Zolon's Storylines

D&D Storylines developed by Zolon. Work in progress items below, watch out for spoilers if you intend to play!

[zolonsstories]

Introductions

Started work on the document itself. I figured some introductions were in order in the beginning here. As such, this provides a little context into the start of the campaign, some points about life in Viram-Tes, and finally introduces the five council members.

More details on those folks coming soon, I promise!

[zolonsstories]

Progress Update

Week of January 8th, 2017

This week was a bit less productive than last week - ended up sick for a few days, then very busy for the rest. Even with that, I managed to accomplish a number of planning and roughing steps needed to complete my first module.

This week saw the following items:

Start of concept art for the council members (Thanks to @LadyDuskfall on Twitter)

Early design of council members powers and personalities

Rough draft of initial festival events

Festival Game Design (Great for new players)

Rough draft of city escape piece

Rough draft of city escape dungeon map

With those pieces in place, it finishes all the drafting and planning work involved in building this first module. So what’s next? I intend to take the items and publish them into a word document. This will be published as a standalone game introduction for new storylines and players, but also as the lead-in for the Abandoning the Sky storyline itself. I intend to have this module compiled into a word document and playable (Not polished, or playtested, mind you) by tuesday, January 31st. 

Later this week, I’m hoping to post a preview of the festival events and games, which will detail some of my thought process, and offer a bit of food for thought for DMs looking to populate a festival, or provide unique starting challenges to fresh D&D players. 

Thanks for checking in, and expect some pictures in the week to come!

[zolonsstories]

Progress Update

Week of January 1st, 2017

Lots of preliminary work this week. The poll closed up, with the lovely voters choosing Abandoning the Sky as my first storyline to work on. I began work on that, starting to sketch out the world which the floating city left, which is the last known state of the surface world. I settled on a few story points, some main characters, and a bit of structure in how I wanted to build these modules out.

Later in the week, I figured out exactly where I wanted this whole story to go. I’ve got a good idea of where it starts, some of the early conflicts and danger, the level of exploration I’d like, and who the main threats are. I have an idea of how I’d like the storyline to end, as well. I’ve blocked this out into around 18 main plot sections, most of which involve a small or medium dungeon, or a major plot point that would take some time to play.

Finally, I completed some sketches of the city this all starts on, and planned out exactly how the first piece/module is going to work. The first module will consist of a celebration and festival (Celebrating the life of the previous leader of the city who sacrificed himself so the city could ascend). At the celebration, a catalyst event will occur, which will land the party in falsely in trouble with the law. They’re locked up, and after their sentence is made known to them, chaos will ensue. In the chaos, the party will escape the floating city, and set foot on a land they’d heard about only in legends: The surface world below.

I plan to have this section playable by the end of January. Once it’s ready, I’ll see about running a few playtests with willing players. If you’re interested, please don’t hesitate to reach out!

That’s all for now. Keep posted for future updates!

[zolonsstories]

Viram-Tes: Where our story begins. Here are a few quick sketches to illustrate a bit about this city that’s so important to our plot. It’s composed of a number of floating islands, connected together by stone bridges, which have magical conduits which channel energy from one island to the next. The primary source of energy is found in the central core, where a large citadel (Pictured in the first image, the lower item) sits above a magical crystal that powers the city. This city is where the ruling council, composed of 5 immortal spellcasters, reside. 

The city is composed of a number of sectors:

Military Sector

This sector holds areas for training of the magical knights the city uses as guards. It doesn’t have many these days, so a lot of the area has been converted to housing. There’s a large barracks in the north, and in the center is a small keep. The city still hosts a small army numbering in the low hundreds, though their only task appears to be policing the city, which only requires a small task force. Even still, members of the knights often enter the Citadel for long-term exercises and training in its depths, and are sworn to secrecy when they return.

Librarium

The Librarium is a large building in the northern section of the Library sector. It holds a massive sum of magical knowledge, most of it recorded by the Council Members and their own students. There are also museums dedicated to artifacts from the surface world, items that hold relevance to the history of the city itself, and buildings dedicated to each council member. There are also a number of small magical academies, and alchemical experimentation centers.

Artisan District

The Artisan District is a home for all those lovely people who work with their hands. The streets are lined with shops, restaurants, and various other places of great creativity. In the center lie large guild halls, devoted to different pursuits in crafting. This is where the common folk of Viram-Tes go to shop.

Agricultural Sector

The Agricultural sector is a marvel of magical work. Devoted to the pursuits of one of the council members, who grants great fertility and natural boons to this location, large farms grow crops and raise livestock at paces that were impossible on the surface below, providing food to all the citizens of Viram-Tes.

Housing District

The Housing District is very much what is says it is: A large area of land, devoted entirely to residential structures. This is where nearly everyone in the city lives. As the population grows, many of the buildings are torn down and magically reconstructed, growing in height. This allows the city to continue to grow in population despite their limited landspace. Where this once held many small houses, the central areas now hold great spires where many people live.

Park

The Park is a magically maintained lake and forest, along with a small amount of well-maintained grassland. It is reserved for the enjoyment of the citizens of the city, who wish to reconnect with nature.

Core/Citadel

This is the central core of the city. At the bottom of this island is the crystal used to levitate and protect Viram-Tes. It holds a citadel with five large spires - one for each member of the council. In Viram-Tesian history, it is noted that this was one of the first buildings constructed by the Council once the city had ascended. 

Inside the core of the island, under the citadel, are spiralling tunnels and rooms, creating a massive “underground” complex that eventually leads down to a room meant to maintain and monitor the crystal. Citizens are allowed to enter the main level of the citadel, but cannot enter the tunnels beneath unless invited to. The same goes for each spire - only certain people are allowed within each spire.

Auram-Ke Plaza

This area is devoted to the fallen master of the city, who died to allow its people to ascend. It is a large stonework plaza, with a massive structure in the middle reserved for festivals, announcements, and large gatherings. The rest of the area is composed of open plaza, and a few restaurants and event halls. A massive statue to Vental Auram-Ke can be found near the entrance to the central plaza. It’s here where the story starts!