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Scales of War

Welcome to the Scales of War campaign wiki. This wiki site is a resource for a play-by-post tabletop fantasy role-playing game. The goal of this wiki site is to form a log of events in the campaign and store information about the game that is easily accessible and editable to the entire game group.

PLEASE SEE 'BACKGROUND' for an introduction to the Scales of War Campaign setting, and questions for you to ponder in preparation for our inaugural session on Saturday 10am - 2pm at Todd Grow's place.
NOTE: The 'RESOURCES' section is currently being edited, so don't rely on that (yet) for definitive information. Thank you!
DM: Lord bArioch

Background

The lights go down in the darkening theatre, and ominous theme music gradually grows as upon the gigantic state-of-the-art screen a series of large yellow letters loom large before the eyes of the PCs, scrolling away into the depths of a yawning void:

The world has never been a safe place. Bastions of civilization populate a dark, menacing world—islands of order and reason exist in a land otherwise overrun by dark cults, vile monsters, creatures from the dark edges of the imagination, and worse. As deadly as the world is on a normal day, it has been rumored that something has begun to stir on the fringes of the civilized Elsir Vale. Formerly the site of an attack by an army of ravening goblinkind known as the Red Hand, the Vale has known several years of peace since brave adventurers, leading dwellers of the Vale lands, stormed into the teeth of the approaching Hand and, after a bitter series of battles and no small amount of bloodshed on both sides, sent them scurrying back into the darkness. But the ten years’ peace of Elsir Vale—and specifically, the town of Brindol, heart of the former conflict with the Red Hand—has been shattered. The vague shadow of unease the locals have been experiencing lately has crystallized in the form of a recent attack on the town itself. Now Brindol finds itself once more in need of capable and brave heroes (or simply capable opportunists) willing to come to the aid of their citizens. The town council is willing to pay handsomely for adventurers with the stones to rescue the prisoners and recover the antique treasures taken from the Hall of Great Valor . . . adventurers like those at your table, here in the Antler and Thistle tavern.

So begins the tipping of the Scales of War...

vale.jpg

The Vale is a thinly populated frontier that stretches almost 250 miles east to west and averages about 70 miles north to south. Several small mountain ranges and dense forests form the vale’s borders.

The scattered human towns and villages of the area grew up along the Dawn Way, an important east-west trade road linking the heavily settled lands that lie northwest across the Endless Plains with the exotic kingdoms and goods of the coastal lands lying to the southeast. Much of the Dawn Way was built by an ancient dwarf-kingdom that spanned the Wyrmsmoke and Giant's Shield Mountains more than a thousand years ago. While the dwarves are long gone, their roads, bridges, and cisterns remain in use to this day. After the dwarf-realm passed, the presence of various monsters and raiders kept traffic along the Dawn Way light for many years; few caravans dared the long and dangerous trek. Few humans lived in Elsir Vale during those years—only scattered settlements of druidic folk who left behind little more than grassy barrows and stone circles on the hilltops.

About five hundred years ago, the nearby city of Rhest came to control the vale and a large swath of land north of the Giant's Shield Mountains as well. Soldiers from Rhest secured the roads all the way to Dennovar and beyond, creating a safe passage for trade. More and more traders traveled the Dawn Way, and the kingdom of Rhestilor grew wealthy on the tariffs exacted from the passing merchants. Under the kingdom's shield, the towns along the Dawn Way—Brindol, Talar, Terrelton, and the rest—grew up from tiny hamlets or lonely soldiers' posts to flourishing human settlements.

The kingdom of Rhestilor eventually collapsed under civil strife, monstrous incursions, and magical blights. Almost two hundred years ago, the city of Rhest was burned by a savage horde of goblinoids. Although the warriors of Rhestilor killed many of the goblins and their kind, the city was abandoned and the already weakened kingdom broken. The locks and canals surrounding Rhest fell into disrepair, and the Blackfens swallowed the ruined city.

In the years since the kingdom's fall, the towns of Elsir Vale have come to look after themselves. Most of the local lords still hold titles derived from the old kingdom of Rhestilor. While everybody knows that the kings of Rhestilor are long dead, no new realm has arisen in the Vale.

The Characters

PCs

• Maveith: Goliath, Earth Warden (Defender, secondary Controller) ( Ken Grow)
• Gregorr Pieterson: Human, Hybrid Aegis of Assault Swordmage/Fey Pact Warlock (Defender/Striker) (Kevin Higley)
• Hmdooley: Outsider Drone, Artful Dodger Rogue (Striker) (Todd Grow)
• Araceli: Human, Dragon Sorcerer (Striker, secondary Controller) (Ted Wendelboe)
• Bhairava: Eladrin, Prescient Bard (Leader, secondary Controller) (Josh Ogzwalla)

NPCs and noteworthy people

Helio: Shop owner in Brindol that employs Maveith at his fruit stand

Eradrius: Mortician who kicked Maveith out of the cemetery

Quests

1st quest

Monsters Encountered List

Monsters Encountered

Items of Interest

Items of Interest

Threads

In-world dialogue (from your character point of view, immersed in the campaign setting)

Player-speak (free use of game mechanic terms, from your own perspective as a player)

Resources

Elsir Vale - BEING EDITED. Please see 'BACKGROUND' for now

Brindol - BEING EDITED. Please see 'BACKGROUND' for now