The Town of Nevermore

At one time the nearby Keep of Kallos controlled the surrounding lands, leading expeditions to exterminate monstrous humanoids and evil cults that recurrently populated the nearby Caves of Chaos. Since Akresh was destroyed Kallos Keep fell into the hands of monstrous humanoids who now control and tithe several nearby hamlets of humans and gnomes, living off their meagre harvests. Akresh, the City Itself, lies in ruins nearby, avoided by all for the plague of monsters and evil magic. But there is one beacon of light, a mere candle in the bowel-black. What were once the Caves of Chaos are now known as the town of Nevermore. In Nevermore several small tribes and renegades have come together to form a self-sufficient community of sorts. Harbouring runaways from the nearby hamlets and attracting bold loners who survive on their wits, Nevermore may be the centre of resistance that begins to reclaim civilization.

The Caves:
Most of the Nevermore residents live amongst others of their own kind, still clinging to the old prejudices before the golden boon, although a few outgoing members of each race make a point to set up trade and cooperation between the cave complexes. There are officially only one half-elf and one Tiefling as permanent residents although others have visited for short periods. The one group who consistently provides help and fosters cooperation are the temples, the priesthoods are made up of members from all races.

A – Halflings
Four families of Halflings have established themselves in these caves, hardy folk who have fought off several groups of curious humanoid raiders. The ruling family is Ardefy, holding the most secure chamber and the council chamber. The largest family is Certase who fill to bursting the largest chamber. These small folk have settled into a steady, simple life, making most of their living by pilfering from the dull-witted humanoids of Kallos Keep. These Halflings travel and have connections with many other Halfling communities and they can sell valuables outside the community.
Source of: maps, lockpicking, small high value items, having your pockets picked

B – Humans, clan Lyetine
Warlike but only loosely organized, the humans of Nevermore are the group most likely to be involved in raiding the Kallos Keep humanoids. They consider it their duty to harass the humanoids at every opportunity, despite the constant reprisals Kallos Keep sends against all of Nevermore. They consider it a rite of passage to steal cattle from Kallos. Clan Lyetine is involved with an ongoing, occasionally lethal, feud with nearby clan Therkim. Lyetine has a slightly better relationship with the other groups in nevermore and is barely tolerated.
Source of: provisions, aggro, narrow-mindedness

C – Humans, clan Therkim
The leader of clan Therkim has been known to think before he acts but is otherwise not much different from clan Lyetine. Therkim is smaller than the other human clan and relies more on stealth than pure brawn in any battle. They target finished goods not available to nevermore when they raid the humanoids. The Therkim leader maintains a meeting room where he and the leader of Lyetine can discuss their differences and plan joint attacks – a room that is all too often empty.
Source of: finished goods, plunder, aggro

D – Gnomes, 13th Infantry
Formerly a citizen military unit of the Egalitate of Gnarrin, the gnomish enclave is ruled by the Checker – what was formerly the political correctness officer – now a hereditary position. Officious, militaristic, and belligerent, Checker Vorint is primarily responsible for the poor standing of these once-proud people. They have allied themselves with the nearby half-elf Leina through a system of constant bribery.
Source of: pain in the ass

E – Half-elf, Leina the exile
Estranged from both her elven and human blood Leina has taken possession of this cave and few dare to threaten her directly. Through her pact with fey forces beyond this world Leina has more power than almost anyone in Nevermore. It is said her elven blood descends from Emperor Lorin himself, a rumour Leina does little to dispel.
Source of: arcane rituals, hermitage

F – Dragonborn, clan Kalusko
Kalusko were one-time mercenaries in the pay of the Dracolich Porlax, one of the few nearby kingdoms to survive the Screaming Madness. Clan Kalusko migrated north, then west, then south where they fought for a time in the dwarven succession wars. Finally moving east again these proud warriors were devastated by an ill-planned expedition to the ruins of the City Itself. Limping away the clan has settled in Nevermore temporarily and has provided much-needed order to the community. Well-organized, powerful and fearless, the Dragonborn have arrested and detained a number of murderers and criminals from the other clans in Nevermore. They have large holdings that are well-defended.
Source of: weapons and armor, hired blades, pride

G – the Shunned Cave
Virtually everyone in Nevermore knows to avoid these caves. No one who has gone in past the entrance has ever come out.
Source of: various forms of unpleasant death

H – Dwarves, clan Rylep
These caverns have been finished and outfitted to an almost luxurious standard compared to the rest of the rough delvings of Nevermore. Rugged, isolative survivors of clan Rylep have made the best of their surroundings. Having little to do with the others in the community, the dwarves are the best-equipped and can however provide much in the way of tools, weapons and armor – for a price. Part of their standoffishness may be their reluctance to answer any questions about their past; rumour is they were losers in the dwarven succession wars to the west.
Source of: finished metal goods, none of your business

I – the Tiefling Retreat
This maze of caves was appropriated by the Tiefling Ildal as his personal retreat almost a decade ago. His reluctant protection of several dozen refugees was what propelled Nevermore into a full-fledged settlement, much to his displeasure. Ildal rarely emerges and some say he is in fact gone on long expeditions of his own much of the time. A powerful magic protects these caves that misleads those who enter. Non-Tieflings never penetrate further than the first cave before finding themselves somehow turned around and back at the entrance. Tieflings other than Ildal are welcome to use the caves for a refuge or home, however only those expressly permitted by Ildal have found his inner sanctum deep in the maze.
Source of: arcane rituals, ritual components, confusion

J – The Feyhome
The elves of Beleldo have long known hardship. Before the reign of Emperor Lorin they were a clan in exile, reduced to less than two dozen. This sad remainder were enslaved by a trio of doppelganger wizards and were freed by several apprentices of Lorin when he was still a hazard-class citizen. Beleldo began to restore their position living secretly in Akresh and were bolstered by the return of one of their nobles, the wizard Swandrake. When Lorin became emperor Swandrake became a thanat, and the Beleldo elves moved to the Brothamor forest to expand the empire and become part of the alliance between Eladrin and Elves that Lorin was forming. Swandrake was one who looked upon the face of the mad god and became corrupted and insane; destroying the Beleldo home, helping shatter the alliance and rip apart the forest. Beleldo fled the forest, leaderless and broken, picking up stray survivors from other clans until they made their home on remote mountain heights, scratching sustenance from the ice and rock. Only now, after scouts have declared the lowlands relatively habitable again, has Beleldo come to live inside the caves at Nevermore. They welcome any fey among them and several Eladrin have stayed with them on short-term visits.
Unable to field a large force and reluctant to be drawn out into the open where they once again would be targets, these fey have a mysterious and aloof presence that disturbs and frightens others in the community.
Source of: guides, bows, leather goods, wild animals, poison, elitism

K – The Temples
Founded by a priest of Erathis named Yeraz not long after the Screaming Madness, these caves are among the most finished and the longest-inhabited. Working from a book of local history Yeraz saw that a former temple of evil had successfully operated in hiding for some years in the foothills. Finding the evil temple in the Caves of Chaos Yeraz wiped away the last of the evil taint and consecrated the grounds for gods of good. It was an aging apprentice of Yeraz who first allowed Ildal to settle in the area and thus indirectly founded the settlement of Nevermore.
Currently there are three major shrines in the complex; Erathis, Bahamut and Pelor. A number of other gods have small shrines in one hall. Only the evil gods have no representation here. All members of the community help serve these shrines and most of the hamlets controlled by Kallos Keep give some of their crops to secret temple agents who go among them spreading good and healing.
The crypts below the Temples are said to hold stores of magic items, some tainted with evil, which the priests guard against the day they can be given to heroes who truly deserve them.
Source of: healing, magic items, divine rituals, piety, pontificating, tithe collectors

A History Lesson for Nevermore

The Great Boon and the Screaming Madness

One hundred years ago the mighty Empire of Akresh covered all these lands. Fanning out through the river valleys and tributaries the empire expanded from as far west as the Nogrond mountain of the dwarves to the reclaimed crumbled ruins of Old Brothamor in the east. The emperor made citizens of all annexed lands until he could field an army of Sirek amazons, Mazak clans, dwarvish sappers and artillery, gnomish scouts and Cascan heavy infantry.

But it was the emperor’s law of heroic succession that cemented its place in history. Heroes who proved themselves in the interest of the empire were quickly granted status as hazards (upper class citizens) and even thanats (aristocrats). These powerful heroes formed the backbone of the noble class, performing great feats and commanding forces that defended the empire. The greatest of such heroes was the thanat Lorin, an exiled Eladrin wizard who personally commanded the forces that won the giantkin wars. Destined to greatness it was no wonder that Lorin became the next emperor in a bloodless dynasty change.

It was under the reign of Emperor Lorin that the Screaming Madness came to the world.

It began with an anomaly. Wizards and sages began to notice magical power was subtly increasing; and then warping into new qualities. The learned eventually pinpointed the cause of this magical enhancement, a distant star that was drawing brighter. For nearly a decade magic grew more powerful, so that even the least wizards could cast mighty spells. The wizard-emperor made many wonders undreamed of. Mighty monuments to the deluge of magic. As the star grew brighter it grew larger and the same learned sages decided that some celestial body of vast size was drawing closer. It was called the golden boon. The closer it came, the greater the power granted.

A power that came at a price.

The approaching light was in fact the insane god, laying in his eternal sleep, crossing the heavens in long path that heralded horrible change. Sages and wizards waited with excitement as the insane one drew near and at its final approach they turned their oraculars to the embryonic mass curled in slumber as it passed the world. The rest is well known. All who looked directly upon the sleeping one went mad. Magic, so long a powerful tool, went awry, mutating everything it touched. Creatures of madness, and abomination unknown to the world sprang into existence, devastating entire kingdoms. Mad wizards spewed chaos and destruction, bringing down the mighty creations of the golden boon.

The world destroyed itself. Kingdoms and empires collapsed. Wizards became despotic warlords before they destroyed themselves. Emperor Lorin, touched by madness, dove his empire into anarchy and evil rites; disappearing as the burning wreckage of state collapsed around him. In the ruins that were left behind the monstrous humanoids led invasions that overran what civilization remained. What are left are tiny islands of survivors; civilization extends only as far as they can claw back from the chaos.

Some Character Sketches - Illustrated

I'm very proud of this one. This is my daughter, Arrow's, character sketch of Mazenta, the pseudodragon . She painstakingly drew it using the illustration from the Monster Manual as a reference. Pretty awesome for age 8. Mazenta was a surprizingly helpful addition to the party since she could fly ahead and scout targets invisibly and duck out of every fight, so there was no chance she'd get killed. Few DM's are cruel enough to kill the character of an 8-year old and it's doubly inadvisable if that 8 year old is your child.

Here we have Jess Solith, as illustrated by Emily. A tidy little sketch of the party's serial killer rogue. Jess is an elf raised by the cult of Zehir; not shown are her snake tatts. I'm quite fond of Emily's character sketches as I feel more comfortable with location drawings and I'm hoping she can contribute some more pictures of the group in some of their exciting encounters (hint); stay tuned.
Another fun sketch of Jess. Note the filth fever the character is suffering from after someone suggested that goblins might hide their treasure under a midden heap. Good times!

Encounters in the Keep, illustrated

Here's the first room of the infamous gauntlets of traps. For this encounter I made the rookie mistake of putting five trapped rooms in a row, as an exercise in how 4th ed traps work. It was fun for the first room, painful by the third room, and by the last room pretty much everybody including me just wanted it to end. Traps are fun, but they are best used as one element of a room encounter. I think Emily (the rogue) had a good time, but everyone else was bored and frustrated. Lesson learned.
The remains of the smithy held the restless souls of prisoners burned alive. I couldn't find a monster that fitted the feel I wanted so I took the stat block for ghosts and substituted fire resistance and fire damage for their regular necrotic. It worked pretty well. The insubstantial nature of the monsters made them pretty challenging, even for such a large group (6 players).
Cutaway interior of Guard Captain's tower. I'm kindof fond of this one, reminds me of my grade 9 art class where they taught us perspective. It made a handy reference for the players once a multi-story fight broke out.

Inside the Keep, illustrated

Here's the first inside view of the goblin encampment.


Here's the end of the street, note the goblin encampment at the far end.


A little further inside the keep and we come to the guild factor; the building wasn't in the best shape and also had some nasty surprises.

Kallos Keep exterior, illustrated

For the first leg of the adventure our heroes braved the ruins of Kallos Keep, once a proud outpost of the Akresh Empire, now fallen into the hands of monstrous humanoids.

Here is the first view the group had of the keep.

Behold, the Birth of the Game Blog

This is the Nevermore blog, for and about the Nevermore campaign. Here you will find updates, news and lightning action on the ongoing Fourth Edition Nevermore campaign. What with some of the players away and rotating attendance, this was the best way I could come up with to keep all players informed and entertained on what's going on in their own private world.

What I hope to have are:

• Short fiction and other stories about the campaign
• Campaign updates, sometimes limited to simple pointform recaps
• Illustrations and pictures