# Curse of Darkness - Prologue



## Greenfield (Apr 26, 2012)

In about 2010 our game group started a 3.5 campaign, and as was my habit, I chronicled the adventures in story form.

These were originally posted on another site, but because there has been a recent interest expressed in the Legacy Games forum, I'm going to re-post them here.

******************* 
 This isn't exactly a gaming journal, which is to say that it isn't based on any actual play as of this time.

Instead, it's a proposed game world, a long story arc for a D&D campaign, to be played in round robin style. And while the layout is posted publicly, and is thus open for comments and suggestions, it is mainly intended for the players in my weekend D&D group.

As usual for this type of game, each player should create a character, and select the nation or region that they come from. They should then do a little research and a lot of creative writing, and come up with the setting of that land, including some of the major players.

The world itself is based on Europe sometime in the 5th century, just after the Vandals have sacked Rome.

***
The old empire has fallen and the dark age is upon us. Rome, the Eternal City, will live, but her legions have been withdrawn from the provinces, save for a few outposts, to defend the heart of the empire. Word has reached the provincial governors that this effort has failed, and the Vandals have had their way. Fields lay charred, and the cities themselves now sit in ash and ruin, pyres whose smoke climbs to the heavens themselves..

The smoking ruin of the Empire seems to fill the sky, blotting out the sun and lending a chill to the land. Sages have read the signs and portents, seeking answers from the gods. And the gods are silent. The darkness seems to obscure even the gods’ visions of the future, as if no clear path remained. The Oracle at Delphi is silent for the first time in living memory, and all but the simplest divinations fail.

What has become clear, however, is that the darkness is a curse, for no amount of simple smoke could blind the gods. The world will grow colder and more abysmal, crops will fail. As the reins of the empire sit slack, old grievances will surface once again, and what remains of once mighty Rome will tear itself to pieces. War and Famine will ride across the world, with Death and Pestilence at their sides. 

Some of the Provincial Governors have conspired in secret, selecting representatives to join together and seek out the source of the curse and put an end to it. Agents of Chaos will oppose you, and will work to spread their madness as far and as wide as they can.

There are tales that some believe might guide you. The chariot of the sun god, driven to ruin by the deity’s own son, is said to lay within mortal reach, though no one knows where. The hidden vineyards of Bacchus are said to hold the rare Wines of Truth (“in vino veritas”, as the old saying goes.) In the land of the Pharos it is rumored that the Eye of Ra can grant divine guidance and visions, for those whose mind is strong enough. In the land of the Gaels, to the west, there is said to be a gift of the Tuatha de Dannen, a kettle that can feed a nation.

There are as many legends as there are seekers and soothsayers, and each promised guidance and salvation. Perhaps one of them is real, perhaps one of them can help. Or perhaps, for the first time in history, the future lay strictly in the hands of mortals.
******
Yes, we're treading on dangerous turf here. In this version of reality, there was no Emperor who embraced Christianity, and it remains a near forgotten religion followed by some desert nomads at the fringes of the old Empire.

For this performance, the part of the Vandals will be played by the Wandering Orc Raiders, with a supporting cast of thousands. The Huns, the Cossacs, and other "barbarians" will in turn be played by Goblins, Bugbears, etc, as needed.

The Dwarves will hold most strongly through the Rhineland, and the German/Swiss/Italian Alps, and up into Scandinavia. Elves will most commonly be found in the coastal areas of western Europe and the British Isles, and again, up into Scandinavia. Halflings and their kin reside most strongly in Ireland and the British isles. Any and all of these can be found anywhere else they're needed for story purposes.

Available religions of the world will be Greco/Roman, Egyptian, Celtic and Norse. If you need a deity (say, if you're a Cleric), pick one you like and the group will help you find a setting appropriate counterpart.

Latin is the "Common" tongue, as if that makes a difference.

This is just about the time when the feudal system, as commonly used in D&D, is in its infancy or completely unknown. (It actually began around the time of Charlemagne, several hundred years later, but what's a century or four between friends.) Players should use it, or not, as they see fit when designing their homeland.

Be advised: I'm considering Greece as my starting point, and will prepare a couple of characters. Since I'm planning to be the first DM, to get the ball rolling, the player characters will hook up with whichever one they think will work better with the group.

And don't worry. I know the PCs will be just 1st level, so I'll keep it simple and light. Just the fate of the world, and all that rot... 

<edit> The "curse of darkness" is based on a real world theory that a meteor strike may have in fact darkened the skies with dust clouds that took centuries to fully clear. This impacted crop yields, and thus the ability of cities and nations to support themselves, and drove the "barbarian" tribes to increase raids on Roman lands in search of food. It started wars, and poverty, and made the "Dark Ages" truly dark.</edit>

  <edit>Apparently there was an eruption of Krakatoa in the year 536 that also darkened the sky worldwide.  While that’s a century or so late to blame for the fall of Rome (the last Roman Emperor actually died in 476 or so), you are free to blame it for the fall of civilization if you choose. </edit> 
  ******* 
  The setting has been discussed above, but I'll give the short course anyway. 

In a world not too different from our own, there came the fall of the Roman Empire. But in this world Christianity never converted a Roman Emperor, Elves and Dwarves dwell in their homelands, and magic is not unknown.

The world has been cast into shadow, as a cloud blocks the sun. It began on the Winter Solstice, the darkest night of the year, and has persisted for months. The Vandals have sacked Rome, and the skalds and prophets are silent. They are receiving no visions of the future, nor messages from the gods.

Throughout the tattered remains of the empire, various wise people realized the significance, and have quietly exchanged messages discussing the matter. Their conclusion was that there is an active conspiracy, either a single powerful enemy, or a coalition of enemies, that have banded together to tear down the order that was Rome, and possibly to tear down civilization as we know it.

Each sponsor has sent a minor emmisary to meet at the Olympic Games in Athens. They are to form an adventuring company to seek out the forces of Chaos and oppose them, and to track down the clues to the Curse of Darkness.

This isn't anything like an historically accurate world, though it puts on such a facade. Please ignore anachronisms you may note in the tale.

The cast of heroes is:

Nedel, son of a minor noble from the Carpathian mountains. His name for the homeland describes it simply as a passageway, a series of mountain passes if you will, between various Sylvan realms. He is a Sorcerer, and is played by The Viking..

Sylus, the Half Elf ranger, hails from the southern coast of Gaul. He's played by "B"

Appelenea is the lovely Half Elf Druid from the northern lands, where the sea freezes in the winter. She is played by Lady J.

Marcus is a Human Cleric from Rome itself, played by Mr. M.

Seeburn is a Half Elf Barbarian, son of a clan chief who now holds an abandoned Roman outpost along Hadrian's Wall, in Scottland. He is played by the Tinker.

The dusky skinned fighter from the southern continent has given the name of Cassius, at least for the moment. He is surly and short tempered. His name may be Roman, but he is a refugee from the fallen city of Carthage (Yes, I know, we're off by a few centuries. Roll with it.) He's played by the Blind Bard.

My own character is yet to be decided.

  [FONT=&quot]House Rules:  We’ve taken out or weakened spells that tend to eliminate certain aspects of game play.  _Teleport_ and it’s cousins are not in play, since they tend to eliminate the adventures of overland travel.  DM’s are, of course, free to come up with their own versions for plot purposes.  Similarly, _Raise Dead_ and it’s relatives are missing.  If you want to bring someone back from the dead, you make a trip to the Land of the Dead, find their spirit and return with them.  It’s appropriate for Grecco/Roman and Norse, and probably for Egyptian as well.  Spells that get answers from the gods don’t work.  The best in play will be _Augry_.  We’ll start with the three core books, and add things from others based on mutual agreement. 

And, without further adieu, we begin our tale.

 [/FONT]


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