The campaign is bases in the world of Valinor a land ravaged by a bitter hatred between two countries on one side and a region filled with demons on the other and so here we go.
Valinor is split in to four regions, the kingdom of Gilead, Durador, Forlorn, and the Ancient Lands of the Psion. The Dragons Spine separates the Ancient lands and Gilead and the Plains of Discord separate Gilead and Durador. Forlorn is separated from the Ancient Lands on their north border by the Psion Wall and the Blood Sea on the east border. Forlorn and Durador border each other in the far south.
About two thousand years ago the region known as the Ancient Lands of the Psion the psion gathered and formed their own nation. Over several centuries the psion became more arrogant and withdrawn barring entrance to their kingdom to all but other psions. The Psion Wall was built on its southern border and with the Crystal Sea (now the Blood Sea) to the west and the Dragon Spine to the East their kingdom was isolated from the rest of the world. About a thousand years after they started their kingdom at the top of Mount Murran (now called Demons Peak) a magical catastrophe was unleash and a gate to the plane of the Abyss was opened and thousands of demons poured out and laid waste to the psion and the land around it. The gate was mysteriously closed and most of the demons banished but not before almost the whole kingdom was destroyed. The blood of the victims filled the rivers and flowed down into the Crystal Sea and started staining it blood red.
Now the region just ancient ruins filled with demons and Demon Peak is constantly covered with a massive thunder storm that can be seem for hundreds of miles. The demons only stay around the huge lone mountain but occasionally set out to cause pain and misery else where.
Two centuries ago the lands of Gilead and Durador were joined under one crown in the Kingdom of Sillamar. The King of Sillamar Jarren and his wife Kallen were expecting a child and weeks before Kallen was due to give birth a small force broke into the king’s manor and kidnapped her. Jarren was quick to gather some troop and pursue the kidnappers and when he caught and killed them all he found his wife dead holding two newly born twin sons and Jarren named them Gilean and Durad.
The two brothers grew up friends in the capital city Mema-Nova and were inseparable until they met a girl named Vallaren and both brothers fell in love with her immediately. No one knows what really happened but Durad took Vallaren and disappeared from Mema-Nova and were said to have fled to Mema-Zarath the sister city in the south and Gilead changed from that day forth. For several years Durad and Vallaren lived in Mema-Zarath and even had a child but one night Vallaren was killed by some mysterious intruders. A month later in Mema-Nova King Jerren was killed in his room by a group of assassins and Gilead was injured while trying to stop them but none of the assassins were see of hear from again. A couple of weeks later Durad arrived in Mema-Nova to attend his father’s funeral and find out who would take the crown. The second night Durad was there he and Gilean met for the first time since Durad fled to the south and after a heated argument Gilean stormed out of his room calling for the guards to arrest Durad accusing him of assassinating their father for the crown. Durad managed to escape and fee to the south again and protested his innocence saying the Gilean was the one that killed their father and even went as far a accusing him of killing his wife. A year later the brothers formed their own countries Gilead and Durador and their armies met in the Plains of Sillamar (know the Plains of Discord). Durad was out numbered about three to one and his army was slowly losing the battle so at night Durad and an elite group of soldiers snuck across the battle line and attacked Gileans command tent. Durad challenged Gilean slew him while Durads troops kept the gathering army back. Once Gilead was killed the Gilead army surrounded Durad and his small group and butchered them and with is last breath Durad laid down a curse “My men and I will not rest until Gileans line has ended.” Now in a frenzy the Gilean army stormed across the battle line and killed the remaining Durador army.
The Gilead army gathered their King and prepared to march back to Mema-Nova before pushing south into Durador but when night fell the spirits of the Durador army, lead my Durad himself now a wraith, arose and swarmed over the Gilead army and destroying every last living person.
Today the Plains of Discord are patrolled by Durad and his army of ghosts allowing no living creature to cross the border between Gilead and Durador. The two kingdoms now have a bitter hatred for each other and have launched some small raids on each other but nothing major has developed.
The trade route Gilead’s Run was created to connect Gilead and the ancient kingdom of Forlorn after the plains were blocked. The route travels north through the Ancient Lands of the Psion past Demon Peak and then turns east in the city of Narath-Dur and continues to Keeper Dale.
The city of Keepers Dale guards the entrance of the Dragons Divide, the only safe route through the mountains to the Kingdom of Gilead. This city also guards Gilead west border from invasion and from the demons that wander out from Demon Peak. Keeper Dale is often used as a safe haven for adventurers exploring he ruins of the Psion kingdom and a place people go to ‘disappear’, you will be starting there.
I will post some details about the city in a while and some minor details about each kingdom so you can add a little to your characters background and personality.
Damn, missing posts.
I guess I will have to wait for your post to reappear Dreamweaver. I know it is there, but it must be invisible. Is this thread 3rd level?
Cheers
I will be starting out at the 1st level.
Does everyone but me already have a PC?
I just dispelled the invisibility. I'm into the history Dreamweaver, good job. I will wait and see what others are playing, then fill in the gaps. Since we have a rogue with Nani, in order of preference:
1.) fighter or barbarian, probably half-orc
2.) sorcorer or warlock, not sure on race yet
3.) brutish half-orc cleric
Cheers
I will be starting out at the 1st level.
I was making a bad joke. A 3rd level wizard would be able to cast invisibility. Smacks himself for bad humor :)
I will post a little bit more history about Forlorn tonight and then some details about Keepers Dale.
Does everyone but me already have a PC?
nah, we all know each other from a previous game. Dreamweaver was gracious enough to give us first dibs on open slots. You are at the same spot we are. Greetings.
Cheers,
Utak
ps: Nani is Dreamweaver's wife. (keep an eye out for preferential treatment) :)
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Well I will start laying out some history about the surrounding region and details about the city of Keepers Dale, the city you will be starting from. I also have a map I will try to put somewhere so you can look at it.
All right here we go.
Am I missing something historywise? This is all I have so far. Dreamweaver you mentioned putting MORE info, I have none.
Cheers
I just dispelled the invisibility. I'm into the history Dreamweaver, good job. I will wait and see what others are playing, then fill in the gaps. Since we have a rogue with Nani, in order of preference:
1.) fighter or barbarian, probably half-orc
2.) sorcorer or warlock, not sure on race yet
3.) brutish half-orc clericCheers
I can't seem to find this history. Am I missing something or just not very good at this yet?
Yeah is seems that my major thread is disappearing and reappear at random so I might pull it apart and post it in smaller chunks and see if that helps.
Lets try this
The campaign is bases in the world of Valinor a land ravaged by a bitter hatred between two countries on one side and a region filled with demons on the other and so here we go.
Valinor is split in to four regions, the kingdom of Gilead, Durador, Forlorn, and the Ancient Lands of the Psion. The Dragons Spine separates the Ancient lands and Gilead and the Plains of Discord separate Gilead and Durador. Forlorn is separated from the Ancient Lands on their north border by the Psion Wall and the Blood Sea on the east border. Forlorn and Durador border each other in the far south.
First some history on the Ruined lands of the Psion
About two thousand years ago the region known as the Ancient Lands of the Psion the psion gathered and formed their own nation. Over several centuries the psion became more arrogant and withdrawn barring entrance to their kingdom to all but other psions. The Psion Wall was built on its southern border and with the Crystal Sea (now the Blood Sea) to the west and the Dragon Spine to the East their kingdom was isolated from the rest of the world. About a thousand years after they started their kingdom at the top of Mount Murran (now called Demons Peak) a magical catastrophe was unleash and a gate to the plane of the Abyss was opened and thousands of demons poured out and laid waste to the psion and the land around it. The gate was mysteriously closed and most of the demons banished but not before almost the whole kingdom was destroyed. The blood of the victims filled the rivers and flowed down into the Crystal Sea and started staining it blood red.
Now the region just ancient ruins filled with demons and Demon Peak is constantly covered with a massive thunder storm that can be seem for hundreds of miles. The demons only stay around the huge lone mountain but occasionally set out to cause pain and misery else where.
Know some history on the other side of the mountains
Two centuries ago the lands of Gilead and Durador were joined under one crown in the Kingdom of Sillamar. The King of Sillamar Jarren and his wife Kallen were expecting a child and weeks before Kallen was due to give birth a small force broke into the king’s manor and kidnapped her. Jarren was quick to gather some troop and pursue the kidnappers and when he caught and killed them all he found his wife dead holding two newly born twin sons and Jarren named them Gilean and Durad.
The two brothers grew up friends in the capital city Mema-Nova and were inseparable until they met a girl named Vallaren and both brothers fell in love with her immediately. No one knows what really happened but Durad took Vallaren and disappeared from Mema-Nova and were said to have fled to Mema-Zarath the sister city in the south and Gilead changed from that day forth. For several years Durad and Vallaren lived in Mema-Zarath and even had a child but one night Vallaren was killed by some mysterious intruders. A month later in Mema-Nova King Jerren was killed in his room by a group of assassins and Gilead was injured while trying to stop them but none of the assassins were see of hear from again. A couple of weeks later Durad arrived in Mema-Nova to attend his father’s funeral and find out who would take the crown. The second night Durad was there he and Gilean met for the first time since Durad fled to the south and after a heated argument Gilean stormed out of his room calling for the guards to arrest Durad accusing him of assassinating their father for the crown. Durad managed to escape and fee to the south again and protested his innocence saying the Gilean was the one that killed their father and even went as far a accusing him of killing his wife. A year later the brothers formed their own countries Gilead and Durador and their armies met in the Plains of Sillamar (know the Plains of Discord). Durad was out numbered about three to one and his army was slowly losing the battle so at night Durad and an elite group of soldiers snuck across the battle line and attacked Gileans command tent. Durad challenged Gilean slew him while Durads troops kept the gathering army back. Once Gilead was killed the Gilead army surrounded Durad and his small group and butchered them and with is last breath Durad laid down a curse “My men and I will not rest until Gileans line has ended.” Now in a frenzy the Gilean army stormed across the battle line and killed the remaining Durador army.
The Gilead army gathered their King and prepared to march back to Mema-Nova before pushing south into Durador but when night fell the spirits of the Durador army, lead my Durad himself now a wraith, arose and swarmed over the Gilead army and destroying every last living person.
Today the Plains of Discord are patrolled by Durad and his army of ghosts allowing no living creature to cross the border between Gilead and Durador. The two kingdoms now have a bitter hatred for each other and have launched some small raids on each other but nothing major has developed.
The two posts above are the first history I posted just split apart so if you managed to read the one post history you don't need to read the two above.
Hopefully we will not have anymore problems.
Awesome. I have to work tonight, hopefully I'll be able to generate a character and some backstory tomorrow. Elite array +3 pts, yes?
- 32 point buy, if you need help with this use Invisible Castle
Here is a map I drew of the four kingdoms. If you down load it and then view it on your computer you should be able to zoom in enough to read the names. This should help as you read the history.
Keepers Dale is the dot with no name (didn't have enough room) between Carath-Dur and Arronon in the middle of the top quarter of the page.
Cool. Everything is looking great. How exactly do we go about this? I assume I'll be sending you a copy of a character sheet, yes? Is all gameplay through this forum? Turn based? Sorry to ask so many questions; this is my first time.
The best way to do your character sheet is to create yourself an alias of your character. Go to my account and the create your alias there and then start a profile and put all your info and background in there.
I will create an other thread for the actual game and this thread will be used to discuss out of game topics. Check out this game for a good example on how it will flow but for the most part the only time we will have a turn format is when we are in an encouter with initiative.
Hey, DM Dreamweaver, Sir. Are we rolling for gold, Avg., Max?
Lets just go with Max.
Here some history on Forlorn
Forlorn
Forlorn covers all the south western part of Valinor. Durador is to the east of Forlorn and the Psion Wall and Blood Sea border the Ancient lands of the Psion to the north and north east. Just below the Psion Wall is a large expanse of sparse forest land and plains and in the center of Forlorn is the Vornix Jungle that covers the Valted Plateau. The southern border of Forlorn is the Jamara Desert and the western border is the Storm Reave Coast about two hundred miles west of the Blood Sea.
Forlorn is the oldest and largest kingdom and has ancient monuments dating back tens of thousands of years. There have been not real problems in Forlorns recent history until the psion to the north grew more reclusive and unleashed the demons on Valinor. Forlorn suffered the most from the terrible mistake. Many of the cities in Forlorn were ravaged by demons but the Forlorn Army gathered all the clerics in the region and pushed the demons back to the north and now patrol the Psion Wall to keep them there. Unfortunately the surviving Psion from the north were blamed for the destruction in the Forlorn cities the demons caused and many of the survivors were killed by angry mobs in many of the cities and towns before the Forlorn Army could gain control. Now very few Psion are alive and the ones that are hide their powers in fear because even after several centuries the scars from the demons are still very visible and the demons still try to reek havoc when ever possible.
People of Forlorn
The people of Forlorn consider themselves above the other two upstart kingdoms because they have been around for thousands of years. Because they suffered the most from the catastrophe in the Psions ancient land and their attitude towards anyone with psionic powers range from unfriendly at best to hostel hatred.
Cities of Forlorn
Narcilan is the capital of Forlorn and the largest city in Valinor. It is nestled against the Vornix Jungle at the top of Vaulted Plateau. At the base of the cliffs is Lowinol a small city that started at a preparation camp for the caravans that headed up the steep road leading to Narcilan and grew from there. In the center of Forlorn Plains is the city of Orthal a trading crossroads and the agricultural center of Forlorn. Calis is the major sea port in Forlorn on the Coast of the Blood Sea. This far south of the psion lands the water in the Blood sea around Calis has not been stained red but it is slowly making its way south. Salis is the border town between Durador and Forlorn. Any time the two nations meet to talk it is in the Great Hall in Salis. Psion Keep guards the main gate through the Psion Wall and was build after the demons swarmed the northern lands.
Here is some guidelines for the attitudes of each of the kingdoms. Most of the races with feel this way but elves and dwarves that hail from their secluded homelands. If you want to originate from one of these places I will fill you in about them.
People of Gilead
These people are proud of their history and believe they are the spirit of the old Sillamar kingdom and blame the Duradorians for a lot of their problems and stealing part of their kingdom. Most people of Gilead consider Duradorians and traitors, thieves and murders.
People of Durador
These people are bitter towards Gilead for accusing them of treason and betrayal but now just want to live in peace in their own newly formed kingdom and put the past behind them.
Cities of Gilead and Durador
Mema-Nova is on the shores of Lake Ferian and the surrounding flatlands and sparse forests are used for farming and ranching by several villages. To the north there are several mines that surround Norgarth and Gilead is a major exporter of adamantine and gold and further north in Frostreven there is a whaling fleet that trades there catches.
Mema-Zarath is built at the base of the Fogshrowd Mountains and is the capital of Durador. There are mines for silver, steel, and mithral near the capital. Most of the steel and mithral is moved to the Three Devils. Long ago the dwarven clan of Alagor setup a foundry and forge in the depths of the volcanoes where they make armor and jewels to sell in the dwarven city Mirord south of the Three Devils. The Eldar Forest to the north is the elf capital in all Valinor and does trade with Forlorn and Durador but is very protective of their city Eldidale. Sillas is the only crossing area along the Eldi River and the western side is ruled by Forlorn and the eastern by Durador. There are several villages spread across the valley between Fogshrowd Mountains and the Eldi River and several guard posts around the border of Durador.
Decedents of the Psion
The survivors are far and few and even fewer know what really caused the gate to open but some are fighting to keep people from pillaging their ancient ruins and others are exploring them to find answers.
Ancient psion cities
There are several ancient cities that have fallen into ruin since their original builders were killed by the demons. Some have been rebuilt and some new cities have been built in recent decades. Bloodmoor is a large port city and was built by the people of Forlorn to be used as a trading port to their lands across the Blood Sea. Carath-dur and Narath-dur were the twin cities of wonder at the high of the Psion age and Carath-dur is abandoned and falling apart but there are many legends about the magic and riches buried in the ruins. Narath-dur was rebuilt to some of its original splendor by a rich noble from Forlorn and is the self proclaimed ruler of the city. Belor-dur was the Psion capital but it is now abandoned and infested with demons. At the time of the portal opening there were over twenty large villages spread through out the Shadow Forest but all of these are now in ruin and filled with evil creatures. There are abandoned villages spread all over the country side and all but the ones by Narath-dur and Keepers Dale are empty or filled with demons or orc. Vela-dur was the old Psion port in the Blood Sea and now an alliance of evil humans and monsters use it as a pirate haven and city. Psion Keep was built right after the portal was opened to protect Forlorn from the demons in the land.
That should be enough for everyone to read and get started tonight, let me know if you have any questions.
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Basic character before I start fleshing him out in your world. He probably needs your approval.
DM Dreamweaver
Feats: Autonomous (your bonus feat), Psionic body (+2 hit points/psionic feat), psionic talent (+2 power points) and psionic weapon)
First level hits: 8(MAX)+3x2(FEATS)+1(CON)=15
His one power would be vigor (+5 hit points for 1 min/level)
Forgive me if I missed it somewhere, but what about dieties?
Does anyone have thoughts on their classes?
For French Wolf
As far as deities I will be using the standard set from the PHB.
I added an another map so it you go to Here and push the next arrow there is a close up map around Keepers Dale.
So far it looks like we have
Nani - halfling rogue
French wolf - possible psychic warrior
Utak - Undecided
Blue Wizard - undecided
and I will wait probably until Monday for Valgrim to pipe in as our last player.
Side question how does everything look so far? It has been awhile since I have organized a whole campaign and I know that all this makes sense from my prospective but how is yours?
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DM Dreamweaver
Perhaps you could give us a bit more on the Keepers Dale and its environs. I am sure you are going to do that next. The background and the character set up is everything I would want.
I am playing a human fighter folks. Leave all the spells to you guys.
Cheers
For French Wolf
Ok so know we have the following
Nani - halfling rogue
French Wolf - Human(?) Fighter
everyone else is undecided.
and I will wait probably until Monday for Valgrim to pipe in as our last player.
Dreamweaver,
If you check the PBP-Player For Hire Thread, it looks like Valegrim has signed on to Sect's game, and it sounds like one game is enough.
Alright I will see if anyone else wants to join and if we can't find anyone four will work.
Keepers Dale
Surrounding region
Keepers Dale is at the mouth of a mountain pass call the Dragons Divide that runs east to west through the Dragons Spine. To the west of Dragons Spine and north of Dragons Divide is the dense forest Havenwood. To the south of Dragons Divide are the Hightower Hills with thin forests and meadows for thirty miles south than a large swamp sits between the Dragons Spine and Lonelywood. Through Dragons Divide there are several valleys branching off from the main pass and the mountains are filled with monsters and natural dangers. Only the most skilled adventures leave the main road leading through Dragons Divide.
History
The Dragons Spine separates the Demon Wastes and the Kingdom of Gilead to the east and separated any trade with Forlorn and other western regions ounce the Plains of Discord blocked Gilead’s access west. Gilead quickly decided they needed an alternate route to the west to connect with Forlorn so expeditions were set up to explore the Dragon Spine for a quick route through. The first explorers through Dragons Divide found the last two miles of the pass was filled with a river coming out of the south side of Dragons Divide and spilling out into a great chasm just outside of the mountain range. Since this was easiest and shortest way through the Dragons Spine Gilead quickly started plans to dam the river up in the mountains to allow access through the divide. The Thunder River was damned and diverted to the south of the divide pouring over the huge cliffs to the South of the western entrance. Once the river was no longer blocking the pass a military garrison was created to guard the forty mile mountain pass through the Dragons Spine and guard the only back entrance into Gilead. A trade road, Gilead’s Run that runs through the pass from the Kingdom of Gilead and connects to the Psion Road continues to the western region of Forlorn grew quickly. With this increase in trade the city of Keepers Dale has grown from a military garrison into a large trade nexus and defense stronghold for the surrounding villages if there are any troubles.
Surrounding area
The open valley to the west of the main gates has several farms and ranches that supply the city with food and its own spices and food for trade. In Havenwood the fortified village of Millvale the industrial part of Keeper Dale its housed about a half mile from the city that also supplies Keepers Dale with materials for the cities defenses and trade. Twenty miles south in the Dragons Spine the dwarven clan of Hammerhand makes there home in the mountains. The exact location of the clan is unknown but Hammerhand uses Keeper Dale as a trade depot. Forty miles to the north-west in Havenwood is the small elf city of Silver Lake and on rare occasions a trade expedition arrives in Keepers Dale. Fifty miles west of Silver Lake are the ruins of Carath-Dur the long abandoned Psion city. One hundred miles to south-west along the Psion Road at the joining of Spirit Waters and Silver River is the city of Narath-Dur. There are several small villages with in 10 miles of Keepers Dale.
The city
Keepers Dale is a neutral city that is vary tolerant of different races and cultures so a wide variety of people and cultures can be found in the city. Because of its close proximity to the Demon Wastes (what the locals call the Psion land) there are an unusual number of teiflings and some half-fiends in the city. Keepers Dale is one of the only cities that is tolerant to what few Psions that are still alive.
The city is run Lord Garrett from Gilead and a council of seven towns folk and one representative from Millvale a industrial camp/village outside of Keepers Dale.
It also houses a large garrison of Gilead troops that guard the mountain pass and surrounding area.
There are eight districts in Keepers Dale Darkspire, Keepers Rule, Demons Gate, Wellhall, Xender, Balons Bizarre, Farland, and Blackwall.
Darkpire is the wizarding district named after the black tower set in the middle of the district The Darkspire can be seen from any part of the city and is the rallying point for all arcanists in the city.
Keepers Rule is the governmental district and the center of the city. The Keepers Watch is stationed here, the cities counsel is held in Keepers Vault the cities governmental building, and Lord Garret’s manor is located here.
Demons Gate is the adventures district filled with guild houses, shops, taverns, and small tenant buildings.
Wellhall is the temple and hospital district and includes the city park. This district is filled with beautiful and dark temples and a large hospital dominates the ridge in the district. Below the ridge is a large park filled with trees and a pond and next to the park is the multi-spire university of Callendron.
Xender is the residential district in the city filled with huge manors to small apartment buildings.
Balons Bizarre is the merchant and trading center of the city and is the larges distract the runs down the center of the city. Balsons Bizarre is filled with shops, open lots for merchants to setup tents and several inns to house travelers.
Farland is the district that houses the garrison in the city just has plain warehouses and barracks for the troops stationed in the city. Farland is separated from the rest of the city by a chasm that Thunder River poured into before it was dammed
Blackwall is the darker side of Keepers Dale with the gambling dens, brothels, and the black market.
This should finish up all of the big campaign background posts but I can explain more if you have questions.
I'm leaning heavily towards human ranger. I made an alias (Roderick Hafspan) and have done most of the creation work. However I will defer in favor of party balance (i.e. I'll play a cleric if no one else really wants to).
Just weighing in.
I'm leaning heavily towards human ranger. I made an alias (Roderick Hafspan) and have done most of the creation work. However I will defer in favor of party balance (i.e. I'll play a cleric if no one else really wants to).
Just weighing in.
IMHO, a ranger would fit nicely. With a 5 pc party, it is always good to have 2 martial characters. If Sect picks a druid, that is our divine might with healing. That leaves arcane. I will decide between a sorceror or warlock.
Cheers
Hn... I'm considering Dwarven Druid... Thoughts?
A dwarven druid sounds good.... I always like Pikel green hair and all.
I have some things to tie into the different races that I will post later tomorrow.So here the list so far
Nani - Halfling Rogue
French Wolf - Human Fighter
Sect - Dwarven Druid
Blue Wizard - Human Ranger
Utak - Sorserer or Warlock
Don't know why, but I am into half-orcs at the moment. Half-orc Warlock it is.
DM Dreamweaver:
Thoughts?
By the way, I’m into the setting. My mind is a little tired at the moment with starting back up at work. Over the weekend once I rest up, I will reread all of the historical info and throw any questions out at you.
Cheers
Utak/Blue Wizard I was wondering about linking up as relations or whatever to give us a start together. Are either of you interested?
Cheers
I would have no problem with it, but if Dreamweaver approves my background idea, it may not work. Then on the other hand, it could make it even more interesting. More to come on this after I hear from our gracious DM.
Got a little bit of Cort worked out. Good ol' grumpy dwarf...
Don't know why, but I am into half-orcs at the moment. Half-orc Warlock it is.
DM Dreamweaver:
** spoiler omitted **Thoughts?
For Utak
DM