Journal Posts

As we last left the Ravens they were exploring six kings in search of second section of the Ashen Crown. The group encounters a bad of Deathgaunts performing some kind of ritual at a Moon pool. Their leader wears a gleaming gem around its neck. The Ravens fight a pitched battle against the undead and recover Zaarani's Solitaire, a piece of the Ashen Crown.

The adventurers reunite with their Kech Volar allies who have recovered Lurtan's Cord another piece of the crown. Each group now has 2 pieces of the crown. The Ravens have the Solitaire and the Blade, while the Kech Volar have the Cord and the Circlet. Yeraa, the Kech Volar leaders says the final piece is in a tomb beneath the city of Greywall.

Undead goblins and hobgoblins attack Yeraa and the party. They are the Bladebearer goblins that the Ravens dispatched before entering Six Kings. Someone has brought them back as undead servants. After putting the undead to rest the group races to catch up with the rest of the Kech Volar. They have just repelled a similar attack. Both groups board a rickety looking airship called Kordanga, for the journey to Greywall.

In Greywall, Yeera informs the Ravens that the Orb is buried in an ancient Tomb beneath the main city market. The group must set up a stall in the market and cover the Kech Volar while they excavate and enter the tomb. While sucessfully covering up the excavation, the Ravens are attacked by what appears to be the Necromancer Demise and her undead minions. During the battle a filching wraith makes off with Zaarani's Solitaire. The undead are dispatched but Demise turns out to be a doppleganger.

The Kech Volar emerge from the tomb, unfortunatley they have also been slain and turned into undead. After dispatching their former allies the Ravens are contacted by the Doppleganger agent Tilkulti, who is really working for Demise. Tilkulti speaks to them through the sending stone that Yeraa gave them:

"The endgame approaches, and you still have something I need. I'll take what I have to my comrades in Sharn. I think you've met my lady friend and her Karrnathi pawns? Anyway, play along and chase me if you have the guts. It should be interesting, at least, since I'll be able to talk to Kalaes first. I wonder which of us he'll believe in the end? I suppose you'll have to find me and force me to confess. That should be fun. Of course, you could just hand over the Blade. We'll contact you when you get to Sharn."

The Ravens have only one piece of the crown, the Blade, and little choice what to do next. They board the Kordanga and head for Sharn.

The Ravens continued to explore the dungeons below Six Kings in search of the pieces of the Ashen Crown. Battling through undead, underdark aberrations, and feral goblins the group has yet to find the second section of the crown.

The Ravens set out from Sharn by airship to the border city of Ardev. From Ardev, the group traveled overland with the goal of reaching the goblin monument of Six Kings before the Kech Volar.

Along the way, the group encountered Emerald Claw Scouts and Turakbar Raiders from Droam, survived an ambush by the main Emerald Claw force, and defeated Kech Shaarat goblin warriors who were also searching for the Ashen Crown.

Arriving at Six Kings, the Ravens encountered the Kech Volar and were able to convince them that the two groups should work together. The goblins challenged the Ravens to Amalorkar, or ritual combat, to prove their worth as allies. The Ravens easily won the contest and both groups set off into the dungeons below Six Kings.

Two fragments of the Ashen Crown are supposed to be located within the dungeons of Six Kings. The Ravens and the Kech Volar split up, with the Kech Volar using an ancient obelisk to transport themselves deeper into the dungeon.

The Ravens set off to explore the nearby area of Six Kings dispatching two groups of undead before withdrawing to rest and recover, no closer to finding the next fragment.

The Ravens were hired by Olakki a goblin priest, and Morlic, a surly Dwarven taskmaster. Both Olakki's flock and Morlic workers were being plagued by Kruthik attacks in the Cogs beneath Sharn. Some of the Kruthik are rumored to have wings.

Investigating the area Olakki indicated for Kruthik tunnels the Ravens came upon an ancient goblin tomb from the Daakaani Empire era. The Kruthik appeared to be nesting in the tomb.

Entering the tomb, the group discovered that it was the tomb of Ashurta, a great goblin warlord. They also discovered that the tomb had been recently entered by a group of goblins known as the Kech Volar, or Wordbearers, who were searching the tomb for Ashurta's Blade. The goblins appeared to have been killed or driven off by the Kruthik.

Making their way through deathtraps and facing many undead and Kruthik, the Ravens were ultimately faced with the ghost of Ashurta himself wielding his mighty blade.

Ashurta, nearly proved the end for the Ravens, with only Tim the Warlock left standing at the end of the battle. However, after the battle, the PCs recovered Ashurta's Blade and discovered it was only part of a larger artifact known as the Ashen Crown.

After exploring the entire tomb and not locating the Kruthik Hive, the Ravens ventured into the narrow Kruthik tunnels, faced the Kruthik Hive Lord and ended the threat of the Kruthik.

Venturing back to Sharn, the Ravens investigated both the Ashen Crown and the Kech Volar goblins. These investigations eventually put them in touch with Professor Gydd Nephret, an expert in the Dhakaani Empire, from Mourngrave University. Nephret did not trust the PCs at first but eventually invited them to her home in a few days time. She would see what she could find out about the Ashen Crown.

In the meantime, the group was contacted by Capt. Saj Kalaes. The Captain works for the King's Citadel, Breland's Royal Gaurd. The Ravens suspect that he actually works for the Black Lanterns, the Brelish intelligence organization.

The captain knew about the Ravens recent foray into the Cogs and that they now held Ashurta's Blade. He told them that the Kech Volar are working to recover all the pieces of the Ashen Crown. They see the crown as a symbol of their right to rule Dargun. Right now the Hobgoblin tribes of Lhesh Haruuc rule the goblin nation. Breland would like to see the Kech Volar rule however, as they will be easier to form alliances with than Lhesh Haruuc. The Captain asked the Ravens to seek out the Kech Volar and help them acquire the other pieces of the the Ashen Crown. In payment, he simply said that he would owe the Ravens a favor.

The Kech Volar, are headed to Greywall on the border of Droam. On the way they are stopping at the goblin monument of Six Kings to seek out the second piece of the crown. The third piece is located in Greywall itself.

The Captain has a doppleganger agent in place among the Kech Volar, he is disguised as a hobgoblin and goes by the name Tikulti. He will help the Ravens, if possible, without blowing his cover.

The Captain scheduled an airship to take the group to Ardev in three days time.

Nephret provided the group with information about the crown and its history. She also introduced them to Dannae, an elf from Arenal, who offered to buy Ashurta's blade from them. Dannae told them that the Ashen crown was actually an elven artifact that had been taken by the goblins many thousands of years ago. The Ravens did not immediately agree to sell the blade.

Preparing to head out on the Airship, the PCs were contacted by Nephret the next day. Her message said that Dannae was not who she seemed and Nephret now feared for her life. Nephret was planning to leave town but said that she would meet the Ravens at her house in a few hours to give them all the information she had. She also instructed them that if she was not able to meet them that the information would be hidden in a safe in her house.

Arriving at Nephret's house the group was attacked by undead. Being veterans of the Last War, the Ravens immediately identified the undead for what they were. Minions of the Emerald Claw. After dispatching the undead and recovering the information, the Ravens used their contacts to discover that "Dannae" is actually an outlaw elf named Demise, who has close ties to the Order of the Emerald Claw.


Items gained:

Ashurta's Blade - Bastion
Amulet of Protection +2 - Who got this?
Battle Standard of Might - Garviel

The Ravens:

Capt. Garviel - Kalashtar Cleric
Srgt. Bastion - Warforged Paladin
Lo-Kag - Goliath Fighter
Tym - Tiefling Warlock
Malachai - Deva Invoker

The adventure started off with a flashback to the Ravens final mission of the last war. The Ravens were sent to investigate a tower that the Order of the Emerald Claw was said be interested in as well.

The tower turned out to be inhabited by Kruthik and Dolgrim. Battle ensued. After the monsters were dispatched, two prisoners were discovered. Captain Bren Ir'Gaiden said that he and his assistant had been captured by the dolgrim. The Dolgrim were using some kind of magical mark on the ground to torture the assistant.

With only time for a short rest, the Order of the Emerald Claw showed up and attacked the Ravens. As the battle progressed, a strange fog began to cover the land. By the time the battle was over, the Mourning has swept over Cyre and destroyed it utterly. The Ravens were cut-off from thier home. The Ravens attempted to penetrate the mist surrounding Cyre but are unable to make it very far. They managed to rescue some survivors, including Malachai who had become trapped by the advancing mist.

Four years later, the group has gathered in Sharn to participate in the day of remembrance for those lost in the Mourning. Bren Ir'gaiden, who offered the Ravens sanctuary after the war, invited them to his home to share in his Remembrance gathering.

A the gathering, a Mournland demon attacked. The Ravens were able to save most of people present and kill the demon. They were also able to determine that the Demon had been summoned and sent to kill them specifically.

The Ravens tracked the demon back to a townhouse at the base of the Dolannan tower. The townhome was guarded by an assortment of gang members, including orks, shifters, changelings and a dolgaunt. The second floor of the building housed some kind of unstable arcane machine. After defeating the monsters and disabling the machine, the Ravens discovered that Bren ir'Gaiden's assistant, Aric Blacktree from many years ago was behind it all. He had used dark magic to give himself an Abberant Dragonmark and planned to use the machine to destroy the Dolannan tower. He was on his way right now with a smaller version of he machine to destroy Mourngrave university.

Aric sees himself as Tarkanan reborn, and wants to take back Sharn for House Tarkanan.

The Ravens grabbed an air coach and headed to the university to stop Aric. Aric had somehow found out that his arcane device had been disabled and was waiting to attack the Ravens as they headed to the university. An aerial battle ensued with Aric and his Goblins using Skysleds to assault the Sky Coach. After much leaping between and hanging onto the edge of the skysleds, Aric and his minions were defeated.

Items Gained:
Bright Jewel of il-yannth +1
Mithril Scale +1
Warforged Plating +1
Rod of Deadly Casting +1
Cape of the Montebank +1

XP is on the XP page.

At the beginning of the Last War, the nation of Karrnath was ravaged by famine and plagues. Karrnath turned to nercomancy and employed undead legions in order to continue thier fight in the last war. The fighting order known as the Order of the Emerald Claw also came to the aid of the beleagued nation, bolstering Karrnath's armies with experieced officers and soldiers. Considered little better than a terrorist organization by the other nations, the order soon occupied many high ranking positions in the Karrnathi military. Toward the end of the war, Regent Morranna and King Kaius dissovled the order and removed all of thier officers from positions of authority. Driven underground, the Order of the Emerald Claw operates throughout Khorvaire, formenting uprisings and performing terrorist acts.

During the Last War the Ravens often crossed paths with the the order of the Emerald Claw. The Emerald Claw became a nemesis to the Ravens and the two groups often stalked each other and went out of their way to ruin the others plans. To this day the Ravens and the Emerald Claw have a near kill-on-sight relationship.


There's a lot more to the story of Karrnath and the Order of the Emerald Claw. You can research it in-game or you might even know more if you happen to be from Karrnath.

Each of you had your reasons, maybe you were running from something, believed in something greater than yourself or you just thought Cyre was getting the raw end of the deal.

So you each enlisted in the military to fight for Cyre. You may have been here for awhile or a new recruit but somehow you ended up in the legion known as "The Champions of the Bell". Within that legion you were placed in a special ops unit known as "Raven unit" known for moving in quietly, hitting hard, and taking out tactical objectives behind enemy lines.

Your squad was led by a Kalashtar named Lt. Graviel Broncanous. He was young but was good at tactics, and his ability to telepathically link his whole squad together, so no actual verbal commands needed to be given was priceless.

Always at the Lt. side was a large warforged named Bastion. He was the Sgt. for your squad and handled any an all disputes squad related so the Lt. could concentrate more on what the squads next move was.

In the beginning you all had your problems, but over the years you worked together the squad became a well honed instrument of destruction to the foes of Cyre and you looked upon each other as family willing to die for the man next to you...

In the end Cyre was destroyed... The Raven unit was in the outlands of Cyre when the Mists rolled in creating the Mournlands. You spent your last months of service scouring the Mournland for survivors only to come back empty handed... Your unit was disbanded and you were left to your own devices...

That was 4 years ago.

So Updating my list from earlier, it looks like we have:

Craig - Human Cleric
Troy - Deva Invoker
Grant - Goliath Fighter
Steve - Teifling Warlock
Clay - Drow Assassain (I think?)
Grady - Kalashtar Paladin
Paul- Minotaur Barbarian

In the Last War you were each members of a special operations team working for the nation of Cyre. Your unit was known as the "Ravens." You were part of the larger Elite Cyran unit known as the Champions of the Bell. Your first adventure will start off with a flashback to the last mission the Ravens performed as a unit. It's up to you to decide how well you know the other memebers of the group. Did you you the Ravens just before that last mission or had you been a member for a while.

In most campaings your characters start as as "unknown goobers", not so in this game. The Ravens have a reputation. Among Cyrans and members of the five nations militaries the Ravens were a respected and often feared unit. You can expect Cyrans to be generally freidnly toward you will others may hate or fear you.

Even if you don't want create a full background for your character, decide where your was originally from. You can choose to be from anywhere you like but here are some suggestions:

Humans - come from all over, mostly the Five Nations, the most obvious choice would be Cyre, since that is who you worked for.

Deva - Deva's are very rare, of the few Devas that there are they seem to congregate in human lands of Breland and Cyre.Some have been known to live in the Eldeen Reaches among the Gatekeeper druids.Other live among the Kalashtar of Sarlona.

Goliath - The Goliaths were originally from Xendrik but have spread all over Khorvaire now. Due to their giant heritage they tend to like more mountainous regions such as the Mror Holds, Shadowcrags and Icehorn mountains.

Tiefling - Most Teiflings hail from the Demon Wastes, but there is also a significant population in the Shadow Marches, Droaam, the Eldeen Reaches, and parts of Andair.

Drow - Drow inhabit Xendrik almost exclusively. There are no known Drow communities outside of Xendrik.

Kalashtar - The Kalastar nation of Adar is on the continent of Sarlona. Most Kalashtar come from Adar but there a some who live among the human nations.

Minotaur- The Minotaurs who choose to interact with humans (rather than just eat them) mostly hail from Droaam, some live among the Druids of the Eldeen Reaches. Many nations use Minotaur mercenaries.