Bruce Heard’s “World in Flames”
an overview by Allan Palmer from Threshold Magazine issue 34Created in the late 1990s, “World in Flames” is a vast campaign for the Mystara setting created by Bruce Heard (the “godfather” of Mystara). It unfolds after the dramatic events of “Wrath of the Immortals” and introduces a new great war that sweeps the Known World, spanning the years AC 1014 to AC 1019. The following paragraphs attempt to summarise the events of this far-reaching scenario as described by Bruce in his 1999 Mystara Message Board postings. Please visit the Vaults of Pandius1 to immerse yourself in the larger detail of this extensive campaign.
In AC 1014 the “Thunderous War Horde” of the goblinoid tribes of northern Brun, united by Ugrah, invades Glantri, a nation still recovering from the aftermath of “Wrath of the Immortals”. Ugrah, a shaman of Wogar, has rallied the goblinoid tribes of central Brun, drawing on the power that the Othwa goblin tribe has gained from a crashed neh-thalggu inter-planar ship. The Horde’s numbers overwhelm Glantri’s forces. The invasion is abetted by Prince Kol XIV2 of New Kolland, who allies with Ugrah, betraying his recent alliance with the Glantrian Princes, leading to Ugrah’s capture of Glantri City. Kol assumes the throne of Glantri in a deserted city, with the former Princes fleeing. Conflicts escalate, as while Kol ambushes a Darokinian relief force, an Ethengarian intervention introduces a new dimension to the war, with potential consequences for the entire region. Ugrah sends his Horde towards the mountains to block the approaching Ethengarian army.
The following year, AC 1015, the war spreads across Mystara, with Ethengar emerging as a major threat alongside Ugrah’s Horde. The goblinoid tribes succeed in conquering eastern Glantri, and with dwarven support on another front, capture the entire nation of Ylaruam. As the year moves on, Darokin finds itself being threatened by a dwarven army while enduring pressure from Ugrah and the Ethengarian forces. Elsewhere, Thyatis suspects a pact between Ugrah and Ethengar, and considers retaliation against this alliance. Combined forces from Thyatis and the Five Shires endeavour to assist Darokin against Ugrah. Another faction enters the situation as Shadow Elves capture the Darokinian city of Selenica. Then while emissaries from Darokin attempt to reclaim Selenica from the elven captors, Ugrah ransacks Corunglain, another city in the nation.
To the north, refugee Glantrian Princes and their followers arrive in Wendar seeking aid to retaliate against the forces that have claimed their nation, even though Ugrah’s Horde is making inroads into the Wendarian lands. As well as the Glantrians, Heldannic warbirds also arrive in Wendar, offering unexpected aid to besieged cities. Political alliances and betrayals add further complexity to the conflict, including the refusal of Karameikos to assist Darokin, as the kingdom fears reprisals from Thyatis.
Over the course of AC 1016, the war continues to expand across the Known World with new fronts opening in Thyatis and Karameikos. Ethengar, with its dwarven allies, launches raids into Thyatis, drawing them into a separate conflict. This development forces Emperor Eusebius to prepare defences and to seek support from other parties. In Karameikos the kingdom erupts in riots after a peace attempt by King Stefan fails. As a result of his failure, King Stefan abdicates, leaving the nation on the brink of civil war. In the resultant civil unrest, followers of Halav rally the Karameikans for a crusade against the humanoid Horde that threatens.
Wendar and Darokin struggle to defend their lands against multiple enemies, facing losses and declining morale. However, Ugrah’s southern Horde faces stiff resistance as it continues its attacks on Darokin. Wendar is now forced to fight a two-front war as Denagoth attacks from the north, but they are assisted by the intervention of Heldannic Knights who defend passes and deliver supplies to the Wendarians. In the Northern Reaches, Vestland falls to a joint invasion by dwarves and Soderfjord Jarls.
The Shadow Elves take a significant role during AC 1017, beginning with their manipulation of the goblins and the dwarves into fighting near Selenica. Ugrah is then captured by the Shadow Elves and executed, plunging the goblinoid forces into chaos as internal conflicts following Ugrah’s death cripple the goblinoid threat. Without Ugrah’s Horde to aid them, the dwarves are unable to retain Selenica, which is taken by the Shadow Elves. Significant numbers of the goblinoid armies retreat from Wendar and Darokin. The remaining goblin forces are trapped in Glantri, whose own military traps and eliminate the remnants of Ugrah’s army.
Ethengar remains a major protagonist, bolstered by Alphatian refugees and capturing Biazzan in northern Thyatis. Heldannic Jennite cavalry join the Thyatians, turning the tide against Moglai Khan’s Ethengarian Golden Horde. Regional power struggles and alliances continue to reshape the landscape, with Karameikos joining the fight against Denagoth, while Wendar and Darokin recover from siege. In the Northern Reaches, the Ostland fleet is destroyed by the alliance of forces from Thyatis and Vestland. Norrvik is liberated from Soderfjord invaders by combined forces from Heldan and Vestland.
Although major wins have been achieved by different factions in different areas, it is clear that during AC 1018 there is no clear victor in any conflict, and most regions of the Known World remain in an unstable state. In Karameikos the internal strife that has spread across the nation over the past two years, weakening its position on the global stage, has thrust the realm into a civil war dividing the nation along ethnic lines as Queen Adriana and King Valen (each vying to be Stefan’s successor) vie to hold the throne. Glantri’s struggles continue as Alphatian refugees invade, leaving the nation divided between these arrivals and the Loyalists aided by their Black Jack warriors3. Thyatis, with the aid of Jennites and the Retebius Air Corps, fights back the Ethengarian invaders from Ylaruam. However, Thyatis now faces criticism from neighbouring nations as its influence in Ylaruam expands with its now strong presence there after repelling the Great Khan’s Horde. On another front, the Wendar-Heldannic crusade against the forces of Denagoth remain stalled, forcing the Wendarians to focus on establishing fortifications to prevent further incursion.
The first quarter of AC 1019 sees the scale of hostilities cutting back as exhausted leaders and troops attempt to minimise tensions. A breakthrough occurs in the city of Selenica, as members of the Western Defence League (Darokin, Ylaruam, Rockhome, the Five Shires, and Karameikos) together with Emperor Eusebius of Thyatis spend weeks negotiating what will become known as the Treaties of Selenica. Among the terms of the treaties are the cessation of civil hostilities in Karameikos, with Valen and Adriana renouncing their claims and Stefan reinstated as King after agreement to harsh terms. Thyatis agrees not to interfere with the internal affairs of the co-signatory treaty nations.
As the year progresses Glantri continues to face internal challenges even though it has managed to drive the Alphatian refugees out of its capital. Dwarven envoys offer the Alphatians a settlement in a ruined Rockhome city. The Ethengarians have retreated to the steppes after suffering losses in Ylaruam. Both Ierendi and Minrothad join the Western Defence League. The Known World enters AC 1020 with new alliances formed, but its future remains uncertain due to lingering tensions and unstable situations as the region continues to recover from major wars.
I hope that the preceding summary has provided an informative overview of the campaign idea created by Bruce Heard, and that it will entice you to look at the greater detail about it stored in the Vaults of Pandius. As usual, Bruce has provided a wide range of situations that could be utilised in an ongoing Mystara game at many levels – not only Player Character groups, but also mass combat and the governance of PC dominions.
Other Alternatives
If you search the Vaults of Pandius, in addition to Bruce’s work, you will find a number of alternate and/or future Mystara suggestions, including:
David Knott provides an “Alternative Wrath of the Immortals”4 which departs from the course of the canon version. It starts with a debate between Rad and Ixion that leads to violence among the Immortals. Rather than involve mortals in a bloody war to eliminate the followers of Rad, Ixion decides to destroy Rad himself. In another article, David also provides some thoughts further on in the setting’s timeline: “Mystara 2000 AC”5
Going even further into the future, some thoughts on “Mystara 3000 AC”6 are offered by Sverre Midthjell. This era is also tackled by John (“Chimpman”) Calvin in a piece about “Shadow Elves 3000 AC”7 and the re-birth of Blackmoor. He continues this theme in another article on “The Known World (3000 AC)”8
A “Future Timeline”9 covering the period from AC 1050 to AC 1200 by Stone Marshall includes Thyatis being defeated and overthrown by the elves!
“Dark Mystara”10 is, as author Giampaolo Agosta (aka agthokles) describes it, “…a (highly!) variant timeline for the post-WotI era.” For this scenario covering AC 1005 to AC 1016, Giampaolo merges David Knott’s “Night of Hell: Fall of the Five Shires”11 idea with a breakdown of Darokin after the Shadow Elf invasion of Alfheim.
Further “Ideas about the future timeline of Mystara”12 can be found in Joseph Setorius’ campaign from AC 1000 to AC 1052.
These are just a selection of variant future timeline campaigns for Mystara, I’m sure interested DMs will uncover more.
1See “World in Flames” http://pandius.com/worldflm.html
2See AC1011: “Poor Wizard’s Almanac II”
4http://pandius.com/alt_woti.html
5http://pandius.com/myst2000.html
6http://pandius.com/myst3000.html
7http://pandius.com/self3000.html
8http://pandius.com/knwn3000.html
9http://pandius.com/fututime.html
10http://pandius.com/endknown.html and http://pandius.com/tempires.html
11http://pandius.com/hellnght.html
12http://pandius.com/mfutrid.html