This blog is a narrative outline (a literary embelishemnt if you will) of a campaign and setting that I created for 2E when I was in college. I adapted to 4E and am currently playing out with my son, who has followed in his father's love of the game.
I - Avenroc
Posted 9th November 2008 at 06:58 AM by H.M.Gimlord
Updated 26th October 2009 at 05:13 AM by H.M.Gimlord
Updated 26th October 2009 at 05:13 AM by H.M.Gimlord
This is the story of the shame of Walryn as it was handed down from Bardir, King of Rioc Parvel:
The Elder Blue Wyrm craved the lightening crystal that grows beneath Avenroc. He heard of it when dwarves from the mainland began mining into the belly of the island. Arkus Mast Gimlord was their king, and the only dwarf in history known not to fear the ocean.
The dwarves first landed on their tiny-island-within-an-island lured by the presence of an active volcano. Unable to resist this natural forge, they established the stronghold of Rioc Parvel within its roots, and set to work.
They found little iron, and no gold, but what they did find surpassed even their wildest dreams.
Now, when a dwarf finds iron, he will fight for it. If he finds gold, he will die for it. The Lightening Crystal, however, was as precious to these dwarves as their eternal soul.
Arkus was actually the one who first found the stone, and understood its worth. He was leading a patrol on the rim of the mountain, when his foot struck a small blue stone embedded in the path. Curious, he examined it, and found that it appeared to be a blue fire trapped inside a clear crystal. Mistaking it for sapphire, he fashioned it into a jewel to adorn his axe and thought no more of it than a beautiful thing to look at.
All dwarven strongholds have their share of adversaries, and Rioc Parvel was no different. When storm giants threatened to destroy the dwarves’ work, a brutal war ensued. Arkus led the dwarves to battle and discovered that his axe was blessed with the gift of thunder. The very air shook with every blow, and blue light glistened off of the blade. It didn’t take long for Arkus to realize that he had fashioned a relic by accident. The axe came alive, almost sentient, and his followers began to fear him. Giants fell before the axe, and soon the dwarves’ supremacy was established.
Arkus wasted no time in taking advantage of his find. He ordered the mining of the mountain to increase in earnest. The largest single gem measured 7 hands wide by 1 hand, 1 span deep. This, they named the Moonstone. Cut with geometric facets, it was fashioned into a steel setting, and positioned at the summit of the mountain. From there it harnessed the power of lightening storms, and channeled the energy to smaller stones for use in mining the rock below. Pressurizing these smaller crystals would release the energy collected by the Moonstone, and shatter the bedrock with more precision and power than any dwarven machine.
Other weapons were also fashioned using the crystal until all of Arkus’ personal guard held powerful weapons capable of slaying any natural creature, or so they thought.
Bardir was born to Arkus shortly after the war of the storm giants, and, when he was grown, it was he who had both the shame, and fortune to be trading with the mainland when the Elder Blue Wyrm descended on the dwarves of Rioc Parvel.
Believing their weapons to be invulnerable, the dwarves engaged the Wyrm but quickly realized that they had been mistaken. The Elder Blue Wyrm feared no lightening, and using his own, he tore into the dwarves, stamping them out like so many beetles. Even the Moonstone itself was useless against him, and it did not take long for the Wyrm to lay waste to Rioc Parvel and claim it for his own. Long he lay in the forges of the mountain, mourning his mate, and guarding his scion, an egg that he had carried with him.
The storm giants returned but kept their distance. As a gesture of tribute, they forged for the Wyrm a helm that harnessed the power of his breath, but though he accepted the gift, he refused to form an alliance with them.
The island, on which Rioc Parvel stood, was no stranger to dragons. The sisters, Sylvantex and Methanine, lived in the forest to the west and seized an opportunity. They feared the power of the dwarves because of their numbers, but the Elder Blue Wyrm, though powerful, was alone. The breath of a green dragon is death, even to the Blue Wyrm, and soon the sisters inherited the dwarven plunder.
The egg, however, escaped notice. It hatched in a remote corner of the forge, and the baby wyrm, being exposed to the poisonous breath from within his egg, had unknowingly become immune. Craving food, and being small, he escaped the mountain, and notice. The creatures of the forest called him Walryn or “Trickster,” and as fate would have it, he moved into the forest lair that the sisters had left behind.
The Elder Blue Wyrm craved the lightening crystal that grows beneath Avenroc. He heard of it when dwarves from the mainland began mining into the belly of the island. Arkus Mast Gimlord was their king, and the only dwarf in history known not to fear the ocean.
The dwarves first landed on their tiny-island-within-an-island lured by the presence of an active volcano. Unable to resist this natural forge, they established the stronghold of Rioc Parvel within its roots, and set to work.
They found little iron, and no gold, but what they did find surpassed even their wildest dreams.
Now, when a dwarf finds iron, he will fight for it. If he finds gold, he will die for it. The Lightening Crystal, however, was as precious to these dwarves as their eternal soul.
Arkus was actually the one who first found the stone, and understood its worth. He was leading a patrol on the rim of the mountain, when his foot struck a small blue stone embedded in the path. Curious, he examined it, and found that it appeared to be a blue fire trapped inside a clear crystal. Mistaking it for sapphire, he fashioned it into a jewel to adorn his axe and thought no more of it than a beautiful thing to look at.
All dwarven strongholds have their share of adversaries, and Rioc Parvel was no different. When storm giants threatened to destroy the dwarves’ work, a brutal war ensued. Arkus led the dwarves to battle and discovered that his axe was blessed with the gift of thunder. The very air shook with every blow, and blue light glistened off of the blade. It didn’t take long for Arkus to realize that he had fashioned a relic by accident. The axe came alive, almost sentient, and his followers began to fear him. Giants fell before the axe, and soon the dwarves’ supremacy was established.
Arkus wasted no time in taking advantage of his find. He ordered the mining of the mountain to increase in earnest. The largest single gem measured 7 hands wide by 1 hand, 1 span deep. This, they named the Moonstone. Cut with geometric facets, it was fashioned into a steel setting, and positioned at the summit of the mountain. From there it harnessed the power of lightening storms, and channeled the energy to smaller stones for use in mining the rock below. Pressurizing these smaller crystals would release the energy collected by the Moonstone, and shatter the bedrock with more precision and power than any dwarven machine.
Other weapons were also fashioned using the crystal until all of Arkus’ personal guard held powerful weapons capable of slaying any natural creature, or so they thought.
Bardir was born to Arkus shortly after the war of the storm giants, and, when he was grown, it was he who had both the shame, and fortune to be trading with the mainland when the Elder Blue Wyrm descended on the dwarves of Rioc Parvel.
Believing their weapons to be invulnerable, the dwarves engaged the Wyrm but quickly realized that they had been mistaken. The Elder Blue Wyrm feared no lightening, and using his own, he tore into the dwarves, stamping them out like so many beetles. Even the Moonstone itself was useless against him, and it did not take long for the Wyrm to lay waste to Rioc Parvel and claim it for his own. Long he lay in the forges of the mountain, mourning his mate, and guarding his scion, an egg that he had carried with him.
The storm giants returned but kept their distance. As a gesture of tribute, they forged for the Wyrm a helm that harnessed the power of his breath, but though he accepted the gift, he refused to form an alliance with them.
The island, on which Rioc Parvel stood, was no stranger to dragons. The sisters, Sylvantex and Methanine, lived in the forest to the west and seized an opportunity. They feared the power of the dwarves because of their numbers, but the Elder Blue Wyrm, though powerful, was alone. The breath of a green dragon is death, even to the Blue Wyrm, and soon the sisters inherited the dwarven plunder.
The egg, however, escaped notice. It hatched in a remote corner of the forge, and the baby wyrm, being exposed to the poisonous breath from within his egg, had unknowingly become immune. Craving food, and being small, he escaped the mountain, and notice. The creatures of the forest called him Walryn or “Trickster,” and as fate would have it, he moved into the forest lair that the sisters had left behind.
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