Rod & Carson came up with this; Rod (Robrick Willikers, drow rogue) ran and Carson (Rholain, elf druid) role-played Bane (god of tyranny). Phil (Nex, changeling sorceror), Garza (Hadji, elf ranger), Lance (Lancewik Willikers, drow rogue), Robby (Jorel of the Stars, unique, unique), B. (Valda, elf ranger) and I (Shamash Kriv, dragonborn warlord) played. Ava (Aurora, shifter cleric) and Mat (Wikipedia Jones, human bard) were meanwhile off on another adventure. During this session we leveled to 20th. This blog entry is unlikely to do a great D&D session justice, thank you Rod & Carson!
The Uprisers emerged from the Purple Worm tunnels into a forgotten portion portion of the Dragonborn City of Tharagar. The dream district is full of towering ancient buildings designed for the surface lords long ago by Deva architects. Now they are dusty and empty, and it is silent except for the sound that is not a sound but a howling screech within the minds of visitors. What we hear but don't hear are the dream lives of the inhabitants, whose comatose bodies lie in powerful magical stasis in living crypts beneath the buildings in which they once resided, guarded by magic in their vaults. Their nagpa caretakers look like elderly men but have the heads of vultures. The sole resident of the dream district we meet is Arsung, a nagpa who was banished by the Council of Bledgore for advising Bledgore not to take Bane's (artifact) mace.
"I told him not to take it, and they banished me," he says in a harsh voice.
Hadji nearly killed Arsung, but Shamash insisted on talking to him to gain information. Okay, interrogating him. We wanted Bledgore and we wanted the Mace because from a tactical point of view, Bledgore being a dragonborn meant that if he took Tharagar it would simply be a transfer from one draconic surface lord to another; a huge setback for the goals of the Uprisers to free at least the peoples of the surface from slavery to the lizards. Okay, Hadji just wanted the mace. Lancewick, Hadji and Foxy caused Arsung to regret noncooperation with Shamash's questions, with the result being that Lancewick at one point removed a finger/clawtip from Arsung, who returned the favor. Arsung sang like, well he sang like a bird though he obviously wasn't happy about it.
We learned that Bledgore was not here, he was dreaming. Only by entering the dream world could we see him, find him or acquire the mace. And only the very council that had banished Arsung had the knowledge to perform the complicated magic that would allow entry. Even then, whoever entered would be in Bledgore's dream and at the mercy of of his wicked mind. So of course we marched Arsung to the Council, told them that he was our emissary and after a lot of protesting, "trial by rock" and diplomacy, the Council (there were 7 or 9 of them, perched high atop a curved wall in their chambers looking down upon us) were persuaded to put the Uprisers into Bledgore's dream.
Nex entered first, his body suddenly going limp as his consciousness entered the dream. The lightning specialist was in a field at night and people were running away from a terrible storm. The Mace lay upon the ground and told Nex it could give him command of the sky. It was heavy in his hand and screamed blood from itself, more wielding him than he it. So not really wanting the responsibility Nex threw it into the sky. A hand appeared from nowhere and grabbed it away. It was Bledgore.
Shamash entered next, a few red scales flaking from his icy nose as it hit the stone in the nagpa's chambers. Upon entering Blegore's dream world he appeared next to a red dragon so large, the top of Shamash's head came to the upper arc of a single claw of the foot. He and the dragon, (who he knew to be Tiamat, evil enemy of his own good dragon god, Bahamut) were atop a high perch. Tiamat was ordering all of the Deep Empire around, threatening commanders and slave-masters (Shamash's old job long ago). There were hoards and throngs of them down below, living in fear and misery. The Mace lay at Shamash's feet, beckoning him to just pick it up and use it. Tiamat's head was leaning over right next to him, barking his commands and insults in words that were like jibberish compared to the clear voice of the Mace. Shamash picked up the Mace, leaped high and smashed Tiamat's head with it. The artifact lay waste to the enormous head in a single blow, melting and disintegrating it. The Deep Empire were in awe and fear of Shamash. He told them to they were free now and they turned on their masters in an awesome display of bloodshed. They would do anything Shamash wished because they were so afraid of the Mace. With every request and command he gave them, they trembled as they obeyed. He wanted them to build things, learn things, stop killing each other. Yet he found himself commanding them to kneel before him, the Mace mixing with his inner voice the justification that if they were kneeling they weren't clobbering each other. At once he could see the Mace twisting his good wishes and intentions into malice and bloodshed.
And so it went. Lancewick entered upon a Willikers family reunion full of the golden apples, gold and treasure he never got to have before. Robrick made him sit at the kid's table. There was the Mace among the other treasures. Lancewick wanted it, he wanted all of it and he started robbing his cousins and uncles. "No!" Robrick commanded, "Not family!" So Lancewick hit him with the Mace and kept doing what he wanted to do because with the Mace he could have anything he wanted.
Hadji's vision was simple and brutal. He took the Mace from Bledgore, then fought Bane to keep it. Shortly thereafter Bane, the one who had sent Hadji to recover the Mace in the first place lay dead upon the dream-ground. Hadji's foot twisted in Bane's dead eyes as he pumped the mace in the sky in triumph. (Okay I did some wordsmithing there).
Jorel's consciousness being ancient and unique, he was more like a BB within Bledgore's mind. I've left off that at one point within what each of the Uprisers saw, Jorel appeared and advised them that none of this was real. He got hit with the Mace a few times but again, it wasn't real. Until Valda used the Mace to get candy and toys. Glass stood between her and the treasure, and all she had to do was break it with the Mace. Then a boy stood in her way and she commanded him to move or she would hit him with the Mace. She ended up knocking him down, then Jorel interposed himself as he had done before. But this time was different; when Valda hit Jorel with the Mace, actual damage appeared on his metallic body. She had the real Mace.
The Uprisers were able to refocus on their mission, each imagining the vision Nex had had so they could see Bledgore. Jorel worked to reopen the portal while Lancewick, Rholain and Nex learned six details from the dreamscape about where Bledgore's sleeping body lay. The nagpa council's gigantic faces were visible through the portal, but they barred the party from leaving until they defeated Bledgore, with physical jail bars appearing across it. Hadji, Shamash, Valda, Nex and the rest of the party who weren't otherwise occupied fought Bledgore and his bodyguards, pushing and bumping him until they pushed him out of the portal. This created a vortex, like the whirlpool of the drain in a bathtub as the dream world swirled and exited, collapsing through the portal. Though dreamscape's end would probably have killed them, the party were able to leave in time to be safe. According to the nagpa council though (experts on the dream worlds) Bledgore would almost certainly not have survived this.
So as each of the Uprisers returned to their bodies in the Chamber and awakened, they each held the Mace. Somehow, it had made copies of itself. This didn't seem like a good thing... Then Bane, the god of tyranny appeared in person. He smiled, thanked the party and politely asked for his property to be returned. Some of us gave him our portion of the Mace and some didn't. Yet the Mace is almost just an idea... Anyway Shamash and a couple others of us handed our Mace's over, a few of us threw ours away and some kept theirs. Each one we gave Bane made his Mace appear to get larger and more powerful. Bane asked us to join him, to follow him and press the fight against the Deep Empire. We refused. Bane again flattered us on the impact the Uprisers have had on the surface world, how he admired the difference we were making, how our reputation was making an impact.
Then something unexpected happened. Bane asked the Uprisers if he could become an Upriser. That's right, he formally requested to join the party. Bickering ensued. Negotiations. Arguments. Our typical thing. If Bane were to join us, he would be responsible for regular camp and watch duties, equal with the rest of us. He would have a four-month trial for whether he could remain. He agreed to leave his armies and travel with us as an Upriser. Sure, he's not a "good" guy exactly but then how many in the party are? And how better to stand against Tiamat when the time comes... Not to mention a lot of party members are looking at their epic destinies, and Bane mentioned how great it would be to adventure with a group of young demigods again. So yeah, it might be a mistake but it could be great too. Here we go. Carson will play Bane whenever situations arise that call for it.
Experience: 9,000 (we're 20th level now, with a bit of extra xp). Treasure: two 20th level magic items and possible gifts from Bane to be announced later.
