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The Legend of Goe Orthrond, the Kaer of Terror
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INTRODUCTION
Since roughly the middle of May of 2003, friends of mine and I have been playing a Play-by-Forum Role-Playing Game version of Warhammer Fantasy Role-Play. Sometime in 2005 we switched over to 2nd Edition. Although all of us that have played this game, including players who didn't play a full game "session" -what most forum junkies would call a thread-, have gone through various real-life ordeals, including myself, we have all remained as loyal as possible to the game and, as a result, it has gone very far, indeed. This is all due to the steadfastness of the players -despite any lack of GM prowess I have had from time-to-time- and the idea that all of us believe this is a game worth continuing to play.
What follows is our story, from the beginning...
Mothers tell their children horror stories about huge and scary monsters who will come to eat them if they do not eat their peas, wash their hands, clean their rooms, or go to bed on time. Most of the time the stories are false, prevarications designed only for the purpose of getting a child to obey. However, sometimes the stories are legends which were, at one time or another, true or which are made true, or become true, by the whim and will of those very children who grow up to become adults with questionable motives.
One such story happens to be a legend from as far back as the beginning of the second age, when magic was an every day fact of life, accepted as part of life and not shunned in the least, as it is now. Those who wielded the higher magics began to abuse them, to use them against one another, having wars between guilds and inter-village, inter-city, rivalries, when destruction of life was not controlled.
The Kingdom of Aleushes, in which some of the worst acts of magical terror took place, with the intended result to bring an end to the reign of King Hegeneith, fourteenth King of Aleushes, the most outspoken supporter of putting world-wide laws in place with his neighboring Kings against such evil and wide-spread use of magic. The King conscripted an army of specialists from far and wide, making those who proved themselves worthy into Generals who would lead armies of regular men into the mouth of hell to destroy those who would use magic for such evil, and any constructs they brought about by the use of that magic.
The King was not aware of the truth behind such destruction, that the very mages accused and, in his eyes, guilty of these acts were fighting to clean up the mess they had, collectively, created. Through their petty rivalries and ignorance of their true potential and power, they unwittingly fed massive power to the various ley lines(lines of magic power connected over the face of the whole Earth) and, at three points, portals to dimensions stacked with evil were opened. It is said that chaos may have come from there if, indeed, the legend comes to truth. The mages, once they realized what evil they had committed, banded together and set aside old hatreds to fight this evil they had wrought. Unfortunately, what that meant was the destruction of towns and villages throughout the Old World in order to rid the world of this evil; eventually, the mages of that time were able to round up thousands of these evil spirits and beings, though they were unable to get them all, and closed them within the quarter mile thick walls and labyrinthine corridors of the underground city of Okandiel Crianass, a Dwarven City in a mineral rich portion of the Old World at the foot of what are now called the Grey Mountains.
King Hegeneith's army followed closely on the heels of the mage guilds and worked hard to slay as many mages as they possibly could, chasing them also into the bowels of Okandiel Crianass. However, once the mages were inside, they did something very strange, closing the doors, locking themselves inside the Dwarven Kaer. Over twenty mages remained outside and cast wards of protection and powerful locks on the massive doors through which the evil, and their brethren, had just passed. The mages outside were killed, their work complete, and a massive battle for the Old World took place within the walls of the city.
For nearly two-hundred days the soldiers kept watch over the gates to the city, listening to the horrific screams of those trapped inside and the sounds of combat, of magic, sword and shield, taking place. They could not unlock the magically sealed doors to help their Dwarven brethren slay the mages and their horrors. By the end of the sixth month, however, the King devised a plan to bury the mages within the Dwarven city, to ensure the city would never be found again. By the end of the eighth month, the doors to the city were completely buried, the landscape for a full mile in all directions around the city changed to be unrecognizable by anyone, even Dwarves and old Rangers who might come close to the city. The soldiers were slain so none could speak of the horrific place to anyone, used as mortar to hold concealing rocks in place.
The region was renamed Goe Orthrond and given to several Elven Generals in the King's army for safe-keeping. Within three decades a heavy forest was planted over a thousand square miles to further conceal the old Dwarf city, which grew well and faster than normal. In time the Elf Generals passed from this world or moved from Goe Orthrond into the Loren Forest, and the forest of Goe Orthrond took on a life of its own and continued to grow, thick and extremely dangerous in some regions, while chaos moved into the forest, removing the Elven tree villages by force and by fire. By the end of the second age the King of Aleushes, knowing the wood to be haunted and nearing the stage of legend, ordered all but the most secret historicals to be purged of the record of the haunted Dwarven city, and eventually even the location of Goe Orthrond was forgotten, becoming simply another part of the world.
Until recently the forest has been quiet in a region of the Grey Mountains well south of the Loren Forest and south-east of Quenelles, close to the foot of the Grey Mountains. For nearly eighteen months, now, however, inhabitants of the region have been disappearing without a trace, and carcasses of those found are chewed, digested in some manner of ugly yellow and milky foam, or otherwise disfigured in any number of ways. Villages around the forest, both Elf-Kind and Man, have exchanged stories of the ground around their villages shaking, about an increase in top soil that seems to be killing crops and the trees of the forest. Beyond that, one village was destroyed only weeks ago by fire burning throughout that part of the forest.
Stories have begun to circulate among the various large cities, and even some of the larger villages, about these problems, and the very young and foolish, desiring to make their mark in the world, are beginning to travel to the region in droves. The first who have gone to explore these woods have not returned or been found, yet that is no deterrent to many others going to seek their fortunes. After all, life is a risk, is it not?
The Empire and the Bretonnian's have even raised their head and begun to take a look at that region more closely. Requests for trade and supplies to and from that area have become more numerous and it is costing the Empire much to aid this region. The King has ordered a gathering of the Empire's best minds to assemble at Averheim, in order to seek out this problem and bring it to a head before Bretonnia, which has already threatened action if this Imperial problem is not resolved quickly, comes to war; a war the Empire can ill afford, with recent incursions beyond the borders of Kislev and Norsca into the Empire in the north requiring the realignment of legions of Soldiers and conscripts. Were Bretonnia, a peaceful neighbor and occasional ally, to be angered the peace would be lost and the Empire would be sucked into a war it would not be able to win.
Your characters have been hired as muscle, and for any 'special' skills they possess. If you are an apprentice, your Master is hired to perform services of protection and conveyance for these officials, and you are along to carry the golf clubs.
For those of you coming to the game late, I will post a journalized version as soon as I have it ready for posting, and you may join the game at the point which everyone is at. I do not believe in making characters starting into a campaign which has been proceeding for a while, start at a lower level, or completely from scratch, so I will advance your character along a logical path in accordance with the needs of the game, based on the initial character you create.
For all players, the basic rules of the game are outlined on the forums, and are subject to change, although they are basically what you will find in 2nd Edition Warhammer Fantasy Role-Playing Game, supplemented by 1st Edition and Liber Fanatica material. Dice rolls will be required where necessary, and you will be required to keep up with the game. If you are unable to keep up with the game through no fault of your own, please email me with your reasons and your problems and I will handle your
character until you are able to return, but only for a maximum of two weeks. If you are not back by then, your character becomes an NPC for me to toy with. If you come back later, and have good reason for your absence, I will consider allowing you to have your character back with all necessary advances. If you want to come play this game, but do not post, and post often, I will let you go from this game, your character will become an NPC, and you will be removed from the mail list.
Tithenon, Caretaker and GameMaster, Fellowship of the Wolf
Proceed to the map and basic game description, which leads into a digest version of the story to-date.
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