A Dream Foretold (was: Birth of an Empire)

The GM: Claus

The Characters:

Locations:

• Brakenwall (Settlement - ?)
• Brill (Settlement - ?) 
• Corlain (Settlement - ?)
• Mill City (Settlement - 4)
• Moonbrook (Settlement - 0) 
• Old Town/Nyr-By (Settlement - 2)
• Osha Keep (Settlement - 6)
• Pyrewood (Settlement - 0)
• Scarlet Citadel (Fort - 0) 
• Thelsamar (Settlement - ?) 

Game System: Pathfinder 2nd Edition

Game Type: Campaign

Related Games:

• Iron Frontiers 
  Reboot / Re-examination of Iron Frontiers
• Preantepenultimate - Antepenultimate - Penultimate - Ultimate 
  These games are in the same world as this campaign 
• Birth of an Empire

           5e Version of the Game 

(* Indicated enough XP to level, but need to have a rest.)

Synopsis:

The Great Wastes are marked by change. Territories are carved out by the warlords with the will to claim the land, and the charisma to unify the people.  But with time, they may slowly shift from benevolent monarch to cruel despot as his lands grow in size, and he must resort to brute force to maintain control.  With no arcanists to use their magics to heal the injured or repair the damage, a catastrophe - like a fire or plague - cuts deeper than the loss of life, but threatens the stability and security of the entire region.  Cults and covens arise almost overnight as the people, without the guiding hand of civilization, seek the comforting answers to the fantastical mysteries of the wastes. 

Above all else, the waste is a land where the willful can have a tremendous impact on the world.  If there is to be change, they have the power and talents to influence its course.  When invaders breach the walls, the weapon master is the one who, standing alone, beats back the attackers.  The executioner slips into the despot's bedchamber and slays him in single combat, winning freedom for the oppressed.  The thief creates a criminal cartel that allows a burgeoning middle class to emerge on the profits of smuggling and illegal trade.  The hunter roams the land, mapping the unknown and discovering new territories and ancient ruins.  In the Great Wastes, a hero's actions have a significant influence: they are the movers and shakers, the ambitious mercenaries who overthrow the warlords, the mighty warriors who slay the terrible beasts, and the only hope of prosperity in the dangerous frontier.

History: 

During the reign of good King Yarsbro the Just, Kracious the Bold, First Prince of the Realm and Commander General of the Black Guard carries out an order for the realm to be cleansed of impure elements.  The Horse Lords and Odinsget, who were semi-loyal subjugated people within the Kingdom were amongst these elements; as were the boat people and all other non-native ethnic groups, many of which filled the prisons of the Kingdom.

Thus the Odinsget, the Horse Lords, the Prisoners, and the Boat People are all exiled from The Kingdom across the Mountains towards the setting sun and into the Great Wastes in a large Caravan. 

The Kingdom is large, over 200 miles deep from the Ocean to the Great Mountains, and over 1000 miles long from edge to edge of the mountains, and they continue beyond The Kingdom.  Many Caravans of undesirables left the Realm, but this story focuses on the one lead by Earl Ragnar of the Odinsget.

The convoy started with 4000 people, 500 horses, and 200 battle wagons.  They traveled many miles, those that could fighting many battles along the way.  While they never lost a battle, they could never settle down due to a fear of more enemies, need to repair, or attrition.  While their numbers dwindled, slaves were taken of the defeated forces, and with time, those slaves earned their freedom.

Their long journey continued until they made it to a fertile land near where several rivers met where they <replace this part about saving a town from a Bandit Tyrant>.  The last Battle they fought was a Pyrrhic victory; their wagons were all irreparably destroyed, too many warriors were lost, but the enemy was decimated.  With the fear of more enemies negated as they (along with all their dependents, some 200 old men, women, and children) were added to the Caravan; Earl Ragnar ordered <replace this part with dealing with the liberated folks to get 'mill city>.

In the end, the convoy, made up of the Odinsget, Horse Lords, Prisoners, Boat People, Mountain Men and the allies they gained along the way now numbered about 2000.  Upon reaching the new location it is found to be an Ancient Site, just a big hill, or Tel.  The neighboring community explain that they moved in just three years prior after fleeing up river from a great evil.  They had been unable to repair the ancient city, due to the lack of laborers.

The Odinsget's religion is polytheistic (including human and animal sacrifice) and druidic in nature.  The ritualists declared that there was a lot of power in this ancient city, power that could be harnessed and with it, a mighty civilization could be founded.  

Before the convoy ventured across the mountains, all that was known about the Great Wastes are that it was full of monsters and savage, barbaric city states of strange creatures.  Now, settling the Tel, and naming it Mill City, the sundry groups fight against nature, themselves, and the wilds of the Great Wastes, in hopes of carving out a new future.

Background Information:

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