The Afterlife

Even amongst the most knowledgable of mortals, little is known of the whys and hows of the afterlife of Gemnos, but this much is known.

When a creature dies, its soul travels to the Underworld or it has sold its soul, in which case it goes directly to Hell. Sages speculate that this is why demons and devils work so hard to corrupt mortals. By striking a deal with a mortal, they bypass the 100 years of negotiations and possibly also steal souls they wouldn't have gotten otherwise. The only other exception to this is when a creature is killed by Destruction or Disintegrate, in which case the soul is also destroyed.

After the ten days of traveling through the veil, the soul arrives in the Underworld. Why it takes a soul 10 days to pierce the veil, no one knows, but those 10 days is the window during which a soul can be brought back by the use of Raise Dead. It is however impossible to contact a soul while it is passing through the veil.

Then, for the next 100 years, the soul will roam the Underworld as an incorporeal ghost, during which time Heaven and Hell will bargain with Cyric for it. If the soul has unfinished business, it will usually already be able to pierce the veil and return from time to time to the mortal world and haunt it.

At the end of the 100 years, the soul will either become as a creature of the Underworld (and possibly continue to haunt the mortal world) or travel to Heaven or Hell and be reborn there. It is during those 100 years that a creature can be brought back to life by the use of Resurrection and contacted using Speak with Dead. Once a creature is reborn, nothing short of divine intervention or True Resurrection will enable someone bring it back to life. Even with True Resurrection, there is little to do once the soul has grown used to its new body, something which happens another 100 years down the line.

Ironville Crossing

Size
26.000 inhabitants (halfling 10%, elf 5%, dwarf 3%, gnome 3%, half-elf 2%, half-orc 3%, dragonborn 1% and tieflings 1%)

Leader
Warlord Sophie Ran

Coat of Arms
Boar on green cloth


Known Power Players
House of Nobles

Location
Ironville is located on the Iron Isle, an island in the middle of the Yokar river, in the central part of the Seven Army Nation.

First impressions
Being located on island in a river makes Ironville a bit different from other cities of the same size. Only 600 meters from the northern to the southern wall, the city is more than 3 kilometers from its westernmost to its easternmost point.

The city is dotted with many large manors, belonging to the noble families of Ironville Crossing. All entrances and exits in town go through ancient stone towers made by dwarves.

Six gargantuan bridges span the river, connecting the Iron Isle to the mainland, both to the north and the south.

History
Back before anything was ever built on Iron Isle, the place acted as meeting place for local villages. Leaders met here, with a mutual agreement that it was a place of peace. Eventually a city was built here, but it was, as most other cities, destroyed during the Second Demon War.

When people returned, after the Second Demon War, many of the first settlers claimed nobility, and before long, the growing city had more than 200 noble families. Power struggles filled the day-to-day agenda for almost 20 years, until Ragan Thork emerged and took the mantle as Warlord. Since then, the warlord of Ironville Crossing has always had to deal with the many noble families running the city.

Back in the day, when the city had not yet had it's city walls rebuilt, the then settlement was threatened by the now extinct Bloodtusk Orcs from Oakwood. The settlement was saved by the ranger Trenigar, who not only fought like a demon asking the green-skinned menace, but single-handedly slew their war-chief and then infiltrated their lair and killed their elders and shamans, putting an end to any plans of expansion they may have had. A 30' foot tall marble statue of Trenigar stands at the Main gate.

Bane used to have a strong presence in the city, but following the Bane-Bahamut Holy War in 5779,  riots occurred and the temple, which had survived the Second Demon War was torn down, after the clergy fled the city. The Temple ground is now considered cursed and still stands in ruins, in the middle of the city, 80 years later.

Religion
Since the Holy War, the three main churches in Ironville have been Torm, Lathander and Bahamut.

Now

Even though the number of noble families has been set at 100, the remaining still wield considerable power and influence. Or so they used to. It seems that Sophie Ran only feints listening to the House of Nobles and usually with her mind already made up. This does not make the nobles happy, but with the army loyal to a fault, no one dares moving against her at the moment. 

House of Nobles

The House of Nobles, or just the House for short, has been the main advisory voice to the warlords of Ironville Crossing. Each of the 100 noble families has a seat there, and they meet once a week to discuss where Ironville is heading and what can be done. Whatever they agree and vote on, is presented to the Warlord.

Traditionally most warlords have always been present at these proceedings, but according to word on the street, Sophie Ran has yet to show her face in the Mandate, which is the name of the building where the meetings are held.

The meetings, which are famous for sometimes lasting days, when tempers are hot, are otherwise closed to the public.

Session 13

Day 60

After going early to sleep, Chavron, Arath, Petyr and Nevron get up in the middle of the night to thwart the supposed magical attack that is coming. The golems are hidden in the Big Boobs Barn, while the four defenders lurk nearby and wait.

Around 4 am, a portal (Arcane Gate) opens up on the wall, and Starkhold soldiers flood the ramparts. Chavron, Arath, Petyr and Nevron strike back, while the golems block the enemies from getting down from the wall. As the ramparts fill up, and all seem under control, a wizard comes through the gate, closes it and opens another one, this time from the wall directly to the balcony of the palace. Soldiers from the wall storm through, quickly followed by most of the defenders, minus two golems and Nevron who are left behind.

The battle is moved to the palace, where Chavron, Arath, Petyr and Nevron manage to deal with the mage and the Starkhold soldiers before they kill Lord Delacroix and Jaren Sunwell, the elven council-member.

They are obviously very happy with Chavron, Arath, Petyr and Nevron. But Delacroix also admits to them that Ashfield probably won't hold. They need our heroes to head to Ironville and strike a deal with Sophie Ran. Delacroix would go himself, but doubt he would be able to make the trip alive. Our heroes seem to be Ashfield's only hope. However, an alliance is worth nothing if Ashfield is taken or sacked.

They have located and identified one or more of the immediate leaders of the Starkhold army. They reside in an old mill, reachable by Arcane Gate, which they have two scrolls off. So Chavron, Arath, Petyr and Nevron have Charming Charlie open the gate and our heroes sneak from the forest to the mill. Disguised as Starkhold soldiers, they bluff the guards and make them leave. They enter the mill and face the leader, his pyromancer and his bodyguard. After a long and close fight, they manage to kill the enemies. Unfortunately, when Nevron attempts to open a gate from mill's roof, the spell fails. Instead they have to sneak back.

Random Rules

Effect of Surprise. A creature that is surprised cannot move or take actions until after its first turn in the battle.

Moving Around Other Creatures. You can’t move through an enemy’s space unless it is two sizes larger or smaller than you. In contrast, you can move through an ally’s space, but you can’t stop there.

Instant Death. Massive damage can kill you instantly. When damage reduces you to 0 hit points and there is damage remaining, you die if the remaining damage equals or exceeds your hit point maximum.

Moving Diagonally. Entering a square diagonally costs 11⁄2 squares of movement. This rule means you must have at least 2 squares of movement left to enter your first square diagonally, and every 2 squares you move diagonally uses up 3 squares of movement.

Charge: To charge, you choose a target that is at least 10 feet away from you. You move up to half your speed to a position where that target is within your reach, and then you make a melee attack against it. After the attack, your turn ends.

The Effects of Being Stable. A stable creature doesn’t make death rolls, even though it has 0 hit points, but it does remain unconscious. The creature stops being stable, and must start making death rolls again, if it takes any damage. A stable creature that is not healed regains 1 hit point after 1d4 hours.

Longer Casting Times. Certain spells require more time to cast: minutes or even hours. If you take damage while you are casting a spell that requires more than a single action or reaction, you must succeed on a Constitution saving throw to continue casting the spell. The DC equals half the damage you just took. If you take damage from multiple sources, such as from an arrow and a dragon’s breath, you make a saving throw against each source of damage separately. If you fail the save, the spell fails, but it is not expended. If you want to cast the spell again, you must start over.

Session 12

Day 58

The next day, the Starkhold army, which is now encircling the town of Ashfield, launches it's first attacks. It manages to break a hole in the south-western wall, but our heroes quickly arrive and make the difference in a long and drawn-out battle, which ends when they push back or kill all those who have come through, and order the golems to plug the hole .

Day 59

Later, during the night, Arath and Nevron sneak out of town, in order to magical compel some info from the enemy and also have them destroy as many siege engines and catapults as possible. Unfortunately, they prove very resistant (or lucky) to the magical suggestions of Nevron, and while 4 catapults are destroyed, it is far too little to make a difference. They do however learn a couple of interesting pieces of info. The next night, a magical attack is coming, and after Ashfield, the army's plan is to head east towards Ironville Crossing. They also learn that the enemy knows of the golems and the wand that controls it.

Once back in Ashfield, after getting a fake wand made, to fool the Starkhold army, they go check on Elias, as he has been missing for a couple of days. They suspect he is somehow involved with the magical attack or the acquisition of the wand.

They find the Twins' Church locked and guarded, but Nevron convinces the guards to let them in.

Inside, they find Elias is sitting, naked in the light of 4 candles, with blood flowing from his eyes.

I have been chosen. The Twins have taken an interest in you and chosen me as the method of communication. Now I see.

He then starts to convulse and continues, with an odd voice:

 Four things will define your greatness.

The army in the shadows that wants to rule mankind.

The deadly trio that will cover the world in plague and ruin.

The forgotten one that wants to destroy the world.

And your death at the hands of an ally.

Elias then wakes up…

Someone get me a cigar..

Naturally, the heroes are quite surprised by this, but also skeptical. However when Elias offers to answer any questions they may have in a Zone of Truth, they relax somewhat.

They hurry back to get some sleep, before the supposed magical attack.

Session 11

Day 57

The northern part of Ashfield is under attack, and Navron, Chevron and Arath have been asked by Lord Michael Delacroix to rescue his son, who is trapped up there. Not only is he  his son, but also privy to a lot of information about the town and it's army.

Imbued with Water Breathing by Charming Charlie, the three friends walk across the river floor and emerge in the northern part, which is in chaos. The Starkhold army is getting picked up by boats, while the town is burning. From the screams, lots of people seem to have been imprisoned in the burning buildings. Seems uncharacteristically brutal, considering José Stark's reputation.

Navron, Chevron and Arath pass through the town in disguise, finding Delacroix' town house, which is burning. Arath rescues the son who is inside, trapped beneath burning debris. He is grateful, but has a broken leg and thus movement is slow.

Somehow their cover is broken and they more or less have to fight their way from the house through a burning town to the harbor, which is now almost empty. They jump into a boat and row back to their own forces, wondering why the Starkhold army doesn't attack from the water, but instead seem determined to encircle the town to the south.