The Insidious Threat

[Nyaricus]

Well, having never done a story hour before, this might be a bit rough -- at best

In any case, I have a large-scale campaign planned in Faerun, starting in Hlondeth, the City of Serpents. The heroes will, soon enough, find themselves over their heads in a miasma of plots, problems and power-struggle.

First, a bit of background (please excuse if this gets a bit wordy, I just want to get out there what the goals are in my mind for this campaign): I've been DMing since February of 2005 (or about 1 1/2 years at this point) and have gone through 2 groups (and am now with my third) since then - though my two best friends Trev and Brian have been through these changes with me. I've DMed a group as large as 12 at once during one session, and as low as 3, and prefer something like 4-8 players, on average. However, I still largely consider myself a DMing noobie, and I am trying to make my campaigns more dynamic, and up the ROLE-playing aspect of it with whatever skills I can come up with. Thus far, we've had two sessions (plus a session devoted to character creation and campaign goals) and it's been moreso on the positive side of the sucess/failure spectrum, by and large, which is encouraging I also want this to be a long-term campaign, and go from a low level (we're starting at 3) to ~level 20. I can't wait to see what happens with this

In any case, my friend Trevor is on a half-year-long trip with Canada World Youth Org, and won't be back til December, so I am down one player. In the group right now is: Janelle, a friend of mine from highschool; my buddy Brian (another highschool friend); Max, a friend I met via work; Hughie and Ashley, a couple I met via D&D Meetups; and Mark, another one met via D&D Meetups.

Here is the party at the start of the campaign:
Ashley - Chondathan Wild Elf Animal Shape Druid 3
Brian - hasn't been able to play yet; no character.
Hughie - Sembian Lightfoot Halfling Beguiler 3
Janelle - Chessantan Air Genasi (LA+0) Ranger 3
Mark - Smoking Mountains Gold Dwarf Knight 3
Max - Dragon Coast Human Favoured Soul of Kelemvor 3

I'll be starting to write up my story hour tomorrow hopefully; for now here's the teaser etxt I gave to my players

The Insidious Threat

Folk far and wide have heard the plea of the Council of Six, the ruling body of Amn. A mated pair of ogre mages, Sothillis and Cyrvis, have forged an unholy alliance consisting of goblins, kobolds, ogres and hill giants and have sacked the city of Murann and have declared it the capitol of the Sothillisian Empire - and the Council of Six wants it back. There has already been some further strife for Amn, since two southern cities, Riatavin and Trailstone, have deflected to Tethyr, citing better protection then that which Amn provides. Soth and Cyr have also coerced the Alchemists Guild into creating potions and alchemical items for the armies, which are now well-entrenched in Murann and the surrounding land.

Meanwhile, the church of Selune relentlessly crusades to regain the city, and thus their temple.

Soth and Cyr assailed Murann to acquire the vast quantities of Maztican gold in the ships docked there and were successful in getting it. Soth and Cyr have also struck a deal with the Nelanther Pirates: in exchange for a safe port in Murann, the pirates will protect The Sothillisian Empire by sea.

In the Vilhon Reach, House Extaminos in Hlondeth stays neutral on the subject of the Amnian Crisis.

In the Wetwoods, further to the west of Hlondeth, the lizardfolk have risen up and are attacking Ormath, a city friendly with Murann, with a fury. Hlondeth has always competed with Ormath for economical reasons, and see this as a great opportunity to ensure themselves a larger portion of the trade.

This southern corner of Faerûn is rife with intrigue, deceit, and the rumble of war drums, and perhaps it is only a few powerful heroes who can help out and get to the bottom of... the Insidious Threat.​

cheers,
--N