1/6/10: Thanks for stopping by! I’ve currently put a hold on this project to focus on a new campaign idea, but there should still be plenty here for you to browse and peruse. Axes High!

And The West Shall Be Fallen No More.

The eastern regions of the lands of Irrin are still recovering from the Second Kobold Invasion and the treacherous actions of the once-golden kingdom of Kair Renda six years past. Yet, for many, life continues as it has for generations past: the same hands on the plow, the same heads wearing the crown, and the same of rhythm of daily tasks.

Not so in the West. This land, having lain wild and ruined for a full millennium, was before that the domain of the Kingdom of the West, the greatest of the mannish nations. After decades of battle, the Kingdom of the West was utterly destroyed by the haughty and reviled High Elves using some unknown arcana to bind the Orcs and Trolls of the highlands and mountains to their will. This army, the largest the world had ever seen, defeated the once-mighty yet weary empire, sending refugees to the east and southeast in massive numbers. The High Elves were triumphant, but only briefly. The arcane magics they employed turned against them, and the goblinoid races slew many of their former masters. Weakened, the long-lived High Elves withdrew into their last great forest, destroying any foolish enough to cross into it. And the wild humanoid tribes, and mannish remnants on the fringe of the fallen empire, walked through now-deserted ruins, troubled by one another and the foul summonings left behind by the High Elves.

For 1000 years, the High Church forbade settlement to the West, to allow nature and time to heal the desecrations performed upon it. It was they who controlled the overland route. Those who settled in the west did so with difficulty and without peril; most were wiped out by fell beasts, sickness, or territorial tribal warriors. Superstition soon took over, and indeed, the West is still considered accursed by many. 19 years ago, however, the millennium ended, and many ships and colonists traveled forth to join the adventurous few who had gone even before the ban was lifted. Now the West booms, an explosion of refugees, adventurers, blackguards, penniless nobles, and many simply hoping for a better life.

Now the church controls the overland routes, though the West is too large for it to administer directly. On the surface, the church is the same benevolent shepherd it has been since the reform of a few centuries past. But those within the inside circles know that haunted ruins, artifacts both wondrous and foul, and sleeping evils still poison the West. It is for this reason the Conclave exists—to protect the flock in a way the Church Proper may not. They are men and women of faith, rogues, and mercenaries. They seek out and destroy the malevolence in old ruins. They investigate the murmurs that something foul is again stirring beneath the ancient woods. They bring the enemies of peace to justice. They are the bloody sword and shield, and when need be, the quiet dagger. And, all too often, they are the ones who fall defending this hopeful, frightful land…