Brave New World
Last night (last Friday in March to me) I ran my first adventure in the Land of Nine Swords. It was simply amazing. But don’t take my word for it. Here’s what Teela, the NPC healer, had to say about it in her recap to the adventurers who missed the adventure.
Quest for Unfettered
“So why are we crawling around under the graveyard again?” Merlon asked.
Thadius finished his meditations on the battles of his god, Kord and stowed some ancient works about the Godswar. “I told you,” he replied to Merlon, “that ancient weapon could be the greatsword, Unfettered, wielded by the Stone Dragon Master before it was lost. Don’t you remember the legend of its forging?”
Merlon closed his spellbook. He grumbled something under his breath about having grown up on a farm and not having spent much time in libraries until lately. Valgard let out a snort that sounded like laughter, but it turned into a cough.
Supressing a sigh, Thadius said, “Thungrim the dwarf and Kanithiak, a goliath, were slaves of frost giants in the northern mountains. They labored in secret to create a special blade, which they named Unfettered.”
“The last time I held so much paper,” Valgard said as he finished sharpening his halberd, “I was in the privy. How did you get any swordplay done if you were so busy swallowing books?” Valgard asked.
Thadius replied, “It was better than what you were swallowing back behind the barracks.”
Valgard looked at Thadius and slowly scratched his forehead with his middle finger. Merlon grinned.
“So,” Merlon asked, “could these pictures of a dwarf and a goliath on the lid of the treasure pit we’re coweri…er sheltering in, mean something?”
Thadius gasped. “The first ritual! By Kord, Merlon, you’ve uncovered two great secrets!”
“Two, right. So one is the first ritual for the sword,” Merlon said, “and the other is…”
“The other is that this barrow must have once housed Unfettered!” Thadius said. “Hopefully, the ancient weapon here is Unfettered, but either way I now know how to unlock its least powers!”
“Right. And you do that by?” Valgard asked.
“Look here,” Thadius pointed. “Thungrim is happy, perhaps for the first time in decades. He is also laboring in the dark, when all the other slaves are sleeping. So that means I need to craft a weapon of my own, without stopping to sleep or eat. Well, at least he’s having some water. I bet a weapon of 10 gold griffons and a sacrifice of 2500 griffons more would do the trick.”
“2500 griffons!!” Valgard and Merlon said together.
“You have no idea of the power of Unfettered. That price is a bargain,” Thadius said. He smiled and gripped his greatsword as he reached for the secret trapdoor leading deeper into the barrow. “Shall we go claim it?”
Merlon nodded. Valgard said, “Maybe things will have cooled down in town by the time we get back with Unfettered and we can find out what happened to my father. Is there any rule in Kord’s religion against using Unfettered to cut off Lord Mayor Wort’s head?”
“None at all,” Thadius said. He smiled again and yanked open the trapdoor.
Merlon said, “Let’s get it done.”
Ironhame
You gotta crawl if you wanna walk.
-Step One of the Sublime Way as interpreted by those living in the Sun and Moon neighborhood of Ironhame
Ironhame thrives on the very edge of the kingdom of Naramis. A frontier settlement that draws in adventurers, its atmosphere of danger and violence attracts only the most adventuresome or desperate subjects of the kingdom. Built right next to Deluge Jungle, Ironhame attracts tomb robbers, treasure hunters, fiend-hunting zealots, nature priests, and all other types of adventurers.
Lord Mayor Wort enforces one law—he and his cronies must stay in power and stay wealthy. Anyone can roam the streets armed—but they may be fined if they don’t buy a writ of arms. Since roaming the town unarmed is an invitation for robbery for almost everyone but monks, most subjects either buy a writ or dodge the Watch.
Keal Kseo, a warblade and magic item merchant, trains some warblades. Allek Thrazt, an outcast of the hobgoblin warblade school of Ur-Thaldaar, offers training in the martial ways of the warblade. The Vix Tholm, crusaders of Torm, has its own school in the city, both aiding and competing with its temple. The Harad Devin Temple instructs would-be swordsages and tattoos members with the long history of their order.
Firesnake is an enforcer for hire in the town of Ironhame. She uses threats and violence to drive a patron’s competitors out of business, opens new markets for crime by moving out competing scoundrels, provides muscle for meetings, and works as a spy.
Anything and everything is for sale in Ironhame including not just lives but also souls. Disguised outsiders seek to corrupt and take souls, illusion clad aberrations stalk the streets, and press-gangs shanghai drunken subjects into jungle cutting work parties.
Other powerful forces patrol the city as well. The temple of Bria has a powerful presence both within the settlement and in the jungle, bridging the differences between human and elf and their occasional offspring the half-elves.
The temple of Torm and the Vix Tholm have declared a war against the evil outsiders and monsters of the Deluge Jungle, and they enforce justice on the streets as well. Unlike they Watch, the sapphire knight protectors cannot be bribed and their temple has more than enough wealth to ensure Lord Mayor Wort writes laws that supports their influence in the city. Of course, this war of shadows leads some followers of Torm to stumble and become the worst blackguards the town has ever seen.
Kuthar of Ironhame, a powerful warblade and wizard, may be the most powerful arcane caster in Ironhame. He cannot be corrupted and, of all the denizens of the town, he is the one most likely to appear to combat an evil outsider, likely to arrive even sooner than a sapphire knight protector. Kuthar, a pragmatist, always requires a quest in return for his aid. These quests sometimes seem worse than the demon possession he prevents, but whoever completes such a quest gains power and perhaps a powerful ally as well.
Other laws, secrets, societies, and challenges are hidden in Ironhame, but you have to adventure there to discover them. Keep one hand on your sword or spell components and the other on your coin pouch, Ironhame awaits!
Deluge Jungle
The Deluge Jungle pulses with life—both natural and extraplanar. This vast living, green sprawl of isolated villages, training schools, and weird planar disturbances awaits your continued exploration. The Deluge Jungle may lie within the borders of the Kingdom of Naramis, but it belongs to no one.
Lurking in the Deluge Jungle is the lifesmithing race called the zern, centaurs and patorens, planar touchstones, and warring githyanki and githerazai. Under the jungle, drow plot against their wild elf brothers who live deep in the jungle. Terrible aberrations lurk in the deep Underdark, waiting for their chance to destroy Pel and plunge the Land of Nine Swords into everlasting darkness.
Patorens, a blending of elf and panther, were created by the zern. Humanoid, they are covered completely in hair, have muzzles with sharp teeth, and pointed ears on top of their heads. The zern wanted centaurs to carry patorens into battle. Neither species turned out the way the zern wanted.
Next Month
The Land of Nine Swords spans an entire continent and is built on thousands of years of history. Ironhame and the Deluge Jungle are only a tiny part of the whole. Next month, I’ll reveal some of the mythology of the world. I’ll also give another update on how Thadius, Merlon, Valgard, and all the other heroes are doing.
Drive On,
Charlie
