TO: Flasfur Wreltor with Blackbirds and the gobkons Chofs Chupmolea badged al-Chems and Bolnis Abica nox Qawaha via Artok at the Keep
Aboard the ship you’ll find a vial of the corruption I discovered. Additionally this letter’s addendum includes a report of testing as well as a sketch-print of a mechanical hand discovered on this long journey. When I return is unknown. This journey shall be long and ideally fruitful. It is also violent and absurd. Tsavancoast is a land of extreme wealth and extreme poverty, with many artificers, tinkers and crafters mostly gobkon with a few goliaths, plus you wouldn’t believe if but I think there’s a human using cattle to turn wheels like we might a mill. I saw a monkey pushing bellows.
It’s a large city. Where Sheljar is one with the land and full of righteousness Tsavancoast is bright even at night, garish. There’s gambling where we stay. I win regularly.
Sorry. Too long. I get distracted.
You are probably wondering what’s happened with the corruption. It’s a much bigger problem than we or Le Remoden Eisha or the Dragon Council thought. There’s also a local leader in Tsavancoast who is working to spread the corruption while supposedly being in Le Remoden Eisha.
I found that out after repelling an army of walking trees and this weird elf-insect hybrid creatures. Yes, others helped, including some great dwarven sappers who brought down a bridge, scouts that helped save outlying communities, a lot of wizards. It was a staged battle. Midqh helped quite a bit. I learned how to make even bigger fire and booms through its apparatuses.
Anyway, after that massive series of battles — yes, we won, that’s how you’re getting this letter — we chatted with the leaders of the wizard and dragon groups, plus a gent named Ryghast. Don’t ask me the order of who talked to who and when it happened. We were in a casino! I won a few games, many games.
Eventually we chatted. But chatting with Ryghast was difficult. He took me into a magical silence to spill secrets. I tried and tried and tried to break his spells with my own systems. A wizard of his power is well beyond my teknical abilities.
BUT, in his confidence he told me of his double-crossing ways. I immediately told Amos, Rolf, Crag and Nandi, who passed the information around.
Probably created a big enemy. Hopefully he didn’t follow the Sadijh back to the keep. If he did please flee. Artok cannot defend you on his own.
Anyhow, we’re back off to the wilds. The source of the corruption that created that army of trees is our goal. I don’t know when I’ll see you again. I have ideas about what we can do with this hand and I’ve started to work on armored carts with Rolf. There’s also a clockwork amulet that can give one a second chance. My latest invention is to burn a bit of corruption to power our items.
See you again under the Dragon Moon.
Xabal Gaitee Quarter-Flagged Optigraph Balaneer nox Free Tink and non-Commissioned Officer of the Sadijh (on leave in absence)
This recap of the Defense of Tsavancoast is written in first person by Xabal, a gnome artificer, to their hirelings at Xabal’s Workshop set in the Age of Myths campaign.
Traveling the harsh lands of the Ferments? Find everything you need at WEST THUNDERMOON TRADING POST!!! Settled in the foothills of the Thundermoon Mountains a half a day’s ride west of Ourten, WEST THUNDERMOON TRADING POST is the go to location to find all of your hunting and travelling needs.
Run by the Maltunyn family for generations, they’re knowledge of the local terrain, as well as their selection of only the finest gear will ensure your travels will be safe and comfortable. Or you could pick up some of the finest furs and rations provided by master hunter Velthuria Maltunyn, and her daughter Keesrah. If you need a quick repair, or even an herbal remedy or two, Cay Maltunyn has you covered.
With the experience of generations, and a deep love of the land and air, the WEST THUNDERMOON TRADING POST is a must for any serious travelers of the Thundermoon Mountains. Visit the WEST THUNDERMOON TRADING POST today!!!
You can find that brochure throughout the villages and homesteads of the Thundermoon Mountains in The Ferments.
Keesrah Maltunyn, a human guide and drakewarden ranger with a raven named Crow, is the player character who calls the trading post home.
The West Thundermoon Trading Post is about two days south by southeast from Orten. The post is on the southerly road towards a desert region. That road runs roughly parallel to the Thundermoon River. In the hills and mountains are a few fishing and hunting families.
Ensuring environmental oddities of The Ferments are included.
Zonal word map of the Trading Post
Guarded entry
A wooden wall surrounds the Trading Post. The entry is where all merchants and visitors arrive. There are two large doors, which are barred at night. A guard stand rises to the left of the doors, as one exits. It can hold one medium creature and grants them half cover. A ladder provides access.
Elemental affinity: None.
Hazards: Breaking down the closed door requires a DC: 15 Strength check.
The guarded entry connects to the lava forge, the merchant stalls and the loafing sheds.
Lava Forge
A small semi-open air forge where Cay works as a sometime smith. The heat and bellows are from an active fissure where magma surges underneath the trading post. Malk, the goblin captain, now helps out. Malk and Borkin also store their own clutter there, including the smog-buggy.
Elemental affinity: Earth, fire, lava
Hazards: Those knocked prone who fail their DC by five or more take 1d8 fire damage from the forge. Forced movement can result in the tools of the trade being knocked all over, turning the Lava Forge into difficult terrain. Oh, and beware of a lava flare — who knows when that will happen.
Allies: Cay, Malk and Borkin may be present
Occupancy: Four medium creatures.
The lava forge connects to the guarded entry, to the trading stalls and the hunting gate.
Trading stalls
One large and two smaller open stalls sit in the large enclosed central space of the post. Various homesteads and outsiders come through with their wares on a seasonal basis. There’s a central fire pit with some large stones and simple benches frequently with a stew pot and hot beverages available.
Elemental affinity: Fire, air
Hazards: The cook pit can become a fire hazard, doing 1d8 damage to those who fall into it and setting their flammable gear on fire. It provides 10′ of bright light and 10′ of dim light at night.
Allies: Neighbors may be present depending on the season. They will almost always limit their help to rallying the Maltunyns.
Occupancy: 3 in the large stall, 2 in each small stall and room for 12 more medium creatures.
The trading stalls connect to every other zone except the hunting gate.
Loafing sheds
Like everyone in the Six Kingdoms the Maltunyns have space for beloved animals. These sheds are designed for equines, canines as well as the rare bovine or more exotic companions. There are small cabinets for feed and tack.
Elemental affinity: Cold, air
Hazards: When occupied the animals could be feisty.
Allies: None typically
Occupancy: 7 medium creatures.
The loafing shed connects to the guarded entry, the trading stalls and the Maltunyn home.
Hunting gate
Known for the gate that Caile leaves open it’s actually the place where Cay raises herbs. There’s also the gate to the hills where Keesrah and Velthuria hunt. It’s also a lower land, near the river.
Elemental affinity: Water, plants
Hazards: During heavy rains the mud creates difficult terrain. A rapid freeze after rains can lead to icy conditions.
Allies:
Occupancy:
Thundermoon River bridge
A few weeks ago there was a small wooden bridge over the river. Then the mephit mudslide took it out. Now a ford those that cross must be wary of mud mephits who settled in the area after the slide. Heavy rains may bring them back and upriver there is a threat that the open lava could change the river’s path.
Elemental affinity: Mud, water, maybe lava
Hazards: During floods the ford is impassable terrain without aids — ropes, other people or animal companions. Mud mephits may strike at random, the little chaos beasties they are.
Allies: One of the Maltunyn animal companions are frequently in the area.
Occupancy: This is a large space without a limit as it connects to the hills and mountains.
Thundermoon River bridge connects to the hunting gate.
Maltunyn home
A two-story wooden building, the ground floor of the home is mostly accessible to the general public. The main room is a mix of general store with goods on consignment, smithed tools, dried or smoked meats and a few tables with chairs for visitors. This room can be entered from either the hunting gate through a small side door or the main entry connecting to the trading stalls. An outer stair to the second floor reaches the roof of the loafing sheds and a narrow platform along the wall running to the guard stand. There’s a small open kitchen/stove with a root cellar stretching under the homestead wall near the river.
The second floor is two bedrooms and a small aviary.
Elemental affinity: Smoke
Hazards: Bar fights are rare, mostly because Cay is a smith and Velthuria is a scout.
Allies: If the trading post has visitors one of the family or goblins is always present.
Velthuria is Keesrah’s mother. A human scout with a small dog, she is the primary hunter and runs the operations such as rentals of the three stalls for merchants.
Cay is Keesrah’s father. A human smith with a miniature pony, he uses a magma powered forge, Cay can craft anything with metals. He also grows herbs.
Caile is Keesrah’s brother, a human with a small dog. Smitten with one of the Drudzhar Caile sometimes wanders off on his own. Ally, but adversary sometimes.
Malk is a goblin captain and was saved in session one. A colonialist they are searching for resources for the Queen. They may become an adversary.
Borkin is a goblin cart driver. They are less colonial and more willing to help the Maltunyns, especially in defense and general labor. Malk is still their boss.
Henkel family
River fishers in the ponds and streams of the low Thundermoons the Henkel family are halflings with river dogs. They are indebted to Keesrah after she rescued Taier one of their younger teens.
Adversaries
Clan Drudzhar
A group of goliaths who live higher in the Thundermoon Mountains. Clan Drudzhar and the Maltunyn’s have been arguing, and sometimes openly fighting, over hunting territory in the mountains for years. One of their children is in love with Caile.
Their home is high in the scrub mountains and was recently near the mud mephit floods. They and the Maltunyns use different styles of traps and will frequently destroy each other’s snares. Birds of prey are their most common companions.
Elements of mud and lava
Mud mephits, magmin and lava elementals roam the Thundermoons. These adversaries are manifestations of The Ferments, a land that refuses to be tamed.
Children of Chorl
Punch chickens raided a market stall, but quick action by Keesrah and her acquaintance Ellis ended the theft and the punch chickens. The two later learned that the Children of Chorl raided Ourten too. These human-animal hybrids seem to be hiding in the hills or plateau near Pirna Farms, now Ellis Mill.
Kon colonialists
While saving the lives of Malk and Borkin pushed off the investigation by the Queen’s goblins into how the resources of The Ferments could replace the tar trees of their homeland. That colonial raid and investigation may expand.
Downtime and Quests
Keesrah is researching how to create Serpent Scale Mail armor. She’s learned that the elemental drakes do not leave behind enough resources. The dragonkin raiding Spinebloom Farms do.
Previously some work was done to reinforce the guarded entry which connects to the road Outsiders arrive along.
In session three the focus was on Keesrah. A duet session handled on Discord due to let turnout, session three was a fine example of the intent behind The Ferments campaign — always find a way to play D&D.
Session four was held at Logan Brewing in Burien, as is typical. Keesrah and Guarese attended.
What did the other characters do? We’ll use downtime to talk about the use of their homesteads as bastions, Xanathar’s downtime actions and/or improving their defenses for Militia Actions. And, due to player feedback we’re including traps in Militia Actions to embrace the case where a homestead may be solo or light on membership.
Keesrah heads into the scrub mountains for food to celebrate the visit of the liquor-creating family of halflings from downway. Her mom is on the trip.
During this trip in horrific weather a mudslide forces a change in path, and eventually she is attacked by mud mephits. It’s a fierce encounter on the edge of failure. But together the two managed to hold off the mephits.
Later in the trip home they notice a fox, Rennard. Using spellcraft, Keesrah learns that fox is the companion to Taier Henkel. Tier is missing, and presumed dead.
Keesrah and her mother, Velthuria, need to cross the mudflow to return home. Using some craft, luck and Crow the Raven the two managed to safely cross the mud mephit slide. Keesrah is punched by a mud mephit swimming through the flow.
After the flow and storm subsides Keesrah and Caile (the brother) head into the hills to talk to the Henkels and then the Drudzhars. One of these conversations goes much better than the other.
As a sign of fellowship, and because of Caile, Taier’s memorial is to be held at the Trading Post — there’s also easy access to the liquors from the visiting family.
The celebration goes well, except for the fight between Caile and Keesrah.
Learned clues
Keesrah Maltunyn learned that the Henkel halflings get along with Clan Drudzhar.
Caile is friendly with both the Henkel halflings and Drudzhar.
Taier Henkel washed away in the mephit mudslide.
Keesrah rescued Taier’s fox Rennard.
Taier’s body was encased in mud by chwingas claiming he gave them a piece of his soul.
Chwingas released Taier when Guarase Spinebloom said he’d find them another bit of soul — maybe his.
Ken raiders with an ambush drake made their presence known. One donated its soul.
Guarase earned a Charm of Heroism granted by the semi–domesticated fey chwinga that now live in the Spinebloom’s rice marsh.
Session four
This was the first session featuring the Spinebloom homestead. It is a series of mostly underground dome structures in a desert environment. Many Spineblooms have some druidic magic and they use this and their traditional growing methods to have the least influence on the environment as possible.
The same river that goes past the Maltunyn’s flows to the Spineblooms. Since The Ferments are infested with extreme elemental influences the desert and scrub mountains are close than is practical in a typical world.
Keesrah and Caile travel along that river to try to find Taier’s remains. That journey includes meeting Guarase who helps them search. There is a mud casing hidden in the rice marsh the Spineblooms farm.
Unfortunately there are also chwingas, little elemental sprites whose morality is not the same as humanity. These chwingas rescued Taier, but kept him cased as a way to protect him during the mephit mudslide.
In order to get Taier free the chwingas demand another soul. Somewhat confused, Guarase agrees. Then the goliath figures out that they mean his soul.
During this exchange the non-chwingas notice two advancing elves and an ambush drake. Keesrah sends Caile and Taier home.
Guarase and Keesrah fend off the elves, while the drake and those elves destroy a third of the rice marsh including many chwingas. When one of the elves is dropped unconscious in the marsh a chwinga captures its soul.
The elves also damage a Spinebloom home.
Keesrah and Guarase learn of more threats to The Ferments, more friends that could be made and the challenges to come in a land that threatens their livelihood.
The second session of The Ferments campaign, an East March style took place again at West Thundermoon Trading Post.
Again, the session started with rolling on the random encounter chart. Only one of the encounters happened, as there was a lot of great roleplay between the characters.
That encounter was with “Chickens with arms and fists” also referred to as “punch chickens.” These larger-than-a-turkey chickens have humanoid arms coming out of their wing joints and are semi intelligent.
Session two started with a brief recap of the last session and a reminder of the nature of the East March campaign — problems come to you.
Then Keesrah spoke to her brother, Caile, about the situation with the open door up to the game trails. That conversation leads to the discovery that the brother is dating one of the goliaths in the rival clan up in the hills. Keesrah leans on the young love bird to keep the doors and gates closed as the brother mocks Keesrah for the fight with the fire snakes.
Ellis, a guest (another PC) enters the compound seeking materials for their homestead. He’s taken over an abandoned plateau homestead nearby. Those religious zealots left the region nearly 30 years ago during the time of the born generation. With decades of wear on the home, mill and other equipment Ellis will have to work hard to reopen the spring-fed mill and granary.
Needing smithed goods, Ellis chats with Keesrah’s father, Cay, and the goblin Malk. During those conversations Keesarh and Ellis learn that Malk is not merely a refugee, but has strong goals to learn how to take the magma and steam power from The Ferments to the Queen.
This learning is specifically called out in the quick recap as a note for all players. As was the brother's love interest.
One piece of advice I try to follow is to remind players of the clues their characters learn. Our memories of a game are more fallible than our characters' memories of their lives.
Learned clues
Malk (goblin leader) is a taker. They want to take whatever they can from The Ferments that helps the Queen.
Keesrah’s brother has a lover up with the Goliath Clan Drudzhar.
Ellis homestead was previously abandoned by religious zealots during the Born Generation when magic returned.
Someone is creating animal hybrids.
Those first three clues are from the conversations between the characters and the named NPCs.
The fourth clue was an interjection because I could tell the table needed some action, plus there were two random encounters rolled and we hadn’t gotten to either.
Using the open door to the game trail from session one, and the obvious wealth of the trading post as inspiration the punch chickens were the easier of the two random rolls to integrate.
Punch chickens
Three punch chickens are discovered by Ellis’ lynx, Lenny. The lynx flushes them out of one of the merchant booths. Those armed chickens are carrying some goods away, sprinting towards the open door.
What are punch chickens?
Statistically they are axe beaks (Black Flag page 371) that punch rather than poke. Their special ability of Evasion turns out to be too significant for 2.5 combatants.
Deadly encounter
This is a deadly encounter with two characters and one combatant animal companion. The action economy combined with consistent dodging means both characters are dropped unconscious. The final roll comes down to Ellis’ lynx versus a wounded punch chicken. The lynx lands the fatal blow.
Keesrah did bar the door preventing a simple escape, so even if they had completely failed there was a narrative success available via the peasants and non-heroic NPCs.
Keesrah’s mother, Velthuria, helps the group heal.
During the recovery the group used some social checks to learn that the punch chickens likely originate from a group that myths call the Children of Chorl (an evil transmuter who tried to create various hybrid creatures).
Inkling Dragons are thought to be related to pseudodragons, but where the pseudodragon is a wilderness lover the inkling dragon is generally an urban drake that enjoys being surrounded by books, scrolls and pamphlets.
Generally the size of a large rat or small cat inkling dragons can be mistaken for an immature jaculus drake. As all dragonkin hoard something, an inkling dragon is consumed with the pursuit of knowledge and writing, similar to paper drakes.
An inkling dragon without a companion can be found in libraries, universities, bardic colleges and wherever records are kept. Some are creatives writing fiction and song. Others are historians, tracking the world through the written word. At least one inkling dragon is known to only write in mathematics. This inkling dragon, Aymon, is a friend of transmuters, tax collectors and merchants often working as a clerk or calculator.
The Inkling Dragon was created as part of a limited commission in the upcoming book Dragons of the Dwindling by Dragons of Wales (Andy Frazer). Follow Dragons of Wales on Instagram, Threads and Mastodon. Support Dragons of Wales on Patreon.
Inkling Dragon companions
Frequently inkling dragons and writers bond over their love of the written word. Sought after by many wizards and writers, an inkling dragon chooses their companion as much as their companion chooses them — the tiny dragon has to find the work engaging and relevant to their own writing.
Art by Dragons of Wales in the forthcoming book Dragons of the Dwindling
Inkling Dragon stat block
Inkling Dragon (CR 1/4) Tiny Dragon
Armor Class 14 (natural armor, small size) Hit Points 8 Speed 10 ft., fly 30 ft. Perception 11 Stealth 12 Resistant none | charmed Senses darkvision 30 ft., keensense 10 ft. Languages Common and four other languages (or cultures)
STR
DEX
CON
INT
WIS
CHA
-3
+2
-1
+4
+1
+1
Heightened Senses. The inkling dragon’s Perception is 20 when perceiving by sight. Ability checks for Perception using sight use Intelligence.
Magic Resistance. The inkling dragon has advantage on saves against spells and other magical effects.
Limited Telepathy. The inkling dragon can magically communicate simple ideas, emotions, and images telepathically with any creature within 30 feet of it that can understand a language it knows.
Copying a Spell into the Book. When an inkling dragon or its companion finds an Arcane spell of 1st circle* or higher, the inkling dragon can add it to a spellbook if it is of a spell circle the companion can prepare and if they can make time to decipher and copy it. For each circle of the spell, the process takes 1 hour with no gp costs. Once the inkling dragon spends this time, the companions can prepare the spell just like their other Arcane spells. Copying a spell from a scroll into a spellbook doesn’t consume or destroy the scroll. Non-magical writing is written four times as fast when compared to humans. The inkling dragon produces ink from its tail as long as it isn’t at level two exhaustion or higher. * Black Flag uses circle as D&D uses spell level.
Ritualist. An inkling dragon with its own book can be a Ritualist, per the Black Flag Talent. The spell source is Arcane. Intelligence is their spellcasting ability. The inkling dragon knows one 1st circle ritual (typically Identify). If the inkling dragon is a companion to a spellcaster it can learn rituals at the same circle and source as their spellcasting companion.
1st circle Arcane rituals
Alarm
Create Familiar (these can only be common beasts)
Identify
Illusory Script
Unseen Servant
ACTIONS
Sting. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 4 (1d4 + 2) piercing damage and the target must succeed on a DC 11 DEX save or be poisoned for 10 minutes. If the creature fails the save by 5 or more, it is stained by ink per Ink Stain below. This staining does not count against the number of uses per day.
Ink Stain (1/short rest). On a successful sting the inkling dragon can mystic mark (Ranger) one creature. While a creature is marked (including for the attack that triggered the mark), the inkling dragon and allies deal an extra 1d4 damage to it (of the same damage type as the weapon) each time you successfully hit it with a weapon attack. A marked creature can use an Action to remove the Ink Stain. An inkling dragon that is a familiar or companion to a character may use this ability proficiency bonus (of that character) times per day rather than once per short rest.
The East marched on West Thundermoon Trading Post.
Wrapping up a typical day, Keesrah noticed a thick, acrid cloud coming from the east. At the same time a not-unusual goliath walked up the packed dirt road from the south.
The goliath, Guarase Spinebloom, reached the gates of the wooden palisade enclosure a few minutes before the smog buggy. Keesrah starts closing the doors.
The smog buggy encounter was one of three random encounters rolled by the three players taking part in today's session.
In a thick accent, the boss of the smog buggy, a goblin with driver and second passenger, demands/requests entry to escape “fire snakes.”
Keesrah messages her mother. This takes nearly a minute because it is the spell. She opens the gate and lets the rancid smoke engulfed clackety buggy into the trading post.
Mere feet behind them are fire snakes.
This was not a euphemism. They are snakes, made of fire.
Fire snakes were also rolled on the random encounter chart.
The fight is swift with another Trading Post visitor, a halfling with six tiny terrier companions, Luke with a silent and non-appearing q in his name. Luke is a cleric and joins in the defense. He was picking up farm implements from Keesrah’s father, a smith whose forge burns over an open lava seam.
Luke, Keesrah and Guarase try to defend these goblins. They have difficulty conversing with the goblins. Though the goblins know common (Telsian as we’re using cultures not languages)the two dialects known aren’t similar between the Ferments-born and the Essians (goblin born).
A unique use of Create Water by Luke reduces the fire snake effectiveness for a round, while also limiting the spread of fire in the walls.
During the fight the fire snakes kill one of the goblin minions and damage everyone, as well as a bit of the palisade. It’s a win, but with a hefty loss.
A mistake the DM, me, made was having four fire snakes. Standard fire snakes have too many hit points for three 1st level characters, even with their allies.
As soon as I realized the error I dropped them to 13 or 14 HP. That meant the fight was very difficult, but not a campaign ender.
A morale roll means that the smog buggy driver will likely never leave the trading post again. Their best friend is gone, burnt. Malk, the goblin boss needs to repair their buggy, which is also crispy, and find a crew and find the resources to use as fuel. The goblins normally use tar trees, but outside of Essia those are extremely rare.
Malk and Keesrah’s father talk about the possibility of using lava to fuel the smog buggy.
After a bit of rest, and setting up a guard by Keesrah’s family the group tries to recover. They talk a bit.
Looking around the Post they notice the overflight of dozens of hunting birds. The Maltunyn family rivals up in the hills almost always bond with birds. At a heightened alert, the group of Luke, Guarase and Keesrah notice that one of the smaller doors out to the game trails is open. Keesrah’s younger brother is gone.
The overflight was the third random encounter rolled.
Key learnings (SlyFlourish would call these secrets).
Goblins are searching The Ferments for a resource that can fuel their smog-tek.
Fire snakes are now aggressive, rather than passive. They will chase outsiders in the area.
Keesrah’s brother snuck out at night. That raised an alert from the adversarial clan nearby.
Community helps community. No matter the challenge and the danger.
It is an experiment in using random encounters, defensible places, and a West Marches style to talk about community, control of knowledge and love of pets.
In our Age of Myths campaign the party acquired a keep. Though the party is many days travel by airship away from the keep, their former leader Artok (originally played by John) now runs the keep.
Each of us gets a Special Feature for what is now our group Bastion. At this time Artok has a Sanctuary. We’ll want to get him a Barracks and Armory soon, because we aren’t around to defend the Bastion very often.
Xabal Gaitee Quarter-Flagged Optigraph Balaneer nox Free Tink and non-Commissioned Officer of the Sadijh (on leave in absence), my goblin artillerist artificer, established a Workshop. He’s also interested in the Arcane Study, but first a workshop.
Xabal and Crag took over the two store rooms in the keep. Xabal’s is on the left.
Xabal took over the left most of the stores.
What I like about the concept of Bastions/Strongholds/etc is that it gives players the opportunity for some ‘lonely fun.’ With a chill weekend at home I spent time thinking about D&D, but not actually playing the game.
Using watabou’s Dwellings creator I found something as close as possible to the space on the DM’s map of the keep. Then I added a bit of lore around the minor change (there’s an aviary so it isn’t a pure rectangle).
And then I discovered the steps and main door should be on the right rather than left. That error will go down as a function of Xabal’s quite-distracted memory and the difficulty of communicating over long distances
One thing that Xabal trusted Artok to do was hire three artisans to help in the workshop. He hasn’t yet met them, but Flasfur and Chofs started working already.
A goliath with a flock of blackbirds that stay in the newly added aviary. He’s a cobbler and leather worker. The blackbirds help Flasfur with fine work required of those professions.
Nearly eight feet tall, Flasfur was the one said he wouldn’t join the workshop without a small improvement, the aviary for his small flock of blackbirds.
He’s from a small town in the hills between Mihrstone, Sheljar and Artok’s Keep.
A goblin who is insistent in studying the corruption. She’s a jeweler and glassblower.
Chofs recently travelled through the area scouting out a new source of gems not from her hometown. From Bel’an’faire in the south of Sheljar lands, she works with jewels and glass to create art and rarely implements of war.
She also does etching and some other things that border on chemistry or alchemy.
Where Chofs is a common goblin in their structured society Bolnis is a wanderer similar to Xabal. She’s potter and tinker who travelled through the land with simple coffee gear.
Bolnis doesn’t like tea, but has some with her. Most of her time is in the hills and coast between Sheljar and Mira, if people insist on discovering where she’s from it’s Ooshar. She considers her hometown a backwater.
There’s a chance that Bolnis invents fancy coffee gear, but right now it’s simple. Her passion is to discover new ways to use tek to create new foods, tisanes, poultices, and more.
Intelligence, Charisma
Goblin
Negative strength, constitution
Potter, tinker, coffee gear Insight
Lightweight travelling pants
Ooshar
Mug (club)
An espresso machine
Comfortable lifestyle, though paid at modest
Generous, meticulous, sensual
I’m already thinking about how Xabal will interact with these hirelings and what knives they give the DM. Chofs offers someone that could be corrupted through those who study it. Bolnis clearly has twice the income of the others. How is she getting that money? Flasfur’s blackbirds could distract him from running the shop.
The Ferments are a rough land of geysers, lava flows, fast glaciers, waterfalls, hot springs, tornadoes, earthquakes — the raw power of the world. From this land the best alcohols of the Six Kingdoms come. The peoples of the Ferments are dispersed, spread over the many miles with four main towns. They generally live in defensible homesteads interacting when they need goods or during festivals.
Campaign Premise
Our eventual heroes start out as the primary defender of a homestead. They know how to contact other homesteads for help when needed, but mostly they are on their own hoping to remain safe from a world where dragons came real, magic became powerful and kaiju returned.
Grand Conflicts
Elementals burst from the land, stronger than before and with a hungry intelligence that threatens the land. Outsiders fleeing the wars of Six Kingdoms come for safe harbor. Dragons and their Ken continue to search for more scholars.
Each homestead has a book, collection of scrolls or other devices that helps them control an element (earth, air, fire, water) or paraelemental (smoke, magma, dust, ice, steam, mud, etc). These start out with each PC knowing Elementalism, limited by their choice of element. Each was passed down since the time of Gallinor, before the time of dragons.
Factions
Every player will create either an ally or adversary family besides their own. They may also have a connection to one of the families (not all families share blood-ties) of other characters.
Adversaries
Allies
Rumors
This section will fill over time.
Kaiju roam as in the time of Gallinor — some even are ridden. Word is they come from the Kirtin-in-the-Sky and the Cliffs of Gallinor.
Facets
Exploring the zero-to-hero tropes, friendship with animals, and who gets to control knowledge.
Player options must be consistent within the ruleset (i.e. if you play a Mechanist all options should be from Tales of the Valiant for that character).
There is a campaign set up on DnD Beyond. Email me to get an invite.
Start at 1st level.
Use point buy or standard array for starting attributes. If you want something random, the redrick roller gives random point-buy-valid stats.
Each session will offer the opportunity for a short rest. Long rests are between sessions.
Practicum
Sessions are on Sundays from 1-4 when my main campaign isn’t being played. We’ll meet at Logan Brewing, usually. I’m willing to do duet play outside of that timeline as well.
Each character should be built in a session zero discussing their personality, homestead, allies/adversaries and key abilities.
Creating memorable scenes and adventures is easier when fantastic elements are included. Many of these fantastic elements can simply be things from the real world, but amplified or expanded. In this case we’ll walk through the concept of floating islands and make those even more mythical.
First off, yes, floating islands are real. In Lake Chippewa one is large enough it has to be pushed by motor boats so it doesn’t damage bridges.
A floating island that drifts about on a lake or sea is already pretty fantastic. How can we up the fantasy to make it more memorable in D&D when the players are getting together every few weeks?
This example is going to be for Sheljar, the bog-city once ruled by an intending-to-be-good necromancer, but could apply anywhere. Sheljar is a city of 100s of islands.
What if a few of those islands floated like the bog-island of Chippewa?
Rather than be moved by motorboat, they were moved by water elementals during the Age of Myths. The largest of these, Reylerel, at the time was the home of a power school of mages that integrated water, animals that live in and along water, and the peoples.
As the Age was crashing they attempted to flee the city. The school wanted to isolate itself from the riots, to hide the dolphins, elementals, beaver and ducks that worked together to help the Kin survive. Reylerel went adrift, into the Sea of Sheljar.
Now, thousands of years later the Free City of Sheljar is no longer ruled by the Necromancer. It is regrowing, discovering some of its influence from the Age of Myths. This bog-city isn’t a city of fog and depression, but a city of hope and humanity integrating gobkon teknology, love of animals and the lost magics.
The leadership knows this is possible. Myth said it happened before, and drifting towards them is the Floating Island of Reylerel. At sea it moves with the swells and storms. The towers and buildings are rundown. Someone is going to need to go to Reylerel and find a way to prevent it from crashing into the docks.
And that’s how you take a small trending topic on the internet and turn it into an adventure.
Which is a moon, not a big dragon. I don’t know why I called the biggest and slowest moon “The Dragon.” It was probably in honor of The Wheel of Time, one of my foundational fictions in the world. But the name never really came up in play.
The 21-year cycle did come up. That generational marker (key for many goliaths and the Crinth Confederation) marked a cycle from the Born Generation to the present era.
But, by expanding play in the world to a second DM The Dragon also finally became a point of clear fiction. It’s named that because during the Age of Myths that’s when the leading dragons on the Council retreated from society — Draakenmoten.
That’s about to come up in the campaign I’m playing within my own world.
Playing in the world I’ve invented has expanded the stories in ways I never expected. While I’ve included player concepts in world development in the past, including DM concepts in the world requires trust and grants wonderful opportunities for story-threads to be pulled into new places.
Other things added to my world through sharing the experience;
Evil fungal druids that dabble in necromancy
Dragon Council, a ruling body of dragons and their magical allies who control the continent in a federal system.
Les Remoden Eisha, the intelligence and security branch of the Council.
Necromancy as the forbidden school of magic.
Elemental airships. Unlike the era where I DM, magic is common enough that it powers the airships, unlike the clackety, smog xips of the goblins.
Those first four elements seem to be growing into the major division that leads to the sundering of the world, separating the continent with the Everflow on it from all the magical spaces in the rest of the planet. Those councils and forbidden magicks could grow into the dragon-founded schools with their abusive Proctors, supplicant Scholars and limited magic in a world that has merely love for companionship, healing waters and hope.
Tips for Sharing a World
First, have the creator DM and non-creating DM talk about history and key elements. Discuss where the foundational elements of the world are necessary in each campaign. Unlike Uprising & Rebellion (and the other ‘modern’ campaigns set in the World of the Everflow) the current campaign doesn’t have a foundational element about animals as life companions for example.
Understand that things that happen in history don’t have to be understood in the future. Did Xabal discover tar-trees? Maybe someone else claims that 3,000 years later. Unless the details are vital to a plot point minor differences in the way myth-legend-history are known aren’t important. They can even both be true!
Second, play and act with trust. Going back to point one, the details don’t matter if they don’t matter. Does the now co-DM get the name of a city wrong? That doesn’t matter. Keep playing at the table. Don’t even bother to correct it. Many cities in the real world have multiple names. That’s the way worlds work.
Borrow heavily from each other. This is part communication, but also because you’re seeing each set of stories (every table is a set of stories that is some combination of the total number of people playing and their interactions) from different angles.
Is there a new nugget dropped that you want to be permanently part of the tale? Take note in heavy ink and add it to your own version of the world document. Just like when a player adds something new to the world let the co-DM do the same thing.
Be a player — you aren’t the DM, so don’t be a co-DM at the table, unless asked. The only time to speak up about some out-of-character element related to previous campaigns or lore is when the DM asks. Then you answer.
Bonus points if you can work that into something that your character would know/do/say. I didn’t do this most recently, but wish I had. The current DM asked me what Sheljar, the bog-city, was like in the Age of Myths. I gave an encyclopedic answer rather than the answer Xabal would give.
It’s been so much fun opening the world to more tales set within. We’ve added fantastic spaces, myths and histories that wouldn’t have existed if the World of the Everflow was merely my setting with nearly two dozen players. Adding a second DM to the world has changed the story dynamics in an exponential rather than additive fashion.
My hope is that after this Age of Myths campaign we return to the modern era with new tales too.
Full Moon Storytelling 