Main > Compendia > History > Campaigns > Malocia Reclaimed

Details

Time Played: 2015-Present
Historical Era: Dawn Age
System: Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition
GM: Jason
Players: Alex, Eric, Erica, Justin, Nan, Ryan W, Scott, Steve

Summary

This is a long-running campaign that is suitable for one-shots and hex crawls. Malocia is so rich with history and adventurous context, that keeping it as an unclaimed wilderness suits many campaign needs. For this reason, it may never be reclaimed!

Player Characters

Many groups have played in this campaign, but here are some of the prominent player characters.

Alwyn Greenthistle, human man Form Herald
Ballarus, human man Order of Many Monk
Bartley Snake-in-the-Eye, stagheart man Arcanist
Fiadh, arcadian woman White Tree Orison
Gazes-Into-Valleys, goliath male Furytouched Sorceror
Helix, reptilian man Spring Herald
Kessht, reptilian man Autumn Herald
Septimus, lascivian man Battle Master
Yeshua Farmer, morphling Illithon Orison

Premise

The land of Malocia was once a grand and beautiful land, called Felmyr during the Age of Kings. Later, it became part of the Acrolon Empire, which ruled the land peacefully until the Shattered Age, which began the 1000 year decline of the land.

First came the Year of the Beast, also known as the First Dead War, in the first half of the Shattered Age. The Tanari prince Orcus unleashed an army of demons and undead on Felmyr, with two powerful liches leading the army. He almost manifest himself, but was thwarted by heroes.

After that devastation, Felmyr was in pretty bad shape. The lands were still dangerous, with roaming free demons and undead making it difficult to reclaim farms and resources. Cities shrank and became increasingly insular. Eventually the line of Felmyr kings collapsed, and a new ruling class emerged, Heralds of Death that could protect the remaining populations from the roaming undead threats. During this time the land was renamed (briefly) Kægara, after Sindra Kægara, the high priestess of Nexia at the time. Kægara began to isolate itself from the rest of the Acrolon Empire.

Then, the final nail in Felmyr's coffin came: Sindra's March, also known as the Second Dead War, in the late Shattered Age. After years of complete isolation, Sindra marched out of the land with a huge army of corpses, and nearly wiped out all of Acrolon, were she not stopped by a group of heroes. After this, the land was worse than it ever was, and was renamed "Malocia" by the Imperials to the west.

Before any steps could be taken to remedy the terrible condition of Malocia, the whole world began to fall apart. Horrors locked away in divine prisons broke free, some gods went missing, and the worst cataclysm since the Shattering happened: The Fall. The entire land was plunged into literal darkness (there was no sun) for centuries. Entire races were lost to violence or cosmological catastrophe. The Tanari queen Lascivia corrupted the Emperor of Acrolon, creating the Dark Empire. It was truly an aptly named Dark Age. A few desperate or enterprising nobles from the Dark Empire of Acrolon struck out to settle Malocia, but they were never heard from again. Generally, the land was left alone to fester for the entire Dark Age, nearly 800 years.

Finally, the Dark Age ended (about 60 years ago). The sun returned thanks to the gods of light, and with the death of Lascivia, the Empire of Acrolon was been purified of its demonic corruption. It is the Age of the New Dawn. And now the Empire wants to reclaim the lands of Malocia from the clutches of darkness that have covered it for the past two Ages.

A perfect time for brave adventurers seeking glory, riches, and power!

Adventures

Den of Madness (aka Crazyhole). The first levels of this cave network were cleared out, but the deeper levels, where a beholder lives, were not.
Festerwood Manor. Was almost entirely cleared out before the party entered a portal to the Rettaland.
Forge Valley. This was entirely cleared out of a Fury genie of disease, which was a major source of dangerous fauna in the region. The settlement once built by grimnir outcasts became the capital of the Vestrland march.
Foxhome Manor. This was entirely cleaned out of the Court of Three hags and their werewolf servants.
Giant's Eye Keep. This keep was entirely cleared out, and named after Gazes into Valleys.
Grardys, the Tower of the Lady. This was almost entirely cleaned out, except for the tower itself, which is still unbreached. But the powers of the baatar in the tower have been greatly reduced. They also rescued a badly injured bronze drake named Hyridia from the city around the tower.
Halls of Pain. This Terrasindrae-era temple to Sindra was entirely cleared out of the rogue undead priestesses of death.
Hyridian Rock. This giant meteoric rock was turned into a temple to Volprak, an aspect of Dagon worshipped by a Fury-corrupted group of sylvans called trolls. Once cleared by the party, Hyridia moved in here to convalesce.
Lake Yeshua, named for one of the heroes. It was the home of a group of nyxian neriads who threatened the march's food supplies by attacking fishermen and supply ships from Mercatia. The leader and its giant shark pet were killed, and the rest of the dark fey were transported back into the mountain rivers where they came from.
Lasting. This city was cleared of numerous threats, including remnant tanari, and a Fury-corrupted human (medusa).
Vaeterrin Tower. This tower was breached and cleared, but the lich that lives at the top of the tower was not destroyed.
Stonetower Keep. This fortress was built by Lascivian nobles during the Dark Age, at the base of a karst tower, in the wetlands of the Myrrland. It was cleared and turned into an outpost.

Canon

These adventures are all canonized into the history of Acrolon. Some player races and classes will change to adjust to the evolving implementation of the system in the cosmology.