E
Eoin Kydemones
Eoin's story is coming... [read more]
Campaign
Champions of the Kydemones
This campaign takes place in the world of Qawz'mahautë. Since I'm not the DM, I don't know too much about this world yet and it's not possible to give a comprehensive overview. My character Fenn is learning as we go. But the DM did give us a nice picture of the general landscape. Here it is, in more or less his words!
Overview of Qawz'mahautë
In a land where gods and monsters prevail, humans must use everything at their disposal to muster the strength to survive and thrive. Unable to attain magic by their own means, mortals must often turn to the gods for the power and fortitude to protect themselves and make their way in a brutal world. The old gods are willing to bestow potent supernatural gifts and access to their otherworldly power in exchange for unwavering devotion, perpetual worship, and service. While the worship of this Stygea Pantheon is in many ways one religion, there is much infighting, both in myth and recent-history, over which god rules supreme or is most relevant.
In what seems like the distant-past to those living there now, small groups of humans were brought to a new continent. Though many of the specific details are lost to them, both history and local legends show it to be around that time that a new pantheon came into being: a whole hierarchy of gods antithetical to the Stygea Pantheon, furnishing humanity with a set of codified guidelines based around bettering the quality of life, harmonious living and the importance of disseminating morality and knowledge, in contrast to the Stygean paradigm of simply gaining power. Recently, followers of this new Pantheon of D'murge have begun to be granted powers akin to those given to worshippers of Stygea, though on a much less widespread scale. Neither pantheon of gods are in the habit of showing themselves visibly to their followers, but the gifts humans can acquire through their worship keeps faith strong and many people devote their lives to learning more about the two dichotomous sets of gods.
Though the gods may seem benevolent and willing to help humans prosper, there are many beings to be found in the landscape who are not. Ancient and mostly beyond human understanding, species like the Ashoni, Balimala, Dagana, Gnarla and Mahrem are but a few examples of sentient anthropoids that can be found on this continent. Along with fully sentient species are a whole slew of monsters, many associated with different deities of the old gods. These often keep to areas of wilderness, but some can be found underground or have even been summoned from other planes of existence. The continent is ancient, even if humanity can count their time there in but centuries. But most of all it is a dangerous and largely inhospitable place for humanity.
The Setting of the Campaign
Within Qawz'mahautë, and within the broad spectrum of adherents to the newer D'Murge religion, there is a religious order called the Kydemones, which maintains an Academy in one of the major cities in our starting region, called Nauem. The Academy primarily trains women, but will take orphaned infant boys and raise them in the ways of the order. All such men are given the surname "Kydemones", unless and until they marry and take their spouse's surname. All of our player characters for this campaign have some tie to the Academy, and were either raised there or trained there.
The campaign begins some distance away from Nauem at a Kydemones monastery called Highbury Monastery, where Fenn, Evendur, and Orwin have been stationed. Rianne has just arrived from Nauem with an urgent mission from the Academy...
Characters
Evendur Haldira
Evendur's story is coming... [read more]
Fennin Gilear
Fennin Gilear is the oldest member of his party, but with age comes wisdom. It seems that Fenn has
spent some amount of his former life studying language, history, and the healing arts, because he
speaks not only his native Monean but also Litou, Ashoni, and Ablim. These days, however, Fenn... [read more]
O
Orwin Kydemones
Orwin's story is coming... [read more]
Rianne Naga Rumli
Rianne's story coming... [read more]
Episodes
0
Intro to the Campaign
Note: this is the intro to the campaign that was originally published
elsewhere. I'm including it
here because it introduces the characters. For more info on what's going on in general with this
site, check out the About page.
When I was growing up in the 80s and 90s, much of the... [read more]
1
Call of the Kydemones
Our first proper D&D session started out simply enough: Rianne arrived at Highbury Monastery with an urgent request for our other heroes (Evendur, Orwin, and Fenn). We were to return at once to the Kydemones Academy in Nauem, where civic turmoil there was putting our shared alma mater at risk.... [read more]
2
Return to Nauem
We return to our fledgling heroes in the aftermath of a savaging by a band of Kotopoio (one of the many definitely evil bird-like species we have encountered so far). It was the middle of the night, and so we went back to sleep in order to recover and heal wounds; fortunately no more attacks came... [read more]
3
Leolin Lost
We ended the last session with the party divided about how to interact with the mysterious women, Adriel and Caligo, who asked us to come North with them. The most extreme position was occupied (of course) by Orwin, who remained convinced the women were trouble and we should get rid of them. Rianne... [read more]
4
The Black Cornix
Evendur steps forward out of the mouth of the tunnel into the darkened warehouse, unable to see (or ignoring) the shock and betrayal written on the faces of his party. He addresses the still-wary Black Cornix Syndicate workers whom we surprised on our midnight journey back to the Inner City:... [read more]
5
Gala a la Eglon
When we left our party, Rianne and Orwin were in a bit of trouble with Arcus, who hadn't taken kindly to being deceived, or reminded of the lost husband we were meant to be finding. Luckily, with a little bit of cajoling and flattery, and the insistence that Lord Eglon's party was in fact... [read more]
Acronauem
The Tehokivi sat among a pile of other jewelry and necklaces, looking every fantasy gram the orb of untold power that it was. The party was in shock; what was it doing here? How did we happen to find it? Our search for Leolin had opened up into much bigger vistas. World-changingly dangerous ones.... [read more]
Champions' Bond
Previously, we left our champions in a tense moment, debating what to do with the surprise acquisition of one of the magical Tehokivi stones that was now sitting on the floor in our midst, in Fenn's quarters. Fenn began by reiterating the purpose and scope of what we were calling the... [read more]
Duskfields Extraction
We left Therell Kell's shop in a panic, having learned that a number of captured lordlings, including Leolin, were to be executed in a public display of anti-aristocracy anger by the Peristeri Wing. We knew that the lordlings were currently being held in the Palace of the Hetarai, where we had... [read more]
Leolin Led
We were bloodied and tired, in various states of woundedness, having just caromed down the stairs underneath a sewer grate in Duskfields Court. But we were alive. And if we wanted to stay that way, we needed to get moving. This was a difficult proposition. During our wildly flawed rescue of Leolin... [read more]