The Island Realm of Ere-Stade

Charlotte

The town of Bowhurst is known for two things. First is their dislike for visitors to their town, second is their dislike for visitors to their town. As some sort of small courtesy, there is at least a tavern on the outskirts of their town where travellers may rest while journeying by the town. Entering the town is out of the question however, as they have erected a twenty foot high wall around the city, and the gate is almost always barred. No one knows why they adopted this policy, but since then, the town interior has been considered its own protectorate and completely separate from the government of the realm of Ere-Stade.

The town's wayfarers inn keeper happens to be a yellow dragonborn, fierce and seemingly far more friendly than the town's name would suggest. If you pay her well enough and get her in the right mood, you might be able to coax out of her the story of Charlotte.

The poor girl has a grave outside of the town, although she is far from at peace. One night a group of adventurers staying at the wayfarers inn heard screams from the town and entered to find the spirit of the girl and a rabble of ghostly guardians. They managed to chase the girl away, but as anyone who knows anything about the town could have guessed, they were not thanked for their trouble. Hounded out of town, they turned their backs on the haunting and travelled on.

The story of the girl is one of blind ignorance.

At an early age, the girl seemed to begin developing psionic powers. Her parents tried best to contain her, but found no one within the town who could help her. Their letters to those that could have helped remained unanswered, others that did reply found that their letters were returned to them as the gatekeepers of the town turned the delivery people away.

Charlotte, the girl, grew without many problems, protected from prying eyes by her parents. However in her eighth year, she had the misfortune to display some of her ability to a woman within the town who spread the rumour of a strange devil-child with evil powers. Her parents weathered the following storm, until the day their child was kidnapped and found dead a few days later.

Her parents left the town following this, finding their search for justice cut short. They planted a grave outside the town, with a simple inscription.

“HERE LIES CHARLOTTE. SHAME ON YOU ALL.”

The girl sought revenge firstly. The hauntings continued long past her death, until she finally killed those who killed her; A bright shining angel under her control acting on her behalf. It had been hoped that the girl was now at peace, but it was not so. Charlotte took to the roads, looking for her parents. Hauntings around the realm by this girl and her summoned guardians continue.

A Brief History of Lady Diala and her Escorts.

There is not a state politician in the realm of Ere-Stade that has not heard of Lady Diala.

An incredibly private woman, who has seen the realm through some of its most deadly trials and tribulations.

Originally an adventurer with a band of mortals, she defended the realm from the elemental invasion of the First King of the Young Ages. Stories of her exploits persist in books within the great library, and also in folklore.

As is the way with mortals, her companions aged and died, and she entered the direct servitude of Erathis, while praying on the holy mountain for a new mission to dedicate herself to. She became a wandering advisor to the state, travelling between cities and towns to further encourage the spirits of mortals to continue to work together for the benefit of the land and of civilisation.

It has been several hundred years since that time, and her journey has continued endlessly around the realm. Some would say that the way of life most cities enjoy would be down to her involvement, however there has been times when enemies of that goal, malign forces seeking to protect the realm using more forceful and brutal methods, have tried to take her life. After she successfully defended herself from a heavily armed ambush, she has taken to hiring a bodyguard or a small group of adventurers to accompany her in the wilderness.

When the temples of Erathis realised that she needed these protections, they immediately pooled resources to set up a centre to train bodyguards for her. People both strong and wise, able to negotiate less important matters on her behalf, as well as save her from the need to fight off would be assassins.

Since the implementation of this scheme, she has chosen one bodyguard for a period of 20 years, who has driven her carriage, allowing her to spend more time communing with the agents of Erathis, and maintaining correspondence with people throughout the realm of Ere-Stade.

Currently she travels with an Elf by the name of Tryst Allweather. He is eighteen years in her service, soon to be released. He is an elegant Elf-kin, skilled in diplomacy and skilled in combat.

Rumours at the moment abound with news of a group of adventurers who also travel with her, those given to gossip also hear that Tryst and one of their number may be developing a romantic connection.

Worton Vale and the Kobold Invasion

The Protectorate of Fureck had not sent a guard, as we expected, but instead has sent a strange combination of would be heroes.

I was too young at the time to understand my mothers fear: A Minotaur? A Drow? There are lots of peaceful ones around Ere-Stade, but in little villages like our own we are used to them as raiders and destroyers of the peace.

They immediately sprang into consideration of our village, the Minotaur directed us in the construction of a palisade around our farming community, leading men to cut down trees for its construction in the nearby copse's. A human traveller with them eased our minds with tales of bravery and strength, skilfully setting us at ease about the strangeness of the people now walking amongst them.

Leaving us to build up our defenses, they set out to track the Kobolds that had most recently attacked our farms.

We did not hear from the travellers until the next day, where they returned to us in the early morning. They had slain six full groups of Kobolds and suspected more in the area.

They spoke plainly to us, describing what the Kobolds were up to. We were scared, we were incensed, we were angry. They drummed up support from us and led us to one last camp emplacement, where they expected to find a magic circle and a group of kobolds plotting our demise.

Our community had the upper hand, these travellers led them, but our community slaughtered the ones at the magic circle, and the patrol hoping to prevent that from happening. They returned successful, roaring with pride and joy.

That night we partied long and joyously, and I met another traveller who was with them all along, a Gnome, as tall as I was back then. She offered me cake and we danced, I often wondered if she remembers me at all over the next few years. I had not seen her before, she told me that she often sat atop the Minotaur; I had not been able to see the Minotaur up until now, which I think is why I never saw her before. Talk was so focussed on the Drow and the Minotaur that no-one had paid much attention to the details of the others. I heard later that a Shifter had been with them, but had slunk off into the night, while we were rejoicing merrily.

I waved bye to them as they set off out of the village to end our Kobold problem entirely. A traveller joined them at this point, on the outskirts of our community. She was an armoured wandering soldier. Sword and shield in hand, she joined them in their quest.

It was not until afterwards that we realised the full extent of the danger we were in. The Kobolds taskmaster was not a young dragon or a charismatic Kobold priest, but an elemental that had bullied the Kobolds into joining it by possessing one of them. The elemental had remained hidden until the travellers had cornered it and it started using powers far beyond the ken of Kobolds.

The travellers fought bravely, defeated the threat, and came back to us as heroes instead of travellers.

Worton Vale as we know it now, a small village growing larger everyday, would have been destroyed back then, if it were not for those travellers.

The Village of Worton Vale, Campaign Progress

Key:
A: A Kobold Camp.
B: The Party was "ambushed" by Kobolds here.
C: A Mess... The party was caught by a patrol (black X) encircling a camp where Kobolds had set up a large destructive magic circle (Red X). Two full encounters back to back.
D: A Cave, discovered by following tracks a blind man could follow from 'C'
E: A second magic circle, with accompanying patrol. Successfully sneaked past the patrol, destroyed the magic circle, then ambushed the patrol as they investigated the campsite.
F: The party's campsite at the end of day one.
G: A resounding victory. Where villagers from Worton Vale slaughtered two sets of Kobolds guarding another magic circle.

The Pantheon

The Deities behave as generally expected within the realm of Ere-Stade, although there are some key differences between the way god's behave in Ere-Stade and how they'd behave in other realms, the major one being that the gods and their followers are actually less antagonistic towards followers of other gods; for example, the rivalry between Corellon and Lloth is less pronounced in Ere-Stade. They don't get along well, but their followers are not likely to kill on sight without good reason, such as disruption of the order of peace in the realm, which generally speaking, the followers of Lloth are less inclined towards. This is just how things are in Ere-Stade, no-one has ever experienced life any other way.

Individually, there are places that are special to each of the gods. Mount Har-Telle is considered a holy land as well, heavily documented as having a clear and strong connection to the astral sea. Most people make a pilgrimage to this holy mountain at least once in their lifetimes, even if they are not particularly faithful or religious. It is considered the heart of religious activity in the world, and clerics and paladins are most likely to have been either trained in the surrounding city, or have received their final blessings in the city. Very few have never been to the city, even the malign gods hold secret temples on the mountain that induct evil clerics.

The Goddess Erathis is considered the most prominent within Ere-Stade, her teachings of holding society together have risen to the forefront and acts as the glue that binds all of the civilised races. Most pay at least some homage to her, and the teachings of most gods also nod in her direction when there own teachings do not cover matters relating to order and civilisation. Erathis herself has a vested interest in Ere-Stade, and is the most common deity for clerics and paladins. The monarchy of Ere-Stade are crowned in her name, as well as in the name of Bahamut. The size of Ere-Stade city can mostly be attributed to the inventive interpretations of Erathis' teachings by a king many generations ago.

The Platinum Dragon's followers often play a more supporting role to the rule of Erathis, ferreting out unjust leaders in civilisation, and making sure that civilisation supports all fairly. Their crusade against evil, such as followers of evil clerics, has much more of a backseat to the support of civilisation, but there are still dedicated clerics and paladins who often work alone with groups of adventurers. These clerics and paladins will often be aspiring to join The Platinum Vanguard, which takes on a more frontal role against evil. Followers of Pelor are often known to work alongside followers of Bahamut in competition against evil forces. They are often peaceful and honourable in dealing with each other, but relentless in the fight against evil. If a group aligned with Bahamut finds an evil cult and a group aligned with Pelor arrive, they will often share the information and work they are committed to.

Bahamut's followers sometimes attract the attention of the followers of Tiamat. The most notable is the twin villages of Shedann and Mishrin on Liledurth Island that once a decade conduct a test of strength, the result of which has almost always been a tie. The white dragon that owns Mishrin, village of Tiamat, challenges the silver dragon that owns Shedann for the contents of each others villages. They often expend themselves fighting each other, while the people participate in martial, arcane, and other tests, sometimes they just put together a small army which draws fighters from all alignments and followers of other deities such as Kord to fight against each other. Great effort is expended to avoid an all out fight, and if it can't be avoided, limited to small armies. Richer participants often pay a cleric in advance to find their body and raise them after the fight. The people who profit most from an all out battle are the dragons themselves however, and they often use the games to gather more treasure for their hoards.

Ioun is revered especially in Teres, the great learning capital of the realm. It is suggested by some that the library itself was built by angels of Ioun, which covers at least a half a square mile of space within the city. There are rumours that agents of Vecna also worked on building the great library, especially given the number of secrets discovered within the library and exposed cover ups of further secrets. It is believed that the library holds many more secrets, particularly young wizards of Ioun often try to make a name for themselves by trying to expose an undiscovered secret of the library, whereas the followers of Vecna protecting those secrets usually work against them. Very rarely a secret is uncovered, very rarely a wizard vanishes within the library never to be seen again, and rarely the young wizard is found dead, which is mostly used to confirm suspicions of activity relating to the God of secrets.

Of the wilds, Melora, Sehanine, and Avandra hold particular sway, with many shrines found in almost every corner of the world. Adventurers on exploration missions often discover a new area, to find nestled within somewhere a shrine to one of these three gods. Finding a new area without one of these often results in one being built. Followers of Melora in particular are often bothered by the expansion of cities, especially the capital, but are often appeased by the fact that the space acquired by the capital is treated with great respect, and often not built upon, but kept as a safe haven for those that revere the wild places.

Followers of Corellon and Lloth are most predominantly found within Elf and Drow societies. As mentioned earlier, their lesser rivalry does mean that their temples can be found anywhere Elves and Drow live. As some Elves live within Drow society and Drow live within Elf society, temples to Corellon can be found in Drow cities and vice versa, and Drow can find themselves loyal to Corellon and Elves loyal to Lloth. While there is some tension between the two sets of followers, a live and let live policy presiding over all society means that they rarely come to aggression. Diplomats and Protectors of law and order, aligned to neither Corellon and Lloth, often act as bridges between the two sets of followers resulting in a more peaceful atmosphere within more predominantly Corellon or Lloth cities.

The battle minded god, Kord, and his followers are often easiest appeased with a decent fight. Gladiatorial arenas can be found in some cities, and most military and mercenary organisations revere and take instruction from those that are closest to their god. The most pious followers of Kord often seek to find and fight followers of Bane and Gruumsh, believing them to give the greatest challenge to their combative prowess. A section of the Ere-Stade military are specifically dedicated to Kord and are often represented at all major battles that need to be fought on the island and are mostly partially present at minor battles. The island realms champion is a devout follower of Kord.

Of the Malign gods, Asmodeus, Torog, and Zehir have little to no business on Ere-Stade. Occasionally they nurture followers for very specific tasks, but these tasks often hold no sense to the inhabitants of the realm, and often, to the people carrying them out as well. They are mostly a mystery to the people of Ere-Stade.

Dangers of the Countryside

Travel between cities has never been safer in Ere-Stade, from the capital's bounty system to the effectiveness of mercenary companies within the major cities, many threats to the average traveller have been erased.

The capital's expansion plan and bounty system has been key in this. Many generations ago Ere-Stade City's most enterprising king, The Second King of the Walled Dynasty, set about expanding the wall the previous king had directed be built around the city. Each year now, a festival is held to celebrate the expansion of the wall. In the process of expanding the land the wall surrounds, the land is first cleared of all monstrous inhabitants, and those that are not part of Ere-Stade's civilised alliance. The wall is then built to encompass the new area, the land cleared again, and then the previous wall is carefully taken down. This process usually results in the deaths of many strong monstrous creatures, while weaker ones flee the military unit dedicated to the expansion process.

The bounty system usually covers the rest of the land, where cities keep an office dedicated to the tracking of more fierce creatures. A military unit is dedicated to hunting these creatures, but more exist on the Island Realm of Ere-Stade than this unit can cover, so the offices also contain a Hunters Office, where bounties are posted and willing hunters can sign up to take on these more dangerous foes. Some cities also contain a hunters guild, which deals with most of the marks posted in the Hunters Offices. More elite marks are hunted by more specialised units within the military, and directed more specifically by the governments of the realm. Rarely, adventurers that have no alignment to any government or military body take on the role of hunters.

Many roads therefore have been cleared of many of the major threats that a person may face on a journey. Wild animals rarely attack people, and some of the less civilised races avoid major travel routes and have either taken on a more nomadic lifestyle, or set up their settlements far away from the capital city where they will not encounter any of the civilised races.

Small villages often need little protection from the threats of the wilds, and often have no problems with uncivilised races or monstrous creatures. Military bands often patrol routes that are travelled frequently, and have houses in most villages where their commanders stay as they travel through the area. If a specific problem arises, a military band often stops to clear things up before moving on. This mostly has the effect of monstrous creatures and uncivilised races staying far away from any of the civilised races settlements, villages, towns and cities.

The Villages near Fureck

Report of Guard Captain Patrin Rhogar:
24th year, sixth month, and thirteenth day of the Reign of the King of the Shining Sun.

Last week our runner to the village of Lasey had returned with terrible news of the village. His report stated that the entire occupants of the city have been slaughtered in their homes. Our investigation team has returned today and reported.

The village has been found devoid of any life, everything within a rather large circle centred in the village has died on the spot instantaneously, and the villagers have been found to be completely missing. The initial report from the runner suggested that the occupants of the village had been killed, but we do not know if this is the case. Our investigation team did discover the workings of a great magic, although they were unsure as to what kind of magic it was. It had a very clear effect of killing everything within the village, but we suspect the villagers have been removed from the villages after the magic was cast.

In the preceding couple of weeks, the village had reported a large number of organised Kobolds within the area. While I am sceptical that Kobolds could have inflicted this upon an entire village, it is the only thing that was out of the ordinary before the tragedy occurred. The Kobold Population of this area is especially low, thanks to the work of the Alilandra Mercenary Company.

Our company will seek to gather more information and move should the same circumstances arise again.

Report of Guard Captain Patrin Rhogar:
24th year, seventh month, and sixteenth day of the Reign of the King of the Shining Sun.

In the aftermath of the horrific devastation in Lasey, we have noticed a similar course of events happening around the village of Worton Vale. As things were at the time, we do not have the resources to launch a investigation ourselves, but the petition came and we have dedicated some effort in employing some hardy adventurers to investigate and hopefully stop the same thing from happening again, if indeed the same thing is happening again. My request for more funding so we could hire the Alilandra Mercenary Company has been denied, despite my belief that they would be able to perform a more comprehensive investigation of this matter.

We have had to send out a couple of criminals we have caught, in order to get them out of the city, as commanded by the city council, and due to lack of interest within the city from adventurers. The Minotaur we captured has been dispatched, as has a petty thief, a Shifter, caught looking for things to steal from our hardworking citizens. If they prove themselves true to their task, we may have further work for them. From our search for adventurers, I have employed a Drow, Gnome and Human. (their details are recorded within the contract writ) They have set off today, and I expect they will arrive at Worton Vale tomorrow.

If we have all the facts, the group will not have long until the same thing happens to Worton Vale.

Player Class Backgrounds in Ere-Stade

from the Players Handbook

Cleric
Clerics are trained in Mount Har-Telle predominantly, although can be trained in most cities. They are also commonly trained in Ere-Stade City, and can also have been trained in Pariste, Lilerest, and Fureck. Clerics of Ioun and knowledge based deities can be trained in Teres.

Fighter
Pop up everywhere. Training camps exist in most major cities and towns, where a guard is required. A major mercenary training company exists in Brette which trains many highly skilled Fighters.

Paladin
Usually have the same origins as clerics.

Ranger
Mostly originate in small villages, the south-western plains, and the forests of the world.

Rogue
The bigger the city, the more likely there are rogues.

Warlock
Are more commonly from the city of Teres, but can strike their pacts in any places.

Warlord
Are rarely from smaller places, but are capable of learning their skills anywhere. A major mercenary training company exists in Brette which trains many highly skilled Warlords.

Wizard
Often from Teres, and most cities that have an arcane library.

From the Players Handbook 2

Avenger
Have similar origins to Clerics and Paladins, but can be chosen for their tasks regardless of location.

Barbarian
Can come from small villages, and the nomadic communities of the south-western and north-eastern plains.

Bard
Mostly learn their trade on the road, in most cities, towns, villages and in the wild. There are schools which also teach bardic skills in Teres, Brette, Estereste, Sonara and Rieta.

Druid
Have the same origins as Barbarians.

Invoker
Often receive their powers in places close to the Astral Sea, such as Mount Har-Telle, although they can be chosen regardless of their location.

Shaman
Have the same origins as Barbarians and Druids.

Sorcerer
Are more commonly from Liledurth Island, although their powers can manifest regardless of their location.

Warden
Have the same origins as Barbarians, Druids, and Shamans.

From the Players Handbook 3

Ardent
Like all Psionic Classes, they are uncommon, but are more common in places connected to the Far Realm in some way. The only known connection between Ere-Stade and the Far Realm is the Teres Ruins, which is what led to the city's destruction.

Battlemind
See Ardent.

Monk
There are many Monasteries where Monks can receive training, Vondal is the home of the Githzerai and main base of monastic traditions, other races receive their training in Kael in Githzerai traditions. Other martial arts hold monasteries and training camps in Albrette, Southhill, Lerissa and Kava. There are many places where one may have learned their arts however, including while travelling with a Monk Teacher.

Psion
See Ardent.

Runepriest
Where Clerics have received their training in larger cities and towns, Runepriests are usually from smaller towns and villages where runic traditions are common. Arranis is very strong in runic traditions, and there is a centre in Mount Har-Telle, where religious studies are extremely common.

Seeker
See Barbarian.

From other sourcebooks

Swordmage
An arcane tradition that originates in Teres, and has extended to most other cities, they are uncommon in other cities, and rare in towns, and very rarely find themselves in small towns and villages.

Player Race Backgrounds in Ere-Stade

Player Race Backgrounds in Ere-Stade

Dragonborn
Dragonborn are found living in most large cities and towns, and occasionally in smaller towns and villages. They are mostly from the cities of Kalledurth and Kava on the Liledurth Island.

Dwarves
Almost always from the Shar-Chad Mountains, where the dwarven cities of Berend and Chad are. There are dwarven settlements in many places outside of the Shar-Chad mountain range.

Eladrin
The Eladrin are rare in the common lands, but usually come from the S'na Ta'el forest where the connection to the Feywild is stronger, and sometimes enter the world from the Feywild in other places too.

Elves
The S'na Ta'el forest is the home of most elves, although there are large settlements in the Flureck, Telle, Sonara and Lile forests too. They can be found almost anywhere within the Island.

Half-Elves
Are born and can be found anywhere. The only major Half-Elf settlement is the town of Forest's Edge, on the south-western edge of the S'na Ta'el Forest.

Halflings
Halflings live in most cities and towns, and they move around a lot. Most older Halflings have lived in almost all the towns and cities on Ere-Stade Island at one point or another. Some Halflings hold the number of cities they've been in with pride, and often use the number as part of their title.

Humans
Humans populate almost all of the major cities and towns, and are found almost everywhere. They stand out in some places, such as the major Dwarf and Elf cities. A few nomadic communities of humans also travel the lands.

Tieflings
Teres is the most common birthplace of Tieflings, and the city is made up of a large proportion of Tiefling residents. Most places have Tiefling visitors, and they are a common sight in a lot of larger cities.

From the Players Handbook 2

Devas
Often wander down from Mount Har-Telle, and appear in many places that have a strong connection to the Astral Sea. They are rare in most places.

Gnomes
Gnomes live mostly amongst the elves of the S'na Ta'el, Flureck, Telle, Sonara and Lile Forests similar to how halflings live amongst human societies, but comparatively rarer than halflings.

Goliaths
These are nomadic within the Shar-Chad mountain ranges, and tend to access the rest of the world through their dwarven connections. They extremely rarely come from cities.

Half-Orcs
Generally rare, but not unheard of. They are often from villages or small towns.

Shifters
Have several nomadic communities that roam the lands around Pariste and the north-east, some also come from the lands around Arranis.

From the Players Handbook 3

Githzerai
Githzerai have a monastery city in the Shar-Chad moutain range called Vondal, and also hold many monasteries around the island where they keep to themselves. In Kael, a Githzerai monastery exists where they often interact with other races, they are otherwise rare.

Minotaur
Especially rare, as viewed with much suspicion outside of their own communities, they generally have come from the labyrinthine Aila Island off the northern coast. Other labyrinth villages exist, but they are difficult to come across and then, once found, actually enter. There is a hidden labyrinth city in the Shar-Chad Mountains, which is mostly antagonistic to the surrounding races, which, every few generations, begins to rampage in the area, sometimes there are survivors that have children who live on to become adventurers without ever having set foot within the labyrinth cities.

Shardminds
Are extremely rare, but usually have very original and interesting origins depending on where the Shardmind awakened.

Wildens
Among the deepest and untouched parts of nature, Wilden live. They are common in places where there is a connection to the feywild, such as the S'na Ta'el forest, or the plains of the north-west.

From Other Sourcebooks

Drow
The Drow have their cities below the surface of the forests of Ere-Stade, they are not antagonistic with the other races of the world, and are not viewed with suspicion. They are uncommon around most of the world, but where they do intersect with other races they are often present as merchants or traders.

Genasi
Watersouls have an underwater city called Emere-Kyri, Earthsouls usually reside in Jerra-Sal, and there are other cities such as Nari-Khan and Sha-Alandra which have more mixed populations, including other races.

The Alilandra Mercenary Company

Based in the town of Brette, the Alilandra Mercenary Company takes on the role of forward scouts, investigators, guards, assassins, or hunters.

The Alilandra Mercenary Company are contracted within the city and within surrounding villages by individuals or by the authorities, which the company has many close links with. On occasion the Company is called upon to complete tasks in other towns such as Allbrette or South Bay, and rarely in Fureck, the largest city in the region. The Alilandra Mercenary Company also has a representative in the Ere-Stade council, and can be called upon for advice, or mercenary services, within the capital

The Company has several ranks of mercenaries for hire, the lowest performing the more mundane tasks, and an elite rank of mercenaries who choose their jobs from a list of contracts. The most novice recruits are often given jobs within Brette, just in case additional support is needed, but most elite groups have autonomy to perform their contracts as they see fit. Those who break the Alilandra Mercenary Code are often hunted down by the mercenary company and are subject to the code of the company, which may result in differing degrees of severity, but the Company is allowed to exact discipline within its own ranks however it chooses, separate from Ere-Stade law.

The Company often has more work than it can provide cover for, but remains the highest order of mercenaries in the lower east territories of the island realm of Ere-Stade. Its history spans back to the founding of Brette, now a small town, where Alilandra, a merchant princess settled and required a guard. Wanting to keep them fresh and active, she would occasionally hire a small number of them out as mercenaries. Having the funding to equip them well and provide the best training, they often proved themselves more than capable, and she was petitioned to hire them out more often; so a profitable enterprise grew. Upon her death, she willed her estate be turned into a training ground and the Alilandra Mercenary Company to continue fulfilling contracts and providing their service. Alilandra's mansion now serves as the main barracks of the Company, and employs mercenaries trained outside its walls as well as ones within. An apprenticeship at Alilandra's is highly sought after, and some nobles buy their children a place, considering it good for them as a way of stopping them from becoming too reliant on their guards.