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Jacob W. Michaels 07-21-03, 05:23 PM

OK, really briefly, I'm starting a new campaign in a homebrew world, where demons played a major role (in a bad way) in history. It's a medium magic world. The average person would never see a spell cast in his/her life (if he/she is lucky). There are no magic stores on a city block. There are, however, plenty of spell casters (divine, arcane and possible some others depending on what I think of Monte Cook's new book). They have some organization, also, but just tend to be above getting into the fray or normal lives. The campaign will involve the five PCs being picked up and discovering that they are part of a group of wanderers (similar to Romany, but with a more militaristic bent) and are, in fact, all part of the same extended family. The first "Season" of the campaign will involve them trying to find more of their family and discovering what threat led to their grandparents dispersing and going into hiding 60 years ago. I'm thinking it will take them to between sixth and 10th level. One of my players, though, sent me the following background. I'm trying to think of some plans for "Season 2" involving it, so I can start dropping some hints well before then. I've got a few ideas already, but I thought I'd see what the fine people of this board could come up with. Thanks, Jacob Back Story Rob's Character- As the tide of battle turned against the demon overlords of the Heartlands, emboldened bands of Humans turned against their masters. The Demon Queen Nyxxara foresaw the turning tide and made preparations for the inevitable attack against her. She prepared her plans in her crimson citadel Bloodspire. However she underestimated the Humans desire for freedom and they struck against her before all was prepared. But the Humans also fell prey to their own haste. The binding talismans that they planed to use were ever so slightly flawed. In the ensuing battle the Demon Queen was defeated and her tower destroyed, however the Humans were slain to a man and their victory was not as complete as they had hoped. The Demon Queen's enchantments were able to place her essence in to the enchanted vessel that she had prepared, however the Human binding spells imprisoned her within that vessel the enchanted dagger that she had intended to hold her essence for short while until her minions could complete the ceremony to restore her became her prison. With her most trusted consorts slain with her and her surviving minions knowing nothing of the plan to resurrect their fallen Queen. So Nyxxara slept within her prison, becoming a half forgotten memory of the victorious Humans. As the centuries passed, the spells binding the Demon queen -- as well as her own spells -- began to weaken. However fate had other plans. The dagger was found and was passed through several owners before finally coming into the possession of Malkuth, a greedy and overconfident mage of moderate power. While examining the Queen's dagger, he discovered Abyssal runes on the daggers blade when it fell into a brazier. Malkuth realized that he had found something very interesting. He promptly attempted to unlock the power hidden within the dagger and actually had some success. However he did not gain the power that he expected but he did manage to awaken the Demon Queen. After almost a thousand years locked within the dagger, the Queen's essence was severely weakened. She could however still use her powers to make the Human mage hers. The queen fed the mage a small fraction of her remaining power as well as illusions that fed his already unstable psyche. Within weeks of awakening the Demon Queen, the mage was her servant, insane but hers nonetheless. The Queen -- his Queen -- wanted him to find a girl, not just any girl but one who was beautiful, befitting his Queen. Malkuth knew the perfect one to give to her. Shalara watched in horror as the stranger slew the last guardsman with magical fire that leapt from his open hands. It all seemed to happen so fast -- the street behind her and the guards was cut off by a towering wall of solid water. Then the madman stepped from the shadows, felling the first guard with a fiery bolt. In moments, the remaining two lay dead. The madman spoke in a strange tongue, but he wasn't speaking to her. He drew an evil looking dagger and stalked towards her, death in his eyes -- her death. She attempted to run past the deranged wizard but she was too slow to evade him as he grabbed her arm and threw her against the side wall of the street. She froze in terror when she looked into his madness filled eyes and screamed. ******** Far from the city a lithe form stirred for the first time. Unsure of its name or where it was, vague scraps of memories danced at the edge of its consciousness some fading back into nothingness others taking on crystal clarity. The creature knew that it had to find something, and that there was someplace that it had to go, something to do... It only knew that "it" was in the direction that it was moving. Shapes began to take on distinct form and the names of them began to come as well, names in many tongues that the creature knew. As it moved into the moonlight it caught the reflection of its self in a pool of water. Pausing, “she” studied the image reflected in the mirror like surface of the pool. The horns and hair seemed right but some how “wrong"? her wings seemed somehow smaller than they should be too. A spark of fear flashed through her, she would need to hide her appearance. The image in the pool shifted and became familiar as well but again somehow different, wrong. The horns and wings were gone, seeming to have never been. Her skin was now slightly darker and her hair a deep almost black violet. She also realized that she needed new clothes; what she wore now was stained -- “with blood” she thought, not quite sure how she knew it was blood -- and badly torn as well. The image of a deranged man lunging at her with a dagger flashed into her thoughts, terror filling her soul. “He must have attacked me” she thought as she started off at a run “He could still be near by. She must have wounded him, since she was uninjured and she had his dagger.”