Early Story

First Meeting - 12 Days

Beginnings

The story begins in Isoks, where six people found themselves in the Dragon's Scar Tavern.

The barkeep Hamdel announced that there was a birthday celebration so the next round was free. That was the last thing people remembered before waking up in a dusty stone room with a locked door. The five individual looked around wondering what had happened. Varen employed some tools he had hidden away on his person to pick open the locked door and the five began making their escape. In the next room over they were faced with a couple of Troglodytes. One of them descended upon Varen, rendering him unconscious in a single blow. The group managed to defeat the creatures and they continued looking for a way out, while carrying Varen. Soon the sound of running water could be heard, as they reached the sewer. Following the tunnel they managed to make it out.

Their main priority was finding a cleric to heal Varen. Sardielr, Panis and Murmer went to the local temple to Morradin to seek help, while the others went back to the tavern. Varen was left in the temple to be tended to, Murmer staying with him. Panis and Sar wanted to ask around to see if anything like this had happened in other taverns. Murmer pointed out two other taverns, warning them to avoid one of them, as it was for the locals. Ignoring his advice, Sar headed to the local tavern with Panis following and asking Sar to reconsider. They entered the tavern and Sar talked to the barkeep. While this was happening, a drunk dwarf began protesting shouting at them to leave, before getting up to Sar and threatening him. Before Sar could respond, Panis got in between the two of them and asked the dwarf to calm down, saying that they would be on their way. The dwarf was having none of it and punched Panis in the crotch. Sar then let loose a kick, going over the bent over Panis and hitting the dwarf in the face, knocking him out. The two of them then took their leave and later found out the dwarf's name - Bob the town racist.

First Job

After Varen was healed, the group reconvened in the Dragon's Scar and wondered what to do next. They decided to stay together and try to do some jobs. One that caught their eye, was a request from a local wizard called Faldir. Faldir had a shipment go missing containing a magical book he had been searching for. The party left town to find the shipment. It turned out to have been raided by a group of goblins. After defeating then they searched the place for the book. Right as they spotted it sitting near the edge of the room, a duergar man teleported it grabbed the book and teleported out. When they returned to Faldir and let him know, he seemed annoyed, revealing himself to also be a duergar, called Maldor and explaining that the man they had seen was his brother Taful. The two brothers, were students of teleportation magic and have been looking for this book for years, but Taful had began acting weirdly over the last few years. He told the party he might need their help again soon and handed then their reward.

Silver Mine

The next job, came from a job board, where Sar saw a notice asking for help rescuing a silver dragon. The party met with a dragon preservation officer called Draak, who informed them that a silver dragon wyrmling had been captured by a tribe of orcs on an island north of Isoks and he needed their help to free it. Sar was ecstatic at this chance to meet and help a dragon and the group set off, following the heated canal to Shakalow. On the way, the party saw an Ancient White Dragon hunting and were attacked by a group of Yeti. They also met a different group of travelers, that they camped with, one of which was a noble gold dragonborn called Uxar, who was the first to tell Sar of Unthar. It was that night, that Sar noticed the strange clicking emanating from Quiggly, who let him in on his secret of being a construct. He told Sar of the persecution he faced due to the Temerian Construct army long ago, and the decades of imprisonment he was subjected to by the Mages. His goal was to find his creator Hector Blanchnetta, who had been kicked out of the guild, as punishment for creating Quiggly.

Eventually they reached the Shakalow and got on a boat the the island. On the island they found the group of orcs which had taken over a silver mine and captured the wyrmling. through some deception, the party managed to get inside and arrange for Panis to face off against the orc leaded. With some help from the shadows, he managed to defeat him and was named Ironbeak, their new chief, who would lead them to victory against their rival clan, who sought protection from the white dragon. With this, they arranged for the wyrmling to be freed and it introduced itself to Sar as Merik. When asked about its family, it said that his mother Alfedanna would be worried. The group then returned to Draak, who thanked them and said Alfedanna would be thankful, as well.

Leaving Isoks

Maldor reached out to the party asking them to help track down his brother. He had figured out that his brother was operating in the are near Colchester. A teleportation circle in his shop would allow him to teleport the group there, but he warned them, that he would likely be imprisoned on arrival, as he had been banished from the Wizard's Guild. Quiggly was also wary of returning to Colchester, having been the Guild's prisoner for decades, but the party assured him they would keep him safe. With that the group teleported to Colchester.

Adventuring in Colchester - ???

Arrival

The party were teleported to a stone room, with only a ritual circle on the floor. A single wizard guarded the room, which Quiggly unsuccessfully tried to put to sleep. More wizards rushed in and a small fight happened, Neither side was trying to kill the other and the conflict ended with Maldor being taken as prisoner, while the Quiggly and the party were allowed to leave. Now left in Colchester the party decided to look for clues, that may lead him to Taful and also any jobs. They made their way to a tavern called the Wizard's Tower, where a goliath monk picked a fight with Murmer, defeating him, but accidentally striking Quiggly in the process, which prompted Sar to beat the man up. A job board was present in the tavern and Sar grabbed every job posting. With that the party got to work.

Mimic House

This job came from the mages, who wanted someone to investigate the Manticore Inn, where people had been disappearing. The party went inside and found the building mostly empty. Suddenly the voices of children could be heard from upstairs. Sar and Panis went to investigate and found a young boy asking them to come help. Sar noticed the particular was the room swayed and the fact that the boy moved almost as part of it and attacked, convinced the boy was a monster in disguise. Panis was appalled and tried to stop Sar, but it turned out that the monk was right, as the boy revealed itself to be nothing more than an appendage, part of this room, which was a huge Mimic. The party managed to defeat the mimic and went to collect their reward from the mages. Despite lacking the neded paperwork to enter the high-top district, they were escorted in to the Wizard's Guild and the waiting room of it's leader - Magi Ardrelle. Ignoring her secretary's pleas to wait, the group burst into her office and asked for their reward.

Library

This job came from the council, after a ambassador from the Wood Elves deduced Varen's identity. The goal was to explore the ruins which were found beneath the Great Pyramid of Colchester. The party followed the path under the grand building, fighting the creatures below, before reaching the sealed library. After entering, they were faced with the library's guardian - a couatl called Elfanrinka. The Couatl read the character's hearts and took a liking to Sar and Panis, letting them each take a book. Panis sought a book that would hold the secret to extending his people's lifespan - his life's mission. Sar, on the other hand picked up and Ancient Temerian tome on business strategy called "The Art of the Deal.". Elfanrinka said he would allow the characters to use the library as they wish and when they explained that the city wanted access he agreed to negotiate with the council. With the job complete the party collected their reward from the Council's Spymaster - a human man called Alexander.

Mummy

The party followed up on a job posting asking for a group of adventurer to accompany a expedition into and ancient Temerian temple. Inside the temple the party found many magic items, including their Bag of Holding.

Lengrave

Unsettling rumors had been circulating about the dead returning to life in the town of Lengrave, west of Colchester. The party went to investigate and before even reaching the town, could see some skeletons and zombies walking near the road. Varen shot at them from beyond their reach and the undead were defeated without issue. When the party reached the town, they were not greeted as saviours, but rather looked at as murderers. Confused they asked around and found out what was going on. The dead had started returning a week ago, but not as mindless monsters. They had somehow kept their personality. Families were reunited with their lost ones, albeit sometimes without the flesh they had in life. This is why the town was angry, they didn't want this "problem" solved, they were happy. The situation didn't sit right with the party and the kept looking for the cause of this, eventually going to the local graveyard. There they found a lot of empty graves, some people having climbed out of, other had been dug up. Waiting until night, they found a necromancer digging up graves and putting together a massive bone colossus. A side effect of his ritual had cause the other dead ton return with their souls still partially attached. The party confronted him and he unleashed his creation on him. It was here, blinded by the necromancer's magic, that Sar realised that he didn't need to see to catch arrows. The party defeated the necromancer and ended his ritual, causing all of those animated as consequence of it, to return to the beyond. Despite the party's explanations, the townsfolk were livid and the group was formally banished from the town, never to return.

Hag and Hearthstone

A town to the south called Buckgrove had a number of children go missing over the last few weeks. The party went there and investigated, finding that the town was beset, by nightmares. They also deduced that the scarecrows in the fields had something to do with the missing children. One of the scarecrows, suddenly animated attacking the group. They fought and defeated the constructs, but the true culprit lay in the forest east of town. In a secluded cave a night had, fed on the dreams of the townsfolk and abducted their children. The party tracked the hag down and defeated her and her Carrion Crawler. The people of Buckgrove thanked the party and they returned to Colchester to collect their reward.

Templeton and the Opening of the Portals

After figuring out that Taful was planning to use the book, the party began looking for him. Thanks to some research they found out his would likely be in Templeton, a town north of Colchester named for the ancient Temerian temple that it was built around. The temple could serve as a powerful conduit for teleportation magic which when combined with the book. The group journeyed north to Templeton, expecting to find the town in chaos, but instead it being undisturbed. The party went to the tavern to recover after their travels, but Panis found himself restless, unable to fall asleep. In the morning a portal opened right in the middle of Templeton and creatures began spilling out. Amongst them was a large bipedal reptile of greenish-brown color, with small arms and a huge jaws. Through some lucky hits from Sar, the creature was defeated and the party reached the temple, where they captured Taful and recovered the book. Atop the temple, they met a cloaked man, who called himself Lex, he warned them that they didn't know what they were dealing with and "accidentally" scratched Panis, before leaving. Murmer began taking teeth out of the fallen beast's maw, intending to sell them as Brown Dragon teeth, despite Sar's protests that this was now a dragon. Panis, having seen similar creatures brought some light to the topic by identifying it as a Triceratops.

Having achieved their goals in Templeton, the group started their travels south. On the way Panis was getting worse, the lack of sleep, leaving him weak and feverish. Taful himself was of no use and refused to communicate. Luckily, the party were not alone on the way to Colchester as a caravan had formed from Templeton and nearby settlements, as many people, scared from all the portals opening in the countryside, believed they would be safer in the big city. One of them, a cleric named Baldric, managed to cure Panis from what turned out to be a curse placed on him by this Lex. Other travelers included a hobgoblin knight called Syr Hobus and the deceased remains of a minor nobleman called Lord Andrew Berkinsail, whose papers Varen stole. While travelling, a young, plain looking human man tried pickpocketing Sar, only to be caught and knocked out. On him, Sar found a weird dragon headed key, which he took - the first of the Keys.

The thief, called Daniel was handed to the Colchester guards upon arrival. The group's focus was on Taful. After arriving at the Mages' Guild, Taful was to be imprisoned. Magi Ardrelle met with the party and got their report and proceeded to inspect Taful. She noticed that he was under the effects of a spell and broke the enchantment. Suddenly Taful began looking around asking what had happened. After being caught up, the duergar explained that the was under the control of a powerful infernal creature called a Rakshasa. It was using Taful to open the portals to the Deadlands. He didn't know its reasons, but believed it was working with someone. Despite the fact that he was controlled, Ardrelle determined Taful too dangerous to release and said he would be kept prisoner in the Mage's Guild.

Returning to the city centre, the party were surprised as tall glowing portals rising to the skies opened up around the city, causing sand to flow through them. Beyond the portals was a large desert like landscape and soon its inhabitants began entering the material plane. All manner of monster entered and the city guard was frantically trying to defend the citizens. Rushing down one of the major thoroughfares, the party saw a city guard captain and his men fighting a number of creatures off, while the civilians evacuated. After helping them, the captain told the party that the whole city was under threat right as a huge looming figure entered through the closest portal. A scaly green creature with multiple serpent-like heads - a Hydra. In the combat the party figured out that fire could prevent its heads from regrowing, but a second shadow loomed above them as a Manticore shot spikes down at the city's defenders. Fighting side by side with the guards, the party defeated the monsters and managed to secure the perimeter around the portals. After the fight, the captain with whom they had fought together introduced himself as Sebastian Vettel and so began what would be a long friendship between him and the group. The party figure out that the portals lead to the Deadlands - the homeland of the Dragons, from which they came thousands of years ago after a cataclysmic event left it a sandy wasteland. In recognition of their efforts, the party were brought to the Pyramid, where they were awards signet rings, ones which allow them to enter the Pyramid District freely. While there Varen was pulled aside, by one of the wood elf ambassadors, who warned him that she knew who he was. Varen explained to the party that some people from his past were looking for him, as he was not well liked by the Elder Druids of his homeland, due to being of mixed heritage. Still he told the party not to worry, as he would take steps to hide.

Having looted a number of items off Taful, some of the party decided to visit Henry, to see if they could trade them for something more useful. There Murmer, having picked up the valuable Wand of Magic Missiles, traded it in for an enchantment to his axe, receiving a Flame Tongue Greataxe. Meanwhile, Sar was in Elfanrinka's library, researching Rakshasas. There he found that they were powerful fiends, immune to all but the strongest of spells and capable of bewitching and turning into almost anyone. They resembled humanoid tigers, with their hands attached backwards and their claws bore a powerful curse - one that prevented the affected from sleeping. Putting it all together, the group realized that the man calling himself Lex, that they had met, must be this Rakshasa in disguise.

Encountering the Five

Now back in Colchester, the party were looking for jobs. While hanging out in the the Fighting Pit, Murmer picked a fight with a goliath monk, called Heinrick. Heinrick defeated Murmer, but ended up hitting Quiggly in the process, which angered Sar, who then proceeded to knock-out Heinrick. Having seen their prowess, the party were approached for a job, by a cloaked man, who invited them to a meeting late at night in the tavern. From conversations with Captain Vettel, the party were aware of a criminal organization present in Colchester, called The Five and they decided to take the meeting to investigate. In the meeting the party ended up fighting some of the members of the five, but the leader of those present in the meeting managed to escape. They tracked him down to a tavern out of town. In one of the barns near the tavern, he was having a meeting with his subordinates, when he revealed himself as a Doppelganger. Varen managed to sneak into the barn rafter, before the combat began, where he remained undetected throughout the entire fight, raining down bolts and daggers on the criminals. While most of the enemies were defeated, the party was soon delivered a message saying: "The Five, don't forget.".

Getting a House

Temple Gargoyles

The party got word from Captain Vettel, that a temple west of Colchester was in trouble. The gargoyles on the rooftop had come to life and were terrorizing the nearby villagers and travelers. Setting off immediately, the group defeated the gargoyles, making short work of them with Murmer's new axe.

Templeton and the Closing of the Portals

Looking for a way to close the portals, the party spoke to the Mage's to see what they know. Ardrelle explained that the focus of the ritual keeping the portals open, is likely still the temple on Templeton, as there had been reports of magic eminating from there and a large warband of Gnolls having setup a camp in the town, after its population fled south. The party were determined to stop Lex and headed north, back to Templeton. After arriving, they saw that the Gnolls had setup defensive fortification around the town and the temple and there were simply too many of them to fight. Instead they decided to focus on the temple, from the top of which emanated an arcane glow. The goal was to get Quiggly to the top of the temple and give him enough time to stop whatever ritual had been cast. The plan was for Panis and Murmer to go in with Quiggly and serve as a first line of defense, while Sar and Varen would shoot at the gnolls from a nearby tree line. This proved more difficult than expected, when Panis went down and Varen's bowstring snapped forcing him to have to get in close to the enemies. Quiggly managed to cancel the ritual and close the portals, but they were surrounded by gnolls, with little chance of escape. Luckily the foolish enemies lined up perfectly for a powerful Lightning Bolt spell from Quiggly, opening up an avenue of escape. Unfortunately, in the fight the spell clipped Murmer, knocking him out. Sar rushed in to help him, but found him already dead, having been finished off by a nearby gnoll. Sar grabbed Murmer's axe and ran, with the whole party making their escape. On the way back, Panis began having some weird dreams, where Lex was talking with three dragons - a blue, a black and a green.

Dis Coliseum

With the portals now close, the situation in Colchester had calmed down somewhat, though the council was still worried about Lex's plans. The party were getting more and more recognition for their deeds and they had decided on a new name for themselves, based on their first visit to Templeton - The Order of the Brown Dragon. They were approached by one of the council members named Alexander. A middle aged human, Alexander was the spymaster of Colchester and wanted to congratulate the party. He also had a request, for them to investigate a shop, where people had recently been going missing. The shop offered people anything they desired if they could complete a challenge, but no one had been seen leaving after accepting the challenge.

The group agreed and began investigating the shop. Outside of it, was a man dressed like a jester, clearly preparing to go in. The group warned him about the danger, but he was determined to enter. Deciding it would be safer if he was at least with them they invited him along and he introduced himself as Popov. Entering, they were greeted by it's proprietor, an small elderly man, who made them the offer of untold riches if they took part. The party agreed and entered a small room he directed them towards. Suddenly, they were surrounded by powerful magic and felt themselves shift. After opening the door, they found themselves in the pit of a large coliseum. The walls were covered in chains, which even hung over the pit itself, forming a web-like ceiling. The patrons were fiendish figures of all types and it didn't take long for the group to put together that they had been transported to the Iron City of Dis on the second layer of the Nine Hells. The elderly man appeared before them once more and told them that all they needed to do, was defeat the other combatants and they will have their reward. Two other groups of warriors emerged and the fighting began with the Order coming out on top. When requesting their rewards, they were foiled by their own wording as the man would twist their wishes into something else. Going last, Sar tried to word in a way it couldn't be misinterpreted and got what he desired - the fang of a Red Dragon. They were lead back to the small room and when opening the door next, they were back in Colchester, with the door of the store having disappeared behind them. The group reported the findings back to Alexander, who seemed glad with their success. To introduce himself, Popov, forcefully shook his hand and felt it somewhat unusual, as if his thumb was in the wrong place. He later shared that with the party, who realized that Alexander was Lex in disguise.

Meeting Kalen

Wondering how they could defeat a Rakshsa, the party went to the local temple, where they discovered that the priest of Bahamut needed help. The priest was looking for help defeating a devil, which had been seen in the region. The devil had apparently been seen at a campsite south of Colchester. As they travelled there, the party were attacked by riders, whom they defeated. Inspecting them, it became clear that they were after Varen. Deciding that his past had caught up to him and not wanting to put his friends in any more danger, Varen said his goodbyes to the party and left, planning to take on the identity of Lord Andrew Berkinsail. While looking for the campsite in question another rider approached the party. A tall armored man, bearing the symbol of Torm. He introduced himself as Kalen Hornraven and said he had been looking for the Brown Dragon. He had been sent a vision, by his celestial guardian to find them so that they may help in his quest. After talking for a while it became clear, that Kalen was looking to slay the same fiend that the Order had been after. They decided to work together and eventually reached the campsite. There, during the combat, Popov was slain as his Illusionary dragon failed to scare some of the enemies chasing him. With the fiend, which was revealed to be a cambion, defeated Kalen, thanked the party and decided to join them on the trip back to Colchester.

The Roaming Storm

With the rewards from their recent quests piling up, the party wanted to buy some new magic items and headed to Tesarian Goods in the Pyramid District. They opened the store's door, which as usual lead to the real store in the Astral Sea, only to find a weird floating ship docked by the shop. Upon getting closer they saw groups of these greenish-yellow skinned humanoids looting items from the store, while others were fighting with some of the staff. Bodies littered the group and the party immediately went to help. They managed to drive off the attackers, but couldn't recover the stolen goods. The owner thanked them an told them that this was the end of Tesarian Goods, as even if he was to rebuild the attackers, now revealed as Githyanki Pirates, would return.

The next best bet for getting magic items, would be the Mages's Guild, so the party made their way there. Ignoring yet another ofArdrelle's secretaries, the group burst into her office, to find her having a meeting with Alexander. The two of them were briefly startled before recovering their composure and saying they needed to speak to the party. There was a blue dragon spotted near Colchester, which was cause for alarm. It had attacked a caravan headed for the city and stolen all of the items, one of which was something important being delivered for Ardrelle. She wanted it returned and quickly. Sar began jumping with excitement at the prospect of meeting a dragon, but Alexander told him off, stressing that recovering the item of the utmost importance. The party left the guild and began their search for the dragon.

Arriving where the caravan was attacked, they followed the trail to the river. While discussing where the dragon could be, there was a rumbling of the earth and from the river flew out a Young Blue Dragon. It regarded the party, as Sar began bombarding it with questions. The dragon revealed it's name to be the The Roaming Storm. It was getting annoyed, when suddenly Panis recognized it's voice from his dream, as the blue dragon that had spoken to Lex. He decided to start doubting it's strength infuriating it and causing it to attack. A well-placed stunning strike from Sar, incapacitated the creature long enough for Quiggly to shower it in fire and the others to finish it off. Two Water Weirds also emerged from the river, but were soon also defeated. Most of the party went over their options for getting inside the lair under the river, while Sar was looking into the distance. After his first fight with a dragon ended with a resounding victory, doubt began to appear in his mind for the first time, about whether dragons truly were to be worshipped. He then went over and extracted one of it's teeth.

With a water breathing spell from Kalen, the party reached the dragon's lair and recovered Ardrelle's parcel. Peering inside the box, they saw a small, intricate vial containing come clear liquid with a greenish tint. The party returned to Colchester and let Captain Vettel where the dragon's body was so that it could be recovered. With the group's suspicion of Ardrelle growing, due to her proximity to Lex, they wanted to have the vial inspected by an alchemist, before returning it. What they found out, was that it is an extremely rare poison called Edar poison. It's toxicity was so high, it could kill 500 elephants with a single drop. The party realized that Ardrelle and Lex intended to poison the council.

They began hatching a plan to stop them. Speaking with the priest of Bahamut, they managed to convince him of the fact that a fiend had infiltrated the council, thanks to the help they had given him earlier. Captain Vettel was their next port of call, who was, of course, willing to help and keep the Pyramid locked down, while they dealt with Lex. Using their access to the pyramid, they setup glyphs of warding with dispel magic underneath the chairs in the council room, so that they could reveal "Alexander's" true nature to the rest of the councilmembers, during the next meeting. Not wanting to tip Ardrelle and Lex off, they prepared a fake vial and gave it to them when reporting back.

The Council Fight

The day of the council meeting arrived and the party were ready. They had a Bead of Force prepared to capture Ardrelle and Panis had a magical short sword, which would prove particularly effective against the likes of Lex. Soon after the council meeting began, the party burst into the room and Quiggly activated the Glyphs, revealing Lex's Rakshasa form. What came as a surprise to the party, was that Lex was not the only fiend as the scribe was revealed to be a Chain Devil. Screams came from down the hall as a Bone Devil burst into room and the remaining councilmembers started fleeing for their lives. Some of the city guard lead by Captain Vettel and the priests of Bahamut fought against the Bone Devil, while the party deal with Ardrelle and Lex. Luckily the fight went according to plan, with Ardrelle being rendered useless, once encased in the Bead of Force and Sar stunning Lex allowing Panis to decimate him with the short sword. With the devils defeated and Lex vanquished, Ardrelle was captured and questioned. Lex had kidnapped her son and turned him into a parrot and the only way he would free him is if she helped him. His goal was to replace the councilmembers with devils and take control of Colchester. She was to be thrown in the jail cells of her own Guild. When she was brough down, the guards noticed that duergar brothers Taful and Maldor were both missing, having escaped in the chaos. The Order of the Brown Dragon were hailed as heroes, but unfortunately tough times were ahead for Colchester as most of it's leaders were slaughtered by the devils in the fight. With so much having happened the group had plans of their own. Kalen officially joined the Order and Sar intended to travel back to Taen Ihuig to share the story of the dragon's return and deal with his beliefs. With that they said their goodbyes, but in a little over a year, the Order of the Brown Dragon would unite once more.