Campaign:Phantom Knights

Phantom Knights is a campaign run in a homebrew version of Dungeon & Dragons, 5th edition.

Blackstar Academy
''“Blackstar Academy is a world-renowned magic school with a several centuries rich history of molding the brightest minds into skilled, magical professionals. Young, talented magic users of all kinds endeavor to apply for the chance to join the school and walk its hallowed halls, learning from the world’s most lauded professors and magicians in their fields. With the stewardship of the Aegis Bureau, Blackstar Academy was founded by Headmaster Pierre Lyons -  arguably one of the world’s most interesting sorcerers - 100 years ago, and will be celebrating its centennial this year. A family affair, Headmaster Lyons was succeeded by his only child, Headmxstre Halania “Hal” Masako. Mx. Masako has run the academy for the past 30 years. Blackstar Academy is said to be named for its inauguration day coinciding with the first sighting of the rare shooting star, ‘The Blackstar’, dubbed by Osirian astrologists for its strange eclipsed center.”'' – excerpt from “Blackstar Academy: A Venerable History” Welcome Brochure

Arriving on campus

 * Each person arrives individually on campus, some amongst family, and others alone. The five are grouped together into a tour guide group led by Third Year students Bowie Kaminsky and Kincaid “Kick” Zolkov.
 * They are given a somewhat poorly run tour of the school, previewing the entrance hall, the dining hall, the dorms, the classrooms, library, Headmxstre’s office, the Administrative Quarters, and the Infirmary, as well as the school store. Amadeus is awarded with a piece of candy from the school store for answering many trivia questions asked by Bowie during the tour.

The Luna Fantome Feast

 * The group attends the Luna Fantome Feast, a traditional feast held at the beginning of each new school year. Headmxstre Halania Masako welcomes everyone, introduces all the Deans of Blackstar, reminds everyone of the rules of Blackstar, and calls forth Professor Octavius, Stellametrix Dean of Theory, ****to begin the Nova Meridian Rites.
 * Each first year is called forward to perform the rite, but something goes wrong when Io Varena is the first to perform. Unlike the colored magic that corresponds to different schools of magic, a column of black magic surrounds him. For each of the five students in the party following afterward, including a young boy named Ozymandias Grimaldi, the same black magic appears when they perform the rites.
 * The Headmxstre keeps the party + Ozzy in a locked room while she reprimands Professor Octavius, whom she accuses of foul play. His title of Distinguished Professor is revoked and he is banned from teaching Transmutation for the year because they fear that magic is far too dangerous for him to be teaching youth right now. The party eavesdrops to learn this information.
 * The Headmxstre informs the students that what happened was not their faults and that they are to be escorted to their dorms by Professor Thisbe Nightfall, Solstyle Dean of Expression.

Dorm Assignments

 * The group meets Head Spectres Asmodel Tsumi and Imogen Rhys outside the first year dormitories and are assigned a shared dormitory together while Professor Thisbe escorts an ill-looking Ozzy to the Infirmary. Asmodel informs Io that his father wants to speak to him in the morning at breakfast. He also hands Levi a mysterious note.
 * As the party goes into the dorm, Io is visited by a mysterious person who steps out from a door that appears seemingly out of nowhere. They seem to have an established relationship with Io, and begs Io to bring them rock candy in order to keep their connection to one another strong.
 * Inside the dorms, Delta and Camrose choose the 2 bed room while Amadeus, Io, and Levi are left to sort out beds in the 3 bed room. Levi opts to sleep on the couch in the common room rather than the single bed he had secured, while Amadeus resignedly takes the top bunk, leaving Io on the bottom bunk.

We’re not in Kansas anymore

 * Just as the party falls asleep for the night, something happens: As the darkness of sleep overtakes them, all of them feel a sudden weightless sensation of their bodies being blown over backwards. They feel themselves falling through the sheets of their own bed, passing through the mattress and wood down into some unknown void.
 * They wake up in a strange, yet familiar location, devoid of color and life, walls carved from jagged black stone and the ceiling blown out above them.

A Black Void

 * The party opens their eyes to see they have been transported to a strange, yet familiar location. As they look around for their personal belongings, they discover that their personal effects appear to be “glitched out” - they appear semi-transparent, shimmering representation of their belongings, looking like a video recorder on a loop rather than the real, physical thing. They discovered that touching their belongings brings them into this place with them.
 * Before they exit the dorms, Delta smells a strange smell on Io. Amadeus feels a sudden tightening around his throat, appearing to be choking; Camrose and Delta try to calm him - he was having a panic attack. Camrose casts Divine Sense and senses an undead creature feet from them, but cannot ascertain the exact location of the creature or identify it. They also sense a desecrated ground just outside where the courtyard should be.
 * They eventually come together to figure out where they are, exiting the dorms and moving carefully around the edge of the school, which looks over a dark and black landscape below where the bright, vibrant seaport of Vamare once sat. An oozing black goo replaces the following waters that form the waterfall leading from the school into the canals of the dark city below.

The Five Towers

 * In the courtyard the party encounters five towers with beautiful, ever-shifting murals painted on them. Delta inspects the first tower.
 * Tower of Water: Depicts a blueish figure, almost liquid in form, shifting and floating, like hair underwater or ink in water. They are holding what looks like a javelin or trident in one hand and squeezing a long, eel/snake like creature in the other hand. She notices the inscription beneath the mural and translates the language from Celestial. Inscription: Returned to dead waters. Touched by time.
 * Io stands in front of a second tower. Delta helps everyone translate all of the other towers they stand in front of.
 * The Tower of Earth: Depicts a sharply carved figure bound in chains, hands digging into the ground and splitting rock as if attempting to remove their chains. Inscription: Forever chained to the earth. Touched by time.
 * Levi stands in front of the third tower.
 * The Tower of Fire: Depicts a horned figure, dark black and appearing non-physical, shadowy, shapeless, yet dynamic and moving like fire through pools of dark reddish liquid. Inscription: Everlasting life in death, blood, and fire. Touched by time.
 * Amadeus stands before the fourth tower.
 * The Tower of Air: Depicts a figure appearing to be swept up by wind, their clothes and shape blown upward in a surge. Their hands are clasped around their throat, as if unable to breathe. Inscription: Driven by the air of knowledge, loss of control. Touched by time.
 * Camrose inspects the last tower.
 * The Tower of Space/Heaven: Depicts a figure with wings, one black and jagged, and the other, soft and white. The figure’s hands are crossed in front of their face, blocking out their features, flowers blooming from the crown of their head, and a sword protruding from their chest. Inscription: Eternally bound to the service of the heavens and the space between. Touched by time.

Mysterious Black Ooze

 * As they examine the last tower, a strange black ooze creeps up Amadeus’s leg and forms a mimicked copy of him. Camrose attempts to remove the ooze, which only splits it in two, also in the shape of Camrose. Amadeus and Camrose briefly lose memories until the oozes are killed.
 * The group fights the ooze as two more appear, seeming to be coming from the entrance hall to the school, and perhaps, the waterfall beyond, they ascertain. After successfully dispatching the oozes, they disappear. The party follows the trails of ooze through the entrance hall, whereupon Camrose and Delta debate about finding books to help orient them.
 * Camrose reveals an intense desire to learn about the history of this place and topics of religion. Levi idly suggests that they might be in a different time, not necessarily a different place, but nobody is certain whether it’s one or the other or both. Io leads them to the private library beneath the school.

The Private Library

 * The library appears just as empty and void of life and books as everywhere else. They walk through to the end of the library where suddenly a massive creature 50x their size bursts through the floor of the school. Just as the creature is about to reach out and grab them, a tear in time and space opens before them.
 * Five masked figures stumble out, assemble expertly, and begin to attack the creature. Three rush in immediately in an attack formation that looks planned and practiced; two figures hang back as one prepares a spell and another pulls out a hand mirror, which upon tapping it, expands to a full length mirror. The mysterious person yells at them to run through the mirror and leave before it’s too late.
 * Levi, Io, and Delta rush through immediately. Amadeus pauses, stunned with a sudden realization, and Camrose begins to ask questions. Impatient, the figure beckons them once more, after which the pair rush through. The group tumbles together in a heap in the common room of their dorm, seemingly back to the Material Plane as they once knew it.

Time for School

 * As the party assembles themselves and try to make sense of what happened to them, they are struck by the sudden time crunch as the first day of school looms near. Io immediately books it to get dressed to meet his father.
 * The party all take a short rest - Delta naps in the dorm bath tub, Amadeus lies face down on his bed, Levi lays on his bed staring up at the ceiling, Io curls up on his bed facing away from everyone, and Camrose sits and prays in their room, lamenting the loss of one of their plants, which appears to have been left in the strange place they just visited.
 * Io leaves to have breakfast with his father. His father appears ill and exhausted, and gives Io a very disappointed lecture. He seems both distraught and confused, unsure if he should believe Io when he says that he had nothing to do with the events of last night at the rites. Io apologizes to his father before heading off to the school store.
 * Delta, Camrose, and Amadeus head down to breakfast together. The Head Spectres are handing out everyone’s first day class schedules, they normal weekly schedules, and a note informing them about Spectre assignments this afternoon.
 * An owlin girl flies by dropping off black newspapers printed with white ink, The Blackstar Black Pages, the unofficial newspaper of Blackstar Academy. The main headline reads, “Mystery & Intrigue at the 100th First Year Nova Meridian Rites!” by Mazelynn Graywind, Vice Editor. **Camrose reads their own horoscope and reads Delta hers. Amadeus picks up The Blackstar Chronicles, the official newspaper of Blackstar, and sees they are mentioned in both papers, and begins taking notes.
 * Levi waits in his room for everyone to leave and takes out a snack from his fridge. He goes to the school store, awkwardly running into Io buying rock candy. Levi buys his first year supplies from Bowie, who works there. He returns to his room, forgoing breakfast, only to be interrupted by the sound of a rock hitting his window. He opens the shades and sees a man standing on a tower opposite the courtyard, looking at him. He ignores the insistent rocks being thrown at his window and heads to the dining hall where he briefly visits Ghost, talks to the Head Spectres, and regroups with everyone.

First Class - Conjuration

 * The party gathers together and heads to their first and only class for the day - conjuration. They take their seats near the front as Professor Octavius walks in, explaining that Dr. Varena has fallen ill this morning but should be back next week and that he will be teaching today’s class.
 * Unexpectedly, Professor Octavius informs the class that they will be using summoning magic to summon their familiars today, which, Amadeus points out, seemingly contradicts the lecture lesson planned today on the syllabus. Professor Octavius reprimands Amadeus.
 * He asks several questions of the class about familiars and the spell Find Familiar. Delta (nat. 20) perfectly explains the spell front to back, which angers Octavius. He provides an example of the spell, summoning a black raven. He asks Io to come up first, as he has experience summoning his familiar.
 * Io partially succeeds on summoning his familiar, but only halfway. The equine figure appears translucent and vaguely shaped before it disappears quickly. Delta and Camrose have similar mixed success, as Delta summons a vague, flat, triangle shaped figure and Camrose summons a four legged creature after taking a shot of holy water from a flask in front of everyone.
 * Amadeus is the only person to successfully summon his familiar, a winged weasel, but it immediately bounces off Amadeus and pings around the classroom out of his control.
 * Levi (nat. 1) fails to cast the spell and instead triggers Hellish Rebuke, which singes the eyebrows of the group in the front and lights Octavius’s hair on fire. Levi feels ill as Octavius reacts poorly to this experience.

Lunch Downtime

 * The group splits in two as Io brings a nauseous Levi to the infirmary while Delta, Camrose, and Amadeus head to grab a quick bite and then to the library.
 * Levi passes out unexpectedly in the hallway on the way; Io drags him the rest of the way. He meets the school nurse, Nurse Paradise, who takes Levi and closes the door for privacy while Io waits in the waiting room. Levi wakes up to the nurse flicking his face. The nurse asks several invasive and presumptuous questions, inquiring if Levi is on drugs or having other issues. He performs some rudimentary tests to determine that Levi is stressed. He asks to take his blood for testing; Levi agrees; the nurse compares a vial of his own blood to Levi’s noting a strange difference in color - Levi’s is much darker.
 * The nurse promptly leaves for lunch; Levi swipes the nurse’s blood and downs it in the bathroom while Io waits for him.
 * At the library, the mention of controversial religion stirs conflict with Camrose and Delta; Amadeus suddenly leaves for the dining hall, uncomfortable. Camrose asks the librarian about books that pre-date the Godless Revolution. Delta checks out a book on the history of Blackstar. The librarian informs Camrose that such uncommon books are kept in the Private Library where his partner works, and that they would need written permission from a professor to access the library as a first year. Their conversation brings up traumatic memories for the librarian, but he begrudgingly hands over a list of historical figures and biographies for Camrose to research and check out.

Meet the Spectres

 * The party regroups after Io and Levi’s harrowing trip to the infirmary and the rest of the party’s excursion to the library. They head to the auditorium/rec hall where it has been opened up to make room for the whole first year class who have gathered to learn their Spectre assignments.
 * Asmodel and Imogen begin reading off groups of five Spectres and five first years, who all filter out of the building into the courtyards outside. Finally, six Spectres remain with the five members of the party.
 * Imogen informs Delta that she is her Spectre, and they exchange warm greetings.
 * Asmodel informs Levi that Asher is his Spectre, to which Asher is angry and shocked. Asmodel and Imogen force him to apologize to Levi.
 * Asmodel introduces Sirius & Cyrus Castor, two twin catboys who devilishly greet Camrose with a spray of rose petals as the other poofs behind them and clambers up on their shoulder.
 * Amadeus is assigned to Ronan Darlington, a tall figure shrouded in a shadow in the corner, leaning against the wall while smoking what looks like a cigarette.
 * Lastly, Asmodel informs Io that he is Io’s Spectre and gives a rousing speech about teamwork, informing them that every year there is a competition to see which group of Spectres and first years can accrue the most points on field missions.

Heading off to the Laser Tag Arcade
After a bit of arguing amongst the Spectres about whether they should go forth with Asmodel’s team-building exercises, which might have involved things like three-legged races, the party and their new Spectres agreed with Ronan’s proposition to head to the local laser tag arcade in Vamare.

Ronan led the group through the city below Blackstar Academy, where they arrived at a somewhat off-the-beaten path location in front of a glowing neon sign bearing the name “The Astral Arcade.”

The Astral Arcade
Inside, was a typical arcade with pinball machines, various arcade machines, gacha machines, a concessions stand, and a small bowling alley. In the back hung a big magically lit neon sign that said “LASER TAG”. Just as the group stepped in the doors, however, Asher and Camrose were knocked down by a bright blue tiefling, who fell from the ceiling where he was hanging by his tail. The young tielfing introduced himself as Rocco, the Astral Arcade’s only current employee in sight. He explained that he also goes to Blackstar Academy, as a second year student on the robotics team and the silkball team. He excitedly performs almost every job at the arcade from machine technician, to laser tag attendant, to bartender.

Spectre Bonding?
Each of the party took a turn at playing one of the various games throughout the arcade while waiting for their time slot at the laser tag arena. Asher showed off immediately at the DDR machines, which prompted Delta to challenge him a friendly dance competition, to which both enjoyed amazing success with their dancing. Camrose played skeeball for the first time as Io taught him how to play, and later easily dunked some basketballs into the hoops of the basketball shooting range, out of sight of Rocco, who was serving the warlocks Io and Levi their manhattans and strawberry daiquiris; Levi and Io had both retired quickly from game-playing quickly after playing one round each on two different rhythm games. Io used the combined tickets of his friends to

Amadeus and Ronan played a gun-shooting game together, matching each other well as though in sync with each other’s movements. Delta spotted Imogen, Asher, and Cy & Siri inspecting the gatcha crane games, so she tried her hand at it. With ease, she pulled two prizes out of the machine, one for herself and the other she gave to her Spectre Imogen, who accepted it, very emotionally.

Camrose used some tickets to purchase two worms on strings for his Spectres, Cy & Siri, who immediately played with their newfound toys. Amadeus and Asmodel attempted to play a game of Pac-man together, but Amadeus’s wild magic surge went off in his excitement, which rebounded on his brother, poisoning him. With the speedy help of Camrose’s magic, Asmodel was quickly cured of his poisoned state.

Laser Tag
The group gathered together as Rocco explained the rules of laser tag, and everyone got suited up to play. The teams consisted of the party members and their respective Spectres. Io made smart use of his abilities by helping Asmodel hide stealthily behind the rocks. Imogen and Delta stuck close to one another, while Levi immediately deserted Asher, a harbinger of what was to come next. Ronan let Amadeus take the lead, while the catboys disappeared chaotically from the field, leaving Camrose out in the open.

As the rounds passed, each pair scored points for their team, to varying success. Asmodel and Asher spent most of their time trying to shoot each other point blank, only to miss one another several times. Camrose served as an excellent diversion for their Spectres, who emerged from the shadows to dominate, somewhat unfairly with their numbers. Cyrus & Sirius also cheated by throwing dirt in Imogen’s face. Delta cast grease on the floor, which Asher surged through only moments later and ended up on his ass as an easy target for the rest of the game. Levi spent most of his time successfully hiding in the shadows, completely unseen for almost three rounds of combat. Amadeus and Ronan moved tactically through the map and routed the catboys at the end convincingly. In a gesture of goodwill, Levi offered to help Delta up out of a pit she had fallen into.

When it was all said and done, Camrose and their catboys emerged victorious, albeit somewhat fraudulently. Each Spectre congratulated their partner for a job well done, except Asher who blamed Levi for abandoning him and stormed out of the arcade. The group bid Rocco farewell and headed back up to the school for the evening.

Returning from the Arcade
The party returned from the Astral Arcade with their Spectres in the evening and headed off to the dining hall for dinner. Many students passing by were talking excitedly about their evening plans including throwing parties or visiting the various parties being held at the frats & sororities on campus.

The party debated how they wanted to spend their evening. They also spent a while thinking of how to acquire alcohol quickly. Delta and Io went off to ask Imogen and Asmodel for some of the wine and mead that upperclassmen get as treats during dinners. Imogen and Asmodel guiltily obliged. Upon receiving attention from their Spectres, Camrose met up again briefly with Sirius & Cy, who told Camrose they looked forward to seeing them at the L.O.V.E sorority that evening.

Amadeus speculated whether Ronan, who was sitting alone at dinner, would know how to acquire alcohol for them. Levi went off to ask him, and Ronan slyly slid him a key, which Levi and the party later found out unlocked the cellar door to the kitchens. Hatching a plan together while Camrose was talking to their Spectres, Levi, Delta, Io, and Amadeus planned to meet up and break into the kitchens that evening after the workers went home.

While Camrose took a break in the dorms to freshen up for the evening, not wanting to participate in theft, Levi led the group to the kitchens and upon looking around quickly to confirm they were alone, used the key Ronan gave Levi to successfully get into the now dark kitchens below the dining hall. Levi and Io quickly located the locked cabinet containing several modest brands of mead and wine, along with some top shelf selections reserved for professors. Io nicked a bottle of his father’s favorite brandy, Levi grabbed himself some basic wine and a rather top shelf bottle of red wine for Delta, along with some mead for Amadeus, who sat waiting at the top of the stairs playing lookout.

After successfully completing their mission, the group met back up with Camrose to prepare for their night out. Everyone got dressed in their own version of “college party attire” for the evening and took a few shots of their drinks to boost their confidence for the night before heading out into the courtyard and on to the frats.

Frat Row
The group quickly located the row of houses dedicated to the various frats and sororities on campus. Camrose spotted what they knew was the L.O.V.E. sorority, a brightly decorated and well-kept building with pink and purple accents. It sat alongside a much messier, Halloween-esque decorated building that Levi recognized as the D.E.A.D. frat. As Amadeus mustered the courage to approach and learn more about the frat, somebody jumped off of the roof of the D.E.A.D. frat yelling something along the lines of not being afraid of death and landed safely in a kiddie pool of foam skeleton skulls below.

Amadeus met Turk “Bones” Rowley, a large, ginger colored and furry gentleman in a plaid shirt, and one of the board members of the D.E.A.D. frat. He explained the two rules of the frat:


 * 1) Respect everyone’s personal identifications
 * 2) Fuck the D.R.A.G.O.N.S.

Ghost showed up behind Bones, recognizing Amadeus as one of Levi’s friends. Ghost attempted to find Levi, but Levi quickly removed himself from the situation, following Camrose and the gang to the L.O.V.E. sorority.

L.O.V.E.
Two people stood outside the L.O.V.E. sorority acting as supposed bouncers, a dark-skinned elf woman with medium length hair and an undercut on one side, and a human man with darker skin and a well-trimmed fade. They informed Camrose that they needed to impress them with their enchanting charms in order to gain access to the sorority. Camrose, frustrated because they had clearly been invited by Cyrus & Sirius, began to explain they were an actual factual knight, which failed to sway Nadira. Camrose consulted the party for help, and then swiftly kissed Nadira in front of her boyfriend Kamir (for a beautiful nat 20).

After gaining access and leaving Nadira to kick Kamir’s ass for being such a shitty kisser compared to Camrose, Cyrus & Sirius quickly welcomed Camrose and the gang to the sorority. They explained that they would be playing some drinking games with the D.E.A.D. frat soon and asked if they wanted to join, leading Camrose and the gang out into the backyard.

Ghost introduced his fellow frat members:


 * Turk “Bones” Rowley - the large, ginger furred dog Amadeus had met earlier
 * Blaze “Corpse” Ryder - another large, green orc man with a cowboy hat wearing only jeans and a cowboy hat
 * Emiel “Grim” Arius - a lanky and grim-looking half-elf with all black clothes and aggressive amounts of black eyeshadow

Fear Pong
The gang divided into two teams for fear pong: Delta, Levi, and Amadeus on one team, and Io, Camrose, and Ghost on the other. The two teams competed to sink their ping pong ball shots into the opposing team’s drinks in order to force dares upon the other team’s players.

Some highlights of the dares performed:


 * Io was dared to hold the hand of Blaze “Corpse” Ryder for the entire game (Io also noticeably performed quite poorly, rolling an unbelievable 3 nat 1s over the course of the game).
 * Delta had the spell Seeming cast on her to make her look like her brother Asher for the rest of the game.
 * Amadeus was dared to slap Levi’s ass, as well as write an anonymous love letter to Professor Delgado and then sit in Delta’s lap for a full minute. Amadeus also spent a lot of his time using Prestidigitation to change the flavor of Levi’s drink for him to make it taste better.
 * Levi was dared to shout “I LOVE BANANAS.”
 * Camrose was dared to act as the servant for the other team (often bringing Levi drinks who requested them frequently), was dared to fake propose to Io (but kissed him instead as a “proposition”), and was dared to give Nadira a hickey.

Asher arrives on the scene
The fear pong game ended in a win for the Io, Camrose, and Ghost team, just barely beating out the Delta, Levi, and Amadeus team. As the gang recovered from bouts of laughter, Asher Morwen showed up on the scene with his fan club and encountered his sister disguised as him. Delta and Asher briefly yelled at one another in a very dramatic sibling way, before Delta agreed to have Nadira dispel the disguise on her.