The Crimson Crossroad - A Finale after Dark
-
In a time only a few among the long-lived of adventurers recall, there was a terrible fire in Waterdeep, the City of Splendors.
Accounts of that raging inferno differ, but most historians agree - it was no accident. As the blaze burned through the nights, and the smoke made it hard to tell night from day to begin with, a clandestine evacuation was underway deep below the city.
With meticulous precision, the warlord Lidérc sent coffins across the face of Faerûn, By sea, by land and by magic, they journeyed...some in secret, some under heavy guard. Some were transported to predetermined safe houses, and only resumed their journey decades later. Some were marked with the gothic "L" of Lidérc's lineage, others bore different marks. They all had one thing in common however; a single final destination:
Narfell
For generations now, the land of Narfell has played host to these creatures. They have lived in the shadows through wars, fiendish incursions, the fall of a brave hamlet, the rise of a new monarchy. Some are content to prey upon the living like vultures, others boldly demand submission, and still more are content to pull the strings of mankind from ivory mausoleums.
They call themselves the Masters of Narfell; those who hunt them know them as the Waterdhavian Coven.
They are Vampires. Undead creatures who fancy the living a little more than cattle. The Sun is their mortal terror, the blood of the living is their most primal desire.
For generations now, the Adventurers of Narfell have harangued and hounded these supposed corpse lords, driving them from Peltarch, Jewel of the Icelace. Great battles have been fought against them in the frontier town of Norwick. Their haunted catacombs beneath the ruins of Jiyyd have been plumbed and exposed by bands as brazen as they were foolish. These cursed kindred are not so easily slain, but over the decades a slew have been reduced to dust and memory. Their mighty necromancers have raised hordes of wights, shadows and zombies, each of which have been shattered and broken in turn (along with more than one necromancer!).
The remainder have closed ranks. There are three Courts within the Waterdhavian Coven, and each has ever been more concerned with what the other two are doing than the feeble efforts of adventurers or other mortals. Until now.
In this time of strife, the Courts have joined forces in a show of unity unprecedented since their flight from Waterdeep almost two hundred years ago. Soon all three Elders will be awakened, and they will deliver their final instructions to put an end to this time of turbulence.
And they will deliver them...to you.
Greetings Narfellians! As you are no doubt aware, the server is about to undergo some much needed changes. I believe these changes will, if nothing else, mark the end of one era here and the beginning of a new one - and in celebration of all the good things about the past seven years since I returned to the DM seat I have decided to run something a little different as a curtain call for my long running Vampire plotline.
I invite you all, familiar with this plot or otherwise, to take a gander at the three Vampire Courts and their associated NPCs in this thread.
The so-called vampiric Masters of Narfell are putting together a coterie composed of vampires from each court to deal with an unprecedented crisis. And I am taking any and all volunteers to play them.
You will be able to witness, participate, and direct the outcome of the Final Nights of the Waterdhavian Coven in Narfell. Players will be selecting one of the three Courts (you may even select one of the named non-Elder NPCs as your sire if you want to be that specific), and will be invited to then roll a vampire character for said Court. You will be playing seasoned kindred long past neonate status, specifically chosen by your masters to co-operate in the face of an existential threat.
But as with many things that operate in the darkness, despite your face of unity, your Courts may have their own agendae for each of you...will you be able to co-operate and compete together and advance your cause, or your station, or will you struggle to avoid the Sun's not so tender kiss?
I will begin running this as soon as we have the numbers for a party (4-6 people), but if you're reading this after we've already begun don't hesitate to join in. I will be aiming to run some events during the week (as the coterie learns to work together), and try to have the bigger ones on the weekends. This will continue at pace, as I am keenly aware server changes are fast approaching.
If you want in, simply reply to this thread with your Vampire's name, what Court they are from, and any other details you might like to include. Ideally I want a relatively even mix of vampires from each court, so if you are willing to swap feel free to include a second choice. I may work with you to tweak any background details you come up with to fit the Court you select, but I envision we'll hit the ground running and do a nice chunck of character building in the initial events IG.
Needless to say, none of these characters will be available to play past the conclusion of this finale. That's not to say this is a suicide mission, but this will be a self-contained series - no vampire PCs afterwards (or during; we'll only be playing these characters during the events).
As I mentioned at the start, everybody is welcome. It doesn't matter if you're familiar with the plot or not, or if you have PCs who are invested in the plot or not as you will all be playing brand new characters.
All you need to do is read the linked thread, pick a Court, and embrace the night!
-
Thanks for the update. Definitely looking forward to next event!
-
Several dark months have passed since your Coterie successfully apprehended the illegitimate childe of Jubal the Incandescent. Since then your nights have been changed. You are painfully aware that your efforts are a constant source of rumour and gossip among your peers and elders alike. Groups of neonates trail your every movement in the catacombs beneath Mintas Rhelgor, as impressionable and awed of your advancement as they are jealous and impatient for their own time in the limelight.
In the nights that passed since your last "formal" outing, you have been beset by the requests of your elders. Now that you have proven successful, you are a political asset - it is now quite fashionable for your elders to have your Coterie doing their bidding. Opinions among you vary, but nobody could argue the experience is a mixed bag. On the one hand, you have scarcely had any moments to yourselves since your return, your nights spent taking care of glorified errands that you sometimes feel would be better delegated to a braindead goblin. On one occasion you spent over a week in the crypts below Norwick trying to butter up a bafflingly eccentric dwarven necromancer who your own mages estimated was rather amateurish where it came to raising the dead, though he was an accomplished evoker. In the end he sent you back to Amelia and Wolfe Casement with a set of ornate silver spoons that by all accounts seemed entirely mundane. Your elders were nonetheless impressed with the gifts...the better part of the mixed bag, at least.
Doors that had seemed sealed fast have yawned open effortlessly for you. Privileges that seemed decades or longer away are now yours. Now you have the ears of your elders, and priority over a whole generation of kindred who previously sneered at your youth. No more are you condemned to swill from the communal trough like animals, you now have your pick of personal blood dolls. The dusty, ancient kindred in charge of facilitating this practically simpered as she prided her skills in catering to even the most "obscure" tastes. This included a highly detailed account of how her own sire was most partial to the blood of lycanthropes, until she was eventually left out in the dawn by a Selunite priest.
So too are you being advised on possible locations to claim as your own; a place for your Coterie to be masters of, a modest territory all your own, where the blood, the kine and the night are yours and yours alone. Of course, even this great honour is tainted with the spectre of politics, for already competing suggestions of where to base yourselves have been floated from each of the Courts.
Your Coterie is made up of kindred from all three Courts, but will you be able to remain loyal to all of them...to any of them? The Red Communion has bonded you to one another, but your old ties remain for now - you can feel them drawing taut around your necks. Someway, somehow, something's gonna give.
Hey there Crimson Crossroaders, apologies for the lack of fanged fun the last couple of weeks, I've been pretty swamped with work! Hoping to get back into the swing this weekend or next, so keep an eye on the #events channel and I hope to see you prowling the nights of Narfell again very soon!
-
Okay, we'll say Sunday the 22nd at 3pm GMT, get those fangs sharpened!
-
In the depths below Mintas Rhelgor, judgement was passed upon the misfortunate Jubal. Whispers abound that the very crimes she paid the ultimate price for were aided and abetted by senior kindred from all three Courts. Whatever the truth, scapegoat or saboteur, Jubal's fate is now sealed.
Her downfall heralds the rise of your new Coterie, however. With her blood consumed by the Rite of Red Communion, you are now the fixture of all kinds of attentions, both welcome and unsettling alike. Your sires hope to advance their own agenda, any improvement in your standing merely makes you more useful in their own interminable games.
Meanwhile, the Masters of the Courts play their own unfathomable game, and you cannot help but wonder if you are not merely pawns promoted to knights. Still, you have no choice for now but to fulfill your newfound duties and obey.
Your first formal tasks as a Coterie will be cleaning up after Jubal; she left behind an illegitimate spawn, and a relic from the Old Empire. Both need to be dealt with...and your elders are all too keen to offer divergent advice on just how to handle both matters.
Many thanks to those who attended the Red Communion last week, and apologies for my late update here - we've had some serious flooding in my area this week so I was dealing with leaky ceilings instead of planning dark vampiric deeds!
Those who didn't make the Red Communion, we will simply assume ICly your characters attended and partook in the ritual (which as you may have alluded from the above, made you all directly complicit in executing Jubal).
We still have some weather warnings here this weekend, but I will be aiming to run a follow up event Saturday or Sunday, probably either in the afternoon or evening GMT - I will announce IG & in the events channel in advance of the start time as best I can so people have a chance to see in advance!
-
Can't make it, unfortunaly, as I have a birthday to get to. Have fun all!
-
I don't know how long I can stay as I have acquired some compromises for Sunday evening, but I'll be there at the beginning and for as long as possible!
-
Kindred from all three Courts have come together by the command of their sires and masters alike.
In uncertain fellowship, they set out on their first mission as a Coterie. They journeyed north, descending upon the Jewel of the Icelace after sunset.
Subtly, they crept into Peltarch from below, and then maneuvered through the nightlife of the Docks taverns until they found the leads they so sorely needed.
"Retrieve Jubal", was their command, and retrieve her they did. They brought their wayward cousin to heel, brought her home to her own sire, to answer for her missteps and mistakes.
By bringing her low, they had raised their stature. Proven the disparate Courts could work together. With this demonstration, their futures would only hew together all the closer. With this demonstration, the eyes of their elders were fixed upon them.
Now they are called to the rare Rite of Red Communion, to formalize their Coterie before their sires and the leading kindred of all three Courts.
Deep in the darkness below Mintas Rhelgor, their fates will be irrevocably intertwined.
Remember well, kindred, that ambition is all too often neighbour to ruin.
Many thanks to all those who have rolled Vampire PCs for this series, and who came along for our initial event last Monday. Our next major outing will be for the Red Communion, and will take place tomorrow - Sunday the 15th of October, starting at approx 1-2pm GMT.
-
Sig,
Court of Hunger,
Wolfe Casement
a quiet but smiley noble with professional posture
-
Lukos Hillborn, court of sorrows, sired by Galen
-
Avery LaFraise, court of Sorrows.
-
We have enough to get the ball rolling - please feel free to go in game and roll your characters at your earliest convenience! I will be around today to help with setup so let me know if you need any additional information. If we get enough characters rolled & ready today we will do some introductory events!
If you're still mulling over which Court to pick, we seem to have an even mix already by happy coincidence, so feel free to go with your (unbeating) heart's desire!
-
Valeria Beaumont, Court of Sorrows, sired by Morgana Makere.
-
Yolanda, court of Valour, sired by Amelia.
A former headmistress of Spellweaver Academy, dropped off the face of Toril decades ago.
-
Agatha Wondmere, Court of Hunger.
A gentlewoman thief who perhaps chose the wrong house one night long ago. Intelligencer and recovery artist for her court.
-
Bellamy, Court of Valour, sired by Amelia.
-
Trazom, court of sorrows, sired by Gustav
-
Wolfe- Kist-haa. Court of hunger, sired by Parnell.
