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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Old One" data-source="post: 1356376" data-attributes="member: 83">I'll Play...Elements of my home-brew have been kicking around in one form or another for over 15 years.  After a 7-year FR campaign in the 1990s, a short hiatus from D&D and learning of the immenint release of 3E, I dusted off, re-organized and re-ordered my reams of material into a campaign that began in early 2001.FADED GLORYFor a  hundred generations of Man, the Emorian Empire embodied the crowning glory of the Free Race's cultural, magical and technological achievement.  All but the most desolate corners of Areth prospered under the ordered rule of Emor.  Assisted by the followers of Osirian the Lightbringer, the One True God, emperors ruled from the Sapphire Throne with a firm, but just, hand.  Now, however, like a mighty oak impervious to external enemies, Imperial Emor rots from within.Over 200 winters ago, mighty but arrogant mages delved too deeply into dark magics proscribed by the Churh of Light, unleashing the Shadow-Plague.  The provinces and peoples of the Empire where decimated.  The madness consumed Emperor Narses III (the Kinslayer) and he made war upon the Elder Races.  The Race Wars pitted reluctant Legions against their estwhile auxiliary allies - Elf, Dwarf, Halfling and Gnome.  Only after a decade of unspeakable atrocities was Narses III revealed to be the Avatar of Azrael-Ahriman, accursed brother of Osirian.  He summoned the fallen celestials Uriel the Damned, Baelzar the Faceless One, Voryndiel the Temptress, and Kryshni the Rat-Queen to his side and ruled as the Shadowlord.For 20 years, blood and horror washed across the lands, until a disparate band of heros raised the banner of revolt.  A grand alliance defeated and imprisoned the Shadowlord and his minions, but the cost was great.  Imperial Emor descended into anarchy, rent by a hundred year of civil war, while province after province broke from the empire.  The Elder Races, save for the opportunistic halflings, faded into memory.  Thirty winters ago, the Emperor Legatus IX stripped the few remaining legions from the outlaying provinces to defend the Heartland from the Sythian horde riding from the South.Now the Empire is but a pale shadow of its former self, exhausted and impotent.  The Emperor, Legatus X, has stabilized the diminshed borders, but enemies lurk on every side.  Lost provinces are left to fend for themselves, fighting off barbarian attacks, fiendish Felevar and brutish Warveds.  A deep ecclesiastical schism threatens the very foundations of the Church of Light and a sleeping shadow stirs in the North.For this campaign, I have combined late Roman/early Byzantine intrigue with elements of Dark Ages Britain, Merovingian France, Norman Sicily, medieval Ireland and pre-Roman Celtica.  Ignorance seeks to extinguish the flickering light of civilization and learning.  Life is hard and often short, particularly along the frontiers.  Magic is difficult to obtain and many standbys of traditional D&D - plate armor, greatsword, heavy lance and even the stirrup - do not exist.  Likewise, full-blooded elves, dwarves and gnomes are no more.  The caeldyn (elf-blooded) and khazardyn (dwarf-blooded) join humans, halflings and the felinoid Saar as PC choices.  There are no goblins, orcs or other goblinoids, although kobolds, gnolls and a number of custom monster races exist.So far, it has been a ton of fun!~ Old One</blockquote>

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