Arrival at Ravnica (Ivor and Brazenburn)

[Ivor_The_Mad]

Hey apparently we are doing this again. Here is our next adventure based of the MTG series Return to Ravnica.
This time we have a new cast of characters.
Ilaira: the nature loving dryad who is also very sensitive. (when she gets mad she turns into a giant tree and smashes stuff)
Balasar: the destructive dragonborn wizard. Apprentice to our NPC FIZZBOP THUNDERTOES.
Spirit of Vengeance (Anen): My character. flaming skeleton paladin 8 sorcerer 2. Once a mortal who is now possessed by a demon (Zarathos) and is collecting the souls of the evil and wicked to feed his master.
Kreel: an eldritch knight of Simic. He is also semi aquatic
Morgan: the human rogue who loves illusions and deceiving others

We all are also part of guilds.
Ilaira: Selesnya
Balasar: Izzet
Anen: Orzhov
Morgan: Azorius

Enjoy and Brazenburn will be posting the first session soon. (hopefully)

[Ivor_The_Mad]

These are the guilds according to Brazenburn just incase some of you are not familiar with MTG (Magic The Gathering)
Azorius (primary alignments LG, LN):

The Azorius Senate is a guild that focuses on the rule of law, with the primary colors of White and Blue. Numbered among its members are humans, merfolk, leonin, and sphinxes (detailed below). They are led by Isperia, a noble gynosphinx who is the ultimate decider all cases of crime and punishment in Azorius territory. Azorius members include fighters, rogues, clerics, and sorcerers of all types. Azorius membership also grants access to the Oath of the Crown paladin and the Abjurer wizard.

Selesnya (primary alignments LG, NG, LN, N):

The Selesnya Conclave is a guild that focuses on teamwork and unity, with the primary colors of White and Green. Numbered among its members are humans, leonin, and dryads (detailed below). They are led by the Trostrani, a triumvirate of dryads who speak as the voice of the goddess Selesnya. Selesnya members include fighters, rogues, clerics, and sorcerers of all types. Selesnya membership also grants access to the Oath of the Ancients paladin and the Circle of the Shepherd druid.

Boros (primary alignments LG, NG, LN, CG):

The Boros Legion is a guild that focuses on the military enforcement of order, with the primary colors of Red and White. Numbered among its members are humans, leonin, goblins, and angels (detailed below). They are led by Aurelia, a solar angel who leads the Legion in battle against the forces of evil in Ravnica. Boros members include fighters, rogues, clerics, and sorcerers of all types. Boros membership also grants access to the Oath of Devotion paladin and the Zealot barbarian.

Orzhov (primary alignments LN, N, LE, NE):

The Orzhov Syndicate is a guild that focuses on the corruption and decadence of the wealthy, with the primary colors of Black and White. Numbered among its members are humans, leonin, vampires, and ghosts (detailed below). They are led by the Obzedat, a council of ghosts who organize the syndicate’s commercial ventures and religious scams. Orzhov members include fighters, rogues, clerics, and sorcerers of all types. Orzhov membership also grants access to the Oath of Vengeance paladin and the Undying warlock.

Simic (primary alignments LN, NG, N):

The Simic Combine is a guild that focuses on selectively breeding and mutating creatures to create more efficient beings, with the primary colors of Blue and Green. Numbered among its members are humans, merfolk, elves, and deepmen (detailed below). They are led by Prime Speaker Zegana, a merfolk biomancer who controls the creation of krasises, the mutants made by their insane breeding programs. Simic members include fighters, rogues, clerics, and sorcerers of all types. Simic membership also grants access to the Circle of the Land druid and the Transmutation wizard.

Dimir (primary alignments NE, N, LE):

House Dimir is a guild that focuses on secrecy and subtlety, with the primary colors of Black and Blue. Numbered among its members are humans, merfolk, vampires, and horrors (detailed below). They are led by Lazav, a shapeshifter who masterminds all the schemes and underground deals made by the guild. Dimir members include fighters, rogues, clerics, and sorcerers of all types. Dimir membership also grants access to the Illusion wizard and the Great Old One warlock.

Izzet (primary alignments CN, N):

The Izzet League is a guild that focuses on new discoveries and technological accomplishments, with the primary colors of Blue and Red. Numbered among its members are humans, merfolk, goblins, and dragonborn (detailed below). They are led by Niv-Mizzet, an ancient blue dragon who authorizes all experiments performed by the increasingly unstable guildmages. Izzet members include fighters, rogues, clerics, and sorcerers of all types. Izzet membership also grants access to the Evoker wizard and the Storm Herald barbarian.

Gruul (primary alignments CN, N, CG, CE):

The Gruul Clans are a guild that focus on the destruction of Ravnican society, with the primary colors of Red and Green. Numbered among its members are humans, elves, goblins, and minotaurs (detailed below). They are led by Borborygmos, a cyclops berserker who leads the guilds raids against societies across the world. Gruul members include fighters, rogues, clerics, and sorcerers of all types. Gruul membership also grants access to the Circle of the Land druid and the Totem Warrior barbarian.

Golgari (primary alignments N, NE, NG):

The Golgari Swarm is a guild that focuses on the cycle of life and death, with the primary colors of Black and Green. Numbered among its members are humans, elves, vampires, and gorgons (detailed below). They are led by the lichmaster Jarad, whose sense of approaching death is stronger than any other’s. Golgari members include fighters, rogues, clerics, and sorcerers of all types. Golgari membership also grants access to the Circle of Spores druid and the Fey warlock.

Rakdos (primary alignments CN, CE):

The Cult of Rakdos is a guild that focuses on the destruction of all the world, with the primary colors of Black and Red. Numbered among its members are humans, goblins, vampires, and demons (detailed below). They are led by Rakdos, a balor demon who is worshipped fanatically by the cultists that make up the rank and file of his organization. Rakdos members include fighters, rogues, clerics, and sorcerers of all types. Rakdos membership also grants access to the Berserker barbarian and the Fiend warlock.

[Eric Diaz]

Awesome! I love Ravnica! Whish we had a planeshift....

Where are you getting the lore from? I read lots of stuff from mtg salvation and wotc, but also the first novel.

I'm curious to see what kinds of PCs and adventures you used.

I created a "Lost Mines of Ravnica" campaign once, if anyone is interested in this kind of actual play here is the first of the series (http://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com.br/2016/03/the-lost-mines-of-ravnica-i-lost-mines.html).

[Naanomi]

I would be tempted to play a gateless Nephilim patron Goolock

[the_brazenburn]

Session 1

All the characters started out in the central metropolis, a sector of the city that is neutral between the guilds. They were informed by their guild leaders that an uneasy truce had been forged between the Izzet, Azorius, and Selesnya guilds. (The Orzhov guild was also in the agreement, but Spirit of Vengeance lied about his guild and told them that he was Boros). The mission of this alliance was simple: to infiltrate the Golgari territory and kill their leader, a lich named Jarad.

A small army was assembled, and a plan was developed. The characters would move through Boros and Gruul territories, then escort their army through the undercity to attack Korozda. The characters advanced toward the Boros Guildgate, but ran into some trouble with the guards. Spirit of Vengeance asked them to be allowed to enter, which the guards refused. They asked to see Spirit's Boros sigil, which he handed over. The guards inspected it carefully, then bit it. The soft lead didn't hold up to inspection, and they informed Spirit that his sigil was a forgery and that he was under arrest for impersonating a Boros member. Morgan instantly took the sigil back and cast Prestidigitation on it to make it appear exactly like a real Boros sigil. Spirit told the guards that he'd taken that fake one off a cutpurse a few days ago, and handed them the "real" badge. This fooled the guards, who permitted them entry. The party slowly continued through Boros turf until they were stopped by another encounter. This group wasn't tricked by the fake sigil, and arrested the characters. The entire party was brought to a jail and thrown at the feet of an angel sitting on an ivory throne.

Angel: You are all under arrest for impersonation of Boros agents and forgery of sigils. These are offenses punishable by death. How do you plead?

Morgan: Guilty, but I am a noble aligned with the Azorius. The magic of the Guildpact forbids you from executing me.

The angel concedes his point, then says that he will be fined and then released. She holds her hand out for payment, and Morgan hands over the 400 gp.

Me: The angel does not remove her hand. One of her fingers twitches slightly. She says "It will be impossible for your friends to come with you." Her finger twitches again.

Morgan instantly picks up on the fact that the Boros members are asking for a bribe. "How much for their release?" he asks.

Angel: I could not possibly accept a bribe for the release of dangerous prisoners. Although the Orzhov may accept 500 gold pieces for such a service, I am afraid that the only way these people can get out is if they were to escape.

Her eye winks very slowly.

Morgan slips 500 gold onto the throne.

Angel: I'm going to leave this room now with the remainder of the barracks. One guard will be left behind to release you from your chains and escort you to your cells. If the prisoners were to escape during that time, I would be helpless to stop it.

As soon as they leave, Spirit of Vengeance thumps the guard, who pretends to be unconscious. They escape from their bonds, picking up a real Boros sigil on the way out.

[Ivor_The_Mad]

Awesome! I love Ravnica! Whish we had a planeshift....

Where are you getting the lore from? I read lots of stuff from mtg salvation and wotc, but also the first novel.

I'm curious to see what kinds of PCs and adventures you used.

I created a "Lost Mines of Ravnica" campaign once, if anyone is interested in this kind of actual play here is the first of the series (http://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com.br/2016/03/the-lost-mines-of-ravnica-i-lost-mines.html).

Sounds cool. As for the lore i think that Brazenburn got it of the wiki and general knowledge from playing it. Im not positive though.

[the_brazenburn]

Sounds cool. As for the lore i think that Brazenburn got it of the wiki and general knowledge from playing it. Im not positive though.

Yeah, that's pretty much correct. I've gotten a feel for the guild texture by playing it and also with the flavor text off the cards.

[the_brazenburn]

Session 1: Part 2

After leaving the Boros jail, they had a pretty uneventful journey through Boros territory. On the rare occasions when they were challenged, they showed them the stolen sigil and were allowed to pass freely. After several hours' travel, they came to a huge gate made of red sandstone with twisting ivy curled around its base. Standing in the middle of the gate was a twelve-foot tall cyclops with a huge club. The group tried to enter, and the cyclops demanded to know what guild they were from. You can guess where this went.

Cyclops: Not Gruul? Then DIE!!!

The party won initiative, and Morgan slipped behind him and pulled off a sneak attack with Booming Blade. Then Spirit of Vengeance targeted him with Agganzar's (sorry, I can't spell it) Scorcher, and Ilaira cast Erupting Earth. After this onslaught of damages, the cyclops was bloodied, but barely seemed fazed. He attacked the nearest player, who happened to be Balasar, with a full Multiattack. One of the attacks hit Balasar, but the other was a crit miss that smashed down one of the pillars. A torrent of rocks hammered down on both the cyclops and Morgan behind him. Morgan evaded the rocks with no damage, as did the cyclops. Then Balasar cast Lightning Bolt, apparently without thinking that Morgan was right in its path...

The cyclops failed the save and was scorched, but Morgan rolled a nat 1. I ruled that his character, while trying to dodge, had inadvertently leaped directly into the path of the bolt of electricity, taking double damage.

Me: You take 64 damage.

Morgan: I'm at exactly 0 ****ing hit points! Am I dead?

I informed him about the death saves, and Ilaira healed him up on her turn anyway. Meanwhile, Spirit of Vengeance had slashed the cyclops down to nearly 0 health with his chain of shadowfire, which served only to make it angry. It clobbered the barely conscious Morgan again, bringing him down to 1 HP, and also bringing down the other pillar. Morgan managed to dodge as the falling rocks buried the cyclops up to the neck. Balasar finished him with another Scorcher, and Morgan cut his head off and carried it with them to intimidate other Gruul into not attacking them. The plan seemed to work, as nobody challenged them as they traveled through the Rubblebelt. As night fell, they started looking around for an inn. Thay finally found one, which was in the middle of an enormous bar fight. Ilaira announced that she wanted to preach to the brawling Gruul about the wonders of non-violence (she's a Selesnya).

Ilaira: I announce to the Gruul, "You should all learn to live in the perfect peace and harmony of the Conclave!"

Me: Roll a Persuasion check.

Ilaira: roll roll roll Nat 20!

It was at this point that I screamed and smashed my head into the table to make sure that I was not hallucinating. Sadly, I was not.

Me: God****it, fine. The crowd throws down their weapons and starts singing "Kumbaya".

Then they bought a room and went to sleep, to be awakened in the morning by a loud sound of shouting and smashing from the streets below...

To be continued.

[Ivor_The_Mad]

Session 2

The party woke to the sounds of a riot in the streets and went to investigate. I looked out into the street to see the whole village running around smashing stuff and yelling Rokchov (or something like that). The rogue hoped up onto the roof to notice the dryad in the crowd about to preach peace and love to the people of Gruul. when she finished they started yelling "Death to peace" and charged her. She then, enraged turned into a huge tree and started flattening them trying to get over to us. Morgan threw down a rope and had her climb up. Balasar followed climbing the rope but slipped but was caught by Morgan. I also hopped up onto the roof. One of the villagers came running out of the inn with a big barrel of whiskey. I cast fire bolt blasting the barrel and creating a explosion of fire incinerating the near by Gruul members. Our inn was lit on fire so we jumped over the gap all except for Ilaira who fell back into the crowd. Balasar casting fly on himself flew down and rescued her as we escaped over the roofs. A few seconds later we realized that we were surrounded and they were starting to pick up rocks, sticks and javelins. Suddenly we heard a huge blast and we were thrown to the ground as a bright orange flash lit up the street.

[the_brazenburn]

Because I'm bored, and kind of tired of waiting for the next post, I'll just include some key quotes from each guild.

Azorius: I'm sorry, you cannot save that orphan from that burning building. Entering the building would be considered trespassing, and we certainly can't allow that.

Selesnya: You should all calm down, say a mantra, and let your free will dissolve... I mean, enjoy the inner peace of Mat'Selesnya!

Boros: Jaywalking? That's illegal, and the penalty is DEATH!

Orzhov: Oh, you wanted to breathe? The air is owned by a shell company that reports to the Orzhov, and you'll need to pay fifty gold to be permitted to breathe.

Simic: We should try mixing a flatulent hippopotamus and a rabid wolf! I'll bet we get something really cool!

Izzet: Do you think goblins are flammable? Let's find out!

Dimir: Who are the Dimir? I don't think they're actually real.

Gruul: Not Gruul? Then DIE!

Golgari: Life is death, and death is life. Prepare yourself to be both at once.

Rakdos: Party like there's no tomorrow! Because, you know, Rakdos partiers usually don't have any.

[Ivor_The_Mad]

Session 2 Part 2

It was FIZZBOP THUNDERTOES! Come to save us. He blasted fireballs at the crowd. He turned to us an shouted and now we go. TELLAPORTUS NOWUS in a flash we appear in a small room with a door and no windows.
Morgan: I make a perception check.
DM: *Roll*
Me: I open the door...
DM: You get blasted across the room. Take...12 bludgeoning damage
Me: after he makes his check. So I know weather its trapped or not.
Morgan: I believe the door is trapped.
Me: :smallannoyed:
DM: the door opens and a goblin walks in. Who touched the door
Balasar and I point to each other
Goblin: Hmmm. *turning to Balasar* your Izzet so you would have known about the door. *turning to me* You on the other hand...
Me: He pushed me.
Goblin: Never mind. My master awaits.
We are led through various halls until we reach the throne room.
Niv-Mizzet: Ah hello, you are the people I certified for a quest or something right?
Me: That is correct
Niv-Mizzet: You *looking at Balasar* are you one of mine?
Balasar: Hi dad
Niv-Mizzet: you are uh Ildrex right?
Balasar: No dad
Niv-Mizzet: Zedaar?
Morgan: *whispers* Balasar
Niv-Mizzet: Ah yes Baladar you are my favorite. Crossborn of course. my trueborn are my favorite. Except for Kriv no one likes Kriv the little &$^%
Ah yes where was I. Oh thats right getting you on your way. Ill have Ral Zarek here teleport you to the gate by Golgari where you can collect your armies to go defeat Jarad.
Ral Zarek: lets go.
Blah blah blah teleportation stuff. We are now at the Golgari gate looking out on the neutral zone where our armies wait.
Guarding the gate is a skeleton lying on the ground with vines sprouting from his eye sockets. Morgan shoots an arrow at its skull. Nothing.
I try to go and reason with it. Vines grab my foot. I try to misty step through the gate and get blasted back. Morgan cast Prestidigitation and makes a Golgari sigil and lets us pass through. We get our troops and head to the center of their territory. We have an uneventful journey until we come across an expanse of seemingly endless marsh. After a few minutes of investigating I found a secret passage and Morgan found some spikes and was voted to go first into the passage because I was the tank. We found that it was a sewer like drain and my stone giant and Ilairas treant had to crawl. We then came across a smaller passage that Morgan herd scuttling in and we decided not to go down. Turns out the treant went missing soon after. We finally reached the end and climbed up to find our selves in a maze. Ilaira tried to talk to the thorn covered vines that made up the walls which only screamed at her. We went deeper into the maze and found our selves in a larger open area and upon closer investigation by an unknowing solder we learned that the walls had a ton of small snakes on them.
Me: it think snakes don't like fire ill se how they react to a fire bolt
DM: Not well the start advancing on you.
Party: We run.

End of Session
Our next one will be on the 21st and it will be this parties first 6 hour long session.
Happy posting.

[the_brazenburn]

Session 2 Part 2


Ah yes where was I. Oh thats right getting you on your way. Ill have _____(Brazenburn what was his name?) here teleport you to the gate by Golgari where you can collect your armies to go defeat Jarad.
_____: lets go.


I believe his name was Ral Zarek.

[the_brazenburn]

Session 3: The Marathon

We had an exceptionally long session, so this will probably be a very long post.

All players attended.

The intrepid party of adventurers ventured deeper into the dark Maze of Decay, drawing nearer to the center. They soon reached an open stretch of room with the floor covered in tiny mushrooms.

Ilaira: I look at them to see if I can tell what they are. Rolls a Nature check, scores a 15.
Me: You know that they are a type of mushroom that is deadly poisonous, but only if it is ingested.
Spirit of Vengeance: Then we won't eat them! Runs across the mushrooms.
Me: The mushrooms pop under your feet, sending a cloud of spores into the air. Everybody who is breathing must make a Constitution save.
Everybody: I'm not breathing! (Spirit of Vengeance is a skeleton, and actually doesn't have to breathe.)
Me: Yes you are. Roll them.

Everybody rolls, most people fail and take poison damage.

SOV: I try to burn a path through the mushrooms.
Me: They explode, sending a burst of smoke into the air. Everybody make another Con save.

After a while, they run across the mushrooms while holding their breath, which works. They then manage to work their way through the rest of the maze, cleverly avoiding the rest of the traps I had set in advance (curse you, Perception expertise!), and entered the abandoned Orzhov cathedral at the center of Korozda. The stone golem was too large and had to stay behind.

Me: The inside of the cathedral is covered completely in a greenish slime. At the center is an altar made of some strange black material, with a rope leading to the upper levels of the church hangs above the altar.

The group spent such a long time debating the optimal next course of action that I decided to hurry them up.

Me: One of SOV's priests steps in the slime. Sensing nothing happening to him, he runs across the floor of the church, then stops halfway as his legs dissolve from the acidic slime.

Spirit of Vengeance runs across the floor, using Fire Bolt spells to melt the slime from in front of him. He clears a path before the party gets spooked and leaves.

SOV orders his stone golem to demolish the church, which it does. The whole cathedral collapses into a heap of rubble, crushing the golem beneath it.

Morgan: I look for a dead lich in the rubble.
Me: You don't see any liches. You do, however, see a green and black crystal.
Balasar: I pick it up.

The instant the crystal is touched, a face begins to form inside. Balasar is so startled that he throws the crystal at SOV, who bobbles it and accidently knocks his skull off. Before the face forms completely, he places it on his neck and holds his head up in front of it.

A face forms in the crystal: an ugly woman with snakes for hair. Ivor and Morgan's player, who both play MtG, know instantly who it is.

Vraska: Who are you? I demand to speak to Jarad.
SOV: I haven't seen him recently. I am a nameless zombie that Jarad made.
Vraska: I came here last week. I didn't hear about any new zombies.
SOV: I'm new...
Vraska: I met him for lunch four hours ago.
SOV: Very new?
Vraska: I will be there in twenty minutes. You had best pray Jarad is there.

The party started freaking out, which only got worse when a group of trolls pried themselves out of the rubble and attacked. The party vanquished them easily, then noticed that they had come out of a hole.

Morgan: We should climb down that hole, in case Jarad is down there.

Everybody agreed, and SOV climbed down. The bottom of the hole was a large pit full of garbage, which the trolls must have been in charge of. There was a large chunk of rock at the other side. Spirit of Vengeance moved the rock aside, and the party advanced deeper into the tunnel. At the very bottom was a chamber, and at the center was Jarad. Morgan tried to sneak up on him, and actually succeeded, dealing almost 70 damage with a crit sneak attack with Booming Blade. Balasar chucked his highest level Fireball, which dealt maximum damage because of his Izzet Overload feat, and Spirit finished him off with two slashes with his chain. Jarad was dead.

Or was he? Ilaira just remembered that liches have phylacteries that must be destroyed for the lich to die. She cast Detect Magic and found that his phylactery was a crystal hidden in a secret chamber of the room. They shattered it, and Jarad's soul was cast into true death forever. Then Vraska arrived.

Vraska: So, you killed Jarad. It appears I have thanks to offer you.

This surprised everybody.

Vraska: I never liked him. He killed my stepparents, the Sisters of Stone Death. As my thanks to you, I will kill you quickly.
SOV: What if I broke this crystal instead?
Vraska: You definitely shouldn't do that.
SOV: Okay. He breaks the crystal.

Vraska screams and is sucked into the remains of the portal. The others struggle to avoid being pulled in, but Balasar fails. He is sucked into the portal and his molecules ripped apart in a process called spaghettification.

Me: Balasar vanishes into the portal. In his place is a plate of purple spaghetti.

One of Balasar's goblin minions eats the spaghetti and transforms into Balasar, who appears shaken but unharmed from his ordeal. Then Fizbop teleported them out of Korozda and back to Izzet territory.

To be continued...

[the_brazenburn]

Session 3: The Marathon (Part 2)

After reaching Niv-Mizzet's halls and engaging in another awkward roleplay situation, the Izzet guildmaster let slip that there was a huge maze he had just discovered, and humbly named after himself. He believed that there was a deadly secret at the center of the maze, and the first guild to reach it would gain unimaginable power. He asked Balasar to run the maze for the Izzet guild.

He also revealed that the Boros guild had collapsed, and Aurelia had been assassinated. One of her liutenants had taken over the guild and made it a military dictatorship under the control of the angels. Tajic, Blade of the Legion, had created a splinter faction that was mainly human, and the two subguilds were clashing in the streets. With the Boros occupied in their civil war, there was no police force, and crime was rampant. Meanwhile, the downfall of the Golgari meant that the poor were starving and waste was no being removed, so plague and disease was sweeping through the city.

On the day of the Maze-Running, delegates from all ten guilds gathered at the Dragon's Maze. The party stuck together and entered the maze through the Izzet door, which immediately disappeared behind them.

I don't have time or space to tell about all the rooms they went through, so I'll just list a few of my favorites. All the rooms were randomly generated, and I used an old Return to Ravnica deck as an encounter table. Most of their time was spent in the Rakdos zone.

Toil/Trouble: Two archways led out of the room, one black and one red. To exit, a person had to go through both. The black one (Toil) buffed a person's Int score but reduced their hit point max. The red arch (Trouble) dealt them an amount of damage equal to their Intelligence.

Twinstrike: This was a fairly basic spell that does damage to two people, but it was fun because Spirit of Vengeance had shoved Balasar into the room because he didn't want to take the damage. He was shocked when it turned out to target two people rather than one.

Bloodfray Giant: This room was a gigantic arena with the giant approaching from the other side. The party might have lost this one if not for SOV, who revealed his allegiance to Zarathos, a demon subordinate to Rakdos, and caused its head to implode.

Hellhole Rats: Ilaira saved the group here by using Animal Friendship on the swarm, which held off attacking long enough for everybody to escape.

After the grueling dungeon grind, the brave heroes finally reached the center of the Maze, in which was a large crystal orb. Eleven symbols swirled around the inside: one for each of the guilds, and one that a successful History check of Morgan's revealed to be the symbol of the Eldrazi.

Morgan attempted to grab the orb, and images of the Eldrazi devouring worlds flashed through his mind. He succeeded on his save to avoid having his brain shattered, and managed to control the Azorius sigil to float to the top of the orb, but accidentally also moved the Eldrazi forward. Then the other people tried to manipulate the orb for their own guilds, and didn't do so well. Each of them went insane and gained a new flaw.

Spirit of Vengeance: I really like killing people.
Ilaira: There's only one person I can trust, and only I can see this special friend.
Balasar: I am completely indifferent to things that don't involve me.

Also Balasar and Ilaira were taken over by the Eldrazi, who controlled them.

After a lot of crazy PvP, the Eldrazi symbol emerged victorious, and tentacles expanded from the orb as the Eldrazi attempted to break free. Suddenly, a robed man with a jackal's head flew into the room. It was the old enemy Neferon. He snatched up the orb and closed the cracks, re-imprisoning the Eldrazi. This broke their control over Balasar and Ilaira.

Neferon: I am no friend of yours, but the Eldrazi are too much of a liability to be left free. Don't worry, I'll keep this safe, and you will become my new slaves.

Morgan: How about you don't do that, and instead give us the orb and go away?

Me: That won't work.

Morgan: I roll Persuasion. (He rolls a 12.)

Me: Not enough, sorry.

Morgan: Hold on, I have expertise in Deception, so that's a... 22!

Me (nearly in tears): Neferon stops for a second, but suddenly Niv-Mizzet flies through the air, entering the room and diving for the orb.

Niv-Mizzet: The power will be mine!

Morgan's deception breaks, and Neferon comes to his senses. He swipes the orb into his hand and leaps into the depths of the maze, goading Niv-Mizzet to come after him. Niv-Mizzet flies into the darkness, and for a moment all is silent. Then they hear a bloodcurdling scream, and the dragon flies as quickly as possible out of the maze. Neferon grabs his tail, and with unearthly strength, drags him down into the pit. The master of the Izzet is gone forever, and Neferon has escaped with the orb.

End Session.

[Ivor_The_Mad]

Session 4

This one will be pretty short. We spent the first half leveling up our characters and me making a new one, (the DM told me he was going to NPCify mine). My new character is basically a yuan-ti, lizardfolk, triton hybrid eldritch knight. (because his guild is simic). We were also insulting Kriv (an NPC) and doing downtime. When we finally started and I meet up with the group we are told to go destroy Rakdos. When we reach the gates a spiny toad thing tells us we cant pass unless we would like to buy tickets for the carnival. We comply and he leads us to a huge red and black tent with a sign painted in blood saying:
Performers
----->
Stands
<-----
We choose to go to the stands where we find a seat and start to watch the show.
** Our DM went into some pretty gory details which I will not include.**
Ilaira (after seeing some of the show): Stop! Stop! you should all love each other and remove these violent acts from the show. *rol* nat 1
DM: the crowd surges forward and carries you out of your seat and tosses you in the pit. (The show happening at that point involved a dozen or so Rakdos people with whips braided with glass and 4 or more Selesnya centaurs. Along with now a very surprised Ilaira. Immediately forgetting centaurs the whip people attacked slashing her to pieces. 24hp.
she rand for the wall and Morgan threw down a rope and had me pull her up. Not before the whip people got some good hits off and reduced her to 0 hp. Meanwhile me and Morgan were taking pot shots at random people with the whips. We got her tied on but she failed 2 death saves and succeeded 1. Balasar cast fly on me and I flew down cut up 3 guys who had grabbed the rope too. Through out the whole ordeal Balasar was just chilling in the stands. When we got her up she failed her 3rd death save and was dead. That where we ended.

Also we just lost our only healer and she (the Player) is thinking of reviving Thokk now we will have 2 tanks a sneak and a blaster. We are screwed.

[the_brazenburn]

First, sorry this took so long. Other Things got in the way.

Session 5

After Ilaira died, an orc from the crowd ran over to them and started eating the corpse. It was their old friend Thokk!

Morgan: Stop eating the body! I never even liked you much.

Balasar is making a point of ignoring everything, Kreel rips off a leg for himself.

After I managed to retcon the whole cannibalism scene, they decided to leave the carnival. This was where they ran into some trouble.

At the door stood two beautiful ladies who hadn't been there an hour ago. Kreel tried to step past them, but no such luck.

Creepy lady 1: Where are you going?
Thokk: Me wanna leave now.
Creepy lady 2: No, no! Please, stay! The show will never end!

At this point, Balasar tried to force his way through the door, and the ladies both yelled out, "No! Kill him!"

Balasar started looking around to see who the ladies were calling, but only saw Thokk and Kreel... who were suddenly drawing knives! Balasar started running toward the door, but the creepy ladies blocked his path, now unfurling demonic wings. Balasar now understood that they were succubi who were using magic to control the rest of his party. He used Dimension Door to teleport them away, then managed to Dispel Magic and get them back in control of their own minds. They then continued through Rakdos turf, heading toward Rix Maadi.

Only one interesting thing happened along the way. They happened upon an abandoned Izzet power plant. Kreel thought that there might be some interesting loot in there, so they checked it out. Thokk immediately spotted a control panel with lots of shiny buttons on it, and decided that it would be a great idea to push the gigantic red one. It started to run that way, but Kreel held him back. Thokk was quite a bit stronger, though, and he managed to break the grapple and get to the panel.

Me (drawing a map of the control panel): What do you do?
Thokk: I flip all the switches at the same time, then hit the giant red button.
Me: A blue glyph burns to life and knocks you back, dealing 10 damage.
Thokk: I try again.
Me: The same thing happens.

This pathetic episode was interrupted when Balasar found the large pile of loot in the other section of the building. Kreel beat him to it, and attempted to grab a magic helmet from the top.

Pile o'Loot: Error 404, please enter your password.
Kreel: KrivSux21.
Pile o'Loot: Beep, admin privileges revoked. Password not accepted, try again later.

All the treasure disappeared, and the party left the power plant.

After a few more hours of uneventful travel, they reached a small, squat building made of obsidian. Painted in blood above the door were the words: Rix Maadi. Any who enter will be punished by pain of not-death.

The party entered.

<End Session>

[Ivor_The_Mad]

Session 6

We went through the door into long corridor with 4 doors leading off of it. Each room had a small amount of treasure in it. I found a bag of devouring and which bit off Thokks hand. We wen through a door into a sandy arena with a bound dragon at the end chained over a trap door. (DM skipped us killing it) we opened the trap door to find some stairs leading down. We eventually found a room with some smelly toad which thokk bargained with to give us a bag of white dust. We then entered a room with 3 doors and a glabrezu who wanted to do a game show for our souls. We traded our souls for the bag of dust which after trying he went into a daze and let us go. We went through the door to find ourselves face to face with a blood witch who we killed then went on to fight Rakdos. He was sleeping in a pit of lava so I cast tidal wave to get to him when we reached him I cast tidal wave and charged toward him stabbing with my glave as Balasar shot a lightning bolt and used overclock. Rakdos was dead.

End of Session

I apologize for the short summery but I don't remember all the details because the session was over a week ago.

[Ivor_The_Mad]

Session 7

After killing Rakdos we headed back to the dragons maze to fight Neferon. We entered into the dimir section to go get some information from Lazav. We entered the maze and after a few rooms with arcane traps we entered a room full of shadows. Thokk went first being the tank. About half way across the shadows attacked and reduced thokks max HP by 24 we lit a torch and traveled through unharmed. The next room was the same and I had to go first. I also lost the 24 hp. We kept going until we finally reached the center city where we talked with some MTG black creature that I can't remember the name of. After talking with it it agreed to lead us to Lazav. When we were crossing a bridge the creature attacked ad tried to shove us off but instead I managed to get out of the way and it went in its self. After a while we found Lazav and bargained with him to tell us where Neferon's tomb of horrors.

Again I apologize for the not to interesting post I only had a few minutes to do it and I didn't remember the session in detail. The next one should be better.

[the_brazenburn]

Here is the long-overdue

Session 8 (i think)

So, this was the session where the party got to venture into the infamous Tomb of Horrors. They were teleported to the location by the Dimir (see previous post), and ended up facing a large gravel hill. They voted on where to dig, and ended up trying the center. This led them into a large corridor full of spike traps. They couldn't see the spikes, but Morgan had a suspicion.

Morgan: I make an Investigation check.
Me: To do that, you'd need to be right next to the spot you're checking.
Morgan: Never mind.

Thokk got bored instantly and tried to walk across the corridor. Big mistake. It triggered a pit trap, and Thokk fell in, taking almost 40 damage outright. Morgan had Balasar cast fly on him, and he triggered all the traps with an 11-foot pole. (There's a long story about the 11-foot pole, involving a gnomish artificer, a bottle of sovereign glue, and numerous Con saves.) The party was then able to advance successfully to the end. They spotted only two possible exits: a portal in the wall shaped like a green devil's head, and a gate full of mist.

Thokk: We go through face hole.
Kreel: I'm not sure about that... what if it's a trap? Like, a sphere of annihilation or something?
Rest of the party: Nah, I'm sure it's fine.
Kreel: Then Thokk should go first. It's the tank.
Thokk: Thokk no tank. Fishy-man tank.
Kreel: What?
Morgan explains that since Thokk lost hit points, Kreel now has more and is the tank.

Kreel reluctantly jumps through the portal. He vanishes. The rest of the party doesn't know what happened to him.

Thokk: Where fishy-man?
Everybody shrugs. Maybe he teleported?
Thokk: Thokk wanna telly-port too! Wait for Thokk!
He jumps in the hole and vanishes.

Balasar is more cautious. He sticks a hand in, and I tell him he feels nothing. He pulls his hand out and asks if he feels anything. I tell him no. He looks down, and sees that his hand is gone!

At this point, I burst out in an Evil DM (patent pending) laugh and tell them that their friends have been vaporized by the sphere of annihilation hidden within the portal. Balasar and Morgan look horrified, Thokk and Kreel furious.

The remaining half of the party manages to activate the portal gate and teleports through it into the room with the four-armed gargoyle. Unfortunately, they are out of gems, and simply pass through the room without doing anything. They passed through the Chapel of Evil without much interest, then triggered a few traps on the way into the Mummy Preparation Room. Here, they used mage hands to great success in locating the pieces of the First Key.

We were running low on time here, so I skipped over a bunch of rooms, traps, and keys in order to allow them to get to the end of the dungeon. Balasar and Morgan finally made it all the way to the room full of treasure, and came very close to destroying Neferon's sanctum, but were tempted by the enormous piles of loot everywhere. When Morgan tried to take a magic bow, the crystal that held all the souls Neferon had captured, including Thokk and Kreel, shattered. This simultaneously released all the souls and opened a portal to Gehenna, which the party was sucked into. Morgan managed to snatch Thokk's and Kreel's souls on the way, so the entire party will be together for the boss fight.

Next session: The dramatic conclusion of The Saga of Ivor and Brazenburn: Season One. Will Neferon's evil plots be foiled, or will the party meet an anticlimatic end? Find out next week on GitP's favorite (I hope :smallsmile:) campaign write-up!

[the_brazenburn]

Session 9: The Dramatic Conclusion

Everybody excited? This will be the final post for Season One of the Tragic Saga of Ivor and Brazenburn, in which all most some of a couple of the loose ends will be tied up! Here we go.

Attendence: Pathetic. Only Balasar and Kreel showed. I considered canceling, but we'd already skipped a week and were pressed for time.

As the portal sucked the intrepid party in, Morgan and Thokk suddenly fell and became lost from Balasar and Kreel. The remaining party members landed in a hellish plain: the Lower Plain of Gehenna. They were surrounded by four yugoloths that looked like huge, four-armed beetles.

Balasar: I... attempt to communicate with the beetles?
Me: They screech, then their arms spin like blender blades and they charge toward you.

Suddenly, a deep, commanding voice boomed out: "Stop! Let me deal with them." A dark figure with no face and grayish-green skin advanced toward them. It was a figure that was instantly recognizable to both Balasar and Kreel: The dreaded General of Gehenna.

General: Who are you, and why have you come to my abode?
Balasar: We are adventurers from Ravnica, and we-
General: I knew it! Spies sent by Neferon!
Kreel: We aren't spies! We're trying to kill Neferon.
General: A likely story. Daergoloths! Kill them.

The beetles approached, preparing to slice the characters apart. Kreel makes a Hail Mary Persuasion check, which somehow succeeds.

General: Perhaps you aren't spies. Tell me why I should keep you alive instead of killing you.
Balasar: Let's make a deal. We go and kill Neferon, and after that you decide whether or not to kill us.
General: Hmm, very well. Off you go! He points to a large encampment of yugoloths a few miles away. In the middle of that camp is the tower that we last saw Neferon enter.

The party sets off toward the camp, then decided to try flying over it instead of walking through all the guards. Balasar cast fly, and travel was smooth... until they were spotted by a pair of nycaloths! Each one attacked. Balasar was gravely wounded, and failed his save against the unholy wound. Just in time, he cast dimension door and teleported them to the base of the tower. By then, though, it was already too late. Balasar collapsed to the ground, completely dead.

I'll finish later.

[the_brazenburn]

As if it wasn't bad enough already, the door to the tower swung open to reveal four Ravnican warriors, all armed to the teeth. Just before they charged, a purple mass of spaghetti flew out of Balasar's mouth and shot toward the warriors. One of them opened his mouth to raise the alarm, and the spaghetti flew in, possessing the warrior and turning him into Balasar. Kreel made short work of the others, but then stopped as a tall, hulking yugoloth with one misshapen, huge arm came down the stairs leading to the top. It was a yagnoloth!

Kreel: Um... may we pass, please?
Yagnoloth: No. You must prove your worth.

(The yagnoloth actually didn't care about the worthiness of the characters, but it didn't feel like fighting and decided it would rather let them deal with something else.)

Balasar: How can we prove our worth?
Yagnoloth: You must defeat... the Vargaloth.

It took a few minutes to sink in. Then Ivor asked: "Is this one of Vargach's children?"
Yep.

The yagnoloth teleported away, and in its place stood a huge lizard-like creature with a greatsword. Kreel and Balasar attempted to attack it, but it had resistance to all damage and basically shook them off. It then knocked Kreel down to about half health with two mighty swings of its broadsword, and Balasar realized that he needed to get rid of it quickly.

Balasar: I cast dimension door.
Me: Okay... where are you going to teleport to?
Balasar: No, no. I position it underneath the vargaloth.

I rewarded this ingenuity by allowing it to work, and they climbed the rest of the tower. At the top was an oinoloth guarding a large crystal orb.

Kreel: Where is Neferon?
Oinoloth: He's far away from here. The only way to reach him is through this orb.
Kreel: May we pass?
Oinoloth: No.
Balasar: Pretty please?
Oinoloth (very bored): Well, perhaps. I have an idea! We'll play a game of chess! If you win three games before I do, you can pass. But if I win three games first, you stay here for my... amusement.

Kreel was proficient with chess, so he played. Kreel won the first and second games easily, and looked set to win the third. But just as he was about to move his rook to checkmate the oinoloth, his opponent tapped the board. Cracks ran down it, and the rook disintegrated. The oinoloth finished Kreel off, then won a second game. Both players now had two wins, and the winner of the next game would take the match. Kreel started out strong, but the oinoloth fogged his brain with a disease, and the game ended in stalemate. Finally, Kreel managed to shake the effects of the illness off and beat the oinoloth.

After teleporting through the orb, the characters ended up on the shores of the River Styx. On a small island in the middle stood Neferon, surrounded by six vargaloths. They were chanting with their eyes closed and didn't see the characters. The only other person around was a merrenoloth tending its boat, on the shores near them. Kreel called out: "Hey, merrenoloth! Can you come over here a minute?"

Merrenoloth (bringing its boat to the shore near them): I have a name, you know.
Balasar: You do? What is it?
Merrenoloth: My name is Merrenoloth Number 368. My friends call me... Merry!

Balasar and Kreel cower in fear of his awe-inspiring name.

Balasar: Would you mind taking us to the island?
Merry does nothing.
Kreel:Um... we have 20 gold pieces.
Merry: Excellent! Hop aboard, my friends!

As the boat travels toward the island, Merry regales them with a tale about the time he was captured by a cleric who wanted him to sail a boat full of animals around when the Earth was flooded: "And he didn't even let me eat any of the animals! I mean, come on. He had some of all kinds!"

As soon as they pulled into range, Balasar cast circle of death to target Neferon and all the vargaloths. Kreel leapt into melee, and after a few rounds only Neferon remained.

Neferon then trapped Kreel in a wall of fire and blasted Balasar with spells. Balasar blasted right back, and both were knocked down to low heath. Kreel managed to escape the flaming wall and attack in melee, but Neferon shouted out a single word: Death.

Balasar dropped dead immediately from Neferon's power word kill. Kreel, enraged by his loss, charged straight at Neferon and sliced of his head with one swipe from his glaive. Neferon's unbelieving eyes looked up at him, then went blank. The villain was dead. Kreel took three more steps, then collapsed dead from exhaustion.

End episode/campaign/season.

[the_brazenburn]

That's the end of Season One! Did you enjoy it?

If you'd like us to do another year's worth starting next autumn, please comment below.

Thanks for giving us your time!

[the_brazenburn]

I'm not around for very long. Sorry to pester people, but if you have something you'd like to mention, I'd have an easier time reading it if it was sent soon.

Sorry to be so pushy, and I hope you liked our campaigns!

[the_brazenburn]

Since there's no responses, I'll assume nobody reads this and nobody wants us to post more next year. Sorry for continually bothering you.