The Land of Ashnuw and Story Summary
The Land of Ashnuw
While the world itself has not been given a name, the name of the continent that we are on is called Ashnuw.
This world is highly magnetic. There are huge islands floating in the sky big enough for kingdoms to be built on. As you would expect, they are floating due to the magnetism. There are also vast underground caverns big enough to house cities in.
Before the season began last year Michael asked anyone who wanted to to purchase a plot of land big enough for a kingdom and to write the history and lore for that kingdom.
So many people joined in and started writing the histories of each kingdom in the land.
The world is only about 1700 years old.
We desired to mix medieval fantasy with steampunk so put a technology cap at something that compares to what Earth has achieved by the year 1800, but the technology has not been overdone because we want a medieval feel to the game.
The magnetism has heavily influenced the focus of technology in this world. Today we see magnetic airships that can sail the skies and have cannons sticking out their sides like boats on the sea.
The Story of Ashnuw
The Pale War, 1017-1027
Before I start in on the details of what happened in Season 1, I’ll explain a very important event that happened about 700 years ago.
A powerful being called Pale came to Ashnuw and was able to gather many of the peoples and races of Ashnuw to his side in a Great War that lasted 10 years.
During this time he was working with a scientist from Ashnuw to build a device. Pale supplied the scientist with key technological advancements that the man had never heard of. The device was Capable of changing the “type” of magnetism in an area around it.
The concept of different types of Magnetism is purely science fiction. There’s no equivalent in real life.
On this planet the magnetism is so great that all the lifeforms (people, plants and animals) rely on it in their bodies.
Pale’s Device that would change the “type“ of magnetism can actually kill people.
Pale intended to use his on powers to magnify the strength of this device to encompass the entire continent. His plan was to destroy all life on Ashnuw.
No one really knew what he was up to.
A group of Guardian protectors that had recently been formed--The Order of Nehara-- found out that he was creating this device. They were able to confiscate it from the scientist that was creating it. They locked it up in a very secret, very safe vault.
Pale moved the war towards this vault and used the cover of war to break in to the vault and steal the device back.
He began to use the device and everyone across Ashnuw was feeling the effects. They became nauseous and had severe headaches.
With a group of heroes who was led by a few of the men from the order of protectors was able to stop him before he completed the process.
Nevertheless, the job halfway done was enough to cause devastation across the land. Many people died that day (the elderly, the frail and the very young).
The Effects of the Pale War and the Borax Uldek, 1027-1030
Pale did indeed change the magnetism, but not all the way it was only half a change, but he said in motion a process that would eventually change the magnetism fully. It would just take many decades instead of being done in a day.
It took many decades for this change to fully take place. People were able to adapt through the change as they breathed, drank and ate things that contained this new type of magnetism.
The problem is. It was only Ashnuw that was changed. There’s another large continent across the sea that was not affected by this change. There was essentially a circle around Ashnuw that was a divider line between the types of magnetism.
In this divider line, this zone between types of magnetism, no life could exist.
On that day when he changed the type of magnetism Ashnuw experienced great cataclysm. Some sky islands fell. Some caverns collapsed. New sky islands were formed as chunks of the earth broke off and floated into the sky.
But most importantly the plate tectonics underneath Ashnuw shifted the entire continent closer to the other continent and the two smashed against each other.
Now that the two continents are touching, people will be able to walk across between them, except for the fact that there was this zone between the two where the magnetism types change. No one in Ashnuw can crossover. They cannot survive on the other side. It would kill them. And the same is true of the people on the other side.
This region where all life ceases to exist is on the far west side of Ashnuw. It is called the Borax Uldek.
The same region of death can be found in the sea in a circle all the way around Ashnuw.
Boats don’t dare sell too close to it. Any fish or whales that swim into it die.
Pale was weakened by the exertion he put into this device that day and when he was attacked he had to escape. He will open the portal to his dimension and he and his men traveled through it and returned to their home.
He had not been seen for 700 years, but he was busy at work coming up with a new plan.
Season 1, 1/27/1700 - 2/11/1700
Our story begins with a man named Donindor. He has lived almost as long as Ashnuw has been. He is wise and powerful.
Recently there have been rumors of sightings of Pale’s men. Also a large forest in a region called Middlemarch has recently been found to be dying.
Back when Pale broke into that secret vault and stole the device back, the Order of Nahara realized that they had many such devices of power in their vault and needed to relocate them. They hid them away very safely in a way that no one could get at.
These objects of power had been hidden away safely for the last 700 years, but recently the Order of Nahara learned that someone was able to steal one of them.
They didn’t know who had done this, but whoever did it made them aware that he had stolen it.
Donindor’s mission was to retrieve all the objects of power that were hidden in this area while at the same time he wanted to look into this forest that is dying and learn more about these rumors of Pale’s men showing up again.
Donindor started posting quests for adventures with rewards of gold. Hidden throughout these quests he occasionally had a group of adventurers unknowingly bring him back one of these hidden objects.
Game 1, 1/27/1700
This is where our story begins. Many people arrive at this small town that has grown up as a result of these quests being posted here. This town had come to be known as Adventurers Outpost.
In game one last season the players were sent on a quest to go find a Ranger that had been sent to retrieve one of these objects of power. The Ranger had not come back and Donindor and feared that he ran into trouble.
On the road the adventurers ran into the Ranger and he was injured. He did not have the object with him. He explained that he had been ambushed by archers of a ghostly nature. They would disappear and reappear. Their bodies; although, were mostly covered, the parts that you could see appeared to have a smoky or gaseous look to them.
The adventurers hope the Ranger retrieve the object of power. It was sealed in a very heavy metal chest. This chest was hidden in another dimension and it required a special bluestone that Donindor had provided them in order to bring it into our dimension.
Once the players helped the Ranger to fight off these ghostly archers and retrieve the box he doublecrossed them and use the poison to weaken them all. He took four of them with him and had them carry the box for him leaving the rest behind.
The players returned empty-handed to Donindor at Adventurers Outpost.
As they recovered from the weakness a villager ran into town frantic. He told the sheriff there that he was out picking mushrooms and saw a man with four people carrying a box. He stayed out of sight. As he watched one of the four that was carrying the box (a woman) changed shape into a large bear and killed the Ranger dead. The bear then change shape into a large man wearing heavy armor and took the box and the other three people hostage with him.
This news upset Donindor very much. He believed that this Shapeshifter was an old enemy of his by the name of Athruu that he had not seen in a while.
Athruu
That night adventures logged in the Tavern and Donindor left to go speak to the council members of the Order of Nehara.
He was gone for a few days and confirmed that it was indeed Athruu that had done this. I was also reason to believe that Athruu was the one that stole that powerful device earlier.
When Donindor returned explained do the adventures that we are waiting there for him that Athruu how long ago been his people. He was being groomed to become a member of the Order of Nahara, but in time Donindor discovered that Athruu was too hungry for power. He had to dismiss him.
Athruu was fierce about this. He had dedicated so much of his life to becoming a member of the Order of Nahara. His father was a Guardian (The same race as Donindor). This rejection was too much for him. He vowed to seek his revenge upon Donindor and the Order.
Athruu fought Donindor for a long time, but could never best him. Donindor was always more powerful and better than him. Eventually Athruu stopped fighting him. That was about 30 years ago. Donindor hadn’t seen him since.
The heavy metal box that was stolen would not concern Donindor if it were in the hands of any other. The bluestone that he had given the Ranger put a timer on it and will cease to work after 24 hours. This would cause the box to go back to the other dimension at that time.
Also the box was virtually impregnable. The metal that is constructed from comes from the other dimension and is greater than 10 times the density of our metals
There’s now way to get into that box without a key and there’s no way to pick that lock.
But if Athruu had already found a way to get his hands on one of the other objects of power, he must know how to make his own bluestone and he must have a key to that box. This is very bad.
While Donindor was away and met with the council of the Order of Nahara he confirmed the device inside this particular box that was stolen it’s a crown called the Crown of Trillion. It was crafted long ago for a tyrant king. It could be used to control the minds of those around him. It’s hard to imagine what Athruu couldn’t do with this crown.
Donindor knew that he must get it back.
Game 2, 1/30/1700
But before Donindor arrived back from his journey a young boy came running into camp exclaiming that his parents and the others he was with were attacked by ghostly black knights.
He urged the adventures to follow him to the location of the attack to see if they can get there in time to rescue his parents and the others he was with.
They arrived to find the black nights gone and the people dying on the ground.
The healers in the group began to heal the people. One of them said that the black knights gave them a message. The message was they were attacked because they were friends of Donindor. This is the fate of those that follow Donindor.
At that point the trees around the group started moving, advancing towards them and begin to attack them.
The fought off the trees and saved the people.
Then in their minds they heard Donindor’s Voice calling them. He was in trouble and needed their help. He was being attacked. I told him which way to go to find him. They ran that direction and eventually found him being attacked by ghostly black knights.
They fought the black knights. As they slew them the knights didn’t stay down long. They got back up to fight again. Eventually after killing them repeatedly the knights grew weaker and had to retreat.
Donindor told the group be careful, Athruu had the Crown of Trillion. He explained that this crown could be used to control their minds if they got close to him.
On his way back from meeting with the Order of Nahara he took a detour to retrieve another crown that was crafted not long after the Crown of Trillion. This crown was crafted specifically to counter the Crown of Trillion. It did not control minds, but rather prevented the Crown of Trillion from doing so. Donindor gave each of the adventurers a wristband with a special stone on it. This would link them to him so that he could protect them.
He sent scouts to follow the black knights back to their camp in hopes that they would lead them to Athruu.
They found Athruu and more black knights. The three hostages were there too, mind they were being controlled by Athruu and appeared ready to stand side-by-side with the black knights, ready to fight Donindor and those with them.
The fight was fierce. All the black nights fort the adventures, Donindor and Athruu still at the far end of the battlefield waging a mental battle between the two of them.
Athruu was trying to break through the effects of the crown that Donindor wore and Donindor was trying to keep him at bay.
For a moment during the battle Donindor dropped to a knee and lost control. Everyone that was with him turned on him and was ready to attack him, but it only lasted a moment. Donindor quickly recovered and stood up. Those with the wristbands shook off the controlling affect that Athruu had on them for that moment and begin fighting the black knights once again.
The mental battle between Donindor and Athruu waged on. Eventually Donindor won this battle and the Crown of Trillion shattered.
The three captives that we’re fighting for Athruu turned on the black knights and with their help the adventurers defeated the black knights. Athruu used a teleportation device to escape.
But before they could relish the victory Donindor had bad news for them. He explained that in that moment that Athruu had beaten him, Athruu was able to look into his mind and discover the location of two more very powerful objects that are hidden.
Donindor knew that Athruu’s next move would be to get to them as fast as possible to claim them for himself.
Of the two objects Donindor knew which one he would go for first. It was the more powerful and closer of the two
It was a pair of powerful bracers. One bracer would heal the person wearing it almost instantly whenever they are injured. And the other could shoot out great bursts of energy blasting opponents back and doing a great deal of damage. Donindor could not let Athruu get his hands on these.
While the group slept a few hours, Donindor went off to get horses. The group woke up well before the sun rose that morning and took off for a town called Three Corners where the bracers could be found.
Donindor did not know exactly where the bracers were located and therefore Athruu didn’t either.
Game 3, 2/2/1700
Along the way they had to travel through territory owned by the Fenwomples. The Fenwomples are a tribal people that are pretty close to impervious to physical damage. They mostly keep to themselves, but are very territorial. Passing through their territory was a huge risk.
They were caught and almost killed by these creatures. In the end Donindor challenged them to a game of knowledge. This is one of the areas where they believe they are far superior to all other races in.
Donindor won his life and the lives of those with him in this challenge and he also won the respect of the Fenwomples that day.
The group moved on and made it to the town of Three Corners. When they arrived they found that this town was run by a crime boss named Bashi and all the people there with his slaves.
Donindor told the group to stay here, try to free these people and see if they could find any information from Bashi and his men about the location of some ruins. Donindor knew that The box was hidden in these ruins. Donindor split up with them and went off in search of the ruins himself.
The adventurers faced off against Bashi and his men. They discovered that one of them there and killed someone they knew it was close to not long ago. A fight ensued in the adventurers guild most of Bashi’s men.
They captured Bashi and learned from him that a rather large slave trading clan called the Blood Hammer Clan was nearby. Killing him and his men would serve no purpose. The Blood Hammer Clan would sweep in and take over this town as soon as they left.
The group decided to do something about this. Some of the people in the town told them that the Blood Hammer Clan had an airship that they used to capture people and take them as slaves.
The group found some explosives amongst Bashi’s things and took them heading towards the Blood Hammer Clan. Their plan was to blow up that airship.
They met the Blood Hammer Clan and attacked them. The battle was fierce. Mini members of the Blood Hammer Clan died that day. The group was eventually able to plant the bombs and blow up the airship.
At that point they met back up with Donindor. He told them that he had found the ruins and let them there.
When they reach the ruins, they met an enemy that they had already fought back at Adventurer's Outpost while Donindor was with the Order of Neharat. People call him the Plague Doctor.
He had taken up residence in these ruins and it’s that many traps preventing people from entering.
The adventurers learned how to navigate these deadly traps and get into a broken down castle. They made it and were able to retrieve the metal box with the powerful bracers.
On their way out the Blood Hammer Clan met them again in seek of revenge.
As they were fighting the blood Hammer Clan an old friend of Donindor that he had previously asked to meet him here arrived. She was also a Guardian (the same race as Donindor) and Named Ciana.
She was very powerful and was able to destroy many Blood Hammer Clan fighters. The rest of them retreated.
Donindor gave her the box so she could take it with her and she teleported back to the headquarters of the Order of Nahara, but just as she began to teleport, something terrible happened.
She began to flicker from one place to another and began to scream in pain.
They could see her in the distance teleporting back-and-forth between here and location not far away. They also saw Athruu standing near the other location and knew that he was behind this.
Her screaming stopped and she lie dead at Athruu’s feet. He open the box, took out the bracers and ran away.
The group raced after him, but he disappeared into the woods, likely having changed his shape into an animal or something.
Donindor was sick to his stomach and grief over the loss of his good friend. He was very angry at Athruu for this, but knew that they would not be able to track him down. Their only hope was to beat him to the next object of power and defeat him there.
Game 4, 2/8/1700
The next object of power what’s a device they can be used as a portal to another dimension. There are many dimensions in this device could be used to dial into any of them. Donindor had no idea what evil use Athruu would find for this device, but knew that he could not let him get his hands on it.
The group traveled a long distance to a small town in the kingdom of Kelindor where they would find a cave entrance they would leave them deep down into the caverns under Kelindor. There was an ancient city down there and this is where this final powerful object was hidden.
Well in the town they discovered that Athruu had beaten them there and had murdered a man well in the form of Donindor. When the people there saw Donindor they accused him of this murder. Donindor was arrested and he told the group to go on without him.
The group went deep down into the mines and ran into a group of gnomes along the way.
They learned that Athruu and visited these gnomes sometime ago and had forced them to use a powerful magnetic device to go through the Borax Uldek and retrieve a rock worm from the other side. It turns out that these gnomes are not affected by the change in magnetism in the other continent. Also the rock worm is not affected. Athruu had taken the gnome princess captive and was threatening to kill her unless the gnomes did this for him. They were to use the rock worm, driving it (with this magnetic device) under the forest in Middlemarch. When the rock worm digs through and eats the rock as he goes he converts it to magnetic rock that is left behind. This rock worm from the other continent converted the rock under the forest in Middlemarch to a magnetism of the opposite type. This is why the forest was dying.
The adventurers promised the gnomes that they would rescue their princess and ask them to please stop the worm from doing this and return it to the other continent.
The gnomes told them that they would only do that after their princess was rescued for they feared Athruu.
As they left, the gnomes warned them that they were deadly traps in the direction that they were headed, but the adventurers knew that they had to go that way anyhow.
They faced many deadly traps along the way and nearly lost their lives in the process, but did make it through them.
When they finally made it to the location where the metal box was hidden they pulled out a blue stone and caused the box to come back into their dimension.
At that point a small army of ghostly black knights and archers attacked them. These beings were from Pale’s world.
Adventurers fought them off and nearly had them defeated when Athruu arrived. He used his bracers to send powerful blasts of energy at the adventures. They were helpless against his power. He opened the box and pulled out the dimensional shifter.
Just then the ghostly black knights of Pale attacked him, cutting off his arm with the healing bracer on it and they took the dimensional shifter from him.
Suddenly Donindor showed up and caused the cavern ceiling to crash down upon all of the black nights he put a shield over the adventurers as well as Athruu.
Athruu was able to grab his severed arm and put it back on his body, allowing the healing bracer to do its job.
Athruu was confused as to why Donindor spared his life and Donindor explained to him, “don’t you see that you were being used by Pale all along. he was only allowing you to use his troops so that he could get his hands on the dimensional shifter. That was his endgame all along.”
Donindor now had the dimensional shifter. Athruu, seeing how he had been betrayed, backed out of the room and left.
The group now headed for the volcano were the gnome princess was being held. They fought the Pale knights and freed her.
Then they went back to Adventurer’s Outpost. Along the way Donindor hid the dimensional shifter in a safe place fearing that if he kept it on his person right now they would be attacked again and it would be lost.
Game 5, 2/25/1700
Not long after they reached Middlemarch an army of soldiers attacked Adventurers Outpost. Their Organization was a kind of religious fanatical group. They were there for the dimensional shifter and claimed that they were the only ones who could truly stop Pale.
They claimed that Donindor was a bumbling fool and had already lost too many times to Athruu. It was time that they took over and did things right.
Their group was large and they captured everyone in Adventurer's Outpost.
They had with them a super weapon--The Rectifier, a canon capable of destroying an entire large city. They used it that day to let all the Kingdoms of Ashnuw know just how powerful they are.. Their weapon was launched from Middlemarch and struck Western Ahnkleffleebdloodle. The devastation it didn’t there was immense.
They forced Donindor to drink a truth serum and asked him where the dimensional shifter was. He started to lead them to it, but was able to resist the truth serum just enough to lead them in circles for a long time.
The adventures we’re bound with bindings on the wrists that prevented them from using their special abilities. They were escorted out of adventurers outpost and we’re on their way to being led out of Middlemarch when Athruu showed up and attacked the soldiers that held them captive.
He freed the adventurers and told them that Donindor needed their help quickly. They did not trust him, but knew that what he said was true.
They retrieved their weapons and ran off to find Donindor.
When they found him they discovered that Pale’s warriors were there and had already attacked the soldiers that had Donindor. Donindor had managed to escape and ran to meet the adventurers. Together they began to fight Pale’s warriors.
In time they began to defeat them, but just then Pale himself showed up.
Donindor knew just how powerful Pale was and told the adventurers to stay back. Athruu showed up and helped Donindor as they both fought Pale side-by-side.
Pale was winning this battle. Donindor and Athruu were getting hit hard. Athruu pulled out his blue stone and ran to find the metal box that contained the dimensional shifter. We opened it and brought it back to the fight. He turned it on and used it on Pale.
The device was able to send Pale to another dimension. The battle was over.
Athruu approached Donindor and handed him the dimensional shifter. Donindor forgave him for the wrongs that he had done against him, but told him that he could not speak for all the others that he had injured. He told him that Elyon (God) has forgiven him and that he could turn to him. Athruu was repentant, but not convinced that Elyon would forgive him for all that he had done.
Athruu parted ways with Donindor.
The Off-Season, 1700
After the season ended, the group of knights that took Middlemarch (called the Sanctified) bombed two other kingdoms, Canubala Cwtch and Kokka and has been the focus of all the nations since then. It has been about three months since they took Middlemarch. They still hold it.
Rescue Mission, 2/25/1700
The adventurers were all scattered after the fall of Middlemarch and Donindor disappeared. However, two characters had been kept in Middlemarch as prisoners and a small group of the adventurer's banded together to rescue them. Several weeks later, the band made an alliance with the infamous Blue Cloak Elf Assassions and infiltrated Sanctified-held Adventurer's Outpost.
The adventurer's were captured by the Sanctified and double crossed by the Blue Cloaks. However, they were able to make a deal with the leader of the Sanctified in Middlemarch, Baldwin, and were allowed to go free.
From there, the band mourned their dead and disbanded.
Threat to Torria, 3/15/1700
One of the characters sent out a letter to his fellow adventurers, asking them to come to Torria and help overthrow Bronus--a man who was now somehow brainwashing Torria into following the Sanctified. Donindor reappeared to meet the travelers there in Torria, but he was not there for long. When the adventurer's came face to face with Bronus, he used a device to send them all back in time to his ancient lair during the Pale War. Only by playing his games and defeating him were they able to return to the proper time. Though history had now been altered.
Once again, the group disbanded.
DeBye Debacle, 4/8/1700
A Guardian named Flinder came to the aid of one of Donindor's adventurers by writing her former companions to help her recover her missing son. The challenge of this mission was that it took place on the sky island of DuBye, so the questers kept periodically losing their memories due to the filia scattered throughout the region. Thankfully, they recovered the child and all was well.
The Broostwater Meetings, 3/22/1700, 4/20/1700
The kingdoms of Ashnuw came together at Broostwater, Heuntsia to discuss what to do with the Sanctified and invited their Grand Master Artois to the meeting. The Sanctified came, but talk was unproductive. Sudden panic ended the meeting when members began to suspect that the Sanctified were planning to bomb Broostwater. The city evacuated, just in time for an armada of Sanctified Airships to appear and take the city peaceably..
Current
The Sanctified have positioned the Rectifier on a sky island above Middlemarch not far from Adventurers Outpost and continue to be a threat to all the kingdoms of Ashnuw.
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