Post by insightfulhedgehog on Mar 25, 2015 22:52:31 GMT
So, my campaign has had one night so far but I've had about a month or more to think and plan it out before that. So, I guess I'll start by telling you a little bit about my current world.
World- The name of my world is Audilos. Currently I only have one Continent planned out. Within this continent there are 4 nations each ruled by a different king.
The first nation (currently called Aaoli, but revision is highly welcome) is one of humans which is situated entirely in the deserts below the primary mountain range of my continent. From this mountain range a great river flows down through the desert to the sea. The capitol of Aaoli sits on this river and is called Osis. This is the primary location of the start of my campaign. Also, the national symbol is a raven. The monarchy in Aaoli is altered so that any son or daughter of the king must complete a series of tests set up by Pelor in order to be crowned king. In the meantime the kings primary advisor takes over until an heir is crowned.
The second nation is called Dravin and is also a human nation. Their symbol is a curled up dragon. This nation has a history of conflict with Aaoli and used to use dragons to burn cities ect. The ruler of Dravin is seen by the masses as a god of sorts and worshiped in temples around the kingdom. This nation appears to follow a classic monarchy. However, the nation has a dark secret, the royal family are actually a group of cultists who have been worshiping dragons for centuries. Therefore, the real king is a Dragon who is puppeting the fake king.
The third nation is that of the Dwarves. It sits within the mountains. Only the capitol is above ground and most of the other cities locations are closely gaurded secrets. The capitol exports goods onto the lake in the valley it sits in. These goods then go out of the lake into the mountains rivers and flows down to Aaoli. They have good trade relations with each other and are close allies. The king of the dwarves is selected by the election from the heads of the dwarf clans. The process is often slow and also held in secret. Their symbol is a large hammer.
The forth nation is that of the elves and is called Meeris. Meeris is ruled by a king who is selected by a council composed of high elves and wood elves. The king lives on an island in the middle of a great bay that separates the two capitols of Meeris. To the north lies Noltus and to the south Soltus. Each of the cities is managed by one of the kings advisors and are always a high elf and a wood elf never two of one.
Story
So the nation of Aaoli's previous king has just died and his children have each gone off to seek the throne. However, none have returned and the interim king is, well to say it in the easiest terms, one bad dude. Under his reign slavery is being allowed and crime/poverty are at an all time high. Amidst all of this a hero has arisen, a man of the people who is doing his best to protect their rights and stop the slavery. This mans name is Alhasan. Alhasan is around 20 years old and unbeknownst to everyone but him and the children of the king is a rightful heir. His mother was however, not a queen but in fact she had been a commoner. However, after the previous queens death she and the king fell in love. Out of wedlock she became pregnant and eventually died in childbirth. The king had thought that the child was also lost for years because his advisors hid the child from him. However, after being told on his death bed the king called for Alhasan and his other children and told them they were to be the heirs of the kingdom. Hearing of this the interim king prohibited Alhasan from entering the palace and sent the royal gaurds to locate him and stop his noble efforts.
So, you are likely wondering where the players come in. Well they arrived in Osis from all over the Continent to be traded as slaves, and were then sold to the owner of the arena in order to force them to fight against their will(which is illegal in Aaoli btw). As their cart is going to the arena the all realized there was a man in the cart who had not been at the slave auction but was also shackled, like them, to the cart. In other words this man snuck onto the cart while they were in transit and shackled himself in without them or the driver noticing. Upon arrival the players had the gate shut behind them and were thrown the keys. They passed them along and unlocked each other one by one. However, the mysterious stranger had already removed his chains before the keys reached him. They entered the arena and fought a group of warriors(I used 8 bandits). After the last bandit fell a strange music filled the air. As they turned to look at it all but the elves fell to the ground in a deep sleep(the whole of the arena). What the elves saw was the mysterious man with his hood thrown back playing a recorder of sorts that was glowing with blue light and had glowing arcane symbols flowing out of it. As the song came to and end the recorder began to disintegrate and eventually blew away as dust in the wind.
In the crowd people sitting all around the arena sprung to their feet and pulled small balls of cloth from their ears. They jumped into the arena and set about freeing all the people enslaved within. They all began to leave and the players watch as this man walks out the gate and turns down an alley way. I asked them what they wanted to do and I got "follow him" as a response from the whole group. He led them to a tavern and when they followed him inside they found him sitting in the corner at a table playing a tune on a lute. They talked about things and eventually asked how they could help him(They have now learned his name is Alhasan[don't know he is an heir]) He tells them of the noble children's disappearances and asks for their help in tracking them down and helping them so that they can be crowned and the kingdom repaired. So they set out and go to the first vault of the test.
The first vault of libra and it has two statues on either side of a huge scale. They have to lower either a warrior statue or a statue holding an olive branch. The test says "A neighboring nation is threatening war. Make your choice and bring it to the floor." They choose peace and the door opens. Inside is an heir who is dead on the floor surrounded by warrior statues which attack those who choose war. At the end of the room is a pedestal with a wooden token with the symbol of libra on it. The have to put it in a special pouch or it gets sent back to the pedestal. (The pouch is at the foot of the pedestal)
We ended there. Basically my plan is to have them complete the 11 other zodiac vaults and then put the tokens in some magic item (probably an instrument) that will help them. In the end Alhasan will become king and somewhere along the way they will discover he is an heir. Then they will have to worry about Dravin and a looming war. Luckily one of their good friends and fellow travelers will be the king. I'm thinking to give each player some form of royal title. I.E. the Barbarian gets a high military position and is war council to Alhasan, the Cleric becomes the head of the national hospital or something, the Druid becomes master of beasts or something, and the Ranger(first time player who said she wanted to be a keebler elf) gets to buy a bakery that caters for the palace or something.
Any thoughts? I'm also crossposting my world info to world creation so if you have specific thoughts on that feel free to discuss it there.
World- The name of my world is Audilos. Currently I only have one Continent planned out. Within this continent there are 4 nations each ruled by a different king.
The first nation (currently called Aaoli, but revision is highly welcome) is one of humans which is situated entirely in the deserts below the primary mountain range of my continent. From this mountain range a great river flows down through the desert to the sea. The capitol of Aaoli sits on this river and is called Osis. This is the primary location of the start of my campaign. Also, the national symbol is a raven. The monarchy in Aaoli is altered so that any son or daughter of the king must complete a series of tests set up by Pelor in order to be crowned king. In the meantime the kings primary advisor takes over until an heir is crowned.
The second nation is called Dravin and is also a human nation. Their symbol is a curled up dragon. This nation has a history of conflict with Aaoli and used to use dragons to burn cities ect. The ruler of Dravin is seen by the masses as a god of sorts and worshiped in temples around the kingdom. This nation appears to follow a classic monarchy. However, the nation has a dark secret, the royal family are actually a group of cultists who have been worshiping dragons for centuries. Therefore, the real king is a Dragon who is puppeting the fake king.
The third nation is that of the Dwarves. It sits within the mountains. Only the capitol is above ground and most of the other cities locations are closely gaurded secrets. The capitol exports goods onto the lake in the valley it sits in. These goods then go out of the lake into the mountains rivers and flows down to Aaoli. They have good trade relations with each other and are close allies. The king of the dwarves is selected by the election from the heads of the dwarf clans. The process is often slow and also held in secret. Their symbol is a large hammer.
The forth nation is that of the elves and is called Meeris. Meeris is ruled by a king who is selected by a council composed of high elves and wood elves. The king lives on an island in the middle of a great bay that separates the two capitols of Meeris. To the north lies Noltus and to the south Soltus. Each of the cities is managed by one of the kings advisors and are always a high elf and a wood elf never two of one.
Story
So the nation of Aaoli's previous king has just died and his children have each gone off to seek the throne. However, none have returned and the interim king is, well to say it in the easiest terms, one bad dude. Under his reign slavery is being allowed and crime/poverty are at an all time high. Amidst all of this a hero has arisen, a man of the people who is doing his best to protect their rights and stop the slavery. This mans name is Alhasan. Alhasan is around 20 years old and unbeknownst to everyone but him and the children of the king is a rightful heir. His mother was however, not a queen but in fact she had been a commoner. However, after the previous queens death she and the king fell in love. Out of wedlock she became pregnant and eventually died in childbirth. The king had thought that the child was also lost for years because his advisors hid the child from him. However, after being told on his death bed the king called for Alhasan and his other children and told them they were to be the heirs of the kingdom. Hearing of this the interim king prohibited Alhasan from entering the palace and sent the royal gaurds to locate him and stop his noble efforts.
So, you are likely wondering where the players come in. Well they arrived in Osis from all over the Continent to be traded as slaves, and were then sold to the owner of the arena in order to force them to fight against their will(which is illegal in Aaoli btw). As their cart is going to the arena the all realized there was a man in the cart who had not been at the slave auction but was also shackled, like them, to the cart. In other words this man snuck onto the cart while they were in transit and shackled himself in without them or the driver noticing. Upon arrival the players had the gate shut behind them and were thrown the keys. They passed them along and unlocked each other one by one. However, the mysterious stranger had already removed his chains before the keys reached him. They entered the arena and fought a group of warriors(I used 8 bandits). After the last bandit fell a strange music filled the air. As they turned to look at it all but the elves fell to the ground in a deep sleep(the whole of the arena). What the elves saw was the mysterious man with his hood thrown back playing a recorder of sorts that was glowing with blue light and had glowing arcane symbols flowing out of it. As the song came to and end the recorder began to disintegrate and eventually blew away as dust in the wind.
In the crowd people sitting all around the arena sprung to their feet and pulled small balls of cloth from their ears. They jumped into the arena and set about freeing all the people enslaved within. They all began to leave and the players watch as this man walks out the gate and turns down an alley way. I asked them what they wanted to do and I got "follow him" as a response from the whole group. He led them to a tavern and when they followed him inside they found him sitting in the corner at a table playing a tune on a lute. They talked about things and eventually asked how they could help him(They have now learned his name is Alhasan[don't know he is an heir]) He tells them of the noble children's disappearances and asks for their help in tracking them down and helping them so that they can be crowned and the kingdom repaired. So they set out and go to the first vault of the test.
The first vault of libra and it has two statues on either side of a huge scale. They have to lower either a warrior statue or a statue holding an olive branch. The test says "A neighboring nation is threatening war. Make your choice and bring it to the floor." They choose peace and the door opens. Inside is an heir who is dead on the floor surrounded by warrior statues which attack those who choose war. At the end of the room is a pedestal with a wooden token with the symbol of libra on it. The have to put it in a special pouch or it gets sent back to the pedestal. (The pouch is at the foot of the pedestal)
We ended there. Basically my plan is to have them complete the 11 other zodiac vaults and then put the tokens in some magic item (probably an instrument) that will help them. In the end Alhasan will become king and somewhere along the way they will discover he is an heir. Then they will have to worry about Dravin and a looming war. Luckily one of their good friends and fellow travelers will be the king. I'm thinking to give each player some form of royal title. I.E. the Barbarian gets a high military position and is war council to Alhasan, the Cleric becomes the head of the national hospital or something, the Druid becomes master of beasts or something, and the Ranger(first time player who said she wanted to be a keebler elf) gets to buy a bakery that caters for the palace or something.
Any thoughts? I'm also crossposting my world info to world creation so if you have specific thoughts on that feel free to discuss it there.