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Johnathan's Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 - The Artifacts Of Power

Welcome to "The Artifacts of Power"! This campaign has a long story behind its creation. It is inspired by both real-world mythology, Dungeons & Dragons fiction, literature, folklore from various places of the world, as well as a very special music album, which is the main origin of the tale of the Artifacts. In this story, you will take on the responsibility of completing a collection of important objects, which could, in the wrong hands, bring about the end of civilization! (Posting will be made as soon as possible. If you aren't posting soon after a Dungeon Master post, and if the situation doesn't necessarily call for your immediate action, the game may continue, but there are no penalties whatsoever for those who delay their response. In case of prolonged absence, please make sure to let us with a short message.)

Without further ado, with this post we begin our epic journey through time, with a little twist. You shall very soon get control of your custom made characters, but for now, you are each given another character, without a stat block, in the year 2042, in the city of New York!

You can be either male or female, at your choice; age: mid 20's. You are strangers, sitting in a small room with no windows, but two closed doors. The seats onto which you are seated are actually part of a waiting room. The one door is the one you just came in from, and the other your destination. You have been waiting for over 20minutes now, what seems like eternity.

It's hard not to be impatient. After all, he is the one that called you here. But, why? He promised monetary reward just for your attendance. He might be paying, but he sure isn't a good host. You"ve been waiting for so long that you"re about to leave -but! As soon as you get up to leave, the door opens. It's a woman in her early 30's. She's dressed formally in a suit and wears glasses. She smiles and says:

"He is ready for you. Come on in."

You hesitantly enter, and as you walk in the next room, you realize it's not well lit. The only source of light at the moment is the open door from which you just passed. The moment you tried asking about the lighting conditions, the door slams shut. And the room is pitch black. Frozen with anxiety and fear, you stand still and make no noise, but you can't hear a thing. Any attempt to open the door fails, and it seems sturdy enough to withstand basic attempts to break it open. You carry nothing more than everyday clothes, cellphones, and casual accessories such as an earring.

Feel free to begin roleplaying. Also, your characters are completely up to you. You control all their actions, alignment, behavior, past, present, appearance, gender, etc.! Remember, they are regular people living in N.Y.C.!

Power Artifacts - Dragons and Dungeons Johnathans

Cyrvil, anxious and confused of the situations takes few seconds to calm down and then opens her cellphone's flashlight to bring light at least to have a slight vision. Facing it around and says :

"So, is this the reward that he was talking about?" And after a small pause. "H-Hello?"

Johnathan's Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 - The Artifacts Of Power Archive Pathfinder / D&D

Gordon, whom is confused by the fast turn of events tries to figure out what to do in the room, the first thing he do is he pulls out his cellphone and he turns on it's flashlight to see if he can see what is going on in the area.

Edited: Felipe on 11th Jun, 2014 - 8:52pm

Power Artifacts - Dragons and Dungeons Johnathans

Both realize that their cellphones are both mysteriously out of order. As Cyrvil says "Hello?", a bright row of white fluorescent light bulbs, fixed on each of the four corners, reveal a simple office of white-colored walls with a desk with a high-back chair, and seats for guests in front of it. There is no exit door or window on the walls.

On the chair, you see a man dressed in a formal suit, but also wearing a peculiar white headband with a little red mark in the middle of it. He is about 60 years old...

"Please, take a seat"¦ And please, do not be intimidated by my ill-manners. I am not here to hurt you. Au contraire, all this is happening for your own safety. The reason why I called you all here, is because I couldn't do otherwise. Trust me, I would do otherwise if it would be at all possible. What I am about to tell you might sound strange -too strange in fact- but I want you to listen to me, for now, and then all your questions will be answered.

I represent a secret society, named "The Protectors". The Protectors have existed since the dawn of mankind as we know it today. The Protectors are dedicated in the safety of a collection of powerful items of extraordinary properties, which when combined can grant one awesome power, enough to rule our world.

We have been actively hiding and wiping out all sorts of information about these items, and have been interfering with anyone attempting to find them. In fact, not even we know their exact whereabouts.

Our constant research has revealed to us, that the items in question have in fact been used individually throughout history, and believe it or not, are responsible for humanities greatest achievements. All 7 wonders of the ancient world have been built using them, and there are seven of them spread across our planet.

They are said to be indestructible, and contain magical properties.

It is difficult to prove to someone that true magic does exist, but it's something that's all around us, and has been hidden from the majority of the world since the burning of witches in the Dark Ages. Certain tribal civilizations still practice weak magic, and mostly divination, but this magic is so low in level that anyone can just ignore that, and assume that the supernatural doesn't really exist.

Gods exist too; I don't mean God, as most modern religions refer to, but all gods from various ancient cultures do exist, but they are nothing more than all-powerful entities with immortal qualities. Their powers have been however contained and restrained by events obscure even for us.

I assume all this makes me sound nuts, but I can prove its validity."

Edited: Johnathan on 11th Jun, 2014 - 8:52pm

Power Artifacts - Dragons and Dungeons Johnathans

Surprised by the information which the man gave to Gordon and Cyrvil, Gordon does not believe in this information as yet, so he replies to the man, "So, what you want is that you want me and this person over here (Mentioning Cyrvil) to join your 'society' and help bring the items back to 'safety', am I correct? Oh, and another thing, how can you prove that this information exists?"

Edited: Felipe on 11th Jun, 2014 - 9:00pm

Johnathan's Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 - The Artifacts Of Power

Cyrvil still very confused and full of questions can't resist but to ask. "I can't understand, powerful items? Indestructible and magical properties? What's with all this? Excuse me sir, but we live in the 21th century. I can't accept such- things... If you can really prove it then I would be really pleased, sir. Even though I can't understand your selection." (Meaning us)
She doesn't take a sit and remains still waiting for his response.

Johnathan's Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 - Artifacts Power

"I am not really asking you to join The Protectors, dear Gordon. I merely ask of your cooperation. You are being directly threatened by the current events, and so is the entire world.

Alas, despite our constant struggle, we aren't the only ones that know about the Artifacts. An group that is today running multiple multi-million companies that mostly have to do with technological research, has been around since The Protectors were founded. In fact, they are the reason why The Protectors were founded! They have no official name, but we like to call them "The Vile".

The Vile have long been after the Artifacts, and they seek to seize them for personal gain. Thanks to us, though, they haven't succeeded, -until now.

Recently, we found out that one of the items in question has come to their possession, and that with it they have managed to discover about a great secret that would grant them knowledge of the whereabouts of the rest.

As I mentioned earlier, we don't really know where to find The Artifacts of Power, which is mostly because we can expect betrayal or espionage at any given time. Our job is to prevent anyone from finding out where exactly they are, and that includes us. But this time the situation has led us to an ultimate decision.

Since they have the means to find the remaining 6, we had to learn what it was and take it from them, and see to its destruction -if at all possible-.

It turns out they have found a way to access the memories contained in a person's spiritual counterpart, or otherwise known as their soul. You see, souls do in fact reincarnate, and they keep stacking the experiences of their previous reincarnations as they pass from man to beast and then to man again.

By gaining the "Right" (Through questionably legal and quite unethical means) to check up on people's DNA codes from their blood tests in private and public hospitals, they are looking for specific individuals throughout the world.

A soul is bound to a specific fate, and if one is found to have something to do with the Artifacts, then the chances are his soul is tied with more than one person connected with them(=the Artifacts).

You are quite a lot to be found -luckily- in one city, as there are only a few of you in the whole world. Our agents overseas are in much less luck than us. You are the first ones to be reached.

We haven't only managed to steal vital intelligence, but also the hardware required to access your soul's memories. Unfortunately, the software that is supposed to come with it is highly encrypted. We have managed to "Break" Into the devices, and we believe that we have gotten them to work as good as we possibly can. Our technicians believe that there should only be one major risk in using them.

Their use is simple: You get the device plugged directly to and through your body, and you enter a sustained dream-like state, in which you view -but not feel or control- memories of your ancestors. A specialized technician can control which memories are viewed at which time, as well as stopping the projection safely. One big flaw is that our current knowledge over the devices leaves a certain... Problem behind. That is, if the ancestor whose memories you are currently viewing happens to... Lose his life, you most likely will be losing yours as well!..

You are both blessed and cursed by being linked to people tied to the Artifacts. We saved you from their(=The Vile) claws, and decided to be humane and not just kill you to remove the risk of The Vile ever getting control of the rest. We ask of you to enter the projection, and return to us with information. Any information we can use to keep the Artifacts safe.

Now look, it's not 100% guaranteed that your ancestors really got to obtain or find an Artifact of Power. But their getting close enough suffices. We do not know anything about them, and we cannot guarantee your survival either.

As for proving magic exists, well, if being in this room right now doesn't convince you, then I'd have to go through an unnecessary display of magical aptitude.

What say you?"

Edited: Johnathan on 11th Jun, 2014 - 10:28pm

Johnathan's Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 - Artifacts Power D&D / Pathfinder Archive

Even though the situation is sad for her to leave her peaceful lives and get into trouble like this, she can't just sit there and wait until the destruction. "Hmmm, I've heard about a device like this before but I never believed it, however it is possible indeed." She puts an unusual serious face on with determination and doubt. "Very well then, I will cooperate with you. I'm in your hands, sir. Please take care of me." She says as she moves forward and takes a sit.