Age of Change - The Garden of the Gods
"Age of Change - The Garden of the Gods" is a chronicle started at february 8th 2024 and is unfinished yet. The chronicle takes place at the continent of Vasloria, where the old Vaslorian Empire got splintered a long time ago and 13 kingdoms formed in the wake of this downfall, fighting for their interests and agenda. It is a world filled with adventure and mysteries. As the fifth installment in the universe and cosmology of Arceiron the chronicle is a direct sequel to the chronicles "Age of Conquest - Fall of the Gods", "Age of Conquest - The Calamity of Dragons", "Age of Change - The Aspect of Space" and "Age of Change - A Remnant of Hope".
The story of the chronicle takes place at the continent of Vasloria, a mysterious land of wonder and magic, with threads of grand empires, mystical forces, and legendary heroes but also inhabited by long forgotten dark powers. Long ago the Vaslorian Empire, which controlled this continent once, fall down and splintered into 13 independent kingdoms, which since then fought against each other for dominance and to bring forth their own interests. Beside that a mysterious dark power, unknown to nearly all people living this days, originated from the dark kingdom of Grimmokar thousands of years before and threatened to destroy the kingdoms, but some legendary heroes arised and secured the continent. To this day, their legends live forth and have impact on the people of Vasloria, even when the circumstances of this titanic battle and the deeds of the heroes are not present in detail anymore.
With the beginning of the Age of Change a period of peace seemed to come to an end for this old lands. The kingdoms are in conflict and battles with each other again, fighting over politicial and cultural differences and each of them searching for more power and independence. The Vaslorian Badlands in the east of the continent brings forth more threats then ever before and the Kingdom of Eldrithorn has to fight with an invasion of goblinoids, raiding their villages and murdering their people. With this ill omens rising up at the horizon, Vasloria might stand at the beginning of another sinister era and so the time has come for new heroes to arise and to fight back against the threats of the continent, balance the power of the kingdoms and they even might have to stand against the dark influence returning from the depths of the continent itself.
Plot Summary
Season I
The Heroes' Dawn (Chapter 1 - 29)
In the small town of Mossridge, in the borderlands of the Kingdom of Eldrithorn, five adventurers gets contracted by the Dwarven merchant Botswyn Stoutbarrel to escort him and his waggon to the city of Drakkenfall, a few days of travel away. Since they all need money to continue their own personal journey's, they accept the offer and agree to take on this mission. So a new group of adventurers get's formed, with a destiny much greater they can imagine. The group consists of the stoic soldier Soran Crofter, an honorable mercenary, which got infected with some strange draconic powers a while before and being on the search to some greater understanding to his condition. He get's accompanied by his childhood friend Tammi Tränenkuss, a person, which held the burden of a mysterious and mighty curse, which give they power, but also threatens they whole being. Together with Lucian Dùmas, an Air Genasi from a noble house and also a gambler and card mage with special magical abilities and his friend, the Halfling Hannibal Teeblatt, who is searching for his family and origins, while learning more of his inherent powers as a Druid, they band together to accomplish this mission and lead the merchant to Drakkenfall. They also get accompanied by the Tiefling Rogue Neria Scarlet, who inherits some infernal heritage of bloodlust and murder, but also have a good heart, being in a constant struggle with herself. While on this first mission, they learn to know each other and together fight against some hordes of Goblins and dark powers threatening the merchant on his way. When they finally arrive in Drakkenfall, they manage to rescue the princess Noemi Devereaux and therefore the ruling council of the city finds out about their special abilities, bringing them into the focus of the threats, the city has to fight against. Their original plan to leave the city after they got paid not come to fruition and so the five adventurers band together again to fulfill the task of the council and do some research in the depths of the mines in the city. There they are able to unravel some dark mysteries about the draconic triumvirate, from which the long lost member, Valmerun, shall be reawakened soon enough. Before they can solve this to the fullest, other dark threats also arise: The dark cult, who killed Soran's mercenary group and changed him into a weapon of draconic powers returns, planning to destroy the city of Drakkenfall with the help of a united horde of monstrous beings from the Vaslorian Badlands to get access to an ancient power in the depths of the Drakkenfall Lake. This Horde of the Abyssal Eye, led by the influenced Varika Draguus, marches against the walls of the city to destroy it and annihilating everyone in their way. The adventurers are sent to gain reinforcements, which they get from the Dwarven City of Undermount, the Druid's of a nearby shrine, the mysterious archmage Lyriel Sunshadow and the royal troops of Eldrithorn. While preparing for a titanic battle and and while gaining reinforcements, the group gets transported into the Lands Between and into the legendary city of Eldarion. There they are the first mortals in eons to meet the hidden gods of the Gilded Pantheon, above all Quillania and Ailenia. The true power behind the dark cult get's revealed as the Black Queen, a fragment of the fallen god Ouroboros, which is about to go rampage to destroy the mortal realms. The group get's the help of the god's and when returning to Drakkenfall, the titanic Siege of Drakkenfall begins, a conflict, which ends in victory for the defenders, but to a high price and with high consequences. Afterwards the adventurers get's into the focus of the Gilded Pantheon even more and become part of their plans, when they got hired and tasked to not just safeguard a single city, but the whole realm by destroying the fragment of Ouroboros once and for all. And while their name starts to spread over the borders of Drakkenfall, everyone is calling their name, so not just old friends along their way are celebrating them, but also enemies with unsolved conflicts looking at them again and the path get's opened to a new dawn for the Heroes of Drakkenfall...Season II
A Journey of Hope & Despair (Chapter 30 - Ongoing)
The Siege of Drakkenfall ended with a victory for the defenders, but the consequences of this conflict might haunt not only the adventurers but the whole Kingdom of Eldrithorn a long time. The draconic triumvirate was able to secure the remains of the fallen Dragon in the Drakkenfall Lake, which might lead to the return of the three mad Dragons. And while Varika Draguus and Morketh Gorehowl, the remaining leader's of the Horde of the Abyssal Eye, stand trial for their war crimes, the dark cult and their leader's are still hidden from the eyes of the mortals. The adventurers, now more famous then ever before, not only have to take responsibility for the things they had to do while in the battle, but also hear rumors about their past: survivors of the Iron Wolves, the mercenary company of Soran had been seen and the infernal Devil's Gambit appeared in a city nearby. While Soran and Lucian want to follow that hints, Hannibal receives a dark threat from his past, Tammi get's a new quest from Quillania and Neria struggles with her dark heritage. But all their personal paths lead to a single place: the northern Kingdom of the Wulfmark, a cursed land of mysteries and secrets. And while trying to solve their own pasts, the adventurers still have their divine mission to stop the cult worshipping the Black Queen, ending their threat. But how to accomplish this nearly impossible mission, not even the god's might fully know...Protagonists
Current Protagonists
Soran Crofter
(Dragonkin/formerly Thoralian Human, Fighter, Archetyp of the Bone Knight) Soran Crofter is a former Thoralian Human, originating from the borderlands of the Kingdom of Eldrithorn grewn up in the town of Forestsend. He is a very talented Fighter with great potential, skilled in the use of armor and weapons of different kind. Long years he used his talents as a mercenary, traveling the countryside with his band of comrades, the Iron Wolves, fighting battles for others and trying to make the world a bit more safe. He is a very kind hearted and honorable man, living out the code of chivalry and dreams to become a hero of legendary status one day. On a mission to escort a merchant, he and his group got ambushed and he, als the solely survivor, became a prisoner to some strange cultists, which tortured and infected him with the essence of a dragon in a ritual that changed himself into some kind of Dragonkin, empowering him with flaming abilities and other powers, akin to dragons, but also changing his whole life with his friends all killed and his heart filled with despair and horrible nightmares. After he got rescued by knights of an honorable order his life got safed by a Druid in Drakkenfall, which allowed him to return home. But a while later he found out, that his newfound powers seems to expand and so his need to find a possibility to control his abilities or get rid of them grew more urgent then ever before. Together with his best friend from childhood, Tammi Tränenkuss, he started traveling the countryside to find a cure to his new status as a part-dragon creature and to get rid of this marvelous infection, that has befallen him. While on his quest he will have to learn to handle his new powers properly and to adapt to them to fulfill his destiny and become the great warrior he always had dreamed of to be.Lucian Dùmas
(Air Genasi, Wizard/Warmage, House of Cards) The firstborn son from the noble House Dùmas, which are proud of their pure human bloodstatus and for reaching their goals without any blood related support, Lucian Dùmas always was the black sheep and struggled with the problem of being an Air Genasi born into this family, destroying their philosophy. Without the possibility of inherit some titles or wealth from his family, he had to build up a new life for himself and so he adopted the persona of a "Nobleman Gambler" combining his inherit magical powers with the playing of games of chance, especially card games. He also became some type of a hedonistic person, who enjoys the qualities of life, especially the ones, that promise some pleasure and enjoyment. After he learned to wield his magic through his cards at the secretive and mysterious Vandermorn Institute he now travels the countryside to right some fatal mistakes he made in his arrogance and proud behaviour when playing the infernal Devil's Gambit, therefore sacrificing the souls of his friends. On his journey he met Hannibal Teeblatt, a young Druid, which helped him in a dire moment and befriended him shortly after. Since then they travel together and became good friends, who have each other's back on their personal missions. While perfecting his skills as both a mage and a gambler, he's looking out for some mysterious enemies from his past to challenge them into the ultimate gambit duel to safe the souls of his friends and redeem the soul of his fallen mentor. And the stakes might be nothing more then his own soul and the souls of every person he ever cared for. But loosing never was the way of Lucian on his way to become the true master of games.Hannibal Teeblatt
(Ghostwise Halfling, Druid, Circle of the Guardian) The young and naive Halfling Hannibal Teeblatt is on the quest to find his true family and for that his legacy after he got kidnapped as a child and grew up in a circus of curiosities to please the viewers by showing them his magical talents. As he come from an old circle of nature, he inherits strong powers of nature magic and the ability to change into the form of not just animals but a true wooden guardian of nature. He made some friends from the same circle who shared his destiny, but most of them died when they tried to flee the circus. As the only survivor and the one, who got back his freedom at the cost of his only friends, Hannibal made it his mission to find answers to the question who he is, where he come from and what his true burden as a potential guardian of nature might be. He is naive and still has much to learn, not just with the use of his magical abilities, but also with social encounters, politics and other species and person's. He befriended the Air Genasi Lucian Dùmas shortly after he escaped and since then they travel together the land. Hannibal is a very kindhearted and loyal person, willing to trust anyone and give everyone a chance of becoming his friend. He inherit the lighthearted lifestyle of a true halfling and enjoy life as much as he is ready to defend it any cost, when needed.Tammi Tränenkuss
(Near-Human/formerly Thoralian Human, Bard/Accursed, Curse of Misfortune) Grown up in the borderlands of the Kingdom of Eldrithorn, in the small town of Fernshaw and together with they best friend from the neighboured village, Soran Crofter, the person named Tammi Tränenkuss, not clearly identified as a male or female person, living life with a combination of curiosity and a welcoming personality. Being a bit skeptical at making friends at first, Tammi cares deeply for the ones, that earned their trust and watch them as their family, which they used to protect at all costs. At some point in their life they got cursed with the old, powerful and mysterious curse of misfortune, which not just made them whole life depended on the aspects of luck and bad luck and the everlasting struggle of it, but it also changes them into some type of animalistic being, giving their body some feline features and also enhancing their senses and abilities rapidly. After a while Tammi adapted to their new form and learned to handle the power of the curse to the extend, they can manipulate luck and bad luck of others and use the curse to their advantage, which even allows they to cast magic in some ways. Since they best friend Soran returned from his travels changed, Tammi joined his quest to find a cure for his infection and helps him to get back his old life. For themselves she not seems to try to get rid of their curse. Moreover they seemed to fully adapted to it, accepted it as part of them persona, realizing, that it is this curse, that make they special and give they the abilities to change their own future and that of other's for the better.Former Protagonists
None of the protagonists have left the chronicle to this day or died a tragic death.Trivia
Popcultural References
- In the episode "The Mercenary's Burden" the group entered "The Trove". In that junk shop they found an object which is called "Jafar's empty lamp". This is a reference to the merchant at the beginning of the movie "Aladdin", which not just also sold a lot of trash, but also has some old oil lamp in his possession, a mysterious, but empty object, which he uses to start to tell the story of the movie.
- When the group meet the weird Mage Boguz the Brilliant for the first time, he appears as a pickle with a face. This pickle is a reference to "Pickle-Rick" from the episode of the same name of the TV-Series "Rick & Morty".
- Like in many other chronicles of the Arceiron cosmology, the character of Sean-Paul Gilmore makes some appearances in this chronicle. His whole look, his behaviour and even his job is a direct reference to the character of the same name from the "Critical Role" universe.
Crossover
- In the episode "The Mercenary's Burden" the group entered "The Trove" a junk shop of some kind which sold objects connected to past characters and stories out of former chronicles. There they found memorable objects from the chronicles Age of Conquest - Fall of the Gods, Age of Conquest - The Calamity of Dragons and Age of Change - The Aspect of Space. There are also some references to the past of the characters from the chronicle Age of Change - Tales of the Sea, which took place in-game in the same year as Garden of the Gods.
- While in the Lands Between the group visits the magic shop of Sean-Paul Gilmore. There they met another customer, who visits the Mage at this moment. This character is Velor Dragonbane, one of the protagonists of the chronicle Age of Conquest - The Calamity of Dragons. Since the group not knows him, they not interact with this legendary hero and he leaves shortly afterwards.
Behind the Scenes
- To bring together the player characters as a group, there was the premise at character creation, that all of them must share a bond with at least one other of the group. Since there are four player's in the chronicle that brought them into the story as two pairs of friends. Both of these pairings share the connection of being good friends. This premise was done before in the chronicles Age of Change - A Remnant of Hope and Age of Change - The Aspect of Space respectively.
- The story sets part in the year 3175 AoM (which is the 5th year of the newly started Age of Change in the Timeline of Arceiron).
- In the chronicle there is used a special type of currency instead of the regular gold, silver and copper coins. The currency is called "Goldkronen", "Silberadler" and "Knäpplinge", which is similar to the currency, which got used in the chronicle Age of Change - A Remnant of Hope. But beside slightly different names it still follows the rules of the Silver Standard established in the world.
- All characters in this chronicle started without a faction, where they belong to. This was a premise for the character creation, even if it's possible for them to join a faction later in the story.
- Evil-Aligned characters were not allowed for character creation, since the story was meant to be a classical hero's story and for that such alignments wouldn't have fitted well.
- After the end of the first season the characters got created anew with the update of the rules to the 2024 system. Therefore most of the characters became stronger in some way. To reflect this and even their slight changing in abilities as part of the new rules the group made a "Timeskip" after season one, where they had the chance to change because of training and adapting to the experiences they made in the battle they fought into.
- As part of the Arceiron soundtrack there are some songs depending on the chronicle in some way: "The Ballad of Vasloria's Valor" and the "Ballad of Medo's Might" are songs depicting special events of the past of the continent of Vasloria, where the story takes place.
Player Characters
- Soran Crofter
- Lucian Dùmas
- Hannibal Teeblatt
- Tammi Tränenkuss
Comments