ADnD - Falkir
Set in the realm known as Falkir.
Based loosely on the World of Khoras setting.
Inhabitants of Falkir belong to one of nine ruling clans. Each clan is made up of a number of sub tribes. The party comes from the MacCradoc tribe. The tribal chief is Chief MacCradoc. The tribe consists mainly of humans and orcs.
The party starts in the village of Humberton, which is west of the town Fox Burrow.
Chief Patrick MacCradoc:
Clan background
The clan is formed of a number of tribes. Our particular tribe consists of orcs and humans, other tribes may have different races, allowing characters of other races to join the party later if desired.
Each tribe has a leader, and they form a clan council. The clan leader is somehow elected from this council, probably for a fixed term, but may be reelected (perhaps not for consecutive terms?). This clan leader is the clan representative in the council for the united clans of Falkir.
Tribe leaders stand until they step down or die. New tribe leaders are decided by the clan council, but the departing tribe leader normally selects their own successor and the clan council just ratifies the decision. The tribal council also has the power to force a tribal leader to stand down should they prove to be incompetent.
Each individual settlement would have a leader, and these leaders would form the council for each tribe. The tribe leader may or may not also be leader of a settlement. Often their clan duties mean they have little time to run the village where they live.
Village leaders would be chosen by the villagers based on local customs. (Perhaps one village has an arm wrestling contest to decide their new leader :-) )
Spiritual and Arcane power
There are two opposing forces in the universe. An infinite number of worlds exist between these forces, collectively known by scholars as the prime material planes. The forces are called Toh and Tah. The known world exists closer to Toh, so Toh exerts a greater influence than Tah. These forces touch everything in the world, gluing the elements together. What is commonly referred to as life, is just a concentration of these forces. Most life on the known world comes from Toh. In the known world, life from Tah is usually in the form of creatures such as undead.
Whereas creatures from the prime material planes get their life from either Toh or Tah, creatures from the other planes get theirs from both. All spiritual power comes from manipulating Toh and Tah. Some enlightened individuals learn to control these energies directly, but most are indirectly granted the ability through religious devotion to an extraplanar entity or god.
Arcane power is achieved by controlling and manipulating the elemental powers of air, earth, fire and water. These combine in varying quantities to create the physical aspect of the prime material planes, and are held together with Toh and Tah. Because of the way Toh, Tah and the elements combine in varying quantities, a prime material plane near Toh will appear vastly different to one near Tah. The outer planes are also formed from Toh, Tah and the elements, but their physical appearance is controlled by the will and desires of the god in residence.
Arcane magic may alter Toh and Tah to some degree by altering the elements being bound by them, and spiritual magic may alter the elements by altering the way Toh and Tah binds them together. This explains why both types of magic may sometimes create similar effects.
The prime material planes may be viewed as a column of disks forming a column. Toh and Tah join to the top and bottom of the column. The elemental planes run the length of the column and cover ¼ of the circumference each. (Earth opposite air and Fire opposite water.)
Character backgrounds
Dave - Badac - Psychic Warrior - Human – CN
(N.B. this char isn’t one of those controversial ones. He is wayward but he is loved by his family and works in the clans best interests – think rebellious teenage son rather than a*sehole).
Derek – Druss - Shaman (Cleric) - Half Orc – CN
Druss was raised by his mother in his early years, in a predominately human village. The village was part of a tribe which included the local orcs. Druss’s father was a shaman of the orcs and the relationship with Druss’s mother occurred after he saved her from a nasty local animal, though it was not long lasting. When Druss came of age (12) he went to live with his father for 5 years and there was taught shamanism by his father. The shaman training not only included learning to control magic, but included the history and knowledge of the tribe. Druss left the orcs when his training was complete, as he wanted to explore the world and increase his knowledge. He is a member of the same Falkir clan as his mother and sees his membership as an opportunity to broaden his horizons further. Druss has several half brothers and sisters on both sides, and shares the same father as Hadraak.
Ian - Hadraak - Barbarian - Half Orc- CN
Is related to Druss as a half brother
Mike – Salarin - Sorcerer - Human - NG
Salarin is just 17 years old. He'd always wanted to be a fighter, like his dad, but last year discovered he had strange new powers. There is a miss trust of magic in his village and especially so by his family and has thus not been open about his abilities. Although he cares deeply about his family and village he feels the need to be able to get out and learn about his new powers, something which he could not practice openly in his village. he is Badacs’ youngest brother.
WarrenC –Bilun - Cleric - Human – N (group leader)
My name is Bilun the Cleric. I've always liked healing people and would like to thanks the clan leaders for allowing me to continue to heal people under the clan banner. I come from a large family who have always been involved with the clan and have brought me up with clan values {What ever we decide them to be}.
Paul - solomon - Warrior - Human - NG
He's the youngest son of a family of militia-men. All his forbearers have fought for the clan in one way or another and many of them have died for the clan. His two elder brothers have been serving in the militia for a number of years but because the land is at peace there are only so many men required for militia service. Therefore he has taken to earning a simple living by hiring himself as a "strong-arm" at many of the numerous taverns, and gaming-houses, to be found in the Falkir Clan region to keep rowdy customers in order. He is good natured and easy-going, if a little gullible. His desperate desire is to prove himself in the service of the clan, just as many of his ancestors did. He is known and well-liked by many of the owners of the taverns and gaming houses in the region but there may well be one of two of their customers that are not so keen on him, having been forcibly ejected while they were drunk.
Stu – Faint Refill - Psionicist - Human - LN
WarrenD – Gregory LeBlaque - Rogue - Human - ??
Gregory LeBlaque is an orphan and was adopted by the Clan when he was too young to remember. He operates as a Rogue and troubleshooter. He is hoping to progress upwards in the Clan by putting himself forward as his villages local representative. He can seem cold to those he doesn't know yet but recognises the need to integrate into a team to survive.
The story
5th September
The group is bought together by Chief MacCradoc and asked to help the neighbouring village of Thetor where several people have gone missing recently. The Chief of Thetor is called chief Gaurant.
The party travelled to Thetor and met with Chief Gaurant. He said the village was attempting to reclaim a swampy area near the village. People had gone missing and strange lights had been seen at the edge of the swamp. He wishes the party to investigate what the cause is. There has been reports of two types of lights, green globes and yellow flashes, as well as scary noises.
Yanta took the party to where the land was being reclaimed. The reclamation involved diverting a stream. The work started about 2 months ago, with the stream being diverted about a month ago. The swamp is about 5 miles across.
Yantas father was working in the field near the swamp when he disappeared. Yanta also said there was an old witches house on the edge of the village. The witches’ son Tumber, a simple man, lives there now.
The party spoke to Wariton, who claimed to have seen the lights. He saw green globes drifting deep in the swamp during the day. He estimated them as being 6ft across. he had seen the lights twice, 10 days ago, and 6 days prior to that.
The party spoke to Barant. He saw lots of yellow lights down by the swamp during the night. He thought they were about 1ft across. No one else had seen the yellow lights.
The party spoke to master Wytan. He said the swamp was owned by a squire about 50 years ago, but had not been used since, though people had been in to hunt and fish. He had no idea about the green lights but thought dragonflies in the swamp could have caused the yellow lights. The squire had had a keep in the swamp.
The witch had been called Morac. She was a healer. There was a falling out towards the end of her life. Wytans father had told him she had been exiled but everyone now thinks she just died.
The party went to the village inn for the evening. The innkeeper was called Barant. (The party had spoken to his son earlier) When it got dark, Hadraak, Bilun, Solomon and Gregory went to watch the swamp for a few hours, then Badac, Druff, Salarin and Feint took their turn. Nothing was seen overnight.
6th September
The party went to explore the swamp. After some exploring a swarm of dragonflies was seen. They were about 1ft long, and about 2 dozen of them were in the swarm. A little further on a hillock of soft earth was found. Gregory dug into it and found a small tunnel running through it. He saw something white in the tunnel and stabbed it. His disturbing of the pile seemed to be attracting dragonflies, so the party backed off. It looked like the mound was a dragonfly nest and Gregory stabbed one of their larvae.
The party finally arrived at the squires keep. The keep was 30ft in diameter and would have originally been about 50ft high, though the top of the keep had collapsed, leaving only half still standing.
Gregory threw a grappling hook across the moat, and while Hadraak held the rope, he climbed across. The rest of the party followed, though Solomon fell in the water and Druss had to wade in and pull him out.
The inside of the keep had mud over much of the floor, and it looked as though the keep was starting to subside. Druss found a trapdoor covered in mud. The trapdoor opened downwards but appeared to be barred from below so the party broke it in. There was a 5ft drop to a ledge then stairs leading downwards.
There were 2 bodies in the room below, one at the bottom of the stairs and one in a far corner. They were covered in deep scratches and appeared to be the missing villagers. The room was a half circle shape and there was a door in the centre of the straight wall. Most of the floor of the room was covered in water. Druss waded to the body in the corner. The water contained leeches though they were only a minor inconvenience. The body appeared to have died in the sitting position in which it was found. They appeared to have been dead only a few days, though it was not certain whether the swamp conditions would have helped preserve them.
The bodies were carried up the stairs, and following a suggestion by Druss, large stones were carried down and placed as stepping-stones to the door to avoid the leeches. Gregory opened the door. Beyond was a room filled with a green glow. The floor was of earth and looked furrowed.
At the far end of the room was a human figure sitting on a stone chair. In a female voice the figure said, “why are you here”. Druss asked if she was Morac but she did not reply. When Salarin went right into the room she spoke a word and several zombies rose from the floor. Salarin, Bilun and Solomon attacked them, forcing the rest of the party to join the attack. She summoned more undead. Bilun eventually managed to turn the zombies, though not before a giant zombie appeared.
The woman ran from the room. Bilun and Badac chased her, while the rest of the party killed the giant zombie. By the time Bulun and badac got outside she had disappeared. Druss and Bilun healed the injured, and the room was searched. 24 gems were found embedded in the seat. Gregory prised them out. Druss dug in the earth where the undead emerged, and found some coins.
The party headed back towards Thetor. They found a puddle of fish. Druss caught a few and ate them with Salarin and Solomon. On the way back Gregory also trod on a dragonfly mound, but everyone managed to get clear before the dragonflies got really upset.
When the party arrived back at Thetor they went to see Chief Gaurant. He identified the bodies as those of the missing villagers. Druss and Gregory went to see master Wytan. The woman was described to him. He said it could have been the witch but she had never been known to be able to raise the dead. She had been known to use poison however.
Faint came up with an idea that Tumber could have killed the villagers, and that his mother (the witch) had hidden the bodies to protect him.
7th September
Druss and Bilun cast ‘detect poison’ on the bodies. A long lasting plant based poison had poisoned them both. Further consideration of the wounds suggested human fingernails could have caused the scratches.
The villagers’ bodies were buried mid morning. After the funeral Druss took the opportunity to cast ‘detect poison’ on the village idiot, but detected nothing.
During the funeral Gregory looked round Tumber’s house, but he found nothing. He then started looking round Master Wytans house but managed to set fire to it while lighting his lantern. the villagers saw the flames after the funeral and stopped the fire spreading to other houses, though Master Wytans house burnt down.
It was discovered that Tumbers father was called Jack Morac. He built the house where Tumber now lives.
Salarin told the group he had found a book in the keep that contained poison recipes, including several that could have been what was detected on the bodies. Gregory took the book to study it.
8th – 10th September
The party explored the swamp and keep again but could find no new leads.
11th September
Tumber was questioned. He appeared to be either innocent or a good actor. The cause of the fire was investigated but nothing suspicious was found (Gregory did not admit to starting it).
Chief Gaurant was asked whether the parties help was still required. He said not at the moment but would like to be able to call on the party in the future if required.
The party returned to Humberton.
In the evening the party went to a feast in their honour. chief MacCradoc attended. After the meal was eaten, Gregory tried to do some acrobatic feats. He also tried walking a tightrope, but Badac cut the rope while he was half was across, because he thought it would be funny to do so. Bilun left early to prey at his church. Chief MacCradoc also left, and Gregory followed shortly after to speak with him, however Chief MacCradoc’s guards refused to let him in.
Suddenly at the feast a mist started appearing in the centre of he hall. The mist coalesced into a human form that appeared to be wearing scale mail. The figure said “Why did you not avenge my death?”, then said he was Zhelloric of Thetor keep. He said he had been slain by deadly poison while the Witch Morac was treating his family for a fever. He said he did not know her current location but she had been at the keep for many years. he also said she had to feast on human flesh once per moon. All the party members present accepted his quest to avenge his death.
Druss met an orc girl and spent the night with her. Badac, Faint and Solomon passed out, drunk in a field. Bilun fell asleep while praying in his church. The rest of the party returned to their homes for the night.
12th September
The party met up in the morning. One of Chief MacCradoc’s advisors met with the party. He said ‘Chief Zhelloric’ had stopped paying taxes about 4 or 5 decades ago, and the records stated the area should be left alone.
There is 3 weeks remaining in the current moon cycle.
The party returned to Thetor, spoke with chief Gaurant and started patrolling. The party took watches overnight, but nothing unusual was seen.
13th September
In the morning it was discovered that all the villagers except Chief Gaurant, Master Wytan and Tumber had vanished. A search around the village discovered a large number of tracks leading into the swamp. It appeared that everyone had just walked into she swamp, some without even putting their shoes on.
Chief Gaurant said there were 18 adults and 9 children missing. The party headed into the swamp towards the keep. Chief Gaurant, Master Wytan and Tumber went with the party. The tracks appeared to be heading towards the keep as well.
The party arrived at the keep. Through a window someone could be seen. He was identified as farmer Guise. Further investigation revealed a total of 5 villager inside the keep. Druss cast deathwatch and realised the villagers were all undead.
Druss and Hadraak crossed the moat. Druss using his free action ability, and Hadraak swimming with the aid of Badac’s float ability. As they reached the shore the undead attacked, and were quickly dispatched while the rest of the party crossed on a rope. The party then went down through the trapdoor. There were more undead below, and they too were quickly dispatched. The door to the final room was then opened. Inside was about another 8 undead, and the witch, as well as the missing children. The witch cast a spell and both rooms filled with a noxious gas. The party retreated back outside the trapdoor.
Druss came up with a plan to go invisible to undead so as to be able to attack the witch directly in hand to hand combat to prevent her from casting further spells. Bilun said he could also cast the spell on Hadraak so two people could charge the witch together. Then, before the preparations could be completed, everyone went charging downstairs again leaving Druss casting the spell on himself.
Everyone crowded round the door between the two rooms which had been shut again, and Gregory failed in his attempt to break the door down. It was pointed out to Gregory that the door just pushed open, so he did so. Bilun then cast his spell on Hadraak while Solomon spectacularly failed in trying to push the zombies back away from the doorway. Druss pushed his way through the crowd round the door then ran past the zombies to engage the witch. Unfortunately she struck him a lucky blow as he approached her and was knocked unconscious. Hadraak, having finally been made invisible to undead himself, then pushed through the crowd and attacked the witch himself.
As the fight progressed the zombies were slowly pushed back from the doorway allowing Salarin to drag Druss out and Bilun to cast a minor heal on him. Gregory got hit by one of the zombies and immediately turned and ran back up the stairs screaming like a girl. Several zombies were destroyed before Salarin was knocked unconscious and Hadraak suddenly fled in fear from the witch. Bilun successfully attempted to turn the zombies, destroying two totally. Eventually Solomon got a killing blow on the witch, and the rest of the zombies were mopped up.
The witch had a backpack, 2 pouches and an iron ring with a signet ring bearing a twig motif. The backpack contained a travelling spellbook, 3 scroll tubes, some spell components, a snuffbox and cutlery. (Silver spoon, iron knife, wooden fork) One pouch contained herbs, and the other a few coins.
Chief Gaurant requested the villagers bodies be taken back to the village for burial. Tumber identified the witch as his mother and started crying. He wanted her to be taken back to the village to be buried as well but Bilun was adamant her body should be burned. When Chief Gaurant did not object to Tumber taking his mother back, Bilun refused to provide further assistance to him. The villagers’ bodies were covered with earth and left in the room.
Everyone went back to Thetor. Druss and Salarin were carried as Bilun did not believe he was able to restore them to consciousness. The party then went back to Humberton. As Bilun was still refusing to allow the party to assist Chief Gaurant, he and Master Wytan were forced to follow the party back to Humberton so the children would be in a safe place. Tumber stayed in Thetor to bury his mum.
Druss and Salarin were finally healed by somone in Humberton. After being told of the events by Solomon, Druss went and reported to one of Chief MacCradoks Ades. The party was then summoned to report to Chief MacCradok. Bilun told him he did not think Thetor was defendable. Chief MacCradok seemed happy to leave the witch as being buried, but a member of Biluns church present kept insisting her body should be burned.
14th - 15th September
Reports of further disappearances were heard from another village near the swamp. They all occurred before the witches death. The ring was discovered to hold charges of the barkskin spell. Hadraak took it. Gregory took the scrolls, as he was able to read them.
The cutlery had been used to make poisons so Gregory claimed them, as well as the herbs. The spellbook and components were sold for 1180 gold, which was split between the groupmembers.
16th September
Badac told the party he had heard there was a problem in Lundar (about ½ day South of Humberton). Apparently a Gythyanki (psychic creature) was causing a problem. Druss informed one of MacCraddoks ades that the party was going to Lundar and asked about the village. He was told the village chief was called Straytak and the village was part of our clan but of a different tribe.
The party travelled to Lundar and on arrival split up to investigate.
The blacksmith knew where raids had taken place (to the south) and had got some business from it.
The village general store said there had been a dozen raids, all in the south. Two farms had been burned down and some farm machinery and other supplies had been stolen.
The village had a common stable.
One of the taverns had rooms free but the common room was full. Several people from the burned towns were staying there. Most of the raids were against agricultural not livestock farms.
Chiek Straytak was not available.
The party hired the two rooms in the inn. They then went back to the village store to ask more questions. Some of the local farmers were thinking about giving up. The raids started about 3 months ago and the last attack was 8 days ago.
Permission to continue investigating was asked from one of Chief Straytaks ades. He said he was happy for the party to continue investigating.
A farmer staying in the inn said his farm was raided by a couple of dozen people. Their leader had dark black hair. They were wearing studded leather armour and were wielding swords but no shields. They were on horseback.
The party stayed in the inn overnight.
17th September
In the morning Druss found a piece of paper that had been pushed under the door. It requested the parties attendance at ‘the old copse’. It was signed but not decipherable. A serving girl said the old copse was 2 miles south. Feint and Badac identified the signature on the note as being one of their contacts.
The party headed out towards the copse. Feint and Badac then insisted on meeting their contact alone.
The rest of the party then heard a voice in their heads telling them to come into the copse, though no one thought it strange. The voice said it was concerned for its safety then told a story.
A long time ago there was a conflict between us and the rest of the realm. The conflict went well and we were able to rule the realm. Slaves were used under their rule. A long time later the slaves rebelled (picture of a gythyanki rebelling) and the empire was weakened and the gythyanki now rule cruelly. Gythyanki had been seen in locally and the parties help was requested to repel them.
The invisible voice said even one Gythyanki would be a worry and believed the Gythyanki and bandits were linked. The desire for farm equipment was unknown. Feint kept referring to the voice as it, suggesting it was not human. The party agreed to look into the situation.
The party travelled south and found a deserted farm. All the large farm machinery had been taken. There were six sets of horse tracks and all the farm buildings were in ruins. The guide informed the party that this was the 3rd farm to be attacked.
The party visited another farm in a similar condition. This was the 4th to be attacked.
The 3rd farm to be visited was only partially ruined. The farmers’ son had been killed while putting out a fire. Six bandits were seen riding away and nothing was taken, but the large farm machinery was burned in the barn. This was the 2nd farm to be attacked.
The first farm to be attacked was burned down and the machinery burned in the barn. There were four people there starting to rebuild.
From the pattern of attacks the party guessed which farm might be attacked next and visited. Everything was quiet and they returned to the village in the evening.
Druss asked the blacksmith about local mining operations. There were six mines nearby. The two in the south were the oldest and now deserted. they were tin mines.
18th December
The party went back to the farm believed to be next in line for an attack. On the way six riders were seen riding towards the farm. They appeared to be wearing leather armour and had swords and shields. The party stopped the riders, but the riders then rode round the party and continued towards the farm. The party gave chase, and Druss cast a spell allowing him to run as fast as a horse. Reaching the farm, Druss summoned a celestial badger to attack them, and then began firing at them with his crossbow. Having set light to the barn, the bandits attacked Druss. Druss killed one of the bandits before Salarin got close enough to start casting sleep spells on them. Bilun arrived on the scene and started trying to gather the horses of the two slept riders while Druss continued to fight those who remained conscious. Eventually three of the bandits were slept and the two remaining managed to escape as the rest of the party caught up.
The three captured bandits were taken back to Lundar and the location for a raid planned the next morning was discovered. They individually claimed their base of operations to be the two abandoned mines in the south, and another nearby village.
The blacksmith was asked about the ploughs he had made. Some had been made from a special metal the blacksmith had received as a shipment from the same village as named by the bandits. The majority of farms attacked by the bandits had bought these new ploughs from the blacksmith. There was one farm remaining in the south with the new plough, so the party purchased horses and went to the farm expecting the next attack to occur there.