The Orc Crusade (Campaign)

Story
The party meets in a tavern in Greyspire, known as “The Mule Tail.” They all enter at different times, sitting at a table in the back corner. First enters Pope Urban II. As the current Pope, Urban II has called a crusade on the Orcs of Alud in order to avenge the death of his father, Urban. He had previously arranged for those who wished to join on his crusade to meet here. Next entered Vigos, his most trusted paladin. Vigos, a dragonborn, was an orphan from Tuvan that was left on the church doorstep. He has never known his parents; he has only ever known the love of Cheesus Crust, the god of Coerthanism. Shortly after Vigos, Atheae entered. A high elf cleric from Hopeway, her teacher, Ivellios, never came back whilst he was on a trip to Everis. After many weeks, Atheae presumed he had died and took his spellbook in hopes of learning more about what he was trying to prepare her for. Next entered Wilfred, a barbarian prince from Bridgefort. He had once been a part of their famous Academy, training to be a cleric, but he wished to train with a sword. When his parents found out that he was not attending his classes, they kicked him out of the house and disowned him, telling him to never return. Since then, he has been wandering, looking for a quest to join in order to prove his worth to his family. Next was Naeron, a wood elf ranger from Midrun. As someone who disliked the Orcish rule of Midrun, he was shunned by the majority of the town, who wished for the Orcs to rule them again. He found his way to Greyspire so that he might fight the Orcs that he disliked. Finally, there was Strati. A tabaxi from Goldwynn, he was a thieving wizard who was banished from the island of Zerikoth. He joined the crusade for his own personal monetary gain.

 

Now that all of them were here, Urban II informs the party that the Orcs have obtained a mythical crystal that can be used to summon an unstoppable beast. They wish to use the beast in order to conquer the Kingdom of Fernciama and, later, the Holy Coerthan Empire. He has called a crusade so that they might defeat the Orcs before they can summon the dreadful beast and capture his empire. Before setting off, Atheae mentions that Hopeway has a potion that is capable of reviving a person once they have died. They all agree to head north to Hopeway and purchase one, just in case things go awry. On their journey north, they are attacked by two skeletons. The party gets the hang of fighting with each other and makes quick work of their attackers. Upon arriving in Hopeway, they head to Ivellios’ house, where Atheae has been living. Whilst searching for anything of use, Strati takes Ivellios’ Dagger of Venom. Whilst Atheae is not pleased with this, she allows him to keep the weapon. When they have finished there, they head to the only shop in Hopeway. The party pools their gold and are able to just afford one revive potion. After getting all they needed from Hopeway, the party decides to take a shortcut through the forest. Whilst passing through the woods, they are attacked by a group of dark elf bandits. They slay two of them and tie up the third, hoping to keep him as a slave or something. They set up camp and spend the night there.

 

Starting the next morning, they meet up with a path that has led to a small abandoned village. In this village are two wizards, who the party is able to defeat after some difficulty. After exploring the village and finding nothing, they continue on towards Tuvan. Along the way, a pack of wolves ambushes them. Atheae takes a bone that she has been carrying since they fought the skeletons in an attempt to tame the wolves. Just before she is able to do so, Strati uses Color Spray in order to kill all of the wolves instantly. Atheae’s disdain for Strati only grows. They continue on to Tuvan. Upon arrival, the party decides to go shopping. The shopkeeper tells them that a girl named Aya lives in a shack to the east of Tuvan. He explains that she has placed a curse upon Tuvan that does not allow any residents to leave the town. The party agrees to go take care of her. Whilst everyone else is shopping, Wilfred visits the church that Vigos grew up at and slays the priest that raised Vigos. Upon finding this out, Vigos attempts to convert Wilfred to Coerthanism, and is successful. They head off to Aya’s shack. When they arrive, Wilfred goes in and seduces Aya. Whilst they are getting it on, Vigos jumps in and uses his acid breath to instantly kill both of the bandits at the table. He then proceeds to take his lance and kill Aya whilst Wilfred is going down on her. Vigos tells Wilfred that he now considers them even. Little does he know that Aya manages to survive and heals herself. They head back to Tuvan and inform the shopkeeper of the events that have unfolded. He thanks them and rewards them with gold. They rest in Tuvan for the night before heading to Bridgefort.

 

The trip to Bridgefort is uneventful. As they approach the bridge for which the city is named, they see an army of Orcs attacking. A soldier runs up to them and asks the party to help them fight off the invading Orcs. They agree and slog through a battle on the bridge. Upon slaying all of the Orcs, they are invited into the city. The party goes around the city, shopping for new gear. Wilfred goes to a blacksmith in the Academy and has him upgrade his shield, adding spikes to it. As the party is exiting the town, Wilfred’s sister Emily spots him walking with the party. She confronts him about why he is in town when he is not supposed to be. He explains that he was just leaving to continue on his quest to defeat the Orcs. She allows him to leave and promises not to tell their parents. The party leaves Bridgefort and heads south towards the Kingdom of Fernciama. On the way, they find a cave which they enter. In the cave is a necromancer whom they swiftly defeat after Wilfred attempts to have sexual relations with him. Wilfred discovers that the legendary sword, Dragon Slayer, was hidden within the cave. He also manages to tame a giant spider in the cave and names it Hershey. As they are leaving the cave, a wraith attempt to attack them, but Atheae uses her abilities as a cleric to repel him so that they may leave unscathed. They set up camp for the night and decide to head to Chatiyon in the morning.

 

The party awakes and heads south to Chatiyon. Upon their arrival, one of Urban’s old friends, Dave, greets them. He told them that Orcs had taken over a nearby fort. The party went to clear it out and discovered a massive Orc (Macho Man Randy Savage). They managed to kill him quickly, despite his massive size. Once again, they were only able to accomplish such a feat after Wilfred attempted to give it fellatio. Urban chopped off the penis of the large Orc and created a club with which to fight them. He then crucified all of the dead Orc bodies on large crosses outside of Chatiyon. Dave then gives Urban some prayer beads that Urban’s father once owned. They sleep in Dave’s house for the night and decided that they would take the next day fairly easy.

 

They woke up the next morning and decided to head to the beach to the east of Chatiyon. They soon found that their relaxing beach day would become rather exciting. Soon after arriving at the beach, a massive dragon turtle arose out of the water. They slowly chipped away at the large creature, eventually defeating it. Upon the dragon turtle’s defeat, they headed off to Midrun. The moment they entered the town, however, they were arrested and imprisoned for being against the Orcs. With some cunning planning, the party was able to escape their cells and retrieve their gear. They fight their way through the prison, eventually finding another massive Orc (Hulk Hogan). This time, he takes much longer to defeat. Urban once again cuts off the penis of this Orc and adds it to the other side of his club. In the prison, Naeron finds the Oathbow, a mythical weapon that allows you to pick a rival to attack. Vigos also discovers the Monado, a blade of light with fantastic abilities. The party leaves Midrun to finally arrive in Alud. On the way, they set up a camp for the night.

 

When they wake up, Naeron is gone. Whilst searching around near the camp for signs of where he might’ve gone, they discover a portal. They head through it, only to find themselves on the moon. The party walks around and discovers a restaurant called “Shoney’s”  that is run by leprechauns. The leprechauns tell the party that a white dragon stole all of their gold, and if they might defeat it and get the gold back, they can have as much food as they want. In order to fight the dragon, they give Atheae the Sun Blade, a magic longsword that radiates with the Sun’s power. Urban also convinces the leprechauns to form into a mech suit for him to fight the dragon with. During the fight with the dragon, Hershey is killed, much to everyone’s dismay. They defeat the dragon after a long fight and return the gold. Urban keeps a leprechaun on his shoulder so that he may call for the mech suit if he so needs it. Upon returning to Adamah, they awake to find that all of that was a dream, but they still had all of the stuff they received. Naeron was there as well. They headed off to the Wall of Alud. There, they fought another large battle against the Orcs. During the battle, Dave from Chatiyon came in with a small army to help the party with their fight. Once they had defeated the Orcs at the Wall, they headed off towards Stealthclaw.

 

On the way to the city of Stealthclaw, the party decides to take a side road that leads into the ruins of an ancient city. In the center of the city is a massive black obelisk that emanates magic and power. Whilst examining the obelisk, the party manages to open a portal to a different plane where the goddess Nyx resides. She tells the party that she will give them some interesting relics if they come through the portal. Atheae, Strati, and Urban decide to head through, whilst Wilfred, Naeron, and Vigos explore the city. Once through the portal, Nyx gifts Atheae the Sphere of Annihilation and a talisman to control it and Strati receives a transmutation tablet that allows him to change the material of an object at a low cost. All three of them also gain the ability to telepathically talk to Nyx. Meanwhile, Wilfred has managed to get himself trapped into a magical turtle. The only way that he can get out is by pledging himself to the Turtle God, which he does. Around the same time, Naeron discovers the town hall of this city and finds that it was called Ogmekh. In a room full of old papers and books, he finds one that details the requirements for summoning a demon called Sokothbenoth. He takes the papers and the party sets off for Stealthclaw.

 

Upon arrival to Stealthclaw, Wilfred decides to make quick work of the orcish town. He lights a torch and drops it into the sewers, causing a massive explosion that leaves a crater in place of the town. The explosion is so massive that it launches him high into the sky. Luckily, he was able to survive due to his trusty shield and a quick prayer to the Turtle God. The party continues on without him to Shadowrock. They enter Shadowrock and head for the large tower, killing all orcs that they come across. They enter the tower and break the magical barrier that prevents them from continuing on by pouring a silver potion into carvings on the floor. They fight their way to the top of the tower where they confront the Orc King, Aradesh. Upon his defeat, he tells them that it is too late and that he has completed the necessary ritual with his death that summons the beast who was trapped within the crystal that was in the center of the room. A massive beast known as a Terrasque appeared outside of the tower and confronted the party. Strati and Naeron decide that summoning Socothbenoth from the demon pages is the best way to stop him. They manage to summon him, but they do not know that he has actually possessed Wilfred who landed somewhere off the coast of Goldwynn. Urban, Vigos, and Atheae decide to approach the situation diplomatically, talking to the Tarrasque and discovering his name is Johnny. He tells them that a long time ago, a magician named Majip trapped him and the rest of his kind in crystals that are hidden all across various planes. The party decides that they wish to help him and he goes off to be with Nyx, whom he used to know. With that, the party separates and goes back to their lives.