Vyanthnem

This is the flag of Vyanthnem. The green field represents the flat, defenseless, plain of green grass that was Vyanthnem at one time. The silver trees represent the main defense of Vyanthnem, the stands of silver trees created by The Silver King to defend his people. The comet above the silver trees, represents the fall of Kaleshmar. The Silver King and his people survived the fall of the most powerful nation of Hekinoe without being touched by the destruction, and that is a great point of pride for the country.

A Synopsis of Precisely How Things Could Have Gone Wrong

So, the other day I was talking to Fred and he asked if I had plans for the campaign if the final battle with Nakmander had gone differently, I said yes, because I did, and he said he'd be interested to hear about those some day. Later that day, Jeremy said he'd be interested to hear about them as well, and that I should do so right now. He said that since it is in the past, it wouldn't really spoil anything, which is true. So I decided to write a blog post about it. The final battle is kind of modular and most outcomes are based on a certain aspect of the battle and how it turns out, so some can end up combined to vastly alter the nature of The Known World. Here goes.

The Ritual Succeeds Perfectly

The guys altered the ritual, at the eleventh hour, almost too late. Derf took command of the ritual and shifted the focus from the city of itself to the northwest of the city and the Abraxen reforestation sites/lumber camps. If they had not done so, Kusseth would have been devastated and the nations surrounding it (The Fell Peaks, Meroteth, Vyanthnem, and Whurent) would expand their borders. Nakmander would have not gone south, as he currently is, in search of a new land and new resources for Meroteth because he could just loot Kusseth.

If Gonigi And His Wardens Died

If Derf had actually killed Gonigi instead of messing him up and keeping him from aiding the guys against Nakmander, the guys would have been hunted by Brasscoats and Wardens Errant till the day they die, instead of merely being sought in relation to Smiling Jack and the Beltan prison break, although by now that case is considered a "cold" case. They would have very likely become some of Kusseth's most wanted individuals. 

If The Ritual Had Been Stopped Completely

If the guys had immediately dispelled the ritual, or the shield protecting the sorcerers and killed them immediately and directed the ritual away from Kusseth before the last second, and left Kusseth unharmed, Kusseth wins. Literally. Kusseth would have come at Meroteth so hard and so fast and so relentlessly that not even the sorcery of the entire city could hold them off. Meroteth would have been levelled and Nakmander's organization would have fallen into ruin and he would have lost all of his support and become a very desperate and fanatical individual indeed.

If Gonigi Hadn't Been Preoccupied Fighting Derf

Nakmander had some potent ass magical protections in place, including Stoneskin and Contingency: Greater Teleport, keyed to teleport him back to Meroteth if his hit points dropped to a certain point. Because of all his protections, it would have been extremely difficult for the guys to kill Nakmander unless everyone in the group focused completely on him, including Kethranmeer and Xein with their special weapons with black stone bits. In my world, psionics and sorcery are completely separate, and all of Nakmander's spell resistance and anti-magic stuff would have been useless against Gonigi's psionics. If Gonigi had been able to help them kill Nakmander, Nakmander would have truly died, no do over with a streak of white hair and a scar, in those wolf-iron tunnels and this campaign would be vastly different in nature.

If Kethranmeer Had Lived

If my beloved NPC had lived, he would have taken his proper place as king of the Rankethlek and master of Steeltown. He would have stepped away from the group to rule his city and aid in its construction, unless the situation truly warranted the king himself stepping into battle, like if they stormed the Necropolis to drag The Bleak Tyrant from his throne, which would have been his main goal. If the guys wished to, they could have aided Steeltown and taken one of the first five of the Rankethlek as a party member to act as my NPC and there would be lots of quest opportunities for the guys to fight Fallen and The Fallen Empire of Man. A'lst never would have disappeared in his airship and instead would live and work in Steeltown with his son and his son's sons. The Rankethlek would also be less loyal to the ideals of Kethranmeer and his goal for his people, because they wouldn't have a martyr in their derstroyed father. Obviously, they would also have a safe and unassailable haven against their foes in this campaign if Steeltown was ruled by D'alton's best friend.

If Gonigi Had Lived, But The Guys Hadn't Clearly Opposed Nakmander

At the resolution of the battle, Gonigi was aware that the players did not fight against Nakmander out of altruism, they only did so because they had family or friends living in Kusseth. However, they did save Kusseth some destruction, so he let them be. If they had waited to see how things had turned out and not struck against one side or the other immediately, or Derf had not redirected the meteors, he would have hunted them to the ends of the earth and made penal warriors of them and would have used them to hunt Nakmander.

If The Ritual Had Misfired

Every spell has a misfire chance, the more powerful the spell, the greater the misfire. Even my NPCs roll for misfire chances when they are working behind the scenes. Nakmander is an extremely powerful sorcerer and with the help of his sorcereres, he reduced the misfire chance of the ritual by a great deal. However, if the ritual had misfired, about a dozen shadow monsters would have very quickly descended upon the ritual site and a very different battle would have taken place.

If D'alton Braun Had Died And Kethranmeer Lived

If D'alton had died defending Kethranmeer and fighting against Nakmander, all the might of the Rankethlek would have been directed at waging war on Meroteth and Nakmander. Steeltown basically defends itself. The Fallen have been unable to level it with sorcery, and the Fremwightan and Rankethlek have fortified it too well for it too be weak to physical assault. Kethranmeer would have left the first five in command of his city and his people and he would have sworn vengeance for the death of his friend. He would have dragged his allies Volung and his Children, along with his Fremwightan allies, into battle against Meroteth and done everything he could to reduce that city to rubble, one blow from his hammer at a time.

If The Players Had All Died In The Final Battle

This campaign would still be happening. Whoa! (Would it!?)

So there are eight (nine!?) aspects of The Known World that could have been changed by the results of the final battle with Nakmander. A lot of this current campaign and what happened in the last ten years depends heavily on Nakmander, so his death or the death of Meroteth, could have created major differences in the events of this campaign and what happened across The Known World in the past ten years. 

Steeltown

This is the flag of Steeltown. The grey field represents stone and the unyielding nature of the Rankethlek, their refusal to accept the subjugation of the Fallen. The oval in the center represent the faceless face of Kethranmeer, the father of the Rankethlek race, and also a shield. This design symbolizes the defensive nature of the race. They are not the aggressors in this rebellion, they have no desire to wage this war, only the desire to be free and be their own masters. They will not deliberately strike at the Fallen, but they will defend themselves and free those Soulless that seek freedom when they can. As Kethranmeer's face, the design symbolizes that Kethranmeer's ideals and presence and his story are part of every Rankethlek's being, they are all his sons and their path is a continuation of his own.  

Volungshemle

This is the flag of Volungshemle. The glacier and the empty light blue upper field represent The North, the original homeland of the Children of Volung. The blue lower field represents the trials and tribulations the Children of Volung have dealt with to come to their new home, The Known World, and also the oceans they had to cross to do so. The ring of fire atop the glacier represents the fall of Kaleshmar and that it lit The North on fire and forced the Children of Volung to flee their ancestral homeland, or face utter destruction. 

Retcon Of An Unachieved Plot Element

A while ago I figured out an ending to this campaign. It was going to be the main focus of the latter "epic" level portions of the campaign. It was going to change things and alter the nature of the players and The Known World itself, perhaps even Hekinoe itself. I liked it, it was a literal save the world plot that had them gallivanting from nation to nation fighting foes and dark sorcery and such. I thought it was cool and it would show a lot of the secrets Fred is curious about, and it would tie up a lot of little plot loose ends that have been hanging around,m.

The thing is, I'm not sure if that is appropriate for these guys. They only reluctantly venture out of the comfort zone of Meroteth and Kusseth. Usually only when the plot railroads them into it. They don't seem to want to get out and experience the world or affect the countries and their borders, let alone the planet itself. I guess what I am saying is that world spanning plots that involve saving and destroying the world are not really their forte. Fred talks about Kethralzahn wanting to go back to Steeltown, Eric talks about Xein wanting to meet his mother or go see John, and Jeremy talks about wanting to figure out who D'alton is. They also want to work for bards and get information. None of that screams to me that their characters have hopes and dreams and want to be important and affect the fates of nations. It tells me they want to keep doing what they do, be bossed around and become ridiculously powerful for their place in the world. Would they go along with saving or damning the world? Yeah, definitely, but just like last campaign, I would have to railroad them into it any time I wanted them to step out of their comfort zone, and I am sick of railroading.

On a completely unrelated not that has no bearing on this topic at all, I've read recently on one of the many blogs I follow via Google Reader for Android, about Dave Arneson and impartial DMing. The more I learn about Arneson, the more I feel like he is unkindly relegated to a behind the scenes or footnote status in the history of the game. Anyway, the gist of impartial DMing is as follows:

The DM is impartial, he is there to create the world as is, he is there to present it to the players, he is there to adjudicate rolls and disputes. He is not there to baby them or hold their hands while they remember their schedules or feed them or anything. He does not fudge dice rolls in any way, he does not reward stupidity or give hints and suggest that maybe they should recheck that loose flagstone or say maybe they should arm themselves with more than pitchforks and straw hats before they try to fight their way into the evil overlord's keep of damnation. He does not remind them that deserts are hot and they have no horses and perhaps they should stock up on extra food and water. He presents the world to them, and allows them to interact with it and suffer the consequences of their foolish mistakes or inattention. He is impartial and mercilessly so and rewards cunning and intelligence, but punishes stupidity and rudeness. He does not fetishize the rules, but he does not break them upon the anvil of a player's whining merely to appease the players. He is in effect, True Neutral (or perhaps Lawful Neutral), an uncaring bastion of observation, rules knowledge, and judgement. 

Something about that description fills me with awe. To play in a game with an Impartial DM would be like...I dunno, it sounds cool. It sounds challenging. Rarely does a Game Master hate his players, I certainly don't. So we tend to fudge and advise and hint, basically we coddle them, because they are our friends and we like them. Impartial DMing sounds like playing DnD with some sort of silent, impassive bastion of law and order. Kind of like Kethralzahn. 

 Anyway, back to the larger issue, the scale of the campaign. So, Eric and John want to be high level. We can do that. It will take longer than fifteen sessions this time though. We're still level one after three sessions, but they're earning their levels. They are working to figure things out and find a niche to occupy while they amass cash and strength. Fred wants to experience the story and know the secrets of the world, that can easily be done, and we don't need high level play to do it. Going to Steeltown is actually the first step in experiencing some secrets. Jeremy wants to figure out who D'alton is, and well, that is part of playing role-playing games. It seems like playing from session to session will satisfy their goals. I don't know. I guess I am saying my epic level plot is on hold for now. I'm going to be patient and throw plot hooks at them by the dozen until something sticks. There is no time limit or session limit to this campaign, so I am content to be patient and let it happen at their speed. 

Besides, every time they ruin something in Hekinoe, I can just make them suffer for it in Fourthcore. Hehe.

Serethnem

This is the flag of Serethnem. The bottom field of yellow represents the sands of the desert, and the upper blue portion represents the blue skies devoid of shade. The silver tree is an iaonen tree. Once, the desert of Serethnem was a silver forest of trees like those depicted on the flag, but when the Briar King disappeared, his sorcery drained out of Serethnem, and it returned to the desert it had once been. His silver briar trees, the iaonen trees, became twisted black patches of briars. The iaonen tree on the flag represents the lost glory of Serethnem and that the Sereth have not forgotten their past. 

The Old Empire

This is the flag of The Old Empire. The field of black represents the dark times after the fall of Kaleshmar, the period of chaos and destruction that almost completely destroyed the Elduman race. The single tower of crystal represents two things. The first is that one man stood up in the darkness and chaos after the fall and began trying to pick up the ruins of his people. The second meaning is the psionic nature of the Eldumans, it represents the fact that their mental powers rebuilt their nation and will keep it from ever falling again.