The Campaign Builder's Guild

Yeah, I also just came back here because I was notified of this message.  I was also sent a message "To Vreeg" last year at some point, but apparently overlooked that message.  Vreeg, next time make sure all of your peeps know exactly who to send there sexts to.  *shudders*

Sorry guys, my workload tonight was far more than expected, and I wasn't able to crank out a finished product.  For that reason I removed the posted submission.

However, if we're needing something for the other forums to use as a template, I'm about 75% sure I could finish it by the 27th.. (since that's when the voting would end anyways, and I was the only one to post a submission.)

Sorry it's taking me so long to finish mine.  I do it while at work, and this weekend i'm moving to 12 hour shifts.  I should have it done by saturday night.

.

Does the area in the picture have to be the main location in your entry, or can it merely be a minor location on the island?

I've got a decent idea in mind, with how the island is deserted and who built the place, but if the aqueduct is center stage, my options are somewhat limited.

I intend on making an entry for this month as well.  And eventually I may take the time to write up my world i've been working on too.

Thanks Crayon!

Or since I didn't even go to the detail of adding proper names to my entry..

We could just roll a d20...

So what happened?

Over the next couple of nights i'm probably going to update my entry, but to prevent you from having to read through it all again I'll place the new information and changed information in the little note boxes.

As far as the disappearing city went, I really did pull that from the story itself.  To me "The sea had given up on land, and drew back stinging with its salt, leaving a plane of its dried tears behind, before the town of Twilight Splendor." was talk of salt flats around the city, and the once in 80 years portion where the gates open in order to have a festival just made me think the city was swallowed by the sea between festivals.

Thanks.

I'm a migrant from the Cartographers guild, I was excited when I found out about the campaign builders guild and their contest.

Oh, and with my entry, is it better to provide names for the specific characters?  I was kind of under time constraints when I posted it.

Ok, here are my thoughts.

Air, Chaos - Strong winds, gasses, no order, no land.. just gases and winds.  I wouldn't think it would be habitable.
*Air, Evil
Air, Fire - Basically the explosive/burning gases.. no land, pretty uninhabitable.
Air, Good - Kind of a heavenlike place, cloud palaces, winged beings of good.
Air, Law - Similar to above, but obviously Lawful Neutral
Air, Negative (+ and - probably closer to good evil air)
Air, Positive
Air, Water - A large globe of water surrounded by tempestuous winds/storms.  Bountiful sea creatures/air creatures
Chaos, Earth - Volcanoes galore, quicksands, earth elementals that constantly disolve and reform.
Chaos, Evil - Hell
Chaos, Fire - Pretty much pure fire, similar to air, fire
Chaos, Good - Kind of a bizarre plane full of good creatures but nothing socializing..  just random acting good things.
Chaos, Negative - No clue
Chaos, Positive - No clue
Chaos, Water - straight water, very very strong currents - probably no life
Earth, Evil - Similar to earth chaos, but the elementals are constantly warring eachother.
Earth, Fire - Volcanoes galore.  Fire elems, earth elems, magma elems
*Earth, Good - Trees, wood nymphs, a good nature plane
Earth, Law - There is no chaos to the planet, all hills are spaced the same amount apart, are same size, trees grow at the same height and in rows..
Earth, Negative ..
Earth, Positive..
Earth, Water - A muddy place
Evil, Fire - Hellish
Evil, Law -
Evil, Negative -
*Evil, Positive -
Evil, Water - Toxic waters, creatures constantly fighting for supremacy
Fire, Good - A plane of bluish flames that don't actually burn to the touch but instead merely warm. Good fire creatures
*Fire, Law-
Fire, Negative-
Fire, Positive-
Good, Law - Heaven
*Good, Negative -
Good, Positive - Heaven
Good, Water - A plane of waters that have strong healing elements.  
Law, Negative -
Law, Positive -
Law, Water -
Negative, Water -
Positive, Water - A plane of waters that have strong healing elements

Sorry, my story isn't well laid out.  I haven't quite got the hang of all of the formatting options on these boards.

[ooc]This is my first post here, so bare with me please..  Stealing Luminous  Crayons format, since I don't know if there's a standard to be followed.[/ooc]  

 Setting:
 The night of the Festival of Splendor is drawing near, and great anticipation abounds amongst the peasant class.  Tales of the mysterious city can be found on the lips of even the most downtrodden of serfs.  Mostly adaptations of the children's stories about the city, each tale brings hope for the people, and a desire to witness the beauty of the sleeping city, and the festival it reveals with it's reappearance.  Many amongst the common folk dream of making the journey to the spot where Rushon is believed to appear, but few have the courage to risk their livelihood for what may be simply a fairytale.  To the young nobility, however, the prospect of being one of the few to attend the Festival and be envied by their fellow nobles is an opportunity to good to miss it out on.  

 Hook time:

When the time of the Festival of Splendor draws near, the players may begin hearing rumors, or seeing notices posted in the city in which they currently reside.  The rumors/notices inform the Party that the King (or any other official) is offering a bounty for information on the City of Splendor.

If the party decides to accept the task and meet with the official, they will discover that the aged King seeks to learn what happened to his sister who disappeared on her trip to Rushon 80 years ago.  From this meeting, the party will find out that not all tales of Rushon are good, and that despite the wondrous tales of the populace, no one in living memory has returned from Rushon to share any tales.  He warns you that if you decide to go, you must be on your guard, always searching for a way out.

 Characters:
King (or whatever title fits into your campaign) - He sends the party to Rushon in order to find out why his older sister never returned from the previous Festival.  He's 87, and has been waiting for the chance to unravel this mystery since his sister disappeared 80 years ago.  His life is nearing it's end, and before it does, he wishes to finish his lifelong quest.  He will go to any length to complete it, and sacrifice everything he has.  Unwilling to rely on only one party, he will no doubt send anyone that takes up his offer into the heart of Rushon.

 The Musicians - The musicians of Rushon.  Their melodies spur the visitors of the city into a forced dance.  The musicians aren't all that they seem, however.  Their jovial playing hides a dark secret.

 The Spirits of Rushon - Not all of the victims of the City of Twilight Splendor went peacefully into the long dark sleep.  There are traces of the former victims within the shadowed areas of the city.  Many of these spirits have become mindless entities that lash out at anything living that makes the mistake of wandering into their quiet corner, however, there are also elements that held on to pieces of their humanity and may be able to help the Group with their efforts within the city.

Locations:

The Salt Flats '" The arrival of the City of Twilight Splendor is first signaled by the recession of the sea from the coast line.  Over the course of a day, a section of the sea appears to boil off, and in it's place is a plain of salt which one must cross to get to the now visible Rushon.  Visitors traveling to the festival will cross the salt in droves, many running due to the excitement of being within sight of the magical city.

The Rushon gates - The Rushon gates are narrow, forcing the crowd to fall in to a single file line.  This line proceeds through the gates, and upon entering passes a resident of Rushon who hands every visitor a mask to wear for the festival.  Although this is the first resident of Rushon that the visitors encounter, most simply take the mask and continue on, paying no attention to the man.  Once through the gates the music begins to pull at the guests, and they tend to ignore everything but the music.

The Streets - Narrow and winding, the streets are a veritable maze, though easily navigable when following the music coming from the town square.  In fact, no matter which way you turn, you always seem to end up in the square.  Buildings lining the streets are locked up and barred shut, with few exceptions.  

The Town Square - The source of Rushon's music, and the place where the festival takes place.  Most visitors don't make it past the playing of the musicians.  The town square is lined with closed up buildings, and on it's northern side, overlooking the town square is a large mansion that looks like it might belong to a mayor if the town had one.

The Mansion  - This is the building in which the musicians reside with the master of Rushon.  

The Storehouse - Beyond the mansion, and on the northern side of the square is a large locked up store house.  This storehouse holds a secret for any players that stumble upon it.

Happenings in the City of Splendor

The Mask '" Upon entering the city, if any of the party members accept and don the mask given to them, they will have a +10 added to their difficulty to resist the playing of the musicians in the square.

The Town Square '" If the players fail to resist the playing of the musicians, they will find themselves dancing uncontrollably until their endurance gives out on them and they collapse.  If this happens, the players may be given the chance to join the musicians/master in his eternal game.  If they refuse, they will die, and may join the spirits of Rushon.  If any member of the party resists the playing, he can add a +5 to the chances of his group members to resist the music.  

The Storehouse - If the players stumble upon the storehouse, they will immediately notice something different about it from its surroundings.  Once inside the group will discover that the storehouse is the repository for the corpses of Rushon's victims.  Countless bodies have been drug into the building and shoved into a massive pile at the back of the storehouse.  A rough estimate of the number of bodies shows it to be about 3000 bodies, though estimating is difficult due to the state of preservation.  Inside the storehouse the party may encounter one of the victims of Rushon.  The spirit may warn the party of the musicians, and the tell them about the only way to escape the city, the glass compass.

Streets  - Chance encounters with angry spirits.  The spirits keep to the shadows, away from the burning lights of the Festival.  They will attack anyone not dancing, assuming the non-dancers are residents of the city.

The Mansion '" Visiting the mansion while the music is still playing will bring the players into contact with the master of the city, without his musicians as guards.  Obviously the master will not take kindly to their presence.  Visiting shortly after the music has stopped playing will have the party arrive in an empty house.  If they had previously encountered the kind spirit in the Storehouse, they will find the compass in the Master's room.  The compass is the only way for the players to navigate the winding streets and exit the city.

The Big Showdown
If the party chooses to confront (or accidentally stumbles upon) the master of the town, they will soon find themselves in a fight with a fallen paladin.  If his musicians are near, they will join the fight as bards.  Defeating the master will bring an end to the festival of splendor.  The city of Rushon will no longer disappear for 80 years at a time, but will instead remain in place, with the sea no longer swallowing it.  [note]If the party manages to suppress the lights in the square the Spirits of Rushon will be able to enter the fray and attack attack the musicians.[/note]

How Rushon came to be
The master of the city of Rushon was it's ruler before it was swallowed by the sea.  Rushon was indeed a city of splendor, a jewel of a city known for it's beauty and the wondrous festival it had every year.  The City was a blessing for all of it's residents, for their mayor kept the criminal elements out, and the residents safe.  The city's downfall came when the mayor, who was becoming to old to protect the city, feared what would happen to it after he passed away.  The Paladin spent the majority of the town's treasury to procure a single wish.  His mistake was arrogance, and it would lead to his city's destruction.  He wished that he would live forever, without specifying the how.  The wish worked, but as is the nature of such wishes, it became a curse.  His mind was twisted as his body took control.  He reached into the eye of his loving wife and tore from her her remaining youth.  Next he ripped the youth from his son, and he felt himself growing stronger.  Rushon soon emptied as those who he once protected we forced to flee from their protector.  The Mayor's bard remained behind, trying to find a way to help his old friend, but he too was soon corrupted.  Rumors of the atrocities committed in Rushon soon spread, and a group of mages from across the border soon arrived to put an end to the horrors.  However, the most they could do was curse the city and banish it into the sea.  Everyone thought the danger was passed until 80 years later Rushon reappeared.  At this time the stories of the tragedy had passed, and most had only ever heard of Rushon for it's wonderful festivals.  So when music was heard coming from the City of Twilight Splendor, tales spread far and wide that the festival had returned.