hobbygamers ~ View topic

All of the stuff I've been writing so far has been built around the events of the Godfall war, ~roughly 500 years before the present time period. But I'll need to write up stuff for the present day, the fallen world, the places and people of the now who bear the legacy of the past.

The posts for this thread are still a WIP, but I'm setting this thread already to keep things rolling. Also, propose some modern day godstone-centric city-states or people and places.

*Last edited by BJ on Wed Aug 27, 2008 9:33 pm; edited 2 times in total*

The Ioun Tower (I'm going bullet-point for now, as I'm not yet in the mood to write). Porting over Ioun to Cracklepoop.

*Rumor holds of an arcane tower somewhere close to a border between the prime material and the Feywild. A godstone called Ioun is situated at the top.
*Known for it's ability to channel arcane as well as divine power, this godstone is the reason why many aspiring wizards seek out the Ioun Tower as opposed to some of the more mundane colleges (though those are few and far between as well). Game-wise, Orbs, wands with godstone tips, or, similarly, staves with the same tip may be used as Holy Symbols (and enchanted as such) if attuned to the Ioun Tower. And strangely, Ioun stones (the one that rotate on your head) work as well, though they can't be enchanted as Holy Symbols.
*Certain wizards specialize in a spell technique that channels the arcane energy of Iouninto their weapon of choice, the longsword. They strap the godstone on as weapon augment crystals. These warrior-magi are known as the Swords of the Arcane Tower (using the Spiral Tower PP here).
*The Ioun Tower actually has a decent amount of dwarves studying there. In fact, Ioun itself was unearthed by dwarves, and traded to the Eladrin a few decades ago.

CRACKLEPOOP Gazetteer: Traitor's Gate

Many of the ancient cities and realms of the Divine Imperium were savaged by the Godfall War, their abandoned hulks standing as mute reminders to the Age of Gods. The Godfall War destroyed much, but also gave birth to new realms. Most infamous of the cities that arose from the ashes of the Godfall is Traitor's Gate.

Perched on the edge of the Daemonscar, Traitor's Gate sits above one of the few safe passages into the devastation that surrounds the Shadowed Mount of Kal Dathra. Centuries after the Godfall War, the first few brave expeditions began to dare to enter the Daemonscar in search of relics of the Age of Gods, mighty weapons and arms, dread magics and ancient treasures. Many of these expeditions simply vanished, and many more did not survive the return from the Daemonscar as others, less brave and more opportunistic, pounced on them as they fled to the safe lands outside the Daemonscar.

This all changed with the coming of the Tiefling warlord Goran Skar. A retired adventurer, Skar had twice before survived expeditions into the Daemonscar only to have the treasures he found claimed by brigands lying in wait at the edge of the Scar. The Tiefling, cursing the loss of his latest finds, was struck by a bolt of inspiration. Calling on his old allies from his years of adventuring, Goran Skar assembled a warband that went out and hunted down the largest of the outlaw bands, stripping them of their ill-gotten gains of ancient relics. All others had assumed that the Tiefling would se himself up as a new bandit lord lying in wait at the edge of the Scar. Goran surprised them all when he stated his intent to found a new settlement. With the aid of his old adventuring companions, the Tiefling founded the town of Traitor's Gate.

Goran Skar reasoned that it would be far easier parting treasure from battle-weary explorers than digging through the ruins at the heart of Kal Dathra. To this end, the Tiefling made sure that Traitor's Gate would be replete with inns, taverns, armorers, apothecaries and brothels. While Goran makes the pretense of light-handed rule, he ruthlessly collects cuts from all businesses in town, and enforces his control through an extensive network of overt and covert police. Even the local thieves pay a hefty tithe to the Tiefling. Skar owns a share in almost every business in town, and brooks little competition. Prices are high, but Traitor's Gate is the only settlement even remotely close to the Daemonscar, and so it serves as a base of operations for expeditions in search of Godstones, relics, and other ancient treasures.

Skar guarantees the safety of Traitor's Gate as an open settlement, and protects this neutrality fiercely. In turn, expeditions that pass through Traitor's Gate pay a tithe to the warlord and are usually accompanied by some sort of guide/arcane researcher from the settlement. Any groups that refuse these terms are denied the hospitality of Traitor's Gate, and there whispered rumors of the many "accidents" that such groups befall. Many also believe that Skar's representatives serve as spies and spotters, rather than guides and researchers, providing the Tiefling lord information on which groups are easy marks or what ruins have been just unearthed. Though onerous, many groups are more than willing to play by the Tiefling's rules, and as a result, Traitor's Gate has prospered.

Notes:
-Traitor's Gate provides a settlement near but not totally inside the Daemonscar, the devastation caused by the last battle of the Godfall War. It can serve as a base of operations for any adventuring company investigating the ruins of the Age of Gods.
-Goran Skar is more or less along the lines of the "enlightened tyrant". Lord Ventinari from Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels comes to mind. Give him horns and a tail, and you've got an idea of what Goran Skar should be like.

Hooks:
-The remains of an expedition leading into the Daemonscar have been found, their corpses desecrated and looted. The body of Lord Skar's inspector, on the other hand, is missing. Skar wants to find out the fate of the inspector, and is willing to pay good money to anyone able to find out.

-EDIT 6/18/08: An expedition has just recovered a fist-sized godstone shard from the Daemonscar and has returned to Traitor's Gate. Goran Skar, upon hearing of this, has decreed that he is waiving his normal percentage of all treasure recovered from the Scar, in exchange for a shard taken from the newly found godstone, terms that the finders do not wish to accept. The PCs may find themselves on either side of this situation, asked by Skar to negotiate with the explorers, or to "enforce" his toll, or they may be hired by the expedition to attempt to spirit out the godstone, or they may even play both sides down the middle...

Cracklepoop Gazzetteer: The Sons of the Skylord

The kobolds are one of the lesser servitor races created by the gods. Children of the sunless depths of the earth, the kobold tribes have traditionally stayed within their lightless tunnels, digging up metals, gems, and other offerings to their gods.

But not all kobolds served as mere tunnel-vermin. In the last desperate years leading up to the Godfall War, as the conflicts between the gods escalated, the Emperor Wyrm raised up a tribe of kobolds to serve as warriors, engineers, and technicians for the flotilla of airships that the dragon god had provided to his Mandrakori thralls. After a long period of adaptation (and weeding out the frail, slow, and stupid), the Emperor Wyrm judged that his new servants were now worthy of being unleashed into the skies above the battlefields of the wars between gods. Dubbing themselves "the Sons of the Skylord", these kobold tribes would crew the airships of the Emperor Wyrm's fleet, transporting the Mandrakori to battle and providing aerial support when the Wyrm's Dragon Exarchs were unavailable.

The Sons of the Skylord reveled in their new duties. Never before had kobold-kind been allowed to have so great a role in their duties to the gods, and exposed to the honor-bound society of the Mandrakori, these kobolds also developed an unswerving loyalty to the Emperor Wyrm.

When the Mandrakori turned on the Emperor Wyrm, these kobolds were horrified at the actions of those that they saw as their elder brothers in service to the dragon god. As civil war raged between the dragon exarchs and the Mandrakori, the Sons of the Skylord were sundered. Some sided with the Liberators and the Mandrakori. Many more joined the Loyalists in quashing the rebellion. A few took no sides and cast off.

When the Godfall was over, most of the airfleets were destroyed in the cataclysmic aftermath. But some of the neutral ships survived the carnage, and took to a life of wandering and exploration. These tribes of aerial kobolds, centered around their skyships, are some of the few bastions of ancient technologies from the Age of Gods. Cunningly wrought and carefully maintained, many skyships still function as they did a millennium ago. But the Sons of the Skylord have lost the secrets of constructing their skyships, and even the mere act of maintaining these ships stretches their craftiness to the limits. These wandering kobolds are eager collectors of ancient technologies and lost knowledge that might aid them in the repair of their ancestral skyships, or perhaps even the secrets of building new ones.

Bonethrall Recent History: The Rise and Fall of Tarkonis

The rise and fall of the Mandrakori nation known as Tarkonis is something of a textbook example of the lifecycle of the many successor states to the Divine Imperium.

Founded by the Mandrakori, the city-state of Tarkonis rose to prominence roughly 300 years after the Battle of the Shadowed Mount. Its rise to power coincided with the discovery of the first of the known Godstones, the so-called Healer's Fist, a crystal shard that emitted a lambent blue glow and as tall as a man, the stone's glassy knobs and protrusions reminiscent of a clenched fist. A company of Mandrakori, steeped in their race's Liberator tradition, fought their way past the Redeemer cadre that had unearthed the stone. The Liberator commander, intent upon the stone's destruction, whipped his troops into a state of battle frenzy, and the outnumbered Mandrakori launched a brutal assault that exterminated the Redeemer force, but also exacted a heavy blood price from the Liberators. Mortally wounded, the Mandrakori warlord crawled before the stone, raised a trembling blade with his mangled claws to destroy the relic, and then collapsed into the darkness.

The Mandrakor awakened and steeled himself to complete his mission. He felt no regret, no fear, no pain, as he raised his arm to sunder the stone. And then the warlord noticed his arm was whole. The fingers that had been amputated by the battle-crazed Baalim were healed, and wrapped tight around his blade's grip. His broken ribs no longer pained him with each breath and his wounds were closed. The Mandrakor stood up and saw that many of his own companions had also magically cheated death. The risen Mandrakori stood in awe of the stone's power.

The survivors conferred among themselves, and their commander came to this conclusion: The stone could be an enormous force for good, in worthy hands. The few voices who tried to stay true to their old Liberator ideals eventually caved in to the majority. These Mandrakor defected from their old allegiances and founded the city-state of Tarkonis based on the power of the Healer's Fist.

The original company of dragonborn may have abandoned their hard-line Liberator allegiances, but they did not abandon the ideals that formed the core of the first few Liberators that dared defy the Gods and stand up for the oppressed mortals. Defend the weak, liberate the oppressed, and bend the knee to none that pretends to be higher than you. Strengthened by the healing magics of the Tarkonis Godstone, these dragonborn marshalled a potent force under their banner and proceeded to war against the evils that they percieved around them, banishing the Infernal Prince Ghul-Drefar, scattering the Redeemer Cult of the Wyrm's Vengeance, and sealing a rift that led past the Walls of Night into the realms of dread Father Chaos. Freely offering the magic of the Healer's Fist, the proud warriors of Tarkonis did not lack in those who sought to join their cause.

The Fall of Tarkonis: The Wyrm's Vengeance (to be continued)

Bonethrall Recent History: The Rise and Fall of Tarkonis: The Second Imperium?

The power of Tarkonis rose to its highest point roughly fifty years after its founding, when a new generation of Mandrakori took up the reins of power. These heirs to the founding warriors of Tarkonis were raised in the glory days of the city-state's great exploits, and could not help but strive to match the exploits of the founders.

Waging battle against battle against the surrounding realms, the lords of Tarkonis began to subjugate other cities, "for the greater good". Confident in their manifest destiny as inheritors of the Tarkonis' glory and their inherent right to power and majesty, the heirs of Tarkonis began to move away from the Liberator ideals of its founders. Those few dissenting voices were silenced, sometimes forcefully, by those who now ruled the fledgling empire. Eventually, those who began to profess Liberator ideals were purged by the lords of Tarkonis and forced into hiding, with the society of Tarkonis divided between those who ruled, and those who sought a return to the ideals of the Founding. The lords of Tarkonis ever tried to exterminate the Liberator dissidents, but never fully succeeded, using them as bogeymen to keep the populace in line while conquest after conquest brought in wealth to the center of the empire and the Healer's Fist brought health and vitality to those who swore allegiance to Tarkonis.

Some began to whisper that Tarkonis itself might become heir to the power of the gods themselves and the glory of the Divine Imperium.

The Fall of Tarkonis: The Wyrm's Vengeance

Four centuries after the fall of the Shadowed Mount, Tarkonis stood at the cusp of becoming a true empire, it's reach expanding beyond its few vassal cities. But rot festered within the halls of Tarkonis. Its people had grown complacent, fat, and lazy. Confident in their manifest destiny, bolstered by the power of the Healer's Fist, the lords of Tarkonis believed that none could stand against their invincible might. What other force could banish the Infernal Prince Gul-Drefar, or seal the gates through the Walls of Night? What other army could claim to have halted the ravages of the implacable Nagthari, the servants of the Daystar?

Surrounded by wealth and opulence, few listened to the warning words of the few Liberator dissidents, and fewer still had any inkling of the quiet infiltration of the Cult of the Wyrm's Vengeance. A Redeemer cult sworn to avenge the Emperor Wyrm, the Wyrm's Vengeance slowly but surely infiltrated the ranks of Tarkonis' nobility.

Tarkonis was unprepared when the moment came for the cult to unleash the Wyrm's Vengeance. They struck when Tarkonis was at its most vulnerable. Its armies were marshaled against the Nagthari, it's people fat, complacent, sleepy, and wine-drunk after festival when the Wyrm's Vengeance struck. The Redeemers burst into the Citadel of the Healer's Fist and struck down many of the unwary guards. Still, the discipline of Tarkonis' warriors, few that they were, might even then have won the day. As the Redeemers reeled from the valiant defense, the sons of Tarkonis believed then that they might be victorious. And then, a mighty blast of flame incinerated the vanguard of the Citadel's defenders. There came the sound of a mighty beating of wings, and then the baleful Red Wyrm, Malathras of the Cleansing Fire unleashed his fury upon Tarkonis, sons of the traitorous Mandrakor, heirs to their ancient betrayal. Malathras swept aside all that stood in his way and entered the Sanctum of the Fist. Within the holy of holies, Malathras enacted a great ritual that burst the arcane defenses of the Healer's Fist and wrested the Godstone from the grasp of the Hospitaller of Tarkonis. Malathras took up the Fist from the cold, dead hands of the Hospitaller and smiled as he unleashed the Wyrm's Vengeance.

Purple arcs of wild magic coursed through the Healer's Fist and arced outwards, spreading throughout the lands of Tarkonis. The energies raced towards all those that had known the healing touch of the Fist, and in that single moment, all their healing was undone. Warriors screamed in agony as severed limbs slid of their stumps and great wounds opened on their bodies. Women and children writhed in pain as every single disease that had been cleansed once again ravaged their flesh. Those who had been raised up from beyond the realms of death were drained of vitality and reduced to empty husks that hungered for life force.

In that one dread moment, Malathras of the Cleansing Fire toppled the greatest of the Successor States to the glory of the Imperium. In one moment of terror, pain, and agony, a hundred years of Empire were overturned by the power of a single Godstone. Those who lived through that night say that the Red Wyrm perched upon the highest of the spires of fallen Tarkonis and roared out a great cry of sorrow for his fallen lord, the Emperor Wyrm, and a song of triumph at the bloody vengeance he had wreaked upon the sons of the betrayers.

The people of Tarkonis are scattered and devastated, but its legacy lives on. The heirs to the empire recall the glory days when the Mandrakori of Tarkonis brought justice and peace to the surrounding lands, and the dream of empire still beckons to those who saw what could be achieved with the power of a single Godstone. The name of Tarkonis is still a rallying cry to those who remember its mercy, and those who remember its ruthlessness.

As for Wyrm's Vengeance, the cult itself lives on, continuing to infiltrate Liberator and Successor kingdoms, attempting to sabotage them and spirit away their godstones to their own inscrutable ends. It is said that Malathras of the Cleansing Fire stalks the land still, dread and mighty, and with the power of the Healer's Fist, they claim that the Cleansing Fire is unstoppable.

Those who seek treasure or vengeance point out many once said that Tarkonis itself was invincible...

Changes to the *TARKONIS* timeline:

350 AG (After Godfall)- Discovery of the Healer's Fist
400 AG - Golden Age of TARKONIS
450 AG - The Wyrm's Vengeance
500 AG - Campaign present.

This puts the fall of TARKONIS within living memory of those in the present day of the campaign setting.

Names that need reworking:
-TARKONIS : original name derived from Tarsonis (SC), and still a bit too close to the original source.
- Malathras of the CLEANSING FIRE: Miyojin of Cleansing Flame, anyone? The dragon's name is fine, we just need to change the epithet.

may I suggest Malathras of the Ever-Burning Fury? Something like that.

Though, if you wanna make it more white-inclined (i.e. in MtG terms), you could go with something like Malathras of the Infallible Retribution.

Well, since I was appointed to this position:

Please apply CRACKLEPOOP-ism to all non-final names in 2 days, or I will do it for you.

b_b says Tarkonis backwards, Sinoktar or something, could work.

Cleansing Fire, after some thought, is not that bad.