One-shot: The Red Star
“Welcome to the Known Realms of an age long past. It is more than eighteen hundred years before the time of our current campaign. You will find no Ilsted or Kewhua in this version of the world; indeed, those countries will not exist for more than a millennium. In this time the north of the Known Realms is a wild, untamed landscape of forests, and the south is ruled by the Torkoth Dominion.”
The Torkoth Dominion rules the southern continent, and the shining city of Lenathyr stands as a monument to the magical and technological supremacy of this mighty race. However, prophecies and soothsayers have warned of an imminent threat, something coming that will wipe out their entire civilisation. The Dominion is in a frenzy to avert this coming cataclysm, and the Conclave, the Dominion’s leadership, have sent the adventuring party known as the Silver Cord to the north, in search of the witch Enid, said to be in possession of a powerful weapon found in the corpse of Gellumgrah, the titanic creation of Saeva, Old God of Cruelty and the Lost. The Silver Cord are renowned heroes and champions of Lenathyr, and are made up of:Sediki, the White Flame, First Sword of Lenathyr and Paladin of the Conclave, long entrusted with the legendary sword Lightweaver, the blade that brings the dawn.
Marcia, the Alseer, Loremaster of the Arcanum, the greatest institution of magical learning in the Dominion.
Astrea, the Worldshaper, Archmage of Graviturgy, Seventh Pillar of Moradin, possessor of the staff Winnower, oldest of all magical creations in the Known Realms.
Pan, the Voice of the Wilds, Blessed of the Wildmother, mighty druid that speaks for the natural order in Torkoth society.
The Silver Cord entered Enid’s lair and engaged the witch in battle. Pan transformed into a Hydra to fight her while the others fought off the undead she summoned to protect her. Sediki fought her way to the witch and slew her, but as she stabbed her sword into the witch she pulled Sediki close to her and pushed a strange red orb into Sediki’s chest, saying “As you condemn me to the darkness, so find yourself condemned: you are cursed, both to save this world… and to end it.”. Enid then died. Searching her mountain-cave lair, the Cord found several artifacts and old tomes written in a strange language, which Marcia kept to hand over to the Arcanum. They then rode on horseback to Lenathyr, passing through the great city of silver spires to the Palace of the Conclave, where a Communion of the Conclave was taking place. There the party recounted their journey, though they didn’t reveal the full extent of Sediki’s experience. The rest of the Conclave gave reports: Anipe, a Peer of the Divining Halls, reported that the prophecies and divinations were unchanged: disaster was still foretold. Xeras, Titan of the Eylenmir (the Torkoth military) reported that the scourging of the hill giants had been a success, and the race no longer maintained a foothold in the eastern broadlands. The Conclave discussed the wisdom in targeting these races that historically posed no threat to the Dominion, but ultimately decided to launch a crusade against the goblinoid races of the west. The Conclave then questioned the absence of Sunborn Suturn, the head of the Solarum, a group responsible for maintaining the Solarus – the colossal glass sphere containing a vast magical energy that powered Lenathyr. His subordinate reported that Suturn had gone missing, and the Silver Cord were assigned to investigate.
They travelled to the Solarus, where Suturn’s quarters revealed that many of his recent work had disappeared. They found evidence of the invisibility spell having been cast in his quarters, as well as correspondence from Thorom of Clan Ardhr in Morakein, capital city of Mondehur, the land of the deepfolk in the east. The correspondence seemed to indicate that Thorom had been building something for Suturn. The Cord then visited the Divining Halls, meeting with Anipe to ask if she could divine what had happened to Sediki. The Diviner could find little wrong with the Paladin, though she noted that Sediki’s future, along with that of the rest of the Cord, seemed now uncertain, in a bizarre limbo.
The Silver Cord then travelled east in the Paragon, their advanced airship powered by the dying breath of an Ancient Gold Dragon. They flew over the grasslands of the Dominion to the mountains of Mondehur, coming to the Deepfolk city to find it assaulted by Stone Drakes, monstrous grey dragon-like beings. Fighting against the attack were numerous Deepfolk warriors supported by huge statue-like mechs manned by Deepfolk. The Cord landed the Paragon behind the defensive line and helped repel the invasion. They then met with Thorom, a gruff Deepfolk who told them that he had worked on several complex pieces of rune-inscribed stonework for Suturn, but didn’t know what the finished piece was intended to be. The runes, however, had been mostly conjuration in nature. Marcia and Astrea speculated that this could indicate portal technology, and the group returned to the Paragon to find they were being contacted by Anipe, who told them that the Divining Halls had been able to determine that Suturn had recently been in the hills in the north-east of the Dominion lands. Since the Cord were closest, they travelled there to investigate.
Trekking through the forests and moors, they narrowly avoided battle with an Udaak, a mighty six-legged beast, after Pan inadvertently provoked it. They then located Suturn’s hideout in a cave system. The door was rigged with an explosive enchantment, injuring the party slightly, but inside the cave they found evidence of Suturn having spent a lot of time there. They determined that this place had been used to refine the stonework made by Thorom, and found a journal left by Suturn. It described dreams Suturn had been having, in which extraplanar beings offered him aid in averting the coming cataclysm. They could only provide so much aid from afar, however, and asked him to build a portal to allow them to travel into the world. Suturn had determined that they only power source capable of powering the portal was the Solarus. As the Cord realised what Suturn intended they felt a rumbling through the ground. Hurrying back to the Paragon they contacted the city, only to lose contact with Anipe after she told them that the Lenathyr was under attack.
The Silver Cord flew the Paragon across the land, with Astrea climbing atop the airship to increase their speed by manipulating gravity. Arriving at Lenathyr, they found the great city aflame. Gargantuan, monstrous worms of fire drifted through the sky, destroying entire towers and ravaging the city while fiends stormed through the streets below. One colossal fiery worm, a Fire Dreadnaught, turned its attention towards the Paragon. Astrea increased the speed of the airship once more, and as they charged the beast the Graviturgy Wizard increased the density of the vessel. They tore through the Dreadnaught’s back, breaking its spine and sending it crashing to the city below, dead. The Paragon was torn open, all its systems offline as it spun from the sky. The Silver Cord propelled themselves upwards at the last moment, using feather fall to land safely on the streets of Lenathyr. They raced towards the Solarus.
There they found the members of the Solarum slaughtered, and before the glass wall looking into the Solarus was the assembled portal, and the dead body of Suturn. A voice spoke to them: “I do not know if it will be of any comfort to you, but he died in full awareness of the magnitude of his mistake. It was a folly to come here, yet you came all the same. Is this the enduring spirit of mortals, to stand against such insurmountable despair?”
A nine-foot tall being of deep red skin with a face like a horse’s skull and long flaming hair, wielding a flaming scythe and a Morningstar, emerged from behind the portal. He introduced himself as Alzrius, Demon Lord of Infernal Light. He told them he had come to cleanse the world, to curate a paradise for the ‘Prince of Demons’. He said that the Known Realms had been lost to them before, as it had been “cast out into the multiversal sea”, but with Suturn’s portal they could now reach it. To demonstrate, he lifted a hand, and the Cord watched through the shattered roof of the Solarus temple as a rift opened above them and another Fire Dreanaught emerged. Behind Alzrius, two Balor came through the portal, and the Cord charged into battle.
Astrea and Marcia worked to hold back Alzrius, keeping him embroiled in dark clouds of arcane energy as Pan transformed into a Hydra and she and Sediki battled the two Balor. Alzrius fought through the arcane storm and began launching spells at the two wizards as Sediki and Pan slew the two Balor, which exploded into firestorms that greatly wounded Marcia. As they attempted to recover, Alzrius struck down both wizards with two Power Word Kills. With Pan forced from her Hydra form, Sediki managed to slay Alzrius, running him through with Lightweaver.
As Pan and Sediki collapsed next to their dead friends, they looked over the shattered ruins of the temple to the city beyond. Fire Dreadnaughts tore through buildings and the city burned as hordes of demons came through yet more rifts. Sediki heard the voice of Enid speak in her mind: “This is the end – but it can also be a beginning.” As the voice faded, the ruby-red orb emerged from her chest, falling into the Paladin’s hand. After a moment of discussion, the two surviving members of the Cord agreed, and Sediki shattered the orb. As the sky overhead darkened to a bloody crimson, Pan stood and cast Tsunami, and a wave of water began to wash through the city, obliterating much of the demon hordes as the sky grew brighter and brighter, as the Red Star came, striking Lenathyr and obliterating all.
The Torkoth Dominion was wiped out in its entirety, its society and knowledge lost to such an extent that almost nothing of them is remembered by the fragments of population that survived the red star. These survivors, some of them humans, elves and firbolgs from outlying regions or distant lands held under the control of the Dominion, in time banded together and founded a new land over the ashes of the old. This nation today bears the name Tzenketh, and its capital city of Pelduin stands where Lenathyr once was. The forests west of the Dominion were mostly incinerated by the coming of the star, and the ash that fell over this land gave rise to a mighty jungle that would be home to the handful of nations that would eventually come together to become the United Nations of Kewhua. You won’t find Mondehur on a modern map: the deep folk that survived fled far underground, and when they emerged centuries later, they had become sturdier and hardier. They called themselves the dwarves.
“This has been a story of the coming of a time of darkness, of fire and ruin. Civilisation is gone. More than four fifths of the population of the Known Realms died in the Coming of the Red Star, but this was not a story of loss. This was the story of those that survived, and the ones who ensured that they did. And though civilisation has been destroyed, thanks to you, it will not be gone forever.”
The Torkoth Dominion rules the southern continent, and the shining city of Lenathyr stands as a monument to the magical and technological supremacy of this mighty race. However, prophecies and soothsayers have warned of an imminent threat, something coming that will wipe out their entire civilisation. The Dominion is in a frenzy to avert this coming cataclysm, and the Conclave, the Dominion’s leadership, have sent the adventuring party known as the Silver Cord to the north, in search of the witch Enid, said to be in possession of a powerful weapon found in the corpse of Gellumgrah, the titanic creation of Saeva, Old God of Cruelty and the Lost. The Silver Cord are renowned heroes and champions of Lenathyr, and are made up of:
They travelled to the Solarus, where Suturn’s quarters revealed that many of his recent work had disappeared. They found evidence of the invisibility spell having been cast in his quarters, as well as correspondence from Thorom of Clan Ardhr in Morakein, capital city of Mondehur, the land of the deepfolk in the east. The correspondence seemed to indicate that Thorom had been building something for Suturn. The Cord then visited the Divining Halls, meeting with Anipe to ask if she could divine what had happened to Sediki. The Diviner could find little wrong with the Paladin, though she noted that Sediki’s future, along with that of the rest of the Cord, seemed now uncertain, in a bizarre limbo.
The Silver Cord then travelled east in the Paragon, their advanced airship powered by the dying breath of an Ancient Gold Dragon. They flew over the grasslands of the Dominion to the mountains of Mondehur, coming to the Deepfolk city to find it assaulted by Stone Drakes, monstrous grey dragon-like beings. Fighting against the attack were numerous Deepfolk warriors supported by huge statue-like mechs manned by Deepfolk. The Cord landed the Paragon behind the defensive line and helped repel the invasion. They then met with Thorom, a gruff Deepfolk who told them that he had worked on several complex pieces of rune-inscribed stonework for Suturn, but didn’t know what the finished piece was intended to be. The runes, however, had been mostly conjuration in nature. Marcia and Astrea speculated that this could indicate portal technology, and the group returned to the Paragon to find they were being contacted by Anipe, who told them that the Divining Halls had been able to determine that Suturn had recently been in the hills in the north-east of the Dominion lands. Since the Cord were closest, they travelled there to investigate.
Trekking through the forests and moors, they narrowly avoided battle with an Udaak, a mighty six-legged beast, after Pan inadvertently provoked it. They then located Suturn’s hideout in a cave system. The door was rigged with an explosive enchantment, injuring the party slightly, but inside the cave they found evidence of Suturn having spent a lot of time there. They determined that this place had been used to refine the stonework made by Thorom, and found a journal left by Suturn. It described dreams Suturn had been having, in which extraplanar beings offered him aid in averting the coming cataclysm. They could only provide so much aid from afar, however, and asked him to build a portal to allow them to travel into the world. Suturn had determined that they only power source capable of powering the portal was the Solarus. As the Cord realised what Suturn intended they felt a rumbling through the ground. Hurrying back to the Paragon they contacted the city, only to lose contact with Anipe after she told them that the Lenathyr was under attack.
The Silver Cord flew the Paragon across the land, with Astrea climbing atop the airship to increase their speed by manipulating gravity. Arriving at Lenathyr, they found the great city aflame. Gargantuan, monstrous worms of fire drifted through the sky, destroying entire towers and ravaging the city while fiends stormed through the streets below. One colossal fiery worm, a Fire Dreadnaught, turned its attention towards the Paragon. Astrea increased the speed of the airship once more, and as they charged the beast the Graviturgy Wizard increased the density of the vessel. They tore through the Dreadnaught’s back, breaking its spine and sending it crashing to the city below, dead. The Paragon was torn open, all its systems offline as it spun from the sky. The Silver Cord propelled themselves upwards at the last moment, using feather fall to land safely on the streets of Lenathyr. They raced towards the Solarus.
There they found the members of the Solarum slaughtered, and before the glass wall looking into the Solarus was the assembled portal, and the dead body of Suturn. A voice spoke to them: “I do not know if it will be of any comfort to you, but he died in full awareness of the magnitude of his mistake. It was a folly to come here, yet you came all the same. Is this the enduring spirit of mortals, to stand against such insurmountable despair?”
A nine-foot tall being of deep red skin with a face like a horse’s skull and long flaming hair, wielding a flaming scythe and a Morningstar, emerged from behind the portal. He introduced himself as Alzrius, Demon Lord of Infernal Light. He told them he had come to cleanse the world, to curate a paradise for the ‘Prince of Demons’. He said that the Known Realms had been lost to them before, as it had been “cast out into the multiversal sea”, but with Suturn’s portal they could now reach it. To demonstrate, he lifted a hand, and the Cord watched through the shattered roof of the Solarus temple as a rift opened above them and another Fire Dreanaught emerged. Behind Alzrius, two Balor came through the portal, and the Cord charged into battle.
Astrea and Marcia worked to hold back Alzrius, keeping him embroiled in dark clouds of arcane energy as Pan transformed into a Hydra and she and Sediki battled the two Balor. Alzrius fought through the arcane storm and began launching spells at the two wizards as Sediki and Pan slew the two Balor, which exploded into firestorms that greatly wounded Marcia. As they attempted to recover, Alzrius struck down both wizards with two Power Word Kills. With Pan forced from her Hydra form, Sediki managed to slay Alzrius, running him through with Lightweaver.
As Pan and Sediki collapsed next to their dead friends, they looked over the shattered ruins of the temple to the city beyond. Fire Dreadnaughts tore through buildings and the city burned as hordes of demons came through yet more rifts. Sediki heard the voice of Enid speak in her mind: “This is the end – but it can also be a beginning.” As the voice faded, the ruby-red orb emerged from her chest, falling into the Paladin’s hand. After a moment of discussion, the two surviving members of the Cord agreed, and Sediki shattered the orb. As the sky overhead darkened to a bloody crimson, Pan stood and cast Tsunami, and a wave of water began to wash through the city, obliterating much of the demon hordes as the sky grew brighter and brighter, as the Red Star came, striking Lenathyr and obliterating all.
***
The meteorite that struck in the heart of the Torkoth Dominion obliterated the vast majority of the major cities in an instant, before emitting a shockwave that encompassed the entire south of the continent. The impact sent hundreds of thousands of tons of stone, ash and rubble into the sky, creating an ash cloud that would cover the continent for centuries to come. It ushered in an ice age across the north of the continent, freezing its forests and rendering it uninhabitable until the ash cloud dispersed.
The Torkoth Dominion was wiped out in its entirety, its society and knowledge lost to such an extent that almost nothing of them is remembered by the fragments of population that survived the red star. These survivors, some of them humans, elves and firbolgs from outlying regions or distant lands held under the control of the Dominion, in time banded together and founded a new land over the ashes of the old. This nation today bears the name Tzenketh, and its capital city of Pelduin stands where Lenathyr once was. The forests west of the Dominion were mostly incinerated by the coming of the star, and the ash that fell over this land gave rise to a mighty jungle that would be home to the handful of nations that would eventually come together to become the United Nations of Kewhua. You won’t find Mondehur on a modern map: the deep folk that survived fled far underground, and when they emerged centuries later, they had become sturdier and hardier. They called themselves the dwarves.
“This has been a story of the coming of a time of darkness, of fire and ruin. Civilisation is gone. More than four fifths of the population of the Known Realms died in the Coming of the Red Star, but this was not a story of loss. This was the story of those that survived, and the ones who ensured that they did. And though civilisation has been destroyed, thanks to you, it will not be gone forever.”
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