Path to Arla (Arla and Craynoth-Pavik-Shim)
A young band of adventurers from Trayalon are sent as intelligence agents into the fractious tribal land of Arla, only to discover that an ancient Hesh prisoner named Craynoth — calling himself Pavik Shim — is engineering a war that will consume both continents. To stop him the party must master forgotten planar magic, survive tribal politics, and return home in time to close the portal that would make him a god.
Set in h-year 141, twenty-five years after the Founding of Trayalon, this campaign follows a new generation of adventurers assembled at Thomas Cassius's School of Magic and sent to Arla by Solomon (Seamus Adair) to gather intelligence on rising instability. The party — Finn Gallund (youngest son of Admon), the summoner Trankle with his eidolon Bubbles, half-elf Artemon Tretcord, the druid Harfur, and oracle Maddie Cassius — voyage to Brightport and spend months travelling through the tribes of Arla: uncovering a slave ring run by the So-So gang, navigating the strict law-cities of Raven Wing, surviving a faerie curse in the Deepwood, and attending a trap of a tribal summit in the Thicket. As Admon Gallund is killed back in Trayalon by a delayed-blast fireball meant for the escaped Hesh outsider Krel, the party learns that the true threat is Craynoth (now called Pavik Shim) — the first prisoner of the Warden's Prisons, once condemned by Terek himself, now seeking godhood and revenge. The campaign climaxes with a planar journey through the prison plane, an audience with Onyx, and a desperate race back to Trayalon to close the prison portal and defeat Pavik Shim before his army reduces the city to ash.
Story Arc
Chapters
h-141. Thirty-two years after the founding of Trayalon and twenty-five after Tray Gallund's death, the Gallund truce holds the River Lords together and Trayalon…
A parallel thread: Freespirit's first mission as an apprentice of the Blazing Hood. The escaped Hesh outsider Krel has resurfaced in the river kingdoms. The hun…
The party lands at Brightport and meets their contact, Jack the Gobo, in the cellars below the Unsavory. Five people with unusual heritage have vanished. The tr…
Ravenwing is a land of laws. Crossing the border needs a writ, which the party obtains legitimately. Artemon finally corners Olek — who produces paperwork legal…
Into Deepwood. A dryad grove is being felled by spriggan for wand-wood; a faerie circle at the grove's heart shrinks Maddie into the stump. Inside, the party fi…
The Thicket council. Grimtold proposes a united Arla with a voice for every tribe; Pavik Shim attends 'to listen and be convinced' — then announces no one is le…
Wanted in Arla. The party investigates and activates the Brightport prison, confirming the ley lines power it and that travel between prisons runs one way, then…
The Traveller appears and reframes Udin's prophecy — it has already happened. He tells of the Song of Fallen Stars, the elves' arrival on PilotStar, and the Pac…
Projected into the past. Through memories imprinted by the elders, the party is thrust back to the capture of Craynoth — each PC inhabiting a historical figure …
Grimtold recruits the party to shut down Arla's prisons and cut Pavik Shim off from his plane — making him mortal again. Four prisons are identified across Arla…
After defeating Tekclif and her party at the crossroads, the party reaches Mountainfoot to shut down its prison and must win Olek over.
South to Tekclif's cache through Grey Bear country. Jael Gardin's agenda surfaces — a follower of the dead god Rysen bent on stamping out Hesh knowledge — and S…
Back to a militarised Brightport. The weather has turned strange, Pavik Shim's attack is imminent, and word arrives that a force is advancing on Mountainfoot.
Into the prison plane. Eberron and Farik hold the gate; the plane proves vastly larger and older than expected, with a village visible in the distance and a pat…
Audience with Onyx in the prison plane. He names the stakes — Pavik Shim will become the first new god in over two hundred years, one who remembers how to repea…
The race to Trayalon. The party closes the Deepwood portal and runs for the capital while Pavik Shim's army pours through — the Battle of Trayalon, fought acros…
Victory, honors, and the bill. The party are named Champions of Trayalon — then the Prisoner's Plague arrives through the opened prison plane, Grimtold is revea…
Chapter 'Notes' in campaign 'Path to Arla (Arla and Craynoth-Pavik-Shim)' (locations present, key characters present, events or factions involved).
Chapter 'Recap' in campaign 'Path to Arla (Arla and Craynoth-Pavik-Shim)' (chapter outline).
Chapter 'Summary' in campaign 'Path to Arla (Arla and Craynoth-Pavik-Shim)' (locations present, key characters present, events or factions involved).