Dragonlance 5e Campaign continues.

Check out the previous segment here.

• Allen Silver – Half Elf – Bard
• Ambrosius – Minotaur – Fighter
• Kamb Font – “gnome” (actually a Changeling, but the party doesn’t know that) – Rogue
• Leil’thienne – Drow – Artificer (Alchemist)
• Talis Silverrose – Human – Wizard
• Aelamin Willowspirit – Half-Elf – Paladin (Knight of Solamnia) – Absent this Session
• Cole – Human Cleric (Joins this Session)

The shadow of the night crept over the broken land, filling in every crevice as it did so, like black, thick, murky water. As the shadows grew longer only a few stars seemed to emerge in the heavens, with Solinari, the white moon and Lunitari, the red moon looking onward. Solinari was waning while Lunitari seemed almost full, casting a foreboding red glaze over the landscape like phantom blood that had spilled here centuries ago, here to forever remind them of the bloodshed that resulted from the Cataclysm that sundered these lands so long ago.

Under the cover of night, a magical boat moved through the thick bog of mud that surrounded the prison camp called Camp Carrionclay. The camp was appropriately named as it sat atop of plateau that had been surrounded by murky, stagnant mud that made moving through it aboard the ship very complicated and the odor that emerged from the mud as the ship pushed through smelt of standing sewage water that had been cooking under a warm sun.

Ambrosius, a towering minotaur and veteran fighter, was the one helping the ship move quietly through the mud, his massive muscles rippling as it took intense effort to inch the boat through the sludge that seemed determined to stop the vessel from moving.

As the ship came to quietly rest against the base of the plateau of the camp, the mysterious gnome named Kamb Font pulled out his magical rope and tied one end to the ship and held the other as he seemed to effortlessly scale the plateau wall and reach the bone wall that surrounded the camp. The bones and sticks provided an easy means for Kamb to tie the rope to the wall.

The next part of the plan was now in effect – Kamb was to scale over the wall and make his way to the tower in the center and dispense of the two guards there quickly and quietly without raising the alarm. From there, the dark elf alchemist, Leil’Thenne, who like Kamb had not originally come from Krynn and had been pulled here by the magic released by the Cataclysm so long ago, would then use her magical abilities to teleport Talis Silverrose, a human wizard to the top of the tower, so that he could launch his devastating fireball spells on the camps without endangering the prisoners with how the camps were made.

That had been the plan.

But plans change.

As Kamb climbed over the camp’s walls, he had been turned invisible by the versatile Leil’Thenne, and was walking through the prison portion of the camp – and in the rusty cages saw everything from what appeared to be Aquatic elves, to other prisoners – but he paused when he saw a massive creature that he was not familiar with. As he approached the creature, Kamb noticed that unlike the other prisoners – there cage that imprisoned this beast also had a cage beneath its feet. Curious, Kamb began to feed it rations and then developed a new plan.

Telepathically communicating with Leil’Thenne, he explained he had developed a new plan – and that they’d know it in a second. He only added two words, “Land shark.”

Kamb observed the locks and determined he could easily open it; and did so, quietly, glancing over his shoulder at the drunken hobgoblin guard, who had been muttering about how he was upset he was watching the prisoners who had no hope of escaping and could be drinking with the others.

As Kamb unlocked the cage, he leapt on the cage and swung with it as it opened, keeping the cage between him and the land shark. The creature burst from the cage with remarkable speed and quickly spotted the hobgoblin and Kamb was shocked to watch the beast pause, then lower its body and do a leap that allowed it to sail through the air. It had reminded him of the times he’d seen sharks breach out of the water to catch a swimming seal. He watched in both admiration and horror as it landed on the hobgoblin, crushing it beneath its massive weight. He was thankful to be invisible and as he made his way towards the tower, the land shark creature was causing so much noise and commotion that other guards were rushing to see what was going on.

Kamb used his innate ability to teleport to the top of the tower, where he quickly dispatched the two guards and signaled Leil’Thenne. She looked at Talis. “Are you ready?”

Talis who was looking through a magical monocle that allowed him to see Nuitari put it away and nodded. He had noticed that Nuitari was full, his dark eye observing that which was unfolding beneath him.

Talis appeared on top of the tower and looked around. The camp had been distracted by the beast that Kamb had unleashed. “What is that thing?” Talis whispered.

“Don’t know,” Kamb shrugged, “never seen its kind before.”

“And you just let it go?” Talis was shocked.

“Well, they had it caged up, thought it would make for a good distraction,” Kamb smiled mischievously. There was something about when Kamb smiled, it never felt real – as if Talis had been staring at some kind of mask.

Talis watched as guards scrambled around the camp in confusion. Talis cleared his mind – and began to whisper the words of magic, rubbing ash between his fingers as he recited the arcane words carefully. As the final words of the spell fell from his lips he opened both of his hands and welcomed the bathing fire of energy that surged through his body and channeled into his hands, launching a massive fireball on the north end of the camp where Talis observed a larger tent, and undoubtedly a commander of this dark army.

A fireball streaked from his hands and struck several soldiers who’d been standing outside their tents hearing the sounds of confusion – tents immediately caught on fire and the sounds of screaming soldiers of evil tore through the night. A figure emerged from the larger tent – a creature they’d only seen a few times – a Sivak, a Draconian with silver skin. “Mage on the tower,” he shouted, and opened his wings and with a powerful leap ascended into the air and glided to the top of the tower. Kamb had already been fighting off another guard who’d come to the top of the tower as the Sivak landed on the top. Talis had been lost in the casting of his next fireball to strike the southern camp with the Sivak shoved his blade through Talis’ back.

The arcane words slipped from Talis’ mind as he crumbled forward, clasping his chest. Blood poured rapidly from the wound as he fell to the cold, tower floor, the pool of blood seeping around him. He looked up at Kamb, who had been now fighting the Sivak and the world vanished slowly from Talis’ vision.

Talis blinked – he saw himself standing before what he knew to be a powerful wizard in white robes. The wizard’s gaze was turned away from Talis, almost as if he were ashamed.

“That’s a lot of blood,” another voice said, and Talis looked to see another wizard, adorned in red robes, and from him he sensed great power. Talis went to look at his wound, his hand still clenched on his chest and saw that his robes had been completely covered in his own blood making it appear as if he were wearing red robes.

“Shadow of night,” a woman’s voice seemed to say. This captured Talis’ attention as it’d sounded familiar. “Perhaps I misjudged you.”

Talis turned and saw it had ben Wyhan, the black robed mage from Kalaman who had run the Apothecary.

“Misjudged me?” Talis asked. “What do you mean?”

“Your robes,” the voice for the black robed wizard had changed, and so had her appearance, for now it was a male who stood before Talis. “You use magic, by any means necessary, and choose destruction over other methods. This is not the first time you unleashed this magic – against the scorpions you’d done the same when you were near death. You bathe the land in ash and smoke. You wrap yourself in shadow and dark.”

Talis looked and saw he was wearing black robes.

Talis screamed.

But when he awoke it had been because he suddenly felt the pain surging through his body as Leil’Thenne’s magic had teleported him back and she gave him a healing potion – that while it gave him life, his body fought to heal the pain he’d suffered.

She helped him stand, “I need you to do your thing again. Things are not going well.”

Talis rose, and saw Kamb was still fighting, Allen Silver, the half-elf bard was on the wall, shooting spells. Cole, their newest campaign, a human cleric of Mishakal, was standing on one of the prison cages fighting off hobgoblins and draconians.

Ambrosius was just beyond the wall, he’d leapt down and was now fighting, with his axe swinging in every direction as guards were surrounding him. The land shark creature was in the large tent, with screams coming from there.

Talis saw the Sivak, the one whose blade still had his blood, near the large tent and quickly reached into his pocket and pulled ash from his pouch and chanted the words. Before the final arcane word fell from his mouth, Talis looked at his hands, covered in black ash and heard the words again: You bathe the land in ash and smoke. You wrap yourself in shadow and dark.

Talis sneered and let the fireball loose from his fingers…