Saturday, August 6, 2022

The Multiverse: What happens after

Party: Sometimes divided, sometimes united.
Party: Taurio / Sorval / Iskren / Vultha / Zantaroth / Amyas / Rollo / Viken

Time is fluid here. 

Distance is relative.

All things become ... strangely unusual when one becomes a planeswalker. 
While our party did not exalt in a burst of glorious fury, but rather got the time to adjust and learn about their powers, under the guiding eyes of older planeswalkers like Sandruu or Serra, they did begin to feel an unease, a knowing remembrance of what Autumn Willow once told them in the Great Wood:
"Power calls to power. The more you gather in one place, the bigger the opposition will be."
And so they celebrate their victory over the Nephilim, they return to the Shademurk as heroes true and they receive the thanks of those that now can walk the streets again without worry of islands falling from the sky or ruination being but a missed patrol away.
And they talk. They discuss. They make plans.


Zantaroth is the first to leave. He bids his friends goodbye and passes them tracking amulets, blessed by the shaman of his clan, so they can find him on any plane, before setting off into the sunset on the hunt for more parts of his deity, the great Vae Victis. Eventually, this quest leads Zantaroth and most of clan Slitz into the jungles of Ixilan, where happily the barbarian is reunited with the last shard of the Destroyer, freeing the ancient dragon to learn at its feet, hunt together and establish a feral dominion on the world that last for centuries.


Vultha senses his guildless will not be suited to stay in Shademurk, as the guilds warily eye any who received training and may be an asset or an opponent. To prevent innocent lives being lost, the scaled rogue opens a portal to the Great Wood, placing his new-found people, his family, his brood, under the direct care of Autumn Willow and by extension becomes their guardian. But he does not himself stay away from Shademurk and travels back and forth, enlarging and cultivating the grove of Freyalise, making it a haven and an escape for those who do not fit in the guild-dominated world of Ravnica. As he does so, he also frequently visits his friends.


Iskren becomes a lich as the raging power of the Nephilim rushes through them, deathless yet touched by death. Their political ambitions are not stifled by this though, as they come to occupy a seat of the Shadow Council, a power that runs the Orzhov beyond what the Ghost Council does, while still ruling Shademurk as pontiff. As work has them distracted a lot, and as Sorval leaves Shademurk, they spin Amyas into the new figurehead who deals with the daily business of running the town, stopping by his office only if important decisions need to be made.
As revenge is enacted and resources are piled up, a great tomb of horror and an accompanying complex networks of mausoleums is raised in the lands of the Dark Barony, where the phylactery of the Dark Pontiff is housed. Drevesh, brought back to heel by Iskren, repays in full his debt by tutoring Iskren's son after he is born. In a telling bit of irony, Iskren calls the boy Nephilim. Trained by the remainder of the family Sengir had made in his castle and a Balor, the boy shows incredible skill with both magic and blade, fending off attempts at his life made by those who would strike at Iskren through him before his fifteenth birthday.

Taurio does what he can to stabilize Shademurk, together with Sorval and Amyas at first, then later only with Amyas, he makes sure that the population gets their old prosperity back, that damages to the town are restored and that the Boros Legion and the Orzhovian representatives of Iskren hold true to the power. Then, knowing he will leave none off worse for wear, he sets out in the Ebon Fang and starts exploring the worlds of the Multiverse with his vessel, seeking out interesting and alcoholic ingredients for his beverages, which receive a yearly sampling by the party, as Taurio gathers his friends on each anniversary of the Nephilim's death, usually with a small adventure to accompany it.

Sorval heads to Sunhome to brief high command and to relinquish his post in the Legion. He realises he has outgrown what honours the Legion can heap upon him and seeks now to make his own way in the worlds, after all, he slew the Nephilim. Not once, but twice! A feat that serves as an epic conclusion to the first print run of Krovek's "The life and times of Sorval Maz", a 40-part comic book series. The spin-offs "Great Detective Krovek", "Taurio and the Temple of Booze" and "The Clockwork Orange, a Goblin Tale" also are held in high regard by a fanatic fandom that leads to Krovek becoming one of the richest authors on the plane.  
So Sorval sets out to restore the old temple to Serra in the Rubblebelt, granting Feather some time off, before leaving the plane of Ravnica to take up the stewardship of Aysen, leading to an age of prosperity unlike any seen before. Eventually though, tiring of the constant bureaucracy and lack of heroic action, he is seen heading out to explore and discover, joining in with Taurio and Zantaroth on occassion, as he hears their tales annually.

Viken, content that his minotaurs are left alone, but still worried about the Goblin King, reaches out to Vultha and with some help from Iskren, the trio takes out the Restless One, ending an immortality that never should have been. He is then persuaded to take on the mantle of leadership and reigns over Strongrock until the end of his natural life.
The bargain Iskren struck with him though, brings him to the Dark Barony to stand guard over the entrance to the constructed tomb. 

Rollo himself, long out of the picture, has not rested idle. Being kept up to date, he starts tracking down the whereabouts of one Arcades Shabboth, eventually discovering the Elder Dragon's lair and pointing the party in the direction of the one big score they still needed to settle...


At the age of eighteen, Nephilim walks out of Castle Sengir and there is no record of him for thirty years. He eventually turns up in Ravnica, travels to Shademurk and starts looking for Krovek, master storyteller, to discover more about his own legacy and his father, to see the truth with his own eyes.
By his side, a blade wrapped in golden chains that speaks of fire and ice...

Wednesday, August 3, 2022

Shademurk: It's a wrap

 Party: Taurio / Sorval / Vultha / Iskren / Zantaroth

Griev 23-27

The group, having returned to Ravnica, starts planning their assault on the old Izzet hotel, the streets surrounding it crawling with hordes of mutated lizardkin. They call in favours and deploy the troops at their disposal to first coral and then crush their opposition.
Zantaroth intuitive senses his friends returning and leads the lizardfolk he saved from the mutants and merged into clan Slizt in a vigorous assault on the hotel, reuniting with Commander Amyas in the street. 
As they have access to the airship, the rest of the group and some allies head to the top of the hotel, cleverly taking advantage of the utter carnage to attempt a stealthy entrance, but they are delayed by none other than Dihada Gheyadrone, who shrugs off the guise of helpful Mafara in an attempt to stop the group from achieving their goal.  
A struggle ensues upstairs, in which the group emerges victorious, as downstairs Tevesh Szat attempts to hold back Zantaroth, Amyas and their allies. At first, the Legion and Clan Slizt take some serious losses, drenching the room in blood and leaving Amyas badly wounded, but once the minotaur planeswalker Sandruu lends his might to the attack, the demonic walker chooses the path of wisdom and flees. 
Hopping into the elevator, Big Z joins up with his friends, both sides excitedly exchanging tales of glory, while Iskren is chanting a ritual of T-rex summoning in the background. Immaculate timing means that the elevator doors open as Little T pops into existence, rushing into the vast cavern that once housed the party's airship.
Five pairs of eyes fix on the approaching party, as a group of former Boros legionnaires squares up to stop those who would defy their Nephilim master, but they cannot stand against the might and fury the party brings to bear on them. Their deaths wake the Nephilim and things look grim for the group until Taurio throws his angel-blessed potion at the beast with a mighty toss, taking it down enough sizes to become manageable. The Nephilim in the form of a lightning serpent first and then a smouldering acidic behemoth tries to break the five new planeswalkers, but is rend asunder by the combined might of the group. 
In the end, Sorval's blade finds purchase and the beast is quartered by glowing chains and eviscerated.

The group takes a moment to catch their breath and a soft wind flows through Vultha, Taurio, Zantaroth  and Iskren, working profound changes in them, which may still have consequences in the long run. Sorval, as per usual, is slightly too taken aback by his own heroics to be affected.

But here the story as played ends. There is more to tell, but at the very least, that will require a post of its own.