Spire OS

"'Most apocalypses are well-announced. This one came quietly. One morning, you woke up, and the sun refused to shine.' "The World of Myra (pronounced Mee-rah) has been thrown into chaos. The sun has disappeared, covered by thick black clouds even the most powerful magic cannot disrupt. Blood rains from the sky, and crops are dying. Fiendish beasts of chaos and evil roam freely, attacking anyone brave enough to venture out of their homes.

Shining on the horizon, visible in all corners of the world, is a glowing orb, brighter than any star. Rumor has it that if you can make it there, you will find the source of this madness. No one who has ventured forth has ever returned.

Five brave adventurers, however, think they have what it takes to save Myra from destruction.

Players
Dungeon Master: Emilie
 * Mr. B
 * Cifrís
 * Calmaea
 * Trafalceen Windsailor
 * The Werewolf Lord

"And So It Begins"
Our protagonists start their journey separately, each following the mysterious "star" for their own purposes. The Pit Fiend, Cifrís, has had no trouble with lesser monsters and makes it to a crossroad with ease. There, he sees two groups approaching from different directions. Calmaea and Trafalceen had met up earlier, agreeing to travel together for the time being for safety purposes. Mr. B and the Werewolf were also both traveling in the same direction, but neither trusted the other. The five interrogate each other as to their intentions, and, realizing they have similar goals, decide to temporarily join forces.

After being attacked by a strange, tentacled beast, they continue to follow the "star". Eventually, they reach the city of Valley, located at the very edge of the Maeran mountain range. They find the town in the middle of a riot, which infuriates the order-oriented Mr. B. He barges in and terrifies the townspeople into submission. Jeffery, the mayor of the town, nervously explains that the people are demanding more rations.

Meanwhile, Trafalceen and Cifrís have wandered off in search of an armor shop. When Trafalceen finds one abandoned, he decides to steal what he wants while Cifrís tries and fails to corrupt him.

Also meanwhile, the Werewolf has noticed a rather delicious looking goat that he desperately wants for dinner. He transforms and pounces on it, causing even more panic among the people. Calmaea decides to put an end to that and turns invisible before reverting to her dragon form. She picks up the Werewolf and escorts him out of the city while Mr. B deals with the town.

The avatar of Bane decides that the best way to deal with the food shortage is to fix the population issue. He divides the people, putting people 50 and older on one side of the town square and throwing a fireball into their midst. He speaks some more with Jeffery and tells him to redistribute the rations fairly among the remaining people. The mayor explains that Maeraneth, the dragon that dwells in the mountains behind them, will not be happy with this development. Mr. B promises that he will slay this dragon before dismissing himself to find the rest of his party.

The band of misfits reassemble after Calmaea successfully calms down the Werewolf, and together they venture forth into the valley the town is named for. It takes them no time at all to find the red dragon named Maeraneth blocking their path. He is infuriated that they would dare bring a copper dragon into his territory and refuses to let them pass. The party is easily able to slay the great wyrm while sustaining only minor injuries. Mr B. decapitates the corpse and gets Trafalceen to carry the head back to Valley to present it to Jeffery. Cifrís accompanies them. Meanwhile, the Werewolf snacks on the rest of the body while Calmaea searches unsuccessfully for Maeraneth's lair.

Valley taken care of, the party continues to search for the source of the plague, stopping briefly to rest for the night in a magical cottage Trafalceen conjures up. They eventually enter the region known as the Angelic Republic. At this point, the "star" appears almost close enough to touch. They know they're close. On the horizon, they see the walls of a city and what appears to be some sort of tower. At the top of the tower is the "star" they've been following.

The walled city was once known as the Noble City of Demoor, but there is no longer anything noble about it. There are no gates. Instead, the entire city has been caged in by these huge walls. Calmaea decides to investigate, shapeshifting into her dragon form and peaking her head over. She sees the desolate ruins of the city, and more importantly, two guards pointing short bows at her face. She awkwardly greets them before picking up Mr. B and placing him atop the walls. Mr. B demands to be allowed to enter the city, a demand the guards have to refuse. Not only because the Count has forbade entry to strangers, but also because there is literally no entrance. Mr. B points out that they have a dragon, so getting in would be no problem for them. One of the guards -- Syrus -- eventually agrees to take them to see the Count. After Calmaea places the rest of her party on top of the walls, Syrus leads them through a trap door. The city has been completely destroyed, so that the only buildings still standing are a palace, a prison, and the Spire rising up from the earth. The citizens are all staying in tents set up near the front of the city. They watch wearily as the party passes by them on the way to the Count's manor. A cheetah -- quite out of place, all things considered -- also watches the party with curious and sad eyes.

Once they reach the manor, Syrus explains that Count Mora refuses to let anyone enter his home, so he can only take them as far as the gates. The party finds this incredibly strange, but enters anyway. Inside, they find an ornate, yet surprisingly empty living room. The only furniture is a regal couch. Seated on said couch is the squat, balding form of Count Mora. He immediately leaps to his feet and demands to know who they are and how they got in. Mr. B ignores his questions and begins to interrogate the man. He asks what the tower outside actually is. Mora explains -- albeit reluctantly -- that they call it the Spire. It apparently rose from the ground in a burst of brilliant light the day the plague started. Mora took this to be a sign from the Most Holy Angel that Demoor had been chosen. He ordered the city to be fenced off from the rest of the world, so as to not "taint" the Most Holy.

Mr. B is disgusted by this. He and the others decide to go investigate the Spire, but not before Mr. B gets fed up with Mora and breaks off his arm using only his fist. The Werewolf gets a new chew toy.

They leave the manor and immediately run into Syrus. The poor young guard is attempting to calm down a very aggravated cheetah. After Mr. B magically calms the animal and Calmaea befriends it, Syrus explains some things for them. He tells them that the cheetah is named Selerra, and that he belonged to "the Mosseye girl." When they ask who that is (and why she has a cheetah for a pet), he explains that the Mosseye Children were the city's protectors of a sorts. However, when all this Spire nonsense started happening, they were sent into the Spire as a way to punish their mother for trying to leave the walls. The cheetah has been upset ever since.

The party speaks with several other citizens, including an old blacksmith named Balda, and the Mosseye Childrens' mother, Ilmiris. Mr. B commissions something from both of them.

Cifrís summons a minion at some point and orders it to try and recruit some of the citizens to its nefarious plot.

The party then splits up, determined to bring down the walls around the city that were cutting them off from resources and food. Mr. B, Cifrís, Calmaea, and Trafalceen use their different brands of magic to destroy different sections of stone, while the Werewolf watches and pretends to punch the wall into rubble. That taken care of, the time comes for them to explore the Spire. They take the cheetah with them.

There is no door. They instead walk through the inky black walls and are absorbed. They find themselves in a huge platform that seems to float in a void. There are no walls, per se, but darkness stretches out in all directions around them. In the middle of the platform is a pool of blood. Rising from the blood, as though constructed out of it, is a crimson spiral staircase, disappearing into the nothingness around them. There are several corpses scattered about that appear to have died from malnutrition.

The Werewolf is the first to enter, and immediately has to dodge an arrow that flies at him from seemingly nowhere. Once everyone else appears, he searches for the source of the attack. After the party successfully dodges a couple more arrows, Mr. B demands the assailant reveal himself. There is a moment of silence, before someone sighs, and two young half elves appear out of thin air. Calmaea asks if they are the Mosseye Children. The woman confirms this and introduces herself as Rowan. She also introduces her brother, Candor, who cannot speak. The party notices that Rowan is blind.

Cifrís offers to fly the Mosseye twins to safety, but Rowan just laughs, saying "you think we haven't tried that?" The hotheaded ranger bickers a bit more with the Werewolf and Mr. B after the two make jabs about her blindness. Eventually, however, the seven of them decide that the only way to get out is to start climbing.

Kill the Sinners
(the first challenge of the Spire appears to be a city. The party is instructed to purge the city of sinners without harming an innocent).

Are You Afraid?
(The second challenge of the Spire forces the party to confront their darkest fears and insecurities).

What Would You Sacrifice?
(The third challenge of the Spire is a trap-filled maze. Each member of the party has a chance to increase their ability scores if they sacrifice something important to them).

Important NPCs
Jeffrey: The mayor of Valley. A mousy, nervous man that lacks the authority to control his people. Mr. B tells him to "grow a backbone".

Count Mora: The absolutely insane ruler of Demoor. He believes he was chosen for some noble purpose by the Most Holy Angel. As such, he practically imprisoned his entire city after the Spire appeared. He is now minus one arm after a run-in with the party, and has had his title stripped from him as well.

Syrus: One of the sensible people in the city of Demoor. He was the guard on duty when the party arrived. He agreed to take them to see Mora, and would later be put in a position of authority by Mr. B. He's a tall, lanky young man with blond hair, gray eyes, and freckles.

Ilmiris Mosseye: The elven mother of the Mosseye Children. She is a sorceress and potion maker. When she realized she was going to have children, she tried to concoct a potion that would make the kids stronger. It worked... and it didn't. While the Mosseye twins have unnatural abilities, they were also crippled. One mute, and one blind. She is short, has graying hair that was once brown, and the brightest green eyes anyone has ever seen.

Candor Mosseye: The city gave him the title of "Mute Spellcaster." He has the ability to cast magic despite not being able to speak. He is quiet and somewhat withdrawn. His skin is tan and covered in freckles. He keeps his dark brown hair long, with a braid on the left side. He inherited his mother's vibrant green eyes. He is also very short.

Rowan Mosseye: The city gave her the title of "Blind Archer." Over the years, she's adapted her own ways of "seeing" that use her other senses. She's also incredibly perceptive. She is able to tell that Cifrís is a devil without seeing it, that Trafalceen can control the weather, and that Mr. B is some kind of god just by sound and smell. Selerra also helps her navigate. She looks a lot like her brother, being even shorter than him and sharing his freckled complexion. Her hair is lighter, shorter, and her braid is on the right. Her eyes are milky white. She's incredibly hotheaded and feisty. She's easily offended when it comes to her disability.

Important Places
Valley

The Noble City of Demoor

The Spire