This campaign can be used at any time during your Player Characters’ (PCs) adventures. All it takes is a way to introduce Elayne to them and convince them to trust her. The goal, as always, is to be able to use this campaign with any game. In my telling of this story, Elayne is an avatar of a goddess, and other gods make appearances. There is also a dragon near the end of the tale. This may not fit well into certain dragonless worlds with clearly defined gods none of which could be represented by these characters, or rules that would prevent Player Characters (PCs) from interacting with gods on this level. If this is the case, there is always a creative solution to be found. Perhaps instead of gods these could represent Angels or other powerful creatures. Elayne as the Angel of Death fits the story quite well. Rather than a dragon, perhaps some other powerful being? A Giant? A CEO? This story also relies heavily on several different types of undead, which could be a deal breaker for some games.

OUTLINE

BACKSTORY

This is all written for the purpose of helping you understand who Elayne is so that she can be roleplayed properly. Most of this backstory will not necessarily come into play or ever be something that your PCs will know. All of it (as with anything in these campaigns) can and should be changed if it better fits your game.

Andhrella is the goddess of Life and Death. One of her many tasks is taking the souls of the dead to their final rest as the goddess of Death. As the goddess of Life, Andhrella seeks to better understand life by taking on the form of her progeny and living a life, birth to death. Typically, while living this life Andhrella is able to manage her divine affairs while her physical body sleeps. Her soul is truly immortal, and upon the death of her body her soul simply returns to its godly state. Based on this fact you may think as you continue that the simplest solution to the problem about to be presented would be for your PCs to kill Elayne the first time they see her, but where’s the fun in that?

Andhrella took on the form of a human girl. She was given the name Elayne after her mother who died during her birth. To cope with the loss of his wife, Elayne’s father spent nearly all of his time maintaining the farm. Elayne was mostly raised by her older sister, Lissa. Lissa was only six when their mother died and the responsibility of raising a baby took from her a childhood, but she didn’t miss it. Having a goddess for a little sister has its perks, but Andhrella is always very careful to not let the mortals around her know that she is a god or capable in any way of magic. She will, however affect things without taking any credit. For example, there was a large oak tree in which Lissa loved to climb next to the house. As a gift to Lissa on the year of her 16th birthday, Elayne caused the tree to grow ten times as fast as normal for the whole year. The tree certainly drew attention, but none considered Elayne could be the cause. She was just happy to see Lissa’s joy, “It grows so fast you can almost see it moving!”

Inserting herself into people’s lives changes those lives dramatically enough that Andhrella is not able to predict their futures. This is a side effect that she is happy for as she feels that it gives her a more accurate experience of what life really is like for those that live it. The bad side effect was that this prevented her from protecting her families, but when tragedy did strike this also was a good opportunity for better understanding an essential part of life.

A week before Elayne’s 17th birthday there was a terrible thunderstorm in the middle of the night. It woke Elayne but she quickly tried to fall back to sleep to get back to her divine responsibilities. As she did she saw a bright flash outside followed immediately by what felt like an earthquake and the loudest sound Elayne had ever heard. More loud sounds followed as the sound of wood cracking under it’s own weight was follow by the sound of nearly half of the tree falling onto and crushing the house.

In the chaos that followed Elayne’s mind was shattered. She was knocked unconscious from a board that fell from the roof which impacted her head. Unsure of how long she had been unconscious she was confused when she awoke. She managed to climb out of the rubble to try and find her father and sister. She found her father crushed with just his arm protruding from under the debris, his blood was flowing towards her carried by the runoff of the heavy rain. She lifted a portion of a wall off of Lissa’s body to find that her neck was broken and she was no longer breathing. Then she just started running. She was physically running from the farm, but mentally she was running from everything. She held on only to her name, Elayne. She just kept running.

Whether it was the lost blood from her injury or the emotional trauma and guilt of finding her family dead, Elayne let everything go. Her mind was in a delicate state as she was in between waking and sleeping when the tree fell. The thunder from the lightning strike woke her and the branch knocked her out. Elayne forgot everything about herself. She forgot her family. She forgot about the tree. But most importantly, she forgot who she truly was.

She was not sure how long she ran but she found herself by a creek as the sun began to rise. There was an enormous tree on the edge of the creek. Its roots had been dug up by the water of the stream over the years. The tree was thriving and served as good cover from the ongoing storm. She sat beneath the tree and wept for hours before finally going back to sleep.

Her dreams were now plagued with strange visions of men and women whom she did not know. They called to her and told her they needed her. They were frightening visions and she decided to avoid sleeping again. Her waking experience also frightened her as she felt a pull on her very core that she didn’t fully understand, but she knew that she could not ignore it.

ELAYNE'S ABILITIES

Elayne, though she may not know it, is still a goddess. The power that resides in her is usually under her control but in this instance it is not. Just for being near her, any allies are empowered. She also has certain abilities that she can use in times of need.

THE PULL

This is the driving force behind all of Elayne’s actions. It is the manifestations of her divine responsibilities being neglected. She can feel the souls of all the dead around her calling to her, begging for their release. She can feel it pulling her in all directions at once, but she can also focus on a single call and follow it. She will prioritize instinctively to attempt to deal with the nearest and most powerful calls first, though her mortal mind will also be frightened by this pull and especially frightened by the more powerful ones. This duality is what drives her personality. She is very certain that she must do this thing, but she is horribly afraid of doing it. Her certainty typically overrides her fear, but it never completely drowns it out. If ever discussed with the PCs Elayne would say that she can feel the pull, but she does not know for sure where it is leading them, or what they will find there. She only knows that she must follow it. There is a certain pull that Elayne feels throughout the entire campaign that she intentionally ignores. This pull is very powerful and this power frightens Elayne. She may be seen by the PCs glancing anxiously in it’s direction from time to time.

BLESSING

Any PCs that encounter Elayne would have an overwhelming instinct to follow and protect her. This is a result of her brother, Andhar, influencing their minds in an effort to place powerful people around her until she is able to restore her mind. This compulsion placed on the PCs mind can be so extreme that the PC would be willing to place him or herself in mortal danger to protect Elayne, but it would never remove from them their free will. Any PCs who are working with Elayne get one re-roll per game session. This means that any PCs working with Elayne can reroll an attack, a perception roll, a save, or any other di roll one time per session.

PURIFYING LIGHT

This is a heal that Elayne can cast on single target that heals their wounds and even binds broken bones or restores missing limbs. This manifests visually as a glowing, golden light emanating from the wound that is being healed. This light can be felt by the target as a warm, tingling and burning sensation and over the course of one round their wounds are gone. In extreme circumstances Elayne can even use this ability to bring someone back from death, but only immediately following this death and doing so would heavily exhaust Elayne. If used in this way her target’s wounds, no matter how grave, heal immediately and their breathing returns. It would take them up to 12 hours for them to regain consciousness, but from then they would quickly be back to full health. Once again, traveling with a goddess does have its benefits.

PENITENCE

This is a buff that can be placed on one friendly target at a time. Visually, this ability causes the target to be surrounded by a slight glow. The next time this target would take damage from any attack, they take no damage and this damage is instead reflected back at the attacker as a blast of holy light. This buff lasts for a full scene and can typically only be placed on one target at a time, but in the direst of times Elayne can place it on multiple allies though doing so exhausts her mortal body severely.

SANCTIFY

This places a circular area of holy light on the ground (about a 15 foot radius). Any of Elayne’s allies are healed slightly while standing on the Sanctified ground. Any of her enemies are damaged slightly while standing on Sanctify. Most enemies would also be frightened of Sanctify and avoid coming into its area of effect if they can, or leave it if they find themselves inside.

EXHAUSTION

Elayne’s dreams terrify her so she refuses to sleep. On top of this, her godly powers expend a great deal of her mortal body’s energy. In general she will be very tired, but it would be obvious to any who witness her using her abilities that they take a toll. She will never willingly go to sleep, but depending on how long it has been since the last time she slept and how many times she has used her abilities she will sometimes collapse from exhaustion. This is just a part of who she is now and should be used to help advance the story as what happens while she sleeps gives all around her some insight into who she really is. Any time Elayne sleeps (other than the fifth and final time) she will be unconscious for anywhere from six to 16 hours.

SHARED DREAMS

Any time Elayne sleeps or collapses from exhaustion her consciousness pours over into the minds of those around her. Whether they are also sleeping or in the middle of combat Elayne’s thoughts will pulse out from her at regular intervals and give all who are near visions of her dreams. While the PCs are waking this would manifest more as an augmented reality, or a hallucination. The people from Elayne’s dream would appear to be standing nearby and their words would be heard loudly over any other sounds. If this ever happens during combat friends and foes alike (and even the undead) will experience these hallucinations and the scene should sort of cut back and forth between the combat and the dream sequence at the end or beginning of each round of combat.

ADDITIONAL CHARACTERS

ANDHAR

Andhrella’s brother and fellow god. He appears in most of Elayne’s dreams and speaks to her pleading with her to come back to herself. He is very protective of her and influences the minds of the PCs in order to get them to protect her. He knows that her mortal body’s death would lead to her return to power, but he also knows how important living these lives is to her so he is hoping to restore her mind without allowing her to be harmed.

ANDHROLL

Andhrella’s brother and fellow god. When encountered in game he appears as a tall man with white hair and a clean shaven face wearing a white, glowing robe. He is the god of weather and feels extremely guilty that weather is the cause of the tragedy that killed Elayne’s family and broke her mind. He appears to Elayne with the intent of awakening her by demonstrating his power and hoping this will remind her of her own power. He also expresses his deep guilt to her and apologizes.

THE UNDEAD

The undead that your PCs will encounter in this campaign will be very angry with Elayne and attempt to attack and/or frighten her or anyone who gets between them and her. Most of the undead do not fully understand what is happening to them, but they know Elayne is the cause or is at least tied up in getting them what they truly want which is to be released. They feel the same pull towards Elayne that she feels towards them. Elayne will help your PCs subdue these creatures using her abilities as needed and then she will instinctually release their souls from their bodies and allow them to truly die. As their souls are released a loud exhale can be heard from each of the undead.

THE FARM

Meeting Elayne could happen in several different ways. It is possible news has reached the nearby town of the destruction of the home, the death of the man and girl and the missing daughter and that your players could hear these rumors and go investigate. It is also possible that they simply come across the crushed abode and investigate. Regardless of how you introduce your PCs to this game, I’d recommend having them start out by coming upon her former home at night within a day or two of her disappearance.

The farm is in a small clearing in some fairly dense woods. It would appear the area was cleared out and the wood was used to build the house and nearby barn. Wheat (or another crop of your choosing) is growing in the field. There are a few trees left in the area, most importantly the one near the house. This tree is quite large and one of its largest branches was recently struck by lightning and fell onto the house severely damaging it. Regardless of what time the players arrive on the farm they would see a scene being repeated. They may arrive at the farm at any point during this scene, but it will continue to repeat over and over.

There is a man who walks out from the barn with some farming tools in hand and begins working in the field. He is shirtless, tan, overweight, bearded and generally hairy. He would not respond in any way to any interaction from any PCs. If they attempt to touch him their hands would pass straight through him and he would continue to ignore their presence. With a perception roll when approaching the farmer or viewing him from a distance a player may notice that his hands and tools are not at all affecting the ground he is working on. He works out in the field for up to an hour before a young woman can be seen coming through what would be the door of the house. She can be seen passing through the branches of the tree that should be blocking her path as if they do not exist and walking out towards the man. She would also not respond to the players, other than if they touched her. The first time any player touches her she will stop whatever she is doing for just a brief moment and turn to look in their direction. Her eyes will look straight through them and her face will pinch with curiosity before she shakes it off and continues with whatever she was doing. She will not respond to any further interaction from players and always remains entirely intangible.

When she gets near the man, she will say, “Pa, have you seen Elayne? She was supposed to help me with Allura’s mane, but I can’t find her in the house.”

“She’s probably where she always is down at the creek.” The man will respond.

The young woman will sigh, “I was hoping you had seen her. I’ll go check.” And she would hurriedly walk off in a very straight line towards the NE edge of the farm. She would continue to walk for about 100 paces past the edge of the farm into the woods. With each step after entering the woods she would begin to fade from vision until she finally completely disappears from sight. Any who stay and watch the farmer continue to work would see him fade at the exact same rate and disappear from sight at the exact same time. Moments later he would walk out from the barn, and the scene will repeat itself. Around 30 minutes later the young woman would come back out from the house and the entire scene will repeat itself over and over.

If the PCs take the bait and continue in the direction the young woman traveled they would soon see a creek and very quickly after they will find Elayne near or even hiding up in the branches of an enormous tree on the edge of the creek. If they choose to return back to the farm they will see the scene repeat. If necessary Andhar may step in and give your PCs a powerful conviction that Elayne can be found if they continue in the direction the woman was walking. When the players do find Elayne she will be sitting near or in the tree hugging her knees and whispering over and over to herself “I am Elayne.” This is literally the only thing she remembers about herself. She is still able to communicate and function fully in every way, but she knows only that her name is Elayne and she is feeling a powerful tugging on her very soul. She is not sure of the source of this pull that she feels, but she knows instinctively that following it is her highest responsibility. She also knows that she needs the PCs to come with her if her task is to be successfully completed.

ENCOUNTERS

You can play as many or as few of these as you’d like in whatever order you’d like. Below they are listed in alphabetical order, but I would recommend reading all of them before continuing the game from this point as some of them could be combined together if you so choose. These Encounters are events that will lead up to the final scene that will be described later under the heading “I Have Been Waiting”. All of the undead related encounters are the cause of The Pull that is instinctually drawing Elayne towards them. How the PCs become involved in these encounters is entirely up to the GM. Perhaps Elayne simply leads the PCs to the scene, perhaps she wanders off in the night and the players manage to follow her tracks or the sounds of the scene in the correct direction. For example, when running this campaign I had my PCs encounter The Cottage by having the ghost from the cottage show itself to them outside of the cottage, and paralyze the PCs with fear. They were forced to just stand and watch as Elayne followed the ghost into the woods and out of sight before the PCs were able to gather themselves and follow her only to find the cottage. Feel free to get creative and have fun with these scenes and introducing your PCs to them.

As far as “loot” is concerned in this campaign, most of the undead in these encounters would simply be using whatever equipment and weapons they had on them at the time of their death. But if you feel the need to give your PCs better equipment and weapons or if it makes sense for your game feel free to present these items throughout these encounters however you deem fit.

The entire campaign should take place in about the space of one to two weeks of in-game time. Keep in mind that Elayne can only sleep at most 5 times before the campaign comes to its conclusion.

Anyone who dies (PC or NPC) if not released or revived by Elayne will join the ranks of the undead 2-3 minutes after their death. Within this time Elayne would be able to bring them back to life if she saw fit, though she is only likely to do this with the PCs protecting her and doing so is highly likely to cause her to collapse from exhaustion and thus cause the next dream.

THE BEAR

Elayne leads the PCs to a cave with a very sickly looking bear inside. The bear has a large gash on it’s neck and it’s shoulder and chest are covered in its own blood. Its wounds are such that it should certainly be dead, but it is moving around as if it is very healthy. It glares angrily at Elayne before charging her and trying to violently kill her.

THE CARRIAGE

Elayne leads the PCs towards a carriage that is stopped in the center of a rarely used road. There is a lot of blood on and around the carriage as if there was a battle here, but there are no bodies to be found. As the PCs investigate they see what appears to be the driver of the carriage, two (or more) guards and 3 (or more) brigands all with mortal wounds charging towards the carriage with the intent of attacking Elayne. As they attack their shouts of “Why?!”, “You did this to us!”, and “Just let us die!” will be heard.

THE COTTAGE

Elayne leads the PCs to a cottage in the middle of the woods. As they approach the cottage one of the PCs may notice some movement in one of the windows. Elayne will be boldly continuing on towards the house in spite of any of the PCs misgivings. Once inside the house the first thing the PCs would notice is the stench of death. As they look around Elayne will become separated from the group (This separation could happen before or after the PCs enter the building) and the PCs would hear her crying from behind a door in a room inside the house. The door is locked and the PCs cannot get inside. If any PC attempts to go through the door, break the door down, or touch the door in any way they would see a gray-glowing, gaseous figure quickly move through a nearby wall and pass through whichever of them touched the door before arching back towards and through the wall. It would also pass through any other PCs along its path. Any PC that is touched by the grayish gaseous figure must make a highly difficult save. Depending on your game this could be a courage roll, a save versus horror factor, a willpower check, etc. If they fail this save they are completely terrified, so much so that they are unable to move any part of their body for a full minute. This will continue to happen to any who touch the door until the door is broken down or opened by Elayne. Subsequent fails of this save increase the difficulty, while subsequent saves would reduce it. Attempts to pick the lock on the door would reveal that whatever is holding it shut is supernatural in origins. There is no physical lock.

A search through the house would reveal a fairly recently (within the past couple days) deceased old woman. The body is cold and completely still. If the PCs break the door between them and Elayne down they will find a crying Elayne inside in what appears to be a state of prayer. If they do not, Elayne will walk from the room after nearly 10 minutes of remaining inside. Over the course of this ten minutes her crying will subside and be replaced with quiet chanting. If she walks from the room in this way she would go straight to the body maintaining what appears to be a meditative state. One way or another, Elayne must eventually be brought to the body, or taken away from the cottage. When she is taken to the body, the gray, ghostly figure will enter the room and sink into the body and she will free the soul from its ties to the body.

THE MINE

Elayne leads the PCs towards what appears to be the entrance to a mine. This mine was until very recently in use, but there was a tunnel collapse. Men from the nearby town have come out to excavate the mine in the hope of finding survivors. At the time of the arrival of the PCs they hear screams coming from within the mine and see men running out the entrance. If they quickly head inside to investigate they will encounter undead men who appear to have just crawled out of the rubble and are attacking the excavators with their pickaxes. If they choose to stay outside the men with pickaxes will be joined by those they attack in their assault against Elayne. Once inside the mine, if the undead kill any of them men, these men will come back to life and fight against Elayne as well if not released by Elayne. Once all are subdued, Elayne will pray over each of these men and release their souls.

THE NIGHT IN TOWN

If at any point during this Campaign Elayne collapses or goes to sleep in a town, almost every person in that town will experience her dreams. After this dream sequence, all of the people in town would recognize Elayne from their dream. Unless this is the first dream sequence, in which case the visual is not clear enough for people to fully recognize Elayne. Either way, word would quickly spread throughout the town as people discuss the strange dream they had and realize that others had the same dream. Those that recognize Elayne from the dream and had already seen her in town will come looking for her the with questions as to what she has done to cause this strange dream. This could lead to Elayne and the PCs being arrested, run out of town, or just simply gawked at until they leave. You could even use this as a means to get them arrested to lead into the discovery of “The Pit” in the encounter above.

THE PIT

This following paragraph is just one example of how the PCs could get arrested which would lead to them being taken to The Pit. As always, feel free to get your PCs into trouble, or let them get themselves into trouble in any way that fits into the game.

Elayne leads the PCs into a town. She heads into the center of town and straight to one of the shops and inside. The nature of the shop is not important, but the shop owner and his family lives upstairs. They have a pet cat that was kicked by a horse the day before. This kick should have killed it, but it was unable to die. The family hasn’t noticed anything strange about the cat since its “death”. The cat comes up to Elayne aggressively as she enters the shop, but collapses in a bright flash of golden light as soon as it touches Elayne. From the family’s perspective, Elayne just used some fowl magic to kill their beloved pet. Guards are called and quickly arrest Elayne and the PCs. They are taken to cells not far away and held as prisoners.

After a few hours of being left alone in their cell a guard enters the room and approaches the cell and as he does Elayne begins to glow brightly from her eyes and speaks in a booming voice, “You have people nearby. People who should be dead, yet live on. Angry people who attack senselessly and violently, and those they attack also cheat death and join their loathsome ranks. You must take me to them.” The guards will flee in fear. As they do, Elayne's episode passes and her face turns pale. She has no explanation for what just happened to her.

The guards soon return with a man who is very well dressed and introduces himself as Ardon, a high ranking official in the town. Ardon says to Elayne, “I hope you can truly help. I do not know what evil has come down upon us, but if you can help in any way I must let you.” Then Ardon and several guards will lead Elayne and the PCs outside of town.

Any questions as to where the PCs are being led will be met with assurances that they will not be harmed and that they will have to see what is happening to believe it. After nearly an hour of walking the guards and Ardon lead Elayne and the PCs to a secluded area and what appears to be a small circular wall about the size of a large house. There is one gate in and out and the entire wall is surrounded by guards. Ardon will approach the gate, and the guards will allow him through. The guards will suspiciously eye the PCs and Elayne, but none would say a word to interfere with Ardon. Inside the wall the PCs see a pit that appears to have been dug fairly recently. The pit is about 40 ft across and about 15 feet deep at it’s lowest point. Inside stand roughly 50 of the undead. Some of the undead appear to be town guards, some are bandits, some are just people from the town. There are even a few animals in there as well. They appear to be the dead from recent days. “They just don’t die” says Ardon, eyeing them in terror.

Elayne will walk to the edge of the pit and sit in the floor and sink into a deep meditation. As she approaches the pit all of the undead stop to look at her and begin moving toward her with outstretched arms as if begging her for something. Many of them will even begin to attempt to climb each other to get to Elayne and as they do guards will shoot them to try and stop their approach. As Elayne’s meditation continues golden lights begin to leave her body and spiral down into the pit. As the lights hit each of the undead they exhale loudly and collapse. Once all of the undead collapse Elayne would struggle to stand up and would be leaning against the wall looking extremely tired. Ardon would be grateful and offer the PCs and Elayne a place to stay for the night along with supplies and equipment to continue their journey. Elayne would accept all besides the room for the night and insist that the PCs continue on their journey. She is highly likely to collapse from exhaustion at some point during the night.

THE STORM

A terrible storm can be seen forming in the distance and is headed towards the PCs, but Elayne insists that they continue to travel through it. While traveling through the storm they see a man in the distance. He is quite tall and has white hair and a clean shaven face. He is walking straight towards them wearing a white robe that almost seems to be glowing in the storm. As the PCs get nearer to him they will will notice that he is staying completely dry in spite of the downpour. He will walk straight up to Elayne who will be staring at him with her head slightly cocked to the side.

When he is very close he will speak with a voice that overpowers the sound of the storm and can clearly be heard. As he begins to speak the PCs would notice that Elayne’s composure changes from curiosity to fear as soon as she hears his voice. “You have forgotten who you are. You must come back to us soon.” As he says this he begins to move closer to Elayne and players would notice that ice has begun to encase them starting at their feet and climbing to their shoulders rapidly. Players would get one round to attempt an action. Any attacks against Andhroll would be completely negated by supernatural weather related phenomenon (Arrows/bullets being knocked out of the sky by hail. Melee attacks being thrown off by enormous, targeted gusts of wind. Magical attacks dissipating beneath the force of the rain) During this same round Androll would grow in size until he is 30 feet tall. He would begin to shout at Elayne, towering over her as she falls to her back before him. “There are some that say you should be punished for what you have done! Some say you should find your own way back!” After each sentence an enormous bolt of lightning will strike on either side of Elayne with thunder that literally deafens the PCs to all sounds but Andhroll’s continuing voice. “You cannot continue down this path!” he booms.

As Elayne rolls onto her face and covers her ears she is seen to be screaming, though no sound is heard. Andhroll quickly shrinks back down to normal size before kneeling down to Elayne and holding her head in his arms for a few moments. When he finally continues speaking, a great deal of guilt and pain can be heard in his voice, “I am so sorry. I hoped I could shock you back to who you truly are, but I was mistaken. I know someday you will understand, but for now I need to tell you that I am sorry and I hope that you can forgive me.” After a long pause, and a deep breath he will continue, “I see no reason why you must brave this storm.” As soon as he says the word storm he and the clouds in the sky immediately disappear and the sun shines brightly on the scene. The rain continues to fall for a few seconds before also abruptly stopping. Elayne will take several minutes to recompose herself, but will urge the PCs to continue moving once she does.

THE VILLAGE

Elayne leads the PCs towards a town. On the way they see a very small town in the distance or at least a sign showing them that they are heading in the direction of a town called Burnet. About a day outside of the town the PCs and Elayne will encounter 2 undead that will attack them and attempt to kill Elayne. The only thing that stands out about these undead is that they have nooses tied around their necks and appear to have been hanged. The rope that hanged them has been cut off a foot or two from their neck and is hanging off their shoulders. When subdued Elayne will release their souls and say, “This was a part of it, but there is more ahead.” looking at the town in the distance.

As the PCs approach the town it seems abandoned. The only place that could have someone inside would be the center of town as their view is blocked by a couple larger buildings and trees. Elayne will lead them towards the center of the town and as they get within about 30 feet they can see around the buildings or through the trees into the town square. In the very center of town there is a gallows. Standing on the gallows is a plainly dressed man with a weapon on his hip and a noose dangling from his neck and marks on his neck from where the rope rubbed as it killed him. He is standing with his back to the PCs and looking towards 4 more people walking towards him. They, too, are plainly dressed, though they have some blood on their clothes and are very dirty. They also have nooses around their necks and appear to have been hanged. They are dragging behind them two men who are completely unconscious. These men are carried to the gallows and the undead begin to tie the nooses around their necks and prepare to hang them. If none of the PCs take any action, Elayne would step out from behind cover and with a booming voice shout, “Stop this! I am the one who deserves your vengeance! Come and take it!” The undead will stop what they are doing and begin to charge towards Elayne brandishing their weapons. Once subdued Elayne will release their souls.

THE WOLVES

During their travels the PCs are followed by a pack of wolves. These are just normal, hungry wolves which may follow the PCs for days before finally deciding to attack. They would be stealthy in their stalking of the PCs, and they will wait for a moment that seems their best opportunity to kill them. This may even happen in the midst of one of the other encounters as this would certainly leave Elayne and her companions susceptible to attack. The PCs would be able to notice the wolves with normal perception rolls, and if they have the means they could trap, or otherwise attempt to attack them and this should be resolved by the rules of whatever game you are playing. Just keep in mind these wolves are good at what they do and intelligent enough to avoid fights until they have the best chance at reaching their goal: eating one or all of their prey.

DREAM SEQUENCES

These happen in this order any time Elayne sleeps or passes out from Exhaustion over the course of the one to two weeks during which this campaign takes place. After the fifth time Elayne sleeps the Campaign is forced to a close by the scene described immediately after the fifth and final dream. It is not necessary for the PCs to experience all of the dreams before the final encounter, “I Have Been Waiting”, can occur. If you feel the need to more quickly progress the story, feel free to combine multiple dream sequences into one.

These visions would typically be seen immediately when Elayne loses consciousness. Those that are sleeping when the visions occur would have a difficult time discerning the amount of time the visions last and also when they happen during their sleep. They would typically seem to happen immediately before waking if the visions occur to sleeping PCs or NPCs.

FIRST

In the blink of an eye the PCs see stars outlining 2 silhouettes. It appears that they both are just floating in space. One is of Elayne sitting on the ground with her hands over her ears violently shaking her head no. The other silhouette is of a man reaching out to her kindly. The PCs can’t understand his words other than the word “Elayne” once. when she awakes she has a headache and says they need to keep moving as soon as possible.

SECOND

The dream is visually similar to the first one: Elayne is on the ground covering her ears; A man is standing next to her. This time, however both can be clearly seen. Andhar is a tall, dark skinned, dark haired man. He has long black hair and a short beard. He is very attractive and wearing fine white robes with very intricate symbols in black embroidering covering all of the robe. He is speaking calmly to Elayne, “You must stop this, child. You are needed too badly to behave like this. Your Keeping are restless. They need your care.” As he speaks each sentence Elayne’s mind stirs visions and memories of the undead that she has faced so far and these visions can be seen by all who share the dream.

THIRD

In this dream the PCs see directly in front of them the dimly lit and dirty feet of what appears to be a child. As their vision moves back and upwards they see that this child is wearing tattered clothing that is covered with the child’s own blood. They realize that the child is dead, but still breathing and shivering against the cold night air. More importantly as the vision continues upwards and away from the child the PCs see that the child is not alone. Standing behind the child are thousands more of the undead each indistinguishable from the last as they’re individuality gets lost in the multitude. The overwhelming truth of the vision is that there are too many to count, and all of them are crying out to be helped. The PCs get an overwhelming feeling that they need to help these poor, lost souls. The feeling is a deep and overwhelming helplessness, and the vision ends. If this vision is experience by a waking PC or any other NPCs, they must make a difficult save roll each round to continue any actions during any rounds the vision is active and for two rounds following the vision. Subsequent failures of this save would increase the difficulty and subsequent saves would reduce the difficulty of the save.

FOURTH

In this vision the PCs see Andhar again. This time he is just standing nearby staring at them. His robes are not glowing. His eyes show a deep loss. He seems completely distracted and the PCs feel that they do not exist as anything but a speck of dust that just happens to be passing his vision. This dream lasts only about 30 seconds.

FINAL

In this dream the PCs see nothing. It is just the sound of Andhar’s voice. “This is it, then, Sister. The time that you have been dreading has come. I hope that you are prepared, but I fear that you will simply let your protectors die. You will have this last chance to come back to me on your own terms. I will intervene no more.” If Elayne experiences this dream she and any sleeping PCs will immediately awaken. The scene described below will immediately follow this dream.

I HAVE BEEN WAITING

Ideally this will happen after Elayne has experienced most of the dream sequences, but it can happen at any point during the campaign. This could even happen in the middle of one of the other encounters, though this might be extremely dangerous as there is a dragon named Fraenir involved and Elayne will be running away at first.

Regardless of what is happening in the game at this point Elayne begins to feel a very powerful pull. She has felt this pull the entire time, but she has been ignoring it as the power coming from it is frightening to her. She can now tell that it is rapidly coming closer to her and this will cause her to panic and begin running or looking for a place to hide. She will not explain what is happening, she will just react with a loud gasp and close her eyes for a moment. When she opens them back up she will have turned very pale and will begin running in the opposite direction of the pull. If the PCs make appropriate perceptions rolls they will begin to see within the hour something flying towards them from a distance. At first they may suspect it is a bird in the not-so-distant sky, but time will show them that it is much larger than any bird. They will also notice that in spite of their running it continues to be coming straight towards them.

As it gets very close the PCs will see that it is a dragon. It is about 40 feet long from its head to its tail and its wings are at least 50 feet wide. It roars as it flies overhead and Elayne stops in her tracks. The PCs can feel the wind from its wings as it flies over them and quickly turns and stops about 100 feet in front of them. The dragon stands about 8 feet tall at its shoulder, but now it is crouched lower to the ground looking ready to leap into action as it begins to speak. The voice is feminine, but very harsh and its anger almost physically hurts those who listen. As she speaks the PCs would see a swirling snow begin to build around her, swirling faster and faster. The PCs would also notice that, though they can hear the voice and they are certain it belongs to the dragon they do not see it’s mouth moving as it speaks.

“I have been waiting. I have waited for centuries. I have lingered here for an age. And now at the time of my passing, this child stands between me and eternal peace? Who is she when compared to me? I know not what you have done to keep me here child, but I have felt a calling to you as strong as my Brood Call. I will have my peace now, child! Do not stand between a dragon and its desires.”

FRAENIR'S ABILITIES

Lasting Winter

The air around Fraenir is swirling with snow and ice. As time passes this slows the movements of all of Fraenir’s enemies. Anyone engaged in combat with Fraenir gains a stacking slowing effect that reduces their movement by up to 80% once fully stacked. This also reduces visibility around Fraenir causing ranged attackers to have increased difficulty to strike her.

Biting Wind

Fraenir rapidly flaps her wings and all targets in front of her must make an agility save to maintain their balance. This should be a moderately difficult save. Failing to save causes the target to be knocked over and interrupts their action for the round.

Tail Swipe

Anyone who attempts to attack Fraenir from the side or behind is highly susceptible to attacks from Fraenir’s tail. These attacks typically not only are severely damaging, but they through the targets in front of Fraenir. This attack can also sweep through and hit multiple targets in one swipe if they are standing next to one another.

Claw

Fraenir attacks with bone crushing force with her front leg. This attack is very powerful, but slow and easier to avoid than most melee attacks. If this does hit a PC they are very likely to need some help from Elayne to stay in the fight and will be thrown several feet by the impact. This attack can also sweep through and hit multiple targets at once if they are standing next to one another.

Blizzard Breath

This is Fraenir’s most devastating attack, but also the most costly. This attack only hits enemies in front of Fraenir. She can only use this attack once every 10 rounds of combat and the round prior to using this attack Fraenir must prepare for it and is unable to take any other action besides this preparation. Any PC’s struck by this attack are likely at the very least severely injured. This attack is capable of killing anyone it strikes in a single blow. Fraenir will try to only use this attack when it will do the most damage, IE when all PCs and Elayne are in front of her.

CONCLUSION

By design this fight should be extremely dangerous and deadly to your PCs. Fraenir has an enormous health pool and deals massive damage with her attacks. Unless evaded in some way most PCs could die from any single attack. The first time Fraenir uses Blizzard Breath (which ideally will be when multiple PCs are still standing, but after several rounds of combat have passed), Elayne will use the more powerful version of Penitence protecting all allies other than herself. The reflected damage will stun Fraenir, but more importantly the attack will kill Elayne. If any PCs make a remarkable roll in order to save Elayne they may succeed in protecting her from the majority of the damage, but Elayne will collapse from exhaustion immediately. On the round following her death or collapse, Elayne will begin to brightly glow and her limp body will raise up from the ground. The stunned dragon will just gape at her as the light emitting from her body intensifies and she appears to awaken and look at the dragon. Elayne’s voice shakes the ground with each syllable she speaks and the whirling frost comes to a halt before gently settling on the ground as she speaks, “Fraenir, my dear child. I forgive you for this. It is my doing, and you are not the only one who was hurt by my folly. Sleep now, Dragon. You will have your peace.” and as she speaks the PCs will feel the cold leave the air and see a peace pass over the dragon as its body settles to the ground. Elayne will then turn to look at the bodies of any PCs who have died and say, “Your time is not yet come, Protectors of Andhrella. I will not forget your willingness to sacrifice, though it is not yet needed.” And as she speaks their bodies will glow with the same golden light that has been emanating from Andhrella. Their wounds, no matter how grave, heal immediately and their breathing returns. It would take them up to 12 hours to regain consciousness, but from then they would immediately be back to full health.

“I have much to attend to, Protectors of Andhrella,” she says as she looks at the conscious PCs, “I will not forget you.” As the last word leaves her lips she and the light surrounding her disappear from the PCs view. From this point on in all future campaigns for these PCs Andhrella may see fit to intervene. She may even have tasks that she may call upon them to perform. She will definitely be a part of their lives in one way or another.

There is no real reason the PCs would ever know this, but the first thing Andhrella would do after this scene would be to go to Elayne’s father and sister and release their souls. If the PCs decide to go back to the farm they would find that the repeating scene has ended.

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This Campaign written by Jason McCracken with concept support and editing from Jacob Woods and Rachel McCracken.