Let the games begin!

War Games

Description

Party Members

Dante Sadow: LN Male Shadow Human Ninja

Campaign Summary

Prowling the dark streets of Waterdeep, Dante Sadow is a lone vigilante bent on the destruction of the seedier elements of the City of Splendors. After the mysterious deaths of his wife and daughter, the toymaker turned to the Lady of Mysteries to ease his grief. Instead, he was infused with the power of the shadows. His grief turned to anger, and he sought to slaughter those who would harm innocents. As the story begins, Dante is maintaining his cover as an apprentice toymaker during the day and an assassin by night.

During a regular patrol which included slaying would-be rapists, Dante discovered that many high profile adventurers were being found murdered. Taking an interest in the deaths of known Waterdeep loyalists, Dante waited outside the Yawning Portal for another attack to occur. The Yawning Portal, known for its access to Undermountain is a popular stop for adventurers and wannabes, so it seemed like a prime target for the adventurer killer.

Upon seeing an attack occurring, but not knowing what side was which, Dante attempted to stop the fight. Neither side seemed interested in his interference in their fight. Not knowing who he was loyal to, both groups attacked the vigilante. Dante helped end the fight quickly, leaving only a lone wizard who thanked Dante for his help. Before he could get some answers, the wizard disappeared.

Dante learned through the rumor mill that a secret war game was being played between two groups. The groups and motives remained unknown. The cat and mouse game continued for many weeks, as Dante began to attract the attention of the warring factions. Dante’s vigilante persona was repeatedly framed, as he historically left a dark moon in his victims, and the fallen heroic adventurers started appearing with the same mark. Darius, the mysterious wizard, eventually recruited Dante to his organization, called Chess. In this group, everyone was ranked like Chess pieces. Darius was a rook while Dante was recruited as a pawn. Though he suspected that he was joining the wrong side of the war, Dante played along to learn more about the mystery.

In his first assignment for Chess, Dante was sent to kill a member of the rival faction in the City of the Dead. Upon meeting his opponent, Dante refused to fight and kill her; rather he attempted to gain information while dodging the swordswoman’s attacks. Eventually this tactic proved useless, so Dante incapacitated her and attempted to question her. Before she could be interrogated, she was slain by an archer who Dante would later kill without gaining information.

Finally he had gained enough notoriety to meet the King of Chess. After his first encounter with the King, the Queen began to pay Dante nightly recreational visits. Once again, everything remained a deep secret. After watching Darius kill the patriarch of the Jardeth noble family, well known for its paladins and soldiers of Helm, as part of the war game, Dante knew that he was on the wrong side of the battle. He allowed himself to be captured after Darius was nearly killed and a contingency spell sent him away. He learned from the eldest son of the patriarch, Koris Jardeth, that the goal of Chess was to take over leadership of the Masked Lords of Waterdeep. With this information and Koris’ belief that Dante didn’t know what Chess’ motives were, Dante was able to “escape” from custody to return to Chess as a double agent.

After returning to Chess with a successful high profile kill, Darius was promoted to Knight and Dante was promoted to Rook. This provided him with more access to the workings of the organization. His late night liaisons with the Queen of Chess were beginning to make him suspect that his dead wife was still alive and acting as the Queen. He even met the King and Queen of Chess’ daughter, who appeared remarkably familiar.

Discovering that Chess had a spy among the Masked Lords, Dante found and killed the doppelganger. He was ready to kill the King of Chess when he learned that he was an ancient lich, well outside of the assassin’s ability to kill. Chess was silently unleashing undead into the city of Waterdeep before making a final strike. Dante encountered Antor Morlin, the master vampire of Waterdeep, who he made a deal with to try to stop Chess.

Seeing few alternatives to defeat the undead monster, Dante abandoned the faith of Shar and threw himself before Kelemvor. He offered his soul and undying service to the god of the dead in exchange for divine assistance in defeating the lich. Perhaps the cause was enough reason for Kelemvor to intervene, and so he imbued Dante with divine energy, changing him into a divine champion of Kelemvor.

With the power of the god of the dead with him, Dante attacked and slew the lich king of Chess. At that time, the enchantments on his wife and daughter collapsed and they regained their full memories. Dante learned that his ancestor had helped defeat the King during the last war games, and stealing his wife and child were a form of revenge on his family for the humiliation. For service and devotion to the city, Dante was offered the opportunity to become a Masked Lord, replacing the doppelganger that he had slain.

History