Gothic Greyhawk 800CY:
The Rise of the Elder Gods
Introduction:
Shield Lands - The Siege of Admundfort
"Just Remind me why we are here, Tomm." Aldred asked in an accusing tone.
"We are here, my good friend Aldred, to... We are here to free the land from the scourge of evil that covers the northlands of the Flanaess." Tommas answered thoughtfully with a cheeky grin.
"I know about all that rubbish. But why are we really here? I mean if we really wanted to get ourselves killed there are a lot of easier ways of doing it. And none of them will end up with us as walking corpses like those poor damned bastards in the city." Aldred questioned, his temper rising as his friend avoided the subject as usual.
"We are adventurers. Soldiers of fortune. Warriors of ..." Tommas quoted the sign on the Greyhawk Adventurer's Guild message board but was rudely interrupted before he had the chance to finish.
"Crap ... Utter crap. Dont waste all that bullshit on me. We came here for a big payday. What have we had so far? The damned walking dead. And Orcs, thousands upon thousands of orcs, hundreds of thousands of orcs. Nobody ever said we were meant to get in the way of those green skinned scum. But here we are. Everyday now for the past month and things are getting worse. Vampires ... Bloody bloodthirsty ... Blood Drinking ... Blood Crazed Vampires. And not just one or two mind you, but a whole bloody city full of them. And what are they doing? I'll tell you, shall I? They're just waiting for us, they're all safe and sound behind those city walls waiting for our pointless attacks. And everytime we attack they unleash hell." Aldred's mood got worse as his complaints grew.
"So you're not happy about things then?" Tommas asked with an innocent look.
"Tomm, that has to be the understatement of the century. We owe these damn Shield Landers nothing. What's a Greyhawker doing here anyway. These fanatical bastards will carry on until they've either won back their lands or every one of them is dead. I can guess which one is more likely. Over fifty thousand men wasted so far according to reliable sources. And for what? A bloody crumbling ruined city that nobody really wants. It's been pillaged hundreds of times over the last two hundred years during numerous wars. And still these idiots keep rebuilding and coming back for more of the same,. Only for the orcs to come back again once it's full of people and destroy it again. They're fanatics, Tomm. These stupid zealot bastards have been besieging this place for the last two years and they're as far forward now as they were when they got here." Aldred knew it was falling on deaf ears. When Tommas got an idea in his head there was no persuading him otherwise. Unlike Aldred who had always been so easily led by his lifelong friend since they were just small children.
"What if I told you there are some old crypts around here. Not five miles from where we are sitting." Tommas offered, knowing his friend would be interested once persuaded.
"I'd say who told you and why haven't they gone themselves." Aldred asked ever the cautious one.
"Because they can't leave. Unlike us these fools have to do what their commanders tell them to do. Look at this. It's a map to the crypts." Tommas explained and handed Aldred the map.
"How much did it cost you?" Aldred questioned with a knowing look as he studied the map.
"10 Silver Shields." (Silver Pieces) Tommas replied with a hopeful smile.
"You damn fool, Tomm. A day's pay on somebody's idea of a joke." Tommas was used to the disappointed looks his friend would give him whenever he did something without thinking it through.
"It looks genuine to me. Let's take a look tonight. After everyone's asleep." Tommas answered hopeful his persistance was wearing Aldred down.
"What if we get caught. They'll think we're deserters or spies." Aldred asked with a hint of concern in his voice.
"Then we better not get caught. Besides we're rogues and scouts not soldiers. We find opportunities to make some gold and we take it. It's got to be better than waiting here to be bit by one one of those infernal bastards. But we had better find a priest first. Get some holy water, garlic, silver crosses and a few healing potions, just in case there's anything not quite dead in those crypts."
"That's what I'm afraid of. How do I let you talk me into these damn foolish schemes?" Aldred asked, already knowing he had been persuaded yet again.
"Because you want to get rich. Just like me. Besides don't worry. I've found us a third and fourth man for the job." Tommas replied looking particularly pleased with himself at his thoughtful forward thinking.
"Well I hope they're better than the last ones you hired in Greyhawk. Those bastards nearly got us killed and then tried to run out on us with the loot." Aldred remembered this time last year on a contract that nearly cost the pair of them their lives for not checking carefully who they were working with.
"You worry too much, Aldred." Tommas replied with a carefree grin.
"That's what you said last time and look what happened." Aldred reminded him.
"Where are they? These two who you've hired." Aldred asked curiously.
"They're coming over now." Tommas said as he waved to the two warriors approaching.
"Are we still on for tonight, Tomm?" Vance Calbert asked as he and his sister approached.
"Damn right we are, Vance. I see you've brought your charming sister this time." Tommas stated with a dirty grin that spoke of his intentions should he ever get the chance.
"She insisted on meeting you before she agrees to come along." Vance replied.
"Heard about my dashing good looks and irresistable charm has she. They can't resist you know. All the ladies ..." Tommas replied and gave a smug laugh before being interrupted.
"He's an idiot, Vance. I said this was a bad idea. We should forget it now, while we still can." Shereena Calbert argued with a disgusted look on her face.
"That's the most intelligent thing anyone has said about this whole idea. And besides which, she's just a kid, Tomm." Aldred complained looking the young woman up and down.
"This idiot is even more stupid than his friend. I'm twenty two if that really matters. I might look young but I'm damn good with a blade and have seen more than my fair share of combat. I must be doing something right or I wouldn't still be here." Shereena replied with an arrogant and condescending tone.
"Calm down, we're all friends here. Let's get working on the plans for tonight." Vance said eagerly.
Aldred and Tommas made room for the brother and sister around the camp fire. Vance sat down eagerly wanting to get started. Shereena looked at the two of them shook her head in disgust and sighed heavily as she sat beside her brother.
Admundfort City burnt in the blazing heat of the midsummer day's sun. From the south and west two fleets of Shield Land Battleships pounded the walls and city with cannon and catapults aboard the ships. To the east waited a besieging army of one hundred and fifty thousand troops and twenty five thousand camp followers all Shield Landers or the desendants of the old Shield Lands.
Since what has become known as the Greyhawk Wars of the late five hundred CY years the wars with Iuz have carried on unabated. For a period of seventy years after the Shield Landers took back some of their territory from a disorganized force of Orcs and other goblinoids the land was settled once again during a time of negotiated peace. The lands flourished and people moved back to the small areas of the Shield Lands that had been liberated. Admundfort became a thriving metropolis, once a small city of thousands, it grew to an unbeleivable size of three hundred thousand people. Visitors from across the Flanaess came here to trade and settle.
Then the expected happened. The truce was broken and Iuz's forces marched on all it's neighbours at once. Iuz had had time to rebuild and was driven by a knew and deadly master. Iuz was not the kind to welcome a master, but in the case of the Dark Elder God Cthulhu even with all his power as a demi god he was powerless to resist the madness that took hold of him and his followers. Demon's of all types in their vast numbers poured through the portals opened by Cthulhu's minions and The Empire of Iuz was infested with abyssal fiends loyal to Cthulhu. Iuz the Old became Iuz the Mad, the Insane, the Derranged. If the people that still existed within Iuz's realm, mostly slaves, thought it had been bad before. Then there existence was about to become their worst nightmare.
The demon's took control of Iuz's cities and armies. Star Spawn of Cthulhu appeared throughout the land spreading the word of their great elder god. For fifty years the battles raged continously across the Flanaess and millions were slaughtered. Then for no apparent reason the forces of Cthulhu and Iuz stopped their advance and retreated to where they had been in the late five hundred CY years. Truces were once again negotiated and agreements made. For almost eighty years of rebuilding and repopulation to vastly larger numbers than two hundred years earlier the forces of Iuz built up once again. They built dozens of new cities and the massive metropolis of Iuz City which is still under constant growth and construction to this day as millions of slaves toil above and below the surface of the Empire of Iuz to prepare for the coming of Great Cthulhu.
Spies within The Empire of Iuz have reported the misery of those enslaved. Countless millions living only to serve their dark masters. The nations of the Flanaess know that at any time the truce could break and have spent the past eighty years building up massive forces and constructing defences.
It wasn't Iuz who broke the ceasefire ten years ago, but the Shield Landers. Always a force for good, the military of the Shield Lands was also overly zealous and righteous in their belief that their god demanded they take back all of the lost lands. Iuz was quick to stop the uprising and forced the Shield Landers on the defensive. Surprisingly he held his forces in check and there was no reprisals throughout the Empire. Three years ago a fleet bought from the Furyondians began landing troops on the occupied island on which Admundfort City was located. For the next year the Shield Landers pushed back the orc defenders behind the walls of the city. They freed hundreds of thousands of slaves in the process. For the past two years the city has been under siege and numerous battles have cost the lives of fifty thousand Shield Lander soldiers and hundreds of thousands of slaves. The Shield Landers can expect no help from their allies without breaking the truce. The only help they are likely to find are human mercenaries and adventurers, but both would be needed in their thousands to take the city.
The city despite the siege continues to grow. Human and goblinoid slaves work in their millions to erect defences and dig deep into the earth in search of lost treasures, underground nations of future slaves and to make it impossible for the Shield Landers to ever settle the city again. If the Shield Landers knew of the great extent to which the city had been forever altered by the orcs and their vampire masters, all in the name of Iuz and Cthulhu they would lose all hope of ever winning their lands back.
As the siege engines turn the city defences to dust, and tens of thousands of men prepare for another hopeless assault against overwhelming odds. Four unlikely heroes prepare to rob a tomb completely unaware of the plot they will uncover in the process and the forces they will eventually face as a simple tomb robbing turns into a plot to enslave or destroy all the living of this world and drag it forever into the Abyss, a realm for the imprisoned Elder God Cthulhu.
And so begins an epic tale of four unlikely heroes and their friends, families, allies, associates, lovers and enemies that will unfold in a Mythic Pathfinder Story set in a Gothic Greyhawk World at the turn of the century in 800 CY.