Intro to Locksburg

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It started with a dream. A vision, perhaps. In your dream, a figure visited clad in swirling black and purple robes. It wore a smooth iron mask, and there were no discernible features on its body. In this dream, the figure promised to fulfill a wish of yours in return for aiding it. It went on to say that it had observed, and you had shown your potential. You are no hero; you know your way around conflict, but a hero, you are not. After waking, you found the letter. The letter signed by “The Visitor ” leading you to Locksburg. Perhaps it was the gnawing at the back of your mind, or maybe the promise of your wish, but something made you leave that day.

You follow a muddy path through dripping forests until you emerge upon a hill. From here, you can see the entirety of Wizard’s Bay, the town attached to it. Locksburg, an ugly barnacle stuck to the murky green waters of the bay. The coastal town is home to the Wizard’s Tower, a place of utmost secrecy where the magical elite of Everglen are trained, research, and reside. You are familiar with it and the infamous stories it holds, but little is known about what really goes on in the tower submerged under the bay.

Pushing through the steady rain, you descend down the hill and through the prairie that leads to Locksburg. The shabby wooden walls of the town are slick with water and slime. The logs have rotted in areas, exposing parts of the wobbly ramparts protecting the frail village. Two guards motion you through the gate. They’re wearing green and red checkered tabards with the faded crest of Everglen’s capital city across the chest. The crest displays two spiraling towers with a large depiction of the sun between them.

The guards wear thick masks. An unknown disease has been plaguing Everglen for months. King Heinrich Steele declared it as an emergency. Its roots are unknown, but its effects are odd and lethal. You’ve only heard hushed rumors, but it seemingly turns people into aquatic half-breeds. During metamorphosis, the host loses themselves. They experience memory loss, language deficiency, and eventually, complete amnesia. Hosts will speak of the ocean and worship idols from the sea; these can be shells, pieces of driftwood, or fish themselves.

The plague spreads randomly, and it has already claimed hundreds across Everglen. There are whispers among the denizens that the plague was brought over the border by agents acting for Kengrim’s government. Others say that the living have defiled their link with the Gods.

The guards cast you leery glances through their thick goggled masks. Any and all outsiders are mistrusted. More agents of Kengrim? More doctors with faux cure-alls? Infected roamers seeking the ocean of Wizard’s Bay?

One could never be too sure.

You approach the guild hall, a place long forgotten in the muddy town center of Locksburg. The age of heroes is long gone in Everglen. Now, only mercenaries and soldiers remain, fighting endless wars for maddened leaders. Once, this place was the beating heart of the town. Now, it’s just another hazy memory, waiting to be completely forgotten.

Attached to the mysterious letter you’d found was a bounty. It ordered the cleansing of a house in Locksburg. The house is host to several infected people who have nearly completed their transformations into aquatic monsters. In their letter, the Visitor explained where to go inside the guild hall and who to speak with. You find a dark-haired human named J who silently leads you to a curtained off circular booth. The round table is immaculate compared to the rest of the dump.

You find others sitting around the table, but no figure in purple robes. Just other confused mercenaries.

This is where your adventure begins.