The Seal of Ages campaign was the initial campaign in the world of Arrea. It was a world-spanning epic with legendary characters and deity-inspired heroics. This campaign was played with 2nd edition AD&D rules and it was the very definition of a high-powered campaign.
Characters: There was a large number of characters and players in this campaign. This section is a list of characters.
Story Outline: Since I'm writing this long after the campaign was played, I'm just going to write a short summary for the campaign.
Ahrlin Ameratha's Journal: A journal written by Ahrlin Ameratha during the Seal of Ages campaign.
Characters
Ahrlin Ameratha: Began as a Human paladin of Arthom. Ended as the Arrean god of loyalty, courage, guardians, duty, and sacrifice. (played by Chris Shaffer)
Allieya: Began as an Elf (high elf) wizard. Ended as an Elf (high elf) wizard. (played by Mike Lang)
Amerous: Began as an Elf (gray elf) fighter/wizard/rogue. Ended as a Elf (gray elf), chosen of Shador fighter/wizard/rogue/shadowdancer, however he was also one of the party's greatest enemies. (played by Tony Pindell)
Anastasia: Began as a Human bard. Ended as a Human bard, however she didn't see the quest to its fruition. (played by Jerry Berg)
Baltor Graniteheart: Began as a Dwarf (stone dwarf) fighter/cleric of Moradin. Ended up dead by a hill giant. (played by Steve Campbell)
Belzim Kildar: Began as a Dwarf (stone dwarf) fighter. Ended up dead by a shadow asp. (played by Steve Campbell)
Dakkari: Began as a Elf (green elf) ranger. Ended up dead by a balor. (played by Mike Lang)
Debrianna: Began as an Elf (high elf) rogue. Ended as an Elf (high elf) rogue, she didn't see the quest to its fruition. (played by Grace Campbell)
Gabrielle: Began as a Swanmay druid. Ended up dead by dire wolves. (played by Grace Campbell)
Gradon: Began as a Minotaur fighter. Ended as a Minotaur fighter. (played by Dave Haynie)
Gwendolyn Stout: Began as a Swanmay ranger/druid. Ended up dead by greater dopplegangers from the Qabal. (played by Steve Campbell)
Jarus Marn: Began as an Elf (green elf) fighter. Ended as an Elf (green elf) fighter/Marn fighter. (played by Greg Granger)
Kaylae: Began as an Elf (green elf) fighter. Ended up dead by a hill giant. (played by Grace Campbell)
Kelugth: Began as a Elf (white elf) wizard/cleric of Kadinastis. Ended as an Elf (white elf), half-elemental (fire), chosen of Kadinastis wizard/cleric/eye of Kadinastis. (played by Lance Edwards)
Kyros: Began as a Human cleric of Arthom. Ended up dead by greater dopplegangers from the Qabal. (played by Mike Lang)
Mordax: Began as a Dwarf (stone dwarf-mutant) fighter. Ended as a Dwarf (stone dwarf) fighter, however he didn't see the quest to its fruition. (played by Steve Campbell)
Radkin: Began as a Halfling (lightfoot halfling) rogue/psion. Ended as a vampire (halfling strain) rogue/psion. (played by Mike Lang)
Senora Treebranch: Began as an Elf (green elf) ranger. Ended up dead by a wyvern. (played by Greg Granger)
Tarwynne Ashur: Began as a Human cleric of Arthom. Ended as a Human cleric of Arthom, however he didn't see the quest to its fruition. (played by Ryan McCarroll)
Thrax Forestwalker: Began as a Dwarf (wild dwarf) fighter/cleric of Clangeddin Silverbeard. Ended up dead by a wyvern. (played by Steve Campbell)
Tracy Sheldon: Began as a Human fighter. Ended as a Human fighter, however he was separated from the group. (played by Tony Pindell)
Story Outline: There is a more in-depth story of the campaign in Ahrlin's Journal.
The Beginning
In the beginning of this campaign the characters didn't have a definite direction. They were drawn into Ravenloft where they played through the Night of the Walking Dead adventure module. This put the group in a situation where they had to work as a group. When they returned to Arrea they decided to travel together.
The Danger of Legion
Shortly after the group returned from their first adventure together, Ahrlin was approached by his cousin, Beldun. Beldun asked Ahrlin if he would accompany him into Lifeswallower to retrieve a holy artifact from its ancient resting place. Ahrlin and his friends fought their way into an ancient temple where they found a mace that dripped of unholy power. Beldun grabbed the mace and disappeared. Ahrlin couldn't believe that his cousin would betray him and his friends, however that is what happened. Later, the group found out that the mace is known as Legion.
After returning to Lyon, the group was betrayed once more. Amerous, trying to befriend the local thieves guild, told the thieves that Baldor owned an expensive jewel, figuring that they could steal the item and give him a cut. Radkin told the dwarf of the danger, and the party kicked Amerous out of the group.
The group was able to rest in Lyon for a while.
The Plague
While the party rested, a disease began to flow through the population. They were asked to travel to Xraxus to see if they could find some aid from the Shining Hall of Arthom. On the way, they were captured by a group of rat-men and held in a small keep south of Xraxus. The group was able to escape, but during the fight Radkin was killed and raised (as a vampire) by imbibing a potion of life's blood. He was able to escape from his former friends and he now resides in Xraxus.
The party found information on the rat-men that led them to believe that the plague was the beginning of an invasion that was going to take place on two fronts: the rat-men would start the plague, then a powerful necromancer would use his undead minions to assault the wall separating Lyon from Lifeswallower. Ahrlin was contacted by one of his superiors in the church and told to turn away from Xraxus and seek Auron on Naztis Isle. Ahrlin thought Auron was a legendary warrior from long ago who should certainly be dead of old age. Auron's butler lead the group into a cavern below the tower. In this cavern is where the group found out that the legendary Auron was a gold dragon.
Battle for Lyon
The group returned to Lyon with Auron just in time. A giant lich had begun to lead an army of undead against the people of Lyon. The army of Lyon was sorely pressed, but the party aided in the defense while Auron flew behind enemy lines to take the battle to the lich. After a long battle, Auron defeated the lich and the undead horde was easily defeated without its leader.
After the battle died down, Ahrlin was approached by a high-ranking priest of Arthom and told that his father was murdered and that his sister Kitala was implicated in the murder.
Duty Calls
Directly after the funeral, Ahrlin wanted to pursue his father's murderer, but instead he was ordered to escort a visiting ambassador back to his homeland of Tekat. The ambassador told the group about an evil that he wanted stopped. He explained that this was one of the few times where his god, Tekka, and Ahrlin's god, Arthom, could work together to stop an ancient evil from being released upon the world.
The party was suspicious, but the story sounded plausible, and if the group didn't at least look into the danger they wouldn't be able to live with themselves. He told the group that there was an ancient artifact called the Seal of Ages. It was created to bind a trio of evil gods in an extradimensional prison, however the seal is weakening and will break if the binding isn't reinforced. The seal was broken into nine pieces and scattered throughout the world. The ambassador also provided them with an ancient scroll that listed the locations of the pieces of the seal. Unfortunately, most of the locations mentioned on the scroll were either mythical or unknown to the group, however the first two locations were known to the group.
The Seal of Ages is kept in nine lost sanctuaries of Arthom the Guardian
The first piece is kept in the city of Anath Tirinth, guarded by the elven brotherhood.
The second piece is deep within the dwarven realm of Xrax.
The third piece is in the Land of Black Ice.
The fourth piece is in the jungles of Mwana.
The fifth piece is in the Blessed Land of Aranknar.
The sixth piece is in the Great Necropolis of Mathoma.
The seventh piece is in the Enlightened City of Chesham.
The eighth piece is in the Impenetrable Castle of Blackmoss in the land of Druarth Grammas.
The ninth piece is under the protection of the Great Lord of Dragons, Authenior.
Deepwood
The first part of the seal is located in an ancient temple of Arthom in the formerly open elven city of Anath Tirinth. They knew that Anath Tirinth was located far into Deepwood, so they decided it would be a good idea to travel to Eareth and try to get a map to Anath Tirinth. They met with the regent of Eareth and the information they had learned from the ambassador was correct. The group was given a map to lead them to the elven ruins, as well as a supply of potions to counter the poison of the large number of spiders that live in Deepwood.
The group traveled into the forest, fighting many creatures, such as a basilisk, a werefox and her minions, hill giants, wolfweres, spiders, ettercaps, and drow elves. After making their way through this gauntlet, they found their way to the temple. Once they were in the temple, the group made their way into a vault below the building. Inside the vault, they found the piece of the seal, however it was on a chain around the neck of a clay golem. They figured out that there was a password to disable the golem so they were able to get the piece.
After gaining the piece of the seal, the party was able to work their way out of Deepwood.
Return of the Butler
While traveling towards the second piece, Ahrlin was approached during his watch by the old butler that the party had met in Auron's tower. Surprisingly, the man was dressed in the full regalia of a high-ranking paladin of Arthom. Even more surprising, the butler introduced himself as Rainok Ameratha, Ahrlin's great-grandfather! Ahrlin was sceptical but allowed Rainok to speak; he had tracked Ahrlin and his friends to warn them that their enemies were organizing against them.
Rainok explained that he had lived beyond the normal lifetime of a human because of his holy sword, Caradakas, and that he wanted Ahrlin to have his armor and sword. Ahrlin was shocked since he realized that without his sword Rainok would die. Rainok said he was ready and that Ahrlin would need all the help he could get.
The following day, the companions were attacked by a demon from the Abyss. The party fought valiantly, but they soon realized that the only weapon that could damage the fiend was Caradakas. Fortunately, Jarus stayed in the battle parrying blows from the demon while Ahrlin went on the offensive. Soon after this change of tactics, the companions were successful in defeating the foul beast.
The Tournament
The group made it to Xraxus just in time for the Midsummer Games. The games are held once every five years and people travel from all over the world to see and participate in them. There are great prizes and Xraxus practically shuts down for two weeks as adventurer types flock to the city. Realizing that the fame associated with winning the games may help them to get information, the party decided to enter.
While in Xraxus, the party befriended a young, streetwise boy named Halon. Halon acted as a dragoman for the group while they stayed in the city.
After the two weeks of the tournament, the party had won the secondary bracket, but lost the overall tournament. Fortunately, even the runners-up prize was extravagant, the group had won a house! More than a house, it was the size of a small inn.
The Haunting
While the group was searching for clues as to the whereabouts of the piece of the seal, they found out the reason why a house was given away to the winner of the secondary bracket; the house was haunted! The ghost took over the body of Gwendolyn and the party had to figure out how to lay the spirit to rest and save their friend. After some searching, the group found the body in the well behind the house, exorcised the spirit, and saved their friend.
The Second Piece
Shortly after the cleaning of the house, Kyros found the piece of the seal! Surprisingly, it was in Grenholm Place, the headquarters for the Fraternal Order of Dungeoneers, Dangerseekers, Explorers, and Rogues (F.O.D.D.E.R.) and they were able to make a trade for it. The trade involved the party clearing out a nearby crypt where a couple of other expeditions had perished.
The companions geared up for a dungeoncrawl and made their way to the crypt. After a few minor battles with weak undead, the party encountered the masters of the crypt, a mummy and a vampire. After a long, hard battle, the adventurers defeated the evil in the crypt and were able to claim their reward.
Passage north
With the second piece in their hands, the party now had to figure out where the third piece was located since none of them had ever heard of "The Land of Black Ice". After a month of speaking to sages, researching in Xraxus' libraries, and consulting maps, they found a passage in a book suggesting that the land they were looking for was to the extreme north, "north of everywhere".
After booking passage, they left the house in Halon's hands, and headed to the cold reaches of Anaria.
Pirate Isles
On the passage north, the ship had to skirt the islands known as the Pirate Isles. It turns out that they are called this for a reason because as they were passing the northern reaches of the islands they were chased down by a pirate ship much faster that the ship they had hired. The pirate ship was the "Winged Wench", the ship of one of the isles most feared pirates: Dalemon Windcharmer.
While Kelugth defeated the pirate's ship mage, Ahrlin dueled Dalemon, and rest of the group took care of the rank-and-file pirates. Dalemon escaped but the party had his ship and soon found out the secret of its great speed. The ship has a magical helm that converts the magic in a wizard's mind to power to move the ship. With this mighty item, the party was able to speed their journey to Anaria.
Anaria
One the group docked in Anaria, they set about finding a guide to lead them north across the tundra. They found an unlikely guide named Dell. Dell was a giant lynx who could speak and was at least as intelligent as the average person. Dell also turned out to be a capable guide. He led the companions north, across ice fields, up across glaciers, past a white dragon, and through the taiga. As they traveled north, the nights grew longer, and they had to turn to magic to keep them warm. They trekked ever north until they reached a beautiful green forest that couldn't possibly survive in this terrible dark, cold place. They entered the forest and once within the boundaries the cold wasn't so bad; however, the divine spellcasters' link to their gods was severed.
The Lost Tribe
Traveling through the forest, the party defeated several groups of plant creatures before crossing a stream that seemed to be some sort of boundary, because the plant creatures wouldn't cross. On the other side of the stream the companions encountered a strange group of elves. When the party inquired about the silence of the gods, the elves explained that there were no "gods". Of course the more religious among the travelers were incredulous and explained how things truly were. The group was invited to stay with the elves while they searched for the piece of the seal.
Local Problems
While staying with the elves the party learned that there were three villages of humans within the ring of mountains that separates the Black Ice from the surrounding tundra. Unfortunately, the humans recently fell to a evil being called the "Kormadeth". The Kormadeth is apparently a powerful necromancer that lives in a tower floating in the air above Lake Dralik, a large lake in the central area of the Black Ice. He animated the first town that he destroyed and used the zombies to attack the second and third villages. The elves figured it was only a matter of time before he attacked them.
The party, not one to let people die, decided that they would attack the Kormadeth in his tower. They needed to find a way to approach from the air so the elves told them of a group of pegasi that lived nearby that they may be able to get to help. Gwendolyn approached the winged horses hoping to convince them to carry her and her friends to the tower over the lake. Unfortunately, the pegasi refused to help without the party helping them first.
The pegasi's dilemma was easily solved. There was a group of griffons that lived nearby that would hunt the pegasi foals. The pegasi weren't powerful enough to defeat the savage creatures, so the party had to fight the griffons for the pegasi.
A Lucky Break
When the characters traveled to the griffon's nest, they saw a large building which was a large addition to a smaller building. The smaller building was obviously a monastery devoted to Arthom. The huge building, however, was some kind of lodge populated by giants. After defeating the griffons, the party elected to investigate to giant lodge before their assault on the Kormadeth's tower.
The group attacked a few stragglers who left the building and during this battle Jarus found out that his gauntlets that he found in the griffon's nest changed him into an exact duplicate of the giant that he defeated. Using this to their advantage, the party assaulted the lodge and ended up starting a fire that threatened to destroy the entire building. During the ensuing chaos the party fought a cloud giant and found the third piece of the seal forged into the pommel of the great sword the giant was wielding. When Jarus grasped the sword he realized the sword contained an intelligence. Unlike most intelligent weapons this spirit was trapped and wanted to be released. The sword told Jarus that he would have to immerse it in molten rock to heat the metal enough to destroy it. Fortunately, nearby there is a volcanic rift where the party could gain access to molten lava.
The Rift
The volcanic rift was populated by fire giants. The party ended up fighting the fire giants while Jarus immersed the sword in the lava. The sword was destroyed with a bright flash and an accompanying explosion. Jarus barely survived the explosion, but was able to retreat with the rest of the group after the deed was done.
The third piece of the seal in hand, the party now needed to deal with the Kormadeth.
The Kormadeth
With the griffons destroyed, the pegasi flew the party towards the tower. Before the companions were able to approach too close, they were attacked by gargoyles. The ensuing battle was fierce and only a dangerous aerial diversion by Kelugth allowed the party to break through the flock of gargoyles. Once on the tower, the party made quick work of the remaining gargoyles.
On the roof of the tower was a mist enshrouded arch which obviously led to a door. When the characters walked into the mist three forms materialized seeming out of nowhere. The forms ambled out of the mist and it was obvious that they were some sort of stone golem. As the characters prepared to defend themselves, a man materialized and commanded the golems to stop.
The man immediately launched into a lengthy apology and invited the group to rest in his house. The party was wary, but agreed to spend time in the tower as his guests until they could gain more information. He claimed that the elves were mistaken and that he had nothing to do with the terrible fate of the local humans. As a matter of fact he has been looking into the problem himself.
While the party rested in the tower their host introduced them to his three apprentices and everyone was getting acquainted. Ahrlin and Kelugth had cast spells to discern information about their hosts and everything seemed fine. Being powerful wizards, Kelugth and the master mage retired to the library to discuss magical theory. The rest of the group retired for the night. About halfway through the night, all hell broke loose. The wizard's apprentices attacked. Normally that wouldn't be too much of a problem, however, they turned out to be vampires!
Kelugth was in the library with the master mage when the host cast a spell which paralyzed Kelugth. Completely at the evil wizard's mercy, the mage bit Kelugth a began to drink his fill of his blood. After his dining was through, he killed Kelugth and teleported to the level where his apprentices were fighting the rest of the companions.
The group was surrounded by the vampiric wizards and was hard-pressed when things went from bad to worse. In the center of their formation, Kyros was dominated by one of the vampires and began attacking Ahrlin from behind. Noting this, Jarus attacked Kyros with all his might, cutting Kyros' leg off and killing his former ally. The battle then swung in favor of the companions, everything was under control until the characters in battle noticed that Tahar, Kelugth's familiar, fell to the ground not moving (we play that the severing of the link between a wizard and his familiar will incapacitate, if not kill, the familiar). Right after this happened, the master vampire teleported into the room and cast a couple of spells to damage the party. He realized that since his apprentices were nearly defeated he needed to regroup so he teleported away. The group was trapped on that level of the tower anyhow.
Kelugth was wearing a ring that conferred some resistance to fire. Unlike other such rings this was a ring of the phoenix. After he was killed by the master vampire, Kelugth's body was consumed by magical flames and he rose as something entirely different, a humanoid phoenix.
The party realized that they were in trouble since they had no way to navigate through the magical tower. They did realize that there was a reason that the vampire chose Kyros to take out of the battle when Jarus was the more likely choice, Kyros' weapon. Kyros' weapon is a morning star enchanted with great powers versus the undead, especially vampires. Armed with the morning star, the party felt that they had a fighting chance.
When Tahar stirred and told them that Kelugth would return soon they were confident that they could overcome their host. After the characters stared in shock at Kelugth's new form, the vampire attacked. He had protected himself with powerful spells, but with the morning star and Kelugth's magic, his magic was insufficient to save him from the companions.
The Return of the Gods
After the defeat of the Kormadeth, the group was able to search his tower.
The Voyage to Xraxus
On the return voyage to Xraxus the group was attacked by another demon from the Abyss.
The Ransom
When the party returned to the house, they find Halon's severed head sitting on the table. The head rose from the table and spoke. It said, "Bring the pieces of the seal that you have collected to Pratha Keep. We will exchange the seal for your friend Halon and the warhorse we found in the stables".
The Traitor Returns
The party decides to make a surgical strike against Pratha Keep instead of trading the hard-earned seal pieces.
Near Death Experience
After recovering Smalls, the party hired a ship to travel to the far-off jungle land of Mwana.
Mwana
After landing near the village of Foothold, the party finds it deserted.
Biakkabatukka
The party follows the directions found on the obelisk to the ancient vault of Arthom. Unfortunately, the vault is used as a lair for Biakkabatukka, a black dragon.
Family Problems
After gaining the fourth piece of the seal, a return to Leonay was in order.
Halon's Command
On the way back to Xraxus, the party runs into their former friend.
Planar Journey
Kelugth finds a loophole in the idea that it is impossible to find a lost region.
Amazing Revelation
While incapacitated by the journey to Aranknar, Ahrlin is approached by the most unlikely being.
Aranknar, the Twilight Realm
While searching for the fifth piece of the seal, the companions are beaten to the punch.
Saving Ulass
Although disappointed by their failure to procure the fifth piece, the party helps a local village with their giant problem.
The Hermit
The companions were told about a powerful wizard that lived in the mountains. The searched him out to see if they could find a way home.
Foreclosure
After returning to Xraxus, the group finds that eight years have passed and that their house has been foreclosed upon.
The Summoner's Tower
The companions are needed to aid a wizard that is trapped in his own tower.
Vacation
The party stays in Xraxus for an extended hiatus. During which, Jarus begins building the Marn school.
Gilem
The party travels to the Vault of Knowledge to gain necessary information about the location of the sixth piece.
The Old Lands
The wyrm carries the companions to the city of Gharaful.
Unlikely Ally
Time is up. Triad's power has built to the point where the prison is going to break. Amerous helps his former companions defeat Legion and his cronies.
Sacrifice
The companions fight the released god.