Ildfus Mahler
First Post
Warning: Long message...
Dear all,
for my heavily modified Forgotten Realms Campaign (non-D&D), I am hoping to profit a little fromt he combined creativity of the fine people on this forum. It is about the possibilities I can confront my players with when they meet the "Lost Tribe" of the Barbarians of the North (in the Spine of the World mountain-range). Before I sketch out the situation my players will be engaged in, let me give you a little background information on the campaign:
The Realms we are playing in is pretty different from the vanilla version of Faerun as presented in the 3rd Ed. volumes (though it still is based on 3rd ed. Faerun). We are playing in the so called "Last Age", about two generations past the "Time of Troubles", which in my take on it was a teeny bit more troublesome than the stuff we are presented with in the official accounts. Meaning, all the gods are dead, except Helm whose Church of the Watchers dominates the Swordcoast North, powered by their Lord's might, an army of religious zealots, and the never ending stream of slaves and white gold of Maztica. During the "Godsdawn", Selune was killed, her physical form (the moon) torn apart and thrown upon the face of Toril, bringing destruction and large-scale geographical changes upon it (think the Cataclysm of Dragonlance). Since all Gods, including Mystra, are dead, magic is non-existent - save the clerics of Helm, some odd and mostly malfunctioning magical items (think Wild Magic put in portable form), and of course the unholy power of the beings beyond, that is the demons and devils of the Depthless Abysses.
The story of the campaign - which the players have yet to figure, though - goes like this. From the Everlasting Ice of the North, a huge host of Demons, Devils, and other nasty critters comes - led by the White Lady, a legendary Demon-Princess of Cold and Death clad in an Armor of Ice. The army will sweep down, ready to bring destruction and despair over the land. In other parts of the North (e.g., in the Silver Marches and at the Sword Coast), war will break out between the petty powers of the land, and between the Church of the Watchers and the Black Network (the post-"Godsdawn" revenant of the Zhentarim). Behind all that is a highly secretive cabal of quasi-ominpotent mortals who are sworn to the power of entrophy and who have been spinning the fate of the world for ages, including inciting the "Time of Troubles" and the "Godsdawn" - in an attempt to undo the world as we know it and create a new world, free from divine intervention and magic. A world in which man can rule its life alone, without interference of the supernatural.
Now, the PCs are in the Spine of the World, not far from the city of Mirabar, which will be the first victim of the onslaught of the White Lady's host. Driven by a prophecy of one of the PCs (a Northern Barbarian Shaman) and the curiosity of the other party members, they have decided to visit the grave of an ancient hero of the Barbarians whose name is hardly known even to the most knowledgable sages of the North. He is almost forgotten because he challenged the Gods of the Ancients and actually killed one of them with his splintered broadsword (which, of course, will play a major role in the coming war against the hordes of terror). The Gods punished the hero physically for his deeds, but even worse, they made his people forget him. Only one tribe of his horde remembers, because they had sworn an oath to protect his grave and they settled in the remote valley of ice and rock in which the hero's body was buried. And here, their offspring still are, leading a sad and lonely life, guided by traditions ages old and still guarding the Valley of the Wailing Souls.
So much for the background. What I would like you to do is to give me some ideas of what the PCs could encounter when they meet the Lost Tribe (btw, it is Winter and they are already in the vicinity). I need some ideas of how the tribes-folk would treat the PCs, and what adventures the PCs would have to brave in order for the tribe to take them to the grave. The PCs are really interested in going to the grave and they mean no harm to the hero's memory or physical remains. Up till now, I have the following rather crude ideas:
- the tribe-people are still normal living humans; meaning they are not undead, etc.
- they have lived in the seclusion of the North for centuries, without any contact to other people in the region (hence, their traditions and speech is archaic)
- there are a couple of interesting characters in the tribe: the chieftain; a berserker; a Völva (a female shaman); a women who fears for the life of her husband (in a dream she saw one of the PCs kill him)
- The tribe-folk are proud and ferocious warriors and willing to protect the grave from all ill, but they are willing to show the PCs to the grave, once they have proven worthy and honorable
Here now is the main thing: How do the PCs prove their worth and honor? My first thought would be to have the PCs take a test (there are four PCs, so four individual tests would be nice). A nice thing would be to tie the tests to the prime archaic values of the Sigveyg (honor, strength, loyalty, cleverness, courage, toughness, battle-prowess). The latter (battle-prowess) is easy enough to test, but how do you test the other values? And is this a nice way for the PCs to prove their worth?
Another idea I had:
- after the PCs have earned the Sigveyg's trust, a small part of the White Lady's army will stumble upon the valley and the PCs will - for the first time - encounter the soldiers that whill bring destruction in the months and years to come
So, it's your part now. First of all, thanks for reading all that stuff. I'd really appreciate your help here. Let me know what you think and if you have any ideas of how to make the PCs stay with the Sigveyg memorable and special.
Thanks again and best,
Dear all,
for my heavily modified Forgotten Realms Campaign (non-D&D), I am hoping to profit a little fromt he combined creativity of the fine people on this forum. It is about the possibilities I can confront my players with when they meet the "Lost Tribe" of the Barbarians of the North (in the Spine of the World mountain-range). Before I sketch out the situation my players will be engaged in, let me give you a little background information on the campaign:
The Realms we are playing in is pretty different from the vanilla version of Faerun as presented in the 3rd Ed. volumes (though it still is based on 3rd ed. Faerun). We are playing in the so called "Last Age", about two generations past the "Time of Troubles", which in my take on it was a teeny bit more troublesome than the stuff we are presented with in the official accounts. Meaning, all the gods are dead, except Helm whose Church of the Watchers dominates the Swordcoast North, powered by their Lord's might, an army of religious zealots, and the never ending stream of slaves and white gold of Maztica. During the "Godsdawn", Selune was killed, her physical form (the moon) torn apart and thrown upon the face of Toril, bringing destruction and large-scale geographical changes upon it (think the Cataclysm of Dragonlance). Since all Gods, including Mystra, are dead, magic is non-existent - save the clerics of Helm, some odd and mostly malfunctioning magical items (think Wild Magic put in portable form), and of course the unholy power of the beings beyond, that is the demons and devils of the Depthless Abysses.
The story of the campaign - which the players have yet to figure, though - goes like this. From the Everlasting Ice of the North, a huge host of Demons, Devils, and other nasty critters comes - led by the White Lady, a legendary Demon-Princess of Cold and Death clad in an Armor of Ice. The army will sweep down, ready to bring destruction and despair over the land. In other parts of the North (e.g., in the Silver Marches and at the Sword Coast), war will break out between the petty powers of the land, and between the Church of the Watchers and the Black Network (the post-"Godsdawn" revenant of the Zhentarim). Behind all that is a highly secretive cabal of quasi-ominpotent mortals who are sworn to the power of entrophy and who have been spinning the fate of the world for ages, including inciting the "Time of Troubles" and the "Godsdawn" - in an attempt to undo the world as we know it and create a new world, free from divine intervention and magic. A world in which man can rule its life alone, without interference of the supernatural.
Now, the PCs are in the Spine of the World, not far from the city of Mirabar, which will be the first victim of the onslaught of the White Lady's host. Driven by a prophecy of one of the PCs (a Northern Barbarian Shaman) and the curiosity of the other party members, they have decided to visit the grave of an ancient hero of the Barbarians whose name is hardly known even to the most knowledgable sages of the North. He is almost forgotten because he challenged the Gods of the Ancients and actually killed one of them with his splintered broadsword (which, of course, will play a major role in the coming war against the hordes of terror). The Gods punished the hero physically for his deeds, but even worse, they made his people forget him. Only one tribe of his horde remembers, because they had sworn an oath to protect his grave and they settled in the remote valley of ice and rock in which the hero's body was buried. And here, their offspring still are, leading a sad and lonely life, guided by traditions ages old and still guarding the Valley of the Wailing Souls.
So much for the background. What I would like you to do is to give me some ideas of what the PCs could encounter when they meet the Lost Tribe (btw, it is Winter and they are already in the vicinity). I need some ideas of how the tribes-folk would treat the PCs, and what adventures the PCs would have to brave in order for the tribe to take them to the grave. The PCs are really interested in going to the grave and they mean no harm to the hero's memory or physical remains. Up till now, I have the following rather crude ideas:
- the tribe-people are still normal living humans; meaning they are not undead, etc.
- they have lived in the seclusion of the North for centuries, without any contact to other people in the region (hence, their traditions and speech is archaic)
- there are a couple of interesting characters in the tribe: the chieftain; a berserker; a Völva (a female shaman); a women who fears for the life of her husband (in a dream she saw one of the PCs kill him)
- The tribe-folk are proud and ferocious warriors and willing to protect the grave from all ill, but they are willing to show the PCs to the grave, once they have proven worthy and honorable
Here now is the main thing: How do the PCs prove their worth and honor? My first thought would be to have the PCs take a test (there are four PCs, so four individual tests would be nice). A nice thing would be to tie the tests to the prime archaic values of the Sigveyg (honor, strength, loyalty, cleverness, courage, toughness, battle-prowess). The latter (battle-prowess) is easy enough to test, but how do you test the other values? And is this a nice way for the PCs to prove their worth?
Another idea I had:
- after the PCs have earned the Sigveyg's trust, a small part of the White Lady's army will stumble upon the valley and the PCs will - for the first time - encounter the soldiers that whill bring destruction in the months and years to come
So, it's your part now. First of all, thanks for reading all that stuff. I'd really appreciate your help here. Let me know what you think and if you have any ideas of how to make the PCs stay with the Sigveyg memorable and special.
Thanks again and best,
