The heroes learn the price of victory as they race to acquire the last of the Instruments of Power. Through dark tunnels and burning deserts the party hurries towards the final confrontation and the decision that must be made.
1: Hats
| 
| Hits: 949
5 Saille 2045
The chill of winter still hung over Brallian when the Bard's Hearth arrived in the harbor of the Eirsudian capitol. During three weeks at sea, the ship had sailed from the balmy shores of Hellenas back to the chilly Kelltic nations of Avillonia. The trip had been quiet as the various members of the party spent their times studying and practicing, avoiding long discussions of the upcoming trip to the heart of their enemies' stronghold.
2: Escorts
| | Hits: 821
8 Saille 2045
As the party returned to their inn from the meeting with Father Gillifin, they discussed ideas for how they were going to get Rhongomyant away from the Baroness Eilservs.
3: Caverns
| | Hits: 866
12 Saille 2045
Bilbus walked stiffly, grumbling about the pain he felt but refusing offers to let him ride in the cart.
4: Baronies
| | Hits: 955
13 Saille 2045
Bilbus led the party back through the ghettos to a bridge across the dark river in its wide culvert. They crossed the bridge, passing the guards who watched over the bridge as well as the shopkeepers who ran the shops on the bridge. Into the more crowded and cacophonous part of Erelhei Cinlu the party trekked, following the twisting, narrow roads that eventually led to the one wide avenue in the city, the road that connected the city's main gate with the gate to the Nobles' Cavern. When Bilbus reached the wide avenue, he turned right.
5: Escapes
| | Hits: 899
13 Saille 2045
Rishala quickly crawled down the exterior of the mansion, taking advantage of the dweomer he had used to get he and Kasey up the exterior. Sturm was at the window overhead, looking back into the room to make sure Kasey was still following.
6: Pursuits
| | Hits: 917
14 Saille 2045
The watchman stood on the wall of the Arabel Cinlu Citadel, next to the front tower. The watch commander had ordered him to blow the alarm horn without elaborating why, but the watchman was not about to ask. Any use of the alarm horn was serious. He took a deep breath and blew again, thankful that the mouthpiece had warmed in his cupped hands. The chill in Arabel Cinlu's valley was sharp this evening, even so soon after sunset.
7: Holds
| | Hits: 895
15 Saille 2045
Sir Artgal jumped down from his horse. "You will follow me to the commander's office." He waited for the party to dismount. Breanna wobbled in her saddle, but no one budged. "If you prefer the cold, so be it. The commander will not be pleased." He turned sharply and strode towards the front door.
8: Interventions
| | Hits: 829
17 Saille 2045
A light snow had started by the time the party had returned to the Sun's Shadow Inn. The hearth fire was warm in the common room, and it quickly cut through the chill of the night air. No one else was in the common room -- indeed, none of the inns near the Sunkeep showed signs of business. It was far quieter than the last time the party had visited Llwelyn.
9: Tunnels
| | Hits: 835
21 Saille 2045
Bilbus had led the column for most of the afternoon, holding Uther's battle flag above him. The initial giddiness wore off, leaving Bilbus with a slight scowl, lost in thought.
10: Shadows
| | Hits: 876
24 Saille 2045
A number of hours passed on the dark Island. When Eric stirred, it was just as dark as when he had gone to sleep. His friends were just waking, as well, but the rest of the camp was busy with troops loading equipment onto wagons and otherwise making ready to leave. Pages brought food to the party and started rolling their sleeping bags.
11: Armies
| | Hits: 825
30 Saille 2045
The sun rose the following morning far too soon for the exhausted army. As cold men gathered around fires, Sir Goudge made his report to Eric.
12: Rallies
| | Hits: 903
19 Nuin 2045
Bilbus strode up the avenue, enjoying the warmth of the day. The chill of the Avillonian winter was already a distant memory, and the heat was milder than Bilbus had expected. The crowds on the avenue were courteous, giving Bilbus and his friends plenty of room as the walked along towards the noisy bazaar ahead. Even from here, it was obvious that the bazaar was larger than all of the markets of Arabel Cinlu combined. It was also far livelier. Colorful tents and colorful merchants created a tapestry of clashing colors, and the noise of competing merchants formed a wall of sound that only got louder as the party got closer.
13: Wastes
| | Hits: 877
29 Nuin 2045
The sun's rays stretched across the sands, breaking the chill of the desert night. The air was still as the vast camp of the army clamored with activity as men, elves, and orcs disassembled tents and prepared morning meals.
14: Confrontations
| | Hits: 860
14 Huathe 2045
As the battle raged outside the crumbling palace, Bilbus carefully weaved another casting. This one he bound to a magickal trigger he could activate. Considering no one knew what they were going to find inside the inner bailey of the castle, Bilbus thought it best if he could make everyone move much faster. However, Bilbus knew his mastery of dweomer crafting was not good enough to affect all of his friends. He decided that Rishala knew the right weaving of Heka, so Rishala could fend for himself.
15: Reflections
| | Hits: 848
23 Huathe 2046
It was a pleasant spring morning. A few billowy clouds drifted in the brilliant blue sky overhead, and birds sang in the trees alongside the road. Bilbus and Adria rode side-by-side along the road, their horses' hooves clop-clopping on the hard-packed dirt.
DMC Epilogue
| | Hits: 898
4th April 2004
It's about an hour before I'm leaving to run the climatic session of this campaign, Book IV/Chapter 14: Confrontations, and I decided to sit down and look at updating this epilogue. I like a lot of the original content, which I wrote 2 1/2 years ago, so I'll keep it here with some editing and updating. They were mostly my thoughts on the campaign as of that time, so early in the story that my gray notebook, where I kept my chapter notes, was full of ideas for the Dark Mysteries Campaign, with a few pages stuffed into the end of it for "future" ideas. Now, the Dark Mysteries story arc is almost empty -- two or three sheets of paper with my notes for the wedding (Chapter 15: Reflections), and one sheet that's almost empty with a sentence for a chapter that could have been used if the party didn't figure out what they needed to do to save the world.