Contents
Mechanical Effects
- Kingdom Stats after Defeating the Owlbear
- +4 to All Stats
- Kingdom Stats after 2 years of efforts
- +6 Stability (Elias, Aleksei)
- +6 Loyalty (Ilya, Aleksei)
- +4 Economy (Taranis, Trade Agreement with Varnhold)
- Taranis develops and deploys Scrying Table / Battlemap technology
- Roll Loyalty checks 1/month until otherwise specified (publicity war to get people to accept vermin as their saviors)
- Aleksei develops plans for an observatory dedicated to Desna (below)
- Taranis and Elias breed Electrified Centipedes (below)
Observatory of Desna
(68 BP, 4 lots)
Kingdom: Loyalty +4, Stability +4, Unrest -4
Discount: Academy, Temple
Upgrade From: Observatory and Temple (32 BP difference)
Limit: 1 Observatory of Desna or Cathedral per settlement
Magic Items: 3 minor potions or wondrous items, 2 medium potions or wondrous items
Special: Halves Consumption increase penalty for promotion edicts. Divinations cast from within under a starry sky by a follower of Desna are cast at +2 Caster Level and +1 DC. 1/month, a single priest of Desna may cast Commune at his Caster Level + 5 (to a maximum of 20).
Monstrous Electrified Centipede
As Giant Centipede, except as follows:
Defenses: Electricity Resistance 5
Attacks: Bite +2 (1d6-1)
Special Attacks: Shock (remove Poison)
Shock: As a swift action, the centipede's mandibles become charged, adding 1d6 electric damage to its next successful bite attack. This effect lasts for 1 minute or until discharged.
Plot Developments
News of your defeat of the dreaded enraged owlbear spreads rapidly through the kingdom. Having defeated a clear and present threat to the Greenbelt... you are lauded as heroes. The Greenbelter's morale soars, ushering in what appears to be a period of peace and prosperity. Soon, the full extent of the territories allotted to you by Restov are charted and rid of serious threats. All that remains for you to fulfill Restov's charter is to expand the breadth of civilization, and finish taming the Greenbelt.
About 3 months in, a rather significant event occurs, which (thanks to your kingdom's effective centipede-based scouting network, is identified before any permanent harm befalls your kingdom. This event will be detailed during the next session.
In the months and years that follow, the disquiet in Restov grows by leaps and bounds. What began as mild rumors and distasteful glances up North seems to be growing towards a full, all-out civil war in Brevoy.
There has been no outright aggression yet. However, the Swordlords of Restov have begun disregarding orders from the Surtova throne, and slowly moving their troops North to key defensive positions. Your scouts report that these new troop deployments are leaving Restov's Southern borders largely unguarded. If you do not find this worrisome, perhaps you should. If anyone with an eye towards invading Restov were to realize what was happening... The only thing standing in the way of assured victory in Restov is a pair of small, still relatively minor kingdoms: The Greenbelt, and your neighbors to the east: Varnhold.
Taranis
The Birth of Electropunk
To develop an electrified form of continual flame, you'll need some sort of stabilizing influence to keep the charge flowing. Your searches through ancient texts over the course of two years suggest a solution: There's a form of elemental lightning native to the elemental plane of air, which scholars believe is almost alive. This might work as a basis for your spell...
Unfortunately, although this lightning remains quite stable on the plane of air, to date, efforts to return it to the prime material have generally ended in failure, or even catastrophe:
- Capturing the lightning safely is virtually impossible. To date, no one has come up with a containment vessel that has remained stable for more than a week. The lightning typically fizzles out after that time, or is unleashed into the surrounding area, killing or seriously damaging everyone and everything nearby.
- Transporting the lightning across planar boundaries is likewise impractical. Though no wizard powerful enough to cast the spell has tried to Gate it back (and recorded the attempt), the turbulence of travel through spells like Plane Shift or Shadow Walk invariably results in the lightning degrading and fizzling out.
If you could figure out a way to get some of this lightning back to the prime material, and stable however... it could form the basis, not only for one spell, but an entire array of technology, the likes of which have existed only in your wildest dreams.
An Eye on the Past
After 2 years of study, Taranis' exploration of ancient texts turns up a combination of potentially relevant information regarding the cyclops necromancer Vordakai. Several references suggest a connection to the Nomen centaur—that they're… well, it gets a bit fuzzy. Differing accounts use different terms like servants, followers, guardians, or protectors of the necromancer's creations. Either way, it's enough to raise Taranis' suspicion that the nexcomancer's' rumored place of entombment might be somewhere in the Nomen Heights. This is seemingly confirmed by texts suggesting that strange mounds that line the cliffs and ridge lines of the Tors were actually ruins left behind by ancient one-eyed giants. One final piece of evidence comes to light shortly before the 2 years is up—An obscure text mentions a Nomen Centaur belief that somewhere to the South is an ancient Cyclops graveyard filled with blood-drinking one-eyed ghosts.
Ilya
A Great Sword
Over the course of the 2 years, you are also successful at repairing Ilya's fey-bane greatsword. To recap: This +2 fey-bane greatsword glows in the presence of fey, shedding light as the spell light. After repairing it, a second ability comes to light: Once per day, as a standard action, the sword's wielder can cause it to radiate an aura that surrounds invisible creatures within 45 feet with a glowing green aura, making them visible as the spell invisibility purge. This effect lasts for 9 minutes or until dismissed as a standard action.
Alexandra Sokolov
Ilya's information gathering efforts regarding one Alexandra Sokolov slowly begin to pay dividends. During a debriefing, one of your agents to Restov mentions that he's found something... apparently, the early residents of Varnhold noted a silver dragon nesting up high in the Tors... deep in the Southern reaches of the Nomen Heights. The sightings stopped not long before Roki set out to find Ilya; Speculation among the townsfolk was that the dragon had simply moved on. A personal search was out of the question -- Not only would an expedition and detailed search of the massive Tors be extremely time-consuming, but if it were carried out by the head of state of a foreign kingdom, it would signify a clear act of aggression against Varnhold.
Governor Maegar Varn and the remaining citizens of Varnhold, though understanding of Ilya's plight, are (quite reasonably) concerned about the political repercussions of allowing such an operation to be carried out. Doubly so, given that the lack of sightings signifies that the dragon has probably moved on. An active search by agents of The Greenbelt would (from their perspective) end up stationing a military unit and/or high-level adventurers within their territories, on an open-ended mission that could take months if not years (Think searching through the Swiss Alps). This just isn't something that Governor Varn is willing to accept at this stage.
This isn't so much bad terms as it is a small country's wariness of potential threats. As stated... both the Greenbelt and Varnhold are in rather precarious positions. While you, being the paladin-led country of heroes that you are, might be willing to take on the added risk of unknown foreign agents traveling freely through your lands... Varnhold is playing it safe.
Negotiations are certainly in the realm of possibility however. Indeed, Ilya's talent at diplomacy (26, 29, 32) slowly wins the people of Varnhold over. Over the course of two years, your peaceful contact begins to grow into a more serious trade relationship (+2 Economy). Negotiations for a mutual defense treaty (which would, among other things allow you to legitimately dispatch several excursions into the Tors) have started, and are well under way when, a little over 2 years after your defeat of the Owlbears... dun dun dun.
Aleksei
Aleksei's prayers to Desna are, by and large, unfulfilling. Divinations about the unicorn such as "Why was the unicorn murdered?" are answered with cryptic phrases like "Purest corrupted beauty seeking memories."
On the mundane front, Aleksei's investigative efforts and discussions with friendly fey seem to confirm what the party already has reason to suspect: A powerful fey is working in the shadows against you and your kingdom. There's also a subtle rumor that this fey has aroused the ire (or at least the watchful eye) of the Council of the Eldest, a group of the most powerful fey in the first world.
Amidst the smattering of information you're able to find, a single name surfaces repeatedly: Nyrissa. Discussions with the fey you know are not helpful. Most of them have never heard the name, and those who do are aware of little more than her presence. Not one of your contacts can suggest why she might wish harm to your country, what her endgame might be, or where she might be found.
Information from Desna is significantly more cryptic. Asked where Nyrissa might be found, or what her goals are, divinations provide variants of the phrases "She is following her heart." or "A gift for the Eldest." (respectively). Although he gets the sense that Desna has no desire to see the Nyrissa succeed at her goals (whatever they might be), he feels that something's preventing Desna from communicating this information to him (or worse still, that Desna herself doesn't precisely know what Nyrissa's up to).
Varnhold
At this time, it may be perhaps beneficial to enumerate what you know about your neighbors and the territory directly to your East (South of Restov proper). This information is accurate as of April 4713 (2 years after your return from defeating the dreaded Owlbear).
Geography, Flora, and Fauna
Directly to the East of the Greenbelt is The Nomen Heights. This rocky, mountainous region borders Restov proper, with the road between Restov and Olegton forming its Northern border. The area's most defining feature is the towering Tors of Levenies, a mountain range that splits the region into distinct Eastern and Western territories. To the West of the Tors, the plains and gently rolling hills of the Kamelands extend all the way into the Greenbelt. To the Tors' East, the mountains give way sharply to a vast grassland that hunters call the Dunsward. Numerous rivers cut through the Tors and the Kamelands, many eventually winding their way to the Tuskwater and Candlemere lakes.
One of these rivers, the Gudrin, is sourced from a massive lake. Nearly 20 miles across, Lake Silverstep is fed by numerous waterfalls and snow-melts rushing from the Tors' towering cliffs. In spite of rumors that the lake is frequented by monsters and dangerous fey, fishermen frequently travel there to harvest the lake's distinctive eels, a local delicacy. In fact, the entire area south of Lake Silverstep, though filled with fey from around the lake, as well as gargoyles, maniticores, and rocs that nest in the Tors, is quite rich in resources...
The Dunsward is a vast grassland to the East of the Tors. It is best known for the centaur tribes that dwell there, most prominently a tribe that humans call the Nomens. Frequent hostilities between these centaurs and humans dwelling in the area (predominantly Restov) have led to the proliferation of a number of rumors, of centaurs that practice necromancy and other evil magics, of moon worship and dark nighttime rituals, and of centaurs who consume human flesh (not technically cannibalism). Regardless of the truth of these rumors, the Nomen centaurs are un-debatably aggressive and territorial. Known for the deadly accuracy of their arrows, it is generally to everyone's benefit if their war parties are given a wide berth.
This hostility means that the centaurs pose a clear and present danger to Restov's Southern border (moreso, now that their troops have been reassigned). Rumor has it that Restov has offered the leaders of Varnhold a reward if they can eliminate the Centaurs as a threat to their Southern border...
Finally, there's evidence of a tribe of fey called Spriggans (you encountered several of these guarding the werewolf druids) living in the Tors. To date, they have kept mostly to themselves, although there is evidence of active hostilities between them and the Nomen Centaurs.
Varnhold
Varnhold was founded by one of the four expeditions sent out (by Restov) to create a buffer around its Southwestern border. Nestled at the foot of the Tors of Levenies, Varnhold is a thriving city, only a little bigger than Olegton. Your agents report to you that Varnhold has also established an outpost at the far side of a recently discovered pass through the Tors (appropriately named Varnhold Pass).
Varnhold itself has been thriving. The Tors are filled with the promise of rich minerals and gemstones, bringing numerous prospectors and their need for supplies and gear to the burgeoning city. Rumor has it also that several disciples of Restov's famed Aldorei fighting school (including Varnhold's Governor, a young, showy swordlord with much to prove, named Maegar Varn) have decided that the Tors provide the ideal mix of seclusion, beauty, and cold weather for a new fighting school. Due to growing tensions in the North, and to avoid the perception of intruding into the Stolen Lands officially, this school is unaffiliated with the Aldorei. The unofficial nature of this school makes it an ideal place for barons, lords, and kings of the (hostile to Restov) River Kingdoms to brag about having sent their sons and daughters to learn.
