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General Tabletop Discussion
D&D Older Editions
The Iron Ark of Esperil
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<blockquote data-quote="Reynard" data-source="post: 8504601" data-attributes="member: 467"><p>I am finally taking a foray into OD&D with a setting and megadungeon placed solidly in the science fantasy sub-genre. Here is the first draft of the background:</p><p>----------</p><p>The Iron Ark of Esperil</p><p></p><p> For uncounted millenia the Fate of the World waxed and waned. Civilizations rose and fell. Gods and Men struggled for supremacy. Magic and science came and went in turn. And through it all, the immortal Elves stood as stewards of the World -- until the day they chose to take it back.</p><p> Though it was within their power, the Elves did not wipe the lesser races from the world, nor did they pulled the Gods down from Heaven. Instead, they ended the cycle that balanced magic and science. They embraced both and with their timeless mind and bottomless will they melded them into some more miraculous than either.</p><p> So they searched the universe and found a thousand thousand worlds fit for the squabbling mayfly people with whom they shared the World. Thus began the Great Diaspora, in which multitudes boarded Elven Arks to be transported to distant worlds.</p><p> Even with the mystical power of the Elves, the voyages were interminably long for the lesser races. So the Elves set their passengers into magical sleep while just a handful of Elves and magimechanical guardians watched over them during the silent years in the Void.</p><p> One such ship came to a verdant world called Esperil in the Elven tongue. As was custom the great ship settled on the planet and the passengers in their teeming thousands were awakened from their sleep. The Ark became the center of what would be a great city, and would stay so for one hundred years while the colonists carved out a place on Esperil under the watchful eyes of the Elves. Then, a lesser portion of the Ark would launch once again into the Void and the Elves would depart forever, returning to the one true World.</p><p> But something went wrong. Only a few decades into the process, the inscrutable engines of the Ark that serves to power the City and its outlying villages became unstable. Soon the city was awash with uncontrolled magical energy and those that could fled in terror. Those that could not were consumed by it, transformed by it, controlled by it. The Iron Ark of Esperil became a necropolis of broken promises and mutant monstrosities.</p><p> For almost two hundred years the survivors huddled in their outlying villages. Every foray into the wilds of Esperil met with disaster, for without their powerful magitech they were no match for the native flora and fauna. Every foray into the irradiated city met an even worse fate, for it wasn’t death that awaited the brave there, but grotesque transformation.</p><p> All seemed lost as the survivors reverted to a more and more barbaric state. The few remaining elves were forced into hiding, become pariahs blamed for the terrible fate of the colonists’ descendants. Then, as suddenly as it had occurred in the first place, the chaotic belching of the Ark engine ceased. Did it burn itself out, or run out of fuel? Or was it repaired by whatever strange beings now inhabited the city?</p><p> For the desperate and hungry huddling at the fringes of the city, it is time to find out.</p><p>-----------</p><p>I plan to use this thread as a brainstorming space, so I welcome comments and suggestions (both fluff and crunch, such as it is). Once I actually get to run a session or two, I'll report back on that, too.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Reynard, post: 8504601, member: 467"] I am finally taking a foray into OD&D with a setting and megadungeon placed solidly in the science fantasy sub-genre. Here is the first draft of the background: ---------- The Iron Ark of Esperil For uncounted millenia the Fate of the World waxed and waned. Civilizations rose and fell. Gods and Men struggled for supremacy. Magic and science came and went in turn. And through it all, the immortal Elves stood as stewards of the World -- until the day they chose to take it back. Though it was within their power, the Elves did not wipe the lesser races from the world, nor did they pulled the Gods down from Heaven. Instead, they ended the cycle that balanced magic and science. They embraced both and with their timeless mind and bottomless will they melded them into some more miraculous than either. So they searched the universe and found a thousand thousand worlds fit for the squabbling mayfly people with whom they shared the World. Thus began the Great Diaspora, in which multitudes boarded Elven Arks to be transported to distant worlds. Even with the mystical power of the Elves, the voyages were interminably long for the lesser races. So the Elves set their passengers into magical sleep while just a handful of Elves and magimechanical guardians watched over them during the silent years in the Void. One such ship came to a verdant world called Esperil in the Elven tongue. As was custom the great ship settled on the planet and the passengers in their teeming thousands were awakened from their sleep. The Ark became the center of what would be a great city, and would stay so for one hundred years while the colonists carved out a place on Esperil under the watchful eyes of the Elves. Then, a lesser portion of the Ark would launch once again into the Void and the Elves would depart forever, returning to the one true World. But something went wrong. Only a few decades into the process, the inscrutable engines of the Ark that serves to power the City and its outlying villages became unstable. Soon the city was awash with uncontrolled magical energy and those that could fled in terror. Those that could not were consumed by it, transformed by it, controlled by it. The Iron Ark of Esperil became a necropolis of broken promises and mutant monstrosities. For almost two hundred years the survivors huddled in their outlying villages. Every foray into the wilds of Esperil met with disaster, for without their powerful magitech they were no match for the native flora and fauna. Every foray into the irradiated city met an even worse fate, for it wasn’t death that awaited the brave there, but grotesque transformation. All seemed lost as the survivors reverted to a more and more barbaric state. The few remaining elves were forced into hiding, become pariahs blamed for the terrible fate of the colonists’ descendants. Then, as suddenly as it had occurred in the first place, the chaotic belching of the Ark engine ceased. Did it burn itself out, or run out of fuel? Or was it repaired by whatever strange beings now inhabited the city? For the desperate and hungry huddling at the fringes of the city, it is time to find out. ----------- I plan to use this thread as a brainstorming space, so I welcome comments and suggestions (both fluff and crunch, such as it is). Once I actually get to run a session or two, I'll report back on that, too. [/QUOTE]
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