When they ran through the portal they found themselves back in Tuskdale… but not at all as they remembered it. Tuskdale was burning. Monsters rampaged through town. But more than that, the very air was different. The Lantern King had not travelled to the Prime Material plane. He had brought the River Kingdoms to the First World! Darius’ entire kingdom had been sucked into the Fey Realms!
The Lantern King appeared above, and mocked Darius – telling him that he had not only pulled his Kingdom in the the First World. He had *also* released the shades of all of the previous kingdoms that Nyrissa had crumbled. All of those anguished souls would be taking revenge on whoever they could find. And just to add an exclamation point, he levelled a curse at Darius himself. Darius would weaken as his kingdom suffered. He would share its injuries and its fate. With that he faded away, his laughter remaining in the air.
Nyrissa asked Darius to met her at the caverns where he had entered the Bloom. She was going to try to find supernatural help. In the meantime, he and his companions set out push back the ghosts and monsters assailing the capital.
Before long they came upon Storyteller protecting fleeing citizens and directing them to safety.
Darius’ companions and advisers had set up a camp outside the capital where they gathered whatever refugees they could. There were apparently several other redoubts scattered around the kingdom. In order to regain his strength and save his kingdom Darius would first have to deal with the shades of foes past. Storyteller knew of holdouts at Oleg’s trading post, Varnhold, the western plains, and Pitax. There were also know concentrations of shades at the former site of Trobold and the Shrine of Lammashtu.
At Oleg’s Trading Post, they found Jhod and Kesten rallying guards to hold of bandit shades. Apparently the shadowed spirit of the Stag Lord was attempting to re-establish his power from there. Once they defeated him, the bandit shades he was leading dispersed as well. After which Darius directed them all to combine forces with the camp outside the capital.
They found Varnhold beseiged by the shades of Cyclops zombies. Maegar and his old lieutenants were fighting a desperate battle to protect his people.
After fighting off the initial forces, Maegar told him that the shades were lead by the shadow of Vordekai. And once again Darius and his companions lead the charge to defeat the ancient evil. After which Maegar and his forces also left for the camp.
In the western plains, they found Jamandi and Kassil directing Aldori soldiers attempting to fight off hordes of shadowed barbarians supported by shadowed Hill Giants. The numbers seemed limitless, but eventually they turned the tide.
They also found Dugath and his barbarians fighting off shades, and assisted them and recruited them in the Darius’ burgeoning forces. Afterwards both the Kellid and the Aldori left to rendevous with the main force at the growing camp.
At Trobold they found the tortured remains of Bartholomew Delgado. Apparently the shadowed Trolls had extracted their vengeance for his experiments. It had never been an easy alliance, but Delgado had done much for the Kingdom – in his own way. Still, it was hard not to see Karma in his eventual fate.
They fought their way through shadowed trolls and kobolds until they came upon the spirit of Hargulka, and once again eliminated his threat.
And in Pitax they found endless shadowed copies of Irovetti – who apparently had had such an overwhelming ego a single shadow could not contain it. Fortunately, the copies of Irovetti cooperated and coordinated with each other about as well as you would expect from the master schemer and backstabber.
At the entrance to the Womb of Lammashtu, they found Nyrissa with three odd fey. Darius immediately recognized them as Fey Eldest – not to be trifled with at the best of times.
Each of them had reasons for opposing the Lantern King, thinking he had exceeded his mandate. The Lantern King himself was the Lord of Mischief and Transformation, and he had veered into the domains of each of the other three in pursuit of his “divine performance”.. But Fey were still Fey. There would be a price for their aid, and their assistance would not be direct.
The first was the Lost Prince – Lord of Sadness, Solitude, and That which has been Lost. The Lost Prince told them he was known to assist those who have lost… everything. He told them that among the Fey a “Curse” was not that different from a “Gift”. And a “Gift” could be refused. Or even turned back. That to defeat the Lantern King they would need to refuse his Curse – by turning it back against him. He already despised the Lantern King, and needed little extra motivation to trip up his plans.
The next was Magdh the Three – the three-faced Lady of Fate and Complexity. Magdh asked them to battle the Tane – the original Jabberwock which had dragged Nyrissa into judgement. It would not be easy. The Tane was far older and stronger than even the guardian Jabberwocks they had fought at Nyrissa’s gate. But Magdh would not help them until Nyrissa had proved that she no longer feared the Entity.
And with the help of Darius and his companions – rather than attempting to defeat the beast alone once again – she was victorious.
In return Magdh gave them a Mask. An ancient artifact discarded by the Lantern King in his travels long ago. He had made it while young and then discarded and forgotten about it. But it was a mask in which the Lantern King had imbued a portion of his essence… giving them a means to strike at him directly.
Finally there was Shyka the Many – Lady of Time and Reincarnation. Shyka asked them to “learn from the past” – re-living Nyrissa’s Fall in reverse. She wanted them to understand the moment Nyrissa fell, and why she had been vulnerable to the Curse. It was her arrogance – and her moment of uncertainty and desperation when she was cast down. Shyka told them that in order to turn the curse back upon the Lantern King, they would have to strike when he was at his weakest. Defeat him, and in his moment of doubt and confusion at being defeated by mere mortals *then* return the Curse. Darius asked if defeating an Eldest in the First World was even possible. Shyka replied, “No one is invincible, and you need but defeat him for a moment. A single instant of doubt will give you the opening to return his Gift”.
Back at camp they took stock of the forces they had amassed. Dugath and his Kellid barbarians. The remainder of Darius’ own forces. Lady Jamandi and her Aldori. The Longtail lizardman tribe. Jazon the Troll. Maegar’s forces from Varnhold. Even the Mites from the Great Sycamore. It was time to take the fight back to the Capital.
The capital was swarming with Wild Hunt Fey – wild, animalistic hunters of anything that moved. They had to battle scores to make any progress.
They eventually learned that the Lantern King had magically barricaded much of the city – with each section sealed by fragments of Nyrissa’s urn of Apology. They would have to retrieve these fragments and bring them back to Storyteller to pierce the barricades and make their way to the Lantern King.
One piece was guarded by an Adamantine Golem – nearly immune to both magic and physical power. Harrim was able to bless one of Maha’s hatchets to magically penetrate the Golem’s protections.
Another was guarded by Shadowed Jabberwocks backed by up Wild Hunt archers. But shadowed or not, these were but pale imitations of the original Jabberwock they had already fought.
When they finally collected all the pieces, and were able to penetrate to Darius’ throne room, they found the Lantern King seated on his throne – in the form of Remus the Doomsayer. He summoned fey to his aid, but soon was brought down.
The Lantern King was irritated at this development, and so returned in his form as the old Gnome they had met in the First World mists. Multiple instances mocking them from all directions. But this form to was struck down.
To which the Lantern King upped-the-ante by taking the form of Nyrissa’s Horned Hunter, and summoning more Wild Hunt Fey to help. But this form too was eventually defeated.
Finally, the Lantern King had had enough. He took his true form, claiming he needed no avatars or assistance to put them in their place.
His magic was strong. His fire was fierce. But at this point, so was theirs. And with Nyrissa joining the fight, the Lantern King too was eventually brought low.
He quickly reformed from his shattered body, and expressed wonder at his first defeat in millenia. Which was Nyrissa’s signal. She held up the Mask they had been given and suddenly captured the Lantern King’s full attention.
At which point Darius recited the *exact* words of the Lantern King’s curse – that the “Ruler of these Lands” would wither and die as the Kingdom suffered. “You have stolen my Kingdom, oh Lantern King. I am no longer its ruler. It now is your. And with it you have stolen my Curse!”
And with that the Lantern King was made mortal and laid low, as 1000 years of suffering and betrayal were returned to him in full – in but a single moment of doubt.
As the Lantern King faded away, the Kingdom shifted back to the Prime World. And rebuilding could begin once again.
Author’s Notes:
And there ends the game of Kingmaker! Quite the epic journey, and while there was some overly long interludes here or there – particularly near the end – the final payoff was quite satisfying.
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