Meme, Day 18
Day 01 | Your favorite song
Day 02 | Your favorite movie
Day 03 | Your favourite television programme
Day 04 | Your favourite book
Day 05 | Your favourite quote
Day 06 | Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 07 | A photo that makes you happy
Day 08 | A photo that makes you angry/sad
Day 09 | A photo you took
Day 10 | A photo of you taken over ten years ago
Day 11 | A photo of you taken recently
Day 12 | Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 13 | A fictional book
Day 14 | A non-fictional book
Day 15 | A fanfic
Day 16 | A song that makes you cry (or nearly)
Day 17 | An art piece (painting, drawing, sculpture, etc.)
Day 18 | Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 19 | A talent of yours
Day 20 | A hobby of yours
Day 21 | A recipe
Day 22 | A website
Day 23 | A YouTube video
Day 24 | Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 25 | Your day, in great detail
Day 26 | Your week, in great detail
Day 27 | This month, in great detail
Day 28 | This year, in great detail
Day 29 | Hopes, dreams and plans for the next 365 days
Day 30 | Whatever tickles your fancy
Day 18 | Whatever tickles your fancy
Since this has been on my mind for a few days, here is a brief sketch of my prospective miniature D&D/Pathfinder campaign.
It took several days to finally get all of this typed out and minimally coherent, and so, I'm too tired to be bothered to proofread it.
Background
I'm alternating between a traditional fantasy and a steampunk (Eberron?) setting.
The world in general (or the relevant country of this world) is in something of a dark age. Culture is stagnant, innovation and invention are unheard of, buildings and bridges slowly crumble, famine and plague are widespread, and intermittent suicide cults spring up. Happy days are not here again.
The focal point of the back story is a recent schism in the state religion between the normal religious class and what I will refer to as Emo Death Clerics, emboldened by a recent solar eclipse to announce the presence of their cult within the state religion. It is worth noting that they worship the solar eclipse because blocking out the sun is emo and deathy. This was followed shortly after by a coup, in which the Emo Death Clerics emo-deathed a bunch of people and took over the state religion, and thus, the government.
Their first act was to send legions of fanatical followers on an invasion of the continent, and in days, millions had died and entire countries and city-states had fallen.
Emo Death Clerics are not to be taken lightly.
Session I
The campaign begins in media res, with all the people in the party are on the same merchant ship, itself in a fleet of merchant ships descending on the major port city of Dieppe (lol historical allusion) in the Emo Death Cleric Country.
Except it is actually a sneak attack by a rebel group fighting the new theocratic Emo Death rule, and the party members (depending on their alignment) are honorable freedom fighters, defenders of the true faith and government, or mercenaries.
The merchant ships dock in port, everything is normal, all is well, and SUDDENLY CANNONS. Cannons are rolled out on the decks of the merchant fleet and the rebels begin to bombard the city. The rebels, which include our party, pour out of the boats to do battle.
But its an epic fail battle, and almost everyone is killed or captured. Our party finds themselves in shackles, being hauled off...
Session II
Surprised by the sneak attack, and unable to manage so many prisoners, our party is led to rather makeshift holding areas; guards are few and far between, with many soldiers in the liege of the Emo Death Clerics still in battle in the harbor, holding pens are flimsy and often in open fields, and shackles consist of thin ropes in some cases. So makeshift, our party manages to use their wits and break out.
Or, they fail to escape because our party is nothing but bimbo fighters. In which case, after a quick sham trial by passing judges, which do little more than show up, take the name of the 'defendants', find them guilty, and sentence them, they are sentenced to working in the Mines of Barazgunud. Where they will dig mines in search of minerals.
It is here, while sneaking around the mine, or in sneaking around the internment camp during their escape, that they hear The Plan being discussed by Emo Death Clerics. The plan consists of incomprehensible war machine being built under the planet; the expansion of the Mines of Barazgunud, cited by the Emo Death Clerics as a grab for raw minerals to pay for their recent conquests, is actually expanding the machine being build underneath the earth.
It suddenly dwells on the party how advanced and sophisticated some of the 'mining equipment' they've seen is. If they managed to escape, they head back in to infiltrate the Mines.
Session III
The Mines of Barazgunud is more like the City of Barazgunud, and comparisons to the Underdark are legitimate. To compensate for the enormity of the Mines, small villages have formed, complete with bars, general stores, and inns catering to weak and weary miners. While many of the labors in the Mines are prisoners and enemies of the Emo Death Cult, most are professionals making a living. The Mines accommodate this.
Being in The Mines, and knowing of The Plan, our party descends into the depths of the planet, Dungeon Crawl style. Most of the people they encounter are prisoners, eager to be left alone on the misery of their labor and pose no threat--a few, actually, seem to understand that the party is an enemy to their captors, and will aid the party. But guards lurk at every corner and need to be taken out without causing a scene. Most of the guards, however, are low-level humanoid beasts--a slave caste. Hound Archons, perhaps There are several halls where Emo Death Clerics are huddled, installing the advanced machinery, and several other halls that are clearly booby trapped, probably protecting said machinery.
The first Emo Death Cleric they kill, a coward, weak in body, mind, and will, will slip up. He'll promise information to the party if he is spared. He'll tell the party of the Central Hub for the weapon, and offer a torn map. If they party is smart, they will kill him anyway.
The party advances, destroying machinery, killing guards, and evading or fighting Emo Death Clerics.
Session IV
Session IV opens with a tired, weary party. They've been in the Mines of Barazgunud for days, hiding among the prison labor, catching naps as in dark corners of the mines, fighting guards, and sabotaging machines. Likely, when the time has necessitated it, they even took to laboring themselves.
Eventually, however, a target of opportunity presents itself, and a high-ranking Archmage of the Emo Death Cult is walking absent his usually regal protection. The party has no choice but to ambush and strike, and doing so is fruitful. Frisking his dead body reveals a veritable library of information to go through, including details on the warmachine being built.
They are horrified to find blueprints and physics scribbled in small leather bound books, but the enormity of the undertaking makes even the most illiterate adventurer able to understand what he reads. The warmachine isn't a warmachine, but an engine.
The Mines of Barazgunud are being converted into a giant engine to launch the planet into the Sun, mimicking their holy solar eclipse. Any desire to turn around and head for the service fades away, and the party redoubles their effort.
Finally, they approach the Central Hub mentioned by the Emo Death Cleric in the second gaming session. He that Cleric was spared, than he had long sense alerted his superiors, and they battle will be that much tougher.
There is an epic fight at the Central Hub, and the leadership of the Emo Death Cult will be destroyed, as is their Planet Engine.
Or, the party fails, and the planet is launched into the sun.
Clearly, I have a lot of fleshing out left to do for this campaign.