The party must travel three days from Brulan to the town of Calannon. This journey might take longer if they are on foot or less if they use magic. They might be pursued by authorities from Brulan or they might have made it out faster than Brulan can react, and thus, no pursuit. It's up to you.
 |
From a distance, Calanon looks to be a fairly large town. Walled. Impressive main gates. |
|
On the approach to the town, you pass through some farming land. |
|
You pass a shepherd and herd of goats. |
|
Some sort of construction work is being done on the main city wall. Repairs possibly. |
|
You see a large group of men out in the fields doing some sort of formation drills. Training. |
|
The outer city is a shanty town. Dozens of tents and lean-tos are set up and people are hawking their wares. |
|
At the gates, you see four city guards taking entrance fees and several entertainers. A juggler, a minstrel and a clown and a pair of actors. They are entertaining the crowd that is waiting in line. |
|
The clown seems to be telling a story with great flourish. The two actors are pretend sword fighting. One of them is dressed up as a warrior, the other as a wizard. |
|
While in line, a tall man with a big nose and bug-eyes, bald, dressed in rags, asks you if you want to buy a miracle cure. “Mighty sir.. you have the hard look of a warrior about you. Been in many battles, eh? Then no doubt you could use some of these. Healing elixir. Potent stuffed. Brewed by my two daughters. Made from ground unicorn horn and dragon’s blood. Cures any pain. Very potent. Only 10 siar for a bottle. How many bottles would you like?” |
|
A tall women approaches. Tell you your fortune? Read your palm? Your aura? “You come from a great distance and yet still have far to travel. You are heading o the east, yes? Beware. I sense GREAT danger ahead for you. You travel on the backs of clouds, but angry lightning will steal time from you. A great beast guards an empty box. Beware the fifth riddle, it will be your undoing” – Feel free to make her revelations as wildly inaccurate as you want. Or they could be subtly and cryptically accurate of what lies ahead. |
|
The guards charge each person two silver rumani. They alter their language depending on who they are talking to. To the players, they try Aukarian first, then Magrakian. |
|
First impressions of the town. It's very clean. Organized. Very decorative. Every building is well maintained. Bustling with activity. |
|
A huge field next to the town market square is getting set up for some sort of sporting event. Jousting possible. Archery contests. |
Calanon has a BIG festival going on. The final battle of the civil war some 225 years ago was called the Battle of the Burning Wood and it occurred near Calanon. This was the battle where Lothiramar and his minions were defeated.
It’s obvious that this town has been preparing for this festival for awhile.
Decorations are everywhere. The city has been cleaned. Banners and flags being flown. Newly potted plants in front of buildings. Fresh paint. Etc.
Deputized militia men are walking about in small groups. Newly hired, no doubt.
Jugglers and actors and jesters and minstrels are everywhere.
The party passes into the town square which is filled with people.
They pass a large stage which has men chained up, some of them still dressed up in their gaudily festival garb. You see five up on a stage in bent over head shackles. Big ogre type. A saridian in robes. A short man dressed as a jester on stilts, a magrakian warrior and a big, red headed human.
Dozens of people are dressed up as clowns, jesters and strange characters.
Huge dolls operated by multiple puppeteers act out plays.
Archery contest, jousting, board wrestling and weapon sparring. Hammer toss.
Four saridians are enjoying a fast paced game involving tiles arranged on a playing board.
Two vaullians are sitting in front of a game, staring at the pieces. Porulu. Like chess.
At this point the players don’t realize it, but they just walked right by Kaelig. Assuming that you gave them the Legend Lore results (the prophecy given to them by a Legend Lore or any other divination type spell) then they have already been given the clue. The line in that prophecy is “Seek the fool both short and tall who fears Death’s Door but mocks the Wall”. That line refers to Kaelig.
Kaelig is the short man, dressed
as a jester, on stilts who is in the stocks along with four other prisoners. He
is a “fool” because he is a jester and he is both “short and tall” because he’s
short, but he’s wearing stilts. The second line refers to the fact that he has
been into the Desolation many times, circumventing or “mocking” the Wall
(Garreon’s Wall) but he fears “Death’s Door” … the great stone seal which lies
at the heart of the ancient ruins of the city of Shidar… the great stone door
that he has been unable to get past.
If they don't figure it out, they go to the Silken Sabre. At the Silken Sabre,
the bartender says "Who's asking?"
"I've not seen him around today. He was in two days ago. Not sure where he's gotten himself off to".
Another thief says… "I saw him at the Town Square this morning. Center of town."
There are three prisoners on stage ready to be executed.
Murtag is a huge muscled man with some ogrish features about him.
Kalipsar is a Saridian. Tall, thin, bone white.
Kaelig is a short man on stilts dressed up as a clown.
Aekar is a magrakian warrior.
Barrak is the red-headed human.
A bloodthirsty crowd is calling out names and pelting the 5 prisoners with food.
The party may notice a group of thug-types reclining against a wagon, talking among themselves and keeping an eye on Kaelig. They look like rogues or thieves. They look heavily armed and have the look of troublemakers about them. Four Aukarians. Leather armor, short swords.
It should be made clear that the five prisoners in the stocks (including Kaelig) are to be hanged as part of the festivals celebration. Obviously, the party has two goals here:
Find out where Kaelig is.
Rescue Kaelig from the gallows.
Kaelig is the key here. He’s the guide they need. It should be very important to the party to rescue this man. If they do, he’ll surely be thankful for his life and will gladly guide them into the Desolation. If they don’t, they’ll die in the Desolation. It’s that simple.
City Guards
There are surrounded by 10 Aukarian town guards. Two sergeants and one captain of the guard. The guards are armed in a form of splint mail with swords and oddly shaped shields. They also have helmets. Short cloaks. High leather boots. Symbol of House Calanon (one House rules the town) on their shields. They, obviously, will try to thwart any rescue attempt.
Thieves Guild
Four Aukarian men. Studded leather armor. Short blades. Cloaks. Leather boots. Daggers. They bear the heraldry of a house on shoulder patches. (Three of them are common thieves. One is a leader. The thieves guild arranged for a lucrative “job” and set him up to be the scapegoat.) They want to make sure he dies.
The Fat Noble
A fat wealthy looking man attended by several servants and two guards stands in the center of the field watching the preparations with a look of immense satisfaction. Kaelig has stolen from him before and he’s here to watch the show. It was his stuff that was stolen in the job that set Kaelig up. In any case, this fat noble will watch Kaelig hang with immense satisfaction and will do whatever is necessary to make sure Kaelig dies. He may even offer up money to the guards.
This encounter could go many different ways. Ultimately, all that matters is that the party manages to free Kaelig and escape the city.
Once they free Kaelig, they have to escape the town of Calannon and get on the road. The party leaves Calannon. Possible at a dead run. If they're smart, they'll leave as quickly and quietly as possible. Once it is determined that Kaelig is missing or has been rescued, then the town guards will close the gates and no one leaves the town until he is found.
Once safely away from Calannon, the party can explain to Kaelig their mission and that they need him to be their guide into the Desolation. Indeed, he is VERY thankful to be rescued and agrees to be their guide. Once the party gets out of the town with him and they have time to talk, he can relate the following to them:
Introduction
Thank you! My Friends. Thank you! You have saved my life! How can I ever repay you?
You are a healer? How great is your healing magic? Can you bring back the dead? Then perhaps we can help each other.
Yes, I know the Desolation. Judging by your map, you're heading straight into the heart of the ruins. The lost city of Shidar. If you're heading to Shidar, then good luck to you. As far as I know, I'm the only person who's ever made it all the way to the ruins.
The ruins are a dangerous place. I've explored them a couple of times. But what interests me is what's UNDER the city. There is a great seal blocking the entrance to the catacombs beneath the city. I was never been able to get past the Seal. It is a great iron and stone thing called Death's Door.
On my last journey in, I had a friend with me. A sorcerer and scholar named Italus. Italus translated the symbols on the outside of Death's Door. It read like a history or something. Talked about a key. He wrote it all down in his journal.
We talked about possibly going after the key and then coming back. But we were attacked by a group of Shidaran zombies. We managed to kill them. But Italus died from his wounds. I buried him out there under a cairn of stones because I didn't want the Horde to get at his bones. I took his journal and came back. It wasn't easy. I barely escaped with my life. By the time I made it back to the Wall, I was almost dead.
This was months ago. Before I had time to replenish my funds or find out anything about the "key" that Italus had mentioned, I got mixed up in a rivalry between two houses. One of them was House Agrymond that runs the local thieves guild in this town. I was betrayed by the thieves guild for fencing relics from the Desolation without giving them a percentage. Bah! They didn't earn it. They framed me for the murder of a House Chamberlain [House Brykoth, if anyone asks]. I was going to be executed during the Festival. That’s when you showed up.
Everyone who goes into the Desolation dies. Everyone who doesn’t know what they're doing, that is. The whole region is a death zone. Several diseases are there, but the main one, the one that concerns most people, is something that the Chaddamarians call "the Scourge".
What the Chaddamarians know of it is mixed with a lot of superstitious nonsense. I can tell you about it though. It's a wide spread sickness which quickly kills the victim. The body then undergoes a change. The corpse excretes a foul smelling pus which quickly hardens into some sort of cocoon. The next day, this cocoon bursts open and the corpse arises as some shambling undead monstrosity. The Chaddamarians call it a Shidaran zombie.
Unknown to the general public, there is an antidote which prevents infection from the Scourge. It's difficult to make…expensive, time consuming… and very delicate. Only a handful know that it even exists. Even fewer know how to make it.
The irony is that the Church of Chaddamar, the very government of that people, is aware of the existence of the antidote. But they consider it heresy. They keep it's existence a secret and all samples of the antidote are confiscated and destroyed.
Every time I go in, I purchase a supply of the antidote from certain underworld contacts. I don't have the skills to brew the stuff myself. I usually buy it from a mage named Kaemus. Unfortunately, Kaemus was executed by the Church for crimes of heresy this past winter. The Church is very good at sniffing out necromancers. But there are others who know the formula. Before he died, Italus told me about an associate of his who might be able to help us find the key. A vaullian historian by the name of Lesoth. Italus said that he knew the formula as well. I was planning on finding this Lesoth and asking him about the key. I don’t know Lesoth personally and I don’t know if he is skilled in alchemy. But perhaps he can concoct some of the antidote, for a price. If not Lesoth, then I don’t know. The only other person I know of who knew the formula is the original creator of the antidote. A necromancer named Saramuthak. However, I heard he was been imprisoned year before last. Probably dead by now. Let us hope that Lesoth can make some of that rare distillation for us!
Yes. Saramuthak. You know of him. He’s a well known necromancer. As you can imagine, he’s had his share of troubles with the Church of Chaddamar. He’s been labeled a heretic and idolater. He's been in trouble with the Church for years. He was imprisoned a couple years ago in the town of Soleth, not far from the Wall.
Saramuthak probably knows more about the Scourge and the Antidote than anyone. And Lesoth knows more about the Desolation and its history than anyone. If Italus is right, then Lesoth will be able to tell a great deal about the ruins of Shidar. And what might lie beneath them.
I have managed to find out where Lesoth is. He runs a small shop in the town of Hansuse.
Tell Us More About the Antidote
The antidote is difficult and expensive to make. And one full dose must be taken every day while in the Desolation. Else, you will contract the Scourge. It's that simple. The Scourge is what kills 99% of the people that walk into the Desolation. Stupid fools!
The antidote can not be mixed ahead of time or it loses its potency. It consists of two different elixirs that must be mixed prior to consumption. Also, the antidote has a strong magical enchantment. It is very unstable. If it is exposed to any magical energy, it becomes inert. Useless. Therefore, you can't use magic to whisk yourself into the Desolation. Any magic at all will destroy the antidote. Therefore, you have to walk into the Desolation.
What’s in the Journal?
I don’t know. I can’t read it. Italus writes his notes in Old Kartese. It’s the ancient runic code used by sorcerers from the old Kytohan Empire. Now used by Chaddamarian sorcerers. I can’t read Old Kartese.
What creatures are in the Desolation?
The Desolation is a terrible wasteland filled with a wide variety of nightmarish creatures. The most significant during Horde season are the Horde creatures themselves, of which there are several types. Other than the Horde, the following creatures may be encountered in the Desolation:
Acid Jaws – Large, vaguely canine-like, quadraped carnivores with huge four part jaws and acidic saliva.
Corpse Worms – Horrific worms that infest corpses and cause them to animate like undead zombies. Immune to just about everything.
Elekrin - Large centipede able to unleash electrical attack.
Shidaran zombies – Typical undead walking monstrosities. Immune to sleep, charm, hold, disease, etc.
Sabre scorpions – Large, fast and aggressive scorpion with a large, blade like stinger.
Skullclaw - A rare, but nasty creature that drains spells from mages.
Kaelig can also tell the party about the Phanglir. They are a hardy, warrior race of humanoids that are indigenous to the Desolation. They are immune to the Scourge. The existence of the phanglir is also kept secret by the Church because their very existence violates Church doctrine, which states that NOTHING can survive in the Desolation. Kaelig can describe them (a tall, stout thick skinned, vaguely amphibian looking humanoid race). He has had only one or two encounters with them. They generally dislike southerners.
This website was last updated March 31, 2026. Copyright 1990-2026 David M. Roomes.