Campaign Outline and Session Notes

[irishmagician]

I will be posting session overviews and notes here. I expect the campaign to consist of about 10 parts or chapters. I will list the current and next (as a teaser) here, and fill in details as the party progresses.

[irishmagician]

Part 1: The Festival:
The party, individually, comes to participate in Purdue's first Halloween festival. Jen, dressed up as a gypsy, is helping out with the Liberal Art's booth, while Angela is helping man the Department of Science's booth in her pirate costume. Rachael was wandering the fair, taking notes on the various behaviors of the attendees. Gersh meanders through the various booths, with little regard to any specific direction beyond booths with attractive women. Ben helps out with the ME/EE booth and wanders over to help spar in the SCA booth, while Jeremy visits the Tae Kwon Do club and a booth set up by TBS and KKPsi. As Angela comes off her shift and looks around the fair, she angers a sorority girl by refusing to buy her apple cider. Her boyfriend, captain of the football team, comes over and gets involved. Eventually, the girl becomes frustrated and a food fight ensues. After a tuna salad sandwich to the eye, much food flinging, and barbarians sprawled on the ground two football players are arrested and the festival resumes. During the fair, each character is eventually drawn to a mysterious and colorfully decorated tent in the middle of the Mall. Inside, each character sees a fortune teller, appearing differently to each of them. She has them each draw two cards from a deck of Tarot cards, and asks them to return at the end of the fair. When they return, she lays an object wrapped in cloth on the table in the tent, taken by Jeremy. It reveals a key, appearing shining and gleaming to him, while dull and tarnished to the rest. Leaving the party with a vague blessing and an unusual rhyme, mist fills the tent and slowly the party finds themselves somewhere else; hidden in the mist....


Part 2: The Mansion
The party finds themselves in a mist-ridden forest, with nothing but a cobbled-stone path and a well-lit gate in front of them. Upon ringing its buzzer, they find themselves admitted to the home of a "Mrs. O'Donough;" located in the Ard Peninsula of Ireland. Uncertain of what to do, and after much lambasting from Mrs. O'Donough, they are escorted to the parlor to use the telephone. They are locked in by the butler, and find they are unable to contact the US embassy on the phone. Stuck at the mansion until noon the next day, they wait in the parlor until a woman rushes in. Calling herself Shannon, daughter of Mrs. O'Donough, she urges them to escape for their lives; for if they stay they will surely be killed by the butler, as she has seen happen with six people who came to the mansion before. Finding the door locked, she heads towards Girard the Butler to distract him while the party can find the key. Searching the rooms on the second and third floor, the party arms themselves with various sundry items and some actually useful weapons. Shortly upon finding the key, however, they hear Girard crashing up the stairs; shouting menacingly that he will come for them, just as he came for those before. Arming themselves with implements scrounged from the house, the party makes a stand on the widow's walk in the attic; eventually resulting in Ben slicing Girard's head off with an antique sword. After finding yet another key and a note, the party sets off to the kitchen in search of Shannon and a way out. Instead, they find a hidden door leading out to a hedge maze behind the mansion. Threading through the greenery and being attacked by the guard dogs, they eventually made their way to the cellar entrance. Amidst the wine, a secret entrance is found in a large cask; leading to old stone hallways with scratches, presumably made by human hands, leading off into the gloom. The party then found Shannon locked in a room filled with jail cells, and release her. Hysterical, she does not know what else to do besides join the party. They find another room, filled with occult books, jars and a cauldron containing rather unsettling remains. Finally, the party reaches a large, black metal door; inset with dancing creatures and daemons. Opening only to Jeremy's touch, the door swung open to reveal a door standing alone in the middle of the room, bound in chains, and Mrs. O'Donough beside an altar. Maniacally, she charged the party, wielding 2 sharp knives. After almost sacrificing Gersh on the altar, she is was brought low by Ben. Staggering to the altar, she collapses and dies. While the party searched the room, Jeremy staggered towards the door, controlled by a sinister voice telling him to obey. Using the key he recieved from the fortune teller, he unbound the door; revealing a empty void filled with stars. The party was swept into the void amidst a crone's cackling laughter.

[irishmagician]

Part 3: The Door
The party falls endlessly through a star-filled void, in a place that defies physics and most logic. They find that in the distance, a ghostly crone is following the party as well. But following an ominous presence, the party is wrenched away in another direction; leaving the crone quickly behind. The party comes to a sharp halt before a rather confusing sight; a being cloaked in a robe of shifting scenes/faces and a beautiful woman protected by a green pink-striped dragon with a donkey's head. After some sort of interchange between these beings, and several gut wrenchings later, the party begins to plummet once again. However, this time the void fades from view; only to unveil the fact that the party is falling through the sky 30 miles above an only-coincidentally-florida-shaped-island. Twisting madly through the air in an attempt to land in the sea, the party falls past weird flying creatures and through a rather peeved cloud. Plunging through one cloud, Gersh abruptly changes into a red dragon and attempts to rescue his companions; though he changes back almost just as abruptly. The party plunges into the sea; either swimming back, being rescued by a flying centaur in Jeremy's case, or just appearing completely dry on the shore in Rachael's case. The shoreline the party arrives at is completely colored gold, which the party soon learns is called the Gold Coast by the flying centaur that joins them. The party then learns they are in a magical land called "Xanth," and that the winged centaur calls them "Mundanians" for some reason; though she notices that Angela had abruptly changed size and color and sprouted wings, and called her a "Goblin-Harpy." She suggests that they follow the "Path to Success," a gold-brick road leading towards a town called "Success." She then leaves, telling them to eventually seek one called the "Good Magician." The party then follows the road, which changes to a yellow-brick road away from the coast, encountering strange creatures and many puns along the way. They meet up with a small fellow, who turns out to be gnome named Geoffrey. A rather gruff and mean fellow, he is in the region to fix the enchantment on the Path; which was broken by a rather large explosion that occurred in the forest nearby. He accompanies the party back along the Path, only acting courteous to Jen, who had changed into a gnome as well for some reason. Along the journey on the Path, the party learns of the Adult Conspiracy (to keep interest things from children) and its ability to explosively censor bad language and freak out men who see too much; much to the dismay of Jen, who is a minor in the eye's the gnomish race. The party eventually comes to crossroads, each leading to a unpleasantly named town. They come up to a final crossroads, leading to "Catastrophe" and "Failure." After removing a stick of wood that had some strange effects, the signs changed to "GM's Castle" and "Success." Upon hearing screams and seeing smoke coming from Success, the party rushes down the path to find Goblins ransacking the town. The party fights off the goblins; either through violence, a dragon roar, or Gersh transforming into soap, the party wins the battle. With gratitude, the village elder lets the party stay the night in Success and provides them equipment magically provided from the Solution harvested from the Fairy Well; guarded by Fairy Nuff. The party rests through the evening, with Rachael spending most the night learning small magic spells from a manual harvested from the well. In the morning, the party continues to the Good Magician's castle; overcoming a dangerous moat using Hard Water to make a frozen water path across. After finding a hidden door in the drawbridge, they come into a courtyard obscured by a sandstorm. Blindly finding their way through while being distracted by a mysteriously seductive woman, Rachael makes a door in a wall after randomly changing into an living stone. Then, the party enters an auditorium, with an act of a play being rehearsed by the Curse Fiends, humans with the collective talent of curses. Earning their passage into the castle by Jen helping Miss Take with her lines, the party encounters Wira, a young woman who appears to be blind. Guiding the party through the interior of the castle, she informs them that the Good Magician will see the party in the morning and will grant them the answers they seek...at a price...

[irishmagician]

Part 4: The Quest
After spending the evening in the Good Magician's castle, the party is called to his study to ask their questions. Living up to his grumpy reputation, his Answers are quite vague and obtuse. Amidst protestations from the party, as well as an almost explosive transformation from Jeremy, he sends the party away to begin their Service. Briefed by the GM's wife Dara Demoness, she informs the party of a prophecy that had been delivered to the GM by a plot hook; the very one given to the party by the fortune teller back at the festival. She goes on to tell the party of a crisis developing in Xanth, of a rift between worlds that had opened about the same time the party arrived. It had previously been sealed using a monster that had wandered through it some time ago, but somehow it had escaped and opened the rift with it. Having little description of it beyond being "green" and "tentacled," Dara defines the service of the party to gather the races of Xanth together to combat the monster, as well the flood of monsters to surging forth from the rift. The party leaves the castle with a were-tiger named Frost as a guide, some supplies, and a very incomprehensibly written note from the GM; of which the words "Castle Roogna" can be understood.

Thus, the party heads to Castle Roogna, seat of power for the human royalty of Xanth. Along the way, the party encounters a detour in the path. They followed the detour, and returned back to the path shortly after completely wiping out a goblin ambush that had been waiting along the detour. Passing through the detour, which turned out to be an illusion, the party rests at a camp site for the night. Upon waking, they find that Jen had dissapeared; with only a note in her tent and a stork feather, citing an arrest for violation of the Adult Conspiracy. With only the knowledge that the Stork Works is vaguely in northen Xanth, the party continues on to Castle Roogna, hoping to eventually find her in their travels. Eventually, the party arrives at an orchard with several unusual trees. The party winds their way through the orchard, braving their way past combative trees and strange girls that appear fleetingly (or in some cases, flirtingly) along the path. At the end of the path, the party comes to the gate of Castle Roogna, tall and elaborate in its decor. The party soon finds out the identity of the girls that had beset them in the orchard, Princesses of the castle. The princesses dissapear quickly after a tongue-lashing by an middle-aged woman named Princess Ivy. She escorts them through the castle to speak with the acting Regent and her husband, Magician Grey Murphy. Previously a mundanian and relating well to the party's experience, he informs the party that the King and Queen are away dealing with a treaty dispute with the goblins on the North side of the Gap Chasm. Expecting their return the following afternoon, he suggests the party spend the night at the castle. The party then spends the rest of the evening exploring the Castle. Angela explores the extensive library of the Castle, finding several books on the native flora/fauna of Xanth, as well as books on working with Plant spirits. Gersh, in an attempt to learn more about his abilities, seeks out Princess Ivy; but in the end finds himself seduced by two of the teenage princesses, tempting him with information provided by their magical talents. Escaping the situation with an very little dignity, he discovers little information. The party continues to explore, and after a odiferous explosion from a conjured stink horn, the party rejoins the castle inhabitants in the evening for a dinner feast.

Part 5: The Invasion

[irishmagician]

Part 5: The Invasion

The party is abruptly awoken in the dead of night to explosions and the sound of battle rocking the Castle. After rushing downstairs and being brought up to speed by Princess Ida, the party searches the Castle for Princesses who had been abducted during the attack. Fighting their way through various groups of monsters, the party eventually finds the three Princesses; with the last one in the clutches of a goblin, who speaks in a manner strangely familiar to someone the party met before.

As the dust settles and the morning approaches, the party is finally granted an audience with the King and Queen, who rushed back to the Castle upon hearing news of the attack. After rewarding the party handsomely for their efforts, they pledge their aid in defeating the looming threat to Xanth. The King refers the party to Princess Ida to discuss the party's next course of action. After spending time talking to the rather agreeable Princess, the party learns about her talent; which may help the party achieve their goals. The party is serendipitously directed to recruit the Goblins first, at Goblin Mountain in Northern Xanth.

The party leaves the Castle, encountering an ambush along the way by goblins; amidst shadowy reflections of Purdue's buildings. Eventually, the party makes it to a camp site along the path. Spending the night, the party is visited by literal Nightmares, dark horses carrying bad dreams. In the dream, the party is ordered by the Night Stallion, lord of the Dream Realm, to dispatch a dream creature causing disturbances in the area. Finding the monster hidden amongst "spirits" reflecting people from Purdue, the party defeats it and wakes up; with the feeling that they are owed a favor by someone.

The party continues on, passing through a fog bank overlapping the path; which formed itself into a reflection of the Lilly building. Navigating through the "building," the party was attacked by "spirits" that abruptly became real when the party passed by. Dr. B recognized several of her colleagues, though it seemed that she was slowly being erased from record and memory. The party eventually made it out of the fog and continued along the path.

[irishmagician]

Part 6: The Revolt

The party eventually made it's way to the Goblin Mountain, a rather ugly looking mound dotted with numerous tunnels and caves. However, upon cresting a hill leading to the mountain the party abruptly finds themselves the focus of 200 goblins looking at them. One shouts "They've brought reinforcements! Get them!" Following this, all of the goblins charged the party. A massive combat ensues, though in the initial chaos both Anya (Rachael) and Miles (Jeremy) are captured and dragged off by the goblins. The party tries to survive the onslaught, with Dr. B. almost dying after becoming a veritable pincushion after a barrage of spears thrown by 19 goblins. Luckily, a goblin wearing different armor and colors popped up from a hole hidden in the field. Gesturing madly for the party to follow him, he disappears just as quickly. Frost, with various feats of agility and speed, grabs Dr. B. and dashes into the hole. Ben changed into ogre form, and after sending approximately 19 goblins into lunar orbit, grabs a dying Stu and made a path to the larger main entrance of the mountain.

In the invading goblin camp, Anya and Miles find themselves in a locked cage amidst a number of tents and two goblin guards. After killing the guards and stealthily making their way through the camp, they are spotted and find themselve fighting to escape. Strangely enough, they are helped by a gargoyle suspended above a boiling pot (in an attempt to soften him up enough to consume). Later, they learn the gargoyle is called Othello, and he had wandered into the camp whilst searching for the pond he had been purifying; which had spontaneously become animate and left its banks for some odd reason. Eventually, after much intimidation and threat of disembowelment from Miles, the three of them manage to convice the invading goblin chief to lead them back to Goblin Mountain.

Meanwhile, the remainder of the party is met with a hostile welcome from the guards at the main entrance to the Mountain. After toasting them without much difficulty, they meet a young gobliness, who turned out to be the Chiefess of the Mountain. Following introductions with her oddly named officers, the party negotiates for the aid from the goblins in return for acting as Champions on her behalf with a duel versus the invading goblin forces.

During this time, the invading goblin forces begin mobilizing towards the Goblin Mountain. After learning about the one remaining goblin officer (who hadn't been killed in their escape), Miles calls for a meeting with him and the chief in one of the caravan carts. After some discussion, the chief left the cart and leading to the discovery that the goblin officer seemed to be controlled by Mrs. O'Donough ; prompting a trap that captured them all with six malevolent demons preventing their escape.

Eventually, the main party made their way to the top of the Goblin Mountain, where an arena had been set up for the duel. But they soon find Miles, Anya, and Othello suspended in a magical cage suspended above the arena; with the other goblin chief and officer at the other end with demons as their champions. Shortly thereafter, the goblin officer reveals "her" true colors and kills the goblin chief; and has the demons attack the party. In an attempt to escape from their cage, with the help of Miles and Othello, Anya analyzed the spell holding them captive; and performed a counterspell to set them free. Joining the party, they battle with the demons; causing them to discorporate after distracting them enough through injury. Recognizing "her" defeat, the goblin officer fed herself to a demon in an attempt to have it destroy the party. The demon then attempted to steal Dr. B's soul, but was only able to tear half away. Dr. B fell to the ground unresponsive, while a fragment of soul struck Othello and the demon vanished in a puff of smoke.

[irishmagician]

Part 7: The Disease