Thunder Valley (Campaign Seed)

History

ThunderValley was not always known as the Thunder Valley. Before, it had a name for its entire world: Kyrae. Kyrae was created by the Primordials by chance, and the gods took their creation away, turning it into a world of life and order. Enraged, the primordials furiously stewed inside their chaos. Tharizdun, a god locked deep away for betraying the gods by creating evil and the abyss, was the target of many primordials to destroy. However, any primordial that entered the abyss became a demon prince, and allied with Tharizdun. The chained god attempted to free himself by granting mortals powers if they created cults to give him power. However, the gods who had imprisoned Tharizdun knew better, and had made the chains that bound him with the evil he created.

Eight gods of compassion, generosity, selflessness, civiltiy, honesty, life, freedom and peace were chosen to forge these chains, and because of the evil they becamme corrupted. Asmodeus became tyrannical, Tiamat greedy, Lolth selfish, Gruumsh barbaric, Vecna dishonest, Zehir poisonous, Torog imprisoning and Bane wrathful. The existing gods were shocked, but even the newly corrupted gods agreed it was for the best. Shortly afterwards, the gods began focusing on their new creation.

They created good, evil, knowledge, civilization and everything else on their new world and its shadowfell and feywild. Eventually adventuring was spawned, and the gods began to become less interested in their creation. They let clerics and paladins worship them, and gave them powers in return. These paragons of virtue began to stomp out evil, and this caused tensions between the gods to rise. Soon, worshipers of all gods started a war against their opposing force.

War of the Gods

The Mortal Battle

The mortals of Kyrae fought between themselves, and eventually the side of the good gods gained the upper hand. After thousands of years, they succeeded in stomping out all evil in the world. The evil gods, unable to support themselves without worshippers, fled to the abyss. The natural world's heroes found themselves without an enemy. Whilst some returned to their peaceful lives, others wished again for excitement. They found a way into the Shadowfell and the Feywild, destroying anything that was evil. The evil gods became lesser and lesser, until Tharizdun offered them a deal; if they worshipped him he would supply them with all the power they need. The evil gods, unable to survive without any supporters, agreed.

Feeling a greater evil existed past even the shadowfell, the mortal heroes started descending into the underdark. The good gods, intrigued with the actions of their worshippers, provided them with powers greater than before. The heroes tore through the underdark, eventually destroying all evil in the natural world and its shadows. The gods thought that their creations would stop here, but they were wrong. The heroes began to enter the elemental chaos, the abyss in their sights. The gods then began to focus entirely on this final campaign against evil, seeking to destroy the thing that caused all problems in their creations. The demon princes fell, and soon the abyss shrank in size, eventually only encomppassing Tharizdun's prison.

The true War of the Gods

The abyss was breached by the heroes, and the evil gods attacked them. However, at this point, they were little more than demon princes themselves, and were eventually destroyed by the heroes. Soon, only Tharizdun was the last evil in existence. The heroes went to destroy him, but found Tharizdun too strong to defeat. Unable to destroy him, the heroes prayed for the good gods to help them. The gods heard them, and combined their collective power into a single avatar of good. This avatar was designed to seek out great evils and destroy them. The avatar entered the abyss, and found Tharizdun. However, Tharizdun was never an evil god. Tharizdun created evil, but he was never evil itself. He was selfish, manipulative and destructive, but his own creation was designed never to affect himself, only to echo him. He was the god of alignment, and without evil, good cannot exist; therfore Tharzidun knew he would be safe. The avatar destroyed the chains that bound Tharizdun, freeing him.

Tharizdun leapt from his prison, bringing with him the primordials. Tharizdun created new demon princes from the primordials, and attacked the astral sea itself. The battle was long and was visible throughout all of creation. Lightning and fire danced through the skies of the world, revealing the battle of the gods. Tharizdun went for Io, the cheif god, whilst his primordial allies fought the gods. Io and Tharizdun fought with the powers of creation and destruction, their forces match for match. The primordials were defeated by the gods, who ran to help Io destroy Tharizdun once and fall all. Tharizdun, realizing his end, brought the battle to the living gate, wherein he threw Io into the far realm. Io's defeat destroyed the living gate, shatering it's pieces throughout the universe. The destruction of the gate destroyed the gods gathered, killing every last divine being that existed. The gods were no more.

Death of the World

Without the gods or primordials, the world grew dark. The fire and lightning in the skies grew until it surrounded the entire planet. Acid fell as rain, and massive bolts of lightning blew craters into the ground. Auroras zipped through the sky, magic and psionics in their pure form tearing the atmosphere apart. Clouds of ejecta filled the air, choking both plants and people in toxicity. The stars fell from the heavens, scarring the world with craters and magma. Any living creature left fled into the underdark. Eventually, the sun sputtered, and fell. The resulting collision with the world ripped a crater in the very fabric of reality. The shadowfell and feywild mixed at the center of this crater, and so it would wait for thousands of years...

The Valley

The creatures that had fled into the underdark were few, and many species died and were born in the caverns. When the destruction ceased outside, these creatures returned to the surface. The nexus of Shadowfell and Feywild had become a second sun to replace the first. The crater which it had created had become a massive valley, filled with the dangers of both the Feywild and the Shadowfell. Eventually, three cities were founded on ends of this valley. The valley was named the Thunder Valley, after the the sound that happened when the sun fell onto the earth. Today, all life can be found in this valley, and outside are the remains of a charred and dead world. In the center of the valley there is a rift into the far realm, created by the rupture in reality.

Geography

The geography of Kyrae, the world in which the ThunderValley exists, is littered with craters, canyons, craggs and inhospitable stone that no life exists on. The ThunderValley itself is a supermassive crater measuring 2000 miles across and 500 miles deep, with it's walls jutting up like mountains around it. The only source of water is from subterranean deposits, which collect in the centre of the valley. The interior of the valley contains a giant swamp caused by the water collection, temperate forests and rocky mountains. Rain only falls in the valley thanks to its sheer size and mountains absorbing moisture. Magic, whilst unnoticeable to a local of the ThunderValley (see Laijan Gates) tingles in the air, and gives everything a slight taste and smell of ozone. This magic comes from the shadowfell and feywild that co-exist with the material world within the valley. Creatures native to both the Feywild and Shadowfell appear in the valley naturally, often refereed to as 'Swamp Beasts'. In the very center of the Valley, within the great swamp, there is a large lake of the pooled water. This lake is a mile deep in the center and spreads out for four miles. This lake is stagnant, but is the source of the rain. Melt water rivers lead into this lake from the mountains.

Cities

In the Valley, there are three major cities. These cities lie on opposite ends of the valleys, and link to one another with giant teleportation circles. Smaller, villages exist towards the center of the valley, renowned for their toughness and stubbornness. Barbarian tribes live on the mountains, hunting the wilder beasts that live there. Occasionally, a village is founded outside the Valley, but it is never heard from again.

Cliffedge

The Robust City, Practical City, City of the Body...

One of the three major cities of the Valley, Cliffedge is built directly into the side of the great cliffs of the western valley. They grow tough but much more tasteful sheep, cows and other meaty products, which they trade with the other cities. Because of their livestock focus, they also supply leather, milk and other animal products to the Valley. Their teleportation circle is located in the centre of a great marketplace, and activates periodically every 30 minutes during the day, but is inactive at night. Humans, Dwarves and Halflings make up the general population.

Common Terrain: Dirt, Gravel, Stone, Grass, Cobble, Loadstone, Cliff and (Rare) Swampland

Population: 40000 people

Defense: They have a defense force of eighteen score (360) Swamp Hunters, and twelve score (240) Aerial Hunters that fly on Mstern. These defenses are used for protection against wandering swampbeasts or dragons from the mountains.

Mountainview

The Sylvan City, City of Grace, Arcane city...

One of the three major cities of the Valley, Mountainview is built into the base of one of the mountains around the edges of the valley. They are higher up than the other cities, and have access to a meltwater spring. The food they grow is filling but bland and is often traded as ration food for adventuring trips into the swamps or mountains. The city is home to mostly Elves, Eladrin, Gnome and other Sylvan races. The city is famous for its Arcane Academy, where they produce magical items, maintain the teleportation network and research magic. Their Teleportation Circle is located in the Arcane Academy, and activates periodically every 30 minutes during the day, but is inactive at night unless in emergency.

Common Terrain: Stone, Cobble, Ice, Snow, Cliff

Population: 30000 people.

Defense: They have twenty score (400) Arcane Fliers on Mstern. These defenses are used for show, and for aiding other cities. They rarely use them.

Riverside

The Water City, City of Fruit, The Gentle City...

One of the three major cities of the Valley, Riverside is situated along one of the melt water rivers from the mountains into the swamp. They are the closest of the cities to the swamp, with swampy ground within walking distance from the city walls. They have a dam over the river that flows into a reservoir. In this reservoir they grow schools of fish, which they trade with the other cities. These fish are magically enchanted, and reproduce extremely quickly. They have large orchards where they grow and trade fruit. Their teleportation circle is located in the center of the city square, and activates periodically every 30 minutes during the day, but is inactive at night. Elves, Humans, Halflings and Half-elves make up the majority of the population.

Common Terrain: Rock, Sand, Trees, Grass, Cobble, Swamp, Water and Fast-Flowing Currents.

Population: 40000 People

Defenses: They have a large defense force used to hold back wandering swamp beasts. They have a thousand Swamp Hunters, five hundred Aerial Hunters that ride Mstern and three hundred Aquatic Hunters that ride Herali.

Religion

Before the War of the Gods destroyed life as it was known, the world of Kyrae worshiped many gods. It was often very little past anything but worship. When the gods chose their champions, however, it sparked an influx of active worshipers, praises and offerings to the gods. Historians claim it was this influx that blinded the gods to the actions of evil like a narcotic. Primal spirits were few in followers, and hardly any when the champions were chosen. Demons and devils were worshiped in cults, but these were soon cut down by the crusade against evil.

Religion in the Valley

After the cataclysm, the gods were dead. The first clerics and paladins that led survivors into the underground found their powers turn to an abysmal cold, resembling how the astral sea now was. After reemerging, some saw it as a sign that the gods had returned, but divine prayer was useless even then. Some radical cultists worship the new cold of the Astral sea, claiming it the blessing of some unseen elder god taking pity. Others claim it is the blood of the gods itself. Others still claim that the gods may still be alive, just cast in eternal sleep. Religion, if any, now takes place in the formal of druidic-like temples, worshipers of the few remaining spirits of nature. However, these primal spirits are as tough and malicious as the world they represent. Some gentler ones such as the spirits of fields or trees are worshiped the most.

Demi-Gods

It is rumored by ancient inscriptions that if one were to follow the path of the gods and be a divine worshiper one might eventually gain enough power from exposure to the astral sea to become part god. If this were to happen, they could, with effort, eventually ascend to godhood, becoming the sole god of ThunderValley. Many cults also interpret this to include psionics, as psions have many reality bending powers.

It is believed that if one were to become a god, they would be able to be worshiped by the ThunderValley's inhabitants and become powerful enough to restore Kyrae to its former self. However, it is likely an entire panetheon would be required than just one god.

Spirits

Primal spirits still exist in Kyrae, though they are few and have taken just as much damage as the planet. They are cynical, selfish and inclined not to listen to people. They seek to spread nature back into Kyrae to restore their numbers, but the deadness of the planet prevents them from doing this.

Primal cults believe that enough worshiping of the spirits (Or a proper ritual) could receive enough power to emulate the gods and restore Kyrae to nature. However, the amount of malicious spirits makes this a dangerous theory.

Cosmology

The Celestial Realm, once the heavens and stars of the material world, is destroyed and barren. There are no stars in the sky. Kyrae had a moon, but this was destroyed in the great cataclysm. Instead, a large debris field surrounds Kyrae, orbiting the planet as a ring. This ring is laced with purples, silver and whites, ancient remnants of the moon. The Shadowfell and Feywild in Kyrae once were and still are separate planes of existence, but they merge with the natural world in the center of the valley. Fey creatures and plants are naturally occurring in the great swamp in the center of the Valley, and Shadowfell beasts and aberrations roam the world at night, repulsed only by light. The extreme magic of this rift causes wild magic surges periodically.

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