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Scarred Lands: None Dare Call Them Heroes (updated 12/07/03)
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<blockquote data-quote="jonrog1" data-source="post: 576423" data-attributes="member: 189"><p><strong>”Prologue: The Law of Unexpected Consequences.”</strong></p><p></p><p>Vesh, at the time of Anadale’s ascension, was a nascent republic. When a royal bloodline was reinstated with the obvious blessing of the Gods – I mean, look, Corean worked through a <em>halfling</em>, it was so important – the people saw the signs. They knew the score.</p><p></p><p>This “republic” nonsense had to go.</p><p></p><p><em>(DM’s Note: The historical example here -- the heroes wrecked the Enlightenment. Good job, heroes!)</em></p><p></p><p>Luckily, the general leading Vesh at the time (see the <strong>SL Gazetteer</strong>) was a direct descendant of the original ruling family, back when there had been royals running different sections of the land. A tidy restructuring of power, and boom, Vesh was divided up among the original Clans from a hundred years earlier. Five families vied for power and influence of <strong> the Iron Throne</strong>.</p><p></p><p>Fifteen years passed. <strong> Lord Reach Godwyn</strong>, respected adventurer and diplomat, rules the Iron Throne. The other families have let their rivalries get the better of them. A cold civil war is heating up. The blooded swordsmen of the families, <strong>Oathblades</strong>, often dueled openly. </p><p></p><p><em>(DM's Note: Oathblades are based on OA's Samuria class. Hereditary bastard swords replace katanas.)</em> </p><p></p><p>Ordinarily the threat of Calastian Expansion would unite the families, but <strong>King Virduk</strong> was now at death’s door, and without an heir. Traviak continued his brutal war against the dwarves and Durrover, and made noises about being given full control of the decadent, pseudo-autonomous region of New Venir. It looked like the Calastian Empire might just burst into flames all by itself.</p><p></p><p>When the Bandit King first appeared in the Blood Steppes, he seemd like no more than another necro-druid with a few nasty tricks up his sleeve. His dark army swept across the blood-red badlands. Tiny settlements disappeared among tales of horror and sacrifice. Even Vigils sent out to discover the lay of the land stopped returning.</p><p></p><p>The first full Veshian military company sent out to face the madman was nearly wiped out to a man. They checked his advance just long enough for the Iron Throne to pull together a proper army and head out into the Steppes. Under supernatural rainstorms, both sides stalemated and dug in on a fifty-mile wide skirmish line. It became a war of trenches and strong-points, the line never shifting more than a few hundred yards, ever. Both sides swelled with mercenaries and volunteers from as far away as Termana. Every day was ten hours of non-stop, hand-to-hand battle. Every day meant hundreds of dead and injured.</p><p></p><p>That lasted three years.</p><p></p><p>Recently, a mysterious Black Tower rose almost overnight in the Bandit King’s territory. The generals and mages of Vesh realized that this was some sort of arcane power-structure, and that it spelled the end of the stalemate. If the Bandit King could punch a hole in Vesh’s line, then nothing would stop them ’til the Blood Sea. Something had to be done.</p><p></p><p>The epic heroes of renown, Jastra and Roscoe, came up with a plan. They could lead a strike-force into the Tower. They could destroy it. But they needed to draw as many fiendish troops and powerful necromancers from the base of the Tower as they could. They needed a diversion.</p><p></p><p>Unfortunately, the “diversion” they came up with was to allow sections of the Veshian line to collapse. Not pretend to collapse. <strong>Collapse.</strong> Flanks rolled up. Veshians outnumbered and overwhelmed, running full tilt from the trenches while screaming slitheren and titanspawn slaughtered them wholesale from behind.</p><p></p><p>That’s where our protagonists find themselves on this very first day, in the very first seconds of our tale …</p><p></p><p><em>Next: “Thank you so much, you epic-level b@st@rds!!”</em></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="jonrog1, post: 576423, member: 189"] [b]”Prologue: The Law of Unexpected Consequences.”[/b] Vesh, at the time of Anadale’s ascension, was a nascent republic. When a royal bloodline was reinstated with the obvious blessing of the Gods – I mean, look, Corean worked through a [I]halfling[/I], it was so important – the people saw the signs. They knew the score. This “republic” nonsense had to go. [I](DM’s Note: The historical example here -- the heroes wrecked the Enlightenment. Good job, heroes!)[/I] Luckily, the general leading Vesh at the time (see the [b]SL Gazetteer[/b]) was a direct descendant of the original ruling family, back when there had been royals running different sections of the land. A tidy restructuring of power, and boom, Vesh was divided up among the original Clans from a hundred years earlier. Five families vied for power and influence of [b] the Iron Throne[/b]. Fifteen years passed. [b] Lord Reach Godwyn[/b], respected adventurer and diplomat, rules the Iron Throne. The other families have let their rivalries get the better of them. A cold civil war is heating up. The blooded swordsmen of the families, [b]Oathblades[/b], often dueled openly. [i](DM's Note: Oathblades are based on OA's Samuria class. Hereditary bastard swords replace katanas.)[/i] Ordinarily the threat of Calastian Expansion would unite the families, but [b]King Virduk[/b] was now at death’s door, and without an heir. Traviak continued his brutal war against the dwarves and Durrover, and made noises about being given full control of the decadent, pseudo-autonomous region of New Venir. It looked like the Calastian Empire might just burst into flames all by itself. When the Bandit King first appeared in the Blood Steppes, he seemd like no more than another necro-druid with a few nasty tricks up his sleeve. His dark army swept across the blood-red badlands. Tiny settlements disappeared among tales of horror and sacrifice. Even Vigils sent out to discover the lay of the land stopped returning. The first full Veshian military company sent out to face the madman was nearly wiped out to a man. They checked his advance just long enough for the Iron Throne to pull together a proper army and head out into the Steppes. Under supernatural rainstorms, both sides stalemated and dug in on a fifty-mile wide skirmish line. It became a war of trenches and strong-points, the line never shifting more than a few hundred yards, ever. Both sides swelled with mercenaries and volunteers from as far away as Termana. Every day was ten hours of non-stop, hand-to-hand battle. Every day meant hundreds of dead and injured. That lasted three years. Recently, a mysterious Black Tower rose almost overnight in the Bandit King’s territory. The generals and mages of Vesh realized that this was some sort of arcane power-structure, and that it spelled the end of the stalemate. If the Bandit King could punch a hole in Vesh’s line, then nothing would stop them ’til the Blood Sea. Something had to be done. The epic heroes of renown, Jastra and Roscoe, came up with a plan. They could lead a strike-force into the Tower. They could destroy it. But they needed to draw as many fiendish troops and powerful necromancers from the base of the Tower as they could. They needed a diversion. Unfortunately, the “diversion” they came up with was to allow sections of the Veshian line to collapse. Not pretend to collapse. [b]Collapse.[/b] Flanks rolled up. Veshians outnumbered and overwhelmed, running full tilt from the trenches while screaming slitheren and titanspawn slaughtered them wholesale from behind. That’s where our protagonists find themselves on this very first day, in the very first seconds of our tale … [I]Next: “Thank you so much, you epic-level b@st@rds!!”[/i] [/QUOTE]
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