Ages of Lingusia: The Amechian Pantheon

Amechian Spirit Gods:

   Amech is a harsh land of trackless jungles, fierce wilderlands, aboriginal tribes and hidden jungle kingdoms. The greatest natural beasts of the continent, elephants, thrive in the region, while more fearsome predators such as the Terkithyi and Codam’Tkezzu are fierce opponents. Gentel beastmen, wild elves, ancient undead Kadantanian sorcerers and prehuman ruins riddle the land. The gods of the Amechian region are a harsh lot, and expect strict sacrifice and dedication.

   The Amechian cosmology postulates a Spirit World, which appears to be a demiplane connected to the dreamlands of Ethenur and the Celestial Kingdom. The Spirit World holds many powerful, ancient beings, and is the domain of the Amechian gods. This land is sometimes called the Otherworld, and all members of the Amechian pantheon seem to have homes there.

   The gods of the Amechian pantheon are different from the traditional Middle Kingdoms pantheon in that they all seem to exist as corporal beings who move freely between their Otherworld and the mortal plane. Some cosmologists speculate that, at the time of the War of the Gods, the demiurges of Amech sought refuge in the Otherworld to avoid destruction, though their chief lord, Amech, fought and fell in the War.

   The principle people who worship these gods include Belladas, Hotepsala, Corvante, the Chigros, and the Hubinde.

Amech

Profile: Patron of Belladas, protector of the Amechian kingdoms, warrior of life and order.

Alignment: neutrality

   Amech is one of the elder gods of the Middle Kingdoms pantheon, and unique for having spawned an entire sub-pantheon dedicated entirely to his worship. Amech very specifically watches over the kingdoms named after him, including Belladas, the Chigros, Covarte and even the many people of the evil empire Hadros. Some say that long ago, after the Prehunate empire in the region was destroyed, that Amech took the blame personally and decided to serve as the land’s protector, insuring that its people not succumb to the same dire fate as their remote forebears.

   Amech learned the secrets of the Otherworld first and foremost, and through it he taught the spirits, all elemental beings, demigod children sprung from his love of mortal women, and primal animal beings from the dawn of creation how to traverse this realm. As a result, the Amechian gods took on their own unique character, and began to move apart from the dictates of the other gods in the Middle Kingdoms pantheon.

   In Belladas and elsewhere, a fierce cult of warrior-priests and paladins are dedicated to serving Amech, preserving the land from corruption and defending its people from invaders. Only men are allowed to join, as women are unable to receive the magical gifts of Amech’s spirit.

Appearance: Amech appears as a seven-foot tall warrior of supreme physical fitness, armed with two admantite short swords and a long spear which can penetrate any armor or defense to slay instantly. Like most of the elder gods, his corporeal form was slain in the War of the Gods, and his body lies in a hidden tomb in Ashturak’s Mountains. He acts through his chosen Avatar, who is granted his artifact weapons and a mission to carry out the god’s will. The ritual of succession is very complicated and important for the followers of Amech, as there must always be an avatar representing the god, but only a follower who Amech personally chooses through the course of trials will actually get the task.

Belphegor

(See main Entry)

   Bekphegor is worshipped by many in the Hadrosian kingdom within the region of Amech, and his veneration among the people of the jungle go back to the days of the Kadantanian empire. His strongest worship is in the kingdom of Draskis in the east, however, and so more details about Belphegor can be found in the Eastron Pantheon section.

Cerybane

(See the Elvish Pantheon)

   Cerybane is principally an elvish deity, but through the Siviante elves, she has found a place in the lands of Amech. Most of her followers there are the siviante elves, but some shamanic orders of women worship her, as well.

Choktun

Profile: magic, the quest for knowledge, immortality and ascension.

Alignment: lawful

   The tales of Choktun speak of a great shaman of old, a practitioner of spirit magic who learned the secrets of the afterlife and beyond. In his vision quests through the spirit world, he sought the domains of each of the great old spirits, and visited them. Each time, he offered a piece of knowledge from the mortal plane in exchange for the answer to a question. The spirits, envious of mortal creatures, willingly acceded to such an offer. He would let them experience a portion of mortality through his own life, and in exchange, he asked questions such as, “What is the secret of immortality?” and “Where is the path to divine ascension?” When his journey was done, he had all of the pieces to the great puzzle, and ascended to the heavens, an immortal and a god.

   Choktun is seen as a patron of shamans and mages in Amech. Old Idean codices link him to Nistur, a brother to the god of magic, though his Amechian tales clearly mark him an ascended mortal. His followers are reclusive, rarely congregating save to share knowledge. A small monastery dedicated to Choktun is located in Carapas, chief city of the Corvante Kingdoms in the northlands of Amech where the jungles stretch in to the Great Plains. A second, smaller monastery can be found in the Belladasian lake city of Talac.

Appearance: An ancient shaman, wizened beyond his years, who lives at the top of the highest peak in the Forger’s Mountains.

Dakkanich

Profile: Dreams, ancestors, passage of the dead, knowledge, luck.

Alignment: neutrality

    The dreadful dreaming serpent of Ethenur, this great god-like beast is revered by some Oineriomancers in the Amechian kingdoms for the hallucinogenic dreams they receive from this entity. The tales say Dakkanich is so immense that his tail rests in the fabled Spirit World of Amechian lore and his head rests dreaming in the endless plains of Ethenur.

  Dakkanich has long been regarded as the symbolic keeper of knowledge, as well as the protector of ancestors. In Amechian lore, the spirit which leaves the body becomes trapped in dream time, where it can find the body of Dakkanich and cross over in to the spirit world, and from there to the afterlife. Dakkanich is a bridge down which all ancestral spirits wander.

   Most Belladasian nobles have some ornamentation of the sleeping serpent in their households or on their person as a sign of good luck. In Belladas, a small society of priests serves as diviners, dream mages, and ceremonial masters of seasonal holidays in the land. Most such priests are also nobles and scholars.

Appearance: A serpentine beast, sometimes like an oroborous, and at other times like a straight horned serpent floating on water.

Hanahook      

Profile: Strength, war, the hunt, elephants.

Alignment: neutrality

   The immense elephant god of war is a symbol of strength among all Amechians, and a potent deity for shamans and hunters among the Chigros and Hubinde. Hanahook  may well be a great spirit being from the Otherworld, or he may be some sort of primal god, a child of Wolfon or Baragnagor, perhaps, as is suggested by the Idean Codices.

   Hanahook is known to manifest physically for his most powerful followers, sending corporeal manifestation which can prove devastating against whole armies. He is not a god of civilization, and will never manifest for men who embrace language, arts, and the trappings of the city.

Appearance: A man with the head of a bull elephant, dressed only in a loin cloth. His depiction in Chigros and Hubinde murals is simple, that of a stylized stick-figure in wall paintings and war paint. The Belladasians, fascinated by his imagery even if they lack the shaman cults, make stone idols of the god, as it is considered good luck for a household.

Lako

Profile: spawn of Set, lord of corrupted kings, patron of lust and hubris.

Alignment: chaos

   In the vast lands of Amech, Lako is synonymous with evil, deviltry, betrayal, and corruption. Lako is said to have first gained worship about the time that the men of Belladas learned to ways of elitism and rulership, abandoning their egalitarian tribal life. Some myth tales say that Lako appeared, a whispering serpent or dragon, to speak of such ways of class and rulership in the ears of greedy men, so as to destroy the peaceful life of the Belladasians forever more. Most rulers in Belladas will cut the heads off of any storytellers who recount such myths.

   Lako’s symbol is an ancient variation of the symbol for Set, a god of similar prominence in the Middle Kingdoms. Some scholars of religion have proposed the Lako is merely an incarnation of Set, who sought to extend his worship in to the Amechian lands. They are wrong, for Set himself is competitive with Lako in the jungle kingdoms.

   In fact, Lako is the son of a Kadantanian sorceress named Dar Esh’bina, who sought to gain power by seducing Set when he still walked, in mortal form upon the earth in ancient times. She secretely gave birth to the draconic serpent Lako, and raised him to be her prodigy of evil. When the time came to unleash him upon the land, and for her to gain the throne, Dar Esh’bina was betrayed by him, for Lako wanted the power she craved as well, and he devoured his own mother.

   For a time, Lako was ruler of ancient Kadantania. When time came for the War of the Gods, the Lords of Chaos called upon him, but he was defiant, and Dalroth came before him, and realized Lako’s heritage with Set, who, though evil, was a cunning lord of Order. He slew Lako in bloody battle, and dismembered his corpse, spreading it across the dark jungles.

   Over the centuries, dark boccor shamans would dream strange nightmares, and find the disembodied spirit of the demigod calling to them, luring them to the burial grounds of his decapitated pieces. Gradually, Lako gained a new following, and bit by bit, his followers have sought out his dismembered form and restored Lako to a semblance of his self, it is said, in the darkest valleys of the Great Peak region in the Forger’s Mountains.

Appearance: Lako is depicted is a serpent or a dragon, and his symbol is the most ancient one of Set from three thousand years ago. In reality, Lako is a series of enormous, disembodied part shift form to that of deformed draconian entities. He can project a human illusion at will, of a tall, handsom Kadantanian man with dark hair, slanted eyes, and a striking physique. He has an enormous appetite, literally, for young virginal women.

Lalawanaghin

Profile: The Trickster King, Lord Fool, Monkeys

Alignment: neutrality

Description: Lalawanaghin is the trickster god of the Amechian pantheon,a devlish monkey god who is the fool and charlatan of the heavens, revealing the imperections of his peers through his own ineptitude. His flock is few, but chosen carefully by the god through visions sent to shamans during their youth. The cult of the monkey god performs his mysterious requests, following cryptic visions and mysterious missives while leading lives as fools, grifters, daredevils, charlatans and sometimes even truth speakers. Many of his followers are not really priests at all, but dedicated monks and rogues.

Appearance: Lalawanaghin looks like a human-like monkey, dressed in beautiful gilded hide armor and wielding a long bo staff. He very much prefers the mortal plane, and is said to move amongst the kingdoms of Amech, sewing trouble wherever he goes.

Lanako

See Naril in the Middle Kingdoms

   Lanako is another name for the prolific sun god Naril, creator of man and lord of light. Lanako’s chief difference in the Amechian pantheon is that he is not the lord of the gods in this pantheon, but instead the trusted right hand man of Amech himself. Lanako is also pictured as a fierce warrior of local tribes, and favors the spear and javelin over the sword for a weapon. In all other respects, including the feverish dedication of his local priests (called the Warriors of the Sun), Lanako’s worship is the same.

Maw’Bwok

Profile: Devourer of Souls, the destroyer

Alignment: chaos

Description: Maw’Bwok is the Eater of Souls, the destroyer or men and the corruptor of spirits. He is the chaotic god of the apocalypse in the Amechian Pantheon, a lord of chaos who cares not if the war is ended, for he lives only to see the destruction of the universe.

   Maw’Bwok is said to exist in the realm called Otherworld, a mysterious netherrealm between the dreamlands of Ethenur and the mortal plane, a demiplane of the Ethereal where Maw’Bwok’s terrible designs have created a replication of the hellish nightmare he would like to make the mortal realm. His followers, though few, are very powerful, rewarded with terribly detructive energy and the desire to use it. His worship is the secret cult behind the sorcerers of Hadros, and his will channels through his subjects to drive that empire to conquer and lay waste to all that stand before it.

   Maw’Bwok has created his own special spirit servants, called the Ma’Loas. The Maq’Loas are fragments of his own chaotic form, devlish spirits sent to corrupt and drive mortal men to do evil and destructive works in the name of the dark god.

   Maw’Bwok is depicted in an abstract geometric pattern in temples. His true form is so terrifying to behold that it causes most men to fall dead on the spot (Wisdom check at  a –12 penalty to avoid dying and instead gain 2 negative levels).

Nanok’Tin

Profile: The Hundred Hummingbirds, bringer of rain, caretaker of the home

Alignment: lawful

   The Hundred Hummingbirds, the Middle tongue translation of the Belladasian name Nanok’Tin, refers literally to the fact that Nanok’Tin is seen as a composite god, a mosaic of literally hundreds of lesser household spirits who, when the are drawn together through ritual dance, bring good weather and rain to needy crops and villages. Nanok’Tin may very well be unique in Lingusia, a god composed of hundreds of separate lesser beings that can merge together to create a single being. Nanok’Tin is very much a fae creature, and the Hundred Hummingbirds are closely connected to the Weirding Realm, though they are also equally tied to the mysterious Otherworld.

   The priestesses of Nanok’Tin are famous for their costumes and dancing, as the rituals to summon the magic of Nanok’Tin require such devotion and performance to create their magic. Belladas is the center of this practice, but the Nanok’Tin are widely recognized by humble villagers and priests everywhere in Amech, including the Chigros and even the Talonabro.

Appearance: The diverse appearances of these mostly invisible spirits is too numerous to mention. They are best described as an amalgam of every creature in the Amechian forests, with winged fae aspects mixed in. The merged form of Nanok’Tin is said to be that of an immense column of fae light that dazzles and swirls among the worshippers observing it.

She’Sek

Profile: The Jewel of the Eternal River, Lord of the Waters, and the Giver and Taker of Life

Alignment: neutrality

Favored Weapons: the whip, spear and madu

   She’Sek is said by some shamans of Belladas to have been a Ma’Loa of Maw’Bwok who once escaped and became the patron of the eternal river. The Eternal River is the unending river of life and death that flows through all realms and connects all bodies of water. She’Sek escaped in to this realm, and in the process became the caretaker of this eternal passage. As such, he appears only at rivers and waters with fast currents.

   She’Sek is revered in Covarte as a sort of blessing and curse by the river people. It seems that the god is especially fond of appearing in this region. Tales of enemies of the Covarte being destroyed by the river god while trying to ford the protective moats to the cities of the Covarte people are enough to keep foes wary.

   She’Sek’s natural form seems to be a potentially unending serpentine dragon with glittering scales of a rainbow hue, impressive horns and a ferocious attitude. Even his followers dread being too close to the water when he manifests.

All text copyright 2011 by Nicholas Torbin Bergquist, all rights reserved

Ages of Lingusia: the Chaos Gods

 

Principle Gods of Chaos:

Baragnagor

Profile: Orcs and goblinoids, deformity, monsters, might, battle

Alignment: chaos

Baragnagor is one of Selene’s bastard offspring, or possibly a nephew. The deformed idiot god is considered to have lacked imagination or full ability, having been tainted by chaos. At the dawn of creation, he observed the other deities creating their children, the many races of the world. He is said to have been unable to produce beings of his own, and so he stole the body of man and the head of a beast from the other gods. He jammed the parts together at random, and created the orcs and other beast-kin races. The orcs take this as gospel, though it does not bother them that their god might be simple in mind. Instead, the idea of a being who’s thought is singular means, in the orcish mind-set, that his vision is clear for battle, a far more important virtue. Still, the priests of Baragnagor seem to have no problem scheming within the clans of the orcs.

   Baragnagor is a conventional patron of the orcs, and most all tribes at least have a shrine or shaman dedicated to him, even if they have also chosen to follow another deity or demon lord. Baragnagor means strength, victory, and the defeat of enemies in the orcish mindset.

   As Baragnagor is a chimeric being, followers tend to regard other chimeric creatures as divine. Orcish tribes who find a nest of chimerae, for example, will try to tame them and raise the infants to be war beasts.

   Baragnagor is depicted as a great, deformed giant with the head of a crocodile and tail of a dragon. His form changes over time, and his skin is at once furry, scaly, and feathered. He is a terrible, chmeric creature.

Belphegor

Profile: power, lust, pain, torture, angst, fear, envy, hate, batrachian undead

Alignment: chaos

   This fallen demiurge of Chaos is said to have died more deaths than most. Having been an ancient devonin lord ensorcelled in to the service of the Prehunate Empire ten thousand years ago, Belphegor was slain on the fields of battle when the gods cast down the heretical pre-human civilization of old. Thousands of years later, the dark necromancers of the Kadantanian Empire sought to resurrect the demon god, and he was brought to life through much sacrifice, rising from the festering remains of his subterranean tomb to live anew. For centuries, the Kadantanians were a force to be reckoned with, but at last they were destroyed in war, and Belphegor’s vampiric undeath could not be sustained. He fell once again in to deathly slumber, only to be awakened again by agents of Draskis, in which descendents of the Kadantanian necromancers had found new power. He became the patron god of the doomed city Draskis, and it’s vile inhabitants eventually set about to creating a new temple-tomb in which Belphegor’s undead body could reside. The Temple of Necropolis Damniskovus was completed just recently, and already it’s evil presence is causing strife in the lands of Cymeer.

   Belphegor manifests as a terrible black toad, the size of a dragon. Upon his back are the countless souls of his most faithful, flailing their limbs about, trapped in his form like abominable warts. He can release these trapped beings, who defend him as various demons and undead.

Dalroth

Profile: lord of chaos, bringer of apocalypse

Alignment: chaos

Dalroth is the dark lord of the chaos pantheon, and his followers serve chaos with their very lives. No good or sane being is known to follow him, though evil nations have chosen to follow Dalroth, but the society as a whole falls in to such corruption and chaos that it eventually succumbs to anarchy.

   Dalroth is described as one of the fist generation of ancient gods, sometimes described as the brother of Naril. He was born in to the world a corrupt being, and from birth knew his destiny was to serve the furtherment of Mala’Kor, lord Chaos itself.

   In the Codex of Creation, Dalroth is described as the overseer of Armaggedon, the god who shall hearld the end of everything. He is said to have forged the Abyss by order of Mala’Kor, and to have bled freely of his own blood, each drop landing upon the boiling earth of the newly created Abyss, spawning the infinte armies of the devonin, his people.

   Dalroth is a pervasive influence throughout the world. His legacy in the history of Lingusia is great, and he was the lead general of the forces of Chaos in the War of the Gods. He is a betrayer, destroyer, and the symbol of corruption and power at any cost among the Middle Kingdoms. His followers almost always begin as evil men and women who seek ways to further themselves, and quickly succumb to the siren call of evil and destruction which Dalroth advocates. His priests are sometimes called Entropomancers.

   Dalroth’s strongest followers include the Black Circle of Dahik, a coven of priests and wizards dedicated to chaos which have recently survived a coup deep within the Ashtarth empire. In far Galonia, two different sects followed his call of doom, including the Red Robes, a corrupted branch of the Circle of Twelve, magicians all who seek greater magical power through the study of Dalroth’s will, and the cultists of the Dark Pharoah, Lord Xauraun reborn as the divine ruler of that southern realm (though he is formally known as Xaros).

   The Red Robes are sometimes called “The Order of Circles” by its members, for there are ten circles of illumination and advancement. The first nine are held by various elightened priests, and the tenth is held by the solitary Grand Mage, who is always cloaked in secrecy, and whose name and identity are never truly known. It is said that those who reach the ninth and tenth levels alone are privy to the true secrets of the Lords of Chaos, and that they are given a permanent place of power in the afterlife of the Abyss.

Haro

Profile: assassins, profit from death, treachery, murder             

Alignment: chaos

   Haro is the lord of assassins and the principle deity of worship in the enigmatic cult of the Fire Knives, an ages-old cult of assassins that revere this dark chaos god. More about the cult and its beliefs can be found in the section on Orders and Organizations of Lingusia.

Kathak

Profile: insects, plagues, famine

Alignment: chaos

The dread lord of the insects, a god king of Ethenur, the dreamlands, Kathack is the embodiment of the mystical unknown and the unknowable. Beasts and insects inhuman and beyond imagining, are said to have sprung in to existence from the errant dreams of this dark and prodigious god.

   Kathack has few, if any human worshippers, but among the insect men of Karaktu, the khitteck spiderfolk of the Faerie Woods, and the kattachi scorpionmen of the Hyrkanian Deserts, Kathack is dark and fearsome lord.

   The worship of Kathack among his spawn is varied. Those who seek his power supplicate and obey, turning to dark and ominous means of gaining their god’s favor. Others, less inclined to the spirit of evil and touched by the spirit of Ga’Thika, seek only to offer sacrifice or worship in exchange for warding bad luck or being left alone. The khitteck, expecially, have no overt interest in the pursuit of evil as a species, and tend only to see Kathack as the god who blesses their hunt.

Appearance: Kathack appears as many different monstrous beings, usually being depicted as belonging to the species which is worshipping him in a given area. Kathack’s true form is ever-changing, a great mass of parts and pieces belonging to all of his spawn.

Orcus

Profile: keeper of undead, lord of darkness, gladiators, pits

Alignment: chaos

   Orcus is one of several demon lords who have risen to such prominence that they are worshipped as if they were gods by the monstrous denizens of the world. Orcus aspires to become the dark lord of the undead, a position of great opposition among the Death Patheon of Lingusia.

Slithotep

Profile: madness, insanity, chaos, obsession, and nothing

Alignment: chaos

Slithotep is the mad offspring of the elder gods Naril and Selene, brother to Death, and the betrayer of all things living. His madness and the reasons for it are manifold, chief among which is his inherent instability as a being composed of chaotic energies.

   Slithotep has long plagued the world, and his mortal form, like so many other gods, was destroyed in the War of the Gods. His body was lain to rest in the Slithotendan Mountains, where his corrupting essence consumed the very land and aided in turning the once beautiful region in to a place of madness and decay. In fact, Slithotep did not truly die, for his body, composed of the essence of Chaos, existed outside the fabric of reality, and he gradually reformed a material form. His body takes on many shapes, but in recent centuries Slithotep has taken on the form of whole structures and buildings, including the weeping citadel of the Hyrkanian Deserts and the Hut of the Wailing Woman in Mitra’s Forest. Some think the Wailing Woman, a mad witch is Slithotep’s avatar, but they are wrong; she is a woman he took as his mortal wife at one time, long ago, and whom he will not let die, even though his corruption has driven her permanently mad.

   Because of the purile and horrific practices associated with Slithotep’s worship, the cultists who follow the god are of a particularly deviant nature. All true dedicates to Slithotep must choose a form of madness, usually of a psychotic, delusional or sociopathic nature. Even if they didn’t have a mental problem before joining the cult, the rituals involved in indoctrination guarantee that the cultist is mentally scarred afterward.

Appearance: Slithotep can take any form, living or inanimate, and any size, shape, or substance within reason. There are some who have met Slithotep, even entered his very belly in the form of a great hall or keep, and never even known it. Anyone doing so, however, must make a Wisdom check at -5 each hour to avoid a creeping, permanent debilitating madness from setting in.

Phaedra

Profile: Shadows and darkness, undeath

Alignment: chaos

   Phaedra in this era is an unknown; she is the goddess of Shadow and has manifested in that domain as its ruler thanks to the chronomantic ledergdemain of her lord Unarak. Together, Phaedra and Unarak have managed to use the chronomantic meddling of Huuarl and his agent Aeon to traverse the timestream and reappear in the past, with no one able to amend their actions. Each entity returned as a shade, a wisp of their future selves; Phaedra possessed the body of a mortal woman who was her ancestor.

   To date Unarak and Phaedra have stolen the power of Vishannu, whom they had an advantage over, for in their future his treacherous secrets had been laid bare and the two stole a powerful prehunate artifact from him, one whould could steal the divine essence of an actual god. They subsequently took this divine spark and used it to steal the shadow kingdom from Penumbros, who now lies exiled and powerless in the dark wastelands of the Shadow Kingdoms. Once their kingdom was secure, the two assassinated the ancestors of the demigod Thalion, who would one day rise up to defeat them in the future. Phaedra, drunk with new power, now conspires with Unarak on their next actions.

Thasrik

Profile: slavery, control, domination, subjugation, castes           

Alignment: chaos

   Thasrik is an ancient Lord of Chaos, one of the most vile ands corrupt, but surprisingly unmotivated in comparison to his cohorts. Thasrik gains power through the subjugation of others, and wherever societies go bad and begin the wanton enslavement of one another, the presence of Thasrik’s secretive order can’t be far away.

   Thasrik’s order, sometimes called the Servants of the Dominator, are strongest in Hadros, where they are endorsed by the Emperor himself, and have a visible footing in the slave-driven lands of Hotepsala, a land which depends on the productivity of slaves for its great monument building. His cults appear more secretively throughout Lingusia and Takkai as well, inserting themselves in to otherwise normal lands and spending years chiseling away at the foundations of established social systems to try and foment a desire among the superior classes for a stronger and harsher system of slavery and abuse.

   Many gladiatorial arenas throughout the Middle Kingdoms are also prime locations for the Order of the Dominator to make an appearance, as the castigation and execution of slaves in the arena is considered an especially desirable effect for this deity.

   Thasrik’s symbol is the Old Tongue runes for pain and humiliation, but his physical form, which is rarely ever pictured, is that of an immense, bloated demon dressed in a black cloak and hood, wielding a whip and spear.

Unarak

Profile: undeath

Alignment: chaos

   Unarak is one of two active gods of the so-called Shadow Pantheon. With Phaedra he has returned to the past, exploiting a loop in time created by Huuarl and his minion Aeon when they sent agents back in time to prevent the formation of the ancient book of prophecy that would awaken the Skaeddrath and lead to the destruction of the world in fifteen hundred years. Unarak originally rose to power after the alternate timeline’s cataclysm, during which a vacuum amongst the gods and a severing of ties to the planes allowed the lich king once known as Anharak to sieze control over the domain of undeath. He broke the tethers between the souls of the dead and the afterlife, forcing the souls to migrate back to the plane of the living, where he forced them to reanimate in the bodies of the dead. A plague of undead, called the Plague of Unarak, spread, and it took two centuries before it was completely contained after a band of young avatars rose to defeat him and end his magic.

   In this distant future Unarak was cast down, but now he has an opportunity to redeem himself, for the dreaded god’s shadow spirit has escaped back in time, taking advantage of the Time Lord’s efforts to destroy a much greater threat to the world, to reposition himself and his favored ally Phaedra to strike out against the realm in a time and place when he is relatively unknown.

   Both Unarak and Phaedra found host bodies, Unarak presenting himself to Anharak, the mortal sorcerer whom he once was before he became a lich, and informing him of the inevitable defeat, death, and rebith he would undergo before his rise to godhood six centuries hence, followed by another defeat shortly thereafter. It took little convincing to his younger self to bond with the shade of the future, and Unarak seized control of his old body’s mind, snuffing out what he once was and remaking himself anew.

   Unarak and Phaedra then joined together, to exploit the second known weakness. Deep in the jungles of Amech, in a prehunate ruin lost to time, they found an amulet that allowed one to siphon the divine power of a god from his dying form. They knew of this amulet from their future alliance with the traitorous god Vishannu, who was in their alternate future responsible for the Cataclysm through his manipulations. They then sought out Vishannu and mortally wounded him in a moment of surprise, using the amulet to steal his life force. They were partially successful; Vishannu’s favored avatar and champion Avolakita stopped them at the last moment, and with his last breath he gave her his remaining divinity. She is now a demigoddess, and seeks revenge against the Shadow Pantheon.

   Unarak and Phaedra then travelled to the remote demiplane called the Shadow Kingdom, and struck quickly and decisively, stealing the domain from Penumbros, as well as stealing his divinity. Penumbros was not slain, but now lurks in the far corners of the Shadow Plane, conspiring about how to restore his divnity and kingdom.

   From their new throne the two began a process of seeking out the known ancestors of the avatars that had slain Unarak in the future, and snuffing them out. Thalion’s clan was first, and more are yet to come. Such a complete revenge has rarely been seen in the history of the world.

   Unarak’s powers of undeath are strong, but they are hindred by the power the Cataclysm gave him in the future. Unarak has not yet solved the question of how to create a new Undead Plague, for he knows that to recreate the Cataclysm would invite certain destruction at the hands of the Skaeddrath once they are freed from imprisonment, and so he is contemplating other options to achieve power in this young era…perhaps, even, to find a way of usurping the power of the dangerous but disordered Chaos Pantheon, using his knowledge of future events to his advantage against Dalroth, Slithotep, Haro and others…

All text copyright 2011 by Nicholas Torbin Bergquist, all rights reserved

Ages of Lingusia: The City of Kymir

   The city of Kymir is an expansive coastal port along the northern coast of the Empire of Hyrkania. It is one of four key city ports that provide gates to overland trade in the Middle Kingdoms, and has prospered as such for many centuries. The core of the city reflects this, having built up long ago upon a tell mound.

The Purge of Kymir (1958-1959)

   The city of Kymir has long been a loyal supporter of the Emperor, but recently a shadow has been cast over the otherwise bright city with the rumors of dark forces and hordes of monsters amassing at the empire’s border. Within the city itself hints of chaos cults have sprung up, and fear has run rampant among the citizens as it is suggested that chaos kin such as doppelgangers and even worse have infiltrated the ranks of the city’s aristocracy. There is a fear that the city may somehow fall to chaos from within, and governor-regent Dalos Ternakus wants to put a stop to this. Officially he can do little; the accusations against house Strallikus and house Tharik have little real weight; no actual murders have been evidenced that haven’t been accounted for through seemingly more innocent means, but the rumors are still too difficult to ignore. Dalos decides to hire some “special agents” on the side to do some dirty work for him, see what can be dug up. Among those he seeks out is the young mercenary Wormi, who recently earned the regent’s respect after he rescued his daughter Alandra from a kidnapping attempt. He will hire Wormi, along with the adventurers, to investigate these claims and murders and see if there is any stock to them, and the rumors that two of Kymir’s three strongest houses are corrupted from within by chaos…

   Wormi has his own agenda. He’s aware that both of the rival houses in Kymir have vast treasure houses, and that he might be able to get in to those coffers and help himself. He wouldn’t be above raiding Ternakus’s coffers either, but will forego such actions while he’s on their employ.

   During this time, the minotaur Zigmund and his Cult of Ogron is active in the city. Zigmund is a useful source of knowledge as it relates to the Lower Dark beneath, albeit an annoying one as he spends his time attempting to convert people to the following of the Wind Lord.

   Another known persona during this period is Dihralk Nephu, who is presently making a name for himself in the region fighting on the side in the gladiatorial circuit while also seeking employment as a full-time solder. He is presently a captain in the Kymir garrison.

   The mystery behind Kymir is multifold. House Strallikus is indeed corrupt…and has been for a long time. Darante Strallikus is the eldest son of the house and destined to the ranks of dukedom. He is also a high priest and templar of the chaos cult to Dalroth and Slithotep, and has been allowing various agents of chaos in to the city walls for some time now, including a cabal of Sherigras and their undead hordes that lurk in the sewers, as well as doppelganger agents that have been quietly positioning themselves in the city, taking over various famous or powerful individuals and either ridding themselves of the bodies of their victims or making the bodies unidentifiable.

   House Tharik is also corrupted, but they worship a different chaos god: Sul’Ziddarak, the Sleeper. Oddly, the Dalroth cult is opposed to this one, for it is believed that Sul’Ziddarak is an usurper deity; either Dalroth of Sul’Ziddarak can lead the triumphant to the new era of chaos, but not both, according to the vile eldritch tomes both cults read their scriptures from. As such, the problems in Kymir are two-fold: both cults are seeking dominion over the city, and only their opposition to one another is preventing it from happening immediately.

   The agents of Sul’Ziddarak are drawn from the darkness of the Far Realm, the domain that touches the edges of true chaos and beyond, and include mind flayers and other abominations. The cultists of house Tharik are led by lady Eleska Tharik-Cartadi, who appears human on the surface, though she holds this façade to hide the inhuman shoggoth-like entity she has transformed in to. Most of her true cultists have undergone terrible mutations, but like the cultists of Dalroth this shapechanging ability gives them an edge in the strange secret war of Kymir.

   There is one more party at work in the city. The Astral Blades are an elite order of knights who swear loyalty to Etah, the dreaming traveler, a god of the planes that imbues its kin with psionic powers, some say. The Astral Blades are eternal enemies of the cult of Sul’Ziddarak and will seek them out to slaughter them whever they appear; they consider this chaos entity to be far more evil and powerful than the deities Dalroth and Slithotep, which are both considered fallen gods of the pantheon of order so far as the Astral Blades are concerned. The headquarters of the Astral Blades includes a Planar Gate to the domain of Astrophikus, from which they hail originally.

   The adventurers hired by Lord Ternakus are plunged in to the middle of this intrigue and must try to sort out who or what is the real threat in the city of Kymir. He will give them a 1,000 GP stipend per week to resolve this issue and stop the cult of Sul’Ziddarak!

Complications in Kymir:

The Steel Dragon

   There is rumored to be an ancient Steel Dragon dwelling in the Lower Dark beneath Kymir, whose cave is accessible by a winding series of grotto tunnels off the coast. The steel dragon is named Karmakus Incineratos. It looks like both factions are vying for control of this dragon to aid them in their intended take-over of the city.

Hook: The Deep Delve Company (run by Silver Dwarves) is interested in finding out where the dragon’s lair is located, and is looking for willing scouts to delve deep; they will pay 100 GP up front and 500 GP on receipt of the data they need, with a 250 GP hazard pay bonus if the PCs survive any “incidents.”

The Mad Asylum

   One of house Strallikus’s secret cult temples is located in the Arykad Asylum, located on the northern high bluffs overlooking the city and the sea. Here, the Headmaster of the asylum, a tiefling named Mariskos Vagan, openly allows the worship of Slithotep and uses the madmen of the asylum to create new and terrifying monsters, which he keeps locked away until the signal for their release is given when the Dark Armies begin their march.

Hook: Anton Dalos is a young nobleman out of Galent who has come to Kymir seeking his lost sister named Anadra, who traveled to Kymir after becoming infatuated with a nobleman named Carnast Yindalor. Carnast has obstinately refused to help Anton and even threatened to kill him if he continued poking his nose in to the matter, so Anton has gathered his personal savings of 1,900 gold as well as his war horse and his magic sword (+2 long sword Luckblade) if the PCs will interrogate Carnast and rescue his sister. What the PCs will ultimately find out is that Carnast has sold Anton’s sister to the headmaster Mariskos Vagan, who then declared her insane and locked her away as a forced convert to the cult of Slithotep in the asylum…

The Black Orphanage

   The chief temple of house Tharik is actually the Goldenlight Orphanage, where the children of the orphanage (and the benevolent priests of what everyone thought was the living goddess Hella) are not at all what they seem; at the orphanage’s heart is a terrifying orb, a singularity of darkness that is said to be a passage to the far realm and a place from which Sul’Ziddarak’s beating heart can be heard. All of the children and priests of the orphanage have changed, purged of human souls and tainted by demonic entities from the far realm.

Hook: Friendly streetwise PCs may befriend street urchins who speak of their friends who have been taken away to the orphanage, and when they next meet them their friends are “changed” to terrifying shells occupied by unknown forces…

The Lich King

   Kymir has long been the home of the Lich King, the legendary Laikhanamen, though few are aware of this. Those secret powers that seek to control the city know the lich king dwells within, and have been jockeying to buy him off or earn his support…anything to keep from drawing his attention. Only regent Ternakus himself is unaware that Old Man Laikhanamen, who periodically visits his palace to provide some advice and insight on city affairs, is actually this ancient, immortal undead sorcerer. Laikhanamen may actually prove to be the single most valuable ally the adventurers could hope for in thwarting both foes, although Laikhanamen’s own armies would involve raising a veritable army of the dead to do the job.

Hook: The elderly gentleman Laikhanamen will seek out the PCs for various sundry tasks he needs completed, including some unusual ones, such as taveling to five corners of the city and setting up tall rod-like objects in the center of ritual pentagrams, then opening stoppered bottles filled with minor elementals…he may also send the PCs to investigate rumors that the ruins of Clastus in the swamps to the south have been overtaken by orcs bearing a strange new mark, and that he wants to know if the mark in question is that of the eight-eyed god Dalroth…

The Buzzing Darkness

   Unknown to all these other parties, deep in the Lower Dark an army of insectoid beings is stirring as the cults of Thasrik rise anew, driven mad in a buzzing frenzy at the impending chaos. The leader of these forces is no less than the Hive Queen Skatha Idanaor herself, a drider priestess who is considered Thasrik’s consort. She may seek to offer her army to the highest bidder should they wish to secure the city through her brutal tactics and forces.

Hook: odd intrusions to the surface of various insectoid beings are generating minor bounties to put down these pests. The overlord of Kymir will appoint the City Engineer Mordran Gamost to find out where the insectoids are coming from, which he in turn will seek out mercenaries to enter the lower sewers and see if they can seal up the “leaks” from below; he’ll pay them 250 GP each with a double pay hazard bonus if they run in to trouble.

The Mad Prophet and the Village of Cropstor

   The first real power play will happen, it turns out, in the farmlands outside of Kymir. A mad prophet of Slithotep has been speaking in the city for some time now of how the “children of the vine” (Syleni) will spill their blood in the name of the true darkness. This turns out to be a reference to an attack on the Halfling village of Cropstor in the north, where apparently it is believed a “pure soul” of order has been born in the form of the Halfling Kizzel Firedrawn. Kizzel is actually a rather errant soul, but he has no idea he has been pegged for capture—and his village exterminated!—by both cults of chaos. Adventurers may learn of this and seek to stop or mitigate the damage to the village.

Hook: A concerned citizen by name of Alundair Saeraghan hears the mad prophet and grows concerned; he hires the PCs to investigate the prophet and see what is going on (200 GP each, plus 250 GP each additional if they stop or waylay the attack on the village). Alundair is a local wizard of some repute; he is not powerful, but he does what he can to thwart the budding chaos cults in the region and his family has been in opposition to Strallikus for centuries now.

Other Plots:

Agamar Devilhoof and the Spear of Darkness

   This mad wizard minotaur wanders the region seeking allies to steal a legendary artifact from a degenerate cult of serpent men who claim to worship a being called “The Riven King.” This cult has incidentally been stealing children and women from the streets of Kymir and a reward of 10,000 gold has been offered to the one who stops the cult permanently and brings the head of high priestess Nemeska and her two allies, Grokka and Black Furion with it to the highlord of kymir.

   Agamar is a self-serving bastard and will lure the PCs in to the deal on claim he knows where the cult is, and all he wants is this relic he seeks. He does indeed know that the temple is located within the Swamplands of Old Clastus, and that he knows the safe way to get to it. This is true; what they don’t know is how mercenary he is; he will literally throw them all under the bus if need be to get the Spear of Darkness. Agamar has been on the trail of Demogorgon’s relics for some time now, and seeks to possess them all.

Religion DC 24: The Spear of Darkness is rumored to be an ancient unholy relic, wielded by the Demon Lord Demogorgon himself to slay the Aspect of Naril during the War of the Gods, as well as his Seraph generals.

The Secret Behind the cult of Israthor

   The angel Israthor is a vestige (a soul trapped in the Limbo fo the Far Realm), locked in the Far Realms and held captive by the demiurge and tormentor/jail-keeper called Malgastithet; Malgastithet for some reason has adopted Israthor's name and claims to be him to his cultists. The title of the "Riven King" is actually a known title of Malgastithet, and was never used for Israthor.

    Malgastithet is a demigod, a hybrid entity, and it craves power. Its father is the god Slithotep. Its mother is an entity known only as the Phaeras, the Daughter of Darkness. It was condemned to the Far Realms as a gate keeper because it was seen as too deformed and insane even by its parents. It’s motivations are uncertain; madness, or perhaps vengeance for its fate spur it to seek an escape from its prison.

   Malgastithet has a certain belief that the Spear of Darkness contains the power necessary to free it; the Spear is one of many weapons from the War of the Gods that could condemn even an immortal angel’s soul to the Far Realm, never to escape; Malgastithet believes it can be used, as well, to free a soul, or even a physical being such as himself from entrapment in the Far Realm.

Xarion and the Spear of Darkness

   Xarion wants the Spear of Darkness for himself, as a weapon he can use to further his own intentions in the forthcoming War. He has many agents, as well as infiltrators in the cult, seeking the knowledge of the spear.

Horsekiller

   Hyrmyskos has a grand arena and it is known for a cluster of carefully bred blue dragons that it keeps chained for the arenas. One blue dragon has escaped, known by the name of Grakkas, but more commonly called Horsekiller for his love of horseflesh. Rumor is that Horsekiller already has a dedicated following of dragonborn and kobolds out of a cave along the base of the Slithotendan Mountains; he’s been causing mayhem in villages throughout the northern province, and a reward has gone out that the first to bring him in will receive 5,000 gold and a plot of land out of Hyrmyskos, awared by highlord Calidantes himself.

Overview of Kymir:

Tell Avath

   This region of the city is found on top of the great tell, sometimes called the “Tell Avath” which in the old tongue means “Seat of Ancestors.” The city fo Kymir has existed for more than two thousand years, and in that time the inner city proper has grown on top of the ruins of prior eras; the tell itelf is a vast network of catacombs, subterranean streets, overlaid waterworks, sewage drains and forgotten crypts. In Kymir’s history the city has been subject to fire, destruction by war, abandonment by plague and other phenomena over two and a half thousand years multiple times; each time, the people eventually returned and built on the ashes of old. Thus has Tell Avath grown tall.

Locations on Tell Avath:

The Silver Palace

   Here is where Overlord Dalos Ternakus rules with his family. The palace is famous for the architecture of its Grand Hall where public events  are conducted, for the entire roof of the steepled complex is lined in carefully worked silver décor.

The Temple of Naril

   Ostensibly Naril is the patron of the Empire, and his temples are found in every city, his shrines in every village. The Kymiri temple to the sun lord is uncharacteristically small and does not have a proper garrison for the Solarian Knights, though a handful are present at any given time, either as guests, on pilgrimage, or simply offering their services for a time. The high priest of the temple is Aldran Yintar, a mousy man of noble birth but far removed from his own family out of Krythia. Rumor has it he was sent here to manage the temple to remove him from his home city some years back after a scandal involving the export of slave women of native descent to foreign lands. No one knows if this is true or if he was framed, and Aldran refused to discuss the matter.

 Laikhanamen’s Tower

   The local character “Old Man Laikhanamen” who is in fact the legendary lich king dwells here. His tower is located along the Royal Park, and is uncharacteristically friendly and pleasing to the eye. It is a favored spot of young lovers. The tower is cared for by his favored seneschal, Lady Madaras, a robust woman of mixed ogreish and elvish ancestry and a very friendly if ugly woman.

The Steel Dragon Inn

   This inn is rumored to have been run for centuries now by its proprietor and his family, the tiefling Janisar Zane. Janisar is a friendly fellow, and claims to have descended from the old bloodlines of lost Clastus; when drunk he insists he has the birth mark of the old Regent upon his buttock, and he may well even show it. The inn itself is a popular spot for young nobles and wealthy adventurers, but it is not cheap.

“Fire in the Sky” Apothecary

   This store branch of the Alchemist’s Guild is modest but well-stocked, providing tonics, elixirs and tinctures to the general population as well as more serious potions to adventurers. It is run by the dragonborn scholar and wizard Taranos. A small school of Alchemy is operated on the grounds.

The Watch Tower of Gamandan

   This is the prison and operation center for the City Watch of Kymir. The Captain of the Guard and city protector is Captain Aelon Tamis, a former Solarian who fell from grace many years ago and withdrew from the service of Naril. He now privately worships the death god Kavishkar and the ancestral god Karn, being a minor priest in the very small local cult to this deity.

The Lower City

   The bulk of the city stretches out along the cliffs of Tell Avath and down to the river bay (the Eladrine Bay) where most commerce takes place. The Lower City is where most skullduggery occurs, and is a famous haven for smugglers and pirates in Hyrkania, as Kymir is one of the few ports that does not enforce the royal tariffs (unless forced to) nor does its Harbor Authority bother to verify the identity or affiliation of inbound vessels. As such, many privateers that might be on the enemies’ list of the Hyrkanian Royal Navy can settle here, within the bounds of the Empire, without risk of capture and imprisonment.

  

Locations in the Lower City:

Lefferen Prison

   Once run by one of the most notorious sadists in the empire’s history, the prison is now half abandoned, as much of it is believed to be haunted and overrun by the undead; the other half of the prison remains viable, walled away from the ruined section destroyed during the Plague of Grakkas two centuries ago that almost left Kymir a ghost town. The most famous ghost of the haunted wing is thwe sadistic Lefferen himself; the prisoners are usually well behaved, threatened with being cast in to the dark haunted wing to be dealt with by the undead if they are troublesome.

Blackspire Tower

   This tower is located down by the waterfront and is the center of operations for the Harbor Authority, which is notoriously lax. Harbormaster Quin Dreyas (a Halfling) operates from here, and is secretly the head of a wealthy smuggling operation known unofficially as the Blackspire Smuggler’s Guild to those who deal with it.

Goldenlight Orphanage

   As mentioned elsewhere, this orphanage operates in the Lower City and is on the surface a service dedicated to the living goddess Hella. Beneath this thin exterior lies a dark cult temple to the vile Sul’ziddaran and his abominable servants.

Keep of the Astral Blades

   This small keep is maintained by this esoteric order and doubles as a temple to the golden god Etah. The Astral Blades purchased the abandoned keep some years ago and have long since been commissioned with the highlord of Kymir to provide the defense of the southport region of the Lower City. They have done a remarkable job, in fact, much to the irritation of the main City Watch. The leader of the Astral Blades Kaiden Dann Nemaron, an eladrin battlemind who is, in fact from Astrophikus.

The Sorry Kobold Tavern

   This dockside tavern is a famous place for privateers and pirates to gather and relax without fear of reprisal from the law. It is also a place for poor adventurers to seek out new employment.

Note: the folllowing encounters may look familiar to those of you who have seen the Agraphar book. They do, in fact, bear such a close resemblance for I actually poached them from my Agraphar campaign and reskinned everything for the Kymir campaign I ran (convenient when its two different groups of players). Rather than delete, ignore or rework it I have left it as-is for posterity:

Encounters in Kymir Province

The Black Swamps of Clastus:

Trouble in Zeremast: This Halfling Syleni community is located south of Kymir, and the town locals are under siege from small blue-skinned goblins, as they describe it. The problem has been ongoing for weeks, and the last party of mercenaries they hired to find and kill the beasts disappeared. No one knows why the beings are attacking, but they will pay 500 gold to the adventurers to stop the assault. Mayor Wendel Spigilsmit will happily offer to serve as a guide if the PCs need one (since the other guides are too terrified to leave their homes).

Encounter: Xivort Raiding Party (625 XP)

   The PCs may stumble across a gang of Xivort raiders while investigating.

2 Xivort Slashers

1 Xivort Net Caster

2 Xivort Darters

1 Xivort Shadow Caller

Encounter Location: The Xivort Cavern (Total of 4300 XP; broken in to 6ish encounter areas)

   The Xivort cavern includes a fiery idol of flowing molten gold, around which they will dance and cavort madly, proclaiming their infernal love for dread “Israthor.” The following are all of the cavern’s occupants, which may be encountered all at once or separately, depending on how cautious the PCs are:

12 xivort slashers

4 xivort net casters

16 xivort darters

4 xivort shadow callers

6 thornskin frog guardians

Other Possible Swamp Encounters: Chitines, cave fishers, ankhegs, bullywugs

Spinewood:

   Much of the entire northern mountains are draped in this dark and chilly northern forest. The Spinewood is a necessary feature of the land, but locals shun traveling alone in the woods for fear of what lurks within. Some example encounters:

Wylden Clan: A clan of Wylden have emerged in the deep woods and are on the hunt. They are unsympathetic to humans, and are presently seeking out the strange beasts and demons that are answering the call of the dark cult of Israthor, hunting such beasts.

Encounter: Wylden Hunting Party (675 XP)

   The Wylden will likely begin stalking the PCs and then attack, though a charismatic effort to quell their fears may win them over.

2 wylden destroyers

2 wylden hunters

1 wylden ancient

Encounter: Goblin Advance Squadron (850 XP)

   The goblins of the swamps are patrolling the region as advanced scouts for the army of SGaviltar the Elflsayer and capturing one or more alive might lead to valuable information on their intentions, info which could save lives.

3 goblin warriors

1 goblin skullcleaver

2 goblin sharpshooters

1 goblin hexer

Encounter: Chaos Beasts Answer the Call of Israthor

   Many strange beasts wander through the Spinewood seeking out the visions of power and darkness Isrador offers for their allegiance. They are utterly hostile to anyone not of their own kind.

In the Mountains of Madness:

   The mountains harbor many dangerous beasts, including goblin patrols, errant kobolds, and occasional orc and drow raiders. Dwarves and various giants are to be found here, as well.

Around the Black Shrine:

   There are no specific encounters around the black shrine, but strange things will happen en route. A seraph guardian will step forth to task anyone who approaches; he seeks not to slay, but will force the defeated to the base of the mountain. He can only be bypassed with the right word, which comes from a Pillar at the center of the Ruins of Clastus, written in the ancient tongue of the Primordials, but legible to any who hold the mysterious Amulet of Gazad’hran (see more below): “Sinsaith, Protect me.” Once said in the original Primordial language, Sinsaith will allow passage. If the PCs defeat him and his servants, he will reform in 24 hours with twice as many servants to try kicking them off the mountain again.

Encounter: The Seraph Sinsaith (1,000 XP)

1 Angel of Valor (Sinsaith)

4 angel of valor cohorts

Clastus:

   There are a lot of goblins, hobgoblins, ogres and trolls congregating here. Orcs stay away mostly, dwelling much deeper in the mountains; they fear Scrotus the Bold and his mighty army. Any number of strange encounters with the goblinoid army’s recruits could happen in this region!

In the Ruins of Clastus:

Encounter: Skulks on Patrol (975 XP)

   A group of Skulks have taken up residence in the ruins, among other foul beasts, in hopes of the promise of power Isrador’s visions have wrought. They have allied themselves with a barghest named Negratos, who is an exile among goblinoids.

1 Skulk Mesmerist

3 Skulk Murderers

1 Skulk Hunter

1 Barghest Savager (Negratos)

Encounter: Lurking Warlock and Gang (828 XP)

   A band of monsters led by the charismatic tiefling warlock Enestro have taken residence in what was once a grand Library in Clastus. They too have come, hypnotized by Israthor’s call to power.

1 Tiefling Heretic (Enestro)
6 Infernal Armor Animus (bodyguards)

2 Hex Knight dark ones (Alistair and Tabitha)

Encounters: Roaming Beasts (Total XP variable)

   Many beastly monsters have felt the call, though they have not the minds to understand it. Some examples:

3 Volcanic Dragon Wyrmlings (600 XP)-mother may show up for pick-up

1 Young Black Dragon (875 XP) from the swamplands

4 fire bats (800 XP)

6 gray oozes (750 XP)

1 Ankheg and 10 Ankheg Broodlings (550 XP)

Encounter: The Dead Patrols of Clastus (variable XP)

   The guardians of lost Clastus are rising to fight off the hordes that descend upon the city. They are restless, for they remember the era when Clastus was alive, and how it was destroyed by the worship of Israthor. They might not attack beings of good with plain evidence of such (amulets to good gods, say). They are all bound to an amulet, the Amulet of Gazad’hran, the last Necromancer of Clastus. This amulet is in the possession of Enestro.

Patrol 1: 6 Dread Protectors (900 XP)

Patrol 2: 3 Dread Protectors, 2 Dread Marauders (850 XP)

Patrol 3: 2 Dread Protectors, 1 Dread Marauder and 2 Dread Archers (1,000 XP)

Nemradar Hill Lands:

   Patrols of human raiders from the jarldoms can be found here, but the single greatest threat is the infamous Blue Dragon Horsekiller, as he is called, an arena-bred renegade. Additional encounters could include northern blue orcs of the Frozenblade tribe who dominate the region from northern ice caves out of the Spinewood along the Mountains of Madness, as well as dark dwarves and more ferocious beings.

The Draconic Presence:

   This region is rife with kobolds, dragonborn and to a lesser degree drakes, all who stem from the draconic insurgence out of the Caves of Israthor, where the mysterious being’s calls have been drawing draconic beings from all across the land.

Daeragastor and Denetar Keep:

   This ruined city has been rife with undead and essentially uninhabitable since its fall two decades ago. There have been efforts to repopulate, but all have ended in tragedy.  The city was destroyed through a terrible event about which much mystery is surrounded; a small fortress manned by the Solarian Paladins called Denetar Keep rests outside the city’s walls, protecting the rest of the world from the mysterious undead within. They also man a light house along the coast to warn away ships using the Straights of Nyarlith to travel to and from the Inner Sea region.

   Unknown to most, Daeragastor was destroyed when the vile apprentice necromancer Varimoth sought to steal the secret of unlife from his master, Gaviltar. In doing so, he forged a pact with the demon lord Demogorgon, who made him an immortal lich….in exchange for the souls of Daeragastor. In one terrible night the demon lord’s army was released and ran amok through the city streets, slaying all in their path. When the dawn rose, the demons vanished, but the dead began to rise. Gaviltar was in his castle along the western edge of the Spinewood when this happened, but his newly powerful former apprentice sought him out and murdered him in his keep, then crafted a spell to lock the wizard’s spirit within, never to escape.

   Today, Varimoth seeks more power, and he is behind the mounting forces of goblins and orcs at Clastus, seeking evidence of the lost tomb of the ancient being Israthor, whom he has determined is a fallen Old God from the war; Israthor’s dreams have haunted him, as he seeks to steal the power from this corpse-god’s resting place beneath Clastus.

   Some sample encounters include:

Encounter 1: horde of zombies (1206 XP)

12 zombie rotters

6 zombies

Encounter 2: Wight’s Army (1,000 XP)

1 Wight

1 Deathlok Wight

5 zombies

Encounter 3: Assembly of Darkness (1,300 XP)

1 Ghast

6 ghoul flesh seekers

Encounter 4: Necrotic Survivor (700 base XP + 2000 for lich if they actually fight and defeat him)

   The necromancer Gaviltar perished, but his acolyte Varimoth lived and has stolen his master’s secret cashe of lore, allowing himself to become a lich!

1 Lich (human wizard)

12 decrepit skeletons

2 blazing skeletons

Castle Gaviltar:

   This castle is dominated by Gaviltar himself, who is a ghost manifest. His castle is full of undead, slowly being raised by his sheer force of will. Gaviltar, should he ever be interrogated, might feel kindly toward those seeking information, enough so to let them know about the mystery of Israthor, and of the rumors that an ancient key can be found to unlock the secrets of the Ruins of Clastus and the being beneath. He also knows of the tunnels beneath Daeragastor that can reach the subterranean ziggurat. He knows that the key can be used in two ways: to unlock the door to Israthor’s domain, or to seal it forever, banishing Israthor forever from Lingusia. He will help the PCs if they promise him two things: first, to find his remains in Daeragastor and bring them to Castle Gaviltar; second, to avenge himself against his traitorous acolyte and student, Varimoth! He can provide them with a special device to aid them in the second task: a dagger designed to destroy the young lich and trap his undead soul within its blade…

All text copyright 2011 by Nicholas Torbin Bergquist, all rights reserved