Peculiar Places: Gnomica, the Plane of Laws

Within the realm of Gnomica, all rules shall be sacrosanct and shall enforce themselves.
–The First Law
As soon as the PCs enter Gnomica, it is immediately evident that this is an unusual place. Each male PC without a hat suddenly finds himself wearing one, and is unable to remove the hat except indoors. In fact, upon [...]

For King & Country

The PCs travel to the desert city of Baiyra and, thanks to their reputations, are welcomed as guests of the Sultan. Baiyra has long been famed for its peaceful streets, beautiful architecture, and exotic wares, but when the PCs arrive much of the city seems neglected. Crime is rife, buildings are in a state of [...]

Peculiar Places: Mourngate, The Final Justice

In the matter of the Forces of Creation v. Dorian Gray, we the members of the jury find the defendant, Dorian Gray, not wicked. -Verdict given at the trial of the great hedonist Dorian Gray
On the cusp between this world and the next there is a great, sprawling city known as Mourngate. It is here [...]

Cleaning House

Newly-crowned King Thornwald III spent the first month or so of his reign abroad, making allies and learning the political landscape. He’s come to the conclusion that many feel his kingdom is weak, and so Thornwald decides to do something about it.
He’s begun bolstering his army, and on top of that has decided to complete [...]

Friends & Foes: The Messengers’ Guild

The simply-named Messengers’ Guild is a conglomerate of merchants, couriers, caravan operators, and others who work together to create a rudimentary postal system. Identified by their stylized nightingale emblem, Messengers’ Guild offices are located all over the land. Large cities often have several, and even smaller towns usually have at least one. Smaller villages and [...]

Races with Flavor: The New Allegiance

The elves are a fractious bunch; the largest elvish communities number perhaps a few hundred, and no elvish nation has more than a handful of such communities. This is not how it’s always been, though. There was a time when the elves were a united people, but that was a different time and a different [...]

Friends & Foes: The Vampire City

For hundreds of years, the city of Rastonia has been under the de facto rule of three guilds of varying legitimacy: The Moneylenders, the Shadow Guild, and the Crafters’ Guild. Each of the guilds is headed by a vampire, the three of which make no attempts to hide their nature.
The Moneylenders is headed by Lord [...]

Peculiar Places: The Carrot & Stick

For generations, a lone building has stood along the road between Barlowna and Keppings. The Carrot & Stick was an inn remarkable only for the fact that it stayed afloat despite the high prices, terrible food, and terrible service. In fact, the only reason it stayed around as long as it did was because it [...]

Finders, Keepers

An American spy was in Russia, investigating a suspected terrorist cell. He had retrieved two new weapons developed by the cell, a microwave gun capable of stopping a man’s heart and a powerful airborne biological weapon.
Some teenagers on the train, seeing the American man and thinking he looked like he’d have some valuables on him, [...]