The Real Threat Campaign
This manuscript is a tribute to some extraordinary heroes of Krynn. It is built out of
fear that history writers will look back at their feats and severely underestimate them.
With these writings I hope their example of sacrifice and perseverance will be told
countless times to brave men and women all over Ansalon.
After the death of Malystryx and Khellendros (see The Dragon Campaign), Ansalon saw some
strange things happen. The place where the battle between Malystryx and Khellendros was fought
and where they were eventually slain by the Dragon Heroes, is an area of very high magic.
The release of the innate magic of the two most powerful dragons on Ansalon created a magic field
close to Dargaard Keep. After a couple of months a new Lord of Dargaard Keep emerged and
monopolized the powerful magic.
Since the Chaos War and the departure of the Gods, people have always claimed the Gods are returning
or have returned. At about this time several stories of real people doing extra-ordinary feats
were known all around Ansalon.
At the same time, new evil lurked the land and Palin gathered a council of all the good people
and hoped to forge a large coalition against evil. A party assembled and decided to investigate
several places and events. This party of investigators chased away a cult of Chemosh followers
with pre-Chaos War Priestly powers.
They continued their quest and hoped to retrieve information from Hogan Bight on how he managed
almost singlehandedly, to turn evil away from the free city of Sanction. They discovered that
Hogan Bight is none less then the Dark Elf Dalamar, the renowned head of the Wizards council
before the Chaos War. In the sewers of Sanction he had a secret laboratory were he held
captive the Son of Nuitari. This added to the fact that the lover of AngelDust claimed to be
the daughter of Mishakal, makes the investigators believe that the Gods truly left the world
but perhaps left their sons and daughters behind. This however didn't stop the party from
killing the Son of Nuitari in belief that they freed the world of a potentially great evil.
However the party didn't stood unanimously behind this decision and this act caused almost the
demise of the party and the end of the mission.
It was then decided to find another son or daughter of a Good/Neutral God and try to protect
him from evil so he could fully develop his powers and thus help the people in their constant
struggle against evildoers. The offspring of Reorx, god of the dwarves, was deemed most easy to
find since there are only 3 major dwarven kingdoms on Krynn. The dwarven kingdom of Garnet was
chosen and there they indeed found the son of Reorx. However The lord of Dargaard keep,
who the investigators suspected of being the son of Chemosh, god of the Underworld, sent Lord Soth,
the Death Knight he bound to his godly will. It is almost certain the Son of Chemosh
is the most developed of all the Godly Offspring and that he is on a quest of dominating, as many god children as he can.
Now comes a summary of the investigators described above.
Dalwin is the human sorcerer in the party. Trusted friend of Palin and inventor of the
risky but promising spellcasting skill speedcasting.
The Chemosh followers the party chased away, operated in his hometown and tragically he knew most
people who were cruelly brought to an unholy life by the followers.
While the investigators were in Sanction he managed to answer a mental cry for help from
Palin and in an incredible feat, saved Palin's life and teleported him safely back to Sanction.
He also was able to conjure a large whirlwind that repelled all bombardments on the city in the
attack of the Knights of Neraka.
Also in Sanction he was the main supporter together with Gondar for killing The Son of Nuitari, much
to the dislike of Palin and Dalamar. From then on Palin and Dalwin's friendship cooled off considerably.
The happenings in Sanction also marked the power of Dalwin and he is now widely accepted as
being the most powerful sorcerer on Krynn.
At the moment Brodin confronted Lord Soth in Garnet, Dalwin was helping Faro Dwur, High Priest of Reorx
in Garnet, to stop the threat of the raising of all the buried dwarves. He arrived late at the
scene of battle and could only watch the tragic scene unfold for his eyes.
The handsome Ice Barbarian attended the council of Palin because he hoped to find support for
his quest to free the woman he was in love with. A woman gifted with powerful healing
powers. Tales of wonders she performed were told all over Krynn. She was kidnapped and
transported to the Icewall Castle.
Angeldust got support from 2 squads of Knights of Salomnia but unfortunately they where too late.
Upon their arrival Erin was already transported to an unknown place. She left him a powerful
magical ring and a note letting him know she believes she's the daughter of Mishakal. The power
of the ring revealed to Angeldust that Erin was already dead.
He caught up with the party when they were in Sanction. Thanks to his outstanding agility
and eye-hand coordination he managed to kill a beholder with the help of Brodin and Gondar!
In Sanction he was one of the investigators
who disagreed strongly with the killing of Gerard, son of Nuitari. During that period, he became
close friends with ToodlePop Daggerswipe, the Kender in the company. He backed ToodlePop
when Elwyth accused the kender of endangering the mission.
In Garnet, he was the only one to be suspicious of Gondar, after Gondar tripped the son of Reorx accidentally
while they were fleeing from Soth. Nevertheless, Gondar's speed made it impossible to stop him.
In a brave attempt he dodged passed Soth while Elwyth was distracting him, but in a one-on-one
confrontation with Gondar, he was knocked unconscious.
More than once party members wondered why the heck they took a Kender on this important mission.
Fact is, Toodlepop somehow turned up at the council by accident after he lost track of the
Kender ambassador he was supposed to bodyguard. He cheerfully took the duty of representing
the Kender people at the council and in the party. Several remarkable feats are on his list of
actions. Trying to 'unwind' a mummy, rescuing Gerard, the son of Nuitari from the chains of
Dalamar, confronting a spectre by himself and following Lord Soth through the dwarven mountain kingdom
of Garnet and eventually successfully backstabbing the Death Knight!
After Gondar killed Gerard, ToodlePop disliked Gondar very much and the Kender was even
the main conscience of the party. Toodlepop couldn't and wouldn't understand why someone would
want to kill a person who was captured by an evil mage his whole life. Especially Gondar tried
his best to explain the reasons behind his action. After a while ToodlePop didn't really
accept it, but learned to live with it. Nevertheless, if some party members feel some remorse
about the death of the Son of Nuitari, it's thanks to the Kender in the group.
After borrowing a cursed ring from Dalamar, he is now the only Kender on Krynn with a long
dwarf like beard.
Being a highborn Silvanesti Elf doesn't make things easy if you have to represent your people
on a far away mission. Elwyth joined the party to protect the Silvanesti interests and hoped
to find useful information about the Titans threatening their border. At the council it was
decided that an army of Solamnic Knights would travel to Silvanesti and help them protect their
border against Ogre incursions.
Elwyth's wisdom and battle knowledge was at times invaluable. He masterminded the search of
the corrupted Chemosh territory and advised the general staff of Sanction in their defense against
the Knights of Nerraka. However, this doesn't mean Elwyth flourished in the party. He kept
having difficulties hanging around in a group of to Silvanesti standards, 'rag-tag' and his
nobility was most of the time not recognized by the outside world. The knowledge that he
became too old for adventure, further deepened his desire to return to Silvanesti. It made
him at times unbearable for the rest of the party.
Nevertheless over time he became more and more accustomed to the behaving of his investigator
partners. And in Garnet he made a diplomatic success together with Brodin, in receiving from
the King of Thanes the permission to scholar outside Garnet, the Son of Reorx.
Tragically he was never to see Silvanesti again, when Gondar revealed himself as an agent of
Dargaard Keep and ran off with the Son of Reorx, he sacrificed himself and confronted Lord Soth,
hoping that Angeldust could stop Gondar and free Mori Thor (the Son of Reorx). He was
cut in half by a mighty swing of Soth's two-handed sword.
Elwyth also kept a
diary up to date on how he saw things during the
campaign.
Brodin the Axe is the nephew of the King of Thanes in Thorbadin and he's renown for his toughness
in battle. Sometimes he gets carried away in a skirmish. At such moments he rages through battle,
hacking in such a wild uncontrolled matter, even not recognizing friend from foe, that most
sane persons run away.
Brodin distinguished himself in the battle with the undead near Belize. He drew the bulk of the
opposing forces towards him and hit the Skeleton Warriors hard. After the flanks were mopped up
by the rest of the party, and they also turned to the center, the enemy was quickly defeated.
In Sanction, Brodin distinguished himself in the battle against the Beholder. He bravely
took initiave and armed with his axe and a mirror, he challenged the monster. The encounter
was almost fatal to him when he got paralyzed. But he had bought enough time for AngelDust
and Gondar to let them kill the Beholder by jumping on it from the city roofs and stabbing it
to death.
Back in Salomnia, Brodin was the one contacted by the son of Reorx. Reorx appeared in his dreams
and healed him. In Garnet the Thorbadin dwarf, was received with a lot of respect. Together with
Elwyth he almost managed to persuade the King of Thanes to leave Mori Thor, the son of Reorx, in
their custody. Sadly, when the trouble started Brodin was the first to arrive at the house of
Mori and he had to face Lord Soth by himself. Being a brave dwarf, he charged
the notorious Death Knight to buy time for Mori and his guards to escape. Apparently Lord Soth
felt greatly threatened by the raging dwarf and uttered a single word 'kill' ... Brodin immediately
fell to the ground... even in this quick death he had distracted Soth enough for ToodlePop to jump
on the Death Knight's back and backstab him in his neck.
Brodin will be greatly missed upon Krynn.
Roderick, the Dragon Hero (see The Dragon Campaign) and knight of Takhisis, attended the council
uninvited. 2 years ago he was a member of a hit squad sent out to eliminate the popular lieutenant
commander
Trevlar. The attempt failed and Trevlar spared Rodericks life. From then on, Roderick vowed to be
loyal to Trevlar for the rest of his life. Trevlar became head of the Knights of Takhisis.
After the death of Malystryx, Trevlar fell into a mental
lapse because the link with Malystryx through a dragon scale attached to his body, was broken.
His lieutenant commanders took power and ruled in name of the still immensely popular Trevlar.
Roderick was desperate, they didn't let him anywhere near his friend and in desperation he fled
from Neraka and sought help with Palin. Palin and Trevlar knew and respected each other.
The party and especially Elwyth weren't keen to take the Knight of Takhisis along. Roderick
proved his valor in combat and gradually the others in the party trusted him more and more.
Only the Elf remained truly hostile.
In the free city of Sanction, Roderick learned a lot about himself. He first was received as
a hero for his part in the killing of Malystryx and Khellendros. Many doors went open for
the party because of Roderick. He also learned that the Knights of Takhisis changed their name to
"Knights of Neraka" and that he had been branded as a deserter. During an attack by the
Knights of Neraka on Sanction he managed to persuade an entire command of Brutes to join his side.
His long-time friend Brakkan was their leader. Also in Sanction he learned that the Lord of Dargaard
Keep was powerful and he suspected that lord was none less than Arrantik also a member of the
party killing the Great Dragons. He realized Palin and the party didn't have the intention
to free and cure Trevlar and he turned his hopes on Arrantik. He secretly sent away the Brutes
to Dargaard Keep while he remained with the party.
Roderick, couldn't and didn't want to enter the dwarven kingdom of Garnet and when he heard of
an army of undead and a command of Brutes, originating from Dargaard Keep and moving on Palanthus
, he left and joined the army.
Gondar comes from a far away Island where there is no magic and dragons. Master of the
Martial Artist form 'Shin-Tua', he was caught in a situation where his only survival chance
was to flee. So he stranded near Palanthus, a city on a continent he had never heard of.
His Shin-Tua ability made him an excellent assassin and he soon found his way into the
Thieves guild. There he was contacted by the Lord of Dargaard Keep, and the beauty and pureness
of the Lord intrigued Gondar. More and more he worked exclusively for Dargaard Keep and he
accepted a mission to go to a council called by Palin under cover of being the bodyguard of the
representative of Palanthus.
At the Council he helped thwart an assassination plot against Palin and displayed his Shin-Tua
fighting style.
Strangely he was appointed by the same representative to go with the investigators. The Lord of
Dargaard Keep knew the investigators would eventually find out the Gods left offspring behind
when they had to leave Krynn. If they found an offspring, Gondar had to capture the son or
daughter of the God and deliver it to Dargaard Keep.
In Sanction, together with AngelDust and Brodin, he fought a memorable battle against a
powerful Beholder. On top of that, he singlehandedly repelled the threat of the Dragon the
Knights of Neraka used to attack the city with.
Without blowing his cover he convinced the party, mainly Dalwin, the killing of the
Son of Nuitari was necessary and he killed the son by swiftly stabbing a dagger in his neck
and sent the body without the others noticed,
to Palanthus and eventually Dargaard Keep.
He continued his secret mission and eventually, in Garnet, he had to expose himself to the party
as an agent of Dargaard Keep. He kidnapped the Son of Reorx and ran to Lord Soth. Together
with Lord Soth, he managed to return to Dargaard Keep with another son. Only this time, the son of
a god was still alive...
Stefaan Destoop as Dalwin Hinalesti
Joris Schouteden as Angeldust
Tom DeVenter as Toodlepop Daggerswipe
Bart Dils as Elwyth, Vice Lord of Protector
Jan Tops as Brodin the Axe
Bart Goeminne as Roderick
Diether Samaey as Gondar
Produced by Maarten Logghe