# Forum > Gaming > Roleplaying Games > Journal Dammerung 2.0 - a 5e campaign journal

## curious-puzzle

New game!  (mostly) new players!  

Same campaign world!  Same hack GM!

Just starting to run another game, still set in my Dammerung kitchen sink
*Spoiler: Stuff about the setting*
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*Spoiler: Intro fluff*
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Surrounded by her fallen comrades, the dwarven warrior flicks the gore off her blade and tightens her grip.  Hissing ghouls clamber over the dead, inexorably swarming towards the last defender between them and the tunnel leading to the city.

The Tiefling wanderer clears his throat, mind racing for which song to play.  The fey court watches eagerly, and he stridently attempts to ignore how sharp their teeth and claws look...as well as deliberately not stare at the messy remains of the poor soul who auditioned before him.

Packs laden with treasure, the band of scavengers run for their lives.  Lungs and legs burning, they scramble for the cavern entrance at the bottom of the valley.  Trees tremble and the wind howls as the Radiance storm descends on them.

The mercenaries eye each other as the villagers flee to their homes.  Doors lock and shutters slam as the eerily thick mist envelops the fishing village.  Guttural chanting begins to echo from seemingly all directions, and out on the water the prow of a raiding ship cuts through the mist.



*Spoiler: Important definitions & info snippets*
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*Light and Dark*: Pure primordial energies of creation and dissolution  Portals of Light and Dark pour forth from the north and south Poles, shaping and warping the geography & weather.
Light is heat, life, growth, expansion and complexity.  Magic that creates something usually taps into Light, whether that creation is an explosion of flame, a summoned servant, or an idea in someones mind that wasnt there before.  Too little Light, and new life cannot come forth.  Too much Light, and it corrupts, overwhelms, and ultimately destroys.

Dark is cold, entropy, simplification, division, and definition by absence.  Magic that removes or curtails is associated with Darkness; tearing the life force out of a living being, binding a spirit, or clouding memories.  Too little Dark, and life warps and grows rampant.  Too much Dark is oblivion.

When concentrated, both Light and Dark energy can manifest and solidify into a crystallized form.  These crystals are a highly sought after resource, used to power many forms of magitech, as well as a component in magical rituals.  Searching out and harvesting these crystals are the primary reason many set out into the wild landscape

*Radiance* is the fallout from the pure Light at the north pole, spilling across the world in waves.  It triggers unrestrained growth, eventually mutating and overwhelming.  It can twist and warp both the mind and body, seemingly strengthening some individuals before eating away at their sanity and mortality.  The further north you are, the stronger and more dangerous Radiance is.  Thick enough stone and metal can block radiance - this combined with how destructive Radiance storms can be is the reason that many settlements are at least partially underground.  The largest and most advanced cities have magitech relics that help shield from Radiance; repairing and powering these devices drives many to venture into the wilds scavenging for resources.   

*Radiance storms* are dangerous storms that create insane monsters, wild magic, and rampant chaos.  At their mildest, radiance storms are violent weather patterns with shifting light patterns and a malicious disposition.  At their strongest, solidified light can rain down from the sky as burning plasma, reducing entire landscapes to dust.  

*The Spirit World:* Also known as The Ascendant Plane or The Astral Sea, this is the counterpart to the Physical realm / Material plane. An endless void of burning light and icy shadow, interspersed with floating monoliths of stone and crystal, and gates of all shapes and types.  A realm of will and power, creatures with enough of the latter can use the former to carve out their own Throne world.  Souls travel the Spirit World before birth and after death, grand shining ribbons zealously guarded by the Celestial angels.  Hungry Fiends, malevolent spirits, and stranger things all attempt to prey upon these souls,eager to turn them to their own ends.

*Spirit Gates:* Permanent gates in the Material plane that allow incredible distances to be traveled using the Spirit World.  No-one is sure who or what created the Spirit Gates, but every society and species has used them as a (relatively) safe means of travel.  Some instantaneously warp those who step through, while others require a path walked through the Spirit World.  Control and access to to known & stable Spirit Gates is a hotly contested resource - the island of Fallen Alshajara in particular possesses numerous Spirit Gates

*Magitech:* The arcane technology pioneered by the once-great empire of Alshajara.  Able to be produced far more quickly than purely enchanted items, and produced in mass, magitech items can be created to accomplish almost any goal.  Powerful arms and armor, shield generators to protect whole cities from Radiance Storms, mighty Warjack constructs of steel and will, magitech is powered by crystallized Light and Dark rather than by magic bound into the item.  This makes them much more versatile, but at the cost of a power source that must be sought out and replaced regularly.  Unearthed magitech from Fallen Alshajara is extremely valuable, as the scale and quality of what was created centuries ago far outstrips what can be created now

*The Sorrows:* Immortal monstrosities that have plagued the world for millennia.  As much catastrophes as creatures, the three Sorrows have murdered species, nations, and gods alike.  Appearing at random, the Sorrows have never been destroyed; only sometimes driven back at immense cost.  Their absence for the past 300 years has brought both furtive hope and growing dread in equal measure. 
*Spoiler: The Sorrows*
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The Hungry Dream, the Sorrow of the Earth: heralded by an eerie magenta glow seen even by the blind, a force that claims, controls, and consumes all it encounters.  Only colorless rot and dust is left behind
The Tide Breaker, the Sorrow of the Sea: A pelagic nightmare of titanic proportions, the world itself trembles in its wake.  Even the hint of its presence can drive the living mad with fear
The Ruin storm, the Sorrow of the Sky: An endless storm that shatters the very stone.  And at its heart, a mountain that walks




*Spoiler: Primary playable races*
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*Spoiler: Humans*
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If humans once ruled this world, those days are long past.  Their kingdoms shattered, their gods slain, humanity hangs on by ragged nails and cracked teeth.  But they still endure, fighting for whatever scraps they can claim.

	The Day of Three Sorrows destroyed the ancestral seat of humans, broke the back of the empire that had grown and swelled around it, and murdered the gods who guided and protected it.  The survivors fled and scattered to all corners of the world, desperate to somehow escape the end of everything they had known.

	But 300 years later the race of man still stands.  Whether a penniless child of refugees struggling in the bloated cities, a vagabond fighting for survival in the wilderness, or a mercenary killing for coin, humanity continues to fight against all odds.


*Spoiler: Dwarves*
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Dwarves live their lives by three tenets.
Loyalty to one's lord.
Honor to one's ancestors.
Duty to one's people.

Such iron dedication has enabled the dwarven race to survive a state of near-constant warfare for ages...but one could argue this has cost the dwarves greatly.  Individual expression and drive is crushed by the necessity of the many, and dreams of the future are discarded in favor of obsession with the past and present.  Despite such sacrifice and bloodshed, though, the dwarves have only managed temporary and pyrrhic victories against their immortal foes.

For millennia the Undead hordes have surged from the deepest pits of the world; for every ghoul and phantom granted true death, another is raised from those who fall battling against the tide of undeath.  There will be no cessation or surrender from the dwarven people, though.  That is not their way.


*Spoiler: Forged*
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Given life by the eldritch Creation Forges scattered throughout the underground, the Forged are sapient and unique constructs who somehow possess souls - or at least something so close as to be indistinguishable.  

The Dwarves were the ones to discover a gigantic Grand Creation Forge centuries ago.  After managing to activate and control it, they used the Forged as little better than slaves, expendable untiring weapons of war.  After all, even a sword that spoke was still just a tool to be used.    

It took an act of unmatched bravery and compassion by an unnamed Forged, but those events during the Battle of Singing Steel reshaped the two races and what they meant to one another.  No longer property, the Forged were free to choose their own path.  Some stayed and continued fighting alongside their former masters, and ever so slowly the jagged bitterness between the two was hammered into unbreakable respect.  Others ventured out into the world, causing ripples with every step.

The Grand Forge the dwarves found has been lost and reclaimed over the years of roiling and shifting combat underneath the surface, and damaged to the point that it can no longer produce legions of gleaming warriors at will.  But now another Great Forge has been unearthed, on the other side of the world.
 

*Spoiler: Tieflings*
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Tieflings were once shunned and persecuted for the Fiendish taint lurking in their bloodlines.  Outcasts struggling at the fringes of society, many felt a strange calling to travel north, to the swamps.  There they began to eke out an existence for themselves, away from the judgements of their progenitors.

There is no small amount of irony that 300 years after the empire of humanity was utterly destroyed, the kingdom built by the exiled Tieflings is one of the most powerful and stable in the world.  7 great Houses rule secular concerns, while 7 grand Choirs of deities preside over matters of faith and mystery.  Indeed, there are more Gods, Powers and Dominions in the capital than any other - perhaps their otherworldly heritage calls to those in search of worship.

But despite their cosmopolitan outlook and mercantile attitude, one should never forget where the heritage of Tieflings originates.  And there are whispers that the deepest, darkest parts of those swamps hide the secret of what those houses did so long ago in exchange for their kingdom.


*Spoiler: Elves*
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Eyes ever cast upwards to the heavens, the Elves are seekers of esoteric mysteries.  Dissatisfied with physical existence, they strive to unlock the secrets of the universe, particularly that of Light and Radiance.  Such focus (bordering on obsession) has granted elves a mastery with magic beyond any other race, but Radiance is not gentle to mortal flesh or minds.  Its corrosive touch has weakened an elfs grasp to the mortal coil in more ways than one.

	Beyond their hunger for arcane knowledge, elves are guided by their past.  Even more than the dwarves, for the elves ancestors still walk among them.  Slipping their physical shell, they are infused with so much Light that they become beings of pure will and energy.  These Deathless advise and direct their physical descendants, as well as creating and empowering the Risen, their undying champions.  Woe to those who imply any similarities between undead and either the Risen or Deathless, however.  The undead are anathema, and such an insult is more often than not worth the life of whoever utters it.

	But can beings who cast their mortality aside as a stunted failure truly be trusted to guide the living?

*Spoiler: Orcs*
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Dismissed by many as primitive savages, the tribes of the orcs have held to their traditions for countless generations.  Peerless survivors, they can live and even thrive in conditions that others would not even attempt.  No expedition to the wilds would regret hiring an orcish guide - they have an uncanny connection to the land and its ferocious inhabitants.

Even this connection has not been enough to spare the orcs from the touch of Radiance, however.  Slowly but surely they have become more prone to violence, more likely to dismiss reason and calm.  The other races have only exacerbated this, clashing with tribes in their search for resources and relics.  Forced to stray from ancestral hunting lands, the orc tribes struggle against starvation, vicious monsters that were normally avoided, and near-open warfare against the predation of these wall-dwellers.

	As their numbers dwindle and tribes fracture, it remains to be seen if the Orcish way of life will survive.
 

*Spoiler: Hybrids*
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The adaptability of humans is truly remarkable, extending even to their ability to reproduce with other races.  Tieflings are the epitome of this, claiming to be an improvement over their progenitors in every way.  But other unions deserve attention also - half-elves and half-orcs in particular.  Their circumstances all differ, but all hold the potential for true greatness.  

	Half-orcs are the children of two fallen races, and they will be either the salvation or doom of both their parents.  Possessing both the ambition of humans and the might of orcs, these driven individuals thrive in adversity.  Some communities embrace them as a new hope, while others fear them as a sign of a future with no place for the old ways.  It is no surprise that many travel into the wilds to face their future head-on.

	Often the children of tragic love, half-elves are set apart from both of their parents people.  Romances of star-crossed lovers are popular amongst both races, but almost all end poorly.  Humans warn that elves are too much like the stars they admire; beautiful, but simply too cold, distant, and even alien in the end.  Elves, for their part, caution that humans are fire - rapid, passionate, and entirely capable of saving your life in one breath and consuming you utterly in the next.   Such offspring feel out of step with both parent races, and the driving force behind many half-elf adventurers is finding somewhere they belong

	The motives of Celestials are nigh-inscrutable to mortals, and those who inherit their blood seem to share this trait.  Unlike the widespread Tieflings (who have fully become their own species), Aasimars (or Angel-blooded) are exceptionally rare.  Blessed with strange visions and portents, the burden of their celestial heritage is rarely escaped.



And a map

And the PCs this time round:
*Spoiler: Elianna*
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Things were starting to look up for Elianna.  She'd made it to Flotsam, smashed some undead, got a little bit of positive attention.  She helped her companions - the grim priest Dag answered the summons from a Dwarven noble (who turned out to have died 5 years prior, but it all worked out).  The quiet Brokk managed to be accepted as a blacksmith apprentice in the dwarven outpost of Yarim Yol.  It was working out.

And then the nightmares started haunting her again, worse than they'd been in some time.  Taking the next boat going anywhere else, the mercenary wandered for half a year, making her way nearly across the world to the great city of Trezora, capital of the tiefling empire of Tsekoral.

*Still a "mutated human" (aasimar suffering from ignorance and probably denial) Zealot barbarian*


*Spoiler: Wren*
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Her peaceful village in the forest destroyed, Wren was "rescued" by a mage who took her in.  Unfortunately, the mage simply treated her as an indentured servant, and his callous abuse was endured because Wren owed her life to him.  At least, that was what she repeated to herself.

One night in her room (a cot crammed in the corner of the cellar), Wren noticed a glow coming from a crack in the stone wall.  Night over night, using her claws and a fork, Wren worked the crack wide enough to slip inside - and inside she found a natural cavern full of bioluminescent mushrooms, hundreds of them of all shapes and sizes.  As she spent more nights in her newfound sanctum, the mushrooms became her friends and confidants, giving them names and speaking of her daily life to them.  Then one of them actually spoke back to her.  If Wren would take the mushroom with her, out of the cavern and into the world outside, it would teach her its magic.  Learn magic from her (only) friends?  Wren agreed on the spot, scooping the small mushroom up with a bit of soil.  As the days passed and the mushroom grew, so too did Wren's magic.  Once the mushroom grew too large to easily stuff into a pouch, Wren took to placing it atop her head - after enough time it seemed to settle upon her scales and horns, and so it stayed much like a hat.

After years, karma seemingly caught up to the mage.  One night the mage's tower was broken into; by whom or why Wren did not know.  Once the noise had stopped, she crept out of her mushroom cave to find it was nearly dawn.  The tower was ransacked, potions and equipment smashed.  The only sign of the mage was a faint spatter of blood leading out the demolished door.  This was obviously no longer a safe place.  Wren took all the money she could find along with anything small and valuable-looking, bundled up in layers of mismatched clothing, and set out into the world.

*Kobold Circle of Spores Druid*
 

*Spoiler: Kalis*
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Kalis was always a little different.  Born seemingly touched by Radiance, her horns grew where her eyes should have been - but she could still see, in a way.  Her family quickly became familiar with their "blind" daughter's flashes of uncanny (and sometimes spooky) knowledge and insight as she grew up.  They often didn't make sense at the time, but later became startlingly clear - and what also became clear was Kalis' future lay on the Street of the Gods.  But while all the mysteries and rituals appealed, none of the grand Choirs felt quite right.  Neither did any other of the numerous gods, Powers, Dominions, and cults within Trezora manage to catch Kalis' devotion.

But something called to her, driving her to wander to strange places, to act in strange ways.  And in return the blind tiefling sees more deeply than many and wields magic.

Then one day she saw a stranger who glowed with Light and Radiance, and felt driven to follow her.

*Tiefling Celestial warlock (with a heavy dose of pathfinder Oracle)*


*Spoiler: Sophia*
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If Sophia had been born to a wealthy family (or been born a tiefling of even a minor branch of the Great Houses), a formal education would have revealed her ferocious intellect.  In time she most likely would have become a scholar to rival any born in the history of Tsekoral.  Instead, she was born the middle child to poor parents in one of the rougher and more destitute districts of Trezora.  A hard childhood only encouraged her instincts to care for others, shaping her into a caretaker for other children in the district, mending garments and wounds alike.  As they grew up and many of her friends took up less legal occupations, Sophia kept looking after them.  Despite never working a job or heist, she was a staple at the Thieves' Guild, stitching people up, identifying stolen goods, and brewing healing tonics.  In exchange, the guild furthered her self-education with stolen texts, reagants, and components.

Eventually a sickness swept the city.  For those with the means to acquire magical healing, it was an inconvenience.  But for those without the money to pay, or the attention of gods to sweep it away, the sickness could very easily kill.  Sophia's helpless rage grew as more and more of her friends fell ill, and it finally boiled over when her beloved litter sister became sick.  Sophia swore that she'd do whatever it took to not only cure this illness, but all diseases.  She would craft a Panacea.

Throwing herself into research, Sophia quickly burned through all of the books the thieves' guild could acquire for her.  She even had her friends dig up the graves of those recently slain by the illness, examining them for any possible bit of knowledge.  Shortly thereafter Sophia set out to travel the world and gather more knowledge, test more theories.  All to further her mission to cure her sister, her friends, and everyone who was too poor or unimportant for those in power to help.

*Human Alchemist Artificer*


I'll have the intro session of everyone meeting up (and me throwing shenanigans at them) shortly!

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## Picanet

Girl partaaaaaaaaay!! I am looking forward to this game again. :3

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## curious-puzzle

Since everyone had their characters all ready to go, we ran an intro session!  Our adventurers are all in the capital city of Trezora, all leaving as part of a caravan travelling through a Spirit Gate on the outskirts of the city.  This several-hour trek will allow them to traverse halfway across a continent, ending up on the central island of Alshajara.

*Spoiler: Here we go*
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Elianna grudgingly drags herself out of the nearby inn  sleep is a precious thing when more often than not youre suffering disjointed and confusing nightmares.  Wren isnt too far behind (or may have been hiding in Eliannas backpack), claws full of acquired bacon.  Its a bit of a surprise to see Kalis, the strange tiefling Elianna had bumped into previously, sitting on the ground & pouring out cups of just-finished tea.  A passer-by seems to think the eyeless tiefling is a beggar and drops a coin into an empty cup, and Kalis blesses them as she makes the coin disappear with a flourish (no-one is quite perceptive enough to notice the tiny hands that snatch the coin as it passes by her hair).  Theres a bit of awkwardness from Kalis coincidental arrival and Wrens not-exactly-tactful questions about Kalis horns, but a trade of bacon for tea smooths things over.  Wren notices the tiny hands that snatch a piece of bacon and disappear it back into Kalis' hair, but it remains a mystery still.

Sophia had already been waiting for the caravan guide to arrive, and quickly notices the unusual trio of a rather large merc (Elianna is easily over 65, drifting towards 7 ft tall), a rather small reptilian creature (Kobolds are uncommon, especially in cities), and a tiefling with horns growing where her eyes should be.  Marching right up, Sophia introduces herself briefly before immediately asking if Kalis' features are due to Radiance mutation  :Small Big Grin: .  Bemused, Kalis just replies with "I suppose you could say that," and Sophia busts out a notebook as she peppers everyone with questions.  Small talk continues as everyone becomes more and more impatient waiting on the guide (who's a good 20-30 minutes late at this point).  Finally a very hungover half-orc staggers out of the same inn Elianna emerged from, squinting and groaning at the morning light.  He's heavily armed from tusks to toes, studded leather just festooned with daggers.  Sophia cranks a perception roll though to notice that most of the knives' placement would bind up on each other when drawn, the armor seems barely used, and the half-orc's hands are callous-free.  She also mutters all of these observations out loud, so the rest of the party hears as well.  Elianna in particular eyes the "poser" guide, looks at the rest of the travelers in the square, and re-evaluates her expectations of the trip from "mindless walk" to "expect trouble."

The guide doesn't hear Sophia's rather clinical dissection of his martial prowess (too hungover), but calls out for everyone to line up, rummaging through his pockets as he slumps towards the stone arch in the center of the square.  Pulling out what looks to be a tuning fork made of aged metal, he taps it against the stone, and with a humming drone a rippling green veil opens within the arch.  Standing by the gate, the guide calls out for everyone to display their payment chit and wait on the other side until everyone's through.  Sophia cues up right away and passes through no problem, Kalis gets a double-take from the guide (what with her playing up the "feeling her way with a staff") but her pass is presented smoothly and she walks through confidently.  Wren is partially in Elianna's backpack, so Elianna hands both chits over as she eyes the guide one more time.  With a sigh, she steps through as well.


*Spoiler: The Ascendant Plane*
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The travelers are all standing on a massive flat slab of stone, looking out over an endless void of light and shadow.
*Spoiler: close visual of the ascendant plane*
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The guide corrals everyone and admonishes the group to stay together, and "not go flying off."  Sophia is the only one who makes a high enough Arcana check to know that gravity is a little subjective in the Ascendant plane - the pull is towards the closest object with the most mass, but if you focus your mind, you can propel yourself through the void with sheer willpower.  She makes the intelligence check and promptly inverts herself before zipping around a little in defiance of the guide.  He grumbles a bit, but continues his routine.  "All right, this is about a 3 hr walk to the next gate before we're in Alshajara.  Keep together, stay on the path with the glowing stones," the guide cracks an alchemical stone on a dagger hilt and it glows brightly, "and long as we keep moving should be nice and smooth."  It's easy enough to see a gleaming sort of path leading across the stone, towards the outlines of more floating structures.

Even for the party members who have travelled via Spirit Gates before, it's quite the view striding across chunks of bizarre structures, shards of massive rock & crystal, and remnants of broad walkways all hanging in a void held between light and darkness.  Glowstones (smaller but longer lasting version of sun rods) are wedged into crevices and corners every few hundred feet, but it's a pretty loose path.  The line of travelers weaves its way forward for a couple hours, and then that dastardly GM starts making some dice rolls.

The caravan hits a fork of some sort, and after a brief hesitation, the guide leads the way to the left.  After another hour or so, the path does a bit of a vertigo-inducing straight down and around a curve of stone.  Once over the ledge, something new appears.  A broad glowing band of some glowing substance hangs in the void, gleaming with a pearlescent shine.  It's hard to tell whether it's relatively small and fairly close, or a great distance away but quite large.  The shifting pattern of light and colour is near-hypnotic, and there's the hint of whispers at the edge of everyone's hearing.  As the guide slows in confusion and the caravan admires the shining ribbon, Elianna and Kalis feel a sudden flood of emotion.  It's the foreboding sense of intruding somewhere that you are very much not meant to be...Elianna loosens her greatsword from its sheath, and Kalis raises her Bell Branch.  The heavy brass bell that represents Fiends drones menacingly, just as a flash of flame streaks down towards the caravan!


*Spoiler: Chaos*
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There's a thunderous crash as something smashes into the stone the caravan stands upon!  The impact causes the slab to spin end over end in place - everyone's feet stays rooted, but the sudden rotation is dizzying.  Bizarre creatures spring forth from the crater!  Multilimbed insectoid horrors armed with tridents scuttle forth, and looming above them some stretched-out monstrous amalgamation of an anglerfish and a hellish nightmare.
*Spoiler: Insectoid horror*
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*Spoiler: Nightmare anglerfish*
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It's immediate chaos, the fiends surging forth and rampaging amongst the panicking travelers.  The party is closer to the back, so they aren't immediately thrust into the madness.  Sophia makes a high enough arcana check to recognize the fiends as Mezzoloths (the human-sized insectoid ones) and an Astradaemon (the much larger one).  She'd read through a few stolen books describing the summoning and use of fiends as mercenaries - mezzoloths were mentioned several times as dangerous but able to be offered payment.  The Astradaemon...Sophia's mouth goes dry as she recalls its description as an extremely powerful devourer of souls - The sort of powerful that eats everyone in a town.  Elianna wrenches her blade out and rushes at the nearest mezzoloth, barking at Sophia to "get the others out of here."  As she rages, it's quite distinctive in this world of spirit and will.  Her body starts glowing and all her features seem to sharpen and become more distinctive, more solid.  She makes a wild downwards chop!  Which bounces off the Mezzoloth's chitin with only a couple sparks.

With what Sophia recalled of the Astradaemon, Elianna's suggestion seems like a good idea.  Tugging a bag off her belt, she stretches the opening out further than you'd expect and shouts at Wren and Kalis to get in (her _infused item_ replicating a Bag of Holding).  Only one of the fiends is currently close enough for Kalis to clearly see, but she can feel the Astradaemon up ahead of her, a gnawing ache in her mind.  She climbs partway into the bag of holding, but hurls an _Eldritch bolt_ at the Mezzoloth.  It glances off the chitin, but it catches the fiend's attention.  Segmented eyes fix on Kalis, and a voice that scrapes like swarms of insects scuttling over stone drags in her mind.

<Little Light...>

Wren does not want any part of what's going on, but this big tielfing is between her and the safety of that bag!  So she clambers up and just starts stomping and kicking to get Kalis the rest of the way in the bag.  Partially from Wren's player rolling quite high, and partially from the awesome mental image, the little kobold succeeds in stomping the surprised Kalis all the way into the bag of holding and dives partway in herself.

The Mezzoloth stabs and claws Elianna, her rage keeping it from being too damaging.  The other travelers don't far so well against the other fiends, with the Astradaemon in particular slaying three victims.  Both claws and the surprisingly long tail snap out, and whatever it touches collapses instantly.  It stretches up towards to glowing band of energy and hisses - and more streaks of light shoot down towards the combat!  These streaks turn out to be winged and armored humanoids - except they all have four faces: human, lion, ox, and eagle.  They roar and smash into the fiends, yelling in a language that only Kalis and Elianna understand.  It's still too chaotic to fully catch it, but what they do hear are threats and oaths that the fiends "shall not profane the River!"

Elliana lands a crit, but unfortunately it barely draws blood/ichor/daemon goo.  It does encourage a horrible telepathic threat from the mezzoloth that it will <eat you from the inside>, though.  The rock is still spinning end over end, and now angels are fighting too?!  Sophia does her best to convince Wren to get the rest of the way into the bag, and for Elianna to get over to her as well.  It's definitely the time to be anywhere but here.

As Kalis had slid into the bag, she finally coaxed her familiar out of hiding, and Nyus the Sprite (who has 6 wings like a tiny seraphim) zips forth to be Kalis' eyes and ears.  Nyus invisibly surveys the bedlam going on, the angels battling fiends, and especially the Astradaemon looming overhead, and makes an executive decision of "Nope."  He quickly zips back into the bag as fast as he can.  Elianna realizes this is not a good place to be and retreats, ignoring the claw that gouges her shoulder.  Just as she makes it next to Sophia, there is a flash of blue from above, and a thunderous voice in Celestial booms:

_BE NOT_

As a massive bolt of lightning hammers down through the Astradaemon and rips the entire slab of rock apart!  Everyone is sent hurtling in all directions, Elianna and Sophia managing to lock arms.  They spin wildly, rocketing through space.  As another island rapidly approaches, Elianna decides to be a big damn hero and spins to put herself between Sophia and the incoming rock.  With a crash, everything goes black.


*Spoiler: Later*
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Sometime after the world stops spinning, Kalis and Wren push the bag of holding open and clamber their way out, and Sophia snaps awake in a large amount of pain.  They're all in the remnants of a small tower from the looks of it, the only notable features a collapsed doorway, the Elianna-sized hole about 8 feet above them, a sealed trapdoor below them, and pieces of broken masonry.  Elianna is underneath them, and while she's breathing, that's about all she has going for her.  Normally Sophia has a monster bonus to Medicine, but a nat 1 is rolled so we blame the likely concussion she has.  Kalis manages the roll though, and focuses her inner light to heal Elianna.  With a faint song and the sound of bells, a warm light suffuses the mercenary and her spine returns to a much healthier shape.

After everyone takes stock, they climb/float out of the hole in the side of the tower.  After careful observation, it's determined they have no idea where they are.  A faint sparkle in the distance might be where the fiends and angels were fighting, or it might just be a sparkly hunk of crystal.  The island they're on is featureless other than rubble and the remnants of the tower.  The group remembers to check the trapdoor in the tower, and Sophia produces a prybar from her wonderous bag.  It cracks open easily, revealing a tunnel with steps spiraling deeper into the island.  A fitful green glow pulses erratically from the tunnel.  Taking the stairs down, it opens into a small room with a stone archway in the center.  The room has partially collapsed on the archway, and the greenish veil flickers and shudders within the arch.  The gate seems damaged, but still functioning at the moment.  It's decided that wherever this Spirit Gate leads is better than just flying aimlessly through the Ascendant plane, and our heroes step though.


Not sure if there will be another game before the dreaded Santa season, but will be starting regular sessions in the new year!

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## PrismCat21

Wooooooo!!!!!!
We love you CuriousPuzzle! and gang :D

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## Picanet

> Wooooooo!!!!!!
> We love you CuriousPuzzle! and gang :D


Holy **** youre still here! XD I remember feeding your baby vulpix <3

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## martixy

The geography of your world gave me an idea.

In the real world, there is a concept known as the terminator line. It is the line that separates the sunlit side of a celestial object from the shadowed side. This isn't very significant on our planet, because of the effects of the atmosphere. But... on an object without an atmosphere, which can scatter light and trap heat, the terminator signifies a sharp transition between temperature extremes (e.g. above desert hot to below arctic cold in the span of minutes).
Now this has been explored in fiction before - I think there was a planet in the Star Wars EU where the inhabitants lived along the terminator of a tidally locked planet - the only temperate region, as the sunlit side would be permanently too hot, and the shadowed side, permanently too cold. Mass effect probably had a few planets like that too.

But this concept can be extended to other opposing forces. Like your light and dark energies. There could be just a narrow band of habitable zone along the equator of the planet, and anything outside would be a volatile environment of permanent radiance storms or a dark energy wasteland (possibly reminiscent of the positive/negative energy planes from the older D&D cosmology).

Apart from that, I saw the map. Your world seems distinctly small. Like maybe moon-sized at best. At least that's what the terrain features, compared to the scale of the map suggests. Is that on purpose or accidental, I wonder?

Sophia's backstory also reminds me of John Snow. No, not _that_ one. The real life human, who is the father of Epidemiology. (It's a fascinating story.)

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## curious-puzzle

You caught me, big chunk of this setting originally started with the idea of a tidally-locked world.  Then the idea shifted and changed to more of the magical influence rather than permanent day & night.  As for the habitable zone, yes, the more green middle third of the map is the "calm belt," where the weather and temperatures are much more reasonable to live within.  The further north you go, the hotter and hotter things get, and the more dangerous and violent Radiance Storms get (the emerald swamps in the northwest-ish part of the map benefit from all that pure Light energy while being shielded by the mountains from the brunt of the storms).  The further south, the colder and darker things get, and once you get really-really far south, the more still and lifeless.  There are still people/things that live in the more extreme regions of the world, it just means you either need serious protection of some sort (magical, mutation, bunkers, etc) or you're going to have a bad time.

As for the scale, that's unfortunately due to me still not being great with inkarnate I think.  Scale wise it's more meant to be "Pangea but split down the middle" sort of size...I'll have to work on making that more visually clear (sounds like making the terrain features not quite so big would help).

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## martixy

Heheh. Nailed it, I guess.

You have however created a world that would exhibit the effects of a tidal lock, without being one. The Star Wars example I gave above omits a rather crucial point (don't know if they account for it in the EU or not).

Initially I assumed it's all just magic and fairies. But you explicitly specify the poles are not just sources of magic or esoteric energy, but also heat, and that creates problems for you (or the poor saps living in your world).
Earth is rotating. This means, the atmosphere on the day side doesn't have much time to heat up, nor cool down on the night side. Not so in a world where there is a constant gradient of energy. Climate-wise your world would have MASSIVE convection currents transferring enormous amounts of energy from the hot side to the cold side, via air AND water. This can both be pretty bad for life (never-ending hurricanes, flesh-peeling winds)  and also could be effectively be an infinite source of freely available energy.
On the sea side, rapid currents could have massive ramifications for civilizations and trade, making travel in certain directions easy, and impossible for medieval-era ships in others. On earth the Gulf stream is a massive energy transport engine + wikipedia says the following:



> A summary of Ponce de León's voyage log on April 22, 1513, noted, "A current such that, although they had great wind, they could not proceed forwards, but backwards and it seems that they were proceeding well; at the end, it was known that the current was more powerful than the wind."


Plus, if Alshajara is not connected by land, the energy gradient + the narrow straits around it would create erosion forces that would act on the order of lifetimes rather geologic timescales. Straight lines would also be eroded rather quickly. Depends on how long ago your world rift was made.

As for the map - what you need are finer features, yes. More fractalization, more noise. It's less about being good with a specific software and more about the lack of a sense of scale. For example if take your world to be earth-sized your swamps would be the size of Sahara. Dragonsbreath bay is more like the Mediterranean sea. Of course, a lot depends on what map projection you chose for your world.

There's a nice way to cultivate a sense of scale for these things.
Open 2 tabs:
Tab 1: https://earth.google.com/
Tab 2: https://www.maptoglobe.com/

Plaster your map in the second site and get the globes to take up roughly equal size on your screen. Then you can switch tabs to get a sense of scale compared to real world features, countries, continents.
And both sites have measurement tools if you wanna get fiddly.

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## curious-puzzle

> exhibit the effects of a tidal lock, without being one.


That was part of the tweaking & changing - I liked some of what a tidal lock would do, but not all of it.  So there is some definite handwaving  going on, haha.




> Initially I assumed it's all just magic and fairies. But you explicitly specify the poles are not just sources of magic or esoteric energy, but also heat, and that creates problems for you (or the poor saps living in your world).


 This is part of the handwaving, in that the Throne of Light does give off heat, and the Throne of Dark does absorb it, but it's more of a secondary thing, magic/esoteric energy is a bigger part of it - I was going for a  partway point between the Thrones being like positive and negative energy, but still with the world being warped by said heat.




> This can both be pretty bad for life (never-ending hurricanes, flesh-peeling winds)  and also could be effectively be an infinite source of freely available energy.


Those are definitely a thing, and that's a big of thing of Radiance Storms.  Sailing without protective magic /magitech ends very badly, and the Storms are why the biggest concentrations of civilization are in the dwarven holds underground - it takes lots of resources and effort to maintain large structures on the surface




> Plus, if Alshajara is not connected by land, the energy gradient + the narrow straits around it would create erosion forces that would act on the order of lifetimes rather geologic timescales. Straight lines would also be eroded rather quickly. Depends on how long ago your world rift was made.


 Alshajara not having been eroded to nothing + the World Rift remaining an unnaturally straight line is actually deliberate - the stone & earth around there is far more resistant and enduring than it should be 




> As for the map - what you need are finer features, yes. More fractalization, more noise.


 


> lack of a sense of scale.


I'll work on that, thanks!  




> swamps would be the size of Sahara. Dragonsbreath bay is more like the Mediterranean sea.


 that's pretty close actually.  The things I wanted to show on this map are the big, world-defining features.  My wording isn't that accurate on these features, but I was going for simpler titles that flowed well ("emerald swamps" is a bit more evocative than "crazy huge mishmash of the Everglades and the Amazon", and using Bay instead of sea in that case was just because I liked the sound more).

One of the things I shamelessly pilfered took inspiration from for the map was Exalted's Creation, for just how silly big things were.




> There's a nice way to cultivate a sense of scale for these things.
> Open 2 tabs:
> Tab 1: https://earth.google.com/
> Tab 2: https://www.maptoglobe.com/


I'll have to give that a try, thank you.

Hopefully my pirate-style answers (well yes but actally no) aren't too frustrating!

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## Picanet

* blinks in acute lack of planetary science *

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## martixy

> Hopefully my pirate-style answers (well yes but actally no) aren't too frustrating!


Nah, I'm just nerding out over something I enjoy.

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## curious-puzzle

Any interest in me posting more setting info until the game fully starts in January?  Or would people prefer this remain more firmly "campaign journal" rather than "campaign journal with surprise ambush of homebrew lore everywhere" :P

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## curious-puzzle

*pretends to be someone else* "Me, I want more setting info!"

Some short little snippets about the world in the form of a gazetteer!

*Spoiler: Gazetteer*
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*Spoiler: The Radiant Wastes*
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These badlands on the northern edges of the continents are well-named.  The power that spills from the Throne of Light scours the Radiant Waste without pause or warning, leaving little but ash behind.  Anything strong enough to withstand the Radiance is quickly warped by its touch, mind body and soul.  But buried in the dust lies the very power of creation manifested-  waiting for those capable enough to seize it


*Spoiler: Stormbreaker Mountains*
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The elves say that the roots of the Stormbreaker Mountains are the foundation upon which the entire world is built, and that their peaks anchor the firmament above.   This mountain range has endured the constant Radiance Storms pulsing forth from the Throne of Light for time immemorial, and it will remain steadfast until the end of Light itself
Notable locations: Towers of Kailashun, the Dwarven Hold Batikkale

*Spoiler: Towers of Kailashun*
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Home of the Elves, the Deathless, and their Risen protectors.  These grand towers are marvels of engineering, stretching towards both the peaks and roots of the mountains they are built upon.  But these marvels are built to pursue mysteries cosmic and arcane, with little care for physical comforts.  The harsh mountainsides and storms crashing against them only exacerbate the rigorous conditions.  The underground Vaults of the towers offer somewhat more gentle living conditions and a shield from the touch of Radiance.  Some of the Vaults are even deep enough to connect with the great Dwarven Hold of Batikkale, far below  

*Spoiler: The Emerald Swamps of Tsekoral*
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A lush and verdant paradise that hides dark secrets beneath the surface.  Deceptively deep swamps flow into gleaming jungles, which eventually give way to rich farmlands carved out of the foliage.  The dominant empire of Tsekoral lays claim to the entirety of the swamps, and their capital city of Trezora is claimed to be the greatest in the world.  The tribes of Orcs forced from their ancestral homes, and spirits bound to servitude would perhaps have different opinions though.
Notable locations: Trezora (capital city), island city of Lanmevan

*Spoiler: The Hungering Hollows*
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Trackless jungles with canopies so thick sunlight never touches the ground, towering forests whose trunks contain entire villages, flora & fauna alike red in tooth & claw.  The Hungering Hollows is natures endless cycle of death & life, of countless predators struggling to become the apex.  The favoured hunting grounds of the Erlking and his Wyld Hunt, this untamed wilderness could swallow entire nations.  The tribes and peoples that manage to thrive in such a place are supreme survivors, for every day is a battle against death.

*Spoiler: The Penumbral Tundra*
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Blanketed by snow and Darkness alike, the Penumbral Tundra is rich in few things, other than longing.  Life on the icy wastes is short, harsh, and hungry - and sometimes death is no different.

*Spoiler: Fallen Alshajara*
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The island kingdom at the center of the world, Alshajara was the seat of undisputed power.  An empire spread to every corner, their magitech harnessed the power of both Light and Dark energy to their will, and the gods of triumphant humanity watched over them with pride and love.  Then the Day of Three Sorrows destroyed Alshajara and its gods, scattering humanity to the wind.  Even 300 years after such devastation though, the allure of lost magitech still calls many to delve into the ruined remains of the empire.
Notable locations: numerous ruins, fallen Dwarven Hold of Baslankale, many Spirit Gates

*Spoiler: The Beggar Kingdoms*
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The provinces and kingdoms most closely tied to Alshajara may not have been destroyed as it was on the Day of Three Sorrows, but they were struck a fatal blow nonetheless.  Without the wealth, power, and magitech flowing forth from Alshajara, the kingdoms quickly devolved into insular and squabbling city-states.  As kingdoms and cities weakened and collapsed, their corpses were set upon and scavenged by the survivors.  Over three hundred years, scarce few places were remembered by their original names, let alone matched their former glory.  The region is now colloquially referred to as the Beggar Kingdoms
Notable Locations: Flotsam, The Gulf of Promises, The Styes, fallen Dwarven Hold of Cicekkale

*Spoiler: The Silken Steppes*
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Vast flowing grasslands and broad plateaus, the Silken Steppes are a place of rare calm.  That does not mean they are entirely safe, however.  To be caught in a Radiance storm while traveling might mean you are miles from any sort of shelter.  Villages on the coastline face raids from the vicious Children of the Wake, and earthquakes occasionally open caverns to things best left forgotten underground

*Spoiler: The Wyrmspine*
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The volatile Wyrmspine mountains coil around the southeast, blocking off land travel towards the Riven Isles (or perhaps protecting everyone else from them).  Highly volcanic and unstable, fire and smoke from them can be seen from nearly all of the Silken Steppes.  It is unclear whether they were named for their shape, or for the fact that dragons are known to lurk among the peaks and caverns

*Spoiler: The Riven Isles*
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A chain of numerous islands off the southeast, the Riven Isles are as cold and unforgiving as their inhabitants.  The mysterious Children of the Wake claim these lands, setting out on the Shrouded Sea to raid and pillage any they come across.  Using the strange magic of their Old Dead Gods, their ships sail through shadowed paths to raid any coast regardless of distance.  The giants and beasts may offer a kinder welcome to strangers than the Children will

*Spoiler: Newforge*
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So far south as to be nearly parallel with the Throne of Dark itself, the surface of Newforge is incredibly lethal.  Heart-stoppingly cold and perpetually enveloped in Darkness, it is only deep below that life endures.  A new Grand Creation Forge, the second to ever be discovered.  If it is unlocked and activated, it could change the course of history

*Spoiler: Thrones of the World*
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The Throne of Light:The North Pole, the seat from which the Light of pure creation and life pours forth.  The power and heat has turned the land into pools of plasma, gleaming crystal and unceasing Radiance.  This is not a place where mortal flesh may walk

The Throne of Dark:The South Pole, the heart of absolute Darkness.  As one approaches the center, all things cease; sound, heat, movement, life, Light.  Any intrusion into this void holds countless dangers

*Spoiler: The Seas*
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The Gilded Sea:The waters of this warm sea often gleam gold like their namesake from the redirected Radiance splashing off the Stombreaker mountains, full of light and life
The Scorched Sea: Few things live in these near-boiling waters, which only become hotter the closer you venture to the Throne of Light
The Glass Sea: Turbulent and storm-wracked, the Glass Sea is mercurial and jagged to traverse
The World Rift: The unnaturally precise gouge through nearly the entirety of Dammerung, leaving only the island nation of Alshajara behind.  The Rift is incredibly deep, and extends down even into the Underground, a miles deep drop into an underground sea
The Dreaming Sea: Strange songs and bizarre visions emanate from the waters of the Dreaming Sea.  The coasts touched by its waters are ill-omened and feared
The Gloaming Sea: Waves and tides settle and still as you travel further south across this icy sea, until jet-black icebergs loom overhead silently and without warning
The Shrouded Sea: Mist and fog obscures what little of this sea that is not already draped in eternal twilight.  Only the most experienced sailors can navigate their way to safety


*Spoiler: The Underground*
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An entire world awaits below the surface.  An endless and often-changing network of caverns, tunnels, canyons, and even seas.  While protected from the ravages of Radiance storms, the hordes of restless Undead are an ever-present danger underground.  The fortress-like citystates of the Dwarven Holds are the few bastions of safety for the living, and they are assaulted constantly
Notable locations: Dwarven Hold of Batikkale (beneath the Stormbreaker mountains, connected to the elven Towers of Kailashun), Dwarven Hold of Fallen Baslankale (beneath Alshajara, contains the 1st Great Creation Forge), Cursed Cicekkale, the Undersea

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