Mark's Campaign
This website is a place where friends and strangers can browse the ancient and current RPG campaigns that I have created over the past 40 years. Rather than simply shredding my creations from past decades, I will hopefully engrave them in the dubious permanence of the internet. Enjoy the gallery!
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Chapter 7: The Secret Route
I was pondering about which countries that border Cheliax would be motivated to oppose the powerful Empire. One of the closest countries is Molthune, but there is a natural mountain barrier between the two nations. At the time I created this adventure, the only reference material for Molthune was from the Inner Sea World Guide. On the map for this country was a small location called Trilmsgitt Towers. The brief background described three specialist wizard brothers who could teleport between their own respective towers. It was discovered that a strange violet field of magic covered the towers' entrances and no one could contact the reclusive wizards. I let my imagination go from there and created the following background and adventure.
Background (Current year AR 4714, 24 Calistri)
Approximately 79 years ago, Molthune declared its independence from the Empire of Cheliax. A multitude of treaties were established over the next several years to keep the peace between the two nations, but the natural Menador mountain range was the key obstacle keeping the relative peace between the two nations. However, about 30 years ago a dwarven engineer named Aristoken and a human archwizard named Miles Irfax proposed a radical idea. They designed a magical method of opening up a way to travel through the vast mountain range using the engineering skills of the dwarf and the teleportation specialization of the wizard. Two outposts would be created; one on each side of the mountain range and manned and protected by their own side. Each would include a teleportation device that would connect to a third neutral outpost deep within the mountain range, created using magic and engineering and would be manned by a selected group of representatives from both countries, acting as a virtual border. When someone would wish to travel from one side to the other, the person would step through the portal in their own side’s outpost and arrive in the center. Then, once permission had been granted, they would be able to use another portal to travel to the opposite side’s portal in the other’s outpost and continue on their journey.
The project was started even as their plans were being finalized but during this time, approximately five years into construction, the two governments had a falling out and the project funding was halted. Each side’s representative went their separate ways, the project was abandoned and the portals were never completed. However, much still remains of the five years’ work.
One of the more clever ideas of the project came when the wizard Irfax hired a trio of brothers named Trilmsgitt who were specialized in the ways of elemental magic. Both Irfax and Aristoken knew that the creation of the center outpost would be most difficult, however with the assistance of the forces of the elements, that job could be made much easier. The three brothers were brought to the approximate center of the range by use of teleportation magic and instructed to create the station under the direction of the dwarf engineer. Although the brother Ciuq was the main contact for moving the earth due to his particular elemental specialization, the three brothers employed summoned earth, water and air elementals, and began to create a grand complex that would be called Waypoint.
When the project was cancelled prematurely, the brothers returned to their homes in Molthune until about 16 years ago when they got the idea to revisit Waypoint and see if they could discover the secrets left behind by the archwizard Irfax. They constructed their towers and created teleportation devices that would connect their towers to each other as well as the station known as The Tooth. From there, they would activate a new portal that would take them to Waypoint where they could begin their search. With some clever planning on their part, they convinced the governor, Lord Markwin that they would research a way to re-open the passage to Cheliax as a possible way to make a quick military strike into Cheliax if needed. Markwin figured that this was a good investment of resources with a possible huge payoff, so he sent the trio to their work. Unfortunately, the last regular report (which had been coming in every few months) arrived on Markwin’s desk about a year ago and no one has heard from the trio since.
The three brothers, specialized in elemental magic (Nyl/air, Fedge/water and Ciuq/earth) each created their own towers within the valley, then used teleport spells to travel to areas they had known from the past in The Tooth and Waypoint. Using notes that they have ‘appropriated’ from Irfax’s labs, they spent about 10 years perfecting the scrying teleportal magic devices, then installed them in their three towers, The Tooth and Waypoint. Before leaving, the brothers created a powerful set of protective magics on their towers. They have never been to the outpost called Headwater, but planned to travel there soon and place a final portal in that outpost. They have the portals ready in Ciuq’s tower for all three outposts. However, about 2 years ago, a disaster struck the deep mountain range and the earth shifted dramatically, causing massive landslides and cave-ins. Many parts of the Waypoint Complex were demolished and the destruction attracted a number of subterranean nasties. During the destruction of Waypoint, Fedge and Ciuq were killed. Nyl alone survived, but quickly sank into a deep depression after losing his only family and friends. He still resides somewhere in the Waypoint complex, but may be too far gone to reason with. Stray earth, air and water elementals and other random denizens still roam the halls, reflecting the terror and grief of their former masters in some cases still carrying out their last instructions.
Overview
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The Rising Sun will arrive in the port city of Eranmas to deliver the darkwood to the shipyards
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The group will be introduced to Admiral Lord Rakis who will give them their travel documents to the capital city of Canorate and to Cettigne by way of trade flotilla up the Nosam River
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The cover is that the group is going to be negotiating trade and resettlement rights for a number of different countries, including Andoran and Taldor
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Once in Cettigne, they are directed to meet with a man called Aleksi Kaledin who will find passage for the group to the headwaters of the river and close to the Towers
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When the group reaches the towers, they will find the way barred by a purple energy field around each tower
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A small crack in the field of Ciuq’s tower will allow access to his home
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Once inside, the group will find the portals but one of them (the one to Waypoint) will allow one-way passage to the corresponding portal
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The group will need to explore the complex, possibly find the body of Fedge and meet Nyl and his new friend, the blue dragon named Lazuli.
In Khemet’s analysis of the possible allies in his plan for Cheliax, the country of Molthune was disregarded at first due to the natural geographic barrier of the Menador Mountains which separate the two countries and have allowed Molthune to retain its independence from the Empire. However, he has recently discovered a secret project that was commissioned by Markwin Teldas himself to complete an old operation that would allow underground passage through the vast mountain range and into the northern section of Cheliax. The original intent of the passage was to establish a trade route during an era of relative peace between the two nations, but when Cheliax began pressuring Molthune to rejoin the Empire, the project was shelved and all but forgotten.
About 16 years ago, Imperial Governor Teldas heard about a trio of brothers (Nyl, Fedge and Ciuq Trilmsgitt) who had a specialized interest in teleportation magic. With clandestine funding, he sent the brothers to the south to build their own stronghold and begin research in the old underground passage project. There haven’t been too many reports from the trio, but about a year ago, strange violet wards appeared around the brothers’ three towers and all information in and out of the region stopped.
Khemet sent an envoy (Abel) to the Imperial Governor to aid in the investigation of the brothers’ towers. Abel convinced the governor with two powerful bargaining chips; the promise of enough raw darkwood to build 6 ships for the Molthune fleet and a promise of helping open up a convenient passage to Cheliax that could be used for a covert campaign of guerilla warfare or outright invasion, both of which appeal to the battle hungry leader. Abel has convinced the Governor that he is no friend to Cheliax or the diabolic influence that really seems to run it.