Brief Recap: From the Last Turn...Fyonareplies reluctantly "I'll let it go for now...So, we are off to see the Prophet then?"

"To what end? I have all of my limbs as do you. The only prophet I am interested is of the monetary kind." Blade smiles, pleased with his wit.

"I plan to stay here and try to gain amnesty from the King."

Bronk Looks at Blade and says "Our journey's have been long and fruitful my friend. This is a large keep with many places for you two to stay if necessary without being noticed. Always remember that you are welcome here anytime." He lays his hand on Blades shoulder...and gives it a good shake with a smile.

"Now......WE MUST DRINK MORE!!!!Who in Cassalah's Den knows what may happen to us tomorrow. We may be pushingup Daisey's for a living from 6 feet under for all we know!!!"

What Happened Then?

King Ozrik sits in hiswar chamber at a round oak table with Bronk, Blade, Fyona, and two of hisadvisors who sit behind the king on stools, several feet back from the table.Horns of the finest mead sit in hornstands made of electrum and studded withtiny opals.

Covering the wall of thecircular room is a single tapestry depicting scenes of battle and ceremonywhich the adventurers recognize to chronicle the rising and history of thepeoples of the Kingdom. The scenery begins in the dark times, after the fallof Trajia and the rise of the Magocracy when the black robed mages ruledthe lands and demanded children in tribute for their sacrificial knives.It shows Thedrick, of whose line Ozrik comes and who led the first uprising.His martyrdom sparked the rebellion that finally defeated the black robes,driving them back into their dark lands and liberating several city statesto the south. The entire line of kings from those times, just over four hundredyears, parades around the room on the tapestry, performing various heroicacts, including battling bugbears, giants, and a dragon. Ozrik himself isthe dragon slayer, as Blade and Bronk remember from their childhoods.

Now the king digests whatthe adventurers have told him: That the Magocracy plans to invade the Northern Kingdom, and the gather armies to the south.

The King has already pardonedBlade and Fyona, as reward for bringing him this information. The King says,“I want you to meet my two advisors.” The two men stand and introduce themselvesto the party. They are mages from the Guild who escaped Krossus’ plans, andwere never subject to the Crown of Acererak. They explain that they flednorth when they discovered what was transpiring, and that they feared justsuch a plan as the adventures are now warning of.

The mages then explainsomething called the Ritual of Ruin. It is an ancient ritual, supposedlycreated by the oldest Magocracy mages through dark pacts with Asmodeus, orModi as he is sometimes called. They explain that the Prophet is a servantof Asmodeus, or so they suspect. The Ritual of Ruin is intended to bringtogether the Wurld of the Living (i.e., this world) and the Wurld of theDead, creating a literal hell on earth. The mages do not know how the Magocracyhas gained the power to perform this ritual, and do not know how it is tobe completed. They believe that there are several runestones needed to performthe ritual, but that these have been lost for centuries, thought to be destroyed.

The King suggests thatthe Company of the Thorn be reunited once again, in order to discover whatthe Magocracy knows and how they plan to complete this ritual. To that end,the two mages perform a scrying ceremony to find Mog, Bibi, and Ghotu. Theypour water in a large basin, chant over it, and wait for the clouds in thebasin to clear. The PCs all gather round.

In the basin they see Abu,Mog, and Ghotu standing before the Prophet. Instead of the glorious Prophetthat Fyona remembers, she sees a double image--the glorious one is an illusion,covering a trembling and frightened man. The man has a silver line that toucheshim and extends downward into the ground. “The silver cord connects the Prophetto his master, Asmodeus.” Then, they see the Prophet uttering a prayer, invokinghis god’s name. The silver cord begins to throb and glow, and suddenly tendark figures, like shadowy angels, appear and attack Abu, Ghotu, and Mog.

The King looks at the magesand says, “Can you save them?” The mages consult one another, then step backfrom the basin and begin a long incantation.

As the mages chant, theadventures see in the scrying basin that Bibi and a strange creature havearrived at the Prophet’s palace.

The mages complete theirincantation. In a flash, Ghotu (who is unconscious from the touch of thedark seraphim), Mog, Abu, and Bibi stand in the King’s war chamber, alongwith the strange creature that Bibi was with.

Blade smiles at his old companions and says. "Well met my friends. It seemswe have been called together to save the Wurld yet again. As you are awarethe Prophet is a menace that must be stopped, part of a conspiracy involvingteh Magocarcy and otherworldly demons. I hope we can put our past differencesaside and work together again, at least this one last time. Or have Humphreyand I already been replaced? " he says indicating Abu and the strange creaurewith Bibi. "Who are these two new additions? They are strangers to me. "

The creature steps forward. It is dressed in gray robes, and it is humanoid. It's hairless skin is mottled pink and purple, and its face is covered with tentacles instead of a nose and mouth. Large, milky eyes without iris or pupil look at Blade as the creature gurgles, "I am Fzzlch, of the Yllth. My people are the enemy of the Githyanki, and I have come here to stop Thae-Rune Ibn from dominating this world. On the Astral Plane, we wage a great waragainst the Githyanki and their brethren, the Githzerai. Their queen, Lolth, a demon goddess, cannot exist on the Astral Plane. But she can, with the help of magic, exist here.

"That is why Thae-Rune Ibn has come to this world. I have been watching you all for a very long time. I first discovered you when Humphrey and his companion, Nepal, journeyed to my lair, far to the east. Since then, I have ridden on each of you as a mite, or a flea. And I knew that Thae-Rune Ibn would find the Stone if it remained in Dunore. That is why I destroyed the city--to force you to take it from there. Thae-Rune Ibn had discovered that the stone lay with the druids, and he would have found their city eventually. And when he did, the druids would not have been able to stop him taking it any more than the mages of the Guild could stop him.

"Thae-Rune Ibn still walks the Wurld, seeking to bring his dark queen here. But another dark force also seeks to bring its master here--the Prophet,who serves Asmodeus. Asmodeus and Lolth are enemies, and both vie for dominion here. You have stopped Lolth by hiding the Stone from Thae-Rune Ibn. But you have not stopped Asmodeus.

"The Magocracy and the Prophet have long been in league; in fact, the Prophet is a creation of the black mages. They all worship Asmodeus, and seek to bring him here before Lolth can be brought here. Where the Gith had the power, with the Obsidian Stone, to punch a hole through the dimensions and open a gate to the Wurld of the Dead (through which Lolth could come), the mages of the Magocracy do not have that power. But, they instead have their Ritual of Ruin, a much more terrible force that would not only punch a hole between the Wurld of the Living and the Wurld of the dead, it would make the two into one. The realm of life would become one with the realm of death. Demons would walk the land. Our lore teaches us that the two Wurlds were once one, millennia ago, but for some reason which noneremember, the two were severed from one another. This permitted life to flourish here, and for death flourish there. Now the Wurld of the Dead is hell, where demons rule and the skies are made of fire.

"If the Ritual of Ruin is completed, these two wurlds will once again be combined. And it is my belief that the powers of death will greatly outnumber the powers of life; for each death on this wurld weakens your own and strengthens theirs. Old friends, old enemies, all who have died, will serve the dead--for they are the dead."

"I for one am willing to start creating more lives as soon as possible to stave off this horrible sitiation." says Blade boldly. "It's a terrible sacrifice, but one that must be made. Come along Fyona, we have a world to save!" says Blade heading in the direction of the sleeping quarters.

Hearing all this, Abu begins to tremble violently and starts vomiting. He falls to the ground, mumbling. "betrayed... betrayed...betrayed...." His eyes roll back in his head, his face grows a deep ashen hue--the color of blood, and he falls dead. The last the characters hear of him, before he falls is "I have been betrayed, a faint whisper that escapes as his last breath.

Mog, who has been tending Ghotu (now awakened), and amazed by Blade's flippant behavior at what this strange being says, turns now to Abu. He tries to determine what is wrong with the southernor. Is he poisoned? He begins casting a spell.

But the spell does no good. Abu is dead before the orcish shaman even completes the spell. It is a mystery to the others.

* * *

The war council ends. Ozrik sends out orders for his forces to be mobilized and sent to both Heklamar and the southern borderlands near the Magocracy. The adventurers stay with the King, hoping the mages who now advise the King can figure out how to stop the Ritual of Ruin.

To make a long story short...the Magocracy army arrives in the Northern Kingdom, attacking on several fronts. Their force is amazingly large, though of low quality. But it is backed by hundreds of mages who use their power to great effect. Two border keeps fall to them, and Heklamar is beseiged by a second force that is larger than the first.

The seige of Heklamar lasts four days, with the city walls holding. Ozrik, who along with the adventurers remembers the Dark Queen and her Githyanki army laying seige to the capital city, is confident the mages will not breach the walls. "They do not have a god with them, and the walls have never been breached by any smaller power than that." [NOTE: This was from the alternate timeline that was erased.--DM]

But on the fifth day of the seige, something strange happens. A great rumbling is heard in the mountains above the city. The mages look at each other with alarm, and warn those nearby, "We have failed. It is the Ritual!" The sky darkens, then is lit again by fire. Soon the entire horizon seems to be covered in flames. The sky itself appears to be a firey lake above, casting a lurid red light, turning the Wurld into a hellish landscape.

* * *

Thrazken sits in his tent watching the seige of Heklamar. A dead child lies on a cot nearby, the latest victim of the necrophiliac's pleasures. A servant scratches on the tent flap and is granted entrance. It is a lower level mage, with robes stained brown from the blood of sacrificial victims.

"Overlord, the spies have found the cave." Thrazken smiles wickedly, showing his teeth which are filed to points.

* * *

Trazken casts a cantrip for light, and the end of his staff illuminates the cave entrance. A dosen other mages are present, most of the highest rank and completely loyal to Thrazken. Only one is in doubt, and he will have a part to play that does not require loyalty. Thrazken grins and enters the cave.

After descending dark passages for nearly an hour, the group is in the bowels of the mountain. There, in a small chamber, is an altar. It is square and made of stone, about the height of a man's knees. A great rune is carved deeply in its surface.

Thrazken draws a silver orb from his robes, and passes his hand over it. An image appears in its surface. A mage in the image looks at Thrazken through the scrying device and bows. "M'lord, all is ready here."

"Very good. We are nearly ready here as well," says Thrazken. He can barely contain his glee. Through the orb, and behind the acolyte who answered his summons, Thrazken can see several other altars identical to the one in this cave, identical except for the rune itself. All the altars have such runes, though they cannot be seen at the moment--they are blocked from view by the slaves who are tied to the altars. "Prepare for the sacrifice. The Ritual will begin shortly. We have but one more detail which must be attended." Thrazken sets the silver orb on a stand which one of the mages has brought, so that they can be in constant communication with the other altars.

Thrazken then looks to the one mage whose loyalty is in question--the one who questioned the entire effort to complete the Ritual of Ruin. "Enush, you have a place of honor in this proceeding. Come, lie upon the altar and do your service." Thrazken's voice carries commanding power, possibly from some spell. A look of terror crosses Enush's face, and he turns white. But he resists Thrazken's magical command.

Immediately three other mages grasp Enush and tie him. He is brougth to the alter and laid upon it, his head fitting in an indentation made for this very purpose. Slaves are likewise placed on the other altars, as seen though the scrying device.

On Thrazken's command, all on the alters are slaughtered, their throats slit and their hearts removed. Their blood flows from the indentations and into the deep cut runes of the altars, filling them with blood.

Once the runes are completely filled, they spring into fire. Thrazken chants words only he among humans knows, learned from a demon only weeks before. The firey runes grow in size and consume the sacrificial victims.

As Thrazken completes the incantation the flames grow and grow. Eventually they fill the room, burning all except Thrazken, who as the intoner, is protected. He hears screams through the scrying device as his sevants far away are also consumed. No matter, thinks the necromancer. We will soon meet them in the lands of the dead.

A great rumbling shakes the cave, and the Ritual of Ruin is completed.

When Thrazken emerges from the cave, he sees the skies are aflame, literally. The Wurld is cast in reddish light. Standing at the entrance to the cave is a large reddish brute with horns atop its malformed head and a forked tail. It holds a great pitchfork in its hand, and its eyes glow. "Thrazken," it says in a very deep voice, "the master wishes to see you. I will take you to his citidel, on what you know as Galay."

Before he leaves with the demon, Thrazken uses his crystal ball to order the troops withdrawn from the seige at Heklamar. Much, much worse is in store for the people of that wretched, doomed city, gloats the necromancer.

[I hereby officially hand off the campaign temoprarily to Brian. He will DM from here until XMAS Gathering '04.--pcrh]

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