Post by Joseph Barros on Dec 22, 2008 14:37:45 GMT -8
Prologue
The world has never been a safe place. Bastions of civilization populate a dark, menacing world—islands of order and reason exist in a land otherwise overrun by dark cults, vile monsters, creatures from the dark edges of the imagination, and worse. As deadly as the world is on a normal day, something has begun to stir on the fringes of the civilized Elsir Vale. Formerly the site of an attack by an army known as the Red Hand, the Vale has known several years of peace since brave adventurers stormed into the teeth of the approaching Hand and sent them scurrying back into the darkness.
But the peace of Elsir Vale—and specifically, the town of Brindol, heart of the former conflict with the Red Hand—has been shattered. The vague shadow of unease the locals have been experiencing lately has crystallized in the form of an attack on the town itself. Brindol found itself once more in need of brave heroes willing to come to the aid of their citizens.
And heroes it found. A band of misfits determined to forge their own destiny came to the town's defense and were able to stop the reformation of the Red Hand. In the end, however, the attempt to revive the Red Hand's goal to destroy all of human society and rebuild upon its ashes was found to be almost laughable.
10 years ago the half-dragon hobgoblin warrior Azarr Kul managed to unite hobogoblins, dragons, giants, and various other terrible monsters under one banner. Only the leadership and ultimate sacrifice of a small band of legendary heroes were able to stop him. Heroes whose memories were made permanent with iron statues erected in the town center. The hobgoblin Sinruth, in his attempt to revive the Red Hand, could barely keep his own kin from killing eachother, let alone anything as grandiose as what Azarr Kul had managed. Sinruth was a poor choice to fill the shoes of the one who had become the most feared enemy general in history.
But the band of misfits found clues. Scraps of anonymously signed paper and other odd unidentifiable markings, hinting that Sinruth may have been nothing but a mere pawn, a diversion even to distract interlopers away from a much more sinister plot.
The heroes of Brindol made their way to the great city of Overlook to continue their search and to alert the leaders of the Elsir Vale that what appeared to be a minor threat may actually be the first of many omens of a greater threat at work.
The heroes of Brindol began to build an even greater reputation for themselves over the course of the past year. A number of small threats arose only to be put down by the heroes. Any one of the threats by themselves would have been meaningless except for the fact that they were so numerous. It was becoming more and more clear to the heroes that something in the Elsir Vale was attracting various evils to the area. Evils that immediately began to attempt spread chaos and destruction wherever they roamed until defeated.
Thus far the the monsters have not been overly difficult to deal with, but all involved have noticed a progressively increasing mortality rate in the area and the encounters have been coming closer and closer to resulting in defeat. If something isn't done to ferret out the "evil magnet" it may only be a matter of time before something so terribly ferocious and powerful arrives and proves to be more than the citizens of the Elsir Vale can handle...
The world has never been a safe place. Bastions of civilization populate a dark, menacing world—islands of order and reason exist in a land otherwise overrun by dark cults, vile monsters, creatures from the dark edges of the imagination, and worse. As deadly as the world is on a normal day, something has begun to stir on the fringes of the civilized Elsir Vale. Formerly the site of an attack by an army known as the Red Hand, the Vale has known several years of peace since brave adventurers stormed into the teeth of the approaching Hand and sent them scurrying back into the darkness.
But the peace of Elsir Vale—and specifically, the town of Brindol, heart of the former conflict with the Red Hand—has been shattered. The vague shadow of unease the locals have been experiencing lately has crystallized in the form of an attack on the town itself. Brindol found itself once more in need of brave heroes willing to come to the aid of their citizens.
And heroes it found. A band of misfits determined to forge their own destiny came to the town's defense and were able to stop the reformation of the Red Hand. In the end, however, the attempt to revive the Red Hand's goal to destroy all of human society and rebuild upon its ashes was found to be almost laughable.
10 years ago the half-dragon hobgoblin warrior Azarr Kul managed to unite hobogoblins, dragons, giants, and various other terrible monsters under one banner. Only the leadership and ultimate sacrifice of a small band of legendary heroes were able to stop him. Heroes whose memories were made permanent with iron statues erected in the town center. The hobgoblin Sinruth, in his attempt to revive the Red Hand, could barely keep his own kin from killing eachother, let alone anything as grandiose as what Azarr Kul had managed. Sinruth was a poor choice to fill the shoes of the one who had become the most feared enemy general in history.
But the band of misfits found clues. Scraps of anonymously signed paper and other odd unidentifiable markings, hinting that Sinruth may have been nothing but a mere pawn, a diversion even to distract interlopers away from a much more sinister plot.
The heroes of Brindol made their way to the great city of Overlook to continue their search and to alert the leaders of the Elsir Vale that what appeared to be a minor threat may actually be the first of many omens of a greater threat at work.
The heroes of Brindol began to build an even greater reputation for themselves over the course of the past year. A number of small threats arose only to be put down by the heroes. Any one of the threats by themselves would have been meaningless except for the fact that they were so numerous. It was becoming more and more clear to the heroes that something in the Elsir Vale was attracting various evils to the area. Evils that immediately began to attempt spread chaos and destruction wherever they roamed until defeated.
Thus far the the monsters have not been overly difficult to deal with, but all involved have noticed a progressively increasing mortality rate in the area and the encounters have been coming closer and closer to resulting in defeat. If something isn't done to ferret out the "evil magnet" it may only be a matter of time before something so terribly ferocious and powerful arrives and proves to be more than the citizens of the Elsir Vale can handle...