Tilla the Hun (work)
First Post
Lammoria of Umari - The Questars:
Lammoria of Umari – The Questar Band
Author’s Note: Please note that this is the first effort I have made at putting a campaign into story form. Constructive criticism will be well received. While I have attempted to write short story’s and novels previously, most of those attempts fizzled after a while. Hopefully, the fact that this is a campaign that is ongoing will spur me into keeping this going. I'm starting this story hour because of the third request to do so, and because I do not want my campaign to die out over the holidays, so I'm hoping that a good chronicling will keep the interest alive.
Also, as my wife just recently broke her ankle and will be out of commission for 6 months or more, the game will become sporadic. No fear here though – it’ll give me time to catch up on backstories.
Background:
Umari is a world far away from many others. Its history is rich and diverse, from it’s initial discovery by dragons who inhabited the fertile world and treated it like a resort world to the arrival of the humanoid races by spelljammer ships that were stranded in a pirate raid. Over the many millennia that have passed, many races have come to call Umari Home with no knowledge of it’s full history, or even that of their race. The full history is available upon request, though that would be a separate post.
Lammoria, or more accurately, the Kingdom of Lammoria, is the nation in which our characters are started. Lammoria is a rich and diverse kingdom whose foundings are recorded in the world history and in it’s own history – an incredibly complex tapestry that weaves competing city states into first a loose network of trade agreements and mutual defense pacts, then into a feudalistic kingdom forged by economic pressures of growing mercantile empires, then into a progressive kingdom where one law for all is proclaimed, and schooling is provided to all. Eventually, a young and untried Queen Larandia ascends to the throne, only to have her nobles attempt to push her off. Ruthlessly squelching the attempt, she drastically re-organizes the kingdom as a whole, re-expands the royal army, and re-institutes an organization her great-grandfather had started and her grandfather had dis-banded. An organization known as the Questar Academy. Groups of Divinely Called individuals would train there, then set fort into the kingdom as quasi-official representatives of the crown itself. Amidst the growing rumble of discontent from displaced nobles, she instituted the royal council, a gathering of the highest peerage, to establish future laws and make decisions regarding the future of the kingdom itself.
All of this is much more richly detailed in the full histories – but this is only background settings for our campaign, although if any wishes, I can certainly post the histories – just be prepared for an in-depth read. Umari was carefully created with a rich knowledge of economic pressures and real world based social expansion theories.
Our mighty adventurers started life as mere commoners. The cast: Farley the Halfling bard of pitiable strength, Tull the Human Cleric of St. Cuthbert, and Lillias the human female mage. These three were summoned by a divine calling they barely comprehended and found themselves making their way up a grassy path on a hillside to a strong wooden door sunk into the hillside itself. As each approached, the door opened before them, and a wizened old human greeted them by name and made reference to their dreams and visions of a white figure on a black horse with a mane of stars. Once all had arrived, they were introduced to Attila the Pixie, head of the Questar Academy. At the mention of Questar, most of the characters understood what had happened to them, and where they were. For their benefit, Attila gently explained to them the nature of their divine calling and enrolled them in several courses at the Academy as a Quad, though they numbered only three. Quads were the normal organizational structure of Questars in the Field, and Quads normally consisted of four individuals that had trained together at the academy. However, as was soon to be revealed… There was nothing normal about this Quad.
Several months of training passed, although early on Farley was swiftly moved out of the Quad into a more sedentary position (Str of 8 was insufficient to even carry forty sling stones). Now down to two, the Quad was promptly re-enforced by one Othic, human cleric of Kor, who finished their training with them. Once finished with their training, they still had to undergo their first mission for the academy. Attila attached a senior Questar to the group, primarily as an observer, but also to fill the Quad out. Lona was an elven archer with few peers, and a sullen, withdrawn personality. The Quad was dispatched to a local garrison to the south to investigate disruptions in an important ley line that fueled various devices in the capital. The trip to the garrison was, overall, as peaceful as it should have been considering they were traveling well settled lands. Once at the garrison however, the local commander warned them of organized goblin activity in the area they were heading into. Heeding his advice, the quad organized a guide and a pack mule to ease their traveling. As they headed further south into the mountains, they were ambushed by goblins using fairly advanced tactics. A hasty, brutal fight resulted in severe injuries, so the group retreated back to the garrison where the clerics of the Quad healed each other. A fresh start the next morning resulted in a second ambush very near to the first one. A short fight later, the more highly prepared Quad was victorious with only the most minor of injuries. A brief exploration revealed easily followed tracks, which in turn led them to two separate weapons caches. The tracks had been joined, and deciding that discretion was the better part of valor, they turned back to continue on to the ice cave that had been reported as the source of the ley line. Late that same afternoon, high up into the mountains, they discovered a few hobgoblins bossing goblins and some dwarven prisoners into maneuvering a catapult to bear on the fortress dimly seen below. A short fight later saw the rescue of several dwarven miners who promised their aid if needed.
After a day’s long journey and a restful night, the party is directed to climb up a steep slope, at the top of which was the ice cave, by their guide from the garrison. However, after they began climbing, a territorial griffon took offense at their presence and began attacking them. At first, the situation looked extremely grim, as they were stranded on a cliff, and unable to defend themselves properly. However, small rocks began flying out from the ledge above with extremely good aim. The griffon was scared off and the party continued to climb.
Who was at the top of the climb? What was causing the ley line interference? Next post will see these answers, but raise many more questions.
Lammoria of Umari – The Questar Band
Author’s Note: Please note that this is the first effort I have made at putting a campaign into story form. Constructive criticism will be well received. While I have attempted to write short story’s and novels previously, most of those attempts fizzled after a while. Hopefully, the fact that this is a campaign that is ongoing will spur me into keeping this going. I'm starting this story hour because of the third request to do so, and because I do not want my campaign to die out over the holidays, so I'm hoping that a good chronicling will keep the interest alive.
Also, as my wife just recently broke her ankle and will be out of commission for 6 months or more, the game will become sporadic. No fear here though – it’ll give me time to catch up on backstories.
Background:
Umari is a world far away from many others. Its history is rich and diverse, from it’s initial discovery by dragons who inhabited the fertile world and treated it like a resort world to the arrival of the humanoid races by spelljammer ships that were stranded in a pirate raid. Over the many millennia that have passed, many races have come to call Umari Home with no knowledge of it’s full history, or even that of their race. The full history is available upon request, though that would be a separate post.
Lammoria, or more accurately, the Kingdom of Lammoria, is the nation in which our characters are started. Lammoria is a rich and diverse kingdom whose foundings are recorded in the world history and in it’s own history – an incredibly complex tapestry that weaves competing city states into first a loose network of trade agreements and mutual defense pacts, then into a feudalistic kingdom forged by economic pressures of growing mercantile empires, then into a progressive kingdom where one law for all is proclaimed, and schooling is provided to all. Eventually, a young and untried Queen Larandia ascends to the throne, only to have her nobles attempt to push her off. Ruthlessly squelching the attempt, she drastically re-organizes the kingdom as a whole, re-expands the royal army, and re-institutes an organization her great-grandfather had started and her grandfather had dis-banded. An organization known as the Questar Academy. Groups of Divinely Called individuals would train there, then set fort into the kingdom as quasi-official representatives of the crown itself. Amidst the growing rumble of discontent from displaced nobles, she instituted the royal council, a gathering of the highest peerage, to establish future laws and make decisions regarding the future of the kingdom itself.
All of this is much more richly detailed in the full histories – but this is only background settings for our campaign, although if any wishes, I can certainly post the histories – just be prepared for an in-depth read. Umari was carefully created with a rich knowledge of economic pressures and real world based social expansion theories.
Our mighty adventurers started life as mere commoners. The cast: Farley the Halfling bard of pitiable strength, Tull the Human Cleric of St. Cuthbert, and Lillias the human female mage. These three were summoned by a divine calling they barely comprehended and found themselves making their way up a grassy path on a hillside to a strong wooden door sunk into the hillside itself. As each approached, the door opened before them, and a wizened old human greeted them by name and made reference to their dreams and visions of a white figure on a black horse with a mane of stars. Once all had arrived, they were introduced to Attila the Pixie, head of the Questar Academy. At the mention of Questar, most of the characters understood what had happened to them, and where they were. For their benefit, Attila gently explained to them the nature of their divine calling and enrolled them in several courses at the Academy as a Quad, though they numbered only three. Quads were the normal organizational structure of Questars in the Field, and Quads normally consisted of four individuals that had trained together at the academy. However, as was soon to be revealed… There was nothing normal about this Quad.
Several months of training passed, although early on Farley was swiftly moved out of the Quad into a more sedentary position (Str of 8 was insufficient to even carry forty sling stones). Now down to two, the Quad was promptly re-enforced by one Othic, human cleric of Kor, who finished their training with them. Once finished with their training, they still had to undergo their first mission for the academy. Attila attached a senior Questar to the group, primarily as an observer, but also to fill the Quad out. Lona was an elven archer with few peers, and a sullen, withdrawn personality. The Quad was dispatched to a local garrison to the south to investigate disruptions in an important ley line that fueled various devices in the capital. The trip to the garrison was, overall, as peaceful as it should have been considering they were traveling well settled lands. Once at the garrison however, the local commander warned them of organized goblin activity in the area they were heading into. Heeding his advice, the quad organized a guide and a pack mule to ease their traveling. As they headed further south into the mountains, they were ambushed by goblins using fairly advanced tactics. A hasty, brutal fight resulted in severe injuries, so the group retreated back to the garrison where the clerics of the Quad healed each other. A fresh start the next morning resulted in a second ambush very near to the first one. A short fight later, the more highly prepared Quad was victorious with only the most minor of injuries. A brief exploration revealed easily followed tracks, which in turn led them to two separate weapons caches. The tracks had been joined, and deciding that discretion was the better part of valor, they turned back to continue on to the ice cave that had been reported as the source of the ley line. Late that same afternoon, high up into the mountains, they discovered a few hobgoblins bossing goblins and some dwarven prisoners into maneuvering a catapult to bear on the fortress dimly seen below. A short fight later saw the rescue of several dwarven miners who promised their aid if needed.
After a day’s long journey and a restful night, the party is directed to climb up a steep slope, at the top of which was the ice cave, by their guide from the garrison. However, after they began climbing, a territorial griffon took offense at their presence and began attacking them. At first, the situation looked extremely grim, as they were stranded on a cliff, and unable to defend themselves properly. However, small rocks began flying out from the ledge above with extremely good aim. The griffon was scared off and the party continued to climb.
Who was at the top of the climb? What was causing the ley line interference? Next post will see these answers, but raise many more questions.
