Welcome to Marhaven, a fantasy adventure setting for the family's Dungeons & Dragons campaign.

After four years and 69 individual adventures, the story is now finished. The site will stand as a record of the events as they unfolded, and maybe something for the players to come back to now and again to reminisce about the good old days. It was one hell of a ride, gang, wasn't it?

You were all heroes indeed.

- Michael Raugh, Dungeon Master

Update Log

• 6/23/10: Group Two put the finishing touches on things by taking on the illithid elder brain in Ready or Not.
• 5/24/10: With Marhaven being literally ripped apart by a series of earthquakes, Group Three searched the undersea mountain formerly called Dudael and found the ancient prison of Azazel.
• 5/18/10: Group Two found that Pelor does provide, but sometimes in highly unorthodox ways, as they explored The Valley of Eyes.
• 4/8/10: Group Three is nearly finished with their mission. Recently the found and defeated Kallaebri Seastar and her party in Divide and Conquer.
• 3/24/10: Group Two followed the map given to them by a captured illithid slaver only to find out it was a deliberate lie in Betrayal.
• 3/19/10: Group Three started the fourth calendar year of this campaign with a tense, nasty battle with An Old Enemy come back from the grave for revenge and ended it with a legendary new ally.
• 1/26/10: Group Three went to the Jade Islands in search of a high-level psion only to become entangled again in the nation's political affairs (The Ronin).
• 1/12/10: Group Two took another step toward finding the hidden mind flayer sept in Relay.
• 11/16/09: Things got extra creepy for Group Three as they were flung into the Far Realm, apparently by one of their own. See Into Madness for the story.
• 10/19/09: Group Two hired on some New Blood, a Paladin of Belain, and went hunting for a lead to their new objective.
• 10/3/09: Group Two's September outing was postponed. Group Three, however, made good on their plan to Return to Castanamir's Island and make it their new home base.
• 8/29/09: Both groups saw action this month. First Group Three found themselves in the position of having to rescue Mrs. Wilkins from Azazel's troops (Ransom). Then Group Two found out what happens to civilians taken prisoner by the half-illithid army (Food Chain).
• 6/20/09: Catching up with recent developments. First, Group Two continued their assault on the leadership of the mutant army by tracing the pendant they found back to its owner in Hidden Target. Then Group Three returned to the Astral Plane to have their much-anticipated Showdown with the wizard Rorin.
• 4/21/09: Group Three returned to Marhaven with the goal of enlisting some aide before chasing after Rorin only to find themselves caught up in a Maelstrom of deadly magical force.
• 4/4/09: Last month Group Two continued climbing the mutant army's Chain of Command, suffering a tragic loss in the process. Group Three went on the offensive to track down The Exile, an aquatic elf mage in Azazel's employ, resulting in a nasty surprise for Quinn.
• 2/21/09: Group Three completed their raid on the Hall of the Vanquished, doing glory to themselves and their companions in the process. Find out what happened in this alliance of The Living and the Dead.
• 2/2/09: Group Two continued their action against the reassembling half-illithid army this weekend. We didn't get as far as we wanted to, but they've taken another step up the Chain of Command.
• 1/23/09: Group Three returned to Stygia to stage a Hellbreak, seeking the soul of Aria's father.
• 1/2/09: Group Two returned to the embattled sea floor and found the fractured army regrouping. (The Gathering)
• 12/18/08: Group Three hit a major roadblock in their plan to recharge the galadiir and were forced to pursue Plan B.
• 11/18/08: It really was A Cold Day In Hell for Group Three when they journeyed to Stygia in search of the elder aboleth Ramiel.
• 11/11/08: Group Two recently went on a recon mission to the ocean floor and unearthed rumors of an entire village populated by undead in Casualties of War.
• 10/28/08: It took me forever to post this one, but Group Three had a bizarre and challenging adventure last month, Sins of the Father.
• 7/20/08: The adventure actually took place 3 weeks ago, but finally I have the synopsis posted for Group Two's latest outing, A Cry for Help.
• 6/26/08: Group Three's search for the spawn of Azazel led them to the Astral Plane, where they sought the dead body of a god in The Eye of Glaucus.
• 5/8/08: Group Two has a new member (stats to be posted soon), the swashbuckler Sagan. He arrived just in time, because his sword would be greatly needed when a sahuagin priestess sought vengeance in Fury of the Hunter.
• 4/20/08: Group Three treated themselves to a Heroes' Feast in Valhalla, the legendary feast hall of Ysgard. Naturally things didn't go quite as planned.
• 4/2/08: When last we saw Group Two, they were trapped in the demiplane created by a lich. This past weekend they fought their way out of it with a combination of brawn, guile, and some Aggressive Negotiations.
• 3/6/08: Both groups were active this past weekend, which has me a bit behind on the synopsis-writing. Both groups encountered vastly more powerful enemies while on the trail of Old Sins that cast Long Shadows.
• 1/29/08: Group Three set off in search of Aria's parents and found them outside the aquatic elf capital, Deep Elandrin, where they had the old city Under Siege.
• 1/26/08: All three parties were summoned to a meeting at the Adventurers' Guild recently to compare notes and start working toward a unified strategy. Here is a synopsis of that meeting (which took place via email).
• 1/9/08: When a kraken sinks the Torchwood en route to Marhaven, Group Two is forced to take The Long Way Home.
• 12/28/07: Group Two continued their pursuit of the creatures who killed the people of Stearns in Blood In The Water.
• 12/20/07: Group Three sought answers in Aria's home colony, but instead they found proof that You Can't Go Home Again.
• 9/6/07: Group Three continued to Follow the Money. The trail led to Nessen, where the Servants of the Beast Below do their banking, and to an unnerving surprise for Aria.
• 7/29/07: The Trustees of Eldmoor hired Group One to find the escaped convict, Garrick, and bring him back Dead or Alive.
• 6/23/07: Group Two returned to the Tumari coast after hearing that the village of Stearns had been destroyed by sahuagin. Things quickly became much more complex than that, though, in an adventure called The Enemy of My Enemy.
• 6/5/07: Group Three went Seeking the Source of the Servants of the Beast Below's funding, and of the drug called Harmony. They found both, along with the sickening secret of what's really in that drug.
• 5/20/07: A long-overdue update now details the latest outing by Group Three. They followed a lead on the Servants of the Beast Below to the Tumari Coalition city of Survale, but once there they found themselves investigating the origins and affects of the new drug, Harmony.
• 4/21/07: Group One has been enjoying the praise and gratitude of Marhaven for their victory against the Fell Armada. In Shadow Hunt, they are reminded that fame always comes with a price.
• 3/28/07: Group Three, together again in Marhaven, had just enough time to catch up on recent events before being plunged into another dark, nasty scene in Return to Eldmoor.
• 3/20/07: I've updated the Marhaven Crier and game calendar in anticipation of this weekend's session.
• 2/22/07: Time for a little housekeeping. There's a new Marhaven Crier up, and the calendar has been reshuffled so that the current month is at the top.
• 2/21/07: Group Two finished out a busy weekend by completing their work in Plague on Moorfield with the destruction of the last of the Commanders of the Fell Armada.
• 2/20/07: While the rest of Group Three has been tracking Chandrakar, Mrs. Wilkins has been on a personal mission to find her old friend Betty. Read how our favorite 68-year-old lady helped to foil an assassination plot against the mysterious Emperor of the Jade Islands in the synopsis of The Potter's Clay.
• 1/21/07: Group Two resumed their hunt for the Commanders of the Fell Armada at a lumber camp outside Moorfield. In a 17-round combat marathon, they beat Commodore Drago, his warmages and thugs and freed the elders of Moorfield.
• 1/16/07: The hunt for Chandrakar continues! Group Three started by exploring the undersea wreck of the Daybreak and ended up chasing their quarry across the Concordant Domain of the Outlands.
• 1/14/07: Group Three went hunting for Chandrakar in their last outing. They knew that Sauria would be a hostile environment, but blazing heat and rock-throwing fire giants were far from the worst things they encountered in the Badlands.
• 1/4/07: The survivors of Group One were stranded on another plane with no money, no contacts, and no idea how to get home. Then things got really nasty when they went searching for the Mask of Diamond Tears.
• 12/21/06: Group Three recruited a new member, the spellthief Melian, just as Quinn was taken in for questioning on suspicion of piracy. To clear her name the party had to find the real pirates in Daybreak.
• 12/6/06: Group Two cut a bloody swath through the leadership of the Fell Armada, but they have a lot more to do before the Plague on Moorfield is truly lifted.
• 11/30/06: Now that both groups are near the same point in the calendar, the Marhaven Crier has been brought up to date.
• 11/24/06: Group 2 not only found Orin Bronshelm but earned the praise and gratitude of a remote Moonlands village by facing down the dangers of The Dragon's Tomb.
• 11/2/06: Group 3 found some very disturbing things in the caves below Marhaven when they ventured Down the Rabbit Hole.
• 10/24/06: Group 2 took off for the Moonlands in a frantic race against time and the Fell Armada in Hostage.
• 10/2/06: Some of our characters are beginning to realize their early goals. Strontium is now a Force Missile Mage and Aria has taken her first level of Tattooed Monk. In Group 2, Vladamir Vondran and Loki have both upgraded their armor and images.
• 9/28/06: Group 2 met with an unpleasant and deadly surprise when they revisited the lair of their old friend Athesto in Remembrance of the Fallen.
• 9/20/06: Quinn has joined Strontium and Aria in Group 3, which also gained another new member in Mrs. Gertrude Wilkins. The group would need both of them dearly as they explored a particularly sinister House of Ill Repute.
• 8/31/06: Updated the character sheets and the world map, which is now 2048x1536 because details were getting lost.
• 8/28/06: Group 1 had a frustrating outing but managed to come through it with money and honors after capturing a dreaded Ghost Ship.
• 8/24/06: New Marhaven Crier updates are posted to catch us up to current game time.
• 8/22/06: Group 3 returned to action in a big way. First they saw an informant killed by aberrant horrors, then they discovered a Strange Brew with ominous properties on a pirate ship.
• 8/9/06: Group 2 joined forces with W'Illot and Quinn of Group 1 to investigate the death of Captain Bulrick. Along the way they uncovered proof of an Unholy Alliance between the tsochari and the sahaugin. Meanwhile, a scholar at Tideborn Cabal has managed to produce a translation of the ancient scroll Group 2 found with the galadiir.
• 7/18/06: Group 1 found themselves in hot water with the local constabulary thanks to an unwelcome stowaway on their ship. But that was just the beginning -- things got really creepy when they encountered the Ghosts of Aniel.
• 7/12/06: Just catching up on some miscellaneous updates to character sheets. Also, Vondran is beginning to discover the nature and history of his silver harpoon. It's a weapon of legacy called the Arm of Telomir.
• 7/4/06: Blood Trail starts with Group Two being ambushed on their own ship by a lycanthrope hunter and ends in the office of Lord Mayor Ander himself.
• 6/30/06: Another new Marhaven Crier is posted.
• 6/28/06: Group 1 has christened their previously-unnamed pinnace the Bad Wolf. Group 2 is still debating what to name the cutter they captured from the Fell Armada.
• 6/25/06: Group 3 launched successfully this past weekend with a search for a missing wizard that put them up against some paritcularly nasty devotees of the Servants of the Beast Below. See Trouble Brewing for the story and visit the Characters page to meet Caenus of the Wolf Tribe, the party's newest member.
  Also, I've brought the Marhaven Crier up to date with recent in-game events.
  
• 6/21/06: There were two game sessions this past weekend. On Saturday, Group 1 returned to action in Bad Medicine, a short, intense outing that tested the mettle of the entire team. Group 2 reached Corsuhn and booked passage back to Marhaven, but found themselves targeted by the Fell Armada after running afoul of The Lost Boys.
• 5/31/06: Strontium and Aria have opted to leave Group 1 and form their own adventuring party. They have already chosen a warlock, Audas Taius, to be part of their new group and will likely be selecting one or two more companions soon. Meanwhile, the rest of Group 1 will continue adventuring and have recruited Merkator of Holle and Tolisa Darius to fill the gap. The Characters page has been updated with the new lineup as it exists today.
• 5/24/06: The Marhaven Crier has a new edition out. I've also cleaned up some of the character portraits and updated some of the characters' bios.
• 5/23/06: The Marhaven party has been working to find as much information as they can on the tsochari. Their efforts brought them to the attention of a mysterious psion named Chandrakar, who asked their help to retrieve a vital and priceless research book from The Island of Castanamir.
• 5/20/06: The Tumari party continues to put a serious crimp in the activities of the sahaugin along that coastine. Today, in The Hunted, they located a hidden darfellan settlement and expelled the sahaugin occupants with extreme prejudice. They also made an interesting new friend in the process.
• 4/25/06: The Marhaven group had an intense outing on the seas between Marhaven and the Eldmoor prison colony. See the synopsis of Transport for the grisly details.
• 4/21/06: The Complete Psionic has been added to the approved sources for spells, feats, magic items, and psionic powers.
• 4/10/06: The Tumari group is very much alive and continuing their mission. As they were being mourned in Marhaven, the group found themselves working to solve The Ettin's Riddle.
• 4/2/06: The Marhaven Crier has some distressing news -- it seems that the party sent to the Tumari coast has been reported dead.
• 3/27/06: Group 1 has finished their first adventure, Help Wanted. Read the synopsis and see the updated Calendar for details. There is also a new edition of the Marhaven Crier up for reading.
• 3/12/06: Our first adventure is in the books! Group 2 had a successful opening in which they kicked enough sahaugin butt to make second level. The Adventures section has the synopsis, and the Calendar page, where the groups' activities will be mapped against the dominant Nessenese calendar, is now up as well.