Tag: srlm
Urane River (Rhyl)
Posted on December 19, 2025 in Steel-Realms
The Urane River is one of the many tributary Rivers of the Great Forest of Rhyl. It flows past the mysterious area of Oreshalk deep within the forest, where a couple of small creeks fed into it as it traveled south.
The river was only a stream at one point, before The Autumn Wall was created to move the cold ice and water from the Lich Lord‘s magic that assault it constantly.
Some of the History of the Urane River is part of the History of Oreshalk.
Rivers of the Great Forest of Rhyl
Posted on December 19, 2025
The Rivers of the Great Forest of Rhyl are many. Due to the constant dumping of fog, mist and rain pulled from the cold magic of the Lich Lords directed at The Autumn Wall to the forest, there are many tributary rivers that eventually dump into Lake Caolite or The Beyne River.
Oreshalk (home of the Fate Weavers; Rhyl)
Posted on December 19, 2025 in Steel-Realms
Oreshalk (‘or-eh-shalk’) is an area in the Great Forest of Rhyl. It is a forested raised plain that drops to the south, with the tributary Urane River running on its western border. It runs past the southern end of a run of hills known as the Chalktop Hills; These run north-south to a tall butte on a ridge line about 650′ at their peak. Hollow Stump Butte sits at the north end of the ridge rises to 850′ – named because it looks like a giant stump. Way markers with clear warnings stand on the edge of the approximately 9+ square miles of territory. The Oreshalk Road comes in from the SE to a small clearing with the Double Vision Inn clearly visible – advertised as a place for visitors seeking the Fate Weavers of Oreshalk. The only settlement in the area is the Double Vision Inn.
Oreshalk Road
This is a spur road the ends in the Double Vision Inn for those seeking the Fate Weavers of Oreshalk.
Chronicle/Facts of the 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.
Pervasive Knowledge / Very Easy Difficulty
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 larger area became uncomfortable to visit as time passed before the Fate Weavers of Oreshalk came, and the atmosphere of the place was oppressive to normal folk and domesticated animals as well. Echoes of what folk believed the area had endured were reported by all those traveling nearby and who tried to move the broken stones of the dungeon under the butte or settle in the area. Any seeking to settle the ruins of the butte (Orrish, Magi, a few merchants, would-be knights or nobles-in-waiting tried) were seemingly corrupted by its dark history of violence and became violent, striking out at nearby lands and eventually defeated in combat.
Common Knowledge / Easy Difficulty
For those native to or long-dwelling in the region, ALL Common Knowledge may be Pervasive.
By CY 8000, the area was regarded as a wound that cannot be healed, and it was abandoned. Then came the Fate Weavers. Oreshalk has been home to the Fate Weavers of Oreshalk for a thousand years. They designated the area of the Double Vision Inn as a safe place to come and seek for them, the inn and surrounding buildings grew up over time since about CY 8060.
Weaver’s First Claim ~ CY 8035 The Fate Weavers first were known in the area in CY 8035. When game started to return to the area, hunters followed. They appeared as apparitions, a ghostly presence. Seven tall, slim women with brown skin and yellow metallic eyes – and alien countenances by all accounts. They define the places to place way stones, they claim the plain of Oreshalk as theirs, and claim to all to have control over the butte and the surrounding lands.
Hollow Stump Butte
There have been several general attempts to attack the Fate Weavers and secure this as a base of operations to control the entire area and more beyond.
- Attacked by Orrish in CY 8287.
- Attacked by adventurers in CY 8310.
- Attacked by mercenaries (hired by Merchant Cities) in CY 8369. A band of close to a hundred was hired.
- Attacked by adventurers in CY 8671.
Uncommon Knowledge / Average Difficulty
Hollow Stump Butte
CY 1001 It was a fortress of followers of the Dragon of Rhyl, and sieged as part of efforts to kill the dragon in CY 1001.
Orrish Base ~ CY 7290 – 7329: It sat abandoned for many generations, until the Orrish occupied it and used it as a raiding base. Its many dungeons and passages were rediscovered in the ensuing siege. The Orrish had extended them, but the lost chambers and corridors became a launch point for Orrish raids and its power was broken in CY 7329 after decades of raids. Deep in the heart of the complex was found an altar to Gloombringer, and mysterious carvings of unknown origins. With the destruction of the altar, the spirits and nightmares returned. The passages were sealed.
Haunted: Long was it said to be cursed after the Dragon of Rhyl was laid low, inhabited by spirits of those that died there in the cataclysm. As a highly defensible place, which looked out far over the Forest of Rhyl in all directions, it was fought over by a few local lords in the era of The Kingdoms of Rhylan. It became a symbol of division, and resentment. When the Kingdoms were unified, it was decreed that no one would have a claim upon it.
Magus’s Lair > CY 7599 – 7634 The butte was once again occupied in CY 7599 by the enigmatic wizard known as The Memory Mauler. He was somehow able to suppress the haunting spirits. For several years, his summoned creatures and minions collected tribute in all the civilized lands around it. Several attempts were made to dislodge and dissuade the magus, but to no avail. Finally, Ducal Guards along with mercenaries and a band of adventurers laid siege to it, killing the small army that had occupied it and their leader, the magus. The site was evacuated swiftly as nightmares spread throughout the ranks of the besiegers after the magus was killed.
Scarce Knowledge / Hard Difficulty
There was once Frost-Melded areas from the Dragon of Rhyl in the area (mostly on the butte and hills), but by CY 4000 the last had faded.
Rare Knowledge / Very Hard Difficulty
Hollow Stump Butte
Ancient Tower: The top of Hollow Stump Butte was originally crowned with a taller summit. There are rumors of a tower that was carved into it long ago. Whoever the inhabitants were, perhaps Celestine followers, perhaps faerie, or even Druunad, when the Dragon of Rhyl originally conquered the area (before the time of the Blood of Saemon), the tower was brought down by it, making it the butte it is now.
Pipes of the Kur-Authba
Posted on December 17, 2025 in Steel-Realms
The Pipes of the Kur-Authba are a set of large magical pipes known to be sacred to the Tribesfolk in The Wyldes of the Northern Heartlands. These are played to imbue some of their warriors with supernatural power when fell times fall upon the region.
Chronicle/Facts of the Item
Item Powers (common and Attuned) can be found under Common Knowledge tab.
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.
Pervasive Knowledge / Very Easy Difficulty
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 Pipes of the Kur-Authba are a set of large magical pipes known to be sacred to the Tribesfolk in The Wyldes of the Northern Heartlands. These are played to imbue some of their warriors with supernatural power when fell times fall upon the region.
This is the common understanding of the items and their reputed powers.
Common Knowledge / Easy Difficulty
For those native to or long-dwelling in the region, ALL Common Knowledge may be Pervasive.
Playing the pipes requires a single massive breath to be taken and expelled while doing it. To this is added the Essence life force of the player, willingly given to awake the dead giant’s enmity. In exchange for the life force, the player of the pipes would be able to give name to the life of the hag they sought. That hag would know that life had been given for life and that theirs was soon to end. Kur-Authba’s spirit would guide the hunter to them eventually. This was meant to instill fear and dread in the evil creature.
Item Purpose:
Lesser Attunement (1 Essence total )
i20™ Item Details
Sacrifice of 10 Essence; The effect triggers three things.
- Commune with Nature > Locates the target
- Locate Person > Leads the hunter
- Augury > Defines the best moment to strike
iCore™ Item Details
Estimated Value: ? (Silver Crowns)
Item Source: i20™ OR iCore™ #YYYY
Destroying the Item: As an item with inherent mystic nature, it is deeply bound to The Pattern – mere mundane efforts cannot destroy it. It must be melted, disintegrated, or shattered – not merely made Useless.
Uncommon Knowledge / Average Difficulty
The Pipes of the Kur-Authba are a set of giant’s bones carved into pipes and played only by those willing to awaken the hatred of the giant Kur-Authba. The giant Kur-Authba was one of the Giants/Colossi of the Steel Realms who served as a guardian and guide of his people in the retreat to the The Sky Stair Peaks and eventually to founding their community of Skyhollow (giant-home) in the north.
Scarce Knowledge / Hard Difficulty
Coming through the Giants Steps hills in CY 4055, a hag (part of the Plague of Hags) stole a giant baby! Kur-Authba hunted the bold hag down and killed her, though she poisoned him. He knew he might survive if only he lay and let the poison takes its course over a week.
Instead, he chose to save the rescued baby and return it to his kin. His increased heart rate and activity brought about his demise in the end. Initially one of the Dryads of the Wyld discovered his wheezing near-dead form. She said she could use the children of the wind to change his wheezing to a pleasant whistling and draw help, but that she was afraid of the tribesfolk. He was found by tribesfolk of The Wyldes as he lay dying, drawn by his death-whistling. With his last breath granted by the children of the wind, he told his tale. The tribesfolk were moved, and ensured the baby was returned to his kin. The giants told the tribesfolk that his bones held deep enmity for the hags that sometimes plagued them, and what to do with the bones to ensure that there would always be a guardian against the worst fo their kind.
Rare Knowledge / Very Hard Difficulty
Wylden Hag Hunters use bone needles made from left over splinters of giant bones from the sacred grove where the Pipes of the Kur-Authba are stored to push pieces of cold iron under the skin while breathing the fumes of burning Witchwood.The Dryad watched all of this from afar, and given the tribesfolk’s actions with the giants, came forward and offered to assist the tribesfolk, and that she and her daughters would forever keep them safe and bring them forth when needed – for her folk were especially viciously preyed upon by the hags. The agreement was struck.
Rhylian Gap/Autumn’s End (assembly for the Lich Lord’s armies)
Posted on December 15, 2025 in Steel-Realms
Rhylian Gap/Autumn’s End is the name given to the lands on the north/east side of The Autumn Wall. It was once called the The Rhylian Gap, and was noted as the entry point into _. It is the place the armies of the Lich Lords march through and make preparations in before storming the fortifications along The Autumn Wall.
Where the Lich Lords themselves control the power of the Frostfang directly on the front lines at North Gate Garrison, the disembodied Hand of Blood Eye grasps for targets that fall on their side. Darting out of the icy mists, it reconstitutes the Frost Shroud on their minions, and attempts to stop those few making a rare sortie on the north side of The Autumn Walll against their undead minions.
Corporeal Ranks of the Winter Host
Skeletons: Stripped of flesh, their bones are their weapons when weapons are not in their hands. They are the least of the minions, but most plentiful. Their Winter Host Armaments are clumsily grasped by them, some even wired or pinned through their remains to ensure their use. The Frost Shroud covers their bones, providing only a minor layer of reinforcement. Skeletons strike with their knife-like fingers, or are armed with stone or obsidian daggers or spears and may carry leather shields – made from the hides of their fallen enemies.
Zombies: The corrupted flesh still clings, and a slavering hunger to feed upon the flesh of the living in order to preserve their own drives them. Their Winter Host Armaments are grasped by them, some armor even wired or pinned through their remains to ensure their use. The Frost Shroud covers them, providing a major layer of reinforcement over every surface. Zombies pummel with their club-like fists, or are armed with stone or obsidian daggers or spears.
Cold Brutes: Skeletons and Zombies are sometimes seen with “Cold Brutes” of their kind – twice the bone and viscera animated together to make a large, ponderous version of them. Armed with Bone Burrow spears made of animated material that burrow into flesh, or Ice Fang weapons normally only wielded by the Ghouls or Wights.
Ghouls: Consumers of flesh for sustenance, capable of great physical feats from the strength gained from it, they prowl for victims and seek to regain the flush and healthy countenance only the living can possess. They are used as shock troops and in the place of beasts of burden. Their rapid movements and shifting physical form cause the Frost Shroud to provide only a minor reinforcement to their bodies. Ghouls typically use improvised weapons or particularly strong one may be armed with Bone Burrow or Ice Fang weapons.
Wights: Once great warriors, their bodies preserved by their hatred and desire for revenge upon all the living and the civilization they still enjoy, that they once built. Their eyes burn with malice and intelligence, their skills undiminished in undeath. These undead focus their rage on the living, but if there are none within reach, they will destroy others of their nature to slake their thirst for vengeance. More than any other creature does the deliberate and tactical Wight benefit from the Frost Shroud, feeding its cold nature with their cold calculating malevolence to produce a covering fog around them. Wights are typically armed with the armaments they were buried with, or Ice Fang weapons.
Vampires: Consumers of blood for sustenance, their normally independent wills that pursue power over the living are bent to physical killing to make more corpses for the murderous horde. Their will and intelligence are used on the battlefield to coordinate their host and as special agents. The Frost Shroud provides only the most minimal of benefits to these dynamic roamers of the battlefield. Vampires are typically armed with the armaments they had when they passed into undeath.
Tactics of the Winter Host on The Autumn Wall
Before an assault, they ensure all the ghouls and vampires are fed. There is a coordinated effort by vampires and wights to organize supplies beforehand. They use scavenged and saved weapons and gear as they can. Sleds, manlets, ropes, ladders, and harnesses for pulling and dragging. The assault is always preceded by the Frostfang, the sorcerous frozen wind that brings cold death and a constant cover of mist and fog, rolling over the landscape, obscuring their troop movements.
Where the Frostfang meets The Autumn Wall is a strange place. Tendrils of mist that seem like they are probing the wall itself are dissipated by the warmth of the wall. A hiss of steam and ice getting turned to water and running down the wall – front and back – is ever present at the top of the wall, mingled in with the screams of battle. Fire and light cover the wall, driving back the cold. Bodies fall, water drains into channels behind the wall, filled with rivulets of blood. Soldiers reinforcing the fallen, priests and druids ensuring wounded and dead get taken off the line and protected from rising to attack their friends. Bodies are flung from the battlements by the undead, back down their side of the wall, for their gear and to be swiftly made into animations that can be used to attack those they once stood side by side with.
The icy, ghostly hand of Blood Eye is 20′ long and 10′ high; It can sweep multiple targets it moves through all targets along a 30′ movement path… causing those affected damage and a slowing of their movement. It can only manifest on the Lich Lord’s side of The Autumn Wall. If one looks closely, it has an eye on the palm that will flick open and stare back at anyone who tries to gain a good look at it.
i20™ Effect Details
Each 3-5 rounds (maximum 3/Short Rest in any given area); Attack +9, 2 types of damage:
Damage = d10/5 cold & d10/5 necrotic; Constitution DC 18 save or -5’ movement for encounter. For any the eye stares at, they must make a DC 18 Sanity check or will flee in terror for 10 rounds.
iCore™ Effect Details
Pages on the web site lean towards i20™ text flavor, discrepancies will be noted in the iCore™ tab.