Campaign Notes

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Campaign Notes

Stoneyford

Stoneyford is a booming frontier town, of the modest size of "only" 300,000 people. That population has exploded to that figure in the last five years.

Stoneyford proper is a moderate-sized hamlet of conventional Imperial construction, being a cluster of covillas around a shallow ford in the Little North Stoney River. The town proper is being aggressively expanded, with over a dozen new covillas already built and two dozen more underway already. This construction boom is dwarfed by the colossal works underway about six miles north of town, where the Stoneyford Fortress is underway, with teams of mage circles toiling day and night to finish the vast foundations.

Another three miles north of the Fortress construction site, the actual passage to Fuerholm is a fresh slit in the mountain side, supposedly caused by a lightning strike several years ago. The split forms a narrow ravine under the veil, which is remarkably stable as it crosses the top of the granite knob.

Directly to the north of the veil is a huge, ramshackle encampment with no name, which is simply referred to as "the camp." This is a series of temporary wooden structures, many made of unsplit logs harvested from the local forests. The camp is in a legal gray area, as it is technically outside of the Empire and thus there is no jurisdiction. In practice, the camp is considered to be a part of Stoneyford. A very rough, and lawless part. The largest structure so far is the huge wooden Domana compound, run by the Templars who have arrived here to provide protection for the Philiates of Lurai, who live in open, unfortified housing.

The second largest structure is the eponymous Big Tavern, a huge A-frame building made of dozens of huge logs, which stands over 100 feet high. Although it is built similarly to a FaneDar longhouse, the Big Tavern is run by a human, the grubby and venal Hekmatre Vance. Hekmatre is deeply involved in the local scene, and often brokers work among the various adventurers, especially the "seedier" ones. He is also growing very rich, and wants the money to keep flowing, and so he works to keep the camp in reasonable shape. For example, he has several lookout posts on the top of the Big Tavern which he both mans with his own men and allows the Watch to use.

The mayor of Stoneyford is William Hart, a kindly old gentleman who is remarkably effective at keeping Stoneyford under control simply by being so unthreatening.

The Watch Commander in Stoneyford is the recently arrived Vanessa Trane. Vanessa is an Arrakanza Justiciar who has a "hold no prisoners" approach to her duties. Mayor Hart has told her strictly to keep peace in the old town, but her lawman instincts make her maintain a watch at least up in the camp, and she itches to bust serious heads. Due to some wise taxes Mayor Hart has imposed, she has ample resources, and has hired in hundreds of new Watchmen and does a good job keeping the Old Stoneyford quiet.

The Head Philiate of the temple of Lurain in Stoneyford is Arena Murlon. Arena is a reformed Langourous Bard/Barbarian who came to Lurain late in life and has struggled to "reach her place" within the arms of the Loving Mother. She is a bit of a black sheep and was essentially exiled here to minimize her impact. Plus, all those levels of barbarian were seen as an asset to her survival in this rough place.

One of the old Stoneyford businesses that has thrived enormously with the opening of Fuerholm is Jym's Stablery, run by master hostler Jym Farlon. Jym retired to Stoneyford after a long career as a Swift Rider and opened stable. He is now getting beasts of all sorts from Fuerholm and selling them to Dire Riders Empire-wide.

The Skealai

To the West and North of Stoneyford lies a large and uninhabited forest. Wardens of Daneth have recently begi-un to explore this forst, and report that it shows signs of caretaker activity about 100-200 miles within it's borders, coinciding with the appearance of a gigantic species of tree unknown previously.

A deep expedition by an Imperial Vocat team discovered the existence of a large populatton of forest giants, who call themselves the Skaelai. The Skalelai are enemies of both the ice and fire giants in Fuerholm, and given their large territory, seem to be of considerable power.

Unfortunately, the first contact resulted in the deaths of all Skaelai encountered.

The second encounter lead to the beginning of a dialog. Skaelai proved to have a large semi-feudal/socialist territory, based upon a system of noble houses/tribes/extended families who compete in a complex, semi-formal meritocracy. Their culture, society, and biology has proved to be complex. For example, it seems likely the huge Jereboam trees are at least partial symbionts with the Skaelai, given thet they have a coterminous range. Much more study would be advised, especially in light of the extrordinary resistance being encountered from the Emerald Empire at the Whispering Pass. Add in the similarity of the racial name to the racial name of the Cloud Giants and the many neighbors the Skaelai possess, and this previously unknown race could be extremely important moving forward in the Fuerholm Theatre.

The Vocat team has been ordered into Skaelai territory to open relations and investigate further allegations of Imperial Import.

Names:

Phosphur-Tree Grove

Phosphur-Tree Grove is a medium sized Skaelai settlement, with a population of perhaps 5-15 thousand of the forest giants. The initial contact was made with the minipal authorities of this settlement.

Katamina: Skaelai Raid Leader. Accomplished warrior (ranger levels?) who was the reluctant conduit to the first diplomatic conversations with the Skaelai. The Elders have tasked Katamina with being the "Local Guide" for the Vocat Team.

Elder Josaph: Skaelai Community Leader of Phosphur-Tree Grove, analogous to a Chief of Watch. Elder Josaph evaluated the Vocat Team and called a Regional Council.

Falls Glade

Falls Glade is a medium-large Skaelai "city." The population is over 200,000 giants. Falls Glade is located along a long cliff, and has many waterfalls, and a higher than normal percentage of underground dwellings.

Elder Marinesta: Skaelai Community Leader of Falls Glade(200k+ pop.), analogous to a Mayor/Governor. Elder Marinest was the most senior member of the Regional Council, and is currently leading discussions with Ordinate Abigail Deressa for Skaelai-Imperial cooperation.

Foggy Vale

Foggy Vale is a large Skaelai city far to the West. It is on the northern coast of Fuerholm, and heavy coast fogs are common during much of the year. Foggy Vales has a little over 100,000 giants living in it. Foggy Vale is strategically placed for the Vocat team to investigate reports of a significant extra-Imperial threat axis.

Elder Laramiss: Akin to a combination of mayor and Police Chief, Elder Laramiss is the very dominant member of the Foggy Vale Council, and the main Skaelai Authority for the Vocat team to operate with. Early reports are that Laramiss is capable, as her large level of authority would indicate.

Flarecrown Fumarole

Flarecrown is a large Mastani Fumarole located hard on the oceanic coast atop an obsidian cliff. Flarecrown is a major port for Mastani shipping out into the Desolate Ocean, which, according to early reports, may not be exsanguinated this far north. Early reports indicate a major Mastani presence on islands leading out into the Desolate Ocean. Flarecrown is not very evident on the surface, but if reports are to be believed, is extremely well defended and may house up to 90,000 Mastani.

Thane Burstonk Gark. Thane Gark is the fuedal overlord and cruel Master of Flarecrown. His family has ruled under Flarecrown for almost 1500 years, and he is the fith Thane Gark. He is shrewd and capable, and has several excellent advisors. He is widely reknowned as a Leviathan Slayer, one of the rare Mastani whose personal prowess is great enough that he has slain a Kraken, Leviathan, or similar creature in single combat. He is currently unmarried, his last wife dying in a coup attempt some six years before. Thane Gark is reputed to be in mourning, and will remain so for another four years, or until the last member of the conspiracy who attempted his throne dies from the torture, whichever comes first. He is rumored to be asking for a daughter from his friend, Thane Karman Vanes, the Dragonslayer of Bitterheart Fumarole, a poorer but frighteningly capable Thane a distance to the East. This is generating tremendous scandal, as Vanes House is much lower ranked than Gark House, not to mention is accused of many vile and noisome practices.

Master Hayleen Perkel. Master Perkel is the Arms Master for Flarecrown. He is in charge of the army, security, and port. He posts guards, performs inspections, and maintains order and peaceful borders. Master Perkel is capable with arms, but is deadly in manuever, and served as a Marshall far to the East in his younger days.

High Priest Etran Cardallan. Priest Cardallan is a ruthless and ambitious giant, with extremely good perception. He is capable and does not hesitate to act to protect his interests, and the interests of Flarecrown. Rumor was that he was involved int he recent coup attempt, and one of the reasons Thane Gark is so determined in his torment of the captured conspirators is his desire to determine the truth of the matter. For now, Priest Cardallan stands at the side of his Thane, but his place is far from secure.

Harbormaster Lemus Kalkan: A rarity among the brutally vital Mastani, Harbormaster Kalkan isnt just fat, he is immensely, morbidly, obese. Normally, any Mastani who showed such lack of discipline would be a shunned outcast, but Kalkan is highly ranked with the extremely important position of Harbormaster, where he directly controls over two-thirds of the funds of the entire Fumarole. He gains this place via his astonishing competence, which causes Thane Gark to ovelook the fact that he is too fat to leave his office any more. Harbormaster Kalkan is also more capable than he appears, and has not only survived four assassination attempts, he has calmly and utterly destroyed all those who conspired against him.

Meltan Hober. Meltan Hober is a lowborn Mastani who has risen to the position of Master of Fisheries. FIsh from the Corean Ocean are one of the largest trade goods that originates from Flarecrown, and almost a quarter of the income of the fumarole comes from this source. Hober is aware that his position is precarious, as some noble-born would be more than happy to stoop to such a lucrative position. So far, he has managed to remain in his place through a combination of competence, low animal cunning, and remarkably hard work.

Mesteline: Lowborn Mastani fisher woman who was first contacted by the Vocat Team. Mesteline is a retired veteran of the Aesani Wars, who also saw some action in the Great Eastern Compaign. Has a trident of fish control she uses to make a living. Has very little ambition, but is reputed to be capable.

Skyrivers

Crackheart

Chief Rageheart. Probably the strongest of the chieftains, he would easily claim the title of Emir if his own people did not fear him as much as they fear the enemy chieftains. Rageheart is a barbarian and a berserker, a force on the battlefield to be feared by everyone. Rumor has it that Rageheart has been recently bribed with a harem of beautiful princesses to perform some especially dangerous and beastly act.

Long Icy

Map(external link)

Chief Gutbiter. Gutbiter reached his status by fighting smart, not hard. He hds several levels of warrior, rogue, and assassin, and gained his name by famously castrating an opponent on the battlefield with his teeth. He fought Rageheart several times, and despite filling the monster with poisons each time, still only managed to annoy the beast. He lost an eye, an arm, and an ear to these battles, but was still as dangerous and potent as ever, until he drew the ire of the Cloud King, whom he had summoned to help him deal with Rageheart. The Cloud King seemed to be helping, but apparently grew weary of Gutbiters demands. The Cloud King appeared one day and in an orgy of destruction, killed Gutbiter in direct combat, then killed his entire family and most of his barbaric court and companions in an apparent fit of extreme pique.

Chief Blindeye. With Gutbiter dead, the Long Icy is now in a paryoxsm of violence, with several other chiefs vying to the Chief of Long Icy. Blindeye is an older, one-eyed warrior who was content to let Gutbiterlead before, as he did not wish to deal with the assassins poisons. Now, Blindeye is asserting himself. Blindeye is, if anything, even more capable than Gutbiter was, but stayed out of the contest out of fear of the fiends poisons. Blindeye is suspected of forming an "old guys" alliance with Blood-Drinker already. Like most old Aesani, Blindeye is teeming with eldritch power, and his empty socket is reputed to both see more keenly than an eagle and has the ability to cast the evil eye on his foes. He is immensely feared and commonly seen as the front runner to replace Gutbiter.

Chief Thugok the Slayer. Thugok the Slayer is a barbarian and berzerker with a heart of gold, for an Aesani. He is young, and filled with what pass for romantic ideals among the Aesani. His battle prowess is apparently considerable, but he never raised his hand to the post of leadership until the sudden appearance of Ragehearts Harem. He has now killed his way to leadership of the Frozefoot Tribe and has his eyes firmly fixed on ruling the Long Icy, and apparently is determined to kill Rageheart and claim his harem. Blindeye is attempting to recruit the Slayer and is reputed to have offered him several positions, such offers Thugok is either too chivalrous or too stupid to accept.

Chief Angar Wolfheart. Chief Wolfheart is a brutally cruel giant, even by Aesani standards. He has several large packs of Roobrai and Dire Wolves, and is a master at deploying them on the battlefield. Many of his attacks, raids, and even major battles are carried out by his blood-maddened minions, and he has a reputation for winning without taking many casualties. His personal prowess is in some doubt, as the last several foes he has faced have been torn to shreds by his ravening Roobrai and wolves before Wolfhearr had even to reach for a weapon. Wolfheart is deeply feared and hated, and if he becomes Chief of the Long Icy there will be an immense bloodbath as he purges it of his many enemies.

Lesser Chiefs

Gnarlnose Hateface. Gnarlnose has a large nose that has been broken many, many times over the years, usually as he smashed a skull with a headbutt.

Gristleguts. Gristleguts is infamously tough, and is covered with innumerable scars. He is reputed to be immortal.

Harpy Thickthumbs. Harpy is female, but her strength is legendary. How she got the appelation Thickthumbs is not fit for polite company.

Hammerhand Hak. Hammerhand is well known for his savagery and willingness to enter battle unarmed. He has killed many foes with his bare hands.

Ghastly George. Ghastly is remarkably ugly, with no facial or bodily feature that is symmetrical or lovely. Amazingly, he is even meaner than he looks.

Icebeard. Icebeard sports a vast mane of silverblue hair and a matching beard. He is a sport, with many arcane powers and fell abilities.

Gorgeface. In his youth, Gorgeface stopped a massive sword cut with his face. The scar is like a livid canyon to this day.

Bloody-Eyed Bord. Bord has very rare red eyes, an indication he has Mastani ancestry. That he has risen to Chief despite this is remarkable.

Blisterfoot

Chief Blood-Drinker. Blood-drinker is OLD. He has, like most old Aesani, odd and unusual powers related to weather and ice. He gained his name from his habit of drinking only blood, and has drunk so much over the centuries that his body has turned a greyish-pink, and he is rumored to be able to smell blood for miles. He has wisely stayed out of the fights between Rageheart and Gutbiter, and plans to kill the winner, although he hopes that Gutbiter wins, as even he does not wish to face Rageheart.

As is typical of the Aesani, each has several tribal groups that split, join, and re-split constantly as they migrate about both on the surface of the glacier and as the various skyrivers move around. All three skyrivers are close to Flarecrown and Foggy Vale, and the Aesani mount frequent raids on both.

The number of Aesani is hard to say, but is likely at least 20,000 on each of the glaciers, organized into a dozen or so tribes. Each tribe has a Chief, and the strongest chief on each is described above.

Nimbuskand

Nimbuskand: A long-term cloud city that has recently migrated into the area, Nimbuskand has come at the summons of the Gutbiter, who demands help in destroying Rageheart. The recent harem that arrived for Rageheart's pleasure is rumored to be part of some clever plot orchestrated by the wise masters of Nimbuskand. The population and location of Nimbuskand is unknown, but is likely no more than a few hundred Skaenai and perhaps a few thousand Stongai slaves.

Cloud King, Sir Ereman Tervail. Sir Tervail is vastly powerful, wise, and clever. He is also monumentally evil, and spends much of his time driving Stongai slaves into creative forms of insanity. He is in semi-exile here on the far coast, where the sea winds make life uncomfortable, but his offense to the other Cloud Kings is unknown. Sir Tervail is enormously capable, with many levels of cleric and wizard. Perhaps he is a Mystic Theurge. It is reputed that in his younger years, when he chose to journey to the outer planes and find his own God, he chose to worship himself, with unusual consequences.

Queen of the Sky, Lady Sispa Tervail. Despite the rumors, Lady Tervail was insane before she married Ereman. His extreme solipsism resonated with her particular insanity, and her family was happy to be rid of her, giveing Ereman a huge dowry before she finished killing them all. She is an Arcane Trickster and an Assassin, and she provides Nimbuskand with the credible threat needed to ensure it remains unmolested by even the most brave or foolhardy. She is rumored to have over a thousand Roobrai partially vivisected and formed into the furnishings for her bedroom.

VISIONS AND PORTENTS

Coralaine's dreams

Coralaine's first great dreaming

You wake up from a vivid dream. You were at a giant party, a vast crowd of happy people, dancing. You were dancing with them, one among millions, and so happy your heart could burst. The vast crowd was dancing about a huge pillar of gray stone, so vast and might it could surely hold up the sky.

A pure light shone on the pillar and vested the happy faces of the dancers, but the bottom of the pillar was cast in shadow, so that the pillar was both brilliant and dusky.

A vast vine twined about the pillar and basked in the light, and the floor you danced upon was made of the leaves of the titanic vine.

As you looked away from the pillar, and it's upheld light, the party grew wilder and darker as the shadows gathered. The dance grew sensual, and as the shadows fell deepest, the dance became frankly sexual, rampant with lust.

You realized you were dancing with a little girl, whose clothing was blood. You recoiled, and she looked so sad as you pulled away. She turned and vanished out into the shadows.

Soon after, new figures appeared in the shadows, also dancing, but their dance was the hitching agony of the torture rack.

The new dancers in the darkness were few at first, but as they joined the sexual writhings of the other dark dancers, the dance changed, and the wracking, spasmaodic motions of the new dancers swallowed the lustful gyrations of the outer dance.

But as the party continued, the pain-filled agony seemed to erode the light, and the new, horrible, dance soon reached your spot.

You saw that the little girl dressed in blood was dancing with a giant of blackest shadow, and her every step spread the dance of pain.

She danced toward you, and you awaken with the smell of blood in your nostrils.

The Second Dream

As Coralaine sleeps in the bed of the Vanes, she dreams her second Great Dream.

She sees herself looking down upon the bed, and the slumbering forms of the people around her.

Her own body is translucent, and within her there is a vast, patient, and wise form, calmly assessing through her eyes the situation.

Sir Vane's body is translucent, and within him there is a huge, driving engine of precise angles and immense power, uncaring in its actions, blazing eyes only upon a distant and unimaginable goal.

Lady Vanes body is translucent, and within her there is a huge, gentle power, regretful of her actions yet proud of her accomplishments, whose eyes are fized upon a distant form who needs protection, no matter the cost.

Kara Vanes body is translucent, and within her there is a huge, warm presence of busy growth and fecundity, unworried by events around her as it focuses upon both the huge engine and the gentle power, aiding and nurturing both.

Puzzled, you turn your gaze from the bed, and you see hovering in the air of the bedroom other figures.

You recognize the slave, Midnight. His handsome form is translucent, and within him is a huge female version of himself, frantic and harried, seeking aid and assistance against the falling of the darkness.

You recognize the slave, Goldenrod. His handsome form is translucent, and within him is a huge glowing golden form, dancing and swaying with joy, but whose eyes are fixed worriedly upon the darkness pursuing Midnight.

You recognize the slave, Wildeye. Her lovely form is translucent, and within her is a sleek, lithe form of vast speed and subtlety, cloaked in shadows, which is locked in battle with the darkness pursuing Midnight.

You recognize the slave, Butterbunny. Her slender form is translucent, and within is a vast, dark, calm tower, from which a single spearing beam of illumination pierces the darkness.

You recognize the slave, Desilay. Her perfection mark shines like a diamond. Within her, a dark, deadly copy of her beauty, obviously invested with vast power, steps carefully toward the darkness, weapons in hand.

The last form you do not recognize. It is a giant, pale as milk, with blue hair and a face full of malice even in slumber. In one hand he holds a huge axe smoking with frost that casts shadows in all directions. In the other, he holds six frozen chains, dragging behind him six tiny, beautiful female figures frozen in blocks of ice. His dire form is translucent, and within him a wild raging black beast howls in silent, eternal rage, madness glinting from its eyes and blood flowing from its mouth, so large and mighty that stars are caught in its teeth.

The sight of the beast shocks you so much that you wake....

Mirror Worlds?

Magic Items of Note?