Ruladniir

Ruladniir, Home of The Portal "In days of old, when life was young. When chaos was unheard of and peace was the sole essence of the world. When guards were unneeded and ‘criminal’ wasn’t a word. There resided one who believed that it couldn’t last forever and that chaos would ring out. Training where other refused to, he prepared, became the greatest there was, the one who was ready for the inevitable. After fulfilling his duty and staving the chaos until others were prepared, the hero became corrupt. To this day none know his name or what trade he trained in, they only know that upon his death a portal appeared in his death place. Building a city around this rift in space, the people called their city Ruladniir after what most remember, vaguely that is, the hero’s name to be and practically worshipped the portal. People have tried to enter the portal and after so many attempts the departed either were never seen again or were indeed seen, but only as a dead husk of what used to be a person. If I have any advice for you, it’s to stay away from that city if you have half a brain…unless you think you can handle whatever is on the other side of that portal, that is, and trust me, you don’t want to see what’s beyond that portal, it’ll scar you for life I tell ya." -Taburan Raizen, Former Sage of Ruladniir, Only known survivor of the portal. Said to one who was about to enter the portal but was convinced otherwise. This was the last anybody heard from Taburan. The Story of Drableces Veay Long ago, in the fortress of the Fiend lords, a pact was being settled between the demons and devils, this was the pact that would choose the fate of the planes, leaving them subject to the will of the fiends…there was one poor soul who willed this pact not to come into existence…One poor soul who thought he had a chance…One poor soul who goes by the name of Drableces Veay. A great and wonderful paladin, Drableces had slain many an evil dragon and all too many town-ravaging beasts. Given the blessing of the angel prince, Yaralon, and the gift of the satyr king

Ophenai, Drableces was a charming hero, known across the land for his heroic deeds and wondrous abilities. Many know him for preventing the slaadi invasion on the material plane…but such things don’t come at no cost. The casualties he had seen that day were many, healing the wounded and burying the dead, Drableces had neglected to mend his own wounds, the one that rent so deep into his side, yet left no pain…only the pain many years later of finding the slaad lord, Ashanegal, invading his mind. His attempts to find a healer for his mind, body, and soul were pointless as the paladin found no healers for the deepest cut. After finding an old witch he asked her what could heal him and the only response that escaped the old lady’s lips was “Bring me devil blood.” After searching for many months he found a seer able to tell him where he could find a devil with a surefire chance. Along with telling him about the fiends gathering in a hellish fortress, she also told him of their plan…to seal a treaty of peace between the two fiendish races and to invade the planes, wreaking havoc and mayhem across the worlds. After hearing of the fiends’ plans from the seer, Drableces asked the seer to take him to the fortress, so he could attempt to stop the fiendish invasion. Standing at the gates of the fortress made the noble, prideful paladin begin to reconsider the attack, but he had to, for the sake of the planes and himself, for the sanity of his own being and for the life of all the innocents who would be mercilessly and torturously killed. Saying a quick prayer to the gods to grant him the strength and willpower to slay the fiend lords, Drableces approached the gates and used a charm one of the seers gave him to bore a whole through the black iron gates, disintegrating that part of the gates completely. Walking the halls of this foul place, Drableces began to lose his sanity, hearing the whispers of Ashanegal along with the whispers of all the poor souls who had been tortured and killed in those bloodstained halls of bone. After much time, Drableces had found the door to the war room, the room that would be purified by this paladin and never used again to plot the death of the innocent. Opening the door, the holy one walked in, facing down the fiends, hefting up his shield, and drawing his mighty mace from his side. After an epic battle between the most holy of paladins and the 8 most powerful fiends of the planes, Drableces stood up on top, nearly a lifeless heap of flesh. But instead, fate had shone for him

that glorious day…that day, known so much as the start of the blood war…the day that the fiend armies found their generals slaughtered and themselves arguing amongst themselves about who had done it, eventually coming to a conclusion that is was the fault of the other side, starting in a dispute that ended up in the commencing of bloodshed and brawling…all the ‘cause of the paladin who’s holy aspect was hidden from the fiends by the evil slaadi enchanter within him, creating a fiendish visage of evil… this was Drableces the holy…This, is the story of the first warlock. *** Now, you are probably wondering what I'm getting at with this… well, take some time, sit on back, and listen to the tale, of one man, who found salvation, in damnation… *** After becoming the most foul being to walk the planes, Drableces Veay, the first warlock, sought freedom from the multiple personalities within him: Ashanegal, the slaad lord; Yaralon the angel prince; Ophenai, the Satyr King of the woods; Graegnore, the head of the Demons that he had slain that fateful day; and Taleniphore, the head of the slain devils…as you can tell, Drableces was torn to pieces from each individual lord of power residing within his mind. Finding the witch that told him to bring the devil blood, Drableces commanded her to tell him how to remove these personalities haunting his mind. Pulling a knife from the folds of her blouse, the witch walked up to the one man who had saved the world so many times and asked a simple question “Do you truly wish to release your soul?” Asked the witch, holding the knife at her side. “The voices haunt me day and night, I can’t sleep, I can’t move without them arguing over where I should go, I can’t do anything without one of them objecting…please, release me.” Explained the once-glorious paladin. Pulling the knife up to her stomach, the witch began to chant in a strange language unknown to Drableces. As she chanted in the guttural language the dagger began to glow, runes dancing across the blade. Brighter and brighter the blade glowed, eventually into a solid blade of energy, a swirl of five different colors composed the knife: The blue aspect of the knife would hunt down and slay the spirit of Ashanegal; White to hunt the spirit of Yaralon; Ophenai’s spirit would be hunted by the green aspect of the knife; a glowing black part of the dagger would hunt the spirit of Taleniphore; and the red would slay the spirit of Garaegnore, leaving Drableces free of the different lords

that have been haunting him. But there was a cost…Abruptly the witch stopped chanting and released the dagger, leaving it floating in midair. Leaving the tent, the witch left him wondering, wondering what the dagger was going to do, why she left the tent…he shortly found out what the dagger was for. As the ExPaladin stood in the middle of the tent the dagger began to orbit him, circling his head, whizzing past his face, close enough to slice his nose off if he even breathed to heavily. Drableces watched the knife as it flew and flew and flew, faster and faster, getting further and further from being able to cut him open. After about five minutes the dagger flew away from him, slicing through the thick canvas of the tent, flying away from the still curious paladin. Hours past and the Ex-Paladin had seen no sign of the witch or the multi-colored dagger.. it was night by this time, and the demonic natures of the man were starting to take over, he was groggy, about to sleep on a moments notice, but he didn’t, his demonic nature didn’t let him…instead, he left the tent, in search of blood to satisfy his evil intentions…upon leaving the tent he saw none other than the witch standing vigilantly outside the tent, being the judge and jury of this man’s fate… Speaking a single word in the guttural language that she had been speaking before, summoning the executioner of the first warlock in existence. The dagger had apparently left the tent and began orbiting it from the outside, waiting for the time the warlock came out, only then did the dagger act, soaring at the fully aware warlock, who had held up the very shield that assisted him in slaying the fiendish generals, this time though, the shield had taken upon it the aspects of it’s owner, depicting the face of a vile demon upon the surface, which was soon sundered by the soaring dagger, plunging deep into the heart of the man, all the swirling colors had disappeared from the dagger, seeming to soak into the man. His body turned into five different colored glowing orbs of pure energy, each on had the corresponding lord’s face visible within…and Drableces was free… *** Each of the five orbs floated up into the sky, reaching a certain height and parting ways, each one of them flying off, each in a different direction, seeking out entirely different corners of the earth: The blue spirit of Ashenegal had found a deserted island and had manifested from the ocean around it as a man with the aspects of a serpent, living in the sea and on the island, destroying the ships of any unfortunate enough to float through

the great sea-serpents territory, the great serpent is known for having a pair of gauntlets that are said to grant control of the waves and the storms, these gauntlets were use by Drableces to travel over seas with great speed; The white spirit of Yaralon found a grand castle, manifesting as a charming man, willing to do anything for those in need the man is said to have the very shield of Drableces himself, yes that shield that saved a hero from being ripped limb from limb…but couldn’t protect his soul from the corruption of the fiendish blood; Ophenai’s green spirit found a peaceful glade to manifest as a beautiful Eladrin, who would later protect the forest with the very boots that allowed Drableces to move at great speeds, helping him travel from desert to forest to mountain with divine speed; The black spirit of Taleniphore had found a murky swamp and had manifested itself as a lizard folk bearing the mace of Drableces that had been used to slay so many innocent villagers, stained with the blood of all the foes it had smashed. Staying in the swamp, wrecking havoc on any who dared invade his territory; Finally, the red spirit of Garaegnore had found a volcano, manifesting as a fit human woman wearing robes weaved from the essence of the many villages that Drableces had burnt down. The City of Ruladniir Upon his death, Drableces' body wasn't totally gone. What was left turned into pure energy and created a rift in reality that lead to someplace that the people of Ruladniir didn't know of, one that had either kept their citizens as guests or food. Either way, the people of Ruladniir still worship it as the greatest source of magic on Krag-Negall, the source from which all the magic in their magnificent city comes from. Magic in Ruladniir Magic is highly common in Ruladniir, some are even born with minor abilities. Magic in Ruladniir is drawn from the portal in the heart of the city. Ruladniir’s Society Society in Ruladniir is very peaceful, people don't even know when the last crime in Ruladniir was committed. People in Ruladniir are, more often than not, learned in the arcane arts, rarely training in the martial ways or drawing from divine power, seeing as most people in Ruladniir worship the portal to Kangoria,

even though they don't know what's on the other side. Races of Ruladniir The most common race in Ruladniir is the Portalborn (Genasi), given their name for being believed to have come from the residual magic after Drableces' death. Other than that Humans are the second most common races, followed by Tieflings and Dragonborn in a close second and Eladrin in a closer fourth. Other than that, Elves and Half-Elves are unheard of in Ruladniir, commonly being known as the "Hero-Killers", given their names from the blurry legend that the seer who killed "Ruladniir" was an elf, and being executed upon arrival in Ruladniir. Religion in Ruladniir Religion in Ruladniir is one of the most touchy subjects you could talk about. Seeing as the majority of Ruladniirians worship The Portal, you wont be able to find many/any temples to any gods at all, let alone be seen preaching of those gods teachings without being executed. Executions in Ruladniir When hundreds of Ruladniir‘s citizens die every year from going into the portal you think that the people of Ruladniir would think to throw those to be executed into the portal. But it‘s a very different situation, the people of Ruladniir think it a sacred right to be permitted to enter the portal and face the test of the hero. Executions instead are handled using the power granted by the portal to drain the life force from the “Offender“ and to sacrifice the body to the portal by throwing it in. Possible Campaign Hooks • Train for the Test of The Hero • Help someone Train for the Test of The Hero • Find the Key to The Portal • Find a way to Kangoria other than through the portal • Convert Ruladniir from their strange ways and bring them to light • Save an elf who stumbled into Ruladniir from the horrible fate that awaits them • Find Taburan Raizen The Test of The Hero The people of Ruladniir believe that only the reincarnation of the

hero who's body the portal was made from can pass through the portal into the city. So at the beginning of every year many gather round from all reaches of the massive city to test themselves and enter the portal. Many enter but none come back alive...some don't even come back at all. Kangoria, Island of The Hero In the middle of the ocean lies an archipelago of islands that can only be reached through the portal that lies at the heart of Ruladniir, this archipelago is the residence of the five aspects of Drableces Veay. Many try to come to these islands by sea but are squelched by Zzazz and never return to the mainland to tell of their experience. Those who do end up on the island are there because they have dared to enter the portal. Test of Kangoria Upon entering the portal at the very center of Ruladniir, one is sent to a random place in Kangoria, where they will have to fend for themselves and attempt to live. Most have found themselves in a more opportune spot than others but otherwise they all end up dying. The day somebody survives successfully on the island will be the very day that Drableces Veay is revived and brought back to his former glory and becomes again known across the land of Krag-Negall. But at this rate, with Hunter Quartet guarding the archipelago and only Karl to help the people who come to the islands that won't be happening very soon. The Hunter Quartet The Hunter Quartet is a band of four of the most determined people on Krag-Negall. The Hunter Quartet individually roam Kangoria in seek of their own individual goals but ultimately follow the word of Geynal, the lord of Kangoria who has lived on "The Archipelago Of Death" before Drableces' death even created the portal. Zzazz, Reincarnation of Ashanegal, The Slaad Lord Zzazz is the guardian of Kangoria, he patrols the ocean around the islands and utterly destroys those who would dare try and invade without using the portal. Zzazz's ultimate reason for doing what Geynal says is that he's in it for the treasure, keeping a stash of all the magic items he loots from ships in a sea cave underneath the archipelago.

Xhandor, Reincarnation of Taleniphore, The Devil King Xhandor is the guardian of the island that houses “The Ivory Hold“, defending the swamps around “The Ivory Hold“ with all his dedication, making sure Karl can‘t muster up an army as big as Geynal‘s. The only reason Xhandor isn't because he's an authority figure but the taste of the flesh of those he gets to hunt. Kri Macoilette, Reincarnation of Graegnore, The Demon King Kri Macoilette is the guardian of Geynal's palace, which resides in the volcano at the center of Kangoria. Kri doesn't find serving Geynal enjoyable in the slightest but finds that it's the fastest way to gain power, her only true obsession. Geynal, Lord of Kangoria Geynal is probably the most honorable hunter in Kangoria, sometimes capturing people and bringing them to "The Obsidian Hold" only to equip them with artifacts of the world and send them on their way so he can hunt them down again. When he isn't hunting those foolish enough to enter the portal, Geynal is usually living a fairly normal life in his castle known as "The Obsidian Hold" and when he isn't doing that he's training his beloved pet Angorinad. Whenever he finds a particularly formidable opponent, Geynal converts them to his cause, bringing them back to “The Obsidian Hold“ and training them to be with the rest of his army. Karl, Reincarnation of Yaralon, The Angel Prince Karl is the only shred of good in Kangoria, wandering the isles protecting the quarries of The Hunter Quartet and taking them back to his palace "The Ivory Hold" to train them and build up his army to take down the Hunter Quartet. Echelor, Reincarnation of Ophenai, The Satyr King Echelor cares not for what the Hunter Quartet or Karl do, neither does he care for what goes on with the portal. Echelor is the epitome of unalignment in Kangoria and realizes that he is the only thing keeping balance in the nature of Kangoria. Kreshno, Key to The Portal

At the exact moment Drableces Veay was killed, a prophecy was made that in five centuries one would be born into the world and be destined to close the portal when Geynal is dead. Kreshno was born on the day of the prophecy and, therefore, bestowed the destiny of closing the portal upon the death of all of Drableces' reincarnations and Geynal. This, of course, is fairly hard seeing as he is only a fledgling adventurer. Taburan Raizen, Former Sage of Ruladniir, Only known survivor of the portal Taburan is known as “The Survivor“ to many of Ruladniir. Taburan is the only one to ever enter the portal and return with his sanity and life intact…at least for a little bit that is. After a bit, Taburan lost most of his sanity and left Ruladniir and was never seen again. Most of the people of Ruladniir wish to find him to learn more of what is on the other side of the portal but none have succeeded.