The Jewel of the West (Inactive)

Game Master Zedth

**this Campaign is currently inactive. I don't know if this post will show on the recruitment feed, but please no applicants yet. I need more time to fill out the game info.**

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Hellscarred and War-torn:

Mylosis, the Jewel of the west, was once the grandest city on the face of Atma. Founded by the Archmage Gengis Battleborn, it was a haven for robust trade, culture, and magic users of all stripes and backgrounds. Known far and wide for its splendor, it attracted goodly folk from all over the face of the world. Travelers knew the city without ever having laid eyes on it before; far and wide people spoke of a tower of pure shining emerald thrusting thousands of feet into the sky, glimmering for miles in every direction, where the mightiest wizard in living memory makes his home in the clouds above the city he founded.

It has been more than a century since Mylosis fell to the disgraces of Hell. Ultruu, the ambitious balor-turned-god, harnessed the energies of the founding of the Atma itself, corrupting and exposing the ley lines at the heart of the Jewel of the West. Legions of devils flowed like a tidal wave upon the once-peaceful streets. Raw magic whipped up into storms left paths of devastation in their wake. When the city fell, so did the foundation of freedom upon which the millions of Mylosian countrymen stood upon. Accompanying these horrors was the untimely disappearance of the city's patron, Archmage Battleborn. With these events in motion it did not take long for the Age of Ascendance to crumble to dust.

After many long decades of crippling war, an uneasy peace has settled into this part of the world. Commonfolk live their lives in relative peace since the worst days of the war seem to be behind them. The Armies of Sin have swept through and conquered much of once was wholesome well tended lands, but left in their wake fear of reprisal and fear of rekindled aggression. New lords were left in place of old ones-- some mortal conspirators, others more hellish. The desire of Ultruu was not to smother life, but to conquer it. Average people live in fear of liars, conspirators, and accusers.

The time has come for heroes. A handful of city-states and nations who once proudly held sovereignty over these lands have decreed this new Age of Despair will be brought to an end. A council is assembling on the ruins of the Archmagus' once-beautiful city. There, in the shadow of the only remaining splendor of good times past--the Emerald Tower--they will convene and forge a new alliance to usher in a new age of peace, law, and freedom from the hellish shackles of tyranny.

About me:

First time PBP DM here, so bear with me. Been playing tabletop RPGs since about '92, been gaming since I was 3.
The legend of Zelda for NES in 1986 caught my imagination, and its been all downhill from there! I live in Las Vegas, and I can never get enough game-time in! I can update the game and/or post multiple times a day including weekends, barring vacations and other unexpected absences. I'm pretty easy going. I am proficient with the ruleset but I make mistakes like anyone else, but I prefer smoothness over rules-lawyering. I will hand-wave when I deem it necessary.

This Game:

Homebrew setting, Pathfinder rules. Looking for 4-6 players. Pathfinder/Golarion Pantheon primarily but the heavens are vast... If you prefer a deity from another edition of D&D of from other sources, run it by me and I'll probably OK it.

Character Creation:

20 Point buy. 250 GP starting wealth. No evil alignments.
Classes, Races, Feats, Spells: Core Rulebook, Advanced Player Guide only. *One exception. I will allow tieflings as they directly tie into the theme of the campaign. If you choose tiefling as a race in this campaign, you must be Good-aligned. That's my only caveat. I will likely not pick more than one tiefling PC unless I'm really feeling generous. I really prefer the classic feel to my games, so I prefer sticking close to core.
Class archetypes and racial feature swaps:APG only.
Background Story: I'm big on flavor. I want a background story in your profile and I want it to make me either laugh, cry, or go "hell ya!" It doesn't have to be ultra long, just make it count for something.

Factions of Note:

The Consortium of Light.
You the PCs will be members of this faction. They are a diverse group of adventurers, soldiers, clergy and commoners who lean on one another for safety and strength. The group is essentially like-minded individuals with little-to-no structure. Their figurehead leader is a fallen angel named Xavius, who now chooses to live as a mortal. His true story remains unknown to most but he is an enigmatic and dangerous foe to the forces of hell.
The Consortium funds itself by donations, personal wealth or from acquisition. Their symbol is a simple white "X".

The Silvermane
This ancient faction was once dedicated to undermining and usurping power from Gengis Battleborn and his nation-state Mylosis. They are a proud house that has stood for nearly 700 years. Their wealth, strength and grit have earned them the respect of their rivals. They are currently the strongest faction on the side of mortal men.
They are staunchly anti-arcane magic and have laws to execute practitioners of the arcane on sight. -no trials, no jury, little chance for appeal.
Their influence once spanned this entire continent but the decades of war have depleted their power and wealth. Hundreds of thousands of their commonfolk are now in lands controlled by Ultruu and his armies of sin.
Their capital city, Vault(pop 110,000), is of the few remaining settlements yet unscarred from the hellish battlefield. It is ruled by Lord Patron Gohlshae Silvermane. It lies 300 miles southeast of the ruin of Mylosis, and is within a week's march of 2 port cities: Haven(pop 65,000) and Broaklesh.(pop 27,000).
Haven is the 2nd largest city in the Silvermane Sovereignty, and is ruled by Gohlshae's son Meribald. With the warfront is making its way deeper and deeper into Silvermane lands, the port city of Haven is currently under siege. Lord Patron Gohlshae is dispatching soldiers and warpriests to take back Haven but many of his supply lines, richest mines and centers of commerce have been taken or destroyed. With financial support waning, the Silvermane stand as the last bastion of civilization.

The Perfect Circle
Little is know about this secretive faction of druids and rangers. They have grown calloused and distant in this war torn land. They mete out their own justice when and how they see fit. Their primary goal is to reestablish the world's natural balance, which primarily means the destruction of anything hellish, and secondly the destruction of any who stand in their way. They are roguish and generally feared by the populace.

The 1st and 2nd order
Exclusive and proud, these men and women carry the torch of Battleborn's vision -- freedom, justice, betterment.
The 1st Order, AKA The Order of Battleborn, are powerful magi. They once were one hundred mage-knights and were among the most elite wielders of arcane power, but their numbers have dwindled to less than a dozen. They receive few applicants who are up to snuff and accept even fewer into their ranks.
The 2nd Order consists of elite warriors, priests and paladins who vowed to uphold freedom and rule of law in the old realm. Like the 1st Order their numbers have been decimated but they are forces to be reckoned with. Only the most devout, the most skilled can hope to join the ranks of the 2nd Order.