Aftermath: The Crysanthemum Throne

This page is a plot summary and infodump for Archmage's D&D 4th Edition tabletop game. Please check the talk page for more meta-game information and to communicate regarding scheduling and real-world details.

Campaign Overview

Setting

The setting for this campaign will be the continent of Ka'thalar in the Gaera Main universe. You may also want to familiarize yourself with the nations of Igala--everyone living on Ka'thalar now likely immigrated from Doma, Riva, Baron, Nekonia, Inustan, or Kalshana.

See the categories for deities, races, and nations for more detailed information; some of the bits about Ka'thalar are incomplete and do not make reference to more current events. The setting is mostly serious, but much of it is flavored with puns, in-jokes, largely intentional use of clichés, and references to Japanese anime and RPGs. Laugh at it and move on.

All of the core 4th Edition races and classes are available with some minor flavor adjustments and a few additional options:

• Dragonborn are half-dragons. Unlike the dragonborn description in the PHB, dragon-halves do have tails. Dragons are associated with their element, not with their color (or metal) and are not limited to any specific alignments. A dragon-half's breath weapon and scale color will always match.
• Tieflings are half-demons. Demons in Gaera are not necessarily evil, but their society and culture are a bit more vicious than most humanoids would like.
• Eladrin are high elves and elves are wood elves.
• Inujin and nekojin are playable races.

Background

The Mad Wizard

For a more detailed summary, see the article for Dark Obsessions.

In 1315 EP the necromancer Elaith Thenswick, hoping to conquer Igala and win the endearment of Genevive Sarith, amassed an army of undead and began searching for the Orb of Prismatic Dragonkind. Unfortunately for the free world, Thenswick acquired the Orb and enslaved a number of supremely powerful dragons. Were it not for the efforts of a group of adventurers aided and supported by the Doman Army, Thenswick might have succeeded.

The war with Elaith laid waste to much of Ka'thalar's surface territories. Fear and uncertainty led the current inhabitants--mostly humans, elves, nekojin, and inujin--to consider a variety of possibilities for the restructuring of the continent.

The Reconstruction

Numerous small groups sprung up all over Ka'thalar's contested area and began fighting to control the continent.

The major factions were as follows:

• Crusaders of Tunare: Green. A group of wood elf druids who desired to unite the continent under the nature goddess Tunare.
• Enlightened Monarchy of Asharia: Maroon. A human faction whose leader made a deal with a balor. Once this particular treachery was discovered, Asharia fell to the combined alliance of several other factions.
• Order of the Silver Falcon: Light blue. An order-obsessed faction.
• Karzak's Expedition: Dark blue. An orcish settlement party led by a powerful diviner.
• Unification Movement of Ka'thalar: Orange. A mixed-race faction led by a Nekonian samurai. Opposed to nationalism and dedicated to fairness and justice.
• Coalition of Andur: Purple. An alliance of woodcutters and farmers whose homes were destroyed in the war with Elaith that settled their differences to try to unify the continent under a single banner.
• Fideleo's Hounds: Brown. A mostly-inujin faction led by a paladin who was convinced that the destruction wrought by Elaith was due to a lack of faith in god. Its supporters were all worshippers of Inugami, and their goals for the rest of the continent were simple--force everyone else to convert, die, or leave.
• The Fatal Paw: Red. A nationalist nekojin faction led by a samurai warlord who wanted to eliminate all those on the continent not loyal to Nekonia.
• The White Roses: Silver. A mostly human faction led by a bard from Baron. The primary goal of the White Roses was to establish a democratic republic allowing government by the people.

At the end of the Reconstruction, new political boundaries were ultimately drawn based on treaties and diplomatic negotiations:

The orcs were expelled from the continent and the wood elves were ultimately confined to the northern forests. The inujin have been hemmed into their own small theocratic nation. Most of the territory to the west of the river is now split between what was the Coalition of Andur and the Unification Movement of Ka'thalar--the northern region is now all referred to as Tarragon (orange), and the southern region is now all called Andur.

East of the river, Kazeroran and the other territories were ultimately subjugated by the New Nekonian faction calling itself "The Fatal Paw." The entire east is now under the control of the nekojin warlord Yukio Takahashi.

Rebellion

Daimyo Takahashi has proclaimed himself Emperor of New Nekonia. The once-independent communities of eastern Ka'thalar now fly the flag of the Fatal Paw. Non-nekojin citizens are second-class at best--many are literally enslaved, forced to work in labor camps or mines. Anyone who challenges the ethnic superiority of the nekojin ruling class is harshly punished.

A small group of Kazeroran citizens have gathered together to make a stand against the oppression of the New Nekonian occupation. While their numbers are few and their forces are weak, all hope is not yet lost. It is said that the leader of the White Roses, Tristan Kavanaugh, is still alive and potentially a prisoner of the imperial army. There may be weapons and tools to loot in the remnants of Elaith's fortress that might turn the tide. Diplomacy with other nations might convince their leaders that Emperor Takahashi is a threat that must be eliminated. The common people must be reminded that their future is not hopeless as long as their wills are strong.

This is where you come in.

Mechanics and Gameplay

Basics

This is a 4th Edition D&D campaign. Character creation parameters are as follows:

• 1st level.
• Standard starting wealth--100 mrr (GP) each.
• All published classes and races are available.
  • If you have the book with the info to do so, I'll permit other races as well--drow, warforged, genasi, whatever.

Optional parameters include no items, Fox only, and Final Destination.

Gaera-specific Races

The following races are not listed in the PHB.

• Nekojin are anthropomorophic cat-people. They have appropriately large ears and long tails and come in a variety of colors and sizes. Nekojin are roughly the same height as humans and are are well-muscled and sleek. They are typically very agile and perceptive creatures.
  • Ability Scores: +2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom
  • Size: Medium
  • Speed: 7 squares
  • Vision: Low-light
  • Languages: Common, Nekonian
  • Skill Bonuses: +2 Acrobatics, +2 Perception
  • Lightfoot: A nekojin may move at full speed when using the Stealth skill without penalty.
  • Alertness: Nekojin get a +2 bonus to Initiative checks.

• Inujin are dog-like humanoids. Their appearance is highly variable, but they tend to have characteristics resembling varying breeds of dogs ranging from greyhounds to doberman pinschers. Inujin value loyalty, honesty, and courage. They are strong and sturdy humanoids.
  • Ability Scores:+2 Strength, +2 Wisdom
  • Size: Medium
  • Speed: 6 squares
  • Vision: Normal
  • Languages: Common, Inustani
  • Skill Bonuses: +2 Endurance, +2 Religion
  • Ferocious Charge: A charging inujin may move an additional 2 squares and gets an additional +1 bonus to attack rolls when charging.
  • Canine Endurance: An inujin gets 2 additional healing surges per day.

Gaeran Deities

Some deities of specific import:

• Kazeros is the god of freedom for which Kazeroran is named. His alignment is Good. He makes no specific demands of his followers but wants his people to have liberty and fulfillment. He is worshipped by bards, travellers, and revolutionaries.
• Ashura is the goddess of life. Her alignment is Good. Her primary commandment is that life is sacred and should be preserved at all costs, but she does not demand pacifism from her worshippers. She is worshipped by healers, physicians, and many common people.
• Exinde is the god of knowledge, logic, and reasoning. His alignment is Neutral. He commands his followers to accumulate and pursue knowledge in all its forms. He is worshipped by sages, scribes, wizards, engineers, and scientists.
• Ishtar and Primaer are the creator goddess and god of Gaera. They are mother and father to many of the other deities and have broad domains. Ishtar is more commonly worshipped than Primaer, but they both draw reverence from a wide variety of people.
• Nakibe is the god of chaos. His alignment is Neutral. He is not the type to make specific demands of his followers. He generally revels in disorder--but not necessarily in destruction.
• Reshtaha is the god of death. His alignment is Neutral. He commands his followers to respect death as a necessary part of life and acknowledge that all things must come to an end. Priests of Reshtaha are generally familiar with a wide variety of funeral customs.
• Mithra is the god of justice. His alignment is Lawful Good. He insists that his followers uphold the law and that criminals and villains receive their due punishment. He is commonly worshipped by guards, judges, and knights.
• Ryuugami is the goddess of dragons. Her alignment is Good. She is the protector of dragonkind and is mostly worshipped by them.
• Inugami, also called Fideleo, is the god of inujin. His alignment is Lawful Good. He values loyalty, honor, honesty, and fidelity. Most of his followers are inujin.
• Nekogami is the goddess of nekojin. Her alignment is Good. Most of her followers are nekojin.
• Tunare is the goddess of nature. Her alignment is Neutral. She commands that all people have respect for the power of nature--both its abundant gifts and its destructive tendencies. Druids and farmers commonly worship her.
• Leviathan is the serpent god of water and the sea. His alignment is Neutral. He is sometimes referred to as "King of the Summoned Monsters." He is sometimes worshipped by sailors and fishermen.
• Shamaya is the goddess of order. Her alignment is Lawful Good.
• Nikumu is the god of hatred. His alignment is Evil. He is empowered by sadism, bigotry, and intolerance. Most of his followers are drow.
• Odin is the Baronian god of war and death. His alignment is Neutral. He is empowered by conquest and battle. Most of his followers are soldiers, nobles, and warlords.
• Dammara is the god of revelry and thievery. His alignment is Neutral. His commandments are few, but most of his followers believe strongly in the principle of "finders keepers." He is worshipped primarily by bards, pickpockets, and tricksters.

There also exist four elemental lords--air, water, fire, and earth--that occasionally draw worshippers. All of them are Neutral. Most of the worshippers of the elemental lords on Igala and Ka'thalar are druids, but their worship is more widespread in Prandia.

• Mekk is the lord of earth.
• Wistaire is the lord of air.
• Freneth is the lord of fire.
• Sarahane is the lord of water.

Session Summaries

One: Prison Break

Meztli Kuu, Glen Abernathy, Sarmere, and Gilthas break into a remote New Nekonian labor camp thanks to Meztli's ability to bribe a mercenary in their employ. They manage to wipe out just about everyone staffing the camp and befriend two of the prisoners there, Joachim and Ishmael. The camp is their new base of operations, and plans are in the works for Meztli to continue sending (forged) correspondence and reports to connected camps in order to have more prisoners transferred there to join the White Roses.

Two: Pet Owners

After raiding the first caravan that attempts to bring supplies and pick up lumber, the party razes their current base and moves on to attempt to take another nearby. They take with them a captive merchant named Noboru and his beloved pet snake Hibiki. At the new camp, they find it deserted after the miners uncovered a terrible mystery in the mines.

In the mines, they found what appeared to be the hidden stronghold of some mad wizard. Signs point to "Kenji the Slippery," a man so fascinated by chimeras that he seemed hell-bent on creating a nekojin-mindflayer hybrid. In his stronghold, they found a mazoku named Salim. He has decided that maybe he owes them a favor. Which might be good, or not.

Also, Joachim spoke, calling Gilthas an asshole for making fun of his assumed inability to talk.