Gaming W/Jemal: Planar Quest! (Closed)

[Jemal]

OK lets try again...


OK, and now, finally, some DM Info on the world. I left it mostly up to you guys b/c you're the major players (Well, the 'good guy' ones), and now I can fill in the gaps.

First off, Here's what i'm getting as an image of the 'area' and Group formation.

Assuming Rauland as the 'center' of the map (I'm seeing it as being one of the large, main countries, the "Britain" of the world) West is Kadrath, and west beyond that is the great sea, on the other side of which rests Dormith.
To the north and East Lie Mountainous regions inhabited by the Alliance (Tutek's people). Beyond them to the East is the great desert, and within that desert is the Eternal Empire.
Obviously there are also a few other countries to the north of Rauland, and some to the south, though a lot of the area south of Rauland has also been overtaken by the Dormithians.

Gerard's from the Trade City(name?) which lies in the mountains, at the border of Rauland, the Alliance, and the Desert.
Mei Ying is from the Eternal Empire.
Ur was from an un-named country to the north.
Tutek is from the Alliance.
Braham is from the desert.
D'raven is on the Bazaar. *Doesn't matter for party/world backstory, he gets written in later*

SIDE NOTE : I thought I remembered reading something more about the 'storm king/lord', but I've been over the entire thread and can only find a couple short references. SO, I'm going to make "Belzer" Actually one of the Dragoons(See below)

OOC: I'm seeing Two overarching storylines so far, The Dormithian invasion, dragoons, and repelling them being the first, finally ending, and then the ArchLich storyline starting up after the return from the Underworld. Threads of the undead line seep in before the first is finished, weaving in with Gerard's undead hunting and a bit with Mei Ling's knowledge from the Eternal Empire.

Queendom of Dormith - About 50 years ago, after their THIRD failed invasion of Rauland, Dormith started a secret genetic weapons program. With a combination of Gnomish Science and powerful magics, they bred soldiers of draconic blood (dragonborn/dragonkith/spellscales) with great physical and magical potential. These 'children' were raised as warriors, trained and schooled relentlessly until they could best their teachers in both martial and magical prowess, before being gifted with vile demonic powers and powerful magical artifacts and set upon each other to find the best.
Finally, their labours saw fruit, with six of the 'Dragoons' having survived the rigours of the training and infighting. They were sent out into the world secretly, to work undercover for Dormith.

Two went to Rauland. Heroes disappeared, Entire companies of soldiers were wiped out by 'rogue monsters', Supernatural disasters befell the land, and more and more people were left to fend for themselves.
One of them, and his slave ring, was finally defeated by the Legion (See Ur's Background), at which point the other retreated to Kadrath.
Two went North to the Alliance in the mountains(Tutek's background), and began their plans to disrupt this Alliance, causing strife and war. They raised a small army over the years and caused a mystical draught, but were eventually beaten by the Legion and Alliance's combined might. One was killed, the other managed to escape.
One went far to the east, past Rauland, Crossing the great desert to disrupt the Eternal Empire and keep it busy until Dormith was ready to expand that far.
The sixth disappeared.

Having defeated Three of the dragoons, and stopped the Draught, the Legion, The Alliance, and Rauland join together to finally push the Dormithians from Kadrath, defeating the fourth Dragoon in the process.

During the week-long Celebration, Tutek angers a demi-god and is cast to the underworld, his companions following to save him, after which they catch onto the trail of Iridex the lich king.

It is eventually discovered that the ArchLich has hidden strongholds all across the continent, and one by one the Legion tracks down and destroys them, piecing together his plans.
For centuries, Iridex had lain imprisoned in the mountains by a powerful magical artifact...
But the Mystical Draught of the Dormithian Dragoons had been powerful indeed, as they had located and drained magic from this artifact, unknowingly releasing the ArchLich. He immediately set about restoring his once glorious empire, which had been turned to dust and sand - The Great Desert had once housed a vast empire of which he had been king, an Empire which had been destroyed by a powerful magic many centuries ago.
(The remants of which managed to salvage the small portion within the Five Pillars which became the Eternal Empire).

Driven mad by his loss and long imprisonment, Iridex meant to raze the Eternal Empire and form a new, Undead Empire. It is revealed that one of the Draoons who freed him, and Escaped the legion, has now joined him and taken the name 'Belzer the storm king".

Only the relentlessness of the Legion managing to stop him, as the heroes destroy each of his strongholds, finally chasing Belzer across the desert and finding Iridex's 'necropolis' raised from beneath the sands. They infiltrate it and destroy the ArchLich and his phylactery once and for all, mere miles from the borders of the Eternal Empire.

Finally having defeated the ArchLich, Mei Ying returns to her home strengthened and a hero, to restore her order's honour. After some grand adventuring and help from her companions, she manages to reveal that the faction opposing her return is actually under the influence of the nearly forgotten Fifth dragoon, and she challenges him to a trial, narrowly defeating him after a grueling battle.

OOC: I decided to go with Iridex as the Lich. I had originally intended to use a different character, but it doesn't really matter. I also altered my timeline a bit. I had originally inteded to have the Lich be the most recent thing, but that now happens before Mei Ling's return to the empire. In fact it's likely a catalyst for her return, with the proximity and her now being viewed (Perhaps grudgingly by some) as a Hero.

Planar Quest Clues:
OK, so I've decided against the riddle method b/c honestly I suck at riddles, and don't want to get into the "I think it's easy you think it's hard/Vice versa" Problem.
In Lieu of that, I'm going to give you what you've figured out so far. Your characters have only managed to put all the pieces together recently, after the "Fall of the ArchLich" and "Mei Ling's Homecoming".

During their breaking of the Slave Ring, they first discover the existence of the Dragoons, and that they have been reinforced with extraplanar power. It is later discovered that some of the Power used in their 'creation' and the weapons they wielded were not any form of magic known to mortals, not Divine, nor Arcane, nor even Psionic.

The Artifact that had been holding Iridex in check was made by the same Power, the reason why the Dragoons were drawn to it in the first place, and is why they were able to harness its immense Power, though they themselves did not seem to know this, thinking it was just their natural magical talent.
Even though this artifact was shattered and almost completely drained, Iridex used what remained of his 'cage' to protect himself, even the tiny portion of Power that remained was enough to rival the most powerful magics (Mei Ying's "Iridex's cage" Vest of Archmagi)

In fact, throughout their search for Iridex, they found much of his research and writings, discovering that he was in fact the one responsible for the destruction of his Empire, as he had long ago stumbled onto the ancient Power, and in his too-rash efforts to control it, he lost everything.
A small order of monks (I'm thinking Mei-Ying's fallen order) knew of what was happening, and managed to use their small understanding of the Power to save a portion of the kingdom, raising a ring of mountains to protect them from the withering, and then entrapping the newly-undead Iridex deep in the sea. far from their domain (Not knowing that the area would eventually become inhabited).
The Fifth Dragoon had uncovered this after his assignment to the Eternal Empire, and had sought to grasp this Power for Dormith, after gaining control of one of the factions, he turned it against the order, begging the extermination. Many notes on the subject are discovered in his private quarters after he is defeated, and once they are translated, the companions are able to piece them together with the other information they've gained.

Most of the information Mei Ling's order had on the Power was lost or stolen, but Iridex and the Fifth Dragoon had both been looking for a tome that supposedly revealed much about the Power, and Mei Ling recalled an ancient story of her order about a holy book that was sent into a hidden and protected plane.

Through many divinations, consulting scholars, and pouring over the clues they had found, the Legion discovered that there were two others looking for this book, who had already left the Prime Material Plane in search of it : The missing 'Sixth Dragoon', and a powerful Vampire Lord who had allied himself with Iridex, long enough to find out about the Power and go after it himself, leaving the ArchLich to his final death at the Legion's hands.

*Some of this information came from Tutek's sentient weapon, Sendesemcal, who had just started researching the Power when he had been entrapped. He begrudgingly shared (After much cajoling and threatening) the little he knew.

After they had seemingly hit a dead end ("It's on a hidden Plane" being somewhat of a hard needle to find), the frustrated party received help from the most unlikely of sources..
Some of them had bags or portals linked to a Merchants Plane known as the Bazaar, though a business known as "Black Feather Trading", and after a few weeks at their dead end, they had discovered invitations in their bags to come to the Bazaar and discuss their situation.

OOC: The party has a few items they 'salvaged' from the Dragoons/Iridex which are imbued with a tiny fraction of this Power. These items may react/change as the campaign progresses. Included in this are: Mei Ying's Eye of the Storm, Belzer's last breath, and Iridex's cage *If any of the rest of you would like a 'souvenir' Please pick something suiting to have been taken from a defeated 'draconic fighter-mage' style enemy. I was originaly only going to go with one or two each, but Shayuri did a great job and put a lot of work into his item background, so I'm giving him three.

 

[Jemal]

Had originally also included this, a collection of quotes from various PC's that included random background info for comparison. Will post it here now b/c apparently it was too big putting it all together or something.. ><
EDIT : OK.. I think I figured it out.. I originally had it in an Sblock, and it would NOT work.. apparently either that's too big for an sblock, or the site thought I was plagiarizing lol

My character's quest then took her here, partly in search of knowledge outside the realm, and partly to help her avoid 'Imperial Entanglements.' At least for much of her adventures. More recently, the faction that she was up against was outmanuevered, allowing her more free access to her homeland. Of course, by then she liked it here too.

Okay, assuming we go with Binder's framework, which seems very good to me, then I'd install a natural barrier to Rauland opposite the border with Dorminth; a mountain range spanning the eastern side of the country. On the other side of those mountains is a desert...and through that desert, if one knows the ways, one can eventually arrive at a place who's name comes roughly to Eternal Empire of the Jade Throne, or sometimes by an older name Under the Five Pillars of Heaven. The 'pillars' are a ring of tall, unusually narrow mountains that surround the Empire's outer perimeter, creating a barrier of sorts that helps keep it moist and temperate despite the nearby arid area...as well as forming a natural defense against intruders.

Trade with the Eternal Empire comes via merchants who pay desert tribes to convey them along routes that use the few oases in carefully planned legs that allow them to cross the barren white sands without, quite, dehydrating. The goods that come from this are luxury goods, in fashion with the wealthy who are always in search of something new that their peers don't have or can't get...and can pay the exorbitant sums that would entice a man to take the monumental risk of making that journey.

When Mei Ying made the crossing, it was in disgrace; one of the few survivors of a monastic tradition that was found to be heretical in its teachings. In disguise she went with the caravan through the desert and across the treacherous mountain pass until she took refuge in the trading city on the other side. During a raid on that city by monstrous creatures, she revealed herself...and later that evening had to fend off an assassin that had also waited in the caravan, hoping to find his quarry among the workers. Having helped the other members of the group during the attack, they now helped her against her assailant. She elected to go with them after that, and had many adventures at their side.

Eventually, when she grew strong enough, she returned to the shadow of the Five Pillars of Heaven, and confronted the faction that had persecuted the order she'd belonged to...calling for their conflicting beliefs to be put to the test in a sanctioned trial of combat.f

After a difficult, grueling battle that tested her to her limits, Mei Ying restored the honor of her tradition and exposed the crimes of her enemies. However, after doing what she could to set her order back on its path, she found that the monastic life no longer appealed to her. The world was so much bigger than the cradle of the Pillars, and she could not help but feel it was now a cage.
=
I was thinking of Rauland as an actual country, a kingdom to be precise. If we're talking city-state, then we're talking about an entirely different scale.... A scale that, IMHO, does't fit too well with opposing, and winning, against the conquering clutches of a full-blown foreign *empire* (Dormith).

As briefly mentionned before, I'm personnaly thinking of Rauland as a chaotic land rich in natural ressources (mostly wood, fertile soil for farming and sun-dappled meadows for raising cattle, metals would come from trade (dwarfs? Historically Kadrath? That would certainly have put the pinch on Rauland when Dormith invaded then)). The country rises as one goes inland, crumpling into tree-covered hills from which the rocky points of Tutek's mountains eventually burst through, climbing the sky. Cities/major town would be rare (just the one city?), clustering near the coast, at the mouth of rivers (the main method of transportation into the heart of the country -- though the fore-country would have plenty of trails and sea-side earthen roads). Rauland's natural wealth would flow/float down these rivers - um, let's make it a single large one called The White - to be traded with the neighbouring countries at Gerard's city which sits on both sides of the White (much calmer and siltier, almost lazy in its flowing at this point -- and much browner). Under Rauland's green covering sits the ruins of at least two ancient kindgoms, including the crumbling Sounding Wall, once meant to keep Tutek's ancestors at bay (there is even a rumour that much of the foundation of Gerard's city was originally from a much older (and stranger, some say non-human (quasi-human?)) city that occupied the same spot).

In this context, I suggest we relocate the capital further along the coast and a bit inland, in a large town that's much less cosmopolitan/forward-thinking than Gerard's city. Would have made for some interresting tension, I think.

My point being that Rauland, however we end up defining it, should have it's own personality (and not be defined simply as a meeting point for other cultures (that can be what defines Gerard's city, if you want Scott)).


---
My sense is that the whole lich affair took place in Rauland though, since Mei's backstory is that she didn't return to the Empire until after it all completed.

--
Well, how about this: The Lich adventure might have begun in Rauland with the Storm King adventure, at the conclusion of which clues pointing towards the Eternal Empire were uncovered as the PCs were drawn East by a chase scene through the desert with many near misses, hit-and-run ambushes and sudden twists as we pursued the badly beaten Storm King himself (and the last of his monstrous retinue). We run him to ground at the very gates of the empire, with the quest ending *in* the Empire with the finding and then the destruction of his Lich lord and master (a (culture-shock) adventure unto itself) -- at which point the next adventure would have been Mei Ying's Good Name adventure (restauring her tradition's good name in the Empire (some interesting politicing/high-court action there, I imagine )), followed by a short adventure through Braham's desert on our way back (ideas @kinem ?), followed by the Great Draught adventure when we got back to Rauland and found that the situation had gone a bit downhill since our leaving.

I rather like the idea of an "oriental" flavored Zann tradition (fits well with the monk theme and the idea of adventurers as cross-cultural vectors), so wherever Ur winds up finding the book (Rauland or the Empire -- maybe in a deserted, eerily quiet "summer" mountain island lair of Iridex's in Rauland, with only traps, oozes and incorporeal servants/guards eternaly waiting?), we can always say that its ideas originally came from the east. The book's author could be the last earthly incarnation of Zann before ascending, an incarnation of an already Godly eastern Zann, or just a Zann-inspired prophetess depending on who you ask (Ur, with his Rauland outlook, would of course favor option 1). Her name is, and always has been, Ciana An Dailiang ("Peaceful Jade of the Great Bridge")... Acceptable/interresting?

 

[Voda Vosa]

I like it, I feel I'm already playing!

 

[Jemal]

Actually, VV, That reminds me!

On that note, the first portion of the campaign will likely require very little rolling, so If you guys would like to proceed to the roleplaying, investigating, etc startup portion while finalizing everything, just say so and I'll post up the IC soon as I can.

 

[Scott DeWar]

I have a fun day of going to places that have free food for veterans today. I shall AT LEAST dwell on a good name for G's 'hometown'. maybe:
run by The Three Queens Hisraea, Iobanesh and Jalzee.

 

[Shayuri]

Jemal, that's a great job uniting a lot of disparate backgrounds into a cohesive whole! Very impressed.

Making Belzer one of the Dragoons that had fallen in with the Archlich works perfectly as well. I shall update item descriptions to reflect this.

I'll also work out some details on Mei's order, since it has been worked into the plot. The only thing I had on them so far was that it was deemed heretical for asserting that mortals could harness their potential within their lifetime, which is opposed to the doctrine that one's lot in each life is essentially fixed by fate, and living it well and obediently means a better life in the next turn of one's wheel. That doctrine was very popular with the Imperial bureaucracy, and the recent legitimization of Mei's order (which I will name soon! ) makes for philosophical competition unwelcome to many who have power. The successful Trial and Mei's status as a hero makes direct retribution problematic, but there are subtler ways...

Very excited to play now!

 

[Scott DeWar]

City name: Kaainsbridge

Was built on the foundations of an ancient city names Caain's bridge after the founder one Caaineth 'ut Baaernock. As far as any know, only the name is known as it was translated from the ancient runes on the arch that framed the bridge spanning the river Oshlute. It was from a fallen empire that only hints of were found by the Bards and druids. Some say that even the dragons forgot about this one, while others say the dragons wish they could forget it.

more to come, just in pain from a bruised rib and ego.

 

[Voda Vosa]

Actually, VV, That reminds me!

On that note, the first portion of the campaign will likely require very little rolling, so If you guys would like to proceed to the roleplaying, investigating, etc startup portion while finalizing everything, just say so and I'll post up the IC soon as I can.

I'd like that.
I still have to resolve the money left over. I really don't know what to do with that 300k leftover. Suggestions are appreciated.

 

[Binder Fred]

Ack! Just enough time to read it once (Sounds good, Jemal <thumbs up> ). Will digest over the next few days.

*If any of the rest of you would like a 'souvenir' Please pick something suiting to have been taken from a defeated 'draconic fighter-mage' style enemy.

To help guide our decision, is it a case of "one powerful vs two average" or "The more, the better"? i.e. are there any advantages to picking just one vs two?

 

[Jemal]

BF, et all - Power of the items you choose as souvenirs doesn't matter, it's mostly for fluff. Any extra power they grant you later will be based off how the campaign goes, what story you've got in them, etc, not what items you choose or how many. I'm hoping there will be a lot of fluff/roleplaying involved.