A Plague of the Wastes
23 years ago, in the 435th Year of the 4th Age a disaster struck the most powerful port of the West, a violent series of explosions released clouds of acrid smoke and the city once known as Nyang'oro became a place of sorrow and the dead. Many fled the war torn city but were cut down in their tens of thousands. Each rose to become a new creature, a corrupted piece of power lodge horrifically within them as they beg to have their foul lives ended with no one to listen. In the years since however, the lords around this land have begun to face the dangers as the Plaguemist expands across the countryside. This has created in some a desire to find the relics of this old power to solve their personal squabbles while others seek the key to ending the plague before its scalding tendrils reach even farther. Members and hirelings of the Asviq Trading Company have formed once again at the end of the monsoon season to find all the items of value they can and get out before the acid rain of the season returns. In its midst is a band of as yet unknown heroes who just might change the world.
Campaign Begins: Character Ideas (For those who need inspiration)
The Callous Guard - this character served somewhere nearby for experience but low pay. Something happened in their small town that forced their hand to leave and make money. Now with limited options and their contract running out they need a good influx of cash and with their connections they think they know a way
The Loyalist Vassal - This character is loyal to the old status quo, whether that is because their father (or grandfather) had power before the Plaguemist hit or they believe that someone in their family (or someone whom they serve) has a claim to the throne.
The Amethyst Mage - This low ranking member of the Amethyst Academy isn't the best student and knows they aren't likely to graduate with the needed high marks unless they do an extremely important deed. This means they've been sent to the dreadful city on a mission from the academy.
The Foreign Mage - Other people have heard of the powers lost within the great city and for many different reasons they have come. They are seeking allies, power, the source of corruption, or the lost knowledge of a great civilization are coming to the city. Now it is up to them to find that which has drawn them in without dying in the process.
The Cunning Thief - this character was a poor member of society with little prospects. To make themselves a life or to escape a problem they've traveled to the city to make some money, with a contact inside the Queen of Thieves' court.
The Devoted Follower - A member of a church that has been sent along the path to take a look at the cursed city, as there are many places of worship which see the curse upon the Edge and believe that settling it is not only a good thing to do but is required by their Divines. The options for which can be found in the information section below.
The Naive Pilgrim - The newest religion in the region is taken up by worshippers of the Lightbringer Irideth that have broken from the byzantine church far to the east. They have found in the grandiose destruction of the city a new thing to worship, transcending all life itself and following Lucretia the Apostate into the violet mist with their Pilgrimage Leader.
The Wandering Minstrel - This great speaker has traveled under the advice of their sponsor to give out the good news that they need, or have left whoever paid them last to seek out a new patron. The Hooded Lanterns are seeking out more troops to take back the city while lords around seek to gather willing vassals to farm their lands and improve their economic standing. Meanwhile some can still be just on their own, trying to make their own history .
The Hardened Survivor - Somehow in this character's past (or there parents') there wasn't an option to leave the cursed city or its proximity and now they've been inundated with the Plaguemist. This provides some protection but at a cost which not even the greatest alchemist or Cleric have found a way to remove. And now they have something holding them here, even if they wish they didn't.
The Factions of the Edge
The 5 Main Factions
The Hooded Lanterns
Protectors of the City, the remnants of the old Royal Guard that managed to survive under Commander Alias Drexel who was on a mission to kill the King’s Brother at the time. Now they have a small stronghold within the city, a keep outside the city, and a presence in Emberwood village. Their main objective is to reinstate the Von Kessel family to the Throne.
The Amethyst Academy
This old institution began under the Dwarven Empire and survived in some capacity in the Delta, though only a few towers are left as most were destroyed by anti-imperial people or looters who wanted to take the magic items within. The last few towers are in the Edge, Anagueso, Nliikfa, and Draconia. However the latter was captured by the Commonwealth and the access to it was destroyed by the new owners, the Dragonborn.
Church of Falling Fire
This powerful cult has only recently evolved, only coming into their own after a very powerful Cleric of Irideth changed her views to incorporate this powerful destruction into it. Now they’ve found that the church isn’t capable of handling this change and so the western Deltians rejected the church. They seek the pieces of Plaguestones to refine and shove into their chests to draw their own light in and proclaim the power of the Falling Fire.
Order of the Silver Shield (Silver Order)
A group of soldiers sent by the Hierarch this official church group of 250 well armed men and women were sent out after the council of Embata last year proclaimed a Crusade against the horrors of the Gnolls living within the city, along with the myriad necromancers and kills who live around and within it. They are sent from the Church of the Holy Corona, the main church of Irideth in Envatain.
The Queen’s Men and the Queen of Thieves
Kept mostly the same, but lowering her power. She deals more with money and double agents within the other factions which are influenced by greed. Her crew lives mostly underground in the old dwarven tunnels while making attempts at grabbing the artifacts. She’s found the secret to the Falling Fire method of getting souls into the Plaguestones and her alchemical talents are working on recreating this but without consent, as that is required for Lucretia to finish the ritual normally. Secretly, this is the genocidal youngest daughter of the Von Kessel family, sent away on holiday during the important discussions happening when the Plaguemist happened
The 5 Minor Factions
Asviq Trading Company - This Independent Company hailing from the city of Tyrr has made money expanding their purchasing or Plaguestones from scavengers and selling them in ports to the South, mostly Anagueso and Hazik City. This normally comes into the form of buying off the stones from the Hooded Lanterns and the The Queen of Thieves and selling them to the wider world
Prince Alvish the Bold of Caspia - A grandson of a cousin of the Von Kessel king this man believes himself to be the next in line for the throne and will convince anyone he can that is true as his parents died and his aunt denied his inheritance of lands within Hazik. He employees the Steelfang mercenaries with all the spoils he's stolen but needs to make a move soon to find the will of the king to bring forth his supposed birthright.
Oscar Yorrin the Forsaken - This man was once an Academy Mage but was expelled just before completing his task because he attempted to steal the Book of Desecration, an item held by the Academy because they can't destroy it or send it to another plane. It houses many spells to bind the dead without concentrating on a spell. Other mages kicked out for similar reasons have flocked to the neighborhood he's been protecting using his small army of zombies. Only around 5 mages are following him at the present but more will soon come
The Ratlings - These demi human creatures have a reputation for extreme hunger, violence, and hate. They live in the sewers and dank basements of the destroyed homes within the city, split into bands of a loose family relation that rarely acts as if that matters. Strangely, a few of them have been acting smarter recently…
The Fishlings -This strongly monarchical society of demi humans has taken over the deepest sewers, the old Dwarven tunnels which once held access to the greatest aquifer ever known. Now the Cerulean Queen seeks converts, people who want a new life with the promises of no more worries. Of course this process turns the subjects into fish people whose memories are erased and whose minds are under the influence.
