(Prelude to the Dragon Orb Campaign)

For this portion of the campaign, I hijacked the game material from a very old game supplement, "Castle Greyhawk" and used the enclosed "No Place Like Up" game to outline the plot.

Nightal (December)

N5 After Moander dissappeared into the forest of Cormanthyr, the Party returned to Shadowdale. While in town, they learn from the Harpers that Ghaunadaur attacked and killed Moander, assumed Moander's portfolios into himself and then fractured the protective mythal surrounding Myth Drannor. This action weakened the Mythal's ability to contain the many demons and Devils trapped within it, thus allowing the fiends trapped in Myth Drannor to esacpe. The party further learned that their actions effectively allowed the Blood War to spill out of the outer planes and into the realms.

In order to try to make up for their mistake, the party leaves to seek the "Tome of Inestimable Knowledges", an artifact rumored to be able to help repair the damage and reverse the flow of fiends spawning into the Realms.

In order to find the Tome, the group travele to a ruin in nearby Castle Grimstead. In a room bedecked with pumpkins, hay, and numerous tapestries depicting scenes of harvest, they encounter a large vault door shaped in the image of a giant Jack-O-Lantern. After a few moments of investigation, the party is suddenly transported into a bizzare world of "Eternal Autumn."

The party finds itself falling endlessley through the branches of an never-ending forest. Jeremy's character uses a web spell to halt their descent, mush to everyone's relief. They continue on, meeting all numbers of strange and surreal creatures, including a Grippli that tried to sell them a silver stairway that continued "up" into the heavens.

After learning that "the only way out of Eternal Autumn is Up!", the party was able to get a hold of magic rope that transported them to the top of a magical cloud. From where they were standing, they could see a faintly glowing portal far in the distance with a glowing "EXIT" sign hanging above it. Before they could determine how to get there, a huge Red Dragon flew by and destroyed a chunk of their fluffy real-estate in a burst of flame. Mark's Druid character, in a rare moment of "self-sacrifice", decided to try to reason with the enraged Red Dragon. He decided to assume the form of the most amicable creature he could think of : a small green hummingbird.

Armed with nothing but his wit and a cute demeanor, Mark flitted towards the rapidly closing 30,000 pounds of scales, teeth, and flame. Unfortunately, before he could make his intent fully understood, the Dragon's jaws swung wide and unleashed a devastating blast of firey death. The little guy didn't have a chance. Unable to remain airborne after suffering third-degree burns over 98% of his little body, the hummingbird plummeted towards the earth. Desparate to try to salvage the three hit points that he had left, Mark assumed his natural (although somewhat crispy) form. This action successfully healed a portion of the grevious damage dealt to him by the monsterous wyrm.

Sadly, Fate (a.k.a.: the DM) was not quite finished with the poor bastard.

The land of Eternal Autumn had the unfortunate characteristic of preventing a falling individual from ever reaching the ground without assistance. The affected character was doomed to fall endlessly while being struck repeatedly by protruding branches. The poor druid's body just couldn't cope. The incessant thrashing of passing branches compounded rapidly against the burns caused by the Dragon's firey breath. In a few agonizing moments, the poor bastard was bludgeoned into a bloody, eviscerated pulp. To make matters worse, the Druid's corpse was doomed, even in death, to fall eternally; forever trapped in Eternal Autumn.

N9 The Quest for the Tome turns out to be the Quest for Tom. After many other bizzare adventures in "Eternal Autumn", the group finally collects enough keys to open the vault door. Behind the door, they find a small, metallic cat. "Tom" turns out to be a magical cat-golem-like construct with the abilities of a sage specialized in magical artefacts. He agrees to accompany the party on its quest to try to undo the damage caused by the escape of Ghaunadaur.

N9 The group then returns to Shadowdale to find it recently raided and occupied by undead and fiends. Elminster and other heores of the realm are nowhere to be seen. They discover that since their departure, Tannar’i have conquered territory from Zentil Keep in the North south through Sembia and Selgaunt.

N10 Party investigates Shadowdale and rescues a child bearing a strange mark on it's head. They also search and cleanse various desecrated temples. After being forced into battle with a Tannar’i death squad, the group decides to send the Child to Selgaunt for safety while they try to reverse the damage caused by the breach of Myth Drannor's shields.

N11-N14 Party travels to Selgaunt

N14 Arrive in Selgaunt and recover the child. Falstaff rejoins the party just in time to help them fight more demons, who seem to be pursuing the party. Desparate, they flee again to Halaghone in Turmish, but to no avail. The child seems to be a beacon for the demons, and they are quickly located and ambushed. The Tannari close in and kill off the group in a devastating attack. Tony's character and Tom the cat are the only survivors.