User blog:SatyreyesDM/The Puncture

One night, Seth had a dream in which an owl guided him and his party through a deep forest into the Zaradene town square, where they saw balls of fire raining upon the town. In the dream, Seth identifed the owl as Zivilyn. Seth awoke to the sound of screams and rushed outside to find that indeed, demons were falling from the sky and setting upon the town. Seth, Morden, and Rilla defeated the wave of demons - in spite of Seth's sudden realization that he couldn't seem to use some of his spells, while his party members' abilities had changed completely. The three likewise defeated the wave of angels of Sargonnas that came upon their heels. A pale-faced Mayor Chance pled with Seth's party to fetch help from Goodbay, and they set off without delay as fires burned behind them.

On the way to Goodbay, the party discovered a tower that had never been there before. Creatures like elves, but nobler and with higher bearings, emerged from the tower and menaced the party. These were eladrin, a race never before seen on Krynn. After a brief standoff, both parties stood down and Seth went on his way, wondering what was going on.

The party arrived at Goodbay too late. Demons had already overrun the city and Seth and his friends were vastly outnumbered. But just when it looked like the game was up, the party found itself elsewhere, confronting an aging man in a flowing green robe. This was Archmage Zephyrus Raptorr, and the party recognized him from their dream.

Though perhaps Archmage was a misnomer, for as Raptorr explained, neither he nor as far as he knows any other wizard on the plane has been able to use spells since the previous night. He had summoned Seth with a magical item after seeing him in the dream, and was dumbfounded to learn that Seth could still use his magic. After explaining his idea about what had happened - the Puncture - Raptorr gave Seth a magical staff and took the party to the storm-tossed Astral Sea on his spelljammer, the Zephyr.

The sea was in turmoil and Raptorr had never sailed it before: the metaphor of the Astral Plane had changed completely. After an accidental stop in a wight-infested basement and an attack by foulspawn on the high seas, the party finally arrived at Toril. Here, Seth and his friends attended the Conclave of the Planes, a meeting place between five of the most powerful mages of the multiverse. Only four were present: Elminster Aumar, who hosted the event; Mordenkainen, delegate from Oerth; Kojiro, representative of Eberron; and Raptorr himself. All were bereft of magic. Secrecy forgotten, they quarreled about why magic had disappeared, how to get it back, and the extraplanar attacks on the Material Planes. One thing they could all agree on was that finding allies would be crucial. Seth was the most powerful mage in the room - perhaps anywhere - so he and his party were dispatched as diplomats. They chose to contact the mysterious shadar-kai, and entered the Shadowfell with the help of a Nameless One - a dancer of shadows from Eberron whom Kojiro had brought with him.

The Shadowfell was a strange place. After fighting with the lurking natives, Seth was brought to Lord Veritas, regional commander and chief of the Palace Duhr. He explained that the Puncture was the result of overweening human ambition: humans from the world of Kadderash in the old multiverse, he says, created a hole between the worlds that led to the disappearance of the Material Planes. This upset the shadar-kai greatly, for these souls had not been delivered to their Raven Queen. Seth had to prove that the humans of the new multiverse were different by proving he had the favor of the Raven Queen; in practice, this meant slaying some shadar-kai champions in arena combat. His party made surprisingly short work of them and Veritas pledged an end to hostilities. While Veritas does not speak for all shadar-kai, he said he would spread the word.

Seth returned to Elminster's tower triumphant and was rewarded by the wizards there. Later that day, a few shadar-kai adepts showed up at the tower and began re-teaching the great wizards their trade. Soon Seth will depart for Krynn again - but what has happened while he was away?