Amethyst Guard

The Amethyst Guard was a group of adventurers in Penator.

Membership

 * Callisto Xanthos - Female human fighter.
 * Lizard - Male lizardfolk rogue.
 * Richter - Male human wizard.
 * Sai - Male human monk.
 * Vorelyth Sunscale - Female dragonborn sorcerer.

Former Members

 * Gilia - Female gnome wizard.
 * Sigurd Weissritter - Male human barbarian.
 * Winnea Revellis - Female human ranger.

The Sunless Citadel
In the winter of 2971, a band of adventurers set out from the village of Oakhurst for the ruins of the Sunless Citadel in Penator. They never returned. A wealthy family member of two of their number, a brother and sister, subsequently hired a second band of adventurers to investigate: Callisto Xanthos, a human fighter; Gilia, a gnome wizard; Lizard, a lizardfolk rogue; Vorelyth Sunscale, a dragonborn sorcerer; and Winnea Revellis, a human ranger. The five had met on the road from Eastport, and were helping Winnea search for her kidnapped fiancé, Sigurd Weissritter.

The villagers told them that there was a tribe of goblins living in the Sunless Citadel. Every year, the goblins would come to Oakhurst to sell a single fruit, an apple of perfect hue that could cure any ailment when eaten. Though expensive, the villagers would find a way to purchase it. Though they had tried planting the seeds, the resulting sapling was a twiggy mass of twisted vines that, inevitably, disappeared shortly after reaching about two feet in height. They suspected the goblins of stealing them to maintain their monopoly, but had never caught them.

The adventurers hiked to the citadel, which was buried in a ravine in the Ashen Plain. Within they found not goblins, but a tribe of kobolds and their queen, Yusdrayl. Parlaying with the kobolds, they learned that it was once home to worshipers who venerated a red dragon named Ashardalon. The goblins, who dwelt in another part of the citadel. The adventurers followed her directions to the goblins, from whom they rescued a gnomish cleric named Erky Timbers who had been captured by goblin bandits while traveling. He explained that the goblins were servants of a wizard named Belak, who used the goblins to tend to something called the Gulthias Tree, on which the enchanted fruits grew. While one fruit grew in midsummer and could cure any ailment, a pale fruit grew in midwinter and was deadly poison. Though he didn't know why the tree was important, or why the goblins sold the fruit in Oakhurst, he did know that the previous group of adventurers had been captured a month earlier and sent to Belak in the lower levels of the citadel. Together with Erky they continued their exploration, though nearly perished after surprising a white dragon wyrmling named Calcryx that had escaped from the kobolds and turned a chamber of the citadel into its lair. Eventually, they found the goblins' chieftain, who kept a pot with a twiggy mass of twisted vines growing from it. When combat inevitably broke out, the plant turned out to be a living being when it climbed out of its pot and attacked them alongside the chief.

In the chieftain's throne room was a large well, lined with thick vines. Climbing down into it, they found the chamber floors to be covered with a layer of earth and mulch, from which still more of the twiggy plant creatures attacked. While exploring, they found one chamber in which the goblins had caged a gorilla. There seemed to be a hint of recognition in its eyes when it saw Winnea, and when she found a familiar signet ring, they realized that the gorilla was in fact her fiancé, Sigurd, somehow transformed into a beast. Taking Sigurd with them, they continued until they found a large underground grove, at the center of which was an evil-looking tree, its blackened branches twisting upward as though it were a skeletal hand reaching out of the ground. There they found both Belak and the two adventurers they sought, seemingly guarding the wizard. Belak explained that long ago, someone had staked a vampire here, and the stake had taken root, growing into the Gulthias Tree. He commanded the goblins to disperse the fruit's seeds on the surface, where they would grow into twig blights and therefore spread the "children of Gulthias." The adventurers at his side had been "accepted" by the tree, and now obeyed his commands. His explanation given, Belak attempted to subdue the adventurers but was slain in the ensuing battle. When Vorelyth set the tree on fire, it blazed quickly and, as it crumbled to ash, Belak's two adventurers died with it. The band collected their signet rings, as requested, and returned them to their family in Oakhurst. Though they had largely succeeded in their quest, they were somewhat concerned by the question of how many twig blights had been unleashed upon the world by the goblins.

The Forge of Fury
A few weeks later, the adventurers found themselves in the town of Blasingdell. There, a noble named Baron Gustav Althon hired them to search the dwarven ruins to the north for a legendary cache of weapons forged by the dwarven smith Durgeddin. Before setting out, they were warned that the ruins had been claimed by a band of orcs. After carefully watching the guards, they managed to ambush them and prevent an alarm from being raised, then slipped inside and descended to the caverns below. There they encountered a tribe of troglodytes, but only after slaying them did they discover they were only protecting their young. The group decided to take the troglodyte children with them, as they could not survive on their own, though they were unnerved by Winnea's disdainful treatment of them. At the back of the caverns, where an underground river had channeled out a series of narrow passages, they found an old, abandoned dwarven storeroom. The path ahead was blocked by a dangerous roper, but rather than find another way around Winnea distracted it by feeding it the young troglodytes, to the horror of her companions. Beyond the storeroom they found a path up to the dwarven foundry, which had been claimed by duergar. Though a fight initially broke out, they were eventually able to negotiate a truce, and the duergar warned them that the upper hallways were infested with undead, while the lower led to the chasm below, now the lair of a black dragon named Nightscale.

After clearing out the undead, the party descended into the watery caverns below. Gilia fell into the rushing water and was nearly swept away until she was rescued by Lizard, but they had only barely rejoined their companions when Nightscale ambushed them. Eventually, they were able to drive the dragon into retreating; after discovering its hoard, they took as much as they good carry and returned to Blasingdell. While the villagers were grateful for the elimination of the orcs, Baron Althon was overjoyed at the weapons they had found and delivered to him.

Night of the Vampire
Baron Althon explained that he was a collector of weaponry, and was impressed enough by their services that he wished to enter into further business arrangements. Before discussing the matter, though, he asked them to join him at his manor in Keiramos, where he would be holding a ball in two weeks' time in honor of the betrothal of his niece, Lania.

When the adventurers arrived, they were introduced to Lania, Baroness Selena, and the variety of Penatoran nobles who had also come for the ball: Lania's betrothed, Lord Iago Montblanc, and his father, Lord Mateo Montblanc; Lady Constantina Brezovo; Lord Vasily Ourosco; and Lord Hugo Strolojca. They also learned that a distant cousin of the Baron's, Lord Andrew, was staying there as well but not expected to appear until dinnertime. The day began with a series of competitive games: archery, horsemanship, and even swordplay. Callisto decided to participate in the tournament of swordplay, in which she defeated Lord Strolojca. The Lord was bitter in defeat, and stalked off the field in anger.

That night at dinner, Lady Brezovo told them that Keiramos used to belong to the Ourosco family, leading to a rivalry that had persisted for nearly a century. After the arrival of Lord Andrew, Iago joked that Andrew did not seem to like him much, and was perhaps jealous of his betrothal to Lania. The ball turned out to be a masquerade. Lord Andrew dressed as a jester and proved skillful with the lute, while Lady Brezovo flirted relentlessly with the party behind a cat's mask and Lord Mateo Montblanc, refusing to participate, warned them to be wary of Lord Ourosco. Lord Ourosco, meanwhile, asked them to meet him in the parlor to discuss an opportunity he wished to pay them for. When the arrived, they instead found Ourosco's men who attempted to kill them. Taking up the arms hanging on the wall, the band easily defeated the thugs, who confessed that Lord Ourosco wanted them out of the way while his assassins targeted the Baron. The adventurers rushed to his chambers in time to save the Baron's life from the would-be-assassins, who turned out to be the musicians hired for the party. The sound of horses and a carriage alerted them to Lord Ourosco already fleeing; as they had no hope to catch him, they returned to the ball.

Shortly after returning to the ballroom, the masquerade was interrupted by a scream. They found Lania lying on the floor in the dining room, pale and cold and breathing shallowly. Noticing the bite marks on her neck, they quickly deduced that she had been attacked by a vampire; the Baron ordered the guards to secure all of the guests in the ballroom. They quickly determined, however, that Lady Brezovo, Lord Andrew, Lord Strolojca, and Iago were missing and the adventurers began searching for them. They found Iago first, drained of blood with his throat ripped open. In his pocket was a note from Lord Andrew demanding he break off the betrothal and threatening him if he did not. Concluding that Lord Andrew must be the vampire, they continued their search for the others and found Lord Strolojca dead on his bed, his throat slashed by a dagger. Lady Brezovo was found safe in her room, and readily agreed to return to the ballroom with the rest of the guests.

Shortly after they arrived, they discovered that a servant had brought Lania to her bed to rest; they rushed to her chambers and found her guards murdered, and burst through the door to find Lord Andrew crouched over her. He gloated that they would never see the sun rise, before transforming into mist and fleeing through the window. Though Lania survived, she was only barely hanging on. Despite her condition, they ordered her brought back to the ballroom so as to keep everyone together and deny Andrew the opportunity to pick off his victims. A few hours before sunrise, the ballroom windows shattered as a horde of wolfs and bats crashed through them and began causing havoc. While the adventurers tried to deal with the wolves, Lord Andrew himself appeared and attacked them, but they were able to hold him off until, badly wounded, he returned to mist and retreated once more.

When dawn came, they began a search for Andrew's coffin to destroy him. They met Lord Montblanc in the foyer, who was preparing to return him with his son's body. When they told him they intended to destroy Andrew, he gave them a scroll of protection and a magical dagger and said he would leave the matter in their hands. Though their search was at first fruitless, a servant eventually mentioned seeing Andrew in the cellars just before dawn a few days ago. When they investigated, they found a secret door that led to the coffin, and plunged a wooden stake through Andrew's heart, destroying him. Baron Althon thanked them profusely for saving his daughter from a terrible fate. Though the night's event's meant he had more immediate concerns and could no longer employ them he gifted them each a weapon from his private collection as a reward.

The Speaker in Dreams
Having slain a vampire, the heroes decided to celebrate by heading down the coast to Brindinford for their annual street fair. The fair was interrupted by a sudden attack by wererats, which they handily dispatched, keeping one alive for questioning. The wererat confessed that they were hired by a sorceress called "The Blessed" to attack the fair, and to specifically kill as many guards as they could. He met the sorceress in the back room of a bookshop somewhere in the West Hill district, but was taken there while blindfolded and didn't think he could find it again. The wererat believed that the sorceress was insane, as she claimed to hear voices in her dreams. After turning him over to the guards, the adventurers began investigating West Hill and learned of a recent number of grisly deaths in the poorer parts of the city. As they searched for the bookshop, the air around them suddenly seemed to warp and split open, as a huge wormlike creature emerged out of nothingness into the street. After slaying the creature, the local guards remarked how odd it was that the paladins at the nearby shrine of Bahamut hadn't arrive, as they were usually very aware of the happenings in West Hill.

The heroes sought out the shrine, only to discover a band of cultists attempting to kidnap the junior paladin, Torea; after they rescued her, she said they had already carried off her superior, Alein. However, she recognized one of the cultists at having been at the Reality Wrinkle bookshop a week prior, when a man died in a mysterious accident. When the heroes entered the bookshop and felt a disorienting wave of vertigo and unease, they knew they were in the right place. Passing through the back room, they discovered a hidden staircase and, at the bottom, found gibbering mouther and a group of cultists preparing to sacrifice Alein. After killing them, Alein admitted she did not understand what their plan was; they raved in nonsense and babbled about the apocalypse, and she eventually stopped listening. Further in they found more cultists and a sorceress would could only be The Blessed. Though she summoned another aberrant worm, the heroes ultimately slew it and vanquished her.

Word of their victory spread quickly, and a group of merchants threw together an impromptu feast in their honor. One presented each of them with a fine silver brooch set with an amethyst; inspired by this, they decided to call themselves the Amethyst Guard. When they at last departed the feast, a voice beckoned them into a nearby alley. Turning in to investigate, they were met with a blast of lightning magic and a group of assassins who attempted to kill them. Realizing that their job was not yet over they retired to rooms graciously gifted to them at a nearby inn and resolved to begin anew in the morning. As they slept, though, their dreams were filled with unintelligible words and incomprehensible images of an alien world. The last thing they heard before they woke was a tormented voice crying, "The bells toll! The gate swings wide!"

In the morning, it was announced that Baron Euphemes the II would be speaking to the people. The adventurers made their way to the square before the baron's keep, where the baron lamented the chaos that had gripped the city, and the assassination attempt on the heroes who sought to save them. Declaring marshal law, he commanded that the fair immediately close, that all citizens be indoor before nightfall, that the possession of weapons was prohibited, that none may enter or leave the city until further notice, and that the temple of Pelor - which he blamed for failing to protect the city - be closed and its priests arrested. Declaring that defiance would be punished by death, he returned inside as a fiendish creature with a scorpion tail appeared on the rooftop. Soon after, a pillar of flame burst forth from the dome atop the temple of Pelor, as the baron's distinctly-fiendish-looking militia began marching through the streets, carrying out his orders without mercy.

The few townsfolk willing to talk confessed that while Euphemes wasn't exactly popular, he was generally regarded as a benevolent authoritarian; though his taxes were perhaps steeper than they should have been, he was never cruel. Deducing that the baron must be controlled, the heroes decided that their first act would be to investigate the temple of Pelor. Inside, they beheld a massive column of hellfire constantly erupting from a gaping pit in the floor, recognizing it as an open portal to the Nine Hells. Everywhere they looked they saw desecrated symbols of Pelor, and it wasn't long before they were attacked by hell hounds, infernal clerics led by a tiefling in black armor, and ultimately the scorpion-tailed creature from atop the keep: a bone devil. Though they eventually purged the temple of all its hellish occupants, they were at a loss as to how to close such a massive portal.

Shifting their focus, they headed instead to the keep and snuck into the baron's chambers, where they found a mind flayer and an oni conversing while the baron sat nearby, clearly enthralled. The battle was fierce, with both the mind flayer and the oni trying very hard to kill the heroes, until a mishap with one of the mind flayer's magic items caused a blast that drained every spellcaster in the room and dispelled every magical effect... Including Sigurd's transformation, restoring him to human form. As he stook in shock, his companions quickly finished off their foes. The baron, now freed from the mind flayer's control, apologized for his actions while under their thrall and immediately rescinded his orders from the previous day. His humanity restored, Sigurd confronted Winnea: despite being in the form of a gorilla, he was still aware of his surroundings, and he had seen how Winnea treated her companions and those weaker than her, and did not like it. Therefore, he was breaking off their engagement. Winnea was not particularly concerned, and within the day had gotten re-engaged to Baron Euphemes and decided to remain in Brindinford with him.

The next morning, the band set off fir Eastport in search of assistance in closing the portal within the ruined temple. Asking around, they were directed to a wizard known as Oronnis the Magnificent. He agreed to help them, though demanded a hefty fee for his services. Being the only powerful spellcaster around, however, they were forced to accept his aid. He traveled back to Brindinford with them and began the ritual to close the portal. As it neared completion, however, a massive pit fiend emerged and devoured him. Before it could turn against the Amethyst Guard, however, a mysterious human wearing the holy symbol of Hieroneous emerged and struck it down with a blade glowing with radiant light. As the party completed Oronnis's ritual and finished sealing the portal, however, he collapsed into unconcsciousness. They brought him to the shrine of Bahamut, where the paladins agreed to keep watch over him until he awoke.


 * The Standing Stone
 * Midnight in the City of Brass
 * Myrkara's Hoard
 * Heart of Nightfang Spire