Campaign:Disavow

Disavow is a homebrew, house D&D 5e campaign. The campaign takes place in Brian's homebrew dnd world and follows three misfits who while at first are roped into being Paranormal Investigators, discover that the ghosts of this world hint at a devastating sickness that threatens to make a reappearance.

Pre-Campaign
Over 500 years ago there was a devastating sickness, aptly named Sapphire Sickness for it's crystalline blue color, that ravaged the land. Many nations, city states and other notable parties did their best to curb it's spread. Ultimately it was brought under control, but no cure was found for it, thus the nations as a whole agreed it would be best to send those who were still ill to the island of Licha. The Quarantine Island would be put under devastating weather patterns and no one would be allowed to leave. Ever. Those with families who were unwilling to leave loved ones were also sent to the island. No one is sure why the sickness appeared, but only that after everyone was sent to the island, there was no word from those on the island ever again.

Paranormal Investigators
This group of three needs a job. They’re out of money and low on luck. Luckily there’s a job fair being hosted, and the main job being offered pays a lot! What’s the job? The description is vague but adventurers are wanted and with little else, the group of three tries out for the job. They exceed expectations and are hired on by Mathias Blackwood to join his fledgling group of Ghost Hunter-Investigators. During the job interview Quest Mungo is possessed by the Great Spirit of Earth, Damascus, and speaks briefly to him about his Destiny.

The group quickly realizes something is rather strange with all of the ghosts they keep encountering. They have strange blue wisps and patches and a horrible violent streak. The party upon taking a job that was mailed to them decides to travel to the Sorthan capital at the hope of discovering more work and more clues as they hear talk of a ghost of someone’s wife haunting a befallen Noble house. It matches the job they were sent in the letter exactly. In the capital the group meets with the noble and discovers the ghostly wife, it becomes clear she was murdered and the only way to put her spirit at rest is to solve the mystery of how she was murdered.

Through a series of Hijinks the party manages to sneak into the house of a notable Noble man (will look up his name again) who the party discovers is looking to take the job of Royal Retainer to the Crown Prince. The group meets Rayya who is looking for work from across the sea and knows the current Royal Retainer Elijah Rosé. The group watches Elijah work and meets with him to warn him about the plot. The party collects clues and it is discovered it was the noble in question, Vincent Wellspring, who murdered the wife. They break into his house looking for solid evidence and discover a hidden basement with numerous chemical supplies for making different alchemical substances. The most important supply that the party takes is a single beautiful blue crystal.

Digging through his things they find many letters of correspondence to a person named Wands who mentions that the King of Wands will be returning and to continue the work. They also find an immensely powerful white bangle and find a special room in the basement that they can’t quite figure out where it leads to. Just as Jesper is about to figure it out Viedro possesses his body as is in the terms of their contract that he is able to do so and dissuades the party from moving through the room and figuring out it’s secret. He mentions that it is not quite yet time for them to discover it’s meaning.

Jesper is uncomfortable at the fact Viedro possessed him and doesn’t remember anything from the time he was taken over. The party tries to leave the house but Vincent arrives, killing Jesper’s familiar so they cannot escape the way they came and some pretend to be servants to escape the house. That is when Elijah arrives at the request of Rayya to trap Vincent if the party found concrete evidence (which they did). However the Noble as a last ditch effort challenges Elijah to a duel as is tradition in Sorthan, for the Royal Retainer position.

Elijah wins handily and the group meets him more officially to deliver the evidence and also discover he is friends with their new friend Rayya. They’ve known each other a long time and Rayya lets it slip that Elijah is a vampire. They also meet Crown Prince Riordan Sorthan who is with Elijah. It becomes clear to the party that Elijah and Riordan like each other (also let slip by a drunk Rayya) and they hassle Elijah a bit. They also discover it's a point of stress because Elijah is a vampire, something that is widely unknown to most people. It is also a problem if it got out because most vampires in the country are regarded as evil.

With the case solved the party returns with Rayya as a new hire to their home base. Along the way they run into a small duo traveling together: a human Paladin named Athan and a tiefling named Marcel. Rorik rolls an exceptionally high history roll and knows everything about Athan’s history helping people and how most regard him as a legendary figure. That he is renowned for helping people and is a figure of good in the world. He has a heart to heart with Rorik and tells him he’s going to change the world for the better. Rorik believes him!

Cult Problems
They return to their home base and start on their next job. They investigate the woodcutter’s cabin on the edge of town who is said to have had hauntings lately. When they go to investigate they find the ghost in question and a demon having been summoned in the time they were away from town. The players had this quest and the Sorthan capital quest to choose from. Since they let it sit the party discovers that the woodcutter now lays dead. after investigating and funding a series of letters that concludes the woodcutter’s family was abducted from this place an age ago, a ghostly Reaver and flame demon now appear and occupy the home.

The Reaver has the same ghastly blue and the party fights it and the demon. The demon sets the house alight as the party manages to defeat both. As they manage to put out the fire they hear screams from the town. They race out to discover more ghosts and fire demons have started attacking the town. Unfortunately the fire rages out of control destroying the town, but they manage to save all the townspeople. Rayya calls upon Fiera and reveals herself as an Oracle of Fire as she is able to quench the flames and salvage a lot of framework of the town so while a lot is lost they can rebuild.

The party decides to travel to the Mage’s College of Breccia following the last job they had in their mailbox. The job was to obtain an item for them matching the description of the bangle they had. In investigating the bangle Mungo meets Valeri, an elven man who has been trapped inside for many many years. Mungo promises him he’ll visit more and discovers that Valeri can help people see long lost events of the past vs his sister who can see the future.

On their way to the college with this newfound knowledge and the hope to ask the College to help Valeri, they are ambushed on the road by the Cult of the Nameless One. It is a Cult that is inspired by the needs of a Nameless dragon man who helped to end the war long ago by the gods and spirits. They attack the party, their goal is to take the white bangle and try to do so with the help of their young black dragon that attacks with the cult. They fail to take the bangle but instead Mathias is kidnapped  and taken prisoner as one of them recognizes him as the missing Crown Prince of Breccia.

The group captures a cultist who tells them where to find the other members. Through their attempt to rescue Mathias: Rorik, who was disguising everyone as new recruits and taking the spearhead in the operation, drinks the initiation blood accidentally while trying to fake drink it with a Nat 1. The blood burns in his throat and the group fights their way to save Mathias who is badly injured.

After that they’re on the run from the cult that wants the bangle. They travel to Norfolk on their way to the Mage’s College. Jesper strikes a deal with Viedro to do a favor for him in order to get his soul back (it involves still doing a favor and giving him the blue crystal that Mungo is holding onto), and the party arrives in the town of Brookhaven. At this point is when Athan has killed Phantasma on Illuminate, as such ghastly dark portals open up all over the world as the Afterlife is starting to bleed into the Material Plane, crudely being held together by Thanatos’s power.

The party helps the town fight off the series of wraiths and ghosts that are pouring into the Material plane from the void tears. They notice all of the statues to Pharasma crumbling into dust. Desperate, Jesper asks Viedro for help and he complies, creating an enormous gate and says what the party needs to know is beyond it. They go through the gate and are transported 50 years into the past to the Quarantine Island of Licha.

Licha
The party teams up with Ciaran who they discover digging up a grave when they first arrive. He is invested in their quest and shares his knowledge about Sapphire Sickness with them. The party puts two and two together and figures out that the sickness was still affecting the ghosts with the weird blueness. The group travels to the Well of Stars in order to get an idea of how to fight the sickness since the Well was said to contain powerful Divination Magic. The group ends up detaining an eladrin who was cursed to protect the Well, turning into a person from a statue when the room where the Well is contained is crossed into. The party ends up containing the eladrin and Mungo looks into the Well and sees something horrifying.

The group manage to escape the Well with the eladrin in tow who explains his name is A’kar. He was punished with guarding the Well for trying to give a dear friend of his magic since it was forbidden. The group collects what knowledge they need to help in their quest but aren’t able to help with the portals. Ciaran discovers the notes the group has are actually his which leads him to understand he does make it off Licha. He explains that while this Viedro might not be able to help them get back using the same Magic there is a Bell that he knows Inquisitor Falvrir owning that had the ability to cross planes. Maybe that could help.

The party breaks into Falvrir’s secret room at the bottom of Argentir Castle and meet with the man himself. They convince him to help and he hands over the Bell. As soon as Jesper uses it his mind is pulled to Nyx’s domain. She explains in order to use the Bell there must be an exchange. Jesper agrees to a contract with her unknowing to what he agreed to (again) and the party uses it to get back to their own time.

On their way back they cross paths with Nameless who, in the Illuminate timeline, left the party momentarily before returning after seeing Swords chase them. The party returns and uses the bell to close the void tear in the town. Jesper tells Rayya about one more favor Viedro has asked of them, to place his mark on statues at Great Seals the party will pass. Rayya is very concerned about this and promises to help.

TBC
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