Request for Artwork

Request for Artwork

I’ll provide as many details as I can think of.  Pick and choose what you find useful.  I’ve got pictures I’ve mined from the internet I use for them now, they are just the best I could find.  I’m not looking for reproductions of them, I only include them to help you form your own mental image.

Please let me know if I can answer any questions.

The party goes by the moniker the Wild Bunch of the Witchwood.   Their core is a brother and sister from the Moonwolf tribe of elves in the Witchwood in the Elsir Vale.  They were joined by their friend Adran when they set out and were later “assigned” their last member by the elder of the Stagrunner tribe of elves who is respected as the defacto speaker for all the tribes of the valley.  Their name comes from their unpredictable natures, their actions on the broad scale can be described as good but they are very capricious and are as likely to insult and threaten a hostage they rescue as comfort them.  They are at times merry and flighty and at times disrespectful and disdaining.  They are fickle, even for fey.  They love mischief even if they don’t ususally intentionally set out to cause it.

The four members are as follows:

Rolen

The fighter and armored juggernaut of the party.  Tall and powerfully built, especially for an elf.  He wears the biggest, heaviest armor he can find and delights in decorating it with trophies from his prey.  He swings a massive avalanche hammer in one hand and bears a shield with his largest trophy, the now heavily battered skull of a green dragon affixed to it.  He has long blond hair and no eye color has ever been established for him.  He tends to smash into whatever is closest to him and just wail away, laughing at any attempts at reprisal especially when he is ganged up on.  He will gleefully charge away from any number of attacks to come to the aid of one of his weaker allies and as such his armor and body are heavily battle-scarred.  His enthusiasm edges much too close to crazed violence for the comfort of any of his companions sometimes.  At one point he was carrying on entire imaginary conversations with the severed head of one of his foes that was impaled on his pauldron.  He is normally more under control and has since gotten better, but that isn’t something anyone has forgotten.

Magical Equipment

Warplate +4, Githyanki make, formally worn by the captain of a squad of pact dragonriders. 

Amulet of Life +2, fragment of Elemental Chaos that slowly fills with regenerative troll blood

Avalanche Warhammer +3

Helm of Able Defense

Strikebacks

Heavy Shield, still has the skull of a green dragon slain several adventures ago affixed to it, but having been used as a shield is heavily abused

Reference Art

Lauranna

Rolen’s sister, generally kinder and warmer than her brash brother but just as uneven.  She is probably the most mercurial of the bunch and has varied widely from mischievous to catty to adoring.  She loves pretty things and animals.  She is capable of the most powerful and destructive magicks of the party but doesn’t particularly enjoy using it.  Is much more at home simply patching up Rolen and Thane who get much visceral pleasure from combat.  All of her magic is light based, some of it huge in scope.  She prefers to hang back and bring down her lights on the battlefield bolstering allies and burning enemies.  Would be just fine back at home resting on the accomplishments the party already has and enjoying the perks and pretty dresses her fame has brought.  But she worries her brother’s nature would become even darker without her influence so she tags along and has her fun where she can.  She is petite and delicate with long blond hair like her brother but with none of his strength or build.  She is the best looking and most social of the bunch.  Her armor is very fine, light mithral chain with decorative white and gold angelic wings.  It’s not very effective, built for appearance rather than function and she relies heavily on her brother to guard her physically.  Thankfully she’s the most skilled and powerful healer anyone’s ever heard of as it’s here her true talents lie.  She’s fully healed her allies with a single spell and even restored the dead to life on one occasion.  She uses a gold and ivory crosier as her implement.  At the head of the staff is a shepherd’s crook with a golen sun emblem suspended in its crook.  Her short cape is a feathered angelic mantle that glows softly on its own and she wears soft white gloves enchanted to never get dirty that bear the mark of the holy city of Empyron.  She also wears a soft linen white sash decorated with fine gold and set with a large diamond.

Magical Equipment

Healer’s Braidmail +3

Gloves of the Healer

Healer’s Brooch +3

Diamond Cincture

Reference Art (Best I can find, very different from description but right thematically)

Adran

Adran is the party wizard, he specializes in Illusions and Enchantments and isn’t a direct confrontation type of person.  He’s a bookish sort who would prefer to be safe at home rather than out where Githyanki swords and dragon fire can get a hold of him.  He’s tall but slight, he’s not incredibly confident but he dresses very well.  He has the same long blond hair as the rest of his tribe and accompanies the siblings because he genuinely cares about them and wants to try his best to keep them out of trouble.  No one was more surprised than he was at how useful his little fey illusions and tricks have been over the course of their adventures.  Now about to level up to 14, he finds himself the most powerful arcanist for hundreds of miles and the notoriety, requests, and questions that have accompanied this growth are things he never wanted.  His illusions and mind tricks are mostly short range affairs so he is normally fairly near Rolen in a fight and uses his various glamors and phantoms to funnel opponents to Rolen and group them together for Lauranna.  He’s started adding some shadow spells as well to limit enemy visibility as fighting dragons and githyanki seems safer if they can’t see the party.  I don’t really have any descriptions of his robes or staff outside of knowing what they are called so I guess their appearance is up to your imagination.

Magical Equipment

Flowform Githweave Robes +3

Resplendent Gloves

Phrenic Crown

Accurate Staff of Sleep and Charm +3

Siberys Shard of the Mage

Reference Art

Thane

Thane was a later addition to the Wild Bunch, once they had left the woodlands and started dealing regularly with the larger cities and the dwarves and humans and all the complicated commerce and politics involved therein, Caliandra, the elder of the Stagrunner tribe and de facto voice of elvenkind in the area, assigned Thane to keep an eye on them.  Thane is something of a fixer.  He gets things done and isn’t always picky about the means.  Lauranna and Adran are incredibly rare resources and Caliandra doesn’t want them hung because Lauranna or Rolen shot their mouths off to some Baron or Merchant Lord.  He’s more commando than spy however and is much more likely to intimidate or quietly kill something in his path than try to bluff or sweet talk it.  However he is unbelievably deadly with a blade.  And that was before he obtained Duskfang.  Now he’s an absolute terror on the battlefield and has become increasingly brash and reckless because of it.  He will often decide who he thinks is the biggest badass the enemy has to offer and immediately unload on them regardless of how well defended or how powerful the opponent may seem.  He’s been brutally downed several times by the reprisals of his targets and those around them.  But as he always gets picked back up by Lauranna and always walks away the victor, no matter the odds, he’s begun pressing his luck further and further.  Thane likes to think he’s like a Batman or Riddick but his ego and his methods are more like some halfway point between Hank Venture and Brock Samson.  Thane is of average height and lithe build, with wild pale blond hair and has tribal tattoos covering most of his body.  He stands with the same arrogance he fights with.  He is dark eyed.  He wears tight drowmesh armor that constantly leaks shadow and an magical black scarf that can shrink down to the size of a tie or billow out into a full shroud that swallows Thane up.  He wields daggers but in particular a Githyanki blade named Duskfang based off the sword in Oblivion.  It’s a twin-bladed dagger with the space between the blades jagged with teeth.  The handle looks like the golden scales of a Couatl set with a dark sapphire.  If you want to draw his offhand dagger, any slightly curved dagger will work fine.

Magical Equipment

Duskfang, Frostbrand Dagger +3

Gloves of Ice

Assassin’s Cloak +3

Drowmesh of Dark Deeds +3

Reference Artwork

Let me know if you have any questions or need me to elaborate on anything.

Waves of Flame

As the party materialized on the other side of the portal they were momentarily dazzled. Their senses were assaulted by the roar of a roiling ocean, waves smashing against tall dike walls, blinding blazed all around, and above all was the crushing heat making it hard to breathe. To the north across a tumultuous sea of waves of fire rose the glittering spires of the City of Brass. To the south surrounded by jagged walls of obsidian and black steel squatted a smooth black obsidian monolith reaching two hundred feet in the air. The Wild Bunch had arrived on an earth mote some sixty feet across that floated in the air off the nearby island like some sort of exotic pier. An expanse of rope and stone had formed a bridge anchoring the floating chunk of earth to the island but as the party looked on a black faced dwarf with beard and hair of flame finished severing the bridge and fell away to be consumed in the fires below.

The dwarf and his wingless dragon companion turned to face the party as Adran wrapped them in a magical shield to acclimate them to their surroundings. The fire that wreathed the dwarf's face surged as he strode toward the party and spoke, "Yer kind are not welcome here. Into the fire with ye!" He raised in the air a black warhammer and struck down at the heart of the earth mote beneath himself, sundering the magical moorings that held it together. The floating chunk of earth was crisscrossed with lines of power as it began to break and drift apart.

Katniss appeared in a shower of bright points of light and raised her icy bow in defense of Lauranna. Near Rolen a black mass formed and bubbled but nothing emerged from it, the longer it remained, the more violently it spasmed and jerked shooting out jagged lines of darkness that cracked the air around it. As the rend in reality snapped shut a roar of outrage thundered through the air near the party, but still, no guardian spirit formed for Rolen. Katniss maintained her usual frosty demeanor but the slightest hint of satisfaction might have shown slightly around the corners of her lips were one to look close enough. 

She strode away from the edge of her piece of earth as it pitched awkwardly in the air and she calmly drew back on her bow causing a shard of magical ice to coalesce. She let fly with two such bolts before the first one had even reached the fiery dwarf and she blasted the air from his lungs and drove him to a knee as the second ice shard slammed home. Then fireballs arced through the air above the staggered dwarf from his redspawn companion and a cackling skull the zipped through the air wreathed in green flame. Red and green fire exploded amidst the party even as the dwarf worked its way into a charge and leapt through the air to land in front of them. At the dwarf's gesture a huge skull formed in the air and blazed with terrible fire and scattered the party in every direction. Rolen threw himself to the ground to avoid going over the side of their little chunk of earth and Katniss also pulled up short of the edge while Lauranna stood her ground defiantly, however Adran was not so lucky and despite his hands scrabbling for the edge he disappeared over the side of the earth mote.
Rolen surged to his feet and dove to the spot Adran had fallen from and found him hanging from the side of their crumbling hunk of earth. He lowered his hammer to the panicked mage as his feet dangled over the hungry flames below and Adran clutched at it desperately. While Adran and Rolen fought their way back to their feet, Katniss and Lauranna stood guardian over them unleashing bright spells and icy arrows in a flurry.

Just as the dwarf was about to succumb to his wounds an armored infernal creature appeared with shield raised to defend him and all the while the redspawn firebelcher and the flame skull continued to rain fiery explosions on the increasingly unstable earth mote. Meanwhile from the nearby island two alien githyanki launched themselves into the air and landed smoothly on fragments of the shattered pier. One extended a hand towards Katniss and attempted to fling her from her island but she dug in and refused to budge. The black skinned dwarf raised his hammer powerfully in the air and above them the towering image of the skull that floated in air shattered raining down flaming shards of bone that impaled Katniss and Lauranna. Rolen charged the dwarf and landed such a shockingly devastating blow that his infernal bodyguard upon seeing the shattered corpse of his charge immediately sheathed his weapon and vanished back to safety.

The chunks of earth each of the combatants clung to were starting to lose altitude and drift closer to the surging waves of flame beneath them and as they did they were being brought closer and closer to smashing up against the obsidian dikes surrounding the nearby island. As the island the Wild Bunch fought on lurched Adran jumped into the air and managed to land shakily on the nearest floating fragment to them. The nearest githyanki looked at the defenseless mage with confusion until bright pink marionette strings formed from Adran's staff and latched onto the alien pirate. Adran expertly maneuvered the furious creature right off the side of their earth mote and into the terrible fires below. The sound of its cries as the fire immolated it were horrifying but not nearly as shocking as the sight of its flaming body hurtling through the air, out of the fire, and back onto the now violently rocking chunk of earth. It landed crouched low, still on fire, its body horribly burned and disfigured, its bright jewelry melting into its yellowed and blackened flesh right in front of Adran. It roared out the quickly becoming familiar githyanki curse for mind mage and pushed with all its will to shove Adran into the same fires that would soon kill it. Adran's eyes were huge as his feet were blasted out from beneath him but at the last second he managed to grab the edge of his little rocking piece of earth.

The charred githyanki raised his silver sword to deliver the final blow when he was blindsided by Katniss's deadly missiles and dead before its body was carried into the flames below and consumed. 

The other githyanki had circled around behind Lauranna and was attempting to fend off Rolen while lifting his sister in the air in his choking grasp. But while Adran and Katniss combined fire on the enemy artillery Rolen was soundly besting the increasingly frustrated githyanki. Try as he might, the githyanki could find no opening in Rolen's defenses nor budge him from his stance. Rolen grinned darkly as he batted aside the creature's silver sword and planted his armored boot in its chest sending him flying into the fire below.

The floating earth motes everyone clung to had drifted closer and closer to the fires below and were beginning to be consumed even as the small shard the redspawn was trapped on smashed into the obsidian wall behind it and cast it to the ground. Rolen leaped through air to smash into the fallen beast while Katniss fired on the flame skull that was fighting off Adran's illusions. Just as it managed to right itself and resume cackling Lauranna threw a perfectly aimed tiny ball of light into open jaw of the flying skull. If a flaming skull can look confused that was the last expression on its face as the light of Arvandor exploded from within it and ripped it apart. 

However their victory over their foes looked to be short lived as the waves smashed what remained of their earthen islands against the jagged walls of obsidian that rose before them.

Rolen's chunk hit the wall first and he was cast onto the sloped walls. With great strength he not only held on, but started free climbing the broken face of the wall. Soon Adran and Lauranna's islands were dashed against the rocks as well as they flung themselves at the wall barely managing to hold on and certainly unable to budge. Rolen however had attained the top of the dike and sprinted across the top to lower a rope to his sister where she desperately clung. He coaxed her onto the rope and with little help from her, dragged her bodily up the dike. Adran however was tiring quickly and began to slide towards certain doom below as crashing waves below sent fire licking up at his heels.

Lauranna reached the top of the wall and collapsed to catch her breath while Rolen ran to get his rope to Adran. As the heavy rope landed near the beleaguered mage he gratefully grabbed hold of it and Rolen hoisted him to the top. After elves had caught their breath, Katniss vanished back to her realm and the Wild Bunch gazed across the blackened earth below to the smooth obsidian monolith that occupied the jagged island they were perched on. The Tower of Djamela rose smooth and featureless two hundred feet into the air with no observable windows, doors, or other egress. After Rolen lowered his companions down the other side of the dike he climbed down himself. While he did his best to attempt to scale the featureless surface of the monolith, Laurana moved around the base of it inspecting it until she came across a circle of arcane sigils lightly engraved so as to be almost invisible. She motioned over Adran who did his best to decipher the sigils and activated a short range portal that brought the party into the tower.

Within the tower they arrived on a landing amidst a number of platforms joined by ladders and stairs around the outside of the tower while the inside fell away into the depths of the tower that extended well below what was ground level outside. The faint glimmer of the teleportation circle across the way was just dimming as various Umbraforge transformed creatures spun around to defend the tower from intruders. Down below something seemed off, it appeared something had gone drastically wrong as the Blood Chaos Sarshan had been using to attack his targets across the Vale was bubbling loose in his tower and slowly surging higher, consuming and transforming everything in its path.

The World Tree

The Wild Bunch materialized on a wooden platform some 40 feet up the side of a tree so immense it defied description. Encroaching all around the titanic roots of the World Tree roils the foul Blood Chaos that Sarshan had unleashed from his hidden sanctum. Soaring amidst the chaos are two large dragons, Antharosk and Calaunxin. As they bank and glide over the Blood Chaos they blast great gouts of some kind of sticky venom from their outstretched maws. Everywhere their toxic secretions strike the Blood Chaos surges forward. Already the giant roots of World Tree begin to blacken and loudly crack and rumble where they touch the Blood Chaos.

The dense canopy above shades everything below, but in its branches flit the dim lights of spirits that keep to cover and hide at each roar of the corrupt dragons below. Soon the Wild Bunch's presence on the exposed platform is noticed and Antharosk swoops down to bellow a challenge. However as he does a shimmer of silver shines in the air as the cool and collected form of Katniss materializes already drawing an icy missile to her cheek before letting fly from her enchanted glassteel bow. She lets fly smoothly with a second shot on the way before the first hammers home. The second shot in particular explodes in a crystalline shower that Antharosk barely recovers from midflight, almost crashing into the teleportation platform.

The booming roar Antharosk unleashes is so terrifying and close that all but Lauranna are momentarily stunned and left reeling, however in a swirl of darkness the bloody sneer of Varis appears behind her and moves to launch himself at the dragon. Shockingly swift the dragon Antharosk spews his thick venom in a gout that splashes over and clings to everyone and plummets deftly to the ground speeding out of range of any reprisal. Or so it thought as Varis casually leapt over the side of the raised platform and crashed with terrible force into the surprised dragon. Meanwhile Calaunxin finished her circuit and swooped down to make a meal of the poisoned priestess, Lauranna.

By the time the rest of the Wild Bunch had recovered their senses, Lauranna was down, clutching her shredded midsection and in shock headed towards death. Rolen charged towards her fumbling with his last emergency healing potion and quickly forced it down her throat, saving his sister's life for the moment at least. Then, enraged, he shouted at the dragon to come try that with him. Calaunxin haughtily agreed and attacked Rolen with a flurry of slashing claws and snapping bites but found every blow not just powerfully blocked but also met by ringing blows of Rolen's mighty warhammer.

Somewhat alarmed at the superhuman skill of warrior it faced, Calaunxin reared back on her haunches, spread her wings and let out her own fearsome roar but none except Adran were awed this time. Lauranna came to her senses just in time to roll out from beneath the dragon as its fore claws crunched back into platform. Raising to her knees she unleashed a blinding flash of holy power that washed over Adran, Rolen, and Calaunxin inspiring them even as it seared and burned the dragon.

While Calaunxin was dazzled Lauranna finished a powerful healing prayer that almost completely erased any wound upon herself or her friends. The dragon's eyes grew wide as it faced the full fury of the Wild Bunch while Antharosk tried to rip Varis apart below only to have him discorporate into a hazy mist. Frustrated, Antharosk took to the air and snapped at Lauranna as he winged off around the World Tree calling to Calaunxin to follow. Magic spells and arrows followed the dragon out of sight, all of them finding their mark and leaving scarlet blood dripping off his blasted emerald scales. Calaunxin fared even worse, surrounded by the Wild Bunch who harried and hammered her. Finally she swept them off with her lashing tail and took wing but she too took much injury as she fled. Rolen looked around as the dragon's fled and grinned.

"I didn't know dragons could talk."

Adran hung his head while Katniss looked particularly disgusted with the often ignorant warrior.

Varis reformed, chuckling to himself upon the teleportation platform and seeing the skies clear, launched himself at the trunk of the World Tree. He nimbly sped across the massive bark surface like some grotesque black spider. Adran and Katniss made their way across the causeway off the platform to stairs shaped into the side of the World Tree to pursue. Lauranna, exhausted from her many costly spells and reinjured by Antharosk's parting shots, quickly inscribed holy runes around herself and created a circle of consecrated ground to recover in. Her brother stood watch over her.

Varis crept into position silent as death and beheld a makeshift nest the dragons had built for themselves in a section of the World Tree's branches. Tens of thousands of golden coins glittered in piles of gold and gems but it was small vials of some liquid that the vampire watched the dragons digging out of their horde. But Varis cared nothing for that, the only thing that mattered to him was the opportunity for more chaos and bloodshed. The vampire slid down from his perch and stood imperiously before Antharosk and Calaunxin and fixed his gaze on the smaller dragon. After a moment Antharosk chuckled deep in his chest and intoned in his booming voice, "My dear sister, I do believe this shaved monkey is trying to control the mind of a dragon!"

Calaunxin snorted indignantly, shaking her head and answered by unleashing a blast of her venom at Varis that rocked him backward and glued him to the World Tree. Antharosk laughed and added his own torrent of poisonous slime to his sister's. Varis was nearly consumed completely in the onslaught, the flesh blasted from his slight frame but his eyes blazed red and the tattered remains of his lips drew tight into a grin over his exposed teeth. He laughed wildly in the face of the dragons and continued to stare into Calaunxin's eyes.

"Really now, this is insulting. You could never hope to fathom the workings of the mind of a dragon!" Antharosk laughed back at the tiny creature, until his sister began ripping with claws and teeth into him from behind forcing a surprised cry from the larger dragon. Meanwhile Adran and Katniss had almost caught up below having raced through underbrush sometimes ducking under huge roots that arched nearly ten feet above their heads. Rolen and Lauranna were somewhat further behind, slowed by their injuries and heavy armor.

Antharosk flew out of his compromised sister's reach and charged at the immobilized and nearly destroyed vampire. But Varis would not fall easily, he reached out and powerfully caught Antharosk's huge talons, holding them fast and laughing at the dragon's feeble attacks. Antharosk answered with his teeth, tearing Varis's chest open finally causing the evil creature to slump to his knees.

Adran and Katniss hurried into position below just in time to see Antharosk bite the head off Varis's shoulders causing his dead body to disintegrate. Calaunxin stood stunned like a puppet with its strings cut still unable to shake off her fogged thoughts. Katniss took the opportunity to put two powerful shots into her from below. Antharosk took flight and dove on the archer from above taking spells and arrows in flight but closing on and savaging Katniss with his huge talons.

Calaunxin finally recovered her senses and tried to join the fray but Adran summoned his phantom army of ghostly warriors confusing the battlefield and confounding both dragon's attacks. In the chaos Katniss was able to carefully line up a final shot that pierced the heart of Calaunxin, killing the dragon and tearing a cry of anguish and anger from Antharosk. He sprayed his venom furiously upon the entire area but Adran and Katniss both fled under nearby roots to escape the blast.

Antharosk launched himself powerfully into the air after his sister's killer spotting her quickly. But as he neared Katniss he became trapped in Adran's Maze of Mirrors and lashed about uselessly. By the time Antharosk escaped Rolen and Lauranna had caught up and began hammering the dragon with heavy blows and holy fire.

Antharosk found himself unable to get at Katniss as Rolen hammered him back and was rapidly approaching his own death. Lacking any recourse, he took wing and flew directly into the World Tree which accepted his form as if he had flown through a waterfall.

Hold the Breach!

After riding through town witnessing dwarves and men fighting fires and monsters the Wild Bunch arrives at a gap blown in the wall between the Blister and Tradetown. The Freeriders and Misfits are hard pressed to hold the breach against the horrible monsters flooding in.

Rolen charges forward as Lauranna and Katniss start pumping arrows and spells into the largest foes. Adran runs up and creates the illusion of the wall reassembling itself. Varis, smoking in the sunlight, sprints for a bush and plunges in.

In the midst of the fighting an enormous undead dragon mounted by a tall figure robed in black swoops in and lands amidst the chaos. Several guardsmen are lost as it spews wretched filth over them and the Freeriders wheel off to engage it. Varis and the others focus their attacks enough on one of the modified Ettin's and after he disables enough of its gear, he manages to disable the pumps supplying him with troll blood. As the spitter troll manages to pierce Adran's illusory wall and rush to his fallen giant's aid he is ensnared along with the others in a powerful magical sleep spell. Arriving along the top of the wall are a number of archers accompanied by assistants with lit torches. Rolen cheers as he sees his plan coming to fruition.

Unable to batter through or otherwise circumvent Adran's magical wall, the assembled horde starts scrambling up the rubble to climb the wall and engage the archers. In response, Katniss began raining death through the gap through which she could see just fine as Varis too decided to divert. Thankfully some of the trolls were having trouble shaking off Adran's sleep spell.
The Freeriders execute their plan against the undead dragon to horrifyingly little effect and are nearly wiped out by its ensuing retaliation. It then lurches into the air, winging ever closer to the heart of Overlook as the battle continues behind it.

Soon fighting is split between the gap, the top of the wall, and on the other side of it as the tumult attracts more flying creatures including a gargoyle and manticore. In the distance some of the enemy flyers are visibly pulled from the sky by gigantic earthen hands shaped by High Ancestor Durkik using the Incunabulum Primeval. One manticore that joins the fray snaps off a volley of spikes at the grouped elves below only to have return fire nearly kill it and certainly ground it as it smashes into a nearby roof.

With flaming arrows raining down the wall, the trolls begin to fall especially as their spitting troll extinguisher remains ensnared by Adran's magical slumber. Varis hops down off the wall and directly into the assembled fracas in the gap while the Misfits do their best to hold the top of the wall against any that would climb up. Adran, Lauranna, and Katniss all combine fire upon the manticore and bring it low. Rolen continues to trade mighty blows with the remaining war troll until suddenly it finds itself surrounded and crushed. Finally the still sleeping abominations and spitter troll are dispatched by Varis and Rolen in bloody fashion. The Misfits and Freeriders (having regrouped and recovered somewhat) are left to hold the gap in the wall as an enraged minotaur hurls himself at the assembled humanoids. Rolen recognizes the bouncer from the Pig and Bucket, Koth, and laughs as he sends orcs and goblins flying.

So the Wild Bunch mounts back up behind chariots to be ferried deeper into the heart of chaos, occasionally catching sight of the huge dragon as it strafes archers in towers with its putrid filth. At one point it clips a tower in a turn and sends huge chunks of rubble crashing down into the streets below. The party rides around fires and fights through throngs of enemy forces choking the streets, occasionally having to double back as avenues are rendered impassable by fallen debris and other destruction. A huge explosion is heard off to the southwest followed by a great plume of smoke rising to the skies. Soon after the magical voice of Great Elder Morgoff Stonefirst can be heard in each of the elves' minds. He reports that Elder Mountainhome's position has been destroyed and overrun and the Wild Bunch is needed to extract and rescue her. The party informs their charioteers who wheel around and speed towards the rising smoke plumes.

The Story So Far

Outline to Fill Out

1. Characters "The Wild Bunch of the Witchwood"
   
   1. Lauranna (Moonwolf)
      
      1. Priestess
         
      2. Sibling of Rolen
         
      3. Harbinger
         
      4. Nighteyes
         
   2. Rolen (Moonwolf)
      
      1. Warrior
         
      2. Sibling of Lauranna
         
      3. Harbinger
         
      4. Not quite right in the head
         
   3. Adran (Moonwolf)
      
      1. Illusionist
         
      2. Scholar
         
      3. Genuinely invested in protecting the siblings from their own natures
         
      4. Not the manliest elf that ever lived
         
   4. Thane (Bloodhawk)
      
      1. Daggermaster
         
      2. Private contractor
         
      3. Plays it close to the vest
         
      4. Long term business relationship with Caliandra of Stagrunner tribe
         
      5. Network of associates posing as church of Ioun
         
   5. Guardian Spirits
      
      1. Katniss
         
         1. Lauranna's guardian
            
         2. Icy archer
            
         3. Cold enmity for Varis
            
         4. Duty-bound
            
      2. Varis
         
         1. Devoured Rolen's guardian and replaced her
            
         2. Demon vampire
            
         3. Encourages and exacerbates Rolen's selfish and psychopathic leanings
            
         4. Cavalier towards protecting the siblings, more interested in the carnage he can revel in while unleashed
            
   6. Former Characters
      
      1. Lyrissa (Moonwolf)
         
         1. Warlock with a touch of devil in her
            
         2. Shunned by tribe, abused by the siblings
            
         3. Left the Wild Bunch after Rivenroar to seek a way to permanently seal the portal to Shadowfell found there
            
         4. Formed a diverse adventuring company called the Misfits
            
            1. Genasi Swordmage
               
            2. Warforged Artificer
               
            3. Dragonborn Barbarian
               
      2. Feyden (Pantherclaw)
         
         1. Westdeep Ranger
            
         2. Loner
            
         3. Agreed to guide the party across the Vale to Overlook
            
         4. Accompanied them through Bordrin's Watch, Umbraforge, and the Karak Lode but left soon after
            
   7. Combat NPCs
      
      1. Kalad
         
      2. Reniss
         
      3. Brynn
         
      4. Amyria
         
2. Prologue (8/2010)
   
   1. Siblings discover goblin raiding party traveling through Witchwood
      
   2. Slaughter them, track them back to their lair
      
   3. Return with Lyrissa to finish off the goblin tribe in their caves
      
      1. Find them well provisioned and signs that they had a goal
         
3. Rivenroar (11/2010)
   
   1. Sent to Brindol to see if human lands are experiencing similar goblin attacks
      
      1. Adran volunteers to accompany
         
   2. Brindol attacked by Sinruth's Red Hand
      
   3. Elves engaged by Eoffram Troyas of Brindol Council to track Sinruth's Hand back to their lair
      
      1. Several hostages taken in previous raids require rescue if still alive
         
      2. Several relics from the defeat of the previous Red Hand of Doom stolen require rescue if found
         
   4. Sinruth's Red Hand laired in crypts of Rivenroar
      
   5. Sinruth's Hand sloppily organized and very mismatched but oddly well provisioned
      
      1. Portal to the Shadowfell grants a view of Umbraforge
         
      2. All artifacts and surviving hostages rescued
         
         1. Elves treat hostages not as victims but as their own hostile hostages to be kidnapped back to Brindol
            
         2. Erratic behavior and attitude of the party begins to be known
            
   6. Sinruth a large hobgoblin raised on tales of how his ancestors united and nearly took the Vale
      
      1. Died just like his ancestors at the hands of adventurers
         
   7. Crates of weapons of fine make identified with a Black Arrow insignia
      
   8. Letter encouraging Sinruth's delusions of grandeur
      
   9. Successful return to town met with celebrations and reunions
      
      1. Relics of the Red Hand restored to the Hall of Great Valor under Sertanian's care
         
      2. Two other adventuring companies in town, one congratulating and one condescending
         
         1. Farstriders
            
         2. Freeriders
            
4. Bordrin's Watch (1/2011)
   
   1. Word comes to Brindol that the dwarves of Overlook who protect the western pass need all available aid
      
   2. The Wild Bunch returns to the Witchwood and reports what they have found
      
      1. Lerissa leaves the party to return to Rivenroar and find a way to close the portal to the Shadowfell there
         
   3. With the goblin threat seemingly funded and organized by an outside force, and orcs now in the rise to the west, the party is sent to Overlook
      
      1. Feyden is contacted to help guide Adran and the siblings through the Westdeep to Overlook
         
      2. On the way to Overlook orcs are encountered having ransacked an Elsir Consortium caravan
         
         1. Orcs should not have been able to bypass Bordrin's Watch, the keep that holds the pass into the Elsir Vale
            
         2. Retrieved a strongbox bearing the mark of the Elsir Consortium from the slain orcs
            
   4. In Overlook the party meets with Bram Ironfell and returns the strongbox in return for reward and supplies
      
   5. The Wild Bunch arrives at the Pig and Bucket and mingles with other mercenaries, bounty hunters, and adventuring companies to be escorted to High Hall
      
      1. The Green Hand
         
      2. Gilgathorn Foulcrow
         
      3. The Company of Wolves
         
      4. The Freeriders
         
      5. The Laughing Shadows
         
      6. The Slayers
         
      7. The Farstriders
         
      8. The Twilight Brigade
         
   6. Elder Cadrick of the Overlook council addresses the assembled defenders of the Vale in Caer Overlook
      
      1. There is much posturing and boasting among the assembled warriors
         
      2. The Farstriders have the most dangerous assignment to clear out the tunnels that bypass Bordrin's Watch
         
      3. The Monastery of the Sundered Chain also needs to be defended but no one volunteers
         
         1. The Slayers are assigned
            
      4. All others are to follow High Ancestor Durkik Forgeheart to Bordin's Watch to help hold the walls
         
   7. Supplies are assembled, wagon trains formed, and an armored column moves out from Overlook
      
      1. On the way, runners bring word to command and Durkik summons the Wild Bunch to him
         
      2. Needing someone fleet of foot, he sends the elves to the monastery to reinforce the Slayers as word comes in the monastery's defenders have fallen to orcs
         
   8. The party races overland to the monastery and finds it sacked, with its defenders stewing in cook pots
      
      1. Orcs are slain as more signs of combat are followed into tunnels that run beneath the monastery
         
   9. Deep underground the party finds the tunnels collapsed and ablaze
      
      1. An half-ogre warboss tortures a sole surviving dwarf that triggered the failsafe collapse
         
      2. The party defeats the orcs and saves Kalad who has had his beard torn out of his face and all his comrades slain but was still able to do his duty
         
         1. Kalad holds tightly to duty to shield him from emotion and insists that there are other tunnels under the mountains that he must immediately see to
            
         2. Party agrees to follow Kalad to the Vents which will grant access to this other exit point of the tunnels
            
   10. Party travels overland to the Vents and climbs into them
       
       1. Navigate cave system towards a central Nexus where tunnel systems converge
          
       2. Orcs have dark allies from the Shadowfell, Shadar-kai and Dark Creepers
          
          1. One dark creeper carries an odd cube of unknown shadowy material inscribed with runes
             
       3. Orcs continue to flood into the tunnels with the party slaying as many as they can on the way to the nexus
          
          1. Encounter trolls and find the various corpses of the Farstriders along the way
             
             1. Jenn's body holds a Sending Stone with a desperate Reniss at the other end
                
       4. At the center of the nexus is a huge pipeworks routing superheated water
          
          1. Party fights endless waves of orcs, a Shadar-kai witch, and an orc warchief climbing the pipes and scaffolding to race to the top
             
          2. Party boots warchief off the top as they use the controls to flood the entire nexus with the superheated water
             
          3. Escape through hatch and tunnel above they seal behind them leaving orcs to drown and burn
             
   11. Rejoin other forces at Bordrin's Watch to hold the line
       
       1. Report other teams lost but missions accomplished
          
       2. 3 day siege fought off with waves of orcs, giants, and assassins defeated
          
          1. Freeriders and Wild Bunch repeatedly earn glory and seem somewhat in competition for the spotlight
             
          2. Fighting dicey at one point when the wall is breached and Durkik falls but party rallies to him and holds the breach
             
             1. Lauranna able to heal Durkik and save him
                
          3. Wild Bunch executes a commando raid to sabotage enemy artillery
             
          4. Wild Bunch key to maintaining allied morale and endurance by the third day of fighting
             
             1. Orc forces still organized and have not fallen to disarray
                
             2. Scouts report that enemy commander located
                
             3. Wild Bunch wins bid for second commando raid
                
                1. Infiltrate behind enemy lines and ambush enemy command tent in the night
                   
                2. Enemy commander is the burned, scarred, and bloated corpse of the warchief they already defeated
                   
                3. Destroy him again, destroy his body, successfully escape into the night
                   
       3. Enemy forces fall again against the walls of Bordrin's Watch and do not rally
          
          1. They retreat and fall to infighting
             
   12. Dwarven soldiers make heroes and celebrities out of the Wild Bunch
       
       1. Some retellings of their exploits before and during the siege are accurate
          
       2. Many retellings are drunkenly exaggerated
          
   13. Festivals and celebrations in Overlook even as various Ministries work to ascertain how the orcs located the secret tunnels that bypass Bordrin's Watch
       
       1. Wild Bunch attends several dinners and events and meet various city personalities
          
5. Umbraforge (8/2011)
   
   1. Party ambushed by Lost Ones led personally by Szagyn
      
      1. Lost Ones are the organized crime of Overlook
         
      2. Szagyn wrested control of them using his sorcerous abilities
         
      3. Rolen took one of Szagyn's hands in this fight before he could retreat
         
      4. Interrogation of captured survivor reveals they were paid to kill Wild Bunch and/or steal black cube looted from dark creeper
         
   2. Wild Bunch hits the streets to find out more
      
      1. More hints that this relates back to shadow creatures that aided orcs
         
      2. Possible that it is the same group that was supplying the goblins
         
      3. Word is that their target his hunted by both sides
         
         1. Apparently not only for botching his operation but for taking it on at all as it was expressly denied
            
      4. Run into Reniss Amaretto
         
         1. Half-elf sister of Jenn of the Farstriders (deceased)
            
         2. Believes that Modra was the source of the intel that allowed the orcs to use the dwarven tunnels under the Stonehome mountains
            
         3. Blames Modra for her sister's death and wants revenge
            
         4. Has been staking out the Happy Beggar
            
   3. Wild Bunch enters the Happy Beggar, an almshouse and soup kitchen in a poorer section of Tradetown
      
      1. Run by retired paladins of Erathis
         
      2. Party meets with a disguised Sarshan who tries to throw them off Modra's trail before hobbling off himself to finish his damage control
         
      3. Party locates hidden tunnel underneath poorhouse that leads to store room and portals
         
         1. Black cube activates larger portal which goes to another plane
            
   4. Portal leads to mountain in Shadowfell outside of Umbraforge
      
      1. Umbraforge is mercenary town with forges and foundry that straddles dark-infused lava flow
         
         1. Ruled by Sarshan, leader of Black Arrow company of mercenaries
            
         2. Town is swollen with armies of humanoids of all kinds in tent city that has sprung up all around it
            
            1. Armies are training and drilling then being dispatched and deployed rapidly as yet more recruits are brought in
               
         3. Trade bazaar, weapons market, walled off guarded section with slave auction, constant din of forges and belching of black smoke from huge foundry
            
         4. Area rendered somewhat unstable by forced harnessing of shadow flow, mini-quakes common
            
      2. Party mistaken for another band of mercenaries and mingles throughout town acting fearsome
         
      3. Stumble into a shouting match with some ogres that turns into a very one-sided brutal slaughter affording Wild Bunch a wide berth
         
      4. Observe hooded figure mounted on huge zombie dragon purchasing troll slaves at auction and sending them off to be modified in foundry
         
      5. Track Modra to foundry where he is caught sabotaging mutagen tanks
         
         1. Modra trying to detonate foundry and implicate Wild Bunch to get them killed for his revenge and distract Sarshan from Modra
            
         2. Wild Bunch's arrival makes framing part easy as they cause more damage to foundry than Modra can but as they kill Modra the major goal of his plan fails
            
            1. Reniss cast into the shadow flow of lava during the fight and hair set alight while face is burned and scarred
               
            2. All manner of cross breeds, mutated monsters, and creatures implanted with devices or parts of other creatures grafted on observed
               
            3. Party wreaks havoc until broken pipes and backed up shadow flow builds enough pressure that the whole foundry seems unstable
               
   5. Discover secret tunnel from foundry to Umbraforge tower
      
      1. Rest up in old dusty shrine to Zehir
         
      2. Emerge from tunnel in ritual library of tower and ambush shadar-kai there
         
      3. Proceed into tower to find Cachlain emissary arguing with shadar-kai about delays in his war creature orders
         
         1. Orders behind Zithiruun, damage to foundry needs to be repaired before more creatures can be engineered
            
      4. Wild Bunch proceeds through tower burning and looting and killing everything they come across including some Wicked Fang pack gnolls
         
   6. Sarshan arrives back at his tower via portal from Overlook to find Wild Bunch in his home wrecking shop
      
      1. Wild Bunch brags about killing Modra (leaves out part about sabotaging foundry)
         
      2. Sarshan offers Wild Bunch commissions in Black Arrow mercenary company
         
         1. Throughout conversation more and more of Sarshan's guards keep arriving
            
         2. Sarshan also accompanied by huge flesh golem dressed in very nice suit
            
      3. Negotiations interrupted by cataclysmic explosion
         
         1. Foundry destruction had resulted in backed up shadow flow building pressure until the entire structure exploded
            
         2. Mercenary tent town and assembled armies thrown into utter chaos
            
      4. Sarshan orders troops to corral armies and lock up Wild Bunch while he goes to try and salvage the foundry
         
         1. Capturing Wild Bunch doesn't go so well when entire tower begins to fall as a result of foundry explosion, increased area instability, and massive ground quake.
            
         2. Adran reverse-engineers safeguards on Sarshan's portal to allow party to escape back to mountainside in Shadowfell near Happy Beggar portal
            
         3. Watch from mountainside as Umbraforge tears itself apart, flee back to Overlook before angry armies and Sarshan can find them
            
   7. Unable to seal portal, work with Overlook to collapse tunnels and cave containing portal to Shadowfell
      
      1. Consider reaching out to Lerissa to see if she has made any progress closing Rivenroar portal to Shadowfell
         
      2. Store room area contains portal to Elsir Consortium warehouse that has been cleared out
         
      3. With tunnels and store room collapsed and portals buried, warehouse left in care of Overlook guard
         
      4. Investigation launched into Elsir Consortium holdings
         
         1. Bram and other partners insist that Black Arrow company dealings were innocent and no connections to orc or goblin attacks were understood
            
         2. Swear that no further dealings will be made with Sarshan and all seized assets to be auctioned with proceeds going to families of soldiers that fell defending Bordrin's Watch
            
   8. Overlook Council rewards Wild Bunch for discovering and saving Overlook from portal to Shadowfell underneath it and destroying Umbraforge
      
      1. Caliandra of the Stagrunner tribe sends Thane to find out what Lauranna and Adran have been up to and make sure they remember the tribes
         
         1. Privately tells Thane of the Harbinger omens and prophecy
            
   9. Huge gala thrown in party's honor
      
      1. Bram Ironfell boasts of knowing Wild Bunch even before their heroism at Bordrin's Watch
         
         1. Loudly proclaims he is granting them stately Whitehall Manor in Elftown
            
         2. Quietly asks them to consider a business venture with him
            
      2. High Ancestor Durkik Forgeheart attended
         
         1. Still recovering from wounds taken at Bordrin's Watch, was saved by Lauranna there
            
         2. Working party as a political function, speaking to Overlook Council of Elders
            
      3. Freeriders and Gilgathorn Foulcrow attended
         
         1. Thorn and Thane prickly with each other, professional rivals who goad each other behind a veil of civility
            
         2. Ragnum Dourstone of the Freeriders gets into heated argument with High Ancestor Durkik over the course of the church of Moradin
            
            1. Ragnum feels he is doing much more good adventuring with the Freeriders
               
            2. Durkik wants him back in Overlook lending the prestige of his power to the church
               
            3. Ragnum pissed Durkik favors posturing and prestige over practical results
               
      4. Reniss attended
         
         1. Still healing from burns
            
         2. Having delivered the killing blow to Modra herself has found her revenge somewhat empty
            
         3. Especially dislikes everyone assuming she is part of the Wild Bunch as she just wants peace and quiet now and not their circus
            
      5. Councilor Eoffram Troyas of Brindol attended
         
         1. Caught up with party on events since Rivenroar
            
         2. Updated them on events in Brindol
            
      6. Fariex of the Elsir Consortium and Quelenna of Dornaithos attended
         
         1. Fariex is quick witted and an enchanting story teller but surrounded by a cloud of hangers-on because he is absurdly wealthy
            
         2. Quelenna is a shrewd businesswoman and is attempting to influence Fariex without being sycophantic
            
      7. Archdean Gromaldi attended
         
         1. Specialist in xenobiology at Sayre University
            
         2. Had a thousand questions for the Wild Bunch on the types of creatures they'd seen, their ecology, the Shadowfell, and more
            
            1. Adran ended up cornered by her and was left to fend for himself against her onslaught for most of the evening
               
      8. Council of Elders attended
         
         1. Cadrick and Itrika most cordial
            
         2. Great Elder Morgoff mostly just tired
            
6. Karak Lode (11/2012)
   
   1. Bram Ironfell of the Elsir Consortium invites the Wild Bunch to dinner at Polliver's
      
      1. Ramifications of what they discovered about Sarshan in the Shadowfell discussed
         
      2. Further insurance and war chest for defense of Overlook seems wise
         
      3. Just so happens to have found clues as to where ancient dwarven mine can be found
         
         1. In actuality had already told Sarshan of this mine in his secret dealings with him
            
         2. Bram hasn't seen any return on this investment and artfully burns letters from Sarshan leaving just enough hints to lead party to the mine
            
      4. Party agrees to find mine and ascertain it's condition in return for payment up front and supplies for journey