New Campaign: The Two Towers

 

 

The Ruined Watch tower has been made home by a group of swarms of ravens and the ground floor by a strange spirit.  No one has died here in a long while.  It is further from the village and so it is not a major hazard, the youth have been using it to test their merit and the folk prefer that one to the extreme danger of the keep, so they have cultivated it as such.  The bottom floor has a permanent Phantasmal image and a Magic Mouth that spooks most intruders.  The top floor has a roost for the swarm of tamed ravens, they will attack the door when it opens expecting loaves of bread to be thrown in first.  The floor is covered with about 1000gp of shiny treasure and a hooded signal lantern with coloured lenses before a code book.  The code book and lantern are in a hidden nook.  DC15 to find in an investigation and DC20 Perception check.  On the ground floor behind the stairs going up, there is a trap door leading down.  Beneath is a series of rooms with a 5^th level fighter and a 3^rd level Illusionist and five of the warlord’s men.  The group is active at night and through the early hours.  They will not start at the firing of the spells as they expect children to activate it.  The code book has various commands built into it.  It is a relay station for the Pirates and the Warlord to talk.  Commands can be sent to lure or ward off either group. 

The bottom floor ends in a grotto connected to a large rowboat for 6 people meant to rendezvous with the pirate ship.  The pirates raid the village and they have been accepting a bribe four times a year of 5000gp value.  The warlord has been taking almost as much.  All together a crippling tax. 

 

The Keep dominates the center of town.  It is more truly haunted than the villagers or warlords realise.  There is a Vampire Spawn situated here reporting back to its master, somewhere else in the Valley.  The Vampire has attracted two swarms of bats and two swarms of rats.  The vermin act as the Vampire Spawn’s eyes and ears in the village and the surrounding area, so they are aware of the actions of the PCs over the past while.  There is a basement where the Vampire Spawn lives.  There is a coffin in one room in the way before that room there is a wraith with five spectres holding the way.  In a room off to one side there is cell filled with two feral children that have been kept alive as a blood bank for the Vampire.  They have been fed live rats or bats and it has left them insane. 

The Reward is a chest with 5000gp and a keep that can be repaired for 5000gp assuming that they can find a workforce of 250 to do the work . . ..  this will allow them to accept another 5 troops from the Motherland rolled randomly.

 

Warlock’s Tower

If the PCs follow the trail that the Blacksmith’s daughter left, they will follow it along the edge of the lake for several kilometers and they will find five orcs looking at the grounds searching the area.  If they declare a truce, they will learn that the orcs are looking for someone too, but they will not share who.  If they look together the PCs, with the help of the Orcs, will find evidence of an attack and a trail through the woods.  If the PCs attack the Orcs, they will need to make DC15 check on investigation or Survival.  If they exceed 18 on the check, they will find a place where the two spent more time and that it was frequented by both an orc and a human woman. 

If they follow the trail through the woods, they will need to make a Tracking check DC12 and again when it passes the trail at DC15 and again halfway to the Tower.  After they make their check, they will have confirmation they choose the correct path by finding some scattered clothing.  As soon as the tower becomes visible to the players, they are attacked by three ghast and nine ghouls hiding in the area.  The Ghast smell horrible and so the PCs are unlikely to be surprised as the wind shifts and the smell becomes apparent.  7500xp for the encounter

The tower appears to be abandoned and like the watch tower in the town.  if you were at the top of the tower, you might be able to see the tower in the village.  As you approach you see there is a cluster of abandoned dwellings in the shadow of the tower, and it looks like that there once was an even smaller village here too. 

There are two paths in the Keep, one up to fight the Warlock as he attempts to bring forth a child to house his Demon Patron Orcus and the other to fight the undead to defeat the Warlock’s twin brother, priest of Derslaver the goddess of Undead and his attempt to create a Spider like undead construct/mount.  Which ever path the PCs choose will result in the other’s plans succeeding.

The keep is built into the side of the mountain and there is a tunnel that leads into an excavated series of rooms.  The rooms are filled with undead, and they are designed to slow the passage of the PCs.  The last room is a grotto that is open to the sky and served as a temple of sorts for the people here, years ago, but now it serves are a resurrection chamber for the evil priest.  He is casting a spell when the PCs enter, the last to bind the undead creation to his control.  If the PCs break his concentration his Juggernaut will go wild and consume the Priest and attack the PCs.  The battle here will be dire, but the undead juggernaut will be weakened and not as powerful:

Undead Spider Juggernaut, AC 16, (12) hp 200 (100), 8 attacks (4attacks) +10 to hit (+5 to hit) 2d8+5 damage avg 14 (d8+3 damage avg 7) necrotic breath weapon 60’cone 10d6 avg 35 half damage heals beast and rider Con save DC15 (no breath weapon), gaze causes fear move 60’ climb like a spider (mindless and attacks until dead).  After the defeat of the spider Juggernaut Eldritch light pierces the sky from the top of the tower.

The way up the tower includes a smaller set of challenges, shadow demons and Quasits the first level above the bottom, the door has been warded with a explosive rune.  Moving to the next floor there are two vrocks that will battle the PCs.

When they break into the topmost level, they will see that there are two naked humanoids on wooden tables tied down with manacles, the blacksmith’s daughter with arcane writing on her distended belly.  As the PCs enter, they see a swirling cloud above become pierced with an eldritch light that stabs into the girl’s womb.  The Orc cries out with pain as his life force and her own is drawn into the child the warlock chanting a ritual spell, “Oh great Orcus take the vessel I have offered you . . .”  Four Shadow Demons rise to attack they only need to delay you long enough to complete the ritual.  Freeing the Orc or killing him will increase the chances the woman will die.  Killing the woman, the same but for the Orc.  Breaking the ritual will result in the Warlock’s life force from joining the spell, only killing the Warlock will end the spell, and it must be done in 5 rounds. 

If the Warlock completes the ritual or lives until it is completed a baby Orcus will rip through the woman and kill her.  It will be weak and will need a minute to recover.  If the PCs kill it will be done.  It has an AC of 10 and 200hp  after a minute though it gains a measure of its power and animate any dead as a wraith with a gesture and attempt to fly off with the Warlock to parts unknown unless the warlock is dead of course.

Xp for the battle will vary, either scenario will result in a reoccurring villain.  If the PCs save the Blacksmith’s daughter, they will get the Blacksmith’s thanks and improvement of a unit.  The Orc is the Son of the Orc Commander, bringing him to his father will allow the PCs to negotiate with them. The child will possibly be even more advantageous as it may be the start of an alliance or a truce.  Either could result in the loss of two units worth of allies for the Warlord.  Treasure will equal 10,000gp worth of gems, and coin.  Repair of both towers would add 6 more troops to the area and the start of the old communication network of the old valley kingdom.  Repair of the temple would cost another 4000gp

 

 

If the players defeat the Warlock at the top of the tower they will defeat a possible major enemy.  They may even rescue the Blacksmith’s daughter and get improvements to one unit.  If they save the Orc they may get the agreement to delay joining the battle that is to come, i.e. the warlord loses the orcs for one battle.  If they save both of the children and the child they will get something special: the Orcs will have Blood Ties to the village and they may switch sides if the players are diplomatic enough.  If the players split the party and defeat both Warlocks they will get two rewards like a possible golem unit to join the battle.

After the last adventure they can trigger a battle in two ways, 1) battle the pirates, 2) save the innkeepers son and start the battle.

New Campaign: The Village

The Village

The adventurers will need to fight for control of the village.  The village is controlled by a warlord and his troupe.  The warlord has as many officers as the PCs, but they have two units per officer.  Anyone that asks will be told this, it is common knowledge.  It is also common knowledge that they have two allies, pirates in the lake and an encampment of Orcs, they will supply and additional 2 units.

The Warlord has 6 units of light infantry, 4 units of light archers and 2 units of cavalry.  The Orcs supply 2 units of medium infantry and the pirates one unit of light infantry and one light archers.  If they attack the Warlord right away, they will fight 750 units vs 275.  So, the goal is to gain troops or remove allies.

The PCs must aid the locals to acquire local units

Village level 1 establishment, lv; 1 temple; ruined keep, ruined temple, 16 artisans, 82 families, pop 460, GDP 64,800gp, militia: 50 light infantry, 50 levy Temple to Lamatur God of friends and family

The Forge is located half a day’s travel from the village, too far to attract notice but too far to stay and commute to the village every day.   

There is an bar in the village Griffon’s Tail.  It has no rooms to rent but it does have a stable and there is a cottage beside the inn that is vacant, the keeper will rent out the cottage for 10gp a night.  He will not budge at all until the town becomes more than hostile to the PCs.  Hostile, Unfriendly, distrustful, trusting, friendly,

but can be talked down to 5gp.  Over the course of conversation, it will be known that the keeper has a son who has not been seen in months, but the keeper is acting like he knows where he is.  The blacksmith is distraught as his daughter has been missing for a few days.   As the renown of the party improves the villagers warm up to them, they will be talked to more and favourably received. 

While the PCs are in the bar a farmer will burst through the door and announce that another attack has occurred in the north field, Ned has been carried off!  Everyone needs to come or more farmers will be lost.  There are two ankheg that have moved into the fields and if the players take care of it, they can farm without fear.  The prize is the use of the militia.  If the Players attack with haste, they can rescue farmer Ned.  If they rescue him and treat his injuries the villagers will go from hostile to unfriendly, and to distrustful.  The keeper will look at the players and tell them that Ned is his friend, and he will refund the players 3gp.  900xp, 150/PC

The woodsmen will here how the players helped the farmers and will approach them warily, telling them that a team of theirs had been surveying a new stand of trees for harvesting they have been overdue by two days, and they wanted to know if the PCs would help them out.  There are five ettercaps inhabiting the forest with ten giant spiders and a dozen spider swarms.  The ettercaps approach in groups of 2 with 4 giant spiders and four swarms,  the battle with the ettercaps starts with one Ettercap and one spider swarm per round until all four have arrived, then one giant spider, the last Ettercap comes after the first is defeated.  There are two such encounters and before the last encounter at the deepest part of the forest the mother is present.  She does not move very fast and will never stray from her dozen eggs and the restrained and alive woodsman whom she is keeping for her children.  The remaining spiders and swarms will also be present here.  Encounter value for adventure 10,000 1,666/PC, and a unit of light axe men infantry.  Ettercaps have 500gp

Travelling through the forest the PCs will encounter wolves in pens, bears in pits and birds caught on nets.  If they free 5 of them, a druid will show up and explain that there is a encampment of orcs in the woods who is gathering animals for the city’s gladiator pits.  If they stop them the druid will aid them as much as he can.  There are 10 orcs there with three orc rangers, 2 are 1^st level and one is a gloomstalker.  If they defeat them, they will get a +1longbow, 1000gp and the services of a Swarm of Birds and 1 5^th level Druid.  50xp/trapped animal and 3500xp

While looking for the Ettercaps or the Poacher’s camp they find a small group of 5 outlaws in the trees near a clearing.  They interrogate asking if they are aligned with the Warlord and when they determine that they are not they ask if they have seen their leader.  Wilfred the Strong, he has been missing for a week and they are worried about him.  He was last seen wandering in the forests near where the ettercaps haunt.  They do not like that region as there are weird sights and strange folk near there.  (fey creatures).  If they happen upon the dryads before the ettercaps they will release him on condition that they remove the ettercaps first.  If they have already removed the ettercaps they will be favourable and release him.  500xp. A unit of archers and area knowledge of the valley

There is a small mineshaft that has been invaded by duergar dwarves and has killed the dwarves there.  The duergar were trapped when the mineshaft collapsed and are trapped here.  A total of 15 are present, 5 in each encounter area.  The corpses of 10 dwarves are also found.  When they players have defeated the duergar, a resupply party will arrive and thank the party for avenging their comrades.  The Dwarves will aid the party with supplies that raise two groups of Infantry to Medium or one to Heavy, and they will get +1 to resources. 5000xp

 

After helping the village, the PCs will have a better reputation in the town and the townsfolk will start asking the PCs for favours.  The children will ask if you are going to bring back Danny.  The kids will say they have not seen Danny in a few weeks and Danny’s father keeps telling them that he is sick and in bed and he can’t disturb him.  The boys father turns out to be the barmaster and a quick search through the place discovers rooms for the parents, and rooms for the 3 daughters and an empty room filled with things a young boy might like.  If confronted, he will tell the players that they kidnapped him week before the PCs arrived and he was told that he would inform on the goings on in the village or they would kill his only son.  He tells them that if they promise to save him, he will give them erroneous information instead. 

Additionally, the lone priest will tell them that the local graveyard has been plundered several times this year and he knows that if he should bury anymore people they too will be stolen.  Can the PCs find the source of the problem and eradicate it?

The Blacksmith approaches you and tells you that his rebellious daughter has been sneaking off on her own for a year or more and spending the night out and sneaking back in just before dawn.  He caught her once or twice, but says that that is normal, he and his wife would often meet out under the stars before they were allowed to marry.  But he canvassed the area and none of the locals know who she could be meeting and this time she has been missing for more than a week.  If the PCs could find her, he would try to find an appropriate reward. 

***

Finale as soon as the players attack the Warlord directly or eliminate both their allies the warlord will attack them in the town.  If the players free the Innkeeper’s son, they will attack the next turn.  Delaying the Orcs does not count as attacking them

 

Make it clear what events will end this area and start a battle, attack the warlords directly and they will move against your forces, attack their allies the pirates or the Orcs and they will also move against you, negotiate with their allies will not.  The goal of the play is for the characters to win, and they are more likely to win if they do all or most of the things in the area.  The Warlords have a large army equal to the number of PCs+2 and they have two allies as well.  If they join the battle that will mean they will be facing the number of PCs plus 5 units: One Orc Skirmisher and One Pirate with artillery and one landing crew of pirates.  The Pirates can not be negotiated with, but they can be attacked, if they are successfully attacked, they will be removed, but the PCs will still be out manned unless they have gotten the aid of some of the others.  Remember, if they save the Orc leader’s son, they will sit the battle out, if the orc leader’s son dies, they will not join the battle until late, and that may give them an advantage.

 

Some of these encounters will only be accessible if the PCs are in the right spot, for example, the players will encounter the dwarf mine shaft in the forest as smoke rising from a ridge in the forest.  The bear in the dead fall, the birds caught in nests can be encountered in the forest as random encounters but also the druids looking for the animals, if the druids catch the PCs freeing the animals they will tell them more, otherwise they might just fight the PCs.  The Outlaws are hiding in the forest too so they will have to be found too, perhaps the Druids will mention them, suggesting that if they can get them out of the forest they would offer additional aid, perhaps better communication with animal spies.  But they were in the forest to find the spiders  and free the woodsmen, or on the way to seek the Orcs to treat with them.

New Campaign: The Forge

 ** There are no forges in this adventure, the Forge is a small keep at the top of a mountain pass guarding the entrance to the Five Kingdoms.  the Forge will hopefully forge the party members into a cohesive unit

The Forge

The forge is a deep canyon filled with many score of rapids both at the start and the end of the river.  The end is much more peaceful and a little idyllic, but the start is rushed from the beginning with swift flowing river that speeds up even faster as it rushes over a series of rapids and then a tumult leading to a waterfall several score of meters high onto jagged rocks and a few more rugged rapids before it exits the canyon.  The trip from the lake is hampered by the mists that rise off the first series of treacherous steps of the cataract.  When the waterfall is reached the first defense of the old kingdom is reached a fort partially excavated out from the mountain.  The way into the kingdom is only passable from the road that stretches from the below lands beside the river.  It is possible to lead horses along this pass in single file.  There are a small team of goblins holding the pass much like the old kingdom did against larger organized armies.  They drop rocks on the party and scatter pebbles along the way hoping to soften them up.  If they are attacked, they will retreat.  From their position they have 75% cover.  The keep itself cannot be fully defended with the numbers that they currently have.  Once the characters are into the keep it is theirs.  They have one unit of troops apiece and can therefore hold it. 

 

The Players will have one army when they take the Forge.  The maximum number of armies they can control is equal to their proficiency bonus which will determine which forces they can challenge on the field of combat

 

There has been set up at some previous time a stone pier set along the river where it flows out of the canyon.  The army of Gutral Mastekeena has arranged supply drops here every two weeks until the drops are no-longer picked up.  They will also at random drop off military units as reinforcements.  If the characters are winning, they will get support. 

The pier is a kilometer away from the mouth of the canyon and the path is easy apart from having to clear the way of the path.  the path leads away from the water but always keeps the river close by.  The path has been paved with cobblestones but has been covered with growth and small trees; the sound of the river is drowned out by the sound of cicadas.

Perception DC14 will uncover animal bones and corpses nearby.  Many a few of the corpse have been picked apart by other animals but you can see a corpse of a coyote as well DC16, DC 18 you notice that there is no blood anywhere.  Stirges attack.  Only if the characters the coyote will they not be surprised. 

+5 to hit Dmg 5 AC14 hp2 successful attack begins blood loss next turn.  Spend one action detaching stirge xp50 each PC

Beyond the stirges the characters will see the canopy of the forest is covered with webs and with stirge corpses, one of which is still struggling.  Only if the web is destroyed will they be attacked by a swarm of spiders, which will “fall” on the web destroyer.  If they leave the webs intact nothing will happen.

The path will tough briefly at the river again and the characters will see that the path skipped a large stretch of white water and give the view of the first waterfall, a torrent dropping over a 50m drop.  The path continues near the water before it turns inland next to the escarpment.  The mist has made the stones slick and covered with slime.  It is not dangerous, but the way is much more slippery DC12 dexterity save.  Any that try to go up must deal with webs and a swarm of spiders.  Further along the way the webs form an impassible obstacle.  Cutting these will summon two insect swarms and two giant spiders. Xp125 each PC

Swarms 22hp, AC 12 +3 to hit, 10 damage, or 5 damage if ½ hp or less.

Giant spiders AC 14, hp 26, +5 to hit, bite 7 damage poison DC11 and 9 damage.  Paralysed at 0hp and poisoned for 1 hour.  Web +5 to hit, and restrained if hit DC12 Strength check to break or 5hp

The path is straight and smooth and has built out of stone wide enough a horse with a cart, large shallow steps in between two smooth ramps made of stone.  The path switches back and forth along the face of the mountain as the river winds and plunges through rapids and great waterfalls.  Each arm of the heads 500m away from the river before doubling back; each time it arrives back it is 50m higher.  There is a stair that bypasses each arm of the path, climbing 50m quickly.  After 20 stairs there is a resting point where a camp can be made.

After the second camp they will see a fortress that guards the path, with one more climb.  The goblins sit at the top of the last two stairs, and they will throw rocks down on the party, when they get closer, they switch to spears and arrows.  For the first 25m they are at disadvantage to hit but at advantage to hit for the last 25m, but only two attacks can be made each round due to line of sight.  The goblins have good cover 4 goblins 50xp each PC.

The last arm of the path is guarded by 4 more goblins who will try to bombard the party the goblins will be dispersed along the pathway with 75% cover and attack the party and use traps to make it more difficult.  Ice on the path with a coating of fresh water, round stones on the pathway etc.  DC 12 DEX save or fall prone.  Or move at half speed to ignore.  50xp for each PC

Inside the keep they will find four goblins, plus any that escaped the PCs here with the Goblin Boss.  They will fight it out with the players getting 100xp per PC plus 25xp per additional goblin. 

 

A long rest in the keep they will be level 2. 

The Keep has enough space to garrison 300 soldiers and 30 horses.  Each player character will have a single unit of light soldiers, 3 units of Infantry(50), 2 units of Archers (50) and 1 unit of Cavalry(25). 

By spending 4x the number in gold, (8x for cavalry) the unit can be raised from light to medium, x2 that from medium to heavy and x4 of the before raising them from heavy to superheavy. 

50 light infantry à 200gp to Medium Infantry à 400gp to Heavy Infantry and à 1600gp to Super Heavy Infantry.

The size of the unit is a standard d6 (50) additional numbers add 2d to the total (25)

 

Next adventure

New Campaign

Gutral Mastekeena has long been in the business of building its empire.  One method of doing this has been to knock over the anthills surrounding it.  Every strong kingdom near Gutral Mastekeena has been attacked or laid waste just when they were on the cusp of greatness because Gutral Mastekeena never wanted to deal with a potential threat a decade or a century in the future.  There are no threats anywhere near Gutral Mastekeena or anywhere near it, nor have there ever has been in the last millennium.  The policy worked so well that it was instituted in the areas that Gutral Mastekeena wanted to expand into.  The empire would send forth money or an army to destabilize potential threats to the growth of the Empire is a century in the future.  The ruin that resulted meant that when the Empire was ready to absorb that region there was no resistance and the pieces would absorb faster.  Sometimes the rebuilding states would see the empire moving towards them and they would surrender to prevent what was clearly going to happen anyway.  Surrendered territory required less rebuilding and less military resources and so these conquests were valued over the traditional ones with war and destruction. 

The Emperor decided to test the best of the future candidates for the future king and sent agents out into the wilds to areas that the Empire would expand into in the next century, destabilized and knocked over the areas where resistance would be the greatest so as to test the next crop of King candidates. 

 

The Five Kingdoms 

There was once a kingdom in a secluded valley surrounded by semi-temperate forests.  The land received more rain than some areas due to a small mountain range and plenty of sunshine.  The area always had a lot going for it there were several non-human clans nearby, but the bulk of the population was human.  Because the humans dominated, the non-humans joined and were absorbed by the humans, but also because the humans tended to be just and fair peoples; prosperous people tend to be free with their wealth especially when it is the wealth of land and food.  The King had five children and all the children were kind and well respected through the land.  They knew that the favourite of the king would rule one day and the others would govern some of the lands around.  They accepted it because they knew that the favourite of the king would be based on what was best for the land and not on petty reasons.  The people knew this too.  The Kingdom suffered a great tragedy when the children were young; their mother fell ill of a strange wasting disease that had no cure.  Healers were summoned from all across the land and many of the neighbouring ones too and no cure was forthcoming, until a beautiful woman arrived from far away and claimed to know what was ailing her.  She told the king that his wife was possessed by sent by a jealous rival and the sorceress removed the grave enchantment.  The queen was freed, but the damage had been done and the queen was wasted and listless for the next few years until she died one Winter.  The king, who had been just up until this point grew wrathful that one of his vassals had sent this demon upon his wife.  The perpetrator was found, and a bloody war ended in the destruction of the family and the Vassal state.  When the queen died the people were saddened and the people were worried that grief would set back the recovery process.  They were relieved when in the Spring the King announced that he would marry again and was married to the woman that discovered the treachery to the kingdom, the sorceress.  Not long afterwards the new queen gave birth to the king’s last son.

As the child grew up, people remarked that the young Prince was not of the same cloth as the elder princes and princesses, he was willful and more destructive and had a greater temper, and yet the king seem to dote more strongly on him and grew withdrawn from his other children.  The other children grew to be strong and popular amongst the people, but still the king favoured his youngest, Damien.  By the time that the king had named Damien the heir to the kingdom he had grown out of his childish traits and grown into a man of great vileness.  His mother had not been idle as he grew up and had slighted his brothers and sisters to the king and he too began to see them as unholy offspring.  The people though were in great favour of the five children or the original Queen, but through the machinations by the Sorceress queen the siblings began to see the others as rivals of their own and when the King died, each of the siblings was blamed by the other as an assassin and the kingdom fell into a great civil war.  The enemies of the kingdom were many and they each rallied to the cause of one of the Princes.  The war lasted many years, but when the dust settled, the kingdom was destroyed and fragmented and its population dead or reduced to a fraction of where it was. 

writing

 I miss Writing.  I miss Reading, but I don't have time to read.  But I don't have time to write.  But I have time to make character profiles.  For games.  I can write adventures.  The last three posts were last three character profiles I made.  They are fun.  they are not a burden to write quickly

Harsaana

 

Harsaana Gustalkeen

Was born in a town of Malstern along the banks of the Mastekeena River about 2800 years ago about 150 kms from the mouth of that grand and mighty river.  The waters of the Mastekeena River are at that point swallowed whole by the Great River, and they only leave a turbulent red streak to the flow of the river that is consumed a few kilometers later by the yellow of the rest of the river; the world of the river of his birth, which is grand and mighty and extends for several thousand kilometers, gone in a few hours.  Malstern now rests at the bottom of Lake Nasaal, but in the time of his childhood, the town was centered in a large area of productive farmland.  The New year was marked with a flood from the Great River, its waters surging past the mouth and well past Malstern.  As the waters retreated there were celebrations and planting commenced for the first crop.  Midsummer the Mastekeena river would also flood, the snows from head waters finally reaching the town and second planting would commence.  This is the way the town would run for sixteen of the Greater Cycle’s years.  In the Winter there would be four years where the waters never flooded and the summer too, but the Winter the years would be lean with more hunting and fishing, stores would be reduced and trade from outside would increase.  In the Summer, the almond, olive, and the orange trees that were hibernating most of the year would fill out and fruit; rice crops would be replaced with wheat and other grains.  Sometimes there would be an unexpected flood from the Great River.  Sometimes other dangers would come from other quarters.  So, there was always a need for accurate forecasting for the people.  As such, Harsaana’s family was always in great demand as they were astrologers.  More than just astrologers, the matriarch and a few select family members were wizards; diviners to be precise.  The quality of the predictions of the family forecasts was such that there was a local saying, Gustalkeen is very keen; keen meaning in the local dialect accurate, the sword had a keen edge.

Harsaana grew up with this expectation and never wanting to disappoint, she out shone all her siblings and cousins and drew the eye of the Matriarch.  For seven years her predictions and forecasts were dead on, predicting which crops would work best for a coming year and when the rains would come and the floods of the rivers.  Spotlessly.  Until one year she predicted no crops would be harvested.  She cast her predictions forth into the next three years and each came back with no crops harvested, on the fourth year out she saw there would again be crops but only the lightest of harvests and only enough for a population of a small village for the coming Winter.  She approached her great grandmother with these predictions and her grandmother looked at her charts and made her predictions and determined that she was wrong.  The forecasts showed that there would be good weather, and the floods would be on time and not too great.  Harsaana grew desperate because, she knew all that, but her predictions still showed no harvests but in the neighbouring towns and villages a day’s travel would be normal.  After seven years of grace, the Matriarch cast her down from her position at the age of seventeen.  Harsaana tried her predictions repeatedly with different approaches and she kept getting the same result.  She was a pariah within her family and the rest of the town.  But the reason for her predictions came a few months before harvest.

Fame of the town Malstern spread far and wide along the Mastekeena River and even into the lands near the Great River.  It was said that there were a family of witches that could control the weather and make harvests exceptional, free of pests.  Others said that the family just had extraordinary forecasting abilities.  There was the warlord Gute of Markel, that was hoping that it was the latter of the two suspicions and planned to launch a trading expedition into the Mastekeena and capture one or more of these forecasting witches to forecast the battles that he waged.  Gute emptied his stronghold and purchased forty of the largest ships he could find and packed them all to the gunnels with as many men as could fit and not sink the ship and set forth.  His own astrologer had told him that his descendants would rule a huge expansive nation for millennia to the south and west and his name would be forgotten in the land of his birth in a generation.  He took that as a blessing and launched his plan.  They traded little with people along the way and crept up on Malstern with stealth, unloading the troops outside and in a Banyan glade outside the town and then docking outside the town making overtures of trade for famed quality of foodstuffs.  Which he found in quantity, owing a prediction that almond and olive oil would hit new heights of value if held on to for longer than would seem prudent.  Gute a large feast in the town for the fortune that he would get for selling such prized merchandise to the Kingdoms of the North in their time of Famine.  It was a ruse to occupy the town and allow his forces to sneak in from the countryside and take the town and capture the powerful predictive witches.  The attack was almost a failure.  The witches did not attend the festivities and when the attack occurred, the towns folk were less inebriated than he had hoped.  The witches it turned out included several potent wizards and although the attackers carried the day nearly two in three soldiers was dead and over half the ships were sunk.  Gute enraged with his failure sought out any living witch and found none, they were all dead but there was one rumoured to be living by herself in the country ten kilometers from town.  He gave orders for the surviving men to be cut down along with the old and the young and allowed the surviving soldiers to despoil the women, while he led a small cadre to capture the last witch, Harsaana Gustalkeen.

Harsaana was taken on to Gute’s ship and brought to his cabin where she was raped regularly but kept alive as long as she provided forecasts that were accurate and favourable to Gute.  She did what she was told, but only gave Gute the predictions he wanted to hear, not the best predictions though.  She knew the best outcome for herself lay on this path, since she purchased the cottage ten kilometers from Malstern a month before its sacking.  As a prognosticator she had always been focused on further goals than the immediate future; she planned for the long term.  She birthed five children of Gute’s and three of his commanders.  When he discovered the treachery, he flew into a rage and killed the commander that was not in her control and she seized power by killing Gute in the open before his men without the use of magic; she used poison, but she hid that from them. 

The Death of the Warlord Gute was met with joy for the local region, his army had grown out of nothing over such a short time to become a feared threat, undefeated and seemed to have some sort of spy network that had sapped every nation of advantage.  Not all Gute’s Commanders accepted rule by Harsaana and many thoughts of rebellion.  This was because it was not known that the successes of the past ten years were due to her guidance and not the prowess of Gute.  Even the survivors of the initial battle with Malstern who knew why they attacked the town new little of this guidance.  But they did understand success and Harsaana did provide that success, and she was able to put her most unstable detractors into positions where they were killed, and her own supporters were able to assume control.  Where Gute played a game of rapid expansion, Harsaana played the long game; the conquests of Gute were forged into a nation and the nation was transformed into a Kingdom with grand ambitions: to rule the watershed of the Mastekeena River.  In her servitude to Gute she refined her skills as a diviner and developed many rituals and arcane incantations that would make her spell more powerful and accurate.  All the futures that she foresaw lead her to one conclusion, if her work were going to last beyond her life, she would have to live to see its final shape and its final shape could never exceed the watershed of the Mastekeena River.  She plotted the course of the empire that she would rule and knew that there was only one course that would allow it to happen.  She trapped her soul on a phylactery of her own devising and sealed it in a tomb that only she knew about and proceeded to construct a great dam that she promised would be a symbol of the power of the Empire.  The resulting dam was said to be one hundred kilometers wide and fifty meters tall, twenty meters thick at the base, and ten meters thick at the top.  It required most of the resources of the nation for one year to create and a lock system to lift all trade to the surface of the lake behind.  The accepted reason for this expenditure was to prevent invasions like that of Gute the Terrible from ever happening again.  She then created another set of locks that would hold back the Great River when it would flood and prevent the flooding of the city ever again.  She then built her capitol, Gutral Mastekeena, literally, in the forgotten language of her people, The Mouth of the Mastekeena. 

Eventually the city would fill the entire length of the river between locks and dam with villas and estates and extensions of the city, so that by reputation it was the biggest city in the world.  The Empire would not see to itself.  There was need of administration and it could not be left in the hands of unsupervised mortal hands, but also, she could not leave the seat of her power either.  The Empire is remarkably stable under her rule.  She can foresee any rebellion to her rule and shut it down quickly and she has learned to pass most of the appearance of rulership to her children and their descendants, the best of the best of them gains the title of King or Queen and the rest are held as subjects to the Crown and left to do what they might.  As time passed the rules changed gradually.  Citizenship was not a right of birth, but a right of service and citizenship could be stripped away, and their rights given to the nearest by relationship citizen.  Citizenship was granted only after 10 years of faithful service to the Empire.  All peoples gained by conquest are enslaved and relocated, dispersed through the empire, gifted to new citizens.  Opposing forces that surrender must join, but only are granted citizenship after 10 years of service.  All citizens take loyalty oaths and disloyal oath takers die.  The army is forbidden from taking liberties of captives, except when the need arises to make an example of a town or city and then the entire populous is put to death right down to the last chicken.  Most often this happens when the army is called to knock over any nation outside the watershed of the Mastekeena river.  Any nation thought of as a threat to the stability of the empire receives such a visit. 

But the Empire is very stable.  Trade is very stable, and the population is incredibly happy.  There are no famines and most people away from the army have never known war, there is a constant invigoration of new blood from the front lines and the population is constantly growing.  Education is an exceedingly high priority and there are many vocation schools for citizens and the children of citizens.  Monasteries, Warrior Schools, Bardic Colleges, Wizard Schools, and trade schools abound with the best and most prestigious located in the capitol.  All graduates are required to take loyalty oaths, which are binding, and attract a wide group of candidates from many nations.  One of the nicknames of the empire is: The Empire of One Hundred Million People, this has not been true for many centuries; the population is much greater. 

There have been over one hundred rulers under Harsaana since she became the Emperor, all related to her and Gute.  She has learned that there is a ritual that will make her immortal, but it requires many spells that she can not cast yet; they are effectively spells of the twelfth order and her blessings of knowledge will only allow her to cast five of the six spells.  She is holding on to the hope that her military can uncover more mysteries so that she can gain the power to cast these spells, but should a threat come, that would require her to use the blessings in another way, she will not hesitate to do so.  Woe to anyone who does that.  She is currently a Lich with 20 levels as a Wizard and 10 levels as a cleric.

Roy LeRoy

 

Roy LeRoy  (Roy Roy)

Born a child of the children of refugees to the Refuge, Roy was raised on a steady diet of tales from his Grandfather, one of the refugees.  His grandfather never talked about the wars that lead him and the rest to the Refuge, but instead talked about the times before when the Seven Kingdoms were at their height.  He heard about knights and Tournaments and he heard about Princesses and Dragons and great Sorcerers.  But it was the story that his grandfather told him about the time well before those glorious times, when the LeRoys were Kings and Royalty in the distant past, in the time before Unity.  Grandfather only mentioned it a few times when Grandmother was asleep, but he longed to hear more of those times.  He told him that he was to keep this knowledge to himself because it was a family secret, one that even his Grandmother did not know, nor his own mother; It was a secret for the Men of the LeRoy to know about.  When he talked about it, he often ended with why they were no-longer kings and when he discussed it, he would say it was because the LeRoys had thought they were better than the others and they stopped paying attention to the people.  He took me by the shoulders and looked me in the eyes and told me to never take people for granted and to look out for them as your family.  It was a few years before I knew what that meant.

I would go into the woods and give the animals in the trees pep talks and walk around like a king or a general encouraging the stumps and the logs, the trees, and the birds to do better, keep a sturdy footing before the battle and to be ready for anything.  Years later I would remember those days and those speeches and try to encourage my fellows the best I could giving speeches to people before sporting matches.  I never told them things that they did not know already, but me telling them seemed to make them do better anyways.  Grandfather said it was the Gift granted to the LeRoys from before they were kings, our special mark.  Amongst my friends I was never the smartest or the charismatic, but I was well liked.  I listened to what people thought and chose strategies that seemed the best for the time based on general agreement.  Grandfather said that that was our downfall, we thought we knew best and that we knew everything; no one does, so listen to your advisors and when you see a lot of heads nod, make that advice your own. 

Just before he died, Grandfather came to me and told me that He was proud of me, I was a true heir of the LeRoy name.  He said the Secret of Leadership was not being right or having the best ideas but being the one to make people see what you say as being the right thing to do; to inspire people to see my words as the right thing to do.  I remember these words as my inheritance from him and as a tacit promise to do right by him and his teachings.  I was 15.

Over the next few years, the obligations to family and society came first.  I trained hard to learn the tasks that my father set before me as an entertainer, working as the entertainer in our family establishment.  My mother was a fabulous chef and despite having little in the way of variety and herbs and spices, she was able to provide a welcome repast and my father was able to provide entertainment for the town and a place to meet and talk.  There was little in our town that provided that and there was a need to let out steam for most people before curfew.  When I was 18, I married Natasha, the daughter of one of the local farmers, and she moved to our house, her dowry of a milking cow and three goats was a needed boost to my parent’s business, the additional hand helped my mother.  18 saw me accepted into the local militia too, a step that meant in more than one way I was a man.  

My ability to command was noticed by the aides of Commander Hightower and I was sent to join the Drop Guard, a prestigious step for a young militiaman.  The addition of a small wage allowed me to send real support for my wife and children, Rose, Willow and Benjamin (named for my Grandfather).  I took My Grandfather’s old chainmail and weapons a great axe and a glaive with me with my father’s blessing; he never liked them in the house anyway.  When Lord Hightower asked for volunteers, I put my name forward because I knew that any mission for the Lord would have a dire importance for the future life of my children.  My wages are sent to my family after my personal upkeep is seen to.  I was happy to see people I knew when I joined the Guard, I was pleased to see my friends in the guard already, we had gone our own paths when we came of age and it was good to reconnect.  I hope that one day they can see me as more than the one that stayed at home.