Incarna Gaming Network
Choose your world… and bring your characters to life!
Home - Category: Steel-Realms (Page 4)
Category: Steel-Realms
North Gate Wall of Light
Posted on October 6, 2026 in Steel-Realms
The forces of the Lich Lords swept through Dundaria, and drove relentlessly to North Gate Pass, to conquer the western half of the kingdom of Dundaria. The Church of Light attempted to create a ‘Wall of Light’ in CY 5642 – a countering power of blazing heat and light to contain the menacing murderous Frostfang that was the harbinger of a wave of undead destroying the northern Kingdom of Dundaria.
While it ultimately failed, it did blunt the Lich Lord’s mass of unorganized minions and slowed down their conquest. The Lich Lords forced the Frostfang south, taking massive power to change its direction after setting their sites on the Kingdom of Rhylan instead of the remaining west of Dundaria (Kaaldian lands now). The cold of the Lich Lord’s ultimately overwhelmed the Wall of Light, but it took a decade and blunted its power considerably.
By the time their armies turned south and pushed into the lands of rhyl directly, efforts to build The Autumn Wall had already begun, and the Wylden Autumn Winds of Rhyl met the Frostfang, blunted it, eventually stopped it through the heat transference of the deep forest and colder north.
CY 5642 The North Gate Wall of Light, while ultimately failing to stop the Lich Lords advance, is still celebrated by many Followers of The Church of Light as a triumph.
The Wylden Autumn Winds of Rhyl
Posted on October 6, 2026 in Steel-Realms
Wylden magic controlled by the Druids of Rhyl keeps The Autumn Wall from freezing, distributing the flesh-stripping cold of the Frostfang from there into the Great Forest of Rhyl.
It is the main effect that makes the ground and air colder than it should be, and fog banks leave ice and mist and low clouds wander and distribute snow flurries all around the forest (even in summer). A few locales are warded, and the Elven Wealds and North Pines maintain normal weather for the area. Flora and fauna have adapted over thousands of years, with adaptations sped up to protect them by the Druids of Rhyl that oversee the Wylden Autumn Winds of Rhyl.
It rankles the Church of Light that their effort of the North Gate Wall of Light failed, and the Wyld faith succeeded in their absence.
Nuureith “the flint breaker” (faerie legend)
Posted on October 4, 2026 in Steel-Realms
The Tale of Nuureith is an ancient elven tale is about the first of the Aelves of the faerie race on Helca. It is obscure, vague, short, and most scholars are unsure to believe it, or to treat it as myth. Its exact moment in time is unknown, but considered tens of thousands of years before the Time of The Crossing of the Blood of Saemon. Perhaps a hundred thousand – certainly from the Time of the Green Paths.
This knowledge is considered RARE or even HIDDEN. It is not referenced by available texts of the Modern Age of the Steel Realms.
The Tale is it is Commonly Known
Nuureith was part of the first arrivals on Helca of the ancient and original Aelf lineage from the Faeywyld, travelers of the Aelfpath and explorers of the stars. Nuureith came to Helca with his clan. For thousands of years, the elven population grew slowly on solitude and safety. He and his brother were tasked with journeying east from their Aelfpath “sprout” (the name of which and location is lost to modern history). They came to a strange place in a great forest, and came upon a great treasure that is lost to memory. It is said that they spent years investigating it, observing it, and that a jealousy grew in him. He slew his brother with a flint knife, and became the first of the corrupted Faeydark elves of the Steel Realms. His final fate is unknown, but there are no further mentions of him.
Details: The exact details contain cultural details, descriptions, and references that are obscure and alien, clearly marking it as long before the modern age. This tale is a similar tale to the biblical “Cain and Abel” narrative that portrays the evil of murder, jealousy, greed, and violence and is mostly considered and allegory.
Twilight Grotto of the Faerie Edgelands (Willow’s Eye ruins; Rhyl)
Posted on September 22, 2026 in Steel-Realms
Twilight Grotto is the sunken pit ruined site of the Willow’s Eye Temple of the ancient faerie realm of Ashtenai, what is now Ba-shin-draey of Rhyl.
Adventure Sourced Materials: Materials that are continuum applicable, universal, just descriptive, and/or can be independent of a specific adventure or session are moved from their original sources into the place, person, or item page after they are revealed to players.
The ultimate goal of maintaining and dealing with this place is the Restoration of the Willow’s Eye Temple in some capacity.
Encounters & Dangers in the Area
None of the normal Encounters in the Grand Duchy of Rhyl are likely to happen here. There are no normal Settlement Encounters > Patrols | Recruiting | Sellers | Begging | Crime
Defenses of the Grotto
Anger of the Spirits: If a character succumbs to the anger, they suffer a penalty to all actions = # Faeymarks; or -4 & Disadvantage of direct faerie blood
- Wood Weirds – like blights, but not evil. Protectors like goblins. Vulnerable to fire. Resistance to pierce and bludgeon. They attack fasdtest and most powerful during twilight.
- Mephit
- Mudmen – eyes in the ground!
The Tees on the Edge of the Grotto
The trees that circle the lip around the edge of the grotto are different. Squat and strong, shorter than the forest beyond – like a fence. Their trunks are 2m think and they stand 20m tall. Thick branches, and all coniferous.
Sunlight shines directly through the trees at sunup. Trees not of the normal variety surround a, irregular sunken pit 50m wide in places, 80m long, and 25m deep.
Faerie Bane: Those of faerie blood moving beyond this point trigger the defenses of the the grotto. Sylph and faeries that move in other ways than walking upon the ground find themselves will be ground-bound.
- Ground Binding: All creatures will be forcible drawn to the top of the ground – no other movement through, over, or around the tree ring at a distance of 75m around them by those of faerie blood is allowed.
- Nightmares: All of faerie blood must make a Sanity check with Disadvantage or suffer nightmares constantly > Success still means they suffer it automatically at night. All Initiatiive checks are made with Disadvantage.
- Sickness:
The Trip Down
The Ramp: Characters may decide to take the obvious ramp down the NE side of the grotto.
Layered over your perception is another world of strange alien landscape. The feeling of the ground beneath your feet seems to ground you, though you are deeply unsettled. The grotto feels wrong somehow, as it you are looking at something you should not be seeing.
Lowering: Characters may decide to somehow lower themselves into the grotto.
Pit Floor
View from the Bottom
As you set foot in the bottom of the strange grotto, the sky above you flashes. Diffused light returns to an emptiness above you. Then, slowly, an alien night sky is painted as you gaze around you. The landscape in the grotto grows increasingly hostile – you swear the trees around are plotting against you. You feel like every pinprick of a star in the sky is an eye upon you. Then it returns to normal, and you realize you’ve been holding your breath the entire time and gasp for air.
View Between Sunset & Sunrise
As the sun sets, shadows flicker throughout the grotto. It seems like they take on a life of their own, and the alien reality of some distant realm overlays on top of what you see every time you blink. It feels like everything is without meaning, without anchors to reality. Finally, another held breath is expelled and you take a massive gasp for air. The world is… not normal. The earthen walls of the grotto fade to darkness. Despite any lights you may have, the darkness does not retreat before it. There is no heat from your light, and all light feels like it is being pushed back against. Two moons appear in the sky, moving towards each other as the sun fades behind the horizon.
Grandhal- ‘Father Tree’, Guardian of the Ramp
Communicating: Speaks only sylvan, but understands Feyloise and Sylvan. It takes 10 rounds to even draw a breath to begin to speak.
!–
TREE: Says to wait for night
@ Dayt
Wind blows the boughs, whispering warnings in your ears – “transgress”, “anger like burning mountains”, “the roots of the The World Tree – The Aether Conduit are bound with wroth here”, “sealed within is doom”
@ Night
At night, the stars above configure themselves in unknown constellations. A darkness that is not natural. A darkness that dances with the cold wind. Faint sounds of pipes and drums are heard. The wind bends the trees that groan, the stars are wrong, memory fails you…
Guardians: Wood Weirds
–>
Moonlit Shaft
A beam of moonlight streams down into a single copse in the grotto as the path of the two moons merge into one. It lights a dark shaft. You feel a presence, vast, ancient and aware. The copse contains a dark shaft, that is illuminated by moonlight, but 10m down becomes a black void that swallows light. The shaft is wider at the top, narrowing into a collar that is something a human could barely fit through – it reminds you of an oubliette. You shudder at the thought of what could be trapped in the dark, lurking to ambush you.
Through the dark collar…
As you pass through the collar, all light above you fades to black. You look around, seeing earthen walls that fade to darkness. Continuing, you feel like you are passing through a membrane. The descent feels like it will have no end, and like it will only lead to sorrow.
The shaft is the entrance to another dimensional realm, somewhere on the edges of the Faeywyld borderlands and a demi plane of a god.
You continue down, farther and farther, like climbing through water, letting yourself sink. Movement causes a churning of the darkness. There are constellations in the darkness – stars swirl around you – below, above and all around – as if you walk through the cosmic void of interstellar space itself.
Twilight Path of the Willow’s Eye: 1 = Twilight Grotto > 2 = Tree Top World > 3 = The Vaulted Hall of Worship > 4 = Misty Hall of Memories > 5 = Chamber of Contemplation > 6 = The Rainbow Path > 7 = Mistvale of the World Tree > 8 = Vision Pools of the Faerie-Norse
Willow’s Eye Cycle (Fallen Ashtenai; Rhyl)
Posted on September 19, 2026 in Steel-Realms
Willow’s Eye Cycle is the history of a fallen place of divine power in the long vanished Faerie Realm of Ashtenai and linked to the Chronicle of the Dragon of Rhyl. The place is avoided by all living creatures currently. All that is left is the Twilight Grotto of the Edgelands.
Chronicle/Facts of Locale
Knowledge is broken down by ease of discovery/availability & Meticulous Record Keeping may improve usability; Any attempt to know more than what's Pervasive will require a reference, source, knowledge, check, or access to someone who can get or provide either of these. Specific Lores may increase the chance of knowing specific elements.
Trivial Outcome / Very Easy Difficulty & Pervasive Knowledge
Information Sources: Mundane Reference | Associated Phenomenology Only | Specific Lore
For those native to or long-dwelling in the region, ALL Common Knowledge may be Pervasive.
The earth grew over it, it sunk into the ground. The frozen lake filled eventually, waterways changed course, earth was moved, the temple long buried remained pristine.
Initially, this sacred place was part of the Dryad-Elven Alliance.
Initially, the sacred place conformed to the Dryads of the Wyld standards.
Rumors About the Locale
- The place is haunted by the spirits of faeries that died defending it.
- Those who seek it are cursed.
Simple Outcome / Easy Difficulty & Common Knowledge
For those native to or long-dwelling in the region, ALL Common Knowledge may be Pervasive.
What the Faerie Folk Say: The place is… cursed. It was once an important place for the faerie folk, especially the faerie Smallfolk. No shadows stretch for miles around it. It whispers as the trees move. The whispers are condemnations of a broken promise and defeat – and it finds a break in the mental armor of all the faerie folk that go there. It makes you question the very nature of certainty and every step feels… wrong. There is no feeling of belonging to a place once central to a realm of the faerie smallfolk – there is no welcome here for any of the faerie folk.
Minor Outcome / Average Difficulty & Uncommon Knowledge
Bound in darkness is the anger – and the anger is what the smallfolk fear – they and all natural creatures know to stay away and not draw its attention. But the faerie are distinctly vulnerable to the anger and war-voice. It already has influence on the War-Speakers of Hatusha, the Elfin settlement.
Scarce Knowledge / Hard Difficulty
Founding: The original Willow’s Eye Temple on the lake at the heart of the ancient faerie realm of Ashtenai was erected about 10,000 years before the Coming of The Blood of Saemon.
Rare Knowledge / Very Hard Difficulty
Recent Stirrings of the Willow’s Eye Temple
Now the rejuvenating magic of the Southern Edgelands of the Forest of Rhyl has opened old paths of power. The boughs of trees intertwined above it, weaving a wooden wall.
The temple of the demi-god Dryad referred to as ‘Willow Hand’ on the edge of the lake Halivael, known as the Willow’s Eye (‘willowsigh’), was frozen in time, covered in ice from the Dragon of Rhyl for millennium. The dryad demigoddess herself died, but the last of her power preserved the temple.
Elfin Awakening: The Elfin of Hatusha drew laey power when near it, the smallfolk avoided it though the Elfin sought it out. They and the other faerie smallfolk watch the place. It whispers secrets, it whispers war (influencing the Elfin clan), it seethes with the defeat of the goddess that once made her home in it.
Full Timeline Details of the Willow’s Eye Cycle
Father Tree (‘Grandhal’) of the Twilight Grotto told it once to Umbakians who came to try and dissuade them (they never recorded it anywhere else), and to a World Watcher bard named Hopevald that swore by a Wylden Bond to only divulge to the chronicles of Rhyl. It can only be found in Deepstone Archive of Rhylan – confirmed in CY 9127.
- CY ? > The founding of the Faerie Kingdom of _
- CY ? > Dragon vs elves
- CY ? > Rise of the dryad demigoddess ‘Willow Hand’
- CY ? > Fall of the Willow’s Eye Temple
- CY ? > The Dead Goddess’ Tomb/The Twilight Grotto forms
axes broke, slides, trees fall, bad weather, lightning balls, lights, angry animals.. exclusion zone - CY ? > The Seers of _ arrive in Rhyl
- CY ? > The Ferns of Rhyl Vanish/Hydrae retreats to grotto
- CY ? > South Edgelands renewal
- CY ? > Dream of a dead god, awakened
- CY ? > Book of dead god
- CY ? > Father Tree (‘Grandhal’) grows in grotto, help by Hydra irony
- CY ? > Hydra speaks to father tree, Red Ferns seen again!
- CY ? > Faerie Smallfolk of the Steel Realms appear again in edgelands
- CY ? > Concord of management of resources
- CY ? > Umbakians arrive – Ablocris estate
- CY ? > Faerie antagonism first, anger war speakers
- CY ? > Umbakian interference
- CY ? > Dead Gods book found by hag
- CY ? > Priestess diary events
- CY ? > Smallfolk bring the Vexation
- CY ? > Rundleman war
- CY ? > Era of avoidance – Scouting a couple times
- CY ? > Local steadings odd lights, sounds, and mists
- CY ? > Survey 1
- CY ? > The Vanishing start
- CY ? > Survey 2
- CY ? > Logging camp vanishing accelerate
- CY ? > Heavy war band sent by Umbakians
- CY ? > Pcs sent?