Description of Alliance High Level (21) Characters
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Salzar: He is currently playing Torin the dwarven cleric of Athena. However, Torin used to be a dwarven fighter with Leadership. His cohort was a cleric of Athena. The cohort, Erick, has now been declared just a good friend since the changing of Torin's build. Torin is also the great-nephew of the King of the Hill Dwarves, Dainlin.
Ozymandias: His character is Eathirilu Treeheart, an elven druid that through a series of events has changed his permanent form into that of a panda. Eathirilu has a special relationship with dinosaurs and likes to wild shape into them and summon them with spells. His companion is Toothy the raptor. Ozymandias' previous character was Sabriyya Kal'lel, a elven dervish and two-weapon fighter from Mars' Oasis. She was a freedom fighter always ready to oppose evil. Sabriyya left because she did not like the idea that the party was allying with undead. Ozymandias' character before that was a Red Wizard named Preta with a cohort named Shez. Preta is exiled for killing civilians during a riot. Ozymandias doesn't usually switch characters this often, but he has been this campaign.
Middle_Snu: His character is a Aractrashan noble named Hektor of Lakatia. Hektor is a extremely capable wizard who has pledged his support to the Alliance. He hopes that the rest of Aractrash will follow his example. Middle_Snu used to play Terroc, a powerful conjurer and one of the longest running PCs ever. He went through three of my campaigns. Terroc betrayed the Alliance and joined the Xorians. Middle_Snu is currently taking a break from the campaign while he works in Israel.
Thewamp: He is playing a crusader/warblade named Tagenadi. He uses AoO and Stormguard warrior with a Kusari-gama. Tagenadi was an officer in the Xorian army before the Dragovinians took control. He hates the draconic vampires and has joined the Alliance to end their reign. Tagenadi has just journeyed to Hell and returned in an undead state after bargaining with Hades. Thewamp used to play a hellfire warlock named Logan. Logan is a senior member of the Adventurers Guild in Phoenix. Logan is originally from Gazeara, but he fled after the town was conquered by the Xorians. Thewamp retired the character because he was bored with the build. Logan will remain a character in the campaign.
Throgg: He used to run a diplomacy bard named Amalius, but we decided that was too ridiculous. He remade Amalius as a Telepath who dominates stuff. Same effect basically, but less broken. Amalius was the grandson of Throgg's character in the last campaign. Amalius hates his grandfather for reasons that are clearer in the Description of the Last Campaign section. Amalius' family was held hostage by the Xorians and they forced him to spy on the Alliance. He recovered his family, but their memories and his own do not match up, casting doubt on who they really are. Amalius has a cohort named Aldarian, who was briefly played by Zigfried but has since returned to cohort status. Aldarian is an elf rogue who pretended to be a paladin for awhile. Aldarian has died numerous times since the campaign began. He now has a prestige class associated with dying a lot
Zigfried: He was originally known as Longshanks on this site and has since changed his SN to Zigfried. He’s a friend of Throgg that started playing League of Legends with our group a lot. All of us got to be good pals with him, so we invited him into the D&D group. Zigfried took over playing Aldarian from Throgg for his introduction to D&D. Now that Zigfried has learned the rules he's made himself a nasty gish named Danar. Along with an ancestral group of heroes, Danar was responsible for creating the Orbs of Dragonkind. Now that the Red Orb is destroyed, he has returned to kick some dragon butt.
Description of Rebellion Low Level (6) Characters
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Salzar: Salzar is playing Draco, a halfling rogue/sorcerer aiming for the arcane trickster class. He used to play the ex-Dragovinian human archer ranger named Wu Lang Li.
Ozymandias: He's playing an ex-Dragovinian halfling rogue named Sivirdm. Sivirdm used to be a spellthief, but we realized that was lame and I allowed Ozymandias to redesign Sivirdm as a straight rogue.
Middle_Snu: He is playing a half-orc champion named Korjak. The champion class is designed by the Giant and can be found in the homebrew section of the forums. Korjak’s champion form is that of the Nordic god Balder. Corporal Korjak is the official commander of the party within the Rebellion’s military hierarchy. Middle_Snu is currently taking a break from the campaign while he works in Israel.
Thewamp: He's playing an ex-Dragovinian halfling beguiler named Stanton. Stanton is the same name of an older character of thewamp's. Stanton became famous within our group when he was knocked unconscious by an orc child. Middle_Snu even wrote a song about it:
Oh Stanton, oh Stanton
He almost lost a leg,
Oh Stanton, oh Stanton
He was just a babe
It went on for longer, but I only remember the chorus.
Throgg: Throgg is playing an ex-Dragovinian orc barbarian named Gregor. Yes, his strength score is ridiculous. It gets up to 26 when raging. He has to deal with playing what is essentially a slave race in the civilized world though. Throgg may also be going for my homebrewed prestige class,
The Impenetrable Warrior, which I have been begging for my players to playtest for a very long time.
Zigfried: Zigfried has taken over playing the NPC, Reggy. This could easily change in the future.
Important NPCs for both Campaigns (Characters will be removed and added from this list as needed)
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King Jevaninada II: The leader of the Xorian Empire and the first Dragovinian. Jev hated his oppressive mother and killed her to take the throne. Jev is 50 years old and as yet unmarried. He is expanding the Xorian Empire into Eastern Cimmeria.
Blendegad the Reaper:A bit of a recurring villain for the players. He beat them up in the first campaign for this world. He beat up their allies in the third campaign for this world. He's their BBEG for this campaign, the fourth for this world. He's a Vampire Hexblade who changed himself into a Dragon and has now taken levels in Dragon Ascendant to become part god.
The New Rages: Jevaninada II's father was served by many powerful NPCs known as the Seven Rages. The four New Rages serve as Jevaninada II's generals. They are some of the most powerful Dragovinians in existence. Three of them were slain at the Battle of Phoenix. The three were Degusharla, Frost, and Ashabodai. The only remaining Rage is Barejando.
Astyanax: He is the military leader of Bradel Fields as well as the Alliance as a whole. He is the son of an NPC friend of the PCs in the last campaign, Hector. Astyanax is a paladin and a member of the Alliance war council. He is dictator of Bradel Fields after killing a few senators in a coup. His paladinhood is silently in question.
Arendil: He is the political leader of the Alliance and of Jipangu. He is a 76 year old human wizard. He is the leader of the Alliance war council.
Gradorian: He is a hobgoblin and the leader of the mercenaries guild in Phoenix. Gradorian has mastered almost all fighting styles. He is a member of the Alliance war council. He is training the refugees from Phoenix for combat at the Alliance city, Jipangu.
Junai: She is an elven two-weapon fighter and Gradorian's second-in-command. Junai was a character of my sister's before she quit playing. Junai is a member of the Alliance war council.
Titandra: She is the leader of Restnor's Point. She is a blind elf cleric. She is a voice of reason and restraint on the Alliance war council.
Kig Yupington: He is an apparently raceless being trained in hand-to-hand fighting. Kig is the leader of Restnor's Point military and a member of the Alliance war council. Kig is a favorite NPC of the players. They gave him the Scepter of Dorrowsan and he is moving the city to Jipangu to join up with Gradorian.
Major Dactirian: Dactirian is the leader of the Rebellion in Bigby's Forest. He is uncanny at predicting his opponents move in a fight.
Alkmene Halkias: The sister of Amalgami the Betrayer who destroyed the First Alliance. Alkmene seeks to redeem her family's name that was sullied by Amalgami. She is the last elder druid from Semanarie. Alkmene is a senior ranking member of the Rebellion.
Princess Tarigananata: Tari was accused of demonic possession by her brother. She fought against him in the First Xorian War and lost. When she lost the demon inside of her fully possessed her. She lost control and began ravaging throughout all of Xoria. During a great battle with one of her brother's servants she was able to regain control of the demon. She now fights a constant battle to keep its power contained within herself. Tari is assisting the Rebellion in what ways she can, although she is quite old now and close to death.
Stevie the Wonder Wagon: An animated and awakened iron wagon with a face and 4 arms who was the party's henchman in the last campaign. The players made him in one of their... moments... Stevie rolled horribly on his mental stats (Int 8, Wis 8, Cha 4) and acts somewhat retarded. He has joined the Rebellion against the Xorians in Bigby's Forest. He has 6 levels in Barbarian and wields 4 greatswords in his 4 arms. Stevie can move close to 40mph.
Reggy: A slave that the lower level party purchased along Danar's River. He's a crude jokester and has endeared himself to the party through his dirty jokes.
Terroc: Middle_Snu's character for many years. I was originally unsure of how much Middle_Snu would be involved in the campaign so I made Terroc a spy for the Xorians. He betrayed the alliance with his magical powers and stole the Sword of Kruk-Ma-Kali. He has been rewarded with Dragovinian status and is ready to terrorize the party in the future.
The Antenator: The new form of the Greek god of death, Thanatos. The Antenator is a three-headed bodak that resides at the top of the Silver Tower in the undead city, Crux. Those who reach the top of the tower can ask it any question they want. From the tower the Antenator is responsible for transporting the souls of every dead person to the underworld. The Antenator may have been tricked by Xorians and an accomplice with god-like powers.
Bjorn: The insane leader of Dalleer. He was appointed by the last leader. Bjorn is actually a title taken from the name of the original ruler of Dalleer. The party discovered that the current Bjorn and the man he is named after are the same person. The Bjorn is an accomplished psion who has spent centuries assuming new identities to rule over his city. The Bjorn is now a powerful but secret ally of the PCs.
The Dahak: A terrible monster that protects the timeline of Cimmeria. He lives within the large volcano that Greshendale is built upon. The Dahak is the being responsible for poisoning Zeus and subsequently allowing the Dragovinians to expand their zone of influence without significant opposition from the Olympians. The Dahak poisoned Zeus in order to steal Metis from Zeus' belly. The Dahak hopes that Metis and Zeus will have a son who will then overthrow Zeus and continue the proper timeline that Zeus subverted by swallowing Metis in the first place.
Corwinius: An excitable sage hired by the higher level party to research the Dahak. He is currently researching people who went down into the volcano below Greshendale to speak with the Dahak directly.
Talon: The leader of Greshendale, the magic floating city in the sky. Talon represents a diverse society of mages. Talon is actually a dromite Psion/Wizard/Cerebremancer. Other important mages in Greshendale are Krodius, the chief of police, and Loshok, the magical items guildmaster.
Lady Li: The PCs don't know much about Lady Li yet. She is an accomplished Dragovinian wizard. She ruled the city of Colchis as a mortal woman while Queen Anajakaze ruled as Regent for Jevaninada II. She was the only major female lord to maintain her seat after Jevaninada took power. Currently Lady Li is converting wizards in Greshendale to the Dragovinian cause in an attempt to end Greshendale's neutrality in favor of Xoria.
Unimportant NPCs for both campaigns (Dead characters, important in the future or past, etc.)
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Lamarr: The leader of the Adventurers Guild in Phoenix. He was 20th level with 12 different classes. He fought using a dervish dance and a rage. He died fighting the Dragovinian Rage, Ashabodai, at the Battle of Phoenix.
Dralin: The general of the dwarves at Phoenix. He was a samurai who rode a giant battletitan dinosaur named Bessy. He died in the Battle of Phoenix when facing King Jevaninada.
Cassandra: The "loose" daughter of Astyanax. She was offered in a marriage bargain to the Bjorn of Dalleer. The marriage recently took place despite assassins trying to kill the groom. Cassandra is also an accomplished diva signer.
Duke Jingo: The aged halfling leader of Nomingburg in the east. Nomingburg is a halfling town that has several different Assassins Guilds in it. Jingo unified the guilds and they declared him Duke.
Logan: Thewamp's old character, a hellfire warlock. He is the last surviving member of the Phoenix Adventurers Guild. Thewamp retired him in favor of Tagenadi the Crusader.
Degusharla: One of the Rages. He was general of Xorian's common troops. He used an uber-archer build. Torin killed him in the Battle of Phoenix while Torin was possessed by Athena.
Frost: One of the Rages. He was the dark elf commander of the Xorian Cavalry. He used an uber-charger build. Kig, Shez, and Amalius killed him during the Battle of Phoenix.
Ashabodai: One of the Rages. She was the Frenzied Berserker queen of the Amazons. The Amazons are allied with the Xorians. Logan killed her in the Battle of Phoenix.
Devanane: A Dragovinian assassin. He works closely with the King and has personal adversarial relationships with Tagenadi and Amalius.
King Dainlin: Dainlin is king of the hill dwarves. Dainlin has a son named Tibern. Salzar's character, Torin is next in line for the throne after Tibern.
King Deekgaon: Deekgaon is king of the deep dwarves. He was proclaimed Great General of all the dwarves at the Dwarven Kings' Brunch. Deekgaon is quite gullible. He is also the finest Axemaster in all the world.
King Sandil: Sandil is king of the duergar dwarves. He is a sorcerer and a trickster. The duergar are staying with the deep dwarves because their Underdark homeland was conquered by the Xorians. Sandil plans to manipulate High King Torngar with magic.
High King Torngar, Emperor of the Dwarves: Torngar was proclaimed High King and Emperor at the Dwarven Kings' Brunch. He is also king of the mountain dwarves. In exchange for the Emperor position and the Fierce Axe, he agreed to wage war upon the Xorians in the Underdark.
Amalgami: Throgg's character in the past campaign. He was a priest of Apollo, but turned a little evil after the first Xorian War. He started worshiping a demon and then turned to Eris, goddess of Discord. He betrayed the rest of the party and the First Alliance against the Xorians that he had organized. He's the big bad bogey man of the campaign. He has since turned into a lich. He is also the grandfather and was the satanic mentor of Amalius, Throgg's current character.
Rodrigo: The leader of the Council of Bradel Fields. Bradel Fields is the only Republic city-state. He initially opposed Bradel Fields joining the war, but caved to popular opinion. He was slain by Astyanax when the paladin orchestrated a coup.
Lotigan: A member on the Bradel Fields Council in charge of military affairs. He assisted the party when the Alliance was still based in Phoenix. He was slain by Astyanax when the paladin orchestrated a coup.
Terolio: The Prime Minister and acting leader of Dalleer. He was appointed by Bjorn. He is stable and not insane in the least. He is opposed to joining the war and has kept Dalleer out of it up until now.
King Mero III: The King of Mars' Oasis. The desert city is attacked by blue dragons, undead, and formians. The city also has a magical oasis which turns any item put into it into supreme magical material.
King Ballard: The King of the Aractrash Jungle Kingdom. His father, Willard, was involved in the First Xorian War. Things went badly, so Ballard is staying out of the war. He doesn't want to subject his people to the violence of a full-scale war again.
Epidemus: High King Torngar's castellan/steward. Epidemus arbitrated the Dwarven Kings' Brunch and served drinks and refreshments at the Brunch as well.
Sherlock the Warlock: A high level wizard who enjoys scrying the events of the world from his tower and enjoying the "free cable." He has helped the PCs in the past campaigns when it suited his interests. He's sort of a deux ex machina, but used very rarely.
Kruk-Ma-Kali: A long dead Hobgoblin King. During his life he invaded the elven, dwarven, and human territories of Eastern Cimmeria. Dead for 500 years he is now a ghost inhabiting his old sword, Kharad-Khor.
Brevenditu: The son of Duke Prusu of Jeutontic. Duke Prusu revolted against the Xorian Empire in support of the First Alliance. He failed and was executed for treason. Brevenditu has been held captive since a young age and only recently freed in a prisonbreak.
Lieutenant Gaft: The leader in charge of the rebel base in Bigby's Forest while Major Dactirian is away.
Torpor: The lead spy rebel in Makotako.
Vecna: She's based off the god of secrets from Greyhawk. I changed her to a woman as Vecna always seemed like a feminine name to me. As a lich she runs a small shop in the undead city, Crux. She has massive influence in the world because she is a powerful mage. She has created a nuke spell that she sells to nations. She also maintains the original god's lost hand, lost eye, and amazing knowledge of secrets.
Invernix and Sartoria: The king and queen of red dragons respectively. They were recently freed from their captivity of guarding and living within the Red Orb of Dragonkind. Who knows what they'll do now that they're free?
House Rules
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We play D&D 3.5, but with a few changes.
You die not at -10, but at -10 - your level or HD. So a 3rd level character is dead at -13.
Grapple is simplified by only allowing one grapple check per round. Fighters do not get to grapple with each one of their attacks. We're starting to try adopting the grapple rules as written, but everyone knows why we're wary of it.
Rolling a 1 on an attack elicits a fumble roll. It's a lot like a critical roll. You roll to hit again. If you would've missed with the fumble roll, then you lose your next action.
Cascading fumble and critical rolls. If you roll a 1 on your fumble roll, you roll again and it could get worse than just a missed action. If you roll a 20 on a critical roll you roll again, and it could get better. It also works the other way. If you roll a 20 on a fumble roll, you get to roll to hit normally again.
Reincarnate does not cause a level to be lost. Only raise dead does. I also have my own chart for reincarnations. Makes death a little more fun.
Spontaneous casters can use metamagic feats without penalty. Even Quicken Spell is allowed.
Only one Sudden Metamagic feat can be applied to each spell. This applies to metamagic rods as well.
Rolling a 1 or a 20 on a skill check is an auto-fail or auto-success within reason. No jumping to the moon or other shenanigans.
Those are the only ones I remember right now, but if others come up I will put them here.
The rest of the spoilers are a massive history of my world. It's pretty heavy and the casual reader might want to avoid it.
Description of Campaign World
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My campaign world originally started with me hating the Greyhawk/Faerun pantheons. They didn't make any sense to me. I didn't know how the gods were related or why they existed or anything like that stuff. I much preferred the Greek God Pantheon. They were all related. They had stories about them. I understood why they did things. Best of all, everyone already knows about them! It's actually required in USA schools to learn about them.
The problem was the Greek gods have all this stuff associated with Greece and I didn't want to switch to a real setting, only more realistic gods. So I changed the location of the gods. Within my world, after the Trojan War, the gods realized that the Greeks couldn't really handle the gods fighting over them. The gods moved west to the area around the Northern Caspian Sea and created new races to play with. Elves, dwarves, halflings, and orcs were made for the gods to mess around with along with monsters and more humans. The new races were given far more magic, so they could survive the gods' attentions.
You'll notice on the map below that I significantly changed the geography around the North Caspian. I didn't have any reason to do this beyond, I liked having creative freedom. The area of the North Caspian is called Cimmeria. This is actually what the Ancient Greeks called it, so why not keep the name?
The current year is 396BC. The characters wouldn't actually call it that, but for the sake of unambiguity, we're using the Christian year system. However, I have also simplified the month system. Every year lasts 360 days and every month lasts 30 days. The full moon is always on the 30th and the 1st of every month and the new moon is always on the 15th and 16th of every month. There are no weeks, instead there are "tendays." This is just to make it simpler for me, so I don't have to keep track of months, weeks, and moons. Also, yes, this is the way the world actually works in my campaign. The year is literally 360 days instead of just being measured that way.
Other pantheons do exist in my campaign (Persian, Egyptian, Indian, Norse), but don't appear very often.
The world is flat and the sun god's chariot goes around the Earth every day. The other side of the world is inhabited by scary monsters and Atlas, who holds up the world. The other planes are laid like pancakes on or around the earth. It's a bit complicated and probably unnecessary to understand. IF you'd like a more indepth description, just post in the thread.
Most of the cities in Cimmeria are city-states, but there are two exceptions. the Xorian Empire and the Aractrash Kingdom. The Xorian Empire has been expanding over the last hundred years. It now threatens the city-state of Phoenix. The Aractrash Kingdom has several cities within the Aractrashan Jungle. The jungle was united under one king around one hundred years ago.
Description of Last Campaign
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The last campaign centered around the party trying to put Princess Tarigananata (Tari for short) back on the throne of the Xorian Empire. The players were Throgg, Ozymandias, and Salzar. Throgg played a human favored soul named Amalgami. Ozymandias played a dwarven two-weapon fighter named Atreides. Salzar played a human war mage named Salzar.
Princess Tari's father said she should succeed him after his death. Her brother, Jevaninada (Jev for short), refused to believe this was his father's true wish. Jev sent to the Oracle of Delphi to say what the Xorians should do. The Oracle said that twenty years after her father's death, Tari would let a rampaging demon into the land of Cimmeria. Jev took the throne and ordered his sister executed, but she escaped with the help of a highranking general named Antapike.
Nineteen years passed and the PCs met the Princess and her General. The PCs decided to support Tari's claim to the throne. The Xorians were expanding into the rest of Cimmeria, conquering city-states one at a time. The PCs decided to unite the various other city-states against the expansionist empire. The armies of Jipangu, Bradel Fields, and Gazeara are gathered at Gazeara. Spartan mercenaries are also hired and transported by a teleportation circle to Gazeara. You can find all of these places on the map below. The Xorian cities of Colchis and Jeutontic were convinced to rebel. Additionally, the might of the Persian Empire was convinced to help the Princess regain her kingdom. Everything seemed to be going well.
That's all sort of background. The actual adventuring the party was doing consisted of raiding different places for treasure to support the Alliance. King Jev also had a crack team of 20th level characters called the Seven Rages. The Rages would harass and attack the players occasionally. The Rages always seemed to come one at a time though. Two of them were slain, Havoc and Ire, a soulknife and wild mage respectively.
In 439BC the PCs moved on Xoria. There was a big battle using Green Ronin's rules for wars along Danar's River. The players won and King Jev along with the Rage, Protean (A shapechanger druid) were slain.
Meanwhile the armies of Jeutontic with the Persian armies took Cecilia from the Xorians. The Rage, Mayhem (Frenzied Berserker/Bear Warrior), was slain in that battle. The army of Colchis marched to Dradelden. The gods intervened in this battle along with a vampiric dragon known as Blendegad the Reaper. The Colchians lost the battle to the Amazons of Dradelden.
The Persians then betrayed the alliance and kept Cecilia for themselves. The PCs traveled there and evicted the Persians. The Aractrashans have sent a fleet to assist the Alliance, but it is burned by the Rage, Tempest (Wu-Jen). This was in retaliation for the PCs judicious use of fireballs in the Battle of Danar's River. Using fireballs and other offensive spells in warfare is a bit like using mustard gas or nukes in the real world. It's not allowed, but if you do the opposing side is going to do the same to you and everyone loses.
The PCs gear up for an aerial bombardment of Makotako, the next Xorian city. While they do so the Alliance camp is attacked by undead creations and it becomes clear that the Xorians are now led by Jev's Queen, Anajakaze. The party defeats the undead and goes to blast Makotako. There they find thousands of zombie soldiers. All of those killed in the battle of Danar's River are animated. The party kills all of them and then runs into the Rage, Grave (Necromancer and summoner). Grave soul sucks Atreides and a key NPC ally of the players, Aeetes. Grave is forced to retreat, giving the PCs a Pyrrhic victory. The two lost characters can't be brought back until their souls are freed from Grave's dagger.
Amalgami, who has slowly become darker and more secretive, suddenly snaps into insanity mode. He kills Leopold, the guild leader of the mercenary clerics on the Alliance side. Amalgami kills Salzar and Salzar’s cohort, Greyski. Amalgami offers a few artifacts he has collected from the battlefield as well as the corpses of his friends and that of Jevaninada to Queen Anajakaze. Queen Anajakaze agrees to allow Amalgami to go unmolested unless he commits further crimes against the Xorian Kingdom.
The campaign ended there. Everyone felt satisfied with what had happened. No one was particularly upset with Throgg either.
Epilogue of Last Campaign and Setup for Current Campaign
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The Alliance continues to fight. Makotako is taken and the Alliance marches on Petar. The Amazons arrive on the field and defeat the Alliance troops. Antapike and Tempest were slain in the fighting or executed. The Kings of Sparta and Aractrash were ransomed back to their countries in shame.
Jeutontic was turned into a freaky vampire town that dealt in slaves from the Underdark.
King Jevaninada II was born to Queen Anajakaze. Anajakaze took the regency until the King came of age.
A great beast of fire and shadow came into the land of Xoria. It attacked and burned as many military convoys as possible in the apparent attempt of aggravating the Queen. The Queen had wished to take Gazeara, but was unable to due to the beast’s attacks. The Queen sent Grave after the beast in response. Grave did not return, but the attacks ceased. A scrying was done and it revealed that Grave was dead. It was concluded that the beast and Grave killed each other in an epic battle. The two remaining Rages were Wrath (cleric/rogue) and the Vampire of Havoc, who had vamped the town of Jeutontic.
438: Queen Anajakaze pushes the army to attack Gazeara. The city falls. Tectoctar is attacked in the same year. The city is burned and its citizens dispersed or enslaved.
Amalgami further sullies his name by assassinating various dignitaries in the Persian Empire in an attempt to provoke the Persian Emperor.
437: The Xorian Navy attacks Crafterton. Crafterton deploys some of its military hardware, but the superior Xorian numbers overcome the magical technology of Crafterton. The Halfling city is assimilated into the Empire. The army marches on Sheerzen as well. Sheerzen surrenders at the sight of the army.
436: The Empire is restructured to the advantage of women. The lords of the various Xorian cities are replaced with women. The Queen dissolves most of the Xorian army and allows her Amazons to keep the peace.
435: Slaves from Jeutontic spread throughout the Xorian Empire to work the fields and mines. An age of prosperity exists if you happen to be in the correct demographic (woman of an aboveground race). Zeus, father of Anajakaze, declares this new Empire as his gift to Hera, goddess of women.
433: A settlement is established at the edge of Danar’s Swamp. The new settlement is named Jevanicia. The settlement worked a quarry in the Terror Mountains. The rock was used to build towers, walls, roads, and castles throughout Xoria.
King Ballard ascends the throne after his father, King Willard of Aractrash, dies.
430: A revolt of men arises in Nox and spreads to the other cities of Xoria. Anajakaze conscripts women from throughout the Empire to deal with the problem.
429: The revolt is put down. Rumors of the Rebellion in Bigby’s Forest circulate regardless of Anajakaze’s attempts to squelch them.
427: A search of Bigby’s Forest reveals nothing. The Queen orders the forest burned. The spirits of the forest emerge and defend the forest from the flames of the Amazons. The forest survived and the Amazons suffered many casualties.
424: A large slave rebellion in Petar was put down by the Xorian army.
421: King Jevaninada II came of age, but Queen Anajakaze refused to surrender the Regency.
420: Jevaninada II attempts to assassinate the Queen with the assistance of the last two Rages, Wrath and Havoc. During the battle an unexpected presence arrived: Blendegad the Reaper, the vampiric man who turned himself into a dragon. He had been in the Dark Reaches killing monsters. He had discovered a ritual that would turn any dragon into a god. All it required was the deaths of thousands of creatures, slain by the dragon's own hand. With every beast Blendegad slew in the Dark Reaches he grew closer to godhood. Now, this God of Death wanted to test the small amount of divine power he had obtained by taking over the greatest Kingdom that had ever existed.
Blendegad easily killed the Queen and the two Rages. The Reaper advanced upon the cowering Kind and bit him. The Godly Draconic Vampiric mix infected the already slightly divine blood of Jevaninada II. A new creature was born. King Jevaninada II arose and named this new species, of which he was the only member, Dragovinians. The King made a pact with the Reaper. They would rule together with Blendegad as the God of the new Empire and Jevaninada II as his avatar.
Jevaninada revealed his new body and his new master to his subjects at his coronation. The people feared the evil a vampire immune to sunlight could commit and began to run. Jevaninada II stopped them with a stirring speech in which he promised the return of power to men. The people were won over and declared their new king to be Jevaninada the Second.
Jevaninada II immediately set about removing the female Lords of the land and replacing them with his own servants. His servants were made into Dragovinians under his absolute control and through them, control over any Dragovinians they created. A new aristocracy was formed, a vampocracy.
The Realm of Olympus was shaken by these developments. Hera was infuriated with Zeus for allowing her present to return to the control of men. Zeus was distracted with trying to win Hera back when the unthinkable occurred. The Dahak (a big bad evil monster that wants to overthrow Zeus) ambushed Zeus in the very domain of Olympus. The Dahak punctured Zeus's belly with a special pitchfork and then the monster fled with the Titan, Metis, removed from Zeus's stomach after millennia. Zeus was too injured to pursue and the other Gods were too shocked to react in time.
The Gods pooled their power into healing their father, but they were unable to succeed. Zeus remained confined to Olympus and storms were absent from the land for a time. The young Gods devoid of leadership decided on their own how to approach the problem. Ares revolted and claimed the sky and the thunderbolts for his own. Hephaestus resists Ares and Aphrodite is caught in the middle between the two. Apollo journeys through the mortal world, looking for a cure for his father. Dionysus has sworn off alcohol until his father recuperates. Hera and Hestia remain by Zeus's bedside and care for their brother. Athena and Artemis are scouring the world for the Dahak. Hades, Poseidon, and the older gods are waiting for further developments.
Amalganus (son of Amalgami), a powerful man in Jipangu, acts out of fear of an old rival nation now being headed by a vampire dragon god. Amalganus starts organizing a Second Alliance of Cimmeria in hopes of taking offensive action against Xoria.
419: Without divine intervention Blendegad and Jevaninada II were allowed to take further action. They went to Jeutontic and easily eliminated the proto-vampire presence. The city was restored to its state before the War of the Alliance. The new leaders and new religion of the Empire were hailed for freeing the city from almost two decades of slavery.
418: The theocracy of the new religion, Dragoviniysm, was formed. All citizens were required to join the faith. The lords of each city acted as figureheads for the churches in those areas. A top-down pyramid structure for the church was formed. The lords of the cities had more important duties to attend to, so the position of cardinal was made. Each cardinal oversees an entire city-state district. Within each city-state district a bishop was appointed for each church. Various other clergymen serve the bishops.
The rewards of joining Dragoviniysm are quite clear. If you serve the Empire well you will be rewarded with the everlasting life of a Dragovinian. All the cardinals and bishops are Dragovinians. Services are held at the beginning of every tenday. At the services various propagandic hymns are sung. Verses are read from an altered history of Xoria’s expansion which tells various moral lessons as well as encouraging obedience and subordinance. Communion consists of the bishop and any other Dragovinians in attendance drinking the blood of the laymen. No laymen are killed by this procedure, so none of them turn into Dragovinians.
Many people rejoiced at the promise of true immortality. Thousands flocked to the new religion in spite of its horrible practices. All those who resisted suffered the ultimate punishment. They were imprisoned and transported to the Xorian capital at Nox and fed to the God, Blendegad. Any dissenters or heretics caught since then have suffered the same punishment. Additionally, all those who are sentenced to death for secular crimes are fed to the dragon as well.
417: The tyranny of the new religion spread throughout the land. Thousands attempted to evacuate the country. Many who tried were fed to the dragon. Eventually fear forced all the citizens of Xoria to go to church and offer their necks to the new vampocracy.
After the religious upheaval was finished peace settled over the Empire. The gods stayed out of the affairs of mortals. The only threats to the Empire consisted of Underdark slave rebellions, border incursions by the dwarves, and guerilla tactics used by the rebels of Bigby’s Forest. All these problems were dealt with by a crushing display of force by the Xorian army. The Xorian army no longer contained women.
The Rebellion consisted of Gazearans, Semanariens, Xorians loyal to the First Alliance, Amazons, Elves, Dwarves, and Xorians escaping from Dragoviniysm.
The years passed without event beyond the occasional great storm set upon the land by Ares. The Second Alliance formed by Amalganus chose to take defensive actions only.
410: An assassination attempt is made on King Jevaninada II’s life. The King Jevaninada scours the city of Nox for those who conspired with the criminal to take his life. Soldiers search every house with wizards using the detect thoughts spell to try and find the conspirators. The people riot in the streets. Blendegad the Reaper comes out of his tower atop the Nox Castle and breathes fire upon the crowds. The people disperse in terror and Blendegad feasts on their barbequed flesh. The incident is referred to as the Scouring By Fire.
401: Hera supports Ares’ rise to power only if Ares acts as a regent for his father, Zeus. Ares, in gratitude for his mother’s new position, creates a massive hurricane in the western Caspian Sea. The hurricane causes major flooding for Crafterton, Cecilia, and Makotako. The people call out for help from their god and leader. Blendegad used his divine power to grant all Dragovinians wings for one day. The Dragovinians of Xoria assisted all the mortals escape the flooding, winds, and lightning of the Hurricane of Ares. The image of the Dragovinians and Dragoviniysm is greatly improved.
400: The years of peace come to an end. Jevaninada II and Blendegad the Reaper decided to act with the new popular support found by protecting the people from the Hurricane of Ares. The dictator and the god reassembled the grand army of Xoria. Conscriptions began enmasse. The popular support for Dragoviniysm continued, but support for King Jevaninada II quickly evaporated.
The people’s emotions were already running hot after the hurricane. Waves of dissention rose across the whole Empire. Jevaninada imposed a new method of policing his citizens. He and his Dragovinian nobles began biting dogs and other animals. Those beasts became the spies and enforcers of the Dragovinian aristocracy. The Dragovinian beasts supernaturally sniff out treasonous acts and conversations. The beasts report the criminals to their masters or act on their own, immediately and severely punishing the guilty. It is said that the creator of a Dragovinian beast can see through the beast's eyes, hear with the beast's ear, and even speak with the beast's tongue.
399: With the homefront supposedly secure and his new army trained, Jevaninada II marched into the Eastern Cimmerian lands. The mercenaries and adventurers guilds of Phoenix quickly mobilized to stop the advance of the Xorian army. The Xorians were prevented from crossing the Delain River. Phoenix called for aid from the other Alliance members, but the call was unanswered.
398: More conscripts joined the Xorian army. Those guilty of treason were now punished with conscription. The Xorian army almost tripled in size in one year. With the use of a special forces platoon composed of Dragovinians, Jevaninada II was able to take the eastern bank of the Delain River. The Second Alliance of Cimmeria voted to act to protect Phoenix. Jipangu, Bradel Fields, Jord, and Restnor’s Point send troops, supplies, and experts to Phoenix to aid in the protection of the city.
Jevaninada II attempts to storm the city with siege towers and battering rams led by his Dragovinian platoon. The attack fails. The second attack consists of a silent Dragovinian attack during the night. Many Phoenixians are slain; unfortunately for Xoria, the Dragovinians, in their bloodlust, did not target military personnel. The Phoenix military mobilized and the Dragovinian commander called a retreat. A great number of Dragovinians died in the retreat.
Jevaninada II backs his troops away from the city. The people of Phoenix feared an ambush and did not pursue. The armies of the Second Alliance gathered in the city. As soon as the Xorian King was sure all the allies were gathered in the city walls he pushed his frontline forward. The Xorian army began building a siege wall to enclose the entire city of Phoenix.
397: The Alliance attempts a countersiege wall to the northeast of Phoenix. The countersiege wall was heavily defended during its constructions. Many Alliance troops died, but the wall was successfully built. The day after its completion the wall was entirely underdug by Dragovinian burrowing animals. The Alliance soldiers patrolling the wall were all slain by the Dragovinian beasts. The slain troops rose again as Dragovinians loyal to Xoria. The new “recruits” were placed in the old Dragovinian platoon.
Jevaninada the Second called for the surrender of Phoenix. Phoenix refused. The building of the siege wall continued at an increased pace. The Alliance attempted an attack on the center of the siege wall. Dragovinian troops engaged in a melee with the Alliance while thousands of arrows were shot from behind the siege wall into the fighting. The Dragovinians were immune to the damage of the arrows, but the Alliance troops could not say the same. The Alliance ordered a retreat, but their route was cut off by the same burrowing animals that had collapsed the countersiege wall. The Alliance troops involved in the center wall attack suffered 50% casualties.
396: The siege wall is completed in June. The Alliance considers recruiting new allies from the rest of Cimmeria to assist in breaking the siege.
Description of Players
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Anxe: I'm the DM. I own the miniatures that we play with when we play in real life. I'm a funny guy most of the time. Most of my humor comes from noticing something funny and then beating it to death until its not funny anymore. When I'm a player I like playing fighters and rogues. I work in Davis.
Salzar: My best friend since I was 8 years old. He's the shiest of the group, but also comes up with the best jokes. Salzar is the type of player who likes to switch his character a lot so he can mess with different builds. Salzar is a working man in Los Altos.
Ozymandias: His house is where we used to play. His parents are extremely laid back so its always cool if we play late and swear loudly. Ozymandias likes video games and hanging out with his friends and family. He is a hack and slash player. He's almost always played fighter types. Ozymandias is a working man in Oakland.
Middle_Snu: Middle_Snu is also one of the older members of the group who left awhile ago. He's a bit of a pessimist (realist, whatever). He's also very good at loopholing/building characters. Middle_Snu works in California and his job requires him to fly a lot on weekends, causing him to miss more sessions than he'd like. We miss you Middle_Snu! Middle_Snu is currently taking a break from the campaign while he works in Israel.
Thewamp: Thewamp is a family friend of mine. He's the oldest of the group. Thewamp is very analytical and good at problem solving. He is also very good at building unbalanced characters. Fortunately, he does not do so. He likes characters with good motivations for their actions. Thewamp goes to graduate school in San Diego.
Throgg: Throgg is probably the most extroverted of the group. He's the youngest of the group. Throgg also fits the "actor" stereotype of players. He likes to play around with his character's backstory. He currently works in Cupertino.
Zigfried: The newest addition to our group. I can say with confidence that he is a chill guy. He also has bearded dragons for pets. That's got to count for something. Zigfried is trying to establish a good resume in Louisiana before moving out to California.
TL;DR Section
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Anxe = DM
Salzar plays a rogue/sorcerer in the high level campaign. In the low level he plays a halfling rogue/sorcerer named Draco. Past characters include Torin the dwarven cleric and Wu the archer.
Ozymandias plays an elven dinosaur focused druid named Eathirilu in the high level campaign. In the low level campaign he plays a halfling rogue named Sivirdm. Past characters include Preta the Red Circle Mage.
Throgg plays a telepath psion named Amalius in the high level campaign. He has an elven rogue cohort named Aldarian, that Zigfried played for a bit. In the low level campaign he plays an orc barbarian named Gregor.
Zigfried is our newest member. He plays Danar, a human longaxe wielding gish, in the high level campaign and is playing Reggy a barbarian NPC turned into a PC. Previously he played Aldarian, Amalius’ cohort.
Middle_Snu plays a generalist wizard named Hektor in the high level campaign. He plays a half-orc champion (The Giant's personally designed class) named Korjak in the low level campaign. Previously he played Terroc the wizard.
Thewamp plays a crusader/warblade named Tagenadi in the high level campaign. In the low level campaign he plays a halfling beguiler named Stanton. Previously he played Logan the hellfire warlock.
The party is fighting the evil Xorian Empire. The Xorian Empire is ruled by an upper class of what are effectively Half-Dragon Vampires. The high level campaign opposes the Xorians after the Alliance lost the important city of Phoenix. The low level campaign is searching for pieces of a prophecy that can bring a god back to life.
Xorian Wars: Alliance and Rebellion (Completed 2020/05/15)
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