Ancient Blood’s Due
A n c i e n t Blood – A Living World storyline Set in the Grand Duchy of Dunstrand of the [Fantasy] Steel Realms.
ok… here it is… this is the story ive been working on for the last couple days… this is where we are starting from. I will set forward character creation parameters and start {hyper} linking more and creating content around it in the next few months. Ive got a lot going on to generate a whole new arc but keeping the goals of the ancient blood original campaign. This preserves that epic and noble task, while making it more action oriented and less spanning of so many geo-political boundaries and sub plots. It cements the forces at work and puts things much more out in the open.
Original Background: In CY 5-8-9141 the Band of Crows stirs up future of Dunstrand and the heartlands in general. An alliance that melded the ruling families of the Earldom of Bar-Innis, some of the Riverdans, and representatives of a few other fiefs of the Grand Duchy of Dunstrand finally began to withstand and turn back the tide of chaos, instability, and the downward slide of the sovereignty and cohesion of the duchy. Since then, their legacy has been one of a struggle for power, incremental gains and setbacks. And here we find ourselves… in the Quest for Ancient Blood! Ancient Blood on the Rise marked the exploration and uncovering of the bloodlines of the northern Riverdans. The PCs where invisible foot soldiers in the cause of the League of the White Lily, though they tired of it after the death of many comrades. It ended in the pitched Battle of Athlapoole (Belim’s Rebellion).
Current Date: Common Year (CY) June 8th, 9169 +27 years later – the new plot arc of Ancient Blood…
Ancient Blood’s Due
The Aftermath of Belim’s Rebellion
It has been decades since the Battle of Athlapoole (Belim’s Rebellion) in the Riverdan of Bondeu. Since then, it has changed drastically. Bordering County Faer to the east, the Riverdan has become a major trade partner leveraging the shared logging resources with the elves and reopened resources from the broken curse of the Athla Hill country – without the Sunbelt Merchants! The Saivelaugh elves of the Grebell Forest have once again achieved peace and balance with their human neighbors of the Treefell area. The wyld faith has reclaimed the river land territory and the Lightbringers have lost their footing – a minor hiccup in the “Affray of Darkness and Light“. It took a decade before the Cunaigh and Burren families were not at each other’s throats. The Burrens suffered a diaspora and sold most of their lands. A few smaller and more remote tracks near Zerburre are still managed by much lower ranking family members who don’t have any stake in local politics. Ultimately these remaining folk are making peace with the Cunaigh, as they were once distantly related anyway.
Rise of the White Lily
The League of the White Lily now functions out in the open in Bondeu and in Monaides and the most of the territories that border the Earldom of Bar-Innis. Between Bondeu and the capital of Dunstrand City, there is a much greater level of scrutiny and opposition in the northern river lands. The rebellion seem to achieve a hardline split. A few river lords found their voice and have joined ranks to actively fight against the Twin River power of East River Run and West River Run counties. At this point, all trade across the Nanford River that splits north and south Dunstrand is suffering out of the spite and pettiness of politics, but it mostly goes on with less skimming and corruption – but not eradicated.
The Long Quiet is Over
Since the time of the rebellion and a little bit before the Dark Lands have been quiet. To the west, a civil war in Bar-Innis tore it apart for a few years but the inheritors of the Band of Crows prevailed and now the Gallantine Academy stands as a bulwark for the Earl and the Duke. West River Run and Baron (now Earl) of Richfield, are near open violence as a result of a fallout during the ongoing war with Gwinn. The free territory of Cabella that borders West River Run between it and the ocean is all but abandoned and now threatened by the greatest of the northern merchant cities Karolak. Peace with Gwinn is causing Kingdom of Umbak and the Merchant Cities of the North to chip away at the borders and reign in trade. Even the halflings of Loamwold are upset by the peace with Gwinn. So many fought them for so long, and with Dunstrand agreeing to peace, the rest have no choice but to accept it or be isolated and possibly attacked as well. Along with all of this, the region of the west central heartlands has been beset by earthquakes for decades.
The DEATH OF BELIM: In CY 9150, Belim dies. He leaves behind a son and daughter (Rhys and Rhiannon), and his widow was of age to gain control of the Riverdan of Bondeu. He had developed a relationship after taking control of Bondeu with a senior herald of the duke, Tanner Holmraf, and his family’s claims were immediately legitimized and his wife was knighted by Tanner. Tanner has long been held as one of the Duke’s right hand men, a knight in his own right, and a major player in the politics of the duchy with a known dislike of the Twin River forces. Belim’s death is the foundation for the Tonnesbridge Vanguard of Monaides. Belim purposefully sent De’Vosa to Dunstrand City to try to get the help of the Duke to negotiate to end the conflict. He knew it would not work, but did not want his friend to die in a contest he knew he was about to lose. It was like the Battle for Athlapoole once again. Tanner Holmraf was elsewhere, but De’Vosa did manage to enlist the Duke’s wizard order of House Malor to return with him to help negotiate, but it was too late.
The Soul Scourge: And then the Soul Scourge came and misery and disease broke their normal bonds and ravaged the heartlands of the entire Kingdom and beyond. The Soul Scourge gnaws at the peace of all. Somehow, The Gallants were rumored to have been involved in the rise of the Necromancer Gruxxand in the Vale Evander and his quest for Lichdom that has unleashed the power of the devouring worm – Mog Creoch – upon the world. He is slowly spreading his influence, and armies have been raised multiple times.
Death of a Lich Lord?: And the Winter Host of the Lich Lords was upended and the cold bargain broken. A weakness was shown in their power, and one was rumored to have been killed or laid low – related to actions taken by The Gallantine squad known as Pin Feathers. And in their rage, and to show the world their power and determination to rule over all the most vile and despicable acts driven by the gnawing pain of undeath were carried out by their armies and minions.
Rise of the Orrish: And now, the long quiet Orrish in the Dark Lands have begun to stir once more, bringing fire, disease, blood and terror across the entire heartlands once again – and it is only starting! The quiet has ended and the great evil from beyond the Curtain of Night has begun to strike again. Using the disastrous events of the last several years as a fulcrum to break the will of an already broken people, Everdark, Sun-Stealer and their Orrish minions have begun to resurface and to reclaim control over some of the lands of light. The Underlands are crawling with activity again. The sewers of cities, the mines of the men, Dwarves and Ducateon, The shadowed Roots of the deep forest, the elves dwell in… these places are no longer safe.
Out of the light of the sun, the Orrish are on the warpath again. The ancient fear is beginning to swell at the worst possible moment in the modern age. Be afraid of darkness that comes to the forefront once again. A crushing of the light, civilization, and order is their goal.
The Duke’s soldiers are defending the northeastern Riverdans and keeping all the trade open as well as ensuring all raiding Orrish are eliminated in the T’yendi Hills of the old eastern edge of Dunstrand Vale. County Faer and Bar-Innis and the folk of The Saelish are training and working to keep them in check there. West River Run tries to contain them in the west of Dunstrand. And Gwinn on the occupied Tarmysian Peninsula has their hands full. The southern Riverdans are left on their own – an obvious political ploy by the Twin River powers, but no one has the time, money, or forces to stop them. With Belim’s legacy, Bondeu is solid and wants for little. Tuflim, its neighboring Riverdan to the south between it and Pelmon, languishes in poverty and isolation and rumors of a cursed minotaur prowling its lands has kept away even the some of the Orrish.
The Call Goes Out
The ancient Cathwell’s Silver Mine and the famed Gaeraen’s Vein iron mine along with the Folded Edge dwarven ironworks/smithy is under assault in the north of Pelmon. The Riverdan has already spent too much supplementing their forces with mercenaries. A call is sent out and a direct appeal is made to De’Vosa – retired in County Faer (it has the largest group of Lighbringer followers outside the Twin River counties to the north, enemies of the Riverdans and his fallen or retired friends) to the east. De’Vosa cannot resist – he has been working with this the forces of County Faer for a couple years now – keeping the pass between it and the Grand Barony of Fandelok open. He prays for guidance from Whelm the Lightbringer (Protector of Light) and believes his work in county Faer is done, and answers the call to help the Riverdans and give Ancient Blood it’s due.
On the way, assembling a group in the memory of his friend Sir Belim. He can sense the evil in Pelmon, it is definitely worse there than where he is coming from. It is his destiny that calls – he is sure of this. His path takes him directly through the Riverdan of Bondeu, where he will pay his respects to the Cunaigh family and Belim’s children, and then move south through Tuflim and into north Pelmon. De’Vosa picks up information from the Cunaigh family to paint a complete picture.
See Herald’s Quarterly 9169, 1st Quarter
Happenings in Pelmon, in the Hawktail Hills region… threatening to spill over into Cerrans Grant, Tuflim, and Glois, and is even near enough to effect Bondeu in the narrow border with Tuflim.
- Orrish raids on the countryside
- Shut down mines and inhabited them
- High King’s Mintworks affected
- Sabotage Folded Edge smithy
- Gate guards killed multiple times, sabotage inside the local lord’s keep
- It is rumored a vampire on the loose
- Pockets of Nousian grey-skins watch the infested hills in daylight hours
Things Yet to Come (to be done before our Jan 2025 Session)…
The Soul Scourge will affect the PCs
A Folded Edge 2 dwarven representatives of the forge will seek the PCs out…