d&dis[aster]

The party looked at the little girl splayed on the floor, clutching the homemade crayons in her small fists. They remembered the child who had cheerfully run her mother’s shop while her mother had to tend to a baby brother; the bouncing, joyful, little girl who had helped them pick out coats and shyly asked if she could draw them sometime. When she looked back up at them it was Avdite, not Lina, who existed in the childlike frame. They had to wonder if they would ever get their favorite little fan back.

The ghosts of her mother and brother flanked the young woman as she stood on her side of the river, staring stoically across the bridge. She would go back over the bodies of the dead; young necromancers aren’t too picky about which dead, and whose bodies.

Across from The Queen’s Garden, in Vauxshall (Pruuya) sits an unassuming shop, whose shutters open every dawn to reveal an herb shop and apothecary. The half-elven owner appears as unassuming as her home; bare feet despite the Pruuyan chill, muted colors, but a warm smile for any who venture near. Local druid, healer, and plant expert, Evelina Cress tends to The Queen’s Garden and frequents The Sunken Cod, which is owned and run by her former adventuring companion, Sevastian Medved.

The Sunken Cod is a legend in the Pruuyan capital city of Vauxshall. Is it the fact that it sits underground, beneath the Queen’s Gardens? Possibly. Is it the fact that legendary adventurer Sevastian Medved runs the place? Most likely. One of the biggest men in the city, a former Skoyyan tribesman, Sevastian cuts an imposing figure. More to the point, he brews the best ale in the city and he knows how to create an inviting atmosphere. It’s only hard to forget his barbarian rage when his precious daughter, Keelin, is tending bar. (Wandering hands tend to wander a little further from their owner than perhaps initially intended.)

Without question, the first thing to draw attention when stepping into The Sunken Cod is the young woman behind the bar. Is it the way her appearance shifts with the seasons, indicating the first snow days before it falls, and heralding spring’s first blooms? Is it the cheerful whistle that carries the weight of magic and wonder? Perhaps it’s the way she greets everyone who enters the establishment like an old friend? In any case, it’s impossible to frequent The Sunken Cod without knowing Keelin Medved, and her tempestuous, powerful, nature.

In the frigid north, Pruuya sits like a jewel at the peak of a crown. Her people are creative and superstitious, if often poorer than their culture would otherwise suggest. One cannot, it seems, eat wood and gems. Still, they hold fast to their devotion to the Gods of Light, standing in defiance of Cathea’s ways to the south. Their Queen Zildreane, a rather young Aasimar woman, holds tenuously to her throne as outside forces seek to dislodge her.

Although the smallest of Adronica’s sovereign realms, it is inarguable that Cathea is a force to be reckoned with. Wholly devoted to the Gods of Dark, Cathea City serves as the seat of a small inquisition, constantly and relentlessly carving at Thijan’s borders in contempt of its lax approach to faith. Cathea is a safe haven for Tieflings and Drow, two races held with outright contempt in the north and moderate neglect in the east.

“Against him, there was no resistance. No force could halt his blade, no amount of death could quench his thirst for blood. Vyhbris carved through the land, slaughtering his followers and dissenters alike -- a madness of bloodlust followed in his wake. It was only when Camos took to the field that Vyhbris did falter. His only greater desire than the destruction of all, is the destruction of his one-time brother.” Vyhbris, God of Destruction and Chaos

“They walked with authority; underneath one foot, all life withered, and the other it thrived. Their voice was the screams of the dying, and the shriek of the new born. Those that witnessed them were either terrified or consoled; the juxtaposition of life and rebirth. When the bravest among mortals asked for their name, they simply answered: Ysyn.” Ysyn, God of Death and Rebirth

“...and her touch did drive him mad, plunged into the depths of that which no mortal man may know. So Afaris gathered her beloved into her arms and held him there, whispering the forbidden into his ear as he thrashed and burned. It is said that her touch will kill those who welcome it, but that the bliss of death in her arms is well worth the pain.” Afaris, Goddess of Fate, Forbidden Knowledge, and Darkness

“It’s difficult to be a young woman in a big world; I think Amri’sa will do just fine. She’s a sapling whose roots are sinking deep enough -- one day, she’ll be a mighty tree, holding this world together.” -- from notes taken on the party by [REDACTED] Amri’sa is played by @letsget-critical

“There was a fire in her once, though it is banked low now. Loss, and grief, and trauma make a girl grow up faster than she should. It would be unfair to pity Pharanah, however. Where there was fire, now there is steel.” -- from notes taken on the party by [REDACTED]

“They came in the silence of night; a god whose form could not be defined, or labeled, or fathomed. Around them shone the light of stars, and pooled the shadow of magics. Avdite, they were called, both and other; terrifying and beloved.” Avidite, God[dess] of Wisdom, Knowledge, Arcana, and Mysticism

“...and with his own hands, did Camos set the sun in the skies; he gave unto his children light, and warmth, and the energy to thrive. When his work was done, he settled in his great golden temple, and made merry with his priests. Of the Gods of Light, it was Camos who ruled.” Camos, God of Civilization, Warfare, the Sun, and Cats.

“Goodnight, Zio. I love you, even when you’re like this.” “I love you too, even when you’re like this.” Alessandra and Aurezio Almasi, by @saladsnek (posted with permission)

“It was out of the chaos of the universe that the Six rose; they gathered light and dark in their trains, and mastered the elements of life that would allow them to guide and lead the mortal races. In the name of the Six, civilizations rose and fell - monuments to their power and their majesty. The seventh was not of them; apostate, outcast, and forbidden.”