Across Ages

You wake from the dream in a cold sweat, feeling as if you were dragged from it by force.* As always, the details of the dream are fuzzy, non-existent in your mind, save a soreness in your whole body from wounds you've never received. The faint smell of fire, blood, and dust lingers in your nostrils, too, just as it did last night, and the night before, and the night before. But they've never been stronger than they were after this night.... And still the only thing from the dream you can truly remember is a single phrase; Your skills are not befitting your destiny...yet. The voice is unfamiliar, unclear in your mind...unclear enough to become your own in memory.

You come down from the room which the Turathi have provided for you, to see the same Turathi mage, Aldaes, and the same Arkhosian warrior, Sakar. They had found you, somehow, and asked you to aid the kingdom of Bael Turath and the Empire of Arkhosia. The representatives of two of the three most powerful forces in the world stand at the center of a large, well-lit, obviously Turathi room. Brightly painted mosaics depicting the unification of Turath adorn the walls. The room's only furniture is a massive table bearing a map of the world. You have had your night to sleep on it, the human mage starts once all of you are standing around the map. Arkhosia and Bael Turath have sought you out for your unique sets of skills. We need a small group of adventurers who are willing to go into the deepest wilds and darkest depths for us, searching for an item of great importance. The rewards shall be any loot you can carry, in addition to a hefty sum paid to you upon your return with what you seek. You barely smirk as remember the additional reward they promised you in private.

Riches, glory, destiny call you! The word destiny rings in your ears and the phrase from your dream echoes in your head again. Your skills are not befitting your destiny...yet. The dragonborn cuts in, his voice deep and forceful. What say you!?

The great door to the far end of the room creaks open and in sweeps another man, tall and clad entirely in black armor from boot to gauntlet to breastplate, the latter bearing the Black Sovereign's holy symbol, an adamantine sceptre wreathed in red flame. Don't be so melodramatic, gentlemen. We don't yet even know that these are our men. He flashes a charismatic smile, as he sweeps to the table. Which is why they're going to help us with a little problem first. He does not bow, or even nod as he gives his name, Moraevian Vanhel.

We found them to get the book, not run Turathi errands, human, Sakar sneers, his scaly green mouth curling into a snarl.

Yes, well your bosses want to see if we chose well just as much as mine do, dragonborn. So unless you suggest sending them in the opposite direction to run errands for Arkhosia, take it up with your superiors as well as mine. He muscles his way between the angry dragonborn, a foot taller than himself, and Aldaes. Now, where were we? Ah yes, this town, here, he says, pointing to the map, a town named Tarzul, is having a problem getting its mage's guild up and running. It seems that someone keeps assassinating their leaders. Now, what we want you to do is go there and find out who is doing it and stop them. It's on your way and one of my men will meet you there to give you your real assignment. He gestures to a spot on the map. You know the spot to be officially Turathi territory, but the area is wild. Unconquered. Ununified. Riddled with fell forces. Make no mistake. What we're asking you to do is big. You will not only be retrieving an artifact of lore centuries old and of great use to both Arkhosia and Bael Turath, but you will also be inserting yourself into a power struggle that has been raging for ages, between the gods whose land ours rightfully is, and the dark forces which would claim it for themselves. You have three days to get to Tarzul. Aldaes, come. I have a job for you. And with that Moraevian smiles and sweeps from the room. Make no mistake, your rewards shall be great, should you prove worthy. Good luck, gentlemen!

Sakar was clearly still steaming when the great door shuts. He looks around the room at the combined Turathi and Arkhosian guard posted there, then back to you. What are you waiting for? he asks bitterly, trusting a smaller version of the map at you. Your destiny awaits. He turns and storms off, leaving you there, standing around the map.

*This is most unusual for races which don't usually sleep, because you have been sleeping on nights when the dreams come. As for races which don't sweat...well, let's not over-think this.


SPECIAL:
-The adventure will hopefully run from level 11 through to level 30.
-The tiefling, warforged, ashardi, and genasi races are not permitted, since they are not yet in existence in the campaign setting.
-Characters are level 11, and may be created using any published 4E material, aside from the aforementioned races and their support material. This means that each character could potentially have a race, class, theme, background, and paragon path at game's start.
-The Empire of Arkhosia and the fledgling kingdom of Bael Turath are currently in alliance. A dwarven empire, known in common as Elderforge, to the east is a neutral power.
-PM backstories to me. Include at least 3 enemies (can be organizations or powerful individuals), and something you've done that's become public enough for you to gain the attention of Bael Turath and Arkhosia.
-If you have any requests for the campaign, anything you would like to see, please let me know.

As of the moment I'll be playing a crossbow-wielding human rogue named Dirge, so I'll be a ranged Striker (DPS for you WoW guys). If need be, however, I have characters I can use to fill other roles as well...

Defenders (Tank)

Adimarchus Malevierri: Sarcastic, hot-shot human swordmage who fights with a glaive. Ancestor of my elitist tiefling psion Iados Maleveirri.

Baenard "Half-Helm" Halstaf: Dwarf fighter and former drow slave who has a metal plate where his left eye should be.

Controllers (AoE and De-Buffs)

Theodore "Hush" Hushman: Human necromancer wizard, con-man, and all around friend of the undead.

Nameless: An insect swarm given intelligence and the magical power to turn into a half-elf druid.

Leaders (Buffs and Healing)
Lt. First Class Andramalech Arjhansalar (One-Who-Sunders-the-Heart): Dragonborn warlord in the Arkhosian military eager to serve his country...and move up the ranks. His ancestor slew the legendary red dragon Trogdoramanader.

"Dr." Vathek Moretti: Half-elf artificer, alchemist, amateur medical professional, and wanted outlaw whose left hand is actually made of magic. Has a mechanical animal assistant named Tinker.

Other Strikers (DPS)

Xaldin of the White Well: A human avenger-barbarian-ranger who wields two swords in the service of the god of freedom and is way cooler and stronger than Lucca.


Character sheet coming soon.

I currently have a write-up for one character, and an out of date write-up for another. Jolly, you will not have to play any character you do not wish to, as I will have an NPC fill in any empty role. That said, we may be working on an all-striker party, which could be interesting.

Again, I have two people who've expressed interest in playing, so please PM me a character history and post a character sheet if you are interested.