Hi all,

I previously posted some warts-and-all email summaries of the ‘Curse of Strahd’ campaign I ran in 2017-18, the ‘Tomb of Annihilation’ campaign I ran in 2018-19 and ‘Out of the Abyss’, a campaign I ran in 2020. CoS was the first campaign I sent summaries to players by email after each game (I was a bit lazy prior to that). Here’s another grand campaign that started out with a slightly warped version of ‘Lost Mine of Phandelver’, then rolled on to merge ‘Storm King’s Thunder’ and ‘Princes of the Apocalypse’ (it took the intrepid heroes to 20th level using experience points – yes, those antiquated things lol). Please note it was never called ‘Footfall’ in the beginning, as it was originally just going to be playing the Lost Mine, but I had some ideas along the way and the campaign grew as it went along in an ad hoc, improvised manner, adapting parts of Storm King’s and Princes to fill out the story. The main villain wasn’t even thought of until about three-quarters of the way through the 70-session campaign. Each session was approximately 5 hours (sometimes more) long. This campaign was also the first time I didn’t write all the summaries – some of the players were given that task and did so admirably! Most of the summaries appear here as they first appeared (with some edits). If you’re a D&D fan you may enjoy them. And maybe even if you aren’t.

Steve 🙂

Disclaimer

Okay, okay – if you’ve been following these posts, you’ll have noticed my players were writing the game summaries each week and they were fairly detailed (I originally asked them to do this as I just didn’t have the time to do the summaries myself, the way I normally do). Well, from week 29 forward, my players stopped doing summaries, and I was forced to step in.

Normally, I would spend more time writing session summaries, but this campaign it was tricky, so what you’ll see from now on is some very short session notes and some occasionally detailed ones, depending on what was available from my prep or what I remembered at the time. Sorry it can’t be as detailed as it was, but at least the short summaries give you a general idea of what was going on each week.

Steve 🙂

Part 40: Return to Rivergard Keep

The Pact purchased some magic items in Yartar. Verendus became a member of the Lords’ Alliance. Fuzz the halfling rogue gained a Sending Stone from his Lords’ Alliance contact (the mysterious Bill, who looked eerily like the Pact’s contact at the newspaper, the ‘Yartar Yack’). Kathra the Aasimar Paladin sent a letter to Lady Atrasian (the party’s retired fighter, now mayor of Thundertree) regarding the information he sought about his missing wife. After 14 days in Yartar, a new story and another 2 days travelling back to Rivergard Keep, the Pact dispatched some Hill Giants and a Storm Giant, only to find out the giants had been sent by Iarno Albrecht to eliminate them. The cultists were aware they were coming!

With cunning plan to enter Rivergard Keep using water breathing spells and the boat piloted by Kathra as a decoy, the Pact assaulted the water cult forces and faced a Storm Giant…   

Part 41: Into the Fane…

The Pact defeated the Storm Giant and destroyed the remainder of the water cult at Rivergard Keep. After hunting down treasure and freeing some captives, they headed down to the Fane of the Eye beneath the elemental temple levels in an effort to find a way to the temple of the Cult of Howling Hatred (who came up with these names?!).

In the Fane, the Pact persuaded the Lizardfolk tribe to occupy the Dwarven city above (previously occupied by the water cult), fought a poor little rust monster, got charmed by a bunch of Harpies and then easily dispatched six Air Elemental Myrmidons sealed in a cavern using Aelfwyn’s sickening radiance. Oh, and achieved 12th level (yay!).

All in a day’s work.

Part 42: The Temple of Howling Hatred

The Pact entered the Temple of Howling Hatred, fighting cultists, Kenku and two Cloud Giants! Verendus the sorcerer used telekinesis to puppet a cloud giant body and slam it into cultists. Kathra realized interrogating a cloud giant might be useful and saved both (but one got killed by a cultist). Aelfwyn briefly borrowed Kathra’s Wand of Magic Missiles and Grigor the bow-wielding fighter realized he was now a walking death machine with his sharpshooter feat.

The interrogated Cloud Giant revealed Countess Sansuri’s Cloud Castle was tethered to Feathergale Spire up above the underground temple. The Cloud Giants had converted to the worship of Yan-C-Bin, elemental prince of air, and were supporting the air cult, but the cloud giant wasn’t really sure why – he was just doing as he was told. He revealed that Aerisi Kalinoth was head of the cult, and that a number of cult members were based in buildings to the south of the temple.

As Verendus dispatched the captive giant, an earthquake rocked the temple – after shocks from a huge earthquake to the west. Aelfwyn and Verendus felt the deaths of many people in their mind’s eyes… 

Part 43: Ending the Howling Hatred

The Pact fought Vrocks and a Wyvern-riding mage in the Temple of the Howling Hatred. They entered the great pyramid at its center to find Aerisi Kalinoth was nowhere to be found! Aelfwyn summoned a Djinni with a horn and promptly sent him off to find Iarno Albrek. The Pact headed up top and assaulted Feathergale Spire on the way up to the Cloud Castle above… 

Part 44: The Offer

After defeating three Cloud Giants guarding the top of Feathergale Spire, the Phandelver’s Pact were called to from the Cloud Castle floating above and invited to come aboard to talk. Six Cloud Giants escorted them to a room converted to the worship of Elemental Prince Yan-C-Bin, where they met with Iarno Albrek! The manipulator discussed his ingenious plan (Aelfwyn and Grigor were not impressed and threatened to attack him several times).

“As I fled the manor,” said Albrek. “I realized my schemes to control Phandalin were meagre. I had been collecting old tomes, you know – one book in particular, which I took with me (the rest were burnt before I flew the coop). That book was the Apocolyptica – an ancient tome describing a number of disasters that had befallen the Sword Coast in past centuries. It also included a number of interesting predictions. Some of the most interesting were the breaking of the Giant’s Ordning, a war of the giants with the dragons, the coming of the Princes of Elemental Evil and the final apocalypse of the world, brought about by an immense elemental god known as Footfall. I like that last one the most.”

“It got me thinking,” Albrek continued. “What if the prophecies outlined in the tome were an indicator of my true path – my true calling. I could be the progenitor – the one who set those events in motion. I already owned a powerful magic item, capable to suggesting particular courses of action – it had served me well as an agent and diplomat of the Lords’ Alliance to keep the peace. I already had contacts amongst the giants and I had heard of strange elemental happenings in the Dessarin Valley. I guessed this might be something to do with the elemental princes. I just had to influence the giants and the elemental cults to get on side and combine their resources to put the Sword Coast into disarray.”

Albrek smiled as he monologued. “King Hekaton of the Storm Giants, the top of the Ordning, was the first issue. He was a little too noble for my persuasive arguments. He was, let’s say…displaced – from his position of authority, making the various giant factions all the more malleable. I persuaded them to start worshipping the elemental princes of evil, and once I liaised with the cults and offered them money and the giants’ resources…well, they came right on board. But what was the purpose of all this, you’re probably thinking?”

Albrek looked to each of the heroes before him. “With all of the giants and all of the elemental cults on side, I could access their libraries, and locate a number of specific magic items the Apocolyptica mentioned. Items specifically needed to link to the power of the elemental planes themselves.”  

“One of the predictions in the Apocolyptica spoke of the forging of a great construct, known as the Vonendod,” said Albrek. “The Fire Giants would use the Vonendod to recommence the giants’ war with the dragons. The subsequent release of energies would fuel the coming of an elemental being far more powerful than any to have walked the world previously. Footfall, an invincible and immortal being. Nothing could stop it from destroying the world…except for one man, in possession of the powers of the Elemental Crown (he tapped the silver, gem encrusted ring surrounding his forehead) and the giants’ artifacts needed to allow another very suggestive magical item (he tapped his silver collar) to persuade Footfall to cease its destructive rampage. One man, who would be hailed as the savior of the world.”

“The giants happen to have a number of artifacts, that when combined, will allow me to stop Footfall. I want you, heroes of the Phandelver’s Pact, to collect them for me.” Albrek smiled, hands held outward in silent appeal. “I’m offering you a chance to be part of history. A chance to save the world.”

During the conversation Albrek mentioned the elemental cults used a devastation orb (a WMD) on Red Larch, destroying it.

Albrek mentioned that he needed a number of giant relics to be collected in order to stop Footfall. Merging those items and using them in conjunction with Albrek’s Elemental Crown and his Collar of Suggestion would enable him to persuade the invincible elemental force to not destroy the world. The world’s thanks and accolades would be his and the Pact’s.

According to Albrek, he couldn’t ask the giants for the items – they needed to be taken. It was the Pact who would have to do it, otherwise Albrek would find another group of heroes to do it. They had 40 days to recover the relics, as Footfall was predicted to arrive at that point.

He outlined the giants’ relics & their locations:

• Banner of the Krig Rune –A room of portraits in the Cloud Giants’ Castle
• Claw of the Wyrm Rune – A pile of gold in a Blue Dragon’s Lair in the desert
• Gavel of the Venn Rune – A room of meat in the Hill Giants’ Steading
• Ingot of the Skold Rune – A room of war in the Fire Giants’ stronghold
• Opal of the Ild Rune – The body of a giant in a sacred mountain temple
• Shard of the Ise Rune – The quarters of giants in a sacred mountain temple
• Pennant of the Vind Rune – A mighty Frost Giant longship on a frozen sea
• Orb of the Stein Rune – A Stone Giant god in a dark mountain cleft
• Korolnor Sceptre – Held in the hand of the Storm Giant Queen
• Wyrmskull Throne – The seat of the Storm Giant Queen

The Pact argued over this for some time – should they help the man who appeared to have set these events in motion? Albrek claimed the events would have happened anyway, his profiting by them was his plan, not the actual apocalypse itself. Albrek also inferred he recognised Verendus – there seemed to be some past history between the two…

The Pact reluctantly agreed to help Albrek for the moment, but with a number of demands:

• An Airship
• Free the dragons held by the giants
• Magic items and money
• Ham and Pineapple Pizza
• No more destroying towns or working with the elemental cults (this eventually became the first item on the list)

Albrek agreed, but was only forthcoming on a few of the items requested. The Pact got an airship, however, flown by airman William Airborne, a member of the Cult of the Dragon. Grigor and Aelfwyn determined to watch and learn how to fly the airship…

After a long rest, the party confronted Countess Sansuri, who didn’t recognize Iarno Albrek’s name and seemed to be in a bit of a daze. While she went to her brother for a checkup, Aelfwyn cast invisibility on Fuzz, who sneaked upstairs and found the gallery containing the first Giant relic – the Banner of the Krig Rune. The party decided to cause a diversion in the garden on the gallery’s level, drawing the cloud giants to them so that Fuzz could steal the banner…

NOTE: This was the first time during the campaign that Footfall as the BBEG was mentioned. Prior to that I had no idea who the big bad was (other than Iarno Albrek), despite the fact I had been calling the campaign “Footfall” all along, which was originally a reference to the giants. In the end, it all seemed very logical lol.

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