My new campaign - Ascending to the Throne of Dominion

[Persell]

Background: Near the end of the First Age, an ancient and powerful Twilight caste Solar created a spell of vast power that it could have granted him dominion of all Creation, if he had not been struck down by an sidereal assassin, before he had a chance to cast this terrible magic. This spell transformed his personal essence-flow enabling him to reach out, through the dragon paths, to every manse in the world and usurp their power. Doing so would render every Hearthstone in Creation inert and grant him immeasurable personal power, along with ability to command the weapons of the Imperial Manse by pure force of will.


The Sidereals ransacked the Twilight’s palace, but found no clue to the whereabouts of the tome detailing the spell. Eventually their attention was drawn elsewhere, as the final battles of the Usurpation drew close.


Following the creation of the Shogunate the Sidereals returned to the palace, only to find it burned to the ground, destroyed by a misfire from one of the terrible weapons used by the Dragon-Blooded in the final fazes of the war against the Solars.


In a secret meeting between several of the elder Sidereals it was decided to seize the search for the spell, the solars where gone and without anyone capable of casting the spell, it no longer posed a threat, they where of course wrong.  


The Deathlord King of the Iron Throne knew of the spell and spent centuries searching for it. Even though he would not be able to utilize the spell himself, he hoped to use it to create a necromantic version that could ensure him victory against the other Deathlords, by taking control of all the abyssal manses of the Underworld. Shortly after the Empress’ disappearance he got his first major breakthrough, when one of his most trusted nemissary lieutenants discovered an ancient document of the First Age, detailing a covert purchase of a manse, hidden deep in the arid mountains of the south-east, by none other that the Twilight who had created the spell. Now he has sent his minions into Creation to locate the manse and retrieve whatever lore hidden there.


King of the Iron Throne is however not the only one on the track of the spell. The Twilight who originally created it has been reincarnated and through his vague dreams of his former life, has become aware of the spell’s existence. Now he searches for it, consumed by a burning hatred for the Sidereals who prevented him from ascending to what he believes is his rightful place, as the supreme ruler of Creation and Heaven. If he manages to take control of the manses, he plans to turn them on first the Dragon-Blooded of the Realm and then on Yu-Shan, in an effort to wipe-out the traitorous Sidereals.  


The Twilight however is not alone. First of all he has teamed up with his old Lunar mate and two members of his old Circle. None of them suspect his true intentions, they all believe he simply plans to rout the armies of the Dragon-Blooded and establish a new Empire of the Sun.


The Sidereal Kaisha knows all this. She is a member of the Gold Fraction, but strongly disagrees with her superiors on several key points of doctrine and philosophy. Where her fellow Sidereals what to control the Solars from the shadows, Kaisha believe that the only way to effectively Shepard the Solars is by coming out in the open and being a visible part of their everyday lives.


If she can recruit a circle of Solars sympathetic to her cause and recover the spell, she could place them on the throne of the Realm and force the other Sidereals to accept her version of the future of Creation.


This is my first draft of the background for the next campaign I am working on (But my first attempt at a Solar game). Any comments or constructive critism? All good advice and helpful guidence is appriciated.

 

[Hanat-Osul]

Are your players the Solars, or what?

 

[Persell]

Yes. As I wrote it is my first attempt at a Solar game. Untill now I have only run a couple of Dragon-Blooded (Both Dynast centered) games.

 

[Hanat-Osul]

Okay, so is one of your Solars this crazy Twilight?

 

[Persell]

No. The players are the pawns of the rogue Gold Fraction sidereal Kaisha. They will be tricked into becomming her shortcut to control of the Gold Fraction. She hope to use the spell to place them on the throne of Creation and then construct a new world order, according to her own beliefs.


The rebron Twilight is one of the two main bad guys, along with King of the Irin Throne. His mind has been shattered during his exaltation and he now suffer from the madness of his previous incarnation, driving him to seize power, no matter the cost. If he will not rule Creation no one shall. He is an extremly intelligent and charismatic psychopath, capable of obfuscating his true intentions and fooling even people who spend almost every waken hour with him.


This is what makes him so dangerous. Where the Deathlord is a clear and present danger, he might seem resonable and as a possible ally in the fight against the Realm. He will cause the players to doubt Kaisha, who has informed them of his true goals, since he does not at all seem like monster he really is.


The Deathlord on the other hand is more powerful, but also a more obvious danger. The players will never doubt that he is their enemy, but they will not be able to confront him directly, for that he is simply to powerful.


Hopefully the players will hate the Twilight even more than they will hate the Deathlord, as he posed as their friend and eventually betrayed their trust.

 

[Hanat-Osul]

Hm.  Okay.  So where do your players start, geographically?  What's your hook - how do they come to enter your storyline?  Does Kaisha tell them about the spell, or just send them on missions without any clues as to her motives?  Are they out to stymie the Deathlord?

 

[Persell]

I somehow think it being an artifact would be more fun. Then you can have the whole james bond endfight at the feet of the world destroying thing at the end of your campaign. players love that.

 

[Jeppe]

I wonder about a couple of things. First of all, is this rogue sidereal fine with the idea of handing over a spell, that can potentially give her solar circle friends control over all of Creation? Seems a little to generous. If she want's to shephard the Solars, it would seem a more obvious way to try to master the spell herself, or alternatively, find someone, whom she manipulate to gain the power necessary to keep the solars on the right track.


Secondly, what about the other sidereals? It is possible that the Bronze Faction knows nothing of this, but it seems an interesting subplot-thing, that they pick up interest in whatever it is, that the Gold faction is herding its solars towards in the south. But what about other members of the Gold faction? Are they fine with a single sidereal hunting for a super spell, in spite of, that this single sidereal has questioned some main philosophies of the Gold faction?


The last thing I wonder about, is the document detailing the Twilight's purchase of this secret manse. How was this found and where? And this could, by the way, be an excellent excuse for entering the DB into the campaign, just in case you feel like you need antagonists for your players...


Jeppe