The Wayfarer's Inn

Here I'm heading WAY out of the published versions, and I'm going to re-post information that is now stored over at the Vaults. But this is just about the most important information in my campaign, and only now are the PCs (third or fourth generation of PCs on this plot!) getting to the truth of the matter, and only now are they going to be in a position to resolve it all...

The Master of Hule Part 1

The Master of Hule is a mysterious character, with his origins lost in the mists of time. Here I propose a new origin for the Master, one that makes him older and more potent than ever before.

The Master is none other than the Egg of Coot, fabled nemesis of the Blackmoor civilisation. The destruction of Blackmoor also destroyed Coot; although his lands were never fertile, they eventually became a barren wasteland after the fall of Blackmoor and the shifting of Mystaras polar axis. His physical form destroyed, the Egg drifted as a disembodied, entity for an age, before finally settling in a remote region to the North of the Savage Coast.

Originally only able to manifest as a feeble vision, the Egg only slowly built up the level of support he needed to form a new physical body. Civilisations came and went, and the malevolent cult of the Master of Hule slowly grew. First, the Master took control of the lands around his new Temple, then he warped the people and culture of the land in his own officious, callous image.

Slowly his armies amassed, and his scouting parties ranged as far afield as the Arm of the Immortals, the Yavdlom divinarchy, and Darokin. And eventually he found what he was seeking; the remnants of Blackmoor. He slowly became aware of the presence of two powerful, functioning artifacts of that civilisation, namely the flying city of Serraine and the Nucleus of the Spheres. He tentatively probed outside his borders for ways to reach the Nucleus, finding his armies blocked to the North by a great mountain range, and to the East by the Plains of Fire and then Sind and Darokin. He tried sending an army underground, and discovered another forgotten remnant of the great Blackmoor disaster, the shadow elves. Now he struck upon a plan to seize what was, in his mind, his legacy.

He fed information to the Shadow Elves that above them, the nation of Alfheim had become decadent and was ripe for conquest. He fed information to the Dwarves of Rockhome that their fabled holy city of Aengmor was defended only by some rag-tag tribes of orcs, and waited for the inevitable. He foresaw the invasion of Alfheim, he foresaw the Dwarven-Shadow Elf war for Aengmor, but what he didn't see was the Immortal Storm.

The Master of Hule Part 2

The Master did not appreciate the lengths that Mystaran immortals would go to over the Nucleus. His relationship with Mystaras immortals being strained at the best of times (more on this later), he underestimated the sheer destructive potential of the great war. While he delighted in the chaos and slaughter, he lamented that his plans were necessarily pushed further back by the presence of thousands of Alphatian, Thyatian and Glantrian troops in the Known World, and the interest that the Heldannic Knights were showing in taking Serraine for themselves made any successful invasion of that city quite unlikely.

Still, his plan to encourage a Shadow Elf invasion of Alfheim worked well. Agents of his high in the court of King Doriath in Alfheim aided the retreat of Doriath's elves into Wendar and better, from the Masters perspective, into the lowland forests of Atruaghin. The Masters timely invasion of Sind, together with threats from the East encouraged Darokin to remain Neutral in the war between Alfheim and the Shadow Elves, worried instead for their own borders, and the attentions of all other Known World nations were elsewhere. Doriath, and the elves of Alfheim, stood alone, to fester in their misery and anger, with only the sympathy of distant Wendar.

After the war, normality started to return to the Known World region, again with the Masters agents in several countries pushing for normalising relations with the Shadow Elves; this pariah state had to be brought into real diplomatic being to further alienate and isolate the elves. That, and a plague in Wendar, traced ultimately to a disease contracted during the Shadow Elf invasion, further alienated the elves loyal to Doriath's cause from other nations.

Doriath set about making what friends he could, but the weakened state of Glantri, Karameikos and Darokin somewhat restricted his success on most fronts. The humans of Atruaghin began to benefit from trade with the elves, and new roads built by the elves started to increase trade through Atruaghin, bringing some prosperity. But still, the desire of the elves to re-take what was theirs consumed all. The betrayal of the elves by their human allies would not be forgotten.

The Masters envoys, at this stage, could finally make their move. In return for passage through Atruaghin, on the newly constructed roads (which would take the Masters armies to within 50 miles of the City of Darokin), the Master would offer his forces for a full scale invasion of the Shadow Elf territories. A two pronged attack was proposed; Wendar would assault the Northern borders of the Shadow Elf territories, with the consent of the Erewan elves from Glantri for crossing that nation having been given already, while the combined forces of elves and the Master would attack from the South. With the Masters forces already in Darokin, on the poorly defended Atruaghin border, that nation would rapidly fall, leaving the Master free to assault Glantri and reclaim the Nucleus at a later date. With the combined wealth of both Sind and Darokin, the Master would be almost unstoppable.

The Master of Hule Part 3: Ancient History

The Master was originally of a primitive species not entirely unlike the roper. He was 8' tall, with many tentacles, a large, gaping, toothy mouth and a single eye. He was, in fact, of the same species as Zargon, ancient 'god' of the lost city of Cynidicea. Although the culture, history and even name of this species has been lost to time, three individual members of that species are noteworthy. The first was Arik (of which more later, and see module B3), the second was the Master (at that time known as Hosadeus), the third was Zargon (see B4).

All three of these beings rose to prominence as followers of the Outer Beings, serving to guide the Carnifex (first introduced to us in one of the Masters modules) to their own ends. All three strove individually to attain immortality, at a time when the dividing line between immortal and mortal was still poorly defined. One 'position' in the immortal ranks was offered, by an as yet unknown entropic sponsor, and all three creatures competed for this place. Arik won out, reaching full immortality in the sphere of Entropy (in the process creating the Beholder race, being an improved and more dangerous version of his own body form) long before the rise of Blackmoor, defeating his rivals (the Master and Zargon) in the process.

Zargon was driven mad by the loss, and retreated into his own region, eventually becoming the almost immortal patron of the lost city of Cynidicea. What he remembers of the ancient past is unknown, but outside of Cynidicea he has played little part in Mystaran history.

The Master continued to oppose Arik, but he was soon defeated, his life force being dispersed by Arik. Eventually, some humanoid creatures discovered his teachings, and he coalesced around a nation known as Coot, building a new identity as the Egg of Coot, together with a body form more in fitting with the now dominant humanoid species of Mystara.

He began plotting the demise of his nemesis, Arik. But Arik had his own agenda; during the time that the Master had been gone, he had allied himself with the outer beings, who had once again waged war against the immortals. For his crimes, Arik was forever banished to the Dimension of Ice (a far away, inaccessible prison plane) and his servant race, the beholders, scattered far and wide. So to gain his revenge, the Master would have to build his own power, and eventually release Arik from his prison, that he may be killed.

The Master has many flaws; he is not one to forgive an insult or a sleight, however small. He is almost incapable of comprehending mercy or compassion. He is no ordinary creature of evil; he prefers corruption to delay and cruelty to death. But he has one important virtue; he is patient. He built the nation of Coot for the purpose of driving a rival nation to a point where it could produce what he needed to reach Arik and destroy him. That nation was Blackmoor.

And more later...

The Master of Hule, part 4: Blackmoor

Coot wasn't all about being evil. Oh, there was plenty of evil to go around; the Egg of Coot wasn't in any way not evil. In fact he was the nastiest thing around at the time. But he wasn’t evil just for the sake of it, or at least not professionally. His goal was simple; he needed to create a power source sufficient to (a) bring Arik out of his prison, and (b) negate Ariks immortal magic after release, making him defeatable. Then the Hosadeus (now known as the Egg, later to be known as The Master) would have his revenge, and could in theory quest for immortality himself.

Coot therefore wasn’t constructed for conquest or subjugation, it was built for one purpose, and one purpose alone; to encourage Blackmoor to develop into a powerful, technological civilisation.

It was the Egg that guided Beagle down to onto Mystara. The Egg was patient, but he could not allow an opportunity like that to pass; it was his message that caused Beagle to come to Mystara, and it was his doing that the ship crashed. And it was with the constant threat of extermination from Coot that caused Blackmoorian scientists to push too far, too fast.

But the Egg didn’t get everything his own way; a group of adventurers eventually (with immortal guidance) determined that the Egg was responsible for this advanvement, and in a desperate attempt to prevent the release of Arik, they destroyed a number of key reactors in the City of Blackmoor, unexpectedly leading to a chain reaction that decimated the City, and indeed most of the hemisphere. The explosion was so great that it eventually led to the planet shifting on its axis, in addition to completely destroying Blackmoor, Coot, and many other lands.

But the Egg survived, although the physical manifestation he had at the time did not. And eventually, he coalesced into another form, that of the Master.

Thanks for the effort. Since this is your campaign I won't start arguing, but I will just ask:

Did you and your PCs enjoyed it?

Comments: 1. I also hate adventures that the PCs are doomed to fail.
2. Thyatis couldn't claim back the Isle of Dawn so fast, even without Alphatia there...
3. The Alphatians would probably ask for more than just liberation of the colonies after such a war.
4. 1000 archmages? ! ? Where did Alphatia found such a horde? OK they are magicians and all the nobles are magicians, but did they sent all they powerful mages? Nobody remained in his tower/land/home?
Even so, Alphatia really has 1000 magic uses 26-36 level?

Okay... So much more to explain here, that I should really write down, but I don't quite know where to start. This delves into ancient history in my campaign, and its also some of the edited hilights of the last 15 years of gaming, pared down to the stuff that is still plot relevant. Really I'm typing this out for my own future reference, and because future and present players may find it handy. I may even see if I can get some of them here to correct me when I go wrong.

Okay, lets take a look at Arik first. This dips in and out of canon, and contains passing references to at least four classic modules here, for the observant

Arik - The Eye Tyrant - his curse, his followers, and his eyes

It isn't entirely relevant why Arik was exiled. It isn't even remembered really; it was long ago, before elves, men and dwarves roamed on the surface of Mystara. He, along with Hosadeus and Zargon, were amongst the first sentient beings on the planet, and Arik became immortal before the lines between mortal and immortal were so very distinct; in the great war between the Immortals and the Other beings (known occasionally as the Outer beings, it is difficult to know exactly who these creatures were although it is believed that the long lived animosity between the Draeden and the Immortals is linked to them) Arik sided against the other Immortals. On the losing side in that conflict he was banished, as were some of the powerful mortals who served the enemy (Ariks most loyal followers, the Carnifex). They were sent to a distant prison plane, reachable only by very complex and difficult magical means. There, they waited, and slowly began to plot.

The Carnifex were not Ariks only followers, he had also created his own servitor race, the beholders, and they were already spread far and wide across the multiverse before the exile. While some few beholders contine to worship Arik to this day, few remember his teachings. That does not mean, however, that Arik has been forgotten, in fact there have been cults to Arik since ancient times.

And it was one such cult that re-discovered the means to produce an Eye of Arik, a device attracting evil creatures and creating a small rift to the plane of Ariks imprisonment, also the first step needed to free Arik.

Originally, they plotted their dark craft in caves in the Borderlands, near Castellans Keep in Traldara. Soon they were ready to experiment, and smuggled the ingredients they needed into Haven, where they brought a terrible curse upon the land. Delighted with their efforts, the evil priests of Arik returned to their caves, only to suffer an untimely demise at the hands of some young adventurers, 'led' by the mage Obsidian, including the priest Keithsara (metamorph, and priestess of Kagyar), Marilyn (manteis bard from North Norwold, or Caltia) and Beotach (warrior, and North Norwold barbarian), Squerglar (Bellisarian burglar extraordinaire) and Apophis (Thothian Paladin of Ra, a.k.a Ixion), and Eduardo Silverberg (or Ed, an assassin of complex parentage, but raised in the bleak city of Skyfyr in the Alphatian colonies on Esterhold). These adventurers killed the priests in their hideout and temple at the Caves of Chaos, and lifted the curse over Haven. It was, incidentally, the same adventurers who later discovered Rheddrian Benekander trapped in his own 'shield', which led them on a path that later put them in the right place at the right time (the Radiance) to save Alphatia from being sunk, but that is a story for another day. More on that later.

What the party did not discover at that time was that the ringleader was a mage named Fredegar, who had been the first to rediscover Ariks teachings while on an adventure on the Isle of Dread (Master Terari himself, of the Collegium Arcanum in Sundsvaal, warned Fredegar of the dangers of those texts, but alas Fredegar did not listen); coincidentally, he was accompanied at the time by Marilyn, Ed and Keithsara, among others, and Obsidian would later have the same master that Fredegar served (Spirrel) at the time.

Suffice to say that this earned them the never ending emnity of Arik and his followers; he later sent assassins to kill the party but failed, and after many years, and many skirmishes between his followers and the party, a group of priests finally managed to raise another Eye, only this time in Magan, a city in Southern Norwold, and seat of the Duke of Maganshire, an ancient wizard named Spirrel. Spirrel was, incidentally, Obsidians master, and several other adventurers already involved in this plot (Squerglar and Beotach among them) owed him fealty.

That party of adventurers (now also having among its ranks Bethany, a dryad druid, and Singer Soulfire, an elven druidic knight) battled their way through the city of Magan (infested now with horrific monsters), into the castle, defeated Fredegar (who was forced to flee) and destoyed the new Eye. Having raised the curse, they discovered that Spirrel was unrecoverably dead, having died a final death battling Fredegars hordes. Beotach, most senior count in the land, now assumed title of Duke.

Note: For reference, Beotach was an NPC who travelled with the party for many years, an NPC with a considerable history which will probably not become relevant here; Fredegar was a PC until shortly after discovering those texts, when the player moved away, all of the other adventurers named were PCs, including Obsidian, Marilyn, Keithsara, Apophis, Bethany, Singer, Squerglar... Other PCs like Diana and Juiven came and went from that group, but they were the mainstays for years. I like to keep old PCs in my games; Spirrel was a PC in yet another earlier incarnation of my campaign, which is littered with such characters. Also accompanying Fredegar, Marilyn, Ed and Keithsara were Gelbo Nimblefingers, halfling Berserker from Leeha, Rhodacter a mage native to Rainbow Park on the Alatian Islands, Thermon priest of Averyx (a non-canon immortal patron of Alphatian Imperialism) and Throm (a dwarf so stupid that he nearly drowned in an attmept to run down the hold of a sinking ship in full armour, to rescue his bag of gold - and who later became head of Maganshires income tax collection service.

Later, I'll have to go into Keithsaras story in somewhat more detail, and also that of Fredegar.

OK.... In case I'm not mistaken Alphatia has about 6-7 million people before it sank. 1000 36lvl archmages in the ruling council means:

1. About 1000 36th lvl mages locked in their towers, not giving a damn about the world.
2. About 1/3000 people in Alphatia is a 36th level magic user
3. 2000 36th level mages mean at least 10000 26th-36th level magic users or thatat least 1/600 people in Alphatia is a master mage, commanding the forces of the world.
4. The PCs get to 30 level after saving the world a couple of times, battling dragons the size of a castle etc... and they're weaker than every and all of 1000 people in the ruling council, and countless other nobles/scholars around the land. If I was a player, I would have been frustrated that I would be so... unimportant after so much work.
Even gathering money from a county has its challenges (wars, raids, disasters, crazed people using artifacts that could sink a continent etc.)

I certainly won't tell anyone how to run his/her campaign, but I just note that I respectfully disagree with these figures.

I believe that a ruling council of 100 21-36th level mages for Alphatia is good enough. Along with 500-600 more high level noble mages or crazed guys locked in their tower around the land.
I believe that Thyatis should have... 1/5th of the mages Alphatia has so about 60-70 magic users of levels 21-36th. But that's just me.