CloudSpire Chronicles

Every Friday from 7pm PST to Midnight, we play D&D 5th Edition in a world based on Forgotten Realms in the far future.

A diesel punk setting consisting of a world being consumed, floating expansive islands in the sky and the lifestyle that goes with them.

Airships, flotillas, and entire societies trawl the sky seeking their prey, whatever that may be. Upon the surface of Torril, the denizens try to fight against the destructive forces all around them. In the under dark, great and unnatural things take place, gestating and bursting to the surface.

Fluff aside, the world is based in a northern kingdom known was the Cloud Spires mountain range. It is the northern most point of the Spine of the World, which is still known as the Spine of the World.

The entire Cloud Spires mountain range is approximately 100 kilometers.

Due to the entrenched nature of the civilization and the perilous rock formations, air ships must be specially equipped to traverse more than the primary roost provided at the Royals Peak, the highest, flattest and most open pinnacle amidst the many mountain peaks.

Nearby rest many landmarks including Farspine Monestary from the overlooking Farspine mountain peak, Daeds Outreach at Dorums Plateau.

This campaign has a rich pedigree of characters, a growing scope of challenges with a complex range of variables born of the players doings. The campaign is written as a sitcom, where over an average of 5 hours I take my players through a few paces of drama and the battles that may ensue.

While the combat ranges from base to intensely contextual, the story aims to involve everyone to a degree based on what their character needs out of the world.

I take a lot of pride in how this campaign has turned out, and I can't wait to leave it behind for my next story.

Ormar

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The gold dragon that led the diplomatic relations between the beasts, wyrms and humanoids.

Died during the Dwarven Wars.

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Zain

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Eddard

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Disambiguation. Leads to Eddard Reville.

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L'oqh

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One of the largest lava flows near the base of the CloudSpires mountain range.

This river provides many settlements with heat and to those nearby water springs, a great deal of fungul growth.

The river is traveled by Drow and Duergar in specially crafted boats using Orichalcum and magical alloys.

The Fire Giant city of Uustimarr is the ultimate destination of the flow.

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Urqzat

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A city that sits on the precipice of the lava river L'oqh, it is responsible for the churning turbines that provide heat and lightning power to the nearby Drow, Duergar, and other races. They provide the service at a fee paid every three to five ten days.

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Erdhig Uurdrizzen

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Enslaved at the young age of 357 years, Erdhig served a decent enough life style for a smaller house in the lower kingdoms near the base of the CloudSpires range until he was enslaved during a raid while transporting gold stock.

A native of Urqzat, he is a trained mathematician who was in the wrong place at the wrong time and resultantly found himself traded from one merchant to the next.

He does not seem to mind the life style, as he is personally not associated with anyone and has committed no crime to end up where he is; possibly he prefers it to what he had in the service to whatever house.

In truth, if asked, he simply responds that life seems to be providing him with adventure despite his best effort to lead a boring and safe life.

As far as duergar go, he is still a Lawful Evil individual, who has traditionally placed his loyalty in whom he deems best for his interests. His interests mostly involve staying alive, given nearly every environment he's been traded to in the last fifty years has been hostile or contested territory where he's been responsible for adding and tracking the phat lootz whatever organization that bought him has been obtaining.

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Church

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Disambiguation.

In The CloudSpires Chronicles, church may mean:

The Church of Sun & Scroll

New Church of Oghma

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Daed

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Disambiguation. Leads to Daed Al Icarr.

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Sevenstale

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An outspoken man of Pelor. He was struck down in Calimshan when he believed he was working with followers of Tyr, who were unfortunately several members of Cyric.

As Pahrn Vogons guide through the world, he was a respected traveler and a man of many cultures, able to speak several languages.

He was buried in Amn, in a funeral attended by Pahrn and several members of Sevenstale's old adventuring troop.

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Pahrn

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A strapping youth of 13, he is the oldest heir to Leostrad, sired by Leostrad and where most of his brethern suffered malformities, he came out solid from proper blood.

He is trained formally in combat by the Fighters Guild as well as third party trainors from out of state. He holds a number of tournament awards in several countries. He provides training and actively seeks trainors; he participates and has the family sponsor tournaments around the world.

As a traveled boy, he has seen great distant places such as Calimport. He has suffered loss, and he lost his adventuring leader, his Uncle Sevenstale, during a visit to Calimshan when assassins struck against them in a religiously charged attack.

He is a prim boy, who prefers to call people by their last name and title to 'err on the side of class.'

He enjoys cave fishing and dueling however does neither near or around the kingdom.

He is quick to use his station to quell a dispute, by word or gold that typically catches his targets off guard due to his young age and stature.

He is stocky, nimble, and can fights with several exotic weapons, and several traditional bits.

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Malchor

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The ruling head of the ruling house of the capital Royals Peak of the kingdom of the Cloud Spires. Mr. Saxburg, or Lord Malchor, is a fair minded man in his mid fifties; he sports a seasoned face, a stout set of muscles all over him and a generally calm demeanor.

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Keterog

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Disambiguation. Leads to Ketterrog.

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Great Eye Apparatus

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A large arcane eye floats some distance away from a home base located within the Church of Sun & Scroll.

The 'apparatus' is a machination within the church that allows a form of manual control over the eye and its position.

With the eye, one can observe the surface of Torril, in the northern range of mountains surrounding the Cloud Spires range.

It can move a great distance, and point in any direction, including away from the Torril, into astral space.

The eye is invisible, lacking any physical or implied form; it functions magically and oddly enough, the apparatus is not overtly magical in and of itself.

The apparatus is a receiver with its own magics that allow it to communicate with the arcane eyes transmissions.

In other words, the eye is the powerful super item, floating in low orbit astral space and the machination, or apparatus, is a mix of low level magicks akin to minor illusion for the display and a clairvoyance spell to receive what the eye is sending.

Most of the apparatus is made of bent and shaped metals with a housing for a large iralite block. It is specially shaped to ensure the iralite block does not touch the floor, and is keeps the heat generated aimed towards a vent in the wall. The displaying crystal is made of a magically resonant stone that's been pressed and polished. These are not made by anyone in the Cloud Spires and nobody rememebers off hand who built the thing.

It's probably written down somewhere..

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Waterdeep

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The only shore borne city in the north, until Luskan, another heavily defended and completely surviving city situated on Torrils terra surface.

Highly advanced in their technologies, the city appreciates a complement of the worlds finest engineers and researchers working together or against each other as goals might dictate.

The tumultuous social scene of the city is ever churning new talent to the surface in an effort to be the best at everything Waterdeep is and does.

"This town loves a winner." - Jarlaxle Baenre (probably)

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Council of Wyrms

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The Council of Wyrms is a loose knit grouping of the various dragons and their resident communities throughout the mountain ranges known to humanity as the Cloud Spires.

Metallics, chromatics and other entities are considered part of the 'structure'. Power is maintained through a mix of soft and hard influences, with challenges of authority issued on a sliding scale based on the issue in question.

The challenges match the issue in scope and mood, such that arguments may be settled by sporting events or all out war depending on the participants and their goal.

A simple guideline may be that matters of treasure do not typically involve bloodshed while land disputes or personal slights nearly always do.

The Cloud Spires Pact

For the most part, the agreement between the kingdom and the dragons can be summed up as, "You do you. Don't shit in our backyard."

The council and kingdom had come to a defensive agreement that saw humanity protected from the Frost Fire giants, long before the drow had allied with them.

When the dwarves attacked, the giants were forced underground and the dragons lost Ormarr dre Shun, the gold dragon.

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Petron'ex

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Residing in his domain within the peaks surrounding the Valley of Black Spines, he has presided over his empire for a few hundred years.

A sprawling and teeming population of kobolds worships him from their homes in the underground tunnels.

His kobolds loyal and fierce, serve to scout southward and send raids upon myconids, sverfneblin and drow interests when the dragon wishes it.

Petron'ex socializes with drow as far as Menzoberranzan and when he does so he does so as a purple skinned drow.

They stave from surface assaults although the occasional thefts are not uncommon.

Petron'ex has achieved the ability to polymorph, using this as part of his "argument" for his seat on the council. So far as he is concerned, the Council is fortunate that he wastes his time with them.

In truth, the council endures him for his military might is concerning and due to their defensive position regarding humanity, provide him with the presence he wishes.

Want not the wanton

Like any other member of his kind, Patron'ex appreciates his horde of treasure and his horde of followers.

He is an industrious dragon who learned early on that survival required friends, and like any dragon, friends equated mostly to worshippers.

Preferring kobolds to humans, Patron'ex gets his higher level social needs through council interactions and drow minglings.

Petron'ex long ago curbed his anger and allows his rage to fuel a powerfully tactical mind.

The Dark Under

The under dark regions of the vutha kevessa arux tendril downward with large and small tunnels weaving with the massive kobold population surrounding an underground basin, which is horribly sulphuric and a river that carries past, from which the population harvests lichen, fish and raises rothe.

The teeming underground population is checked by predators such as giant spiders and snakes, nemesis of the dragon, and the dragon itself through daily, near hourly sacrifices (it is quite an honour to be considered food for his lordship).

The Under mountain over

The peaks of the valley are tunneled as well, some due to old volcanic activity and some for the efforts of Petron'ex's kobolds.

The dragon makes his home in several of the vast chambers where rivers of magma still flow through his lair.

Life in the service

The kobolds that make up Petron'ex's populous regard him as their god. He receives a sacrifice of a hundred kobolds per day, ten new sacrifices every waking hour while he is resident in his lair.

He refrains from snacking while reviewing his interests, which include kobolds mining, constructing, or otherwise working throughout his "kingdom."

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Valley of Black Spines

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The Arux di Vutha Kevessa (valley of the black spines), vutha kevessa arux (black spines valley), is so named for the dead trees that rise up around the valley.

Looking as black spikes stabbing the horizon, the sparse 'forest' spreads around the valley perimeter similar to patchy facial hair.
The resident dragon Petron'ex holds domain within the under ground of this valley.

Open Secret

The surrounding kingdom of the Cloud Spires is mostly spared from incursion for one reason or another, some assuming for pact with the Council of Wyrms. Folks simply avoid the "dead tree valley by the shore" at all costs.

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Doctor Rogers

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A public practitioner who serves out of Royals Peak, Fred Rogers is a kindly and aging man operating his practice with the help of several Pelorites and Oghmites.

As a support to the Church, Dr. Rogers has been helping the population since the Church has become more militant and focused on excursions against Acereraks nexii.

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Cloud Spires Chronicles

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The story of a kingdom under fire and the heros forged by the flames.

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Mindon

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Mindon sits as the western most city of large population in the Cloud Spires kingdom.

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Edris

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A sibling of the Cannarde family,

He is an aged elf with greying blonde hair, and sharp features. He is a resident of Mindon and respected as a jeweler of some skill.

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Covenant of the Rose

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They are first and foremost, purists. Not as capable in direct conflict as the Silver, or as defensible as the Iron, the Rose is a covenant of soft techniques, and effective means.

The Rose seeks to amalgamate and cull the population of humanoids such that the best and brightest are part of their organization, or otherwise don't exist.

If you're the best dancer, you need to be a part of the Rose, or you need to die to maintain their supremacy.

The fact is however, that the Rose is high on formality and will make a grand show of dueling the individual in 'fair combat.'

The duels are often on home court, the weapons may often be imbalanced in some fashion, and a long list of justifications and reasons for the ensuing 'victory' is always at hand.

The Rose may be likened to a band of warlike and fascist lawyers campaigning across the skies in search of excellence.

They are regarded as 'psychotic' and unpredictable by most other organizations.

The Rose will lay siege for perceived slights, and petty motivations.

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