Balak Kur Must Die

Balak Kur Must Die!


Next: The King of Old Kesh

Threshold

Maps: Kesh Environs | Threshold

At its peak, the town of Threshold was a way-station for supplying the mighty Legions of Kesh as well as a bureaucratic port-of-call for goods arriving from Barovia or Shandara.  Since the Imperial collapse, the town has dried up, growing sallow and miserly, its inhabitants taxed beyond endurance by an ursurper bandit-lord.

The Brothel

The action of this story revolves around the daughters of the town's brothel, Iluna, Mira and Tula.

Iluna is a young half-elf with enough gold dragon blood (on her human mother's side) to grant her sorcerous abilities. She puts her charming personality and headstrong attitude to work as a runner for the brothel, helping the working women connect with the rest of the town. She is nowhere near as capable or powerful as she'd like you to believe, but her enemies underestimate her to their peril.

Iluna's mother was the former madam, but passed ownership on to Tula's mother when she died from a mysterious wasting disease. Tula, while also a half-elf, is everything Iluna is not -- reticent, tounge-tied and shy. But she is possessed of a strong secretive nature and athletic gifts that have already made her the town's most prolific thief.

Mira is a former mountain-clan boar rancher who fled her wretched life after killing the most inbred of her several wicked stepmothers. Upon her arrival in Threshold, she was taken in by Iluna's mother and treated as a (over-large and extremely aggressive) daughter. As of the start of the campaign, Mira has failed several apprenticeships and lives under a bridge, living off of coins flung into the water for luck. Mira's prize possessions are a greatsword and dire-boar-ball bola, both of which she uses to bloody effect when her immense temper is aroused.

The Few

The Worthy Few are a Dread Kesh-based adventuring company initially led by Hahm, a cleric of Kesh, and Navik Tam, a paladin of Kesh.  The Few arrived just over a year ago, and after some initial adventuring forays against the local goblin ragamuffins, were hailed as heroes and developed a following amongst the locals.

While they initially arrived promising to see to the town's safety, losses incurred while adventuring soured the band, darkening their mood. After the death of their leader, control of the group fell to a saturnine warrior by the name of Atath who imprisoned the town's leadership and ensonced himself as Threshold's new lord.

Atath's brief reign has been both as inept and opressive, but as yet there has been no response from Kesh. With several months passing since the coup, the citizens of Threshold have begun to give up hope that the authorities will intervene. Atath and his companions keep company with beasts of the wild, and Atath himself is never far from a pair of ogre bodyguards.

The Worthy Few

Timeline of Threshold and the North

-20 years

The god Baros dies.  Old women in the lake towns North of Threshold begin to go mad, claiming to receive "visions from the North," but also displaying magical ability as adepts.  These 'madwomen' become de-facto town healers, much to the chagrin of the priesthood of Kesh.  Eventually, a Kesh tribunal rules that these women are receiving their spells from Baros, and therefore not blasphemers.  The Church sends written apologies to the families of the madwomen burned alive, most of whom are illiterate.

-13 years

The god Ebir dies.  Trade from the Ebirian Principalities ceases, and the tribesmen of the Cinderlands begin attacking all non-tribal travelers they encounter.  The Third Legion at Kaer Maga begin a campaign of "pacification" that degrades over the next several years into a low-intensity guerilla war.

-7 years

Funds and supplies for the Legions begin to dry up, sending the economy of Threshold into a nose-dive.  The town population begins to decrease for the first time in modern memory.

-5 years

A 12-year-old Mira arrives in Threshold, and is taken in by Iluna's mother at the brothel, where she befriends Iluna and Tula.

-3 years

Iluna's mother dies from a wasting disease, passing on ownership of the brothel to Tula's mother.

-3 years

The Sixth Legion at Kaer Isl goes un-supplied for a full year.  That winter, the Sixth Legion sack Woodwynd, destroying it completely.  To the South, Kaer Hashl closes the mountain path in protest.  Kaer Ahl and Kaer Ashtep soon follow suit.

-2 years

The Legions are officially disbanded, and the goblin and kobold slaves in Dread Kesh are exterminated.  Threshold releases its goblins into the wild.

-18 months

Trappers and woodsmen return to Threshold reporting that the fortress of Kaer Ashtep appears to be completely deserted.

-12 months

An adventuring band calling themselves "The Worthy Few" arrive in Threshold, claiming to have been sent by Dread Kesh in order to serve and protect the community.

-11 months

The Few have small adventuring successes against the local goblin population, and become local heroes.

-7 months

News arrives that the town of Tribute has been sacked, presumably by The Sixth out of Kaer Isl.

-6 months

The paladin Navik Tam is slain on an adventure, but quickly replaced by a feral druid named The Fenris. The mood of The Few grows dark.

-5 months

While adventuring, the cleric Hahm is slain.  Shortly after their return, the fighter Atath declares himself Lord of Threshold, and with the help of a group of fawining locals disbands the town council and militia, imprisons the councilors and priest-mayor, levees a "protectorate tax," and forms a new militia from amongst his hangers-on.

-3 days

The Few receive a letter from Dread Kesh.  Upon receipt, Atath flies into a rage and The Few argue amongst themselves. The next morning, they leave "in search of adventure."

Day 0

Goblins launch a retaliatory raid on Threshold, and our adventure begins

 

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