Alright, so my group is done for the summer until school starts up again. We had played this campaign a little bit in the Spring, but really got into it during the summer session at college which most of us stuck around for. A few players left, a few were added over the course of our sessions, and probably a few will die when we start back up again, 
. I'm the DM and I'm really looking forward to getting back to this, and hope anyone reading this can see why, 
I'm sure if anyone reads much of this they will quickly realize that ours is not exactly the most serious of campaigns, but we love it.
Here's some background info about the city they started in, followed by info on the former ruler:
Drysand
This is the self-proclaimed capital city of the Great Drywaste Territory located along the Flowater River that, up until recently, had been ruled by a cruel and mostly unpopular dictator Rhubarb. Recently this man was overthrown in a great riot that broke out in the marketplace.
A young woman, Sarah, was being harassed by soldiers early one morning in front of her father. When the older man stepped between his daughter and the corrupt law enforcers and demanded they leave her alone, he was quickly cut down. Sarah wept uncontrollably next to her fathers corpse like a good daughter as the soldiers taunted her, then grabbed a knife from one of the vendors and threw it at the soldier who gutted her father. She rolled a double critical and the knife found itself caught in an exposed point between the soldier’s helmet and studded leather armor, also known as his neck.
The soldier fell and promptly bled to death while his two friends, enraged, charged Sarah but were pushed down by a table thrown at them by a very large Half-Orc woman who had been in the area at the time and saw the events as they had happened. A few other guards heard the commotion and quickly arrived to the scene. The fighting continued to escalate as the guards were pushed back by the growing mob of angry citizens. The city guard couldn’t be mobilized quickly enough to cause any sort of effective resistance to this sudden surge in violence from the people who for so long had lied back and taken whatever hideous abuse had been done to them.
Some of the guard joined the rebellion. The guard were, after all, citizens of Drysand themselves and some truly did want to protect the people. Among the guard, an older captain named Alonso in particular stood out, ordering his entire patrol to join with the city once he realized what was happening. Many of the nobles and upper class fled by whatever means they had, though some were not aware of the true extent of the rioting until it had reached the palace. Rhubarb teleported to some unknown location in tears. He has not yet been found. Sarah was trampled to death in the riot and joined with her father in the afterlife. The people of Drysand raised the gold to have a true resurrection cast upon the two heroes who started the great rebellion, but they were happy in the afterlife and decided to remain, so the residents of the city are using the money to build a monument in their honor.
Drysand is a desert city but is sustained well enough by irrigation from the Flowater river which flows through the center of the city. A large bazaar stretches from one end of the city to the other on either side of the river where just about everything is sold. Rhubarb’s palace is located in the north-eastern side of the city. This palace is currently in the process of being disassembled and each piece of it buried beneath the sand, never to be looked at or thought of again.
Drysand is currently trying to reestablish itself as the city is once was before the days of Rhubarb, known for its beautiful arts and crafts and peaceful life. People are trying to get away from the monarchy that had ruled it for so long, which isn’t very difficult due to the lack of any legitimate heirs of Rhubarb. Still, not much has been done historically in any nation that doesn’t closely resemble a monarchy, so the citizens are actually being pretty liberal for their time in their effort to establish an oligarchy.
Well-educated members from each race that makes up at least 5 percent of the population have been selected to serve on the Counsel that rules collectively with the power of a king, along with one notably wise Elven scholar named Lelia (Elves are only about 3% of this cities population, and are pretty uncommon in any nonelven society, though still present). Halflings, Half-Elves, and Humans make up the majority of the population. Council members serve for life, but can retire or be removed by the Council. The Council is composed of 12 individuals and will choose replacement members as they are needed.
About Rhubarb
Dictators have long been the standard in Drysand, though none had been so cruel and completely unconcerned with their citizens as Rhubarb. Early after he ascended the thrown at the age of 15 following the sudden assassination of his father, mother, 3 siblings older and younger, cousins, aunts and uncles, and grandmother a great fire also broke out in the Halfling district of Drysand. The fire burned a nearly perfectly square area and the surviving inhabitants were quickly forced off the land. Everything in that area was demolished and a magnificent palace was erected “to show people of Drysand that the city will recover from the tragedy and be greater than ever before.” Later in his life Rhubarb would not be bothered to explain his actions to the populace, but this was early in his career and he at least tried.
The palace was perhaps the most beautiful in the world, with murals painted on every wall, large fountains that threw water colored red, green, and purple high into the air, and exotic animals from around the continent kept in places that were maintained mostly through expensive magic. It was closed to the public.
The cost of maintaining the palace and Rhubarb’s other decadent projects was astronomical. The city had survived in the past by exporting arts and crafts to nearby cities, towns, and villages. There are also a few delicious fruit and some simply weird ones that for whatever reason, barring magical aid, seem to be capable of growing only in the sediment along the Flowater. This was enough for a comfortable living standard among most of the city’s residents.
However, to make his own living standard as comfortable as he wanted it, something had to be done. First Rhubarb increased taxes from three silver a month to one gold every three weeks. Shortly after that Rhubarb sought out extra funds by creating a slave trade. The Drysand army conquered nearby settlements and enslaved the populations, selling them to wealthier nations across the continent (though a few rare nations had criminalized this practice, most had no laws against slavery and no interest in making such laws, though some passed laws regarding proper treatment of slaves after the trade expanded thanks to Rhubarb’s efforts). The nation of Anaximandros in particular buys about 35% of all slaves coming from Drysand.
Eventually Rhubarb exhausted his neighbors and would not venture into other nations and territories for fear of starting a war. The guard of Drysand were more than enough to subdue other settlements in the Great Drywaste and keep the local population under control, but the power of other nations to the west and east of Drywaste intimidated Rhubarb from taking more aggressive actions. To find more slaves to feed the trade, Rhubarb decreed that the firstborn child of every couple become property of the city, and sold those children off to whomever would pay for them. As a result of this, most of the adventurers have an older sibling somewhere else in the continent whom s/he never knew and who serves some master, unless they’ve died (probably not, most slave owners take care of their investments).
Though Rhubarb’s current location is unknown, his power has been severely diminished with the loss of his city.
. I'm the DM and I'm really looking forward to getting back to this, and hope anyone reading this can see why, I'm sure if anyone reads much of this they will quickly realize that ours is not exactly the most serious of campaigns, but we love it.
Here's some background info about the city they started in, followed by info on the former ruler:
Drysand
This is the self-proclaimed capital city of the Great Drywaste Territory located along the Flowater River that, up until recently, had been ruled by a cruel and mostly unpopular dictator Rhubarb. Recently this man was overthrown in a great riot that broke out in the marketplace.
A young woman, Sarah, was being harassed by soldiers early one morning in front of her father. When the older man stepped between his daughter and the corrupt law enforcers and demanded they leave her alone, he was quickly cut down. Sarah wept uncontrollably next to her fathers corpse like a good daughter as the soldiers taunted her, then grabbed a knife from one of the vendors and threw it at the soldier who gutted her father. She rolled a double critical and the knife found itself caught in an exposed point between the soldier’s helmet and studded leather armor, also known as his neck.
The soldier fell and promptly bled to death while his two friends, enraged, charged Sarah but were pushed down by a table thrown at them by a very large Half-Orc woman who had been in the area at the time and saw the events as they had happened. A few other guards heard the commotion and quickly arrived to the scene. The fighting continued to escalate as the guards were pushed back by the growing mob of angry citizens. The city guard couldn’t be mobilized quickly enough to cause any sort of effective resistance to this sudden surge in violence from the people who for so long had lied back and taken whatever hideous abuse had been done to them.
Some of the guard joined the rebellion. The guard were, after all, citizens of Drysand themselves and some truly did want to protect the people. Among the guard, an older captain named Alonso in particular stood out, ordering his entire patrol to join with the city once he realized what was happening. Many of the nobles and upper class fled by whatever means they had, though some were not aware of the true extent of the rioting until it had reached the palace. Rhubarb teleported to some unknown location in tears. He has not yet been found. Sarah was trampled to death in the riot and joined with her father in the afterlife. The people of Drysand raised the gold to have a true resurrection cast upon the two heroes who started the great rebellion, but they were happy in the afterlife and decided to remain, so the residents of the city are using the money to build a monument in their honor.
Drysand is a desert city but is sustained well enough by irrigation from the Flowater river which flows through the center of the city. A large bazaar stretches from one end of the city to the other on either side of the river where just about everything is sold. Rhubarb’s palace is located in the north-eastern side of the city. This palace is currently in the process of being disassembled and each piece of it buried beneath the sand, never to be looked at or thought of again.
Drysand is currently trying to reestablish itself as the city is once was before the days of Rhubarb, known for its beautiful arts and crafts and peaceful life. People are trying to get away from the monarchy that had ruled it for so long, which isn’t very difficult due to the lack of any legitimate heirs of Rhubarb. Still, not much has been done historically in any nation that doesn’t closely resemble a monarchy, so the citizens are actually being pretty liberal for their time in their effort to establish an oligarchy.
Well-educated members from each race that makes up at least 5 percent of the population have been selected to serve on the Counsel that rules collectively with the power of a king, along with one notably wise Elven scholar named Lelia (Elves are only about 3% of this cities population, and are pretty uncommon in any nonelven society, though still present). Halflings, Half-Elves, and Humans make up the majority of the population. Council members serve for life, but can retire or be removed by the Council. The Council is composed of 12 individuals and will choose replacement members as they are needed.
About Rhubarb
Dictators have long been the standard in Drysand, though none had been so cruel and completely unconcerned with their citizens as Rhubarb. Early after he ascended the thrown at the age of 15 following the sudden assassination of his father, mother, 3 siblings older and younger, cousins, aunts and uncles, and grandmother a great fire also broke out in the Halfling district of Drysand. The fire burned a nearly perfectly square area and the surviving inhabitants were quickly forced off the land. Everything in that area was demolished and a magnificent palace was erected “to show people of Drysand that the city will recover from the tragedy and be greater than ever before.” Later in his life Rhubarb would not be bothered to explain his actions to the populace, but this was early in his career and he at least tried.
The palace was perhaps the most beautiful in the world, with murals painted on every wall, large fountains that threw water colored red, green, and purple high into the air, and exotic animals from around the continent kept in places that were maintained mostly through expensive magic. It was closed to the public.
The cost of maintaining the palace and Rhubarb’s other decadent projects was astronomical. The city had survived in the past by exporting arts and crafts to nearby cities, towns, and villages. There are also a few delicious fruit and some simply weird ones that for whatever reason, barring magical aid, seem to be capable of growing only in the sediment along the Flowater. This was enough for a comfortable living standard among most of the city’s residents.
However, to make his own living standard as comfortable as he wanted it, something had to be done. First Rhubarb increased taxes from three silver a month to one gold every three weeks. Shortly after that Rhubarb sought out extra funds by creating a slave trade. The Drysand army conquered nearby settlements and enslaved the populations, selling them to wealthier nations across the continent (though a few rare nations had criminalized this practice, most had no laws against slavery and no interest in making such laws, though some passed laws regarding proper treatment of slaves after the trade expanded thanks to Rhubarb’s efforts). The nation of Anaximandros in particular buys about 35% of all slaves coming from Drysand.
Eventually Rhubarb exhausted his neighbors and would not venture into other nations and territories for fear of starting a war. The guard of Drysand were more than enough to subdue other settlements in the Great Drywaste and keep the local population under control, but the power of other nations to the west and east of Drywaste intimidated Rhubarb from taking more aggressive actions. To find more slaves to feed the trade, Rhubarb decreed that the firstborn child of every couple become property of the city, and sold those children off to whomever would pay for them. As a result of this, most of the adventurers have an older sibling somewhere else in the continent whom s/he never knew and who serves some master, unless they’ve died (probably not, most slave owners take care of their investments).
Though Rhubarb’s current location is unknown, his power has been severely diminished with the loss of his city.
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). The rest of the group wonders why Estacia walked off. She didn’t say anything, just kind of left. They shrug and continue along the road.