Knightfall
World of Kulan DM
“Lands of Harqual” Story Hour
An Experiment in Fantasy Fiction
By Robert Blezard, a.k.a Knightfall1972
An Experiment in Fantasy Fiction
By Robert Blezard, a.k.a Knightfall1972
Introduction
This is going to be another experiment in fiction for Lands of Harqual. None of this story hour was actual gaming. Instead it is meant as a way to flesh out the events of the last campaign year of my old 2nd Edition campaign, 749 N.C. (New Calendar).
The campaign ended halfway through the year, and has never continued on in any fashion but in my head. Now, my goal is to give a day by day, month by month account of the timeline. Many different characters will be featured, including major NPCs, and maybe a PC or two.
The months of the New Calendar are named for the deceased Divine Children of the North Gods. In order, from first to last the months’ names are Anon, Zealot, Sialic, Thorn, Truce, Hansa, Hela, Seraph, Nessus, Euphoria, Tulle, and Jaeger. The days of the week are named for the four elements and the moons of Kulan. The days of the week in order of first to last are Moonsday, Earthday, Fireday, Seaday, Windday, and Starday.
The four middle days are of course directly linked to each of the four Prime Elements - Air, Earth, Fire, and Water. Moonsday, of course, refers to Kulan’s two moons – Novan and Lithe. Starday is named for both the stars and Kulan’s sun.
So without further ado…
Year of the Return
Month of Anon
The First Day of the New Year (Fireday)
Deep in the Storm Jungle
Darkness reigns in the depths of the foliage of the Storm Jungle, named for the peninsula that juts out of the southwestern side of the continent known as Harqual, which the jungle covers most of. Here, creatures both mundane and magical live in co-existence, the law of the jungle the only rule.
As a matter of expressing that rule a monstrous hunting spider jumps out of the foliage and onto a troop of monkeys resting in a tall black-wood. The spider easily poisons half the troop dragging them back through the jungle to its lair high in the hills surrounding the Resounding Mountains.
Kulan’s twin moons, Novan and Lithe, hang over the mountain peaks, Novan a deep, crystal blue high in the night sky above the verdant land below, Lithe a pale, luminous white, smaller in night sky, hanging low above the northern pole, half hidden behind the mountain range. The light from the twin moons shines through the upper foliage of the jungle, barely illuminating the huge expanse of ruined stone in a hidden clearing far below.
Here ghosts of the past walk the night, prowling through the jungle. Whispering of a time lost to the millenium, a tale of a brawl between titans of divine status. The jungle’s vines and tree trunks, overgrown and festering, reek of the evil that once stood here. And would stand here once again.
Somewhere on a distant, unknown plane of existence, a dark power seethes in anticipation, as his imprisonment comes to an end. His followers kneel in supplication waiting for their God’s word that would signal their return to the Lands of Harqual. Thousands of catlike warriors and warpriests wait with bloody anticipation for the chance to re-conquer the Storm Jungle and then lay waste to the denizens beyond.
“Now!” The dark word rings throughout the isolated demiplane and then across the Multiverse to the only being still aware of the dark cat gods existence and threat. Mirella, The World Goddess, can do nothing but release Tu, The God of the Tabaxi and his children back into the Lands of Harqual. The 1,001 years are up. Now comes the Year of the Return.
Deep in the Storm Jungle, the City of Tattenger and its surrounding communities are magically transported back to the Storm Jungle, hidden from the complacent eyes to the north. The tabaxi god sends his followers out into the night to reclaim the jungle for him and to kill anything that stands in the way of complete dominance.
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