Blood and Booze
Set about fifty years before the events of Collateral Damage; Blood & Booze must try to save the Prime Material Plane of Sloane from an oncoming cataclysm brought on by malevolent forces lurking just beyond their vision.
All character art for Blood & Booze by Bulletproofturtleman
Prologue Transcripts
I want to take you back to the beginning. Well, in regards to when I first started to explore the problems within the planes of Granzia, Sloane, and Iwi, at least. Years after the Constable had started his machinations, but before the teams that dealt with them. This all takes place roughly fifty years before the events of Collateral Damage and the Circle of Friends. Trust me though, it’s just as unhinged. My apologies if this seems confusing, traversing time and space often isn’t a straight line. But for the sake of starting somewhere, I didn’t have the face I have now. It was my first, my original. Crazy hair, thick accent, and magical mechanisms in full swing.
In the forest north of the Forest Bastion in Granzia, four adventurers piqued my interest: Tymund Hillhand, (though he preferred Healy Hanz), a Dwarven Grave Cleric, Valen Farnan an Elven Drunk Monk, Thorak a Half-Orc Totem Warrior, and Ren an Aasimar Monster Hunter. Nights before, a strange light streaked across the sky and soon after a local nobleman and his retinue went missing. The four took up the bounty and they tracked the nobleman and his knights to a massive impact crater in the wilderness. It seems though, that whatever naked the crater had landed on an Ankheg nest and altered the creatures. The large bugs had shards of a sickly yellow crystal lodged into their carapaces and were under the control of these shards.
To make a very long story short, the four battled their way through the nest, finding not only the nobleman and what remained of his knights but ultimately the cause of everything: a large yellow crystal. But there was a catch: the crystal and its shards actively tried to burrow into the skin of anyone who touched them with bare skin. Valen found that out the hard way, and was able to stop the shard and keep control of his mind. They battled and defeated the sentient prism, extinguishing its intelligence and taking a swordlike shard as a trophy. Valen claimed the sword and named it Mindsplinter. They were rewarded handsomely for the return of the noble with platinum and weaponry. Thorak received a glaive called the Skull Splitter of Zhoval and Healy Hanz received a mace called Trench’s Fury.
I had found part of my first team and it was time to fill in the gaps. Enter Ursus, a Beasthide Champion Fighter from the Rockport fighting pits, whom I outfitted with the Bracers of Gwynnas. Mara, an Air Genasi Rogue from the island of Uscana in the plane of Iwi, whom I gifted the dagger known as The Inquisitor, and a misguided Warforged Warlock called Unit-93B who was embroiled in a cult surrounding a leviathan deep in the Mechfall Enclave of Iwi, whom I gave the arcane focus called Elphina’s Time Piece. Ren didn’t end up being recruited as I deemed her importance to the future events on Granzia too great. You hate to lose a prospect but sometimes they’re needed elsewhere. I know now that it was the right call.
Regardless, they all met in the tavern at my invitation, and as per protocol, I dropped them into a problem area to see how they handled the situation. Still being fairly new to this, I was less than tactful and informative about where they were going and what they were to do, besides the basics. In an abandoned and overrun Dwarven temple once dedicated to the All Hammer in the mountains: Demons and aberrations had settled in and they were to evict the unwanted tenants. The description was pretty straightforward but completing the assignment wasn’t. Looking back on my track record, this is an ongoing theme.
The chemistry wasn’t very good in the beginning. It was fairly volatile, to be frank. The six of them eventually came through in the end, though. From the reports, there were puzzles to be solved that were solved and demons and aberrations to be slain that were cut down. They had a hard-fought battle at the end against an adolescent Aboleth where they came out on top. Coming out the other side of the gauntlet, I made them an offer: work with me, save a plane from itself, and achieve your greatest dreams. Well, the way I said it was: “Go to new and interesting places, meet new and interesting people, either save or kill them and become legends.” They accepted but ultimately there was a snag that I didn’t see. They had a stowaway with them. An explosive with a long fuse that was already lit. And it only served to make things worse…
So after the temple business is wrapped up, the group wants to know what this interesting place is that they’ll be going to. I proceed to explain to them that it is a place and planet currently called Sloane. It’s interesting and unique because the place is sentient. You heard that right, the planet is a living, thinking being. And over the course of its history, there have been cataclysms that mark the end of ages. The plane was due for one and I wanted to try and avert it. We are friends, after all.
In order to help them out and blend in, I made wearable items for them to choose from. Sloane is split into four major regions and factions: The Burned in the North, The Heartwood in the South, The Gathering Storm in the East, and The Wandering Hills in the West. Each faction offered different physical benefits: resistance to certain types of harm and a boost of elemental damage. Five of them chose a faction, as Mara was needed elsewhere, (which ended up being a theme and then a more permanent situation).
Bob chose The Burned, Ursus The Wandering Hills, Valen The Heartwood, and Thorak and Thymund The Gathering Storm. They attuned, slept on it, and woke up to a more permanent version of the Tavern in Sloanes capital city of Balazaar. This is when the group met the incredibly beautiful, talented, and intelligent Kalkari. This lovely Tiefling has a mechanical mind and an arcane understanding that is better than most. So she was the prime candidate to be their contact. And apparently Thymunds future love interest.
I gave them the lay of the land, let them know that they could do what they liked with the place, and went about my business. Valen got to work brewing beers, eventually concocting a beer called the Woodland Punch and a cocktail called Moon on the Mist. Thorak took the opportunity to explore his culinary side and began setting up a menu. They also ventured out into the ringed city of Balazaar. Find the blacksmith Fouthous Greatrock at Rock and a Hard Place, who took some commission work from Ursus and Valen.
They also met the blind cartographer Loqi and his seeing-eye pseudodragon Spex at Magnetic North and a Tabaxi woman named Shadow of the Stars who runs a textile shop called Back to the Fuschia. It’s actually a front for an underground fight club, which excited most of the party. Eventually, they get to a market with a dire situation in progress. Thymund spots a lost and scared child, and in trying to help this small Unillum girl, they walk right into a terrorist attack.
They dispatch the threat, which they find out later is a cult called The Scorching Sun, (remember that name), but not before there is collateral damage. It’s at this point that Mara and a Wood Elf called Dona Takal show up. They help the boys get out of trouble with the city guard and all head back to the Tavern with the little girl, who is named Amina. After resting up for their fights under Back to the Fuschia, they head out and dominate the fighting ring. This is not only where the legend of the Slash Brothers, (Thorak and Ursus) is born but they meet an important person: a human woman named Sloane who has the same goals as the party. They decide to meet up in a few days to discuss what they should collaborate on.
Meanwhile, Mara and Dona are doing a bit of recon for me elsewhere on some unrelated issues. Mara ends up becoming crucial to those missions, so she stays with them and Dona takes her spot on the team. When everyone reconvenes, Dona, Valen, and Thymund head to Amina’s family home to find the girl’s parents. Unfortunately, it is found that they’ve been murdered by the Scorching Sun, (presumably). When faced with this turn of events, Thymund and Kalkari, (who are now an item), decide to raise Amina as their own. On top of that, Amina seems to be having dreams of being beckoned by a gargantuan tree. The party suspects that she may be the next Arbiter.
Over the next few weeks, the party meets with Sloane and they discuss several options on how they can help: They can be envoys for her to The Burned, specifically to the Monastery of Perpetuity. They can search for a legendary black leatherbound book called the Tome of Ennicion, that could potentially hold the secret to stopping the oncoming calamity. Or they could take Amina to the Heartwood to see if their suspicions are correct about her future. Eventually, they decide to head north to the monastery while Thymund stays with Kalkari and Amina to look more into that situation.
Ironically and fortuitously, while the party is preparing to head north, a separate party is setting out southward from a hidden city in The Burned. Their goals are to find the source of an influx of aberrations on Sloane and to stop it. Two different parties, with different goals, search for the same answer to the same question: if the end is coming, where is it coming from and how do we stop it? And the fuse continues to burn…
Over the course of the next six weeks, seemingly unaware of each other, the two parties pass by one another going in opposite directions. Our party heading north into the Burned and the other party heading south. Eventually, they make it to the Monastery of Perpetuity, where they are greeted by a man named Lupeux. A tall and wirey Swiftstride Astral Monk, Lupeux is kindhearted and grateful for their arrival. Once the group settles into their lodgings built into the cliffsides of the mesas that dot the area, the monk divulges their purpose in traveling to him.
He presents to them a young Unillum boy with three horns. (Side note about Unillum: I’m not sure if this has been mentioned yet and my apologies if it has. Unillum can present in four different variations. The most common variations are with a single horn on the crown of their head or with two horns or antlers from the top of their head. The rarer variation has no horns, they are often mistaken for smaller Firbolgs. The rarest of them have three horns, usually a combination of the single and two-horned variations, but not always.)
The boy is from further north in the Burned, more precisely from the City of Dragons: Zur Algud. Lupeux informs the party that the boy was smuggled from Zur Algud to the Monastery to protect him from a splinter group of Dragons in the city. Rumor had it that they were looking to perform some kind of ritual sacrifice with him. The party is to transport the boy to the Brimsano Enclave in the most southwestern isles of the Wandering Hills. The party accepts. While they rest and prepare for their journey, the Slash Brothers have a friendly sparring match with Lupeux, and Valen spends some time with the boy to befriend him but with little success. He does learn that he is very intelligent and also non-verbal. Dona and Bob spend their time exploring the Monastery and relaxing.
The quiet only lasts for a short while as during the evening a Dragon and two Wyrmlings descend on the Monastery, an adult Gold Dragon in the lead. Valen, Bob, and Ursus make for the stable and the groups cart with the boy as Dona and Thorak run interference. Dona is not a fan of Dragons and essentially talks a bunch of shit to them. Meanwhile, Ursus tries to convince a very intoxicated Valen to soak a blanket in his stash of whiskey and wrap the boy in it to hide his scent. Valen interprets this idea as dunking the boy in the whiskey. A “boozy baptism”.
During the confrontation, the Dragon shapeshifts into a humanoid form and feeds Dona and Thorak a story about the boy being from the “Royal Family”. Supposedly the child is a rare Amethyst Dragon and part of a prophecy that will unite the city and Dragonkin alike. Dona, having done her research and spent a good amount of time on Sloane, doesn’t buy it. She knows that there is no “Royal Family” and whatever this story is, it’s garbage. But all of this distraction is for nothing when the party realizes their gambit of masking the boy’s scent has failed. Push comes to shove and Dona calls their bluff. The wyrmlings bolt toward where the rest of the party is. Thorak darts toward the Gold Dragon and manages to grapple it before it can join the others.
Valen, remembering a conversation with their ally Sloane, takes the boy and raves toward a tall bleach-white pillar of grass assuming it must be a soft spot. For the monk, and the party at large, saving the boy is the priority. He dashes toward this pillar with the wyrmlings hot on his trail and barely makes it, running full speed directly into it. There is a flash of light and the two are gone. With the child gone, the Dragons leave the party, as their quarry is elsewhere. Dona, done with the entire situation, heads to Valen’s whiskey stash and dunks her head directly into the cask. Meanwhile, Thorak and Ursus decide to head after Valen and are also transported elsewhere in a flash of light. With the rest of the party gone or passed out, Bob goes into his Sentry’s Rest in the cart next to Dona.
Valen – Valen appears on what seems to be a plateau with the sounds of the ocean near him. It’s overcast and slightly colder now than it was previously. He’s unable to see where he came from.
Thorak & Ursus – The two of them appear in a flat and barren landscape, comprised of mostly sand or dirt with a hint of salt in the air. No sign of Valen or the boy anywhere. After crying out for the two using Thaumaturgy and hearing an echo behind them, the Slash Brothers turn to see an onyx obelisk and pyramid glinting in the moonlight.
Valen – Valen lights his torch and begins to explore the plateau. He finds that he and the boy are on an uninhabited island. Eventually, he sets up a bedroll for the boy and pulls out his map of Sloane the party purchased from Loqi. Through the enchantment on the map, he figures out that he is on the Onacola Islet in the northwest corner of the world. Not the most ideal situation.
Thorak & Ursus – The Slash Brothers head to ward the structures and determine that the surrounding area is flat and actually comprised of packed earth. There is something offputting about the structures. Nonetheless, they head toward the pyramid to check things out and seek shelter. It’s massive and has a distinct, low-register hum. Moving inside, they find an open chamber with a strange, smooth, and twisted rock formation at the center. The closer they move toward the stone, their minds are overcome with whispering voices. Using Detect Magic, Thorak determines that the structure is radiating Necromantic magic. Needing shelter for the night, the two stay in the pyramid and trade watches.
Dona & Bob – The pair wake up outside the Monastery to find that the others are still missing. Nursing a hangover, Dona asks the Warforged what happened to the rest of the crew. He gives a ridiculous but accurate recounting of events culminating in the three running through the pillar of grass. She investigates further and she realizes that it must be some kind of portal, but it’s currently inert. Then it dawns on her that this must be a soft spot and probably depends on the moons. The pair head back to the Monastery and consult Lupeux on the situation. He confirms her soft spot theory and that it depends on the full moons. The soft sports seem to teleport those who walk through them to random locations across the plane. They decide to wait for the evening for the portal/soft spot to be active again.
Valen – Sobered up from his vigilant watch, Valen hears a small voice in his head thanking him. This voice, he realizes, belongs to the boy and his name is Soris. The boy asks about their situation and thanks Valen again for saving him. As the two speak, the monk figures out that Soris is magically inclined in some ways, as well as telekinetic. They explore the island while having a lighthearted conversation about Soris’s life and playing pranks.
Thorak & Ursus – They awake at daybreak and Thorak takes a look around the exterior of the pyramid. The landscape is barren and resembles that of a desert. Returning to the structure, he notices strange markings along the interior of the entrance and copies some of them down in his journal for later analysis. Meeting back up with Ursus, they contemplate their next move. They decide to travel across the island during the evening to avoid the blistering heat and search for a way back to the party.
Dona & Bob – After a day of research in the Monastery library, Dona and Bob solidify their understanding of the soft spots. With some preparation, the pair take the cart at dusk and head to the pollar. With a “Yeehaw! Move ‘em out!” from Bob, the pair and the cart head into the pillar in a flash of light. The come out on the other side on the outside of a walled, coastal city. Asking around, they find out that they’re outside of the city of Tradeshore. The two search for lodging and find it at the Second Turtle Inn. Dona, again, gets heavily intoxicated and passes out in the cart while Bob begins to explore their surroundings. And the fuse continues to burn, nearing its destination…
