So what is this here? It's not an adventure (actually I already thought of making it an adventure, but I dismissed that idea due to not having enough time to do that) based on the fantastic video game Vagrant Story, but rather my attempt to incorporate the game's setting, city, story & history, monsters, and characters into the Realms (here post-Spellplague Realms). I intend to achieve this by adjusting the game's flavor to the Realms and coming up with a few things and by creating 4e stats for some of the monsters and characters.
About the stats to be found in this thread:
There are several things you should know about the stats you'll find here.
At first, note that the following stats don't follow the course of the game (i.e. the monsters here don't rise in power according to their appearances in the game) but rather I calculated their level (almost always) according to their overall hps found in the official guide.
Also note the following things:
- Only boss monsters are elite, and in most cases only dragons are solo monsters.
- The monsters got their 4e racial bonus (if any), and the few characters also got a +1 or +2 class bonus to defenses.
- Since most creatures in the game have both a strong point and a weak point most stats feature both a resistance and vulnerability.
- The official 4e keywords (e.g. construct, reptile, and so on) are replaced by the six Vagrant Story keywords (human, beast, undead, phantom, dragon, evil).
And the last thing is the names. Since a few monsters got different names in the three version of the game (European, Japanese, US), I just used the ones which sounded cooler. Such names include (the underlined names are the ones I took):
Anarazel/Nightstalker/Nightstalker, Astaroth/Last Crusader/Last Crusader, Cambion/Nightmare/Nightmare, Durahan/Dullahan/Dullahan, Dwaine/Duane/Duane, Jinn/Djinn/Djinn, Kanayamahiko/Dao/Dao, Niech/Neeshe/Neesa, Pluton/Efreet/Ifrit, Satanachia/Dark Crusader/Dark Crusader, Undine/Marid/Marid, Vishnu/Vishnu/Asura
Although several other regions in the Realms would be appropriate to host Lea Monde, or actually would even fit to be Lea Monde itself, I decided to place the city in the Western Heartlands, along the river Chionthar, just north of the Werewoods (the Wood of Sharp Teeth), on a cliff that was separated from the mainland by an earthquake several years ago somewhere in between Baldur's Gate and Elturel.
Alternatively, it's also possible to place the city anywhere in the Western Heartlands, Cormyr, or Impiltur where a river of considerable size flows. Again another location could be an island along the Sword Coast (where the city was originally placed in the game).
City Description
Lea Monde
The once mightiest city in the Western Heartlands, Lea Monde's proud spirit was represented by the Grand Cathedral, a symbol that still towers over the city's center.
Population: Abandoned. Once, the city held over 5,000 inhabitants. Now only monsters, cultists, and knights of the Order of the Crimson Blades remain in any considerable numbers.
Government: None.
Authority Figure: Duke Bardorba, head of House Bardorba.
Important Characters: Sydney Losstarot (Good to Unaligned male human cultist 24), leader of the Müllenkamp Cult; Sean Hardin (Unaligned male human mercenary), right hand man of Sydney; First Blade Romeo Guildenstern (Evil male human paladin 23), commander of the Crimson Blades; Lady Samantha (Good female human knight), subordinate of (and some claim lover to) Guildenstern; Lady Neesa (Unaligned female human knight 16), member of the Crimson Blades and companion to Tieger; Sir Tieger (Unaligned male human knight 17), member of the Crimson Blades and companion to Neesa; Father Dwaine (Unaligned male human cleric 9), member of the Crimson Blades and brother to Grissom; Father Grissom (Unaligned male human cleric 10), member of the Crimson Blades and brother to Dwaine; Ashley Lionet (Good male human riskbreaker), member of the Knights of the Peace; Callo Merlose (Good female human inquisitor), member of the Knights of the Peace; Jan Rosencrantz (Evil male human riskbreaker 20), member of the Knights of the Peace with his own agenda.
Defense: None. The city seems to have its own methods of keeping enemies at bay. Sages theorize that the energy that powers these "methods" is controlled by someone through something, although no one is yet able to specify or even confirm this.
Inns: None.
Taverns: None.
Supplies: In the numerous Factories the smiths of old fabricated armors and weapons of fantastic quality and many other goods, from jewelry to simple tools.
Temples: Grand Cathedral; Temple of Kiltia
City Districts
Wine Cellar
An underground path and the only entrance left after the great earthquake several years ago. This place still houses Lea Monde's vintage wines. Monster to be found here include: Minotaur, Minotaur Zombie (after the Minotaur was killed), Durahan
Catacombs
As the name suggests, the graves of the original citizens are located here, and so it's no surprise that many undead roam this area as well. Since one can also find many treasures here, it's a popular place for tomb raiders, too. Monster to be found here include: Lizardman
Sanctum
A sanctuary for the pilgrims and scholars that once lived in the city, many small libraries and warehouses can be found within its stone walls, that probably still house many secrets and much knowledge in form of books and tomes. Monster to be found here include: Golem, Dragon
City Center
Once, Lea Monde was a bright city, unrivaled in its idyllic atmosphere and rustic charm. Astonishingly, this hasn't changed much, and the pristine river still flows along the city, separating it into two sides. Monster to be found here include: No notable ones
City Walls
Encircling the abandoned city are walls that protect it from intruders (not that it would need any protection these days), and connect the city from within. Monster to be found here include: Blood Lizard, Damascus Golem (within a Forgotten Passageway)
Abandoned Mines
The miners of old burrowed deep, and they found unimaginable riches. Unfortunately for everyone who is looking for these treasures, the miners also secured them with dangerous traps of all sorts. Monster to be found here include: Wyvern, Fire Elemental, Oger
Undercity
Once an area of solitude, created by the monks in search of spiritual enlightenment, the Undercity is a miserable place, where the dead and undead roam freely. Monster to be found here include: Giant Crab, Lich Lord, Anarazel
Snowfly Forest
This hazardous but well-lit forest surrounds the city on all sides, although in the south it turns into the greater Werewoods. Inhabited by numerous snowflies who gather where the Dark is strongest, few dare to explore the deeper parts of the forest. Monster to be found here include: Earth Dragon, Satanachia, Damascus Crab
Limestone Quarry
Once a mining quarry that went deep into the earth, now abandoned and full of natural hazards and hazards that not even the greatest of fools would consider natural. Monster to be found here include: Air Elemental, Dark Elemental, Earth Elemental, Cloud Dragon, Water Elemental, Ogre Lord, Snow Dragon
Temple of Kiltia
Once the sanctuary of the kiltian clerics and the center of all Kiltia, here the priests held their unholy rituals and ceremonies to summon demons and other evil creatures and to bound them to their wills. Monster to be found here include: Astaroth, Minotaur Lord, Kali
Grand Cathedral
Visible from every spot of Lea Monde's streets, this impressive structure was built over the Temple of Kiltia by the Church of Torm, and it's the center of the Gran Grimoire. Monster to be found here include: Efreet, Iron Crab, Marid, Djinn, Flame Dragon, Dao, Arch Dragon, Cambion
Iron Maiden
This secret dungeon, built in the days of the dancer-priestess, lies deep under the city and holds the source of the power that is needed to maintain the Dark, a once glorious deity imprisoned by Müllenkamp herself. Monster to be found here include: Wyvern Knight, Iron Golem, Wyvern Queen, Dark Dragon, Ravanna, Dragon Zombie, Ogre Zombie, Vishnu
Lea Monde is an ancient city, founded millennia ago by the kiltian dancer-priestess Müllenkamp, who dealt and established pacts with demons and accomplished great feats by taking use of the Dark, thus also creating the Gran Grimoire that is actually the city itself.
Many centuries later, however, the Church of Torm rose to prominence in the Western Heartlands and therefore also in Lea Monde. They began hunting down the heretics and eventually built the Grand Cathedral atop the center of Müllenkamp’s religious activities, the Temple of Kiltia. This transformed the once dark city into a driving metropolis. At the peak of its glory the population rose to over 5,000 people.
Nevertheless, the taint of evil never left Lea Monde. Certain power groups wished to take control of the Dark once again, thus summoning demons to cause an earthquake that both killed all denizens of the city and created the numerous undead creatures that now roam the empty city.
Timeline
–507 DR Year of Frozen Breaths
Devotees of the ancient religion of Kiltia travel from the lands of Narfell and Raumathar to the Western Heartlands. Among them travels Müllenkamp, the Dancer-Priestess.
–503 DR Year of Taut Cloths
After long debates and some infighting between Müllenkamp and the leaders of Kiltia, Lea Monde is founded along the river Chionthar, north of the Wood of Sharp Teeth. The temple of Kiltia is built to preserve this religion’s legacy for all eternity.
–502 DR Year of Nothingness
On Midsummer, Lea Monde, and thus also the Gran Grimoire, is finally completed with the summoning and subsequent binding of Vishnu by Müllenkamp.
–499 DR to –284 DR
Not long after Müllenkamp’s success in building the city and constructing it in her fashion against the will of the elders of Kiltia, a cult forms around her person. Over the following years, decades, and centuries the Müllenkamp Cult becomes more and more popular until, eventually, all of Kiltia is assimilated into the cult.
c. 1 DR to 1385 DR
With the settling of the various lands that surround Lea Monde, the city too gets many visitors from foreign lands with unfamiliar beliefs.
c. 1100 DR
The Church of Torm sends their first clerics to Lea Monde.
1374 DR Year of Lightning Storms
Sunlord Daelegoth Orndeir casts his epic spell Amaunator’s Eternal Sun. Not long thereafter, the Order of the Crimson Blades, a splinter cell of the Church of Torm with unknown ties to the Risen Sun Heresy, is founded.
1385 DR Year of Blue Fire
The Spellplague occurs. In the aftermath of the disaster the Church of Torm eventually forms into a more influential and wide-spread faith, but prior to that happening, the Müllenkamp Cult is declared heretical for it is said to be somehow involved in the process that led to the Spellplague. The Order of the Crimson Blades voluntarily accepts the task of eliminating the cult.
c. 1400 DR
The Order of the Crimson Blades supposedly drives the last members of the Müllenkamp Cult from the city. Members of the clergy of the Church of Torm build, together with the Crimson Blades, the Grand Cathedral atop the ancient Temple of Kiltia. The Knights of the Peace are formed by High Rider Lord Dhelt.
1415 DR Year of Staves Arcane
Duke Bardorba is born.
1445 DR Year of the Malachite Throne
Romeo Guildenstern is born.
1448 DR Year of Neomen Swords
Jan Rosencrantz is born.
1450 DR Year of Holy Thunder
John Hardin is born.
1452 DR Year of the Impatient Son
Ashley Lionet is born.
1453 DR Year of the Strangled Jester
Lea Monde reaches its peak in population and prosperity.
1454 DR Year of the Emerald Sun
Two powerful demons named Dao and Marid that were summoned by an unknown faction cause a terrible earthquake that kills all denizens of Lea Monde and that separates the city from the mainland. Sydney Losstarot is born.
1456 DR Year of the Mithral Hammer
Callo Merlose is born.
1479 DR Year of the Ageless One
Present day.
The Dark & the Gran Grimoire
It is not clear what the real source of power is for the heretic Müllenkamps. Some claim the city itself, or the Gran Grimoire, might be. This would make Lea Monde one huge artifact, crafted by Müllenkamp herself – an impressive act indeed. She might have had some help form the demons she dealt with, but even then her power must have been at least considerable; more likely even epic.
Despite all of Müllenkamps power and the presence of demons and other powerful beings, a source of gaining magical power other than the Weave wouldn’t have been tolerated by Mystryl, and so a tremendously potent being had been required to sustain the Dark. Rumor has it that this creature is both ancient by all means and alien to behold, a deity of a long forgotten age and world, called Vishnu by some. How exactly Müllenkamp and her followers achieved binding her to the city remains a mystery – as so many other things do.
Faith, Religion, & Order
Over the course of time, Lea Monde featured one “so-called-religion”, one cult that resulted thereof, and at last one religious order that is heavily interested in the city’s legacy.
The first one, called Kiltia, an ancient form of religion without a deity at its head but a strange force only referred to as the Dark was prominent in the time of the city’s founding. The legendary dancer-priestess known as Müllenkamp was said to be an important member of the faith.
However, its exact roots are lost to history. Rumors hold that the first devotees originally came either from distant Raumathar or Narfell. Both lands would fit, since the nations’ foremost characteristics of their way of life were present in Kiltia, that is summoning demons and creating constructs. The reason why they traveled to such a distant land as the Western Heartlands is for the north-east of Faerun isn’t clear at all. Some sages theorize that it was perhaps because of the relative proximity to the crypt of Verraketh the Shadowking, who long ago mastered shadow magic through the Shadowstone – only that this happened several centuries after the founding of the city. Whether or not Kiltia came from the north-eastern lands of Faerun, it’s pretty clear for scholars that its members both bound demons and crafted many constructs and artifacts that are still to be found in the city.
Not long after Müllenkamp founded Lea Monde, a cult formed around her influential person, the so-called Müllenkamp Cult that, in contrast to Kiltia, still exists to this day. As time passed, the Church of Torm slowly gained momentum in the Western Heartlands until the Spellplague occurred, when it became a powerful and influential priesthood in the aftermath of this universal catastrophe. It was at this time that Müllenkamp was branded a heretical cult and the inquisition was held to cleanse the city of Lea Monde.
A military splinter cell of the Church that is only loosely allied with it, known as the Order of the Crimson Blades, coincidentally founded not long after the Sunlord Daelegoth Orndeir’s casting of Amaunator’s Eternal Sun, then began systematically hunting down and eliminating the cultists, until they finally laid siege to Lea Monde to eradicate the cult once and for all.
And the last organization that is present in the city is the Western Heartlands Knights of the Peace. They form the peacekeepers of the entire region, and they are directly under the command of the Council of Elturgard, with the headquarters located in Elturel. The Knights of the Peace is indirectly actually a successor group to the Hellriders, established by High Rider Lord Dhelt himself as one of his last resolutions in order to guarantee the safety and peace of the entire region even after his demise. In contrast to the Crimson Blades, the Knights of the Peace are not associated with any deity or religion, acting completely independent from religious and even political power struggles.
The Knights of the Peace guarantee the security of the inhabitants of the Western Heartlands, effectively having changed the entire region from savage land to relatively safe territory – at least in civilized parts of the region.
Knights of the Peace Lore
A character knows the following information with a successful skill check.
History DC 20: The Knights of the Peace was formed by High Rider Lord Dhelt in order to keep Elturel the peaceful city it used to be. After the founding of the nation of Elturgard the Knights of the Peace extended their sphere of influence and cleaned the land of many obstacles.
Streetwise DC 35: Rumors hold that recently a member of the Knights of the Peace’s best division, a Riskbreaker was ordered to investigate in the ruins of the mysterious city Lea Monde. These rumors go so far as to link this event to the severe earthquake that devastated the city and the city’s connection to the mainland a few decades ago.
Organization
The initial objective of the Knights was to maintain peace and to crush all forces who threaten this harmony in the Western Heartlands, and in Elturgard in particular, and this hasn’t changed at all since it’s founding in the early 1400s.
Headquarters: High Rider Lord’s Former Mansion (this is actually the headquarters of the Council of Elturgard); Elturel
Hierarchy: All Knights of the Peace are directly under the command of the Council of Elturgard, thus all full members of the Knights are equals.
Members: The recruiting of new members has always been the same. Potential members get approached by a representative (usually an experienced knight of advanced age) and get “invited” to perform a special quest. Such quests are usually simple to complete but the observers (the Council, through magical means) gain much insight in the candidate’s mentality (the candidate’s physical skills are not to be judged here, since only people who showed exceptional skills beforehand get invited anyway). If a candidate succeeds on this quest, she is allowed to do the required training, and she’ll eventually become a Knight of the Peace.
Several sub-groups of the knighthood exist. Some of the better known include the Kingsguard – responsible for the safety of nobles – usually only active within cities, the Inquisitors – tasked for interrogating criminals and investigating crimes – usually in regard to religious motives, and the Riskbreakers – in charge of investigating serious crimes that threaten to undermine the security of the entire society or major incidents involving secrets of various power groups – most often religions.
Founded millennia ago by the legendary dancer-priestess Müllenkamp, the cult is the last remains of the ancient religion known as Kiltia.
Müllenkamp Lore
A character knows the following information with a successful skill check.
Religion DC 25: Not long after the creation of Lea Monde by the faithful of Kiltia, a cult formed around the famous dancer-priestess Müllenkamp, the creator of Lea Monde. As with the religion before it the cult’s members dabbled in the Dark, where they gained the power from to create countless constructs and to bound demons and even a deity to their haughty wills.
History DC 40: The first leader of the cult was the eponymous Müllenkamp herself, a powerful cleric with dark magics at her command. Nowadays Sydney Losstarot is the leader of the cult and he is said to be immortal due to his Blood-Sin tattoo on his back. Although the cult was relatively small and it was later declared heretical by the Church of Torm it survived to this day relatively unharmed.
Organization
The Müllenkamp Cult preserves the legacy of both Kiltia and Müllenkamp, the city of Lea Monde and the Gran Grimoire, and it does so by acting like a secret underground organization that avoids contact with the authorities at all costs.
Headquarters: Tempel of Kiltia; Lea Monde
Hierarchy: Sydney Losstarot, the wearer of the Blood-Sin tattoo is the cult’s incontestable leader, while his second-in-command Sean Hardin handles the everyday activities like leading their operations and dealing with the other cult members.
Members: Most of the cultists of Müllenkamp trace their ancestry back to the days of Müllenkamp herself. This, according to their leader, promises the loyalty of each member more than anything else. For that reason it is nearly impossible to become a member if one is not related to such an ancient lineage. The only other way to be granted membership is by being directly approached by Sean Hardin (although never by Sydney himself), although such is not often the case.
The Order of the Crimson Blades might be one of the reasons why the theocracy of Elturgard is considered “too righteous” by many people, both supporters and rivals.
Order of the Crimson Blades Lore
A character knows the following information with a successful skill check.
Religion DC 20: Intended to be a more radical splinter cell of the Church of Torm, the Order of the Crimson Blades was formed by an unknown but influential cleric of Torm. Over the decades it became more and more violent in executing the justice of Torm, and although many of the heretic cultists of Müllenkamp were captured unarmed, the Crimson Blades showed no mercy.
Streetwise DC 35: The Order is said to have agreed to hunt down the cultists so eagerly because they lust for the power that is hidden within the city. Especially its leader, First Blade Romeo Guildenstern seeks to control the Dark more than anything else, and some very quiet rumors hold that he has already mastered some of the forbidden arts.
Organization
The Crimson Blades focus on maintaining and executing the law, even when this law that is actually their own law demands the oppression of the weak and the punishment of the innocent.
Headquarters: Temple of the Loyal Fury; Elturel
Hierarchy: The Order maintains a strict hierarchy among its members. Their leader is the First Blade Romeo Guildenstern, who piously controls the Order. Beneath him there are four knights and clerics who act as Guildenstern’s trusted commanders. Only Lady Samantha seems to hold a special place within the Order’s ranks.
Members: All members of the Crimson Blades come exclusively from the Church of Torm, and only those that pledge loyalty to First Blade Guildenstern and that prove to be fanatics in regards to spreading the law are allowed to get membership.
Its mighty famous name though. Its Ivalise.
Anyway keep up the good work. My groups are way to young to meat anythinh you are making now but in the end they might
.Hmmm. I guess you are aware that Vagrand Story world setting has name?
Its mighty famous name though. Its Ivalise.
Anyway keep up the good work. My groups are way to young to meat anythinh you are making now but in the end they might
Thanks, and yes, I am, though the intention was to incorporate it into the Realms. ;)