The devil Turel served the evil demi-god Eldrazel in long ages past. Always the deciever, Turel excelled at slipping behind enemy lines, disguising itself, and tearing enemy forces apart from the inside out. Eventually Turel, unable to decieve a demigod of truth, was defeated in combat. The Eldrazel saw fit to tear off his late servant’s face and forge its rotting remains into a mask, binding Turel’s soul into the relic.
Turel lived again, so to speak, and was now a far more deceitful being. Able to compel any who hear the mask’s voice to pick it up and put it on. The inside of the mask bore sharp, always lashing claws and teeth that grinded into it’s victim’s skull, joining the two until the mask decided it was time to let go. Turel found he was able to taunt and probe the minds of his victims, draining what knowledge he needed to blend into its victim’s old life.
When his master was eventually defeated, he began to hatch a millennium-long plan to resurrect his dark demi-god, collecting the relics required to rejoin the Eldrazel’s soul to its body.
The PC’s had been collecting these artifacts and piecing this legend together from levels 1-10. As the PC’s returned to their favorite city from a long adventure to the north, they found that their beloved town of Merrilea had changed. Instinctively, they went to speak with the duke, a portly and pleasant old chap who had given them handout upon handout after they saved his life. Although the duke seemed like his old self, some of his mannerisms had changed and the party got the idea that something was up.
The lovable lawful monk decided to request a solo audience with the duke which was eagerly accepted. During the meeting the doors were sealed from the outside and the duke attacked the monk revealing its true visage, in the form of a rotting demon’s face latched on to some poor soul. The monk suddenly remembered that there was a murder mystery in town that the party skipped over and one of the victims was a portly man whose face had been ripped and torn off beyond recognition, the real duke.
The mask subdued him and tortured him for two weeks in the dungeons while the rest of the adventure party decided to trudge off to an old adventure site outside of town. Eventually the party linked up with the old military commander who was staging an overthrow of the city. In the heat of a battle between rebel(good) and city guard(evil) forces they use the opportunity to storm the castle and rescue the monk who was seemingly attempting his daring escape already.
They left Merrilea by way of ship and sailed to a city containing a magical, impenetrable vault where they have been storing the relics needed to resurrect the Eldrazel. Upon reaching the city where the vault was located they met an old, trusted friend who had been researching the legends pertinent to their quest. He told them the complete history of Eldrazel’s most trusted servant, Turel. The story seemed to upset the monk and he angrily corrected a few points of the tale. The party discerned that their monk friend didn’t simply walk out of Turel’s clutches.
Believing him to be a doppelganger of sorts they attacked and killed the monk only to find his face change into a horrible cackling monster as his dead body hit the floor. Horrified at what they’ve just been tricked into doing, they attacked the mask that was clutching to his face and it stopped laughing and seemingly died. They gave the mask to their friend who ran the vault so that the mask would be sealed away forever. Eventually the party resurrected their monk, and he told them where the rest of the relics could be found. For awhile the party continued collecting the remaining artifact pieces. Once they are were all sealed away inside the vault, the PC’s assumed this adventure was over…
…Until they heard that their friend at the vault had broken out with all of the relics and was now able to complete the ritual. The PC’s realized that they had been played from the start and very begrudgingly made their way to the grave of the Eldrazel, in its own demi-plane.
Upon arriving, they found that the ritual was nearly complete and Turel had attached itself to their little gnome friend. As they hastily attempted to stop Turel, they accidently damaged the crystal formation that kept the demi-plane rooted in existence and the plane started to quake and fracture.
The room contained six gateways to their home world that started to flicker at the slow collapse of the plane. As Turel staggered out of one of the gates he looked back and mocked them, “Six heroes, five gates. I wonder which ones I’ll see again?” As soon as he touched the gate, it pulled him through and shut off. The heroes were left to decide which one would be left behind with the slowly awakening demigod on the dying plane.
Casey Woods
