CorlanDashiva/Spoilers

If you are playing in my Abyssal game please do not read this, if not then comments are always welcomed

Plot

Basically, the campaign will be in three parts.

Part one sees the characters expanding the realm of the deathlord and becoming more powerful and well known in the South, as well as discovering a trove of First age treasures guarded by the Sidereals, but that the Sidereals cannot get into (only Solars essences can open it). They also discovered a sort of Super-Hearthstone produced by the Elemental pole of fire but had no idea how to use it and it was taken by the Deathlord. One of the PCs has also been approached by representatives of one of the Malfeans, who seems more awake than he should be. Part one ends with the invasion of Chairuscuro by strange beings made entirely of magical materials (Locust crusade reworked for Chairuscuro) while the Deathlord's forces are engaged with the First and Forsaken Lion (who will have been making plain his dislike for this expansion in the south. The PCs will be in Chairuscuro having just completed a mission and will have to fight their way out and back to assist their Deathlord, only to find he is dead.

Part two will feature the Alchemicals expanding around the shores and blocking all trade to the Realm. The PCs will be offered the chance to work for the First and Forsaken Lion, but it will be made clear that he will not trust them (their Monstrances have mysteriously vanished) so they will probably go independant. The Alchemicals will become more and more aggressive and will send teams to each of the elemental poles to try to capture the super hearthstones (the PCs should hopefully have retrieved the Fire stone, and if they can cut off one of the other teams they will have 2 to the Alchemicals 2). Then the Alchemicals will prepare for a massive offensive against the realm. The PCs will be kept busy in this time, but I'm not entirely sure how...

Part three will probably involve the PCs being approached and asked for help by some DBs (who risk being declared rogue for doing so - but if they can get a victory against the invaders then they will be heroes, even if it requires Anathema help). Without the Empress to run the realm defenses they will be hard pressed to stop the invasion, although they can hold them off for some time. They need to be able to take the battle to Autocthon, which is where the rather_more_awake_than_he_should_be Malfean comes in. He can open a portal, for the right price (many many deaths and lots of blood - can the PCs talk the DBs into agreeing?). Then we have the climactic final battle inside Autocthon as they try to shut down whatever is letting the Alchemicals into Creation.

Really only have nebulous ideas as to all of this, but that's the general idea...

Background

Way back in the dawn of time the Gods were planning to rise up against the Primordials. One of the Primordials represented the connections between all things and he could have put an end to the plan almost instantly by moving the Primordial armies to wherever the rebels were, as well as being able to hear everything ever said and see everything. To evade him, the Gods and the Exalts would meet up in the Wyld (they built a meeting place to protect themselves from the Wyld) where even he couldn't see clearly. They enlisted the help of Autocthon and he revealed that the Elemental poles were not just anchors to hold creation in place but also acted as super-manses, governing the flow of essence through all of creation. They could produce Hearthstones, with the proper equipment.

Through subterfuge, luck and lots of skill the Night caste were able to extricate a hearthstone from the Elemental pole of air, which was then implanted in a weapon especially made for the purpose. This weapon was enchanted to be all that a weapon could be, and they suspected that it was powerful enough that it could kill a Primordial directly (even without killing the Fetich Soul). The weapon, named the Glacial rain, was given to the most accomplished of the Night caste who snuck into the lair of the Primordial who was everywhere at once and slew him. This caused problems. He was never meant to die, and as his souls still lived he didn't, quite. Instead he became the Labyrinth. The Exalts sought to slay all of his souls that they could but some escaped into the newly formed Labyrinth and remained safe there.

The Solars were horrified at the problems the slaying caused Creation. The Glacial Rain was destroyed by the killing and the hearthstone shattered. Though the Solars could have collected it again, or gone to the other poles to collect stones they decided that such powers were best left alone, and they proceeded to fight on without. They thought that by killing all of the souls they could avoid another Labyrinth type error.

After another few deaths, it became apparent that killing the Primordials didn't help, although the later deaths sunk a lot deeper than the first they were still there (as the underworld) and could cause big problems in the long term. It was then that they demanded the surrender of the rest of the Primordials and bound them in Malfeas.

The Episodes so far

Episode 1: Blinded by the Dark and Seeker in Shadows were given the task of monitoring a Dragon Blooded party that had recently arrived in Chairuscuro. They spotted a few DBs and their slaves making for the South and decided to follow, reasoning that the party in Chairuscuro were a distraction. The DBs went straight to the Elemental pole and produced a strange device, which they used to force the Elemental pole to produce a Hearthstone, which they then took. Blinded by the Dark and Seeker in Shadows had been harassing the mortal helpers during the journey and killed them all while the DBs were at the Elemental pole, then ambushed the DBs when they came back. They were able to capture 2 and kill the rest, and took the Hearthstone back to their Deathlord, who was well pleased with their work.

Episode 2: The Deathlord has decided to expand his realm and has his sights set on a small kingdom in creation, near a shadowland. It is ruled over by a Lunar and the Deathlord tasks Blinded by the Light and Seeker in Shadows to "persuade" the Lunar to let them garrison troops there, using whatever means they find necessary. After preliminary scouting they find out that the king has an advisor who lives atop a nearby mountain, so they decide to work with the advisor - thinking to bribe or threaten him to do as they say. They make their way to the advisors place and discover he is actually a Sidereal who readily agrees to give them the kingdon in return for one month of their services. They contact their Deathlord and he agrees. The Lunar is betrayed by his advisor and the Kingdom falls easily to the Deathlord, then Blinded by the Light and Seeker in Shadows are left in the Sidereals command. He tells Seeker in Shadows to steal a small amount of Oricalchum from the Palace cellars as a test, and then sends them both into the Wyld, for reasons unknown...