Preparatory to the upcoming game, I have collected some notes on the Campaign World in general, where you are in it and what has already happened to the party. I'm hoping this will save startup time when we get together. Those of you who were in the previous game will remember most of this from my mail two years ago, but there is some new/different stuff. About the Universe ===== === ======== The world you are in is that of the Forgotten Realms, a standard campaign world produced by TSR. I chose it because of its rich detail, organization, relatively consistent design, and really big nasty dragons. There is nothing particularly unusual about the Forgotten Realms as AD&D campaigns go. There is actually a book for players called "The Players Guide to the Forgotten Realms" which somebody might want to get, but I've never looked at it so I don't know how useful it would be. I am setting the campaign about a year after the "Cyrinishad" incident - eleven years after the Time of Troubles, if that means anything to anyone. Some Notes on Where You Are ==== ===== == ===== === === First off, you are in The North. The North (or The Savage North, if you're from the southern regions) is basically a loose collection of independent city-states (like Waterdeep) spread through open sub-arctic wilderness. It is bordered on its north by mountains which stretch into it, providing a plentiful supply of goblinkind (a Forgotten Realms term, basically the small giant class creatures). It also has several rich veins of Trolls. Despite this, men travel it extensively and both rich trade and high culture may be found within. This is from "Volo's Guide to the North" by Volothamp Geddarm, a minor wizard, traveler and writer of guidebooks in Faerun: "You've heard of the Savage Frontier, I know. Folk all across Faerun hear of the North, where countless monsters roam dark and trackless forests, and snow and wind howl into mountain valleys where no human has ever walked. White dragons wing over realms of tortured ice; korred dance and treants walk. Everywhere, cruel and hungry orcs lurk with ready blades. ...In these pages, you'll read my practical reports of the best inns, taverns, and places to see or avoid. Don't set forth without your blade (or a good wand, if blades aren't your style) and this book. I must admit that I soon took to wearing a Ring of Warmth, as well. I've fallen in love with these rugged lands, and recommend visiting them to both adventurers and enterprising merchants. The North is where most of the gold, iron, gemstones, and mithral in the Realms comes from, as well as the huge trees from which the large ships of the Sword Coast are built. Many a fortune has been made by venturing boldly into remote corners of the North. Your riches may be next." This is from Elminster of Shadowdale's preface to the same work: "Look ye - another tome of hilarious misinformation about part of the Realms, from the irrepressible, nay, pompous and pretentious Volo. This time, he's presuming to tell travelers something of where to go and what to do in the northern Sword Coast - that part of Faerun we still call the Savage Frontier." Elminster and Volo both agree on Waterdeep as the southwest corner of the North, others use Baldur's Gate, the next coastal city to the south, or some point between the two. The party is in the city of Everlund, which is in that section of the North known simply as The Interior. Here is the Volo's intro to the chapter on The Interior from "Volo's Guide to the North": "This is the last frontier of the Sword Coast lands. It is a remote and mountainous region where orcs breed in numbers great enough to bring great hordes down on the human habitations every decade or so. Here, the isolated ruins of long fallen human cities stand, while dwindling numbers of dwarves cling to a few small parts of their once proud holdings. Dwarven legends still speak eagerly and frequently of the rich metal ores and gems that lie waiting under the mountain peaks. . . . Even in summer, the lands of the Interior are given to sudden storms and blizzards. The unspoiled alpine meadows and craggy, pine-clad peaks seem endless. There are tales of entire valleys and keeps hidden away from the knowledge of humans. There are also known ruins. Most have been stripped bare of anything that can easily be carried off by raiding orcs. A few still hold guarded or hidden treasure. Orcs lair in some, or keep clear of others because of the undead who walk there. Surprisingly, the greatest city of the North rises out of these raw wilderlands. It's a place with culture and wealth echoing that of lost Myth Drannor. Silverymoon is a city that minstrels dream of playing in - a place of song and magic and learning. It's worth even the long trip from the Dragonreach lands, or from the shores of the Shining Sea. It would teach a lesson to those who customarily sneer at the cities of the North as the chilly, filthy hovels of barbarians. ..." Everlund is about 45 miles south of Silverymoon, which is about 10 miles south of Quaervarr, a logging village, and 100 miles west of Sundabar, the third of the three cities in the interior. Other place of note in your neighborhood are the Evermoors (a.k.a. the Trollmoors) 35 miles west of you, the city of Nesme across the Evermoors, and Hellgate Keep, a citadel filled with creatures from the lower planes, some distance south-southeast of Sundabar. Here is Volo's intro to the city of Everlund: "Everlund is a walled city of 12,000 humans, elves, half-elves, and halflings, with a scattering of other races. It lies due south of Silverymoon, on the banks of the Rauvin. Though it's the smallest of the cities in the Interior, Everlund is as tolerant as Waterdeep of various peoples, races and religions. This is an attitude well befitting a caravan trading center. Everlund is the home base of many caravan masters, guides, hunters, mercenaries, adventurers, and Harpers. The standing army of 2000 diligently seeks out and slays raiding orcs, goblins, bugbears, trolls and other monsters of the wilderlands. Another 250 adventurers and mercenaries can be called upon in times of need. Everlunians are known to fiercely defend their city, and are as wise in the ways of the wilds as any Uthgardt barbarian. Many adventurer-mages, bards, and rangers dwell here, under the six Elders who rule Everlund. The Elders keep it part of the Lords' Alliance, actively opposing both the Zhentarim and the Arcane Brotherhood. Somehow word got around that I was a Zhentarim agent - vile slander, I assure you - so my visits to Everlund and Silverymoon were necessarily hasty and largely covert. I did learn that Everlund is a city of trees, wildflower gardens, and little bowers (lawns encircled by screening stands of trees). The inns and taverns of Everlund are on its outskirts, by the wall, and the center of the city is quiet at night - a place where lovers and plotters walk and talk, I'm told. Homes and shops rise out of the greenery in pleasant little clumps, so that one might be in a village in the Dales rather than in a city of the North. There's plenty of space for children to play in. Although the lanes curve and meander, it's hard to stay lost for long: broad, straight caravan roads cut through this pleasant scenery like the spokes of a wheel. Everlund is a beautiful city, with more trees and grassy space than I'd ever seen in an enclosed space before. I wish I'd had a chance to know it better. Landmarks: The city has five gates: Bridge Gate, Upriver Gate, Mountain Gate, Silver Moon Gate, and Downriver Gate; a quick look at [a map of the Interior] should make it obvious which gate opens in what part of the city wall. I wasn't allowed to approach some places in Everlund close enough to report on them properly. These include the Harper fortress of Moongleam Tower (at least, I think that's what it's called) and the Hall of the Elders, the seat of government in Everlund. The latter is a low, circular building at the heart of the city. Hard by it stands an old, battered keep that serves as the armory, and next to that are the six large barracks of Evelund's standing army. There is a great bell used to sound the call to arms or, when battle goes ill, the retreat. The bell hangs in a frame in the open space beside the barracks, and gives it's name to the space: the Bell Market. This is the chief produce fair of the city. Opening onto the Market is All Faiths Hall, a shrine for the use of all good worshippers. The two remaining places of worship, located by Downriver Gate, are a shrine to Mielikki, The Lady's Tree, and a shrine to Malar, The Bloody Hunt." The neighborhood you are in is a block or so counterclockwise from the Downriver Gate, about two to three blocks in from the wall. Here is a partial listing of other buildings of interest in the area: Inns The Seeking Arrow - A pleasant enough inn with a hunting motif, rooms that will hold up to three rent for 5sp/day or 20sp/week. Common space is available in the heated attic for 1sp/night (includes soup, ale & bread dinner). Meals available downstairs. Located between the two shrines. The Top Floor - Actually the unheated attic of an old drafty warehouse converted to a flop house. 2cp/night for sleeping space on the floor. Thin soup & stale bread are available for 2cp in the morning and evening. 1ep deposit for a coarse blanket. Taverns The Dreaming Dragon - A pleasant tavern popular among elves and halflings. Darius bought the party some mead from there this morning. Myklryn's Sorrow - A pleasant tavern often frequented by Harpers. The Old Sword Sheathed - A popular, friendly tavern with great atmosphere. Try the butternut beer. Shrines The Lady's Tree - Mielikki The Bloody Hunt - Malar Shops - most shops are near the Bell Market, but a few are near the gate. The Dancing Coin - Currency exchanged, loans made, letters of credit good throughout (much of) the North. All for a low, low fee! Humbucker Fairtoes' New and Used Supplies - Any players handbook equipment other than armor, weapons, and livestock for 3 times the normal price new, 1-2 times used. Some other items. Prices may vary. Madame Svetlarna's Fortunes - Know your fate before it happens. Your past lives revealed. The Soldier's Fortunes - Used weapons and armor, prices vary. The Solid Strike - The only dwarven armorer in town. Armor and weapons repaired quickly (expect delay's this week though). Armor up to Plate Mail (except chain & leather) may be ordered for twice the players handbook prices (but worth it for quality). All of you are currently sleeping in The Seeking Arrow and your rooms are paid up for the next five days. Someone, Henkles I think, asked some locals where the local Aurora's Whole Realms Catalog Outlet was. There's only one in the city, on the edge of the Bell Market near the Armory. Note that Everlund is one of several cities in the north where mapping the city has been outlawed to deter spies from rival communities (in this case the Zhentarim and Hellgate Keep) from providing accurate invasion maps. Don't try to map any outdoor area within the city gates (unless you have some spare paper, a spare hand and need a place to sleep for a month or more). A Note on When You Are = ==== == ==== === === It is the morning of Greengrass, the start of spring festival. It is a clear day and it looks like it will stay that way all day (although it's hard to tell near a mountain range). As is traditional, many shops, shrines and official buildings have flowers scattered on the snow in front of their doors. In general the atmosphere in the city is festive and the innkeeper is preparing a special holiday feast for tonight (which will of course cost 4sp instead of the usual 2). The temperature outside is a warm 17 degrees (F) and rising. I should explain the calendar. There are 12 months, each consisting of 3 10-day weeks (also called "rides"). In between these months are 5 special festival days (6 on leap years). The months and festivals are: Hammer Midwinter Festival Alturiak Ches Tarsakh Greengrass Festival Mirtul Kythorn Flamerule Midsummer Festival (Shieldmeet Festival) Eleasias Eleint Higharvestide Festival Marpenoth Uktar Moon Festival Nightal The year is 1369 DR or 11 PR or 337 NR or 2457 WY, depending on what calendar you use. It is universally known as the Year of the Gauntlet. Some Notes on Where You've Been ==== ===== == ===== ====== ==== Many of the current characters have been adventuring together for about a month, under the party name of "Anything for a Laugh". In that time they explored a dungeon right in the city (along with every other adventuring band in the North) and an island reachable by teleportal and killed a pyrohydra. Among their loot they have several unresolved acquisitions: A book titled "Manual of Bodily Health" A book titled "Libram of Gainful Conjuration" A book titled "Manual of Golems" Two Spell Books A letter describing the search for a tower on Mount Silvermane (about 22 miles NE of Everlund) A history book with illuminations depicting the Vault of the Sages in Silverymoon. One illumination shows a man hiding something in a hidden compartment. An historical account of a two year war between the city of Nesme (NW of Everlund) and an organized force of goblins and trolls (one of many). It mentions the assistance of the Mage Guidior - a one-time apprentice to Halaster, the Mad Mage of Undermountain - participating in some major battle. It mentions Guidior's apparent ability to carry messages & items from Nesme to Waterdeep "seemingly overnight". A separate first person account of the period recorded later in the book mentions seeing "some mage", roughly matching Guidior's appearance, at night casting spells at the bridge into the city. These spells made the railings of the bridge glow with an eerie light. Afterwards the mage stepped onto the bridge and vanished! Darius, with his new-found spellcraft proficiency, has identified the spells in the description as standard faerie fire. A map depicting the probable location of a goblin lair about 7.5 miles north of Everlund. For you newcomers, yes, they looted a library.