The Journals of Niles Arcana - Archmage

[Gwarok]

We campaign in a homebrew world known as The Broken Kingdoms. I am a huge fan of Sep's Wyre campaign, we named one of our NPC wizards after one of our my favorites from his thread. It was late and we needed a name

Basic campaign info:

Politically, the continent we are on is made up of two broken monarchies:

The Old Kingdom, based in the south, was great 1000 years ago. It was allied with elves and dwarves, built roads and cities, civilized the land, and fought wars against the orcs, across the sea to the south. Eventually, the elves and dwarves disappeared, orcs wore the Old Kingdom down, and a bunch of scattered lordships were all that remained. Still, they kept up the fight, and eventually fortune turned and the orcs began to have trouble on their other borders. The old kingdom lands were recovered - but it wasn't a kingdom anymore. Some lords keep up old allegiances, especially near the old capital of Rondovar, but other lords are out for themselves, or are simply absent. There is, however, peace with the orcs.

The New Kingdown is based in the north, and started about 100 years ago with an enterprising barbarian lord named Ulrick. Through treaty, wit and occassional force of arms, he created a mighty empire out of the disparate, clannish and barbaric north. They built their own roads, allocated lands, and established a monarchical chain of command. Then Ulrick died and his three sons started a civil war to last a generation. When the dust cleared, Ulrick III held power in his grandfather's castle, but his empire looked more like the Old Kingdom than the New. Some of Ulrick's lords swear him fealty out of respect for his family, but others fight for themselves, and more than a few landholdings have fallen to the control of bandits. Where exactly the old kingdom ends and the new kingdom begins is an open question, the resolution of which is beyond any lord's grasp at present.

Religiously, the humans of this continent all worship a pentacost of dieties - Heironeous (called Heirona), Kord, Pelor (called Pellar), Cuthbert, and Wee Jas. Although clerics focus on one diety or another, everyone else worships all five at once - one for each season, and Wee Jas for events "out of season" (calamities and misfortunes). Clerics with spells are rare, but are acknowledged as god-touched. This does not, however, grant them any special rank in politics or religious life, as god-touched does not always mean god-favored. Generally, the identity of those who's prayers are answered is known within the temple, but not advertised to the laity. In the old kingdom, the temples are deeply involved in civic life, with clerics of Cuthbert serving as judges, clerics of Pellar as physicians, clerics of Kord controlling the brewers' guild, and so on.

The elves and dwarves are known of but rarely seen in this world, though legend says they were common 1000 years ago. Half-Elves (which have the abilities of elves, from the players handbook, with a lifespan perhaps double that of humans) are sometimes seen, as their elven blood never thins. Families that can trace elven lineage have lived among the humans since the disappearance of their progenitors. Gnomes and halflings live only in the realms of the Fey - hidden pockets in the world where few humans dare tread. Orc's (which are half orc's as far as character creation goes) are a civilized but warlike people with a vast empire to the south, across a small sea. Altough scholars are rarer among them than among the humans, they are renowned for their cunning, and are famous as both merchants and seige engineers. Many modern fortifications in the old kingdom were built by orcs, and often still have orcish names alongside their human ones.

We use a modified version of standard 3.5 cosmology.

This world is the creation of the gods Cuthbert and Pellar, sometimes called the father and mother. Pellar brought life, and Cuthbert death, and between these two gifts mankind began. Soon, however, the dynamism of this experiment brought two god-children to Cuthbert and Pellar as well - Kord, the son, created out of the joy of existance; and Heirona, the daughter, arisen out of mankind's highest ideals. These four deities together presided over the earliest age of man.

Kord and Heirona had been born from the best of life, but in time the worst of life had its spawn as well. These were the first demons, powerful and destructive beings who could possess other lifeforms, granting great power at the price of total corruption. This began the Age of Sorcerors, with powerful demon princes building fortresses from which to rule on high, crushing the common underneath their ambitions. Their magicks reforged the foundations of the world and their armies of dragons laid waste to its surface. For Cuthbert, Kord and Heirona, this was merely a part of the experiment, but for Pellar it was heart-wrenching. From grief for the suffering of her creations, she devised to trick the greatest of the demon sorcerors and make him into her ally. By exposing this great demon-prince to the totality of a mortal soul, she drove him to redemption, and out of gratitude he became her champion. He rallied his dragons and all his power against his fellow sorceror-princes, and their final battle was terrible to behold. In the end the champion prevailed, though he lay on the brink of death. The mother then took him up and loved him as the savior of her mankind, and as he expired, a fifth diety was created - Wee Jas, called the bastard.

Wee-Jas inherited the demons the champion had enslaved, and locked them deep within the earth for all time. However, she (or he - Wee Jas has no consistent gender) found that the sorcerors had so deeply integrated their magicks into the world that it could no longer survive without them, and so she was forced to allow a little opening in their prison. From this opening, and from the items of power the demons left behind, magic continues to live in the world. Within their prison, the demons (and devils) diversified into all the types known today. Meanwhile, those few dragons who had survived the final battle hid themselves in the farthest reaches of the world.

Among the Roknari and the Orcs, the story is told differently - they say that the great demon-sorceror forced himself upon Pellar, and by his act brought the wrath of the four gods down upon the demons, who were then imprisoned. In this version, Wee-Jas is the bastard champion of the demons, constantly working to release them again upon the world.

Unless otherwise noted, the alignments and domains are as in the PH.

THE GODS
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Cuthbert - The god of proper death after a full life. He is associated with fatherhood, justice truth, and wisdom. In the old kingdom, his priests serve as judges.

Pellar - The god of life. She is associated with healing, motherhood, birth and sometimes nature. In the old kingdom, her priests are physicians.

Kord - The god of good times. He is associated with war, strength, alcohol, hunting, travel, jokes and carousing. In the old kingdom, his priests organize sporting events and the making of alcohol, and travel with armies in times of war. Our Kord has Chaos, Travel, War and Strength as domains.

Heirona - The god of highest ideals. She is also associated with honor, protecting the weak, and love. In the old kingdom, her priests comprise military orders devoted to protecting the weak and keeping the kingdom safe. The most famous such order in these times is the Knights of Tamberlain.

Wee-Jas - Bastard god of all things out of season - a long list. Murder and mysterious death; magic, sorcery and demons; literal bastardry, orphanage and homosexuality; small events that make or break large endeavors; leftovers of all sorts. In the old kingdom, the priests of the bastard run orphanages, hear confessions of sin, and handle burial for people no one else will claim. Our Wee Jas has Death, Law, Magic and Luck as domains.

Erythnul, Hextor, Nerull and Vecna - These are demons or sorcerors of old who have attained sufficient power to be called dieties and have clerics in the world. They dwell in the Abyss and their descriptions are as in the PC, except that Hextor's brother was a human paladin.

Gruumsh - Once a powerful orc warlord who was corrupted by demons, he now dwells in the abyss and functions like Erythnul et al, except that he seeks orcs in particular as folowers and wants to wipe out all humans. As noted above, most orcs worship the father, mother, son and daugher, but some evil ones opt for Gruumsh instead.

Ehlonna, Obad Hai, Garl Glittergold and Yondalla - these woodland dieties were among the first fey creatures. They dwell in the Beastlands, and are worshiped by druids, fey, gnomes and halflings.

Moradin and Corellon Larethian - the current state of the elves and dwarves is a mystery, and the same can be said of their dieties.



THE PLANES
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Most of the planes of the D&D cosmoslogy are present in the world, but the organization is somewhat different:

The Material Plane is the known world, which is a mythical place. Its shape and boundaries are unknown, and perhaps unknowable. Although much of the world appears like an old-fashioned version of our own, the laws of physics do not apply: electricity is magical, residual from the Age of Sorcerors; gravity is force that operates differently in different places, without necessary regard to mass or distance; gunpowder is impossible.

The Ethereal and Shadow Planes are as in the DMG - they exist side by side with material plane and can be accessed from any point with the proper magic or knowlege. The Astral Plane is outer space - if a rocket were possible in this world, it would find Githyanki.

The Infinite Layers of the Abyss is the prison Wee-Jas created for the Demons. Within its infinite layers are many diverse places, including the Demonweb Pits, the Tarterian Depths of Carceri, the Gray Waste of Hades, the Ever-Changing Chaos of Limbo, the Bleak Eternity of Gehenna, the Nine Hells of Baator, and the Infernal Battlefield of Acheron. The Abyss can be accessed from the Material Plane through magic or through physical locations (generally deep places in the earth) but in the latter case a test of some sort is usually required to get in.

The Elemental planes are found at various points on the Material Plane. The Plain of Air is accessible amidst the clouds and highest mountain peaks. The Plane of Fire is in deep places near volcanic activity, and the Plane of Earth within mountains. The Plane of Water can be found in all manner of deep underwater places. Finally, The Windswept Depths of Pandemonium and the Wilderness of the Beastlands both follow this same principle, being found at various appropriate places throughout the material plane.

The Peaceable Kingdoms of Arcadia, The Twin Paradises of Bytopia, the Olympian Glades of Arborea, and the Heroic Domains of Ysgard are legendary places found in far, far distant lands. They can be accessed by travel.

At last, the Seven Mounting Heavens of Celestia and the Blessed Fields of Elysium are among the stars and celestial bodies in the sky - it is to these places that the honorable ascend after death, and this is the home of the gods. These places can only be accessed by powerful magic or the intervention of dieties, and it is said to be even harder to come back. The Outlands, the positive material plane, and the negative material plane are also found in the cosmos, as are the demiplanes that don't have another obvious location.
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Link to Niles in Rogue's Gallery:

http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?p=2488280#post2488280

I will be including Baerd, his former Barbarian Sea Captain ally, and Selene the Prophet of Wee Jas, when I get time. At the start of the Journal we had just finished our first adventure. It was a rescue the princess. She had basically gotten kidnapped from her castle by a few hundred harpies. Harpies in our world are degenerate descendents of fallen angels. Devils and Demons are interchangable and there is no Blood War. We traveled to the NE which is an accursed land and made a harrowing rescue thru liberal uses of Find the Path, Limited Wish, and sheer bastardry. Hope you folks enjoy.

 

[Gwarok]

Entries 1 - 6

Entry #1(date and time) - The lands to the NE of the tower are much more corrupted than I had first imagined. Although we have successfully returned the princess, the harpy infestation is merely a mundane version of creatures much more insidious further on. The underworld prison of the demons appears to have weakened and has been unable to contain the teeming hordes. The entire region is teeming with the taint of the accursed, and we have no idea what the limits are as to their entry into our lands. After their bold kidnapping of the Roy's daughter, I fear acting against them too openly again any time soon. Reprisals against my tower's meager defenses would end badly, of that I'm sure. Steps will need to be taken to secure my valuables against even clever and resourceful intruders. Obtaining the Secure Chest dweomer and other abjurations I have heard about has become a priority. From now on I must operate in secrecy and from the shadows whenever possible.

In the meantime, Noston has been receptive to forming a loose coalition in light of the signifigance of the demonic threat. The other mages must be enlisted in this as well, I can only hope they are as amenable as no doubt we will need all the support we can get. I suspect some as yet unseen and more sinister power is behind the demons and their foray past proscribed boundaries. Should there be any further breaches it will be devastating to the local population. I am left to wonder, is the ancient prison merely crumbling, or is there an active power that has been able to bring about the relaxing of the Wards of Wee Jas? Either possibility fills me with dread. Tomorrow I set out to visit Troap and procure a text that Noston hopes will prove enlightening as to our current problems. I have never met him, but his reputation as a conjurer of reknown leads me to believe that Noston is wise in this. His auguries have indicated that I must travel by foot. An ally perhaps is in the making, but of course the specifics were denied him. But if we can't trust our Arts, where are we?


Entry #2 - Mundane travel is every bit as tedious and tiresome as I remember. We traveled 3 days thru rolling and forested countryside before the terrain gave way to more foreboding country. The peace of the journey was about to be shattered, and I believe justification for Noston's divination was revealed. A strange cave in the lower foothills under an escarpment attracted our interest. No sooner had we approached than a deafening roar bellowed out, followed by an awkwardly tumbling woman in armor who was very forcefully propelled. The source of her locomotion was soon revealed as a tainted giant standing well over 12 feet tall emerged stooping from the cave. He was heavily deformed with the marks of a demonic parentage and he looked like he meant business.

The woman was apparently made of quite hardy stuff, for she staggered to her feet and prepared to return to battle with the giant, who promptly sent her flying through the air once again. Even with the customized ornate armor she wore I was sure serious injury had been dealt this time as she crashed to a crumpled heap 10 ft. down the slope and was much slower in regaining her feet this time. I was suprised she stood up at all for such a blow would surely have been the end of me, armor or no. Baird flew into a rage at her ill treatment, or maybe it had just been a few days since his last rush of adrenaline, and fearlessly charged the monstrous giant. After their initial furious exchange of blows I could tell this battle was going to be uglier than we needed to deal with at the moment and resolved to end things swiftly. I hedged the giant in a forcecage of pure magic, leaving it open to our attacks and unable to strike back. It smashed against the walls with all it had, but without hope. Nothing was going to break out of that cage.

Things quieted down swiftly after that. The beast told us his name was Furgosh, and that he had been merely guarding his home. For some reason I have yet to discover, Baird had taken a sort of liking to Furgosh and decided we should let the beast live. Barbarians. I guess in the long run it would amount to little, but leaving a fiend tainted giant running around seemed like a bad idea to me but Baird was adamant. The woman to my surprise was not some knight errant running through troubled lands, but an actual prophet of Wee Jas! I was sure here was the ally we were meant to find, although I strove to hide my interest right away. She was a very striking woman named Selene, and she was in possesion of many weapons and armors with potent dweomers on them. Yes, she must be made an ally. But it grows late. I will continue in the morning, and be sure to record all that I can about our newest comrade in arms.

Entry #3 - Death, Fire, and Betrayal. Troap is dead. Selene has proved her worth.

The old wizard had apparently lost control of several creatures he has summoned, who then overpowered him and set an ambush for us. Fiery beings with reptilian demeanors were waiting for us when we entered his tower. We were fools to approach so incautiously, but who would have suspected trouble in a warded tower of unbreakable walls? One of the creatures named Valdoranna was apprently their "Leader", and she came as close to killing me as I've ever experienced. Only a speedy intervention of my more flexible magics and a signifigant investment of personal strength kept me from outright death. The situation quickly reversed itself as my able companions recovered from the initial shock. Valdoranna was banished, Troap was freed and the rest of our assailants fled. We gathered what we could, and attempted to make our getaway. It was of course barred and more of the creatures were waiting. In the ensuing melee, Troap fled and was slaughtered and a fire ignited in the tower. The enemy kept hinting that "The Father" was coming and our destruction was assured. This was a bit unnerving, but also a problem we decided we'd face when the time came. We were eventually victorious over our would be assasisns, our magics allowing us to blunt many of the advantages of the enemy now that we knew what we were up against. However, many of the works were damaged in the fire and a great deal was destroyed. I was able to restore the "Injunction of Wee Jas" completely, again using resources I'd soon harbor for later. I have suspicions that this ambush is related to our problems with the demons, but they are as of yet unfounded.

Someone was going to pay for this outrage, and I knew exactly who. I had an image, and a name.


Entry #4 - On our way back home, we ran into "The Father". Let me say that he is quite big, and we were more than a bit lucky to have come out of that in one piece. He was a gargantuan Red Dragon, which certainly explained the partially reptilian features of his "Children". In retrospect I should have pieced that riddle together. He approached us while we were on the road, and we quickly sought cover. My illusions added to the natural cover of the forest, but he sensed us anyways. It did however give us time to get warded for the inevitable deluge of fire. Had Selene not done that we would have been fried straightaway. As it turned out after a brief but vicious fight we ran him off. Apparently he had not reckoned on us putting up much of a struggle. I wonder if we might be able to take the fight to him at a later date. No doubt well prepared we could make a better accounting of ourselves. But perhaps I've been hanging out with Baerd too long.

We returned to Noston's shortly afterwords, and he was well pleased to see the Injuction of Wee Jas in good condition. While he was studying that I prepared for my own information gathering efforts. I must say, the look of surprise on her face and the immediate capitulation of Valdoranna when I summoned her was very gratifying. I had some lingering anger still. Not just for almost killing me, but for the death of Troap and the destruction of so much lore. I was prepared to be most ruthless in her interrogation but it turned out that she was more than willing to cooperate fully. After surrendering her meager gear, I learned that Troap and another archmage, Zandorhal, had pillaged the dragons lair and stolen several items. One of which was the Crystal Ball that sat in my study, recently recovered from Troap's Tower. The Dragon was on a mission of recovery and revenge, and now that I had that I had been added to the list. Valdoranna convinced me that returning the item to the Dragon would put us once more on a neutral footing, and I grudgingly agreed to do so. While I had grown somewhat attached to it, not having such an powerful enemy seemed like the better course at this time.

This however did not excuse Zandorhal. I feared he was going to get killed shortly, and so myself, Baerd and Selene set out to Zandorhal's tower. Even on Phantom Steeds the journey was quite a long one, and when we arrived it was too late. His tower had been laid waste, blasted and smashed flagstones evidence of the dragons vengence. The rage of an old dragon is great indeed and I was glad I had gotten rid of the Crystal Ball. However, this was the second archmage to die because of him in less than a week. Something would have to be done about this creature down the road as I do not take lightly the murder of my collegues, even if they offered provocation. Troap's apparent incompetence notwithstanding I'm sure he would have been invaluable to me in the future. The same I am sure can be said of Zandorhal.

We searched the ruins out, looking for anything that might show he survived the onslaught, or perhaps anything of value left behind. Not likely if the rumors of the greed of dragons are true. What we did find was nothing of value but clues to a curious story. An old servant of Zandorhal's survived the attack and waited out in a cellar. He was able to add some details to things we had observed. Apparently sometime after the attack a group of goblins moved in. They apparently made off with some swag, and a small party of them stayed behind. This group was apparently killed(quite gruesomely) by yet another pary of worshippers of Erynthuul, who then set off to track the goblins to their lair some 6 miles distant, in the wooded hills. Servants of the Blood Demon need to be dealt with, I hope we can catch them by surprise. Both they and the goblins are going to be treated harshly if they stand between us and any property of the late Zandorhal.



Entry #5 - Both the worshippers of Erynthuul and the goblins were treated harshly. The Heretics had actually already received a pasting from the goblins. We encountered them in full retreat from the goblin's lair carrying two of their wounded, having left behind a 3rd. They were quickly dispatched and put up little fight. The goblins were another matter. They were well dug in and we fell into a bit of an ambush. They assaulted us with assasins, priests, Ogres, even archers mounted on giant bees! These were the meanest goblins I'd ever heard of, and they were backed by a sorceror goblin named Vox with a fair grasp of tactics. Needless to say, the carnage in the front vestibule was terrible. Selene laid waste to many with her righteous fury, and Maug'dragu left a trail of corpses that looked like they had been caught in a wine press. It was all very exciting. When it was all over, Vox surrendered and groveled for his life, which we spared. With his cooperation we located what we were searching for.

Zandorhal's body was deeper in the cave, and the goblins had actually preserved it from corruption with magic. I guess maybe they had a lingering respect for the wizard. Several of his possesions and a spell book as well were recovered, all in good condition. Makes me wonder if we had approached more diplomatically how this situation would have turned out. Although they certainly didn't seem up for talking when we arrived. I shall try not to lose too much sleep over it.

Vox intrigues me. While he is certainly no luminary, his raw sorcerous talent is respectable. Perhaps he should be included in the coalition at a later date, provided he can maintain civility and not be corrupted by his powers. I will keep tabs on him from time to time and make a decision about that later.


Entry #6 - We have returned to the Roy's keep and held council with Noston. Funeral arrangements have been made for Zandorhal, he will be buried in a crypt on royal property. Selene has been kind enough conduct the services and hallow his final resting place. His effects are going to be parceled between myself and Noston. I do feel a bit of a vulture, this being the second time in a week that I have added the spells of a dead collegue to my own, but I would sooner perish myself than let such knowledge go to waste. I like to think Troap and Zandorhal held similar practical views on the topic. Whatever gets us through the day, Haizhe used to tell me.

As for the living, Noston has finished his research into the "Injunction of Wee Jas" and here is what we now know. At several stages in history, there have been sizeable decreases in the activity of the Banished. Each of these was preceeded by an increase in activity, likely due to a weakening of the Wards. However, each time the demons were apparently held in check by exceptional individuals whose legends survive even today. 3 such incidents have been recorded, each spaced about 300 years apart. In chronological order here are the people who we believe played the major role in stemming the demon tides:

Imgelt the Unwaivering - Mighty warrior who lived roughly 1000 years ago and is buried in the north. We know the least about him.

Im'Nafee - Orc Sorceror Lord. United the orc warbands and sent them to fight the Ki-Reen civilization to the south. This allowed Men to reoccupy the Old Kingdom. Also of note, there is reason to believe it was the action against the Ki-Reen that led to the collapse of the infernal threat.

Divine Henlee - Avenger of Lord Tamberlain, and founder of the Knights of that order.


I have decided to travel to the burial locations of each of these heroes and seek to uncover more information. As of now we do not know if there is an individual behind this periodic weakening of the Wards, or if they need to be strengthened from time to time. The Injuction was not clear on what was happening, but I hope to learn more by going to the regions of the activity. Surely someone has kept a record. I am going to head north to Imgelt's cyrpt. He was the first, and also resides in the area where the Archmage Elmurion has established himself. Noston has been trying make contact with him and fears that something has happened. Given the fates of Troap and Zandorhal I also have a bad feeling about it. I will make haste.

Baerd and Selene have agreed to join me once again and I am glad for their company. I must say they are ideal traveling companions so far, and not just for the considerable protection. Baerd's good nature and practical knowledge does a great deal to take my mind off the discomforts of traveling in the field. Although I am well versed in lore of the wilds, picking ticks out of your bedroll is another matter entirely. I shall soon devise a dweomer that will annihilate then in a wide area.

Selene has been a good spiritual advisor as well. We have taken daily prayers to Wee Jas. Although I am not particularly devout, it seems rude to not participate when you are traveling with an annointed prophet. I must say I have been feeling a bond with the bastard god I have never felt before. In our spare time we have been discussing many topics. She is quite knowledgable. In fact outside of Noston I don't think I've met a better student of the arcane. Which is good, because even Baerd's songs get old after awhile and there's only so many times I wish to hear about the Battle of the Straights of Madness and how many ships he sunk there. I think on last telling he was up to 124 galleys. When it gets to 150 I'm going to threaten him with a divination to find out how many were actually sunk and who was actually responsible.

Time to get packing, we have a long journey ahead.

 

[Morte]

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