappearance of Halaster Blackcloak, archmage and creator of Undermountain, caused a lack of stability in the region. All other chosen, from the Seven sisters, as well as Khelben Arunsun are now dealing with the threat of the Phaerimm in Evereska.

Campaign Introduction

Without the help of the most powerful mages, the harpers are lacking the resources necessary to keep track of events in Faerun. One such harper is the archmage of the seelie courts, Torden Kane. Kane noticed that there appears to be some coordinated events that could have disastrous results to the future of Faerun. To deal with this, he has created a chamber in his castle that utilizes an inverted version of planar binding to summon powerful beings of the material plane in Faerun to his own demiplane, which he then binds to his service using a powerful geas. This allows him to investigate these events without using his time as he is also aiding in the defense of Evereska.

This chamber currently has 5 summoning circles that are active at any given time. The current summoning has hooked a bard/priest, a dragonfire adept, a disciple of dispater, and a knight with his squire. An image of Kane appears in front of them, and commands them using a geas.
"Heroes and villains head my command, I order you to investigate the city of Darmshall in Vassa. On an outlying farm, a well now appears to be a spring of healing. One day there was barely enough water to distribute among the folk, the next clear water gushed from the spring, and those who drank from it were healed of aches and pains. Upon hearing of this, the necromancer Persephone, has launched an undead assault on the citizens of this village. Assess and deal with the situation as best you can and you'll be free from my geas."

"The enemies we face acts together in concert. Regardless of your differences, you must work together to overcome them and preserve the future of Faerun as the threat behind this events and others like it threaten everyone, from the Knights of Tyr to the servants of Asmodeus. To increase your coordination, my attendant will lead you to a room where you will test yourselves against my apprentices. Should you succeed in defeating them you will be transported to the outskirts of Darmshall to begin your mission."

You are standing in a large room made entirely out of ice. The circles that summoned and bound you lie at your feet. Immediately to your left is an icy wall marked with 5 glyphs which all appear to have activated, followed by a series of doors to some small rooms. To your right are windows that show a curious environment. You appear to be in a valley about 2 miles wide that is half covered in ice and darkness, that is separated from the other half by a river. Across the river lies an extremely bright area covered in trees. In front of you about 50 feet down is a large door, behind you is a stone wall. A hound sits idly by appearing to wait for your instructions.