Originaly posted on the TSR online message board (www.tsr.com) by "SaveMystara".

The following is an actual campaign I am running. In fact, most of what I am writing are the actual "boxed texts" that I write to read to the players. I have left it mostly as is, filling in here and there. The main point of the first part is to build a history around each character, so forgive any confusions...

Fiona stood in the village harbor of Port, looking out at the waves that lapped against the wharf. The sight reminded her of Alfeisle on which her people were just beginning to make their home when she left. Of course, no one she knew would still be alive this far into their future. Everyone she had known or loved was dead, for 1000 years is long and long even for an elf. She had a desire to see what had become of the Elven colony but she had no desire to meet the descendants of her peers and relations. An elf never liked to think of death and such a meeting could only cause her to ruminate on the temporality of life.

"Well, that’s the last of your books, Fiona." Aligorum set the bundle down on the deck with a thud. Her feline features were unreadable.

"Oh, thank you Ali." Fiona responded distractedly.

Aligorum narrowed her eyes at Fiona’s back, "What are your plans, Fiona?"

"My what?"

"Plans. What are your plans."

"Elves don’t tend to make such things, and yourself?" she smiled.

"It's about all we rakasta do. But we don't tell anyone of them."

The expression returned by Aligorum would have been an alarming show of wickedly sharp teeth to most people this far north. But Fiona saw it only as the comradely smile that it was.

"I suppose," Aligorum said, "That it is difficult to not have a home or a family."

"I suppose," Fiona replied.

"Let's travel together to Alpha. We will drink good wine and find those who can train us to be better warriors. Then perhaps we will go find some place of value to both of us." Fiona smiled a little sadly, "I would like that."

*****

Viscount T. Pendleton Waznust waved and watched as Captain Elsan’s ship moved away from Port. The first stop would be Alpha to drop off a few passengers and the 2nd would be Freiburg, capital of those damned storm soldiers. Bjorn had insisted that it was time for him to visit his homeland despite T’s protests. He shook his head. The boy had certainly come along way from the feckless youth who would have died in his one man war against the Heldannic Knights. T had made it clear that there would always be a place for him here in his viscounty. But Bjorn had tearfully replied that he needed to see his family and his homeland once again. He had promised to be careful and not get himself killed. Just for good measure the dwarf Zeno Ironfist had gone with him.

T laughed to himself. The dwarf would probably be more in need of Bjorn than the other way around. The last thing the viscount had done was make Bjorn promise to write often and visit when he could.

When the ship was finally out of sight T looked out at the ruined portions of the village of Port. There was a lot of work to be done yet. He sighed and moved slowly away from the wharf.

*****

Count Diego Don Ballisto of Ballistrae rubbed his eyes and stretched his aching back. Enough reading and studying. It was nearly time for Spring’s Dawn Festival and he would have to go to Alpha for it.

A knock on the door.

"Who the hell is it?" he inquired grumpily.

"Walter"

"Come in"

Walter was a balding, unassuming man. Excellent looks for his profession.

"Milord Count," he began.

"Wait," said Diego. He got up from where he sat and peered out the window. He waved his arms vaguely and said,

"Shatter!"

Walter cocked an eyebrow.

"There was a peasant nosing around too close."

"So you shattered him?"

"Mmm, maybe…"

Walter smiled to himself. He had found it quite odd at first that a ruler who wished to be seen as ruthless should be so well loved by his people. The fishermen of the village just seemed to ignore the Count’s occasional outbursts and looked upon him fondly anytime he grumbled. Of course, this only made the wizard grumble the more and make threatening gestures. The peasants took his gestures in stride though and remained loyal despite his comments about gallows and racks and shatterings.

"You did not. You would not kill one of your peasants unless it was absolutely necessary."

"Did you come by to make observations about my soft side or did you come to make your monthly report??"

"Both. The report is fairly simple. Norwold seems to be at peace right now though there are some areas that require mention. There are odd doings north of Regent Pass and Viscount T’s dominion suffered pretty badly during the—"

"Wait. What about these odd doings?"

"Not sure really. Lights, odd structures appearing over night. The information is obscure at this point."

"Very interesting." Diego stroked his beard and looked out the window.

*****

Kwang Chai Kaine or Caine Brightspear, as he was known among the tribe members, sat with his legs crossed and his arms resting upon his knees.

Find the center. Find the center. The center. A swirling mass of darkness. Long ago the belief had died that this was merely the backs of his eyelids. This was possibility. To the uninitiated this was the future. But to Caine, this was possibility. The realm of being. Eternity was within himself. The soul was infinite.

"Brightspear? I am sorry to interrupt your meditations."

"You do not interrupt them, Kallaig. You were ordained to come to me at this time." Kallaig of the northern barbarians scowled for a moment, unseen by the blind mystic who sat before him. His tribe owed much to Caine, Caine’s servant Pellius, and to Caine’s teacher Mentoril. Upon their arrival they had driven out the druids and taught the tribe to rely on themselves rather than human sacrifices to please the gods and spirits that walked the earth. But whenever Caine spoke of destiny or something being ordained it gave Kallaig the shivers. Magic was something to be feared, not openly embraced.

"Mentoril wishes to speak with you."

"Thank you Kallaig."

Caine arose and stretched. Kallaig helped him find his spear and aided him in stepping over the rocks just outside the cave. But from there Caine’s feet knew the way even if his eyes did not. Stepping carefully and using his spear only a little for balance he came to the hut in which Mentoril lived. He had lost his sight driving the sword of destiny through the evil artifact that the mage Alak Dool had held. The sword and the artifact were both destroyed...along with Caine's sight. He held no bitterness though, such was destiny.

The Arrival

The Thyatian trading post had been destroyed almost 1000 years ago and yet the ruined walls and foundations were still strong enough to provide the framework for the city of Alpha. 60,000 people lived in the city or the surrounding farmlands. Most of them were Alphatian but there were quite a few people from the southern nations represented as well. Though the harbor could support many large ships, only a few were docked. There was no real Norwold Navy as yet.

The lords of Norwold and their king rode out from the city to the place of the magical disturbance that had been described by Lord Diego and the blind mystic Caine. It was a somewhat secluded spot at the edge of the mountains secured snugly between two foothills. Yet it was not difficult to find…

"Its huge," breathed an awestruck lady of Ericall’s court.

It was a circular swirl of midnight blue. Like the top of a flat whirlpool that had been removed from a dark ocean and set on its side in mid-air. It was too high to reach from the ground as the edge of the circle was a good 20 feet above the ground. Lightning flashes could be seen dimly behind the blue though the sky overhead was clear.

The Lords ordered their men to fan out and inspect the area. Hours passed with no explanation for the strange disturbance in the air. The mages present gave various theories…but of course information as yet was inconclusive. A few of the braver mages offered to use their powers to fly to the disk and observe it close, maybe even cast a few analyzing magics to further study the aberration.

The king shook his head. He wanted to have the thing observed for awhile. Maybe even post a watch garrison. Oddly the thing was set near a pass in the mountains. A very strategic pass. King Ericall did not want anything to harm his loyal mages if the thing turned out to be some sort of attack.

In the end it was fortunate that none of them flew up to the disk. For all of a sudden the whole thing flashed once. Lightning rippled across the surface in threatening waves as thunder crackled ominously. Those gathered loosened their weapons and waited with tense apprehension.

Then…the point of something large and wooden appeared in approximately the center of the spinning disk. Lightning ripped and danced about its edges as it came. It was like a huge arrowhead constructed of wood with a glass strip running across the top of it. People could be faintly seen moving behind the black glass. As more of the vessel followed slowly behind the fore, it could be seen the shaft with its walkway caused the head to resemble more a giant neck craning down. Then came the body which was fashioned very much like a ship complete with masts. Two more ship like structures, one on either side, were attached to this middle one.

With a sharp wrenching sound the thing broke free of the swirling mystical portal. Flying from one of the masts could be clearly seen a flag with the royal sphinx of Alphatia emblazoned on it. Lining the railings were many men in black uniforms with red body sashes. They were bearing staves and standing at attention. Wand holsters hung from their belts.

"Make ready!" a voice cried from the air ship, "Make ready for the arrival of his most illustrious highness the imperial prince Zandor!"

Court is held

"And so," the kind was saying to the hastily assembled lords in the palace of Alpha, "We must endeavor to show his imperial highness the respect and honor that is due his station. He is the likely heir to Empress Eriadna the Wise, and it would benefit our beloved Kingdom for him to remember us kindly-"

A black haired man with an arrogant expression came through the open double doors and announced, "His imperial highness, the prince!"

"You are correct baby brother. You would do well to be most respectful to me. However, as news must travel here very slowly, I must inform you that I am not the likely heir. I am THE heir. Ethandryl has stepped down in favor of ruling the ancestral lands. She was the only one standing in my way."

King Erical cleared his throat, "We apologize for the oversight. We were indeed unaware of this development. But what brings you to our fair Kingdom of Norwold dear imperial brother?"

"Ah yes," Zandor smiled, "getting right to the point, I am here to discover why the taxes, which are this colony’s loyal duty, are late again this season."

"We sent them over a month ago, so they should arrive at the capital soon. But speaking of late, We found it most unfortunate that the mother country did not listen to her vassal kingdom’s pleas for aid. We would wonder that the crown considers us so frightfully unimportant as to allow our loss…"

Imperial prince Zandor rolled his eyes, "Must you use that silly archaic speech unfortunate brother? Very well. In any case it was indeed unfortunate that, just as the taxes came late, so did you message of aid request. But to see that such unfortunate occurrences do not happen again, I have had built the great gate which you saw back at the neck of the peninsula.

Count Diego and Countess Maximillian exchanged sharp glances at the implications of such a gate being built at the strategic neck of the Alphan peninsula.

"So it is a permanent gate?" Breathed Coiger de Mory, a recent noble who had been promoted rather quickly to count.

The imperial highness did not even look at Count Coiger, "Now it is a sad thing, brother, but the crown has started to see this slowness in paying your proper duty to be a sign of rebellion."

Ericall leaned forward ominously, "Are you accusing any of us here, of treason?"

Zandor waved his hand dismissively, "I am not making any accusations, Eric. I am merely stating what the crown has begun to think. And this is not a reflection on you necessarily. There are many who serve you who come from other lands. Their loyalty is unknown by the crown…"

Ericall exploded, "This is an outrage! I can stomach your petty insults and diatribes but I will not have my loyal lords questioned!"

"Oh calm down before you pop a vessel, lad."

The assembled lords stared in shock as the king seemed about to say something with a dread sense of finality. But Queen Christina Marie Alanira came forward and quickly whispered to the king. After a terse explanation of a quiet conference with his queen and loyal advisor, the two majesties departed.

His imperial prince Zandor waited with his eyes on the ceiling. About twenty minutes later the two returned.

It was the queen who spoke, "It is understandable that the imperial crown must question the loyalty of those who serve her whom she does not know. Therefore it is Norwold’s decision to send a group of lords and attendants to the capital. There to pledge loyalty to the crown. It was good of you to deliver this message and helpful advice to us dear imperial brother." She smiled sweetly at him.

Zandor blinked.

"Further," Queen Christina continued, "as the crown must be aware of Norwold’s extreme financial situation such a trip could do great harm to the people and meager magical research of the colony. Surely the crown would be so generous as-"

"Certainly," Zandor quickly recovered, "Such a trip would be good for those who serve Norwold but first and foremost of course the imperial crown. They will learn of the Alphatian empire and those whom they serve."

"Excellent," Queen Christina’s smile was that of a blazing sun, "I shall make contact with a friend from the capital and he will guide them in their exploration. All that is left is to decide who is to go. My thanks, imperial brother."

Zandor nodded, confused, and left.

Ericall looked up at the assembled lords, "Reactions?"

One lord muttered, "Seems to me this gate is situated strategically if an invasion of Norwold came from Alphatia herself."

"Careful Weston," said King Ericall, "You border on treason."

He nodded, conceding the point.

"Now, do we have any volunteers?"

The volunteers meet with the king and queen The queen said, "Master Terari is on his way here. We are very fortunate that he has elected to aid you in your tour of the Alphatian continent. He has taken an extended sabbatical from his teaching duties at the University of Sundsvall. Since the crown is paying for this trip I have outlined a course that will take you over much of the empire. Even so, keep in mind that the area you are seeing comprises less than half of the empire as a whole."

A messenger entered the room and spoke briefly with the king. He politely excused himself, and Queen Christian continued. She explained more fully the course of the trip including the tour of the ship facilities, and the tour of an Alphatian Man O’War. She further explained that she, not necessarily the king himself, wanted the lords to keep an eye out for ship masters willing to invest in the "as-yet-to-be-built" Norwold Navy.

Viscount T. Pendleton Waznust glared at the Glantrian as he boarded the vessel. Count Diego was an arrogant wizard who had established himself in Norwold long before T. Supposedly he was a master wizard who had graduated from the Great School of Magic and had come to Norwold to retire. But his "acts of heroism" had earned him a place in the nobility and action had been fair often.

Their eyes met for a moment, then T turned to find something interesting in the day sky.

For his part, Diego wondered why such a pompous young whippersnapper like T had been staring at him. The Thyatian mage had made quite a name for himself as the party wizard for "Halav's Avengers". When the king had offered them all lands, only T had accepted. No doubt this was evidence of his overweening pride. Diego would have to get around to whipping the boy at some point...

"So, Ali cat, why did you decide to come?"

Aligorum glared at the elf, Fiona, and replied, "I prefer you call me by my name, Aligorum, or my race, Gramalkin."

The cat woman then turned and preened herself almost absent mindedly, pretending not to notice T and Diego pretending not to notice each other.

"Gentlebeings!" A voice called. It was the old man from Alphatia. Terari. He had arrived with much pomp and circumstance earlier that day. Sandralane of Glantri, and a few other lords of Norwold, had felt he was too familiar with the Queen when he had greeted her. But no mind, he was the honored guide for the trip...

"The plank is being pulled, and the sails unfurled. We embark on a trip of great moment."

The old man's voice took on a lecturing tone.

"Westerners often speak of their lands as "The Known World". Of course, at the center of the world, we tend to find this somewhat amusing."

Terari chuckled at his humor, but no one else did. He did not seem to notice.

"I ask that you keep open minds to all that you see. You will be in lands that will appear most strange at times, and maybe even a little fearsome. If you find that you are afraid of what you see, this is good. For there is much to fear in Alphatia."

"Yes, yes," T said tiredly, "Alphatia, wonderful place. Can I go to my cabin now?"

Terari looked at T for a moment. The space of silence grew long and uncomfortable. T broke the other man's gaze and stared at the planking, suddenly feeling like a chastened schoolboy.

"Now then," Terari continued, as if he had not been interrupted, "You will see a land that is ancient and powerful. Before the lands you grew up in were young, there was Alphatia. Alphatia, which rose from the central southern portion of the continent..."

Glancing over at Aligorum, Terari frowned in irritation at the cat woman who had taken out a small statue of a shrew. Placing it upon the ground, she spoke a command word and the statue came to life. It immediately fled the rakasta, who delighted in catching it by the tail and then letting it go.

Terari scowled, "Well then, you will see the empire soon enough I suppose..."

*****

Helskir was the first stop.

Countess Sandralane stared at the harbor as they waited to dock. They had unfortunately come into port just as the fishing ship were coming in for the day. Loads of fish were being deposited on the inadequate docks.

Sandralane took notice of the unfinished wooden wall around the mansion of Admiral Zaar. Admiral Zaar? The countess remembered when the man had been a baron of Norwold...all 10 weeks of it.

His lands had been ceded to King Ericall in the original birthday gift of the Kingdom to the Empress' son. But Zaar had balked. He began sending his taxes to Sundsval directly instead of first to Alpha, as was his due. Now the man was going by "Admiral", a title he had earned in the Haven navy.

Aligorum quietly padded up to where Countess Sandralane stood. Sandralane watched with amusement as the rakasta's ears twitched. Her gaze was on the piles and piles of fish being loaded on the docks.

Hours later, as the group went into town to find lodging, Aligorum still stood at the docks, watching the fish flopping about. Diego noticed her approaching one of the fisherman.

Whatever she was about to ask the man was lost as Count T said, "Fiona and I are going to market to find some food. Let us know when you find lodging. We will meet you in the local tavern, one of the sailors said it was the Salty something or other..."

Diego moved off into the crowd without answering. Soon he found "The Happy Hamster" which was an inn boasting 3 floors and 12 rooms.

Upon plopping down a pile of platinum and inquiring about renting the entire place, the Innkeeper immediately went to one of the 1st floor rooms and opened the door.

"Get out! Get out you lazy drunkard! I don't care if'n ye are kin!"

Turning back to Count Diego, the Innkeeper bowed, "There milord, the entire Inn is thine!"

*****

T and Fiona found the market easily enough. Helskir was not very large, and the fish market took up most of the central portion. Smoked fish of all types could be found, apparently the major import and export was fish. Salmon, trout, marlin and whale were all present. Especially salmon...

Purchasing a few smoked fish steaks, wrapped in foil, the two moved off toward a tavern called "The Salty Orster".

Inquiring within, they discovered there were a few simple rooms and a common room. They decided to wait in the tavern until Diego found them.

*****

Count Diego approached a group of young men and women who were standing and discussing the exciting news of the day. Apparently some strangers were in town and they were from Norwold. Perhaps the king of that land had decided to put pressure on good Admiral Zaar.

Count Diego asked, "You fellows, can you play any instruments?"

They looked at him as if he was daft.

"Can you beat on things?"

One of the women answered reluctantly, "My brother plays the flute."

"Excellent! Gather him and any other musicians you can find and meet at the top floor of the Happy Hamster."

"Why?" One of the men asked suspiciously.

"Call me eccentric..." Diego started setting out a pile of platinums on the ground, "But I do enjoy alot of noise as I sleep. Use this money to purchase as much food and drink as you like. Keep the rest. Split it amongst yourselves. There is more like it in the morning for you if you play good and loud well into the night. It will be a party!"

The young people shrugged, took the money and moved off. Diego continued to the Salty Orster.

*****

Aligorum leaned against a wall and looked down at the bucket of fish she had purchased. They were still flopping. She was happy.

*****

T exploded, "Diego! You have left us waiting here for too long! Have you gotten the room?"

Diego put on his best hurt expression, "Yes, of course. I was simply ensuring the suite I rented for you was adequate. It is the 2nd floor of the Happy Hamster. Go there and have a good night. I am going to stay up for a while."

*****

T left in a huff. Diego started chuckling almost as soon as he was gone.

"What is it? What did you do?" Fiona asked suspiciously.

"Nothing! Nothing at all..."

*****

T gently held his head. The noise last night from the crowd upstairs had been overwhelming. He supposed the group had been attempting some sort of music but, the sounds that pounded through floor had not much resembled anything artistic.

He arose, stretched, and headed downstairs to the first floor of "The Happy Hamster" where he met Fiona.

"Sleep well?" She asked.

"Not at all. Blasted locals were having a party or something. You?"

"I had a very restful sleep. But then, Diego suggested at the last minute that I join him and the others at the Salty Orster."

T scowled suspiciously.

The two of them joined Caine, Aligorum, and Diego out in the street. The 5 of them seemed to be the only inhabitants of the town, as the fishermen had left before the sun's rising to ply their trade.

Thus when the soldiers came, Halav's Avengers knew who they were looking for.

"I am Jord, Captain of the Guard for Helskir. The city is honored that such illustrious folk as yourself have come to visit. Admiral Zaar respectfully requests your presence at his home that he may welcome you properly."

Count T turned and asked no one in particular, "I suppose we can't respectfully refuse..?"

*****

Admiral Zaar's home was fairly spartan in appearance. The wooden wall being built around it would go a long way to making it more defensible. Just to the north of the town, the house had been built on a small jutting peninsula on an overlooking hill.

The carriage stopped and deposited the lords of Norwold. The guards ushered them into the dining room where the admiral awaited them. He was a large man dressed in fine brightsilver chainmail with furs and a deep red cloak.

He shook hands with his guests and proclaimed, "It is good to meet you! I trust your journey was in comfort?"

Count Diego shrugged and Count T nodded.

"Good! Good! Please, have a seat. I do hope you have not breakfasted yet."

"As a matter of fact," T began.

"No we haven't," Aligorum answered quickly, while licking her sharp, white teeth.

"Most excellent."

The scrambled eggs and smoked salmon was quite good, and the wine was excellent.

After breakfast Admiral Zaar spoke again, "I have something special planned for you. I hope you don't mind. I am given to understand that boar hunts, and hunting in general, are a sport in Norwold. I understand that lords and ladies are often welcomed with a hunt and therefore that is what I have prepared. A boar hunt!"

"Ah, well, we..." T began.

"Fear not! I have prepared the horses and the spears. I have taken the liberty of asking the kind merchant who is ferrying you, to wait till tonight to disembark. You are not on any particular timeframe are you?"

"Ah, well, no," T said carefully, "But, ah, you do realize that, um, well we understand that relations between Norwold and Helskir have not always been..."

Admiral Zaar looked at T in shock, "Speak no more of it! The way I see it, we colonial powers should stick together."

He placed a hand on his own lips, "I speak not treason of course. I merely mean that we are stronger together, and should not bicker."

"Exactly my feeling." T said.

"And therefore we should celebrate with a hunt!"

*****

"Am I gripping the spear correctly, Norwold lords?"

Admiral Zaar's question was obviously intended to be polite. His grip was that of a practiced huntsman.

Count T sat sulking upon his horse as he watched the rest of the group lining up at the edge of the clearing. He did not really want to be here. He wanted to be on the road--or on the sea rather. But he could see no polite way out of this precious boar hunt!

Admiral Zaar had sent his men to the far side of the forest to flush out the game.

Suddenly, the shrubbery erupted as a huge squealing form came crashing out of the bushes. Diego took a stab at it but missed. At the same time the group heard a startled cry from T.

Two men in leather were upon him and stabbing at him with daggers. T clutched at a wound in his throat.

Three mages appeared in various spots at the clearing and began casting. Aligorum grabbed Caine and dragged him toward the thieves. A pressure on his arm alerted him to when they were in range.

Caine took his spear and thrust it forward and back. He spun and caught the blade of one of the thieves against the mid area of the spear.

Diego let fly a bolt of plasma from his outstretched hand. T's eyes widened as the bolt struck the boar, killing it.

T fumbled for his wand and brought it to bear at one of the mages. Releasing the magic, a blast of lightning seared the masked, flame-robed mage.

*****

*****

Leaving Helskir behind, Terari advises his audience while they are at sea:

"You may not be aware, but Dunadale is built upon an old drained bog. There are many bogs in the outlying areas. A decayed vegetative matter develops in these bogs, called peat moss, which is dried and cut into bricks by the people of Dunadale. The bricks are used to heat homes and taverns.

It is the acidic quality of the soil that causes peat to only partially decay. Now, why the bogs of Dunadale are so acidic is a question that has not been answered. Perhaps a powerful and ancient black dragon died there. Or perhaps many small ones live among the bogs…

There are plants which grow specific to the bogs. If you venture therein, you may find heaths, sedges, conifers, and the occasional carnivorous plant. Of course, the cranberry grows in abundance, as this is the major export of Dunadale. The cranberry is a small red fruit with a sharp taste. Beetles, birds, dragonflies, mosquitoes, frogs, salamanders, and lemmings also thrive therein.

One special plant you may find, should you be so lucky, is the spider root. The spider root plant may be used in the casting of binding spells like web and flesh to stone."

*****

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