13th Age: Realms of Kadamar

Not sure if I will do anything with it, but I was working up a setting for 13th Age not too long ago, one which basically focused on the game's key strengths (heroic-age characters, icons, room for lots of OUTs and such). What I came up with is interesting....I may do something different, though. Anyway, here and in the next couple blogs I'll provide the campaign precis for contemplation...

Sibriani, Queen of the Sudarak Coast, entertains some barbarians from the north 

The Elder Lords

There are eight powerful entities, immortals who were once mere men and other beings that seized the power of the gods in an early era, trapping for their own use and making their lineages permanently immortal. These Elder Lords are the secret power behind the world of Kadamar, manipulating all of mankind, elvenkind and the other races toward their ultimate goals and desires.

The Elder Lords are mistakenly believed by many to be eternal as well as immortal; this is not so. The families of each original Elder Lord gained immortality granted by their acquisition of power, and they have a succession over the generations. The immortals cannot die of age or disease, but they cannot escape doom by sword or spell. As such each immortal clan has chosen to sequester themselves away, to forge a strong power base and insure that they are insulated from the rest of the world to guarantee their immortality. Moreover, the families of each lineage are not in and of themselves immortal; only when an Elder Lord dies does his immortal power pass on to his next worthy descendant. In families of great evil and chaos such as Damedan’s army or Meridiae’s vile court this means that death by assassination is almost routine. Cindros himself as a lord of assassins often conducts these murders, though he remains resistant to his own assassination by way of powerful defensive spells.

The Elder Lords include the following:

Hathakor, the Sorcerer King (Archmage) - Hathakor is the latest in a long line of ancient royal sorcerers, though he currently rules a no-man’s land in the dominion of The Empty Lands, where his ancient empire of Hiramash once existed. Today Hiramash is a paltry handful of ancient near-immortal nobles who cull slaves from neighboring lands while defending themselves by reputation as great ancient sorcerers. Hathakor himself is reclusive and too busy seeking the mysteries of the planar realms to worry about the decline of his ancient people.

Obsidaros, the Great Lich (Lich King) - Of all the Elder Lords only one has escaped death and held on to his power unchallenged for four thousand years: Obsidaros, the lich lord, was dead when he joined the ancient pact, and he remains dead now. His obsession with immortality began long ago, and paid out in spades. Rumors are that his ancestors suffered for his power lust, and that he must always insure his descendant from when he was still living continue to prosper, for he must once in a generation find a suitable host body to feed upon and subsume his vile soul into. Obsidaros dwells somewhere deep in the north, where the Ghoval barbarians fear his armies of undead.

Tiriaenis, the Seelie Queen (Elf Queen) – dwelling deep in the Feywild, Tiraenis holds the ancestral name of her title as the seelie queen though she is the latest in a long line of elves descended from her ancient Elder Lord ancestor. Tiriaenis has ruled for over a thousand years now, and struggles with war against Meridiae and the Unseelie.

Meridiae, the Unseelie Queen (The Diabolist) – the other side of the coin that is the Feywild, Meridiae is the dark elf mistress who bows before the power of Penumbrae even as she steals the divinity of the shadow goddess for her own.

Progos, the Mountain King (Dwarf King) – Progos is the latest in a long line of ancient dwarven kings, and longest-lived by far of his many immortal ancestors. All dwarven kings to date have fallen in battle, for it is believed that the destiny of each dwarf if to fall defending the Underrealm, the vast kingdom of dwarven citadels that stand against the darkness of Males and Moriae. There is a belief that only Progos and his descendants know the true location of the Crown of Infinity.

Damedan, the Warlord (The Crusader) – Damedan is the descendant of a fierce line of immortal generals who trace their ancestry back to the rise of the Elder Lords. Damedan rules his Army of the Burning Sun, and is arguably the most influential force in politics for it is said that whomever has the Army of the Burning Sun on their side will win. There is a rumor that the lineage of Damedan was founded by the first Warlord, who was a demigod son of Helion himself.

Cindros, The Burning Blade (The Lord of Shadows) – the lord of assassins and seeker of knowledge, Cindros is reviled by the other Elder Lords, for it is believed that Cindros has been responsible for the deaths of disagreeable Elder Lords in the past. Cindros is second longest-lived next to Obsidaros, believed to have survived in some manner for nearly three thousand years now after discovering a means of escaping even murder through a spell of transmigration which allows his spirit to occupy the body of his slayer. This has made him all but invincible in the eyes of some, and his fellow Elder Lords consider him the most dangerous of their own kind.