Events after WoTI
by Simone NeriAs others have said, 500 years is way a looooong time. Anyway, here's also my "short" list of events after WotI (which I played with some major changes) - more or less they have happened in my campaign in the 10 years or so after the Great War, and many developments are still to discover):
- the "new" Nucleus of the Sphere reprogrammed at the end of WotI by the PCs has also altered the use of some magics, notably dimensional travel and teleportation; in general, magic is becoming more unreliable in terms of duration, so it will be increasingly difficult or utterly impossible to preserve a given effect for a very long time (unless that effect is "stored" or imbued in a magic item).
- Rad is gone, and is not going to come back; the Radiance is tainted by the Entropy drain, as per WotI, and the Glantrian archmages who exploit it embrace more and more the dark path. Since no one is able to check the number of Radiance-users anymore, more non-Glantrian wizards might discover and exploit the Radiance unopposed. [BTW, it will be the duty of a future group of PCs to find a way to avert another overcharge of the Nucleus - see also the contribute of Synn, below - and maybe this will have something to do with the Rafiel's Chamber of the Stars being built in the shadow elves' realm.]
- Alphatia has not sunk at the end of WotI, but vast parts of the island-continent have been heavily sundered and devastated by Rad's Doomsday Weapon in the last weeks of the war (Vertiloch, eastern half of Haven and Shiye-Lawr, western part of Bettellyn and Foresthome, as well as most of the Imperial Territories are now under the waves); Zandor takes the throne from Aquas, but his control of the whole empire is feeble, as various kingdoms don't recognize his rule (as many wizards of the Great Council do as well). He tries to keep some other realms (notably, Randel) in line with force, but is betrayed at a crucial moment. His sister Eldrethila takes the throne, granting large autonomy to other realms and keeping together part of the empire at least in name. After a few years, she is assassinated as well and the empire fragments in a number of rival kingdoms. Alphatia's power is gone - at least for a while.
- Thyatis slowly rebuilds itself, but during Eusebius' reign its main concern is internal stability, centralization of the throne's power against noblemen and the Senate, and control of the remaining territories; the empire keeps control of small parts of Ochalea and the Pearl Islands, but Redstone and Westrourke on the Isle of Dawn are now independent under local (the Firestorms, in case of Westrourke) or foreign (a former Alphatian general, in case of Redstone) rulers. If Eusebius' internal policy succeeds, the empire might well raise again as great power given the situation of its neighbors (see below).
- Darokin is seriously weakened and impoverished by war, plague, and destruction of trade; the republic becomes more oligarchic and authoritarian, peasant and lower class unrest breaks out and religious movements advocating renewal of times and disobeyance to old Immortals rise (i.e. Benekander/Gareth's cult). Deprived of its allies and of its riches, surrounded by enemies, Darokin is likely to splinter as local families take back control of various regions from the republic.
- Synn (aka Dolores Hillsbury) takes over Glantri in a few years through deception and intrigues, and disposing of her enemies like Malachie du Marais; the country becomes a dark place - lycanthropes and undead start to roam freely, Boldavia is granted a sort of semi-independence under its nosferatu-prince, Glantri allies with the humanoids of the Broken Lands and starts (or re-starts) to persecute clerics and wood elves. Synn manages to control the Brotherhood of Radiance, with the aim of enlarging even more the Radiance-users base in order to make the Nucleus ultimately explode (this will be her final test to rise to Immortality under Thanatos).
- the shadow elves take over the rest of the Darokinian-owned Canolbarth, including Selenica; then they undergo a civil war between the shamans-led conservatives and the Telemon/Tandaleyo-led progressives (secretly spurred to rebel against the Way of Rafiel by Atzanteotl); a temporary agreement leaves the shamans in control of the cavern of the City of Star and some of the Shadowlands. The forest above continues to die but no solution is forseeable at the moment. Alfheim elves abroad press for a crusade against the shadow elves, to no avail.
- Denwarf returns to Rockhome and civil war ensues; he emerges victorious over the Everasts, and becomes again king of the dwarves. Rockhome undergoes a time of isolationism and hostility to foreigners, maybe starting to prepare an all-out crusade against Glantri and the orcs.
- the Five Shires descend into civil unrest as the country secretly slips under the control of shapeshifters and mujinas, while some heroes and clans try to oppose them and start a guerrilla in the countryside and on the seas.
- Karameikos endures a dark time: civil war between the faction loyal to Thyatis and those favorable to independance from the empire has rocked the realm since the Great War; the split between conservatives and progressives in the Church at the death of Jowett only worsens this. The Black Eagle is ousted from power (and executed in the Five Shires), but the war continues. Kelvin becomes the leader of the Thyatian loyalists, while the Traladaran families rise their head once more as some heirs to the Marilenevs resurface and get enough support to organize a rebellion of Specularum against the kind. Meanwhile, the goblins and orcs of eastern Karameikos are united by the Witches of Dymrak and the Dark Triad; under chief Kosivikh, they launch a massive invasion of central Karameikos, which conquers Kelvin. The king makes an agreement with the Traladaran families, accepting the restoration of the duchy of Marilenev and the formation of a noble parliament to advise the king; he manages to control the southern half of Karameikos, while the north is part in control of the humanoids, part of other rebel Traladaran clans not allied with the Specularum faction. Stefan has managed to win support from Thyatis - with the empire recognizing his royal title and sending a legion to his aid - and from Ierendi (unfortunately, the faction advocating Ierendi's help and the one advocating Thyatis' at court don't get along very well). With Stefan old and worried by the heavy burden of his past decisions, and Adriana and Devon having lost much of their prestige due to bad defeats during the siege of Specularum, the future of the kingdom looks bleak.
- Ylaruam is in total chaos: Barimoor's death in the Week Without Magic has left many of his followers without a leader; his most powerful liutenants start to quarrel among themselves, bringing war both in the underground realm and on the surface, with some of them attempting and managing to conquer parts of the emirates. The sultan is unable to comply with this threat and the whole government of the emirates succumbs to the hordes of monsters and mercenaries coming from below. The country becomes a patchwork of Ylari-controlled (mostly the nomad tribes) and monster-controlled areas. [The liberation of the country from the monsters will be - actually, has been - the final test for Al-Kalim to become Immortal - help his successors in a future time as per Path of the Dynast.]
- Ethengar is again divided among rival khanates after the assassination of Moglai Khan; his authority crippled by military defeats and plague-caused misery, he could not resist the rebellion of other khans after the Great War - moreso becouse some of his allies betrayed him and had him killed. The khanates are under the shadows of the Heldannic Knights to the north and of Synn's dark Glantri to the west.
- The Heldannic Knights have lost much of their "firepower" in the final stages of the Great War due to the loss of many warbirds in the Week Without Magic, and because of the Heldanner rebellion in the former Freeholds. After a few years, their control over Heldann is restored and they start expanding their influence over southern Norwold, Ethengar, and Helskir. What is unknown to most people is that the Grand Master of the Order, Wulf von Klagendorf, is a pawn of Synn.
- Ierendi is a growing power in the Sea of Dread - it has stayed out of the Great War, has twarted an internal coup attempt, and has meddled into the internal affairs of Karameikos during the civil war. With Minrothad internally instable at the moment, the kingdom has the opportunity to expand its influence and trade network, and to represent the counterbalance to and eventually resurgent Thyatis in the Sea of Dread.
- Minrothad is undergoing a difficult time from a political point of view, since the natural death of Oran Meditor; even if his uncle Ginol has taken the reins of the government, internal conflicts and intrigues are on the rise due to the opposition of the oligarchic families and guilds, generating instability. Many ship captains and guildmasters try (and succeed) to defy the ruling guildmaster, following their own agendas. The faction still supporting the Meditors in weaker, but united, and advocates getting support from Ierendi despite some rival interest for the sake of internal stability; the opposing faction is larger but divided, with many of their leaders favoring a military alliance with Thyatis to receive protection, avoid conflict with the empire, and keep control of their trade routes. From an economic point of view, Minrothad's economy is still very strong, the guilds' trade ships penetrate even more in Alphatian waters due to the empire's crisis, and many enterprising captains have also started to expand their interests to northern Davania.
- In the Northern Reaches, Vestland has been devastated during the Ethengarian invasion in the Great War, king Harald has managed to save his realm only thanks to Heldannic and Ostlander help. Now he tries to rebuild his prestige and prepare his succession with the support of the Ruthinian Faith; he must however keep the alliance of the jarls, granting lands and higher titles in the western wilderness to wrest those lands from the trolls and orcs. In Soderfjord, Ragnar has managed to improve his standing thanks to his victories against the Ylari and the Ethengarians during the Great War; he is finally elected king, but how long the jarls will keep supporting him is still to be seen. Ostland was forced in the Great War to break his alliance with Thyatis and make a separate peace with Alphatia; the Ostman clans rebellion also divided the country: queen Yrsa, after the death of king Hord, managed to get support from the Ostman (granting autonomy), Vestland, and Soderfjord to win the opposing jarls and secure the throne for her son Finn. The queen is trying to modernize the country and establish peaceful relation with Ostland's neighbors, but to satisfy his jarls has continued expansion on the northern Isle of Dawn (now part of Helskir and Dunadale/Westrourke).
- In Atruaghin, during WotI the Ring of Fire made inroads winning the support of the green dragon Attura, who attempted to control the southern clans with the help of foreign wizards (mostly from Alphatia). The resulting conflicts saw the death of Attura but the collapse of the Tiger Clan confederation, where a feud between the followers of Atzanteotl and those of Danel resulted in the victory of the latter and the ousting of the former. Led by Eelsha Spider-kiss, Atzanteotl's followers go underground, rebuilding a secret power base in the caves of Atturamak, while the Tiger Clan finally establishes cordial relations with neighboring clans. Some Tiger Clan's towns, in the south, regain their independence as the Boar Clan. In the Bear Clan, a group of five Alphatian wizard exiles (from Zandor's purge) manage to control the leadership of the clan with the aim to build their own realm in this part of the plateau (as per PWA1).
- Hule descend into chaos as the Master disappears during the Week Without Magic and various leaders and generals fight to get control of the empire; after some time, the Master returns and rapidly gets back in control. Sind, after a few attempts at rebellion, is still controlled by Hule's armies, still claiming fealty to the distant empire; a resistance movement gathering people from various castes and mystics is however growing.
- Yavdlom is undergoing serious troubles. An ancient serpentine being was awakened in an islet of the Amalur Lowlands and gathered a cult following in the Green Coast in past years, infiltrating the Yavdlom's prophet ranks with the aim to rebuild the old Serpentine Empire. They tamper with Yav's buried artifact (which had been originally built using reptilian magic from ancient ages) and pervert its effects, instilling selfishness and greed and hampering the seers' vision of the future. The prophets' hierarchy is gradually corrupted due to nightmares and madness instilled by the perverted artifact, and the creature's followers start to spread and take positions of power in many Yavdlom cities and in the government - until most of the country is covertly under their control.
- Norwold was put again under Alphatian joke during the Great War, but the empire's crisis led to rebellion of various dominions again. Ericall, who has fathered four children with Christina Marie Alanira, manages to hold authority over a coalition of various dominions, many of whom acquire great influence in Alpha as the king needs their help against his enemies - one of whom, Alak Dool, still claims royal title from his dominion north of the Great Bay.
- Wendar is expanding toward the Northern Wildlands, and exerting his influence over Geron toward the Denagothian Plateau, but is mostly worried by Glantri's new dark path and treatment of wood elves there. Denagoth is still divided into many rival dominions, clans, and tribes, with Ghyr (in the northeast of the plateau), Brakkah, and Thariss (from OldDawg's GAZF2) as main local powers. [In my campaign, X11 has happened around 930 AC, and the Shadowlord is long gone - someone still resurfaces from time to time claiming to be the Shadowlord, but the real Landryn Teriak has been destroyed decades ago.]
- Finally, the use of black powder has been discovered around the turn of the century (as per Dragon Magazine #199 article by Bruce Heard), and use of large gunpowder weapons and handguns is very slowly spreading. [I prefer to stick with Bruce's VotPA version of the Savage Coast, without firearms - the invention of the arquebus is still to come.]
Well, that's all - in short form. Hope you'll find some interesting idea here, Galdor. ;)