The World of Telvar

The Setting:
Lord Eldrin, Dunador, and Blackstone

The country of Dunador is an idealist communist society. In the early part of this age, a group of people within the Royal Empirial Confederation, or Realm, as it is often called, became dismayed by the problems that they saw in the world around them. The Realm was the largest of the countries in the world, and not without its problems. Theft, starvation, and plague left the average peasant farmer with little hope of living beyond the age of forty. The noble houses organized a set of exploration parties to look at the fringes of the Realm for an adequate place to start a new nation, one free of all of these ills. They settled on a vast forest inhabited by small native tribes of humans and gnolls. The human tribes called the area Petethal and seemed to put up little resistance to the idea of newcomers to the region. In the next few years eighty percent of the forest was cleared. A small region, densely inhabited by a group of isolationists called the rangers, was left untouched.

In the cleared area vast areas of farmland were established. Carefully planned stone bridges and highways were built spanning the country with a transportation network like none seen before. Lightly defended outposts were built to defend grain depots and a castle was started on the Dunthrane River. The model city was built with sewers, parks, and running water. Greenbelts preserved hunting areas while a 'belt line' gave rapid transit around the city and allowed easy travel between the noble houses' outposts. All hailed the city and fledgling nation as a spectacular success.

The peasants still make donations to the storage silos in their area according to a strict taxation system. These silos are used to feed the armies and serve as a reserve in times of famine. The success of this system is illustrated by the fact that no peasant has ever starved in the history of Dunador.

The province of Drake on the far west of the country has always served as a buffer between the Realm and the main of Dunador. The massive and beautiful granite castle at Whitestone served as a symbol of the strength of a willing peasant farmer army. Early in this century the brother of the king, Lord Eldrin leader of Drake, was on a particularly high hill in his province, left unfarmed because of its rocky soil. He noticed that the hill appeared to me made largely of low purity obsidian. He spoke to his architect about creating a castle out of the rock and was told that the stone could be easily turned into a vast castle appropriate to Eldrin's fighting prowess. It is of great note that at that moment the architect's assistant asked if it might be a better idea to carve a castle into the hill, rather than out of it. Eldrin immediately made his assistant architect the chief architect and made the former his apprentice!

The castle that was built is Blackstone. In sharp counterpoint to the high, white spires of Whitestone, Blackstone is a low, semi-gloss black dome. It has only one entrance in the more conventional forward attack platform. No army has ever dared to attack Blackstone. The castle is formed of one continuous piece of stone and this gives it a strength that conventional castles could never rival.

As the castle was constructed, Eldrin set out to replace his peasant troops with an army of the same quality of his castle. The result was an army of only two thousand troops, but an army that rivaled or surpassed hobgoblin forces of similar size. Three Dunadorian highways formed the border of the region where the hill was found. Lord Eldrin cleared the area and made it a training ground known today as the Delta. At the end of prospective soldiers' training they are thrown out onto the Delta in groups of ten. Each group is given enough food for two or three days and told to survive for a week. This requires the groups to somehow work together or fight each other to obtain the necessary food. Most groups survive the experience, some do not...

The connection between Drake and the rest of the country was only a mile wide. The narrow passage bordered tightly on a country, Cromwell, that was in danger of being conquered by the Realm. Eldrin feared that the Realm might ransom the country's continued existence on the condition that it cut off his supply lines. He opted for a preemptive strike. Sixty thousand Cromwellian citizens disappeared or died and the armies of Cromwell were routed. The border was relatively undefended since the leadership of Cromwell could not have guessed that an attack might come from a border that had long been peaceful.

Dunador had also been at peace with the vast country of the Realm. They were a legal, experimental nation that was to preserve basic Realmish laws and not interfere with the foreign affairs of the Realm. Dunador's last king, King Halfred shattered this peace in a series of social reforms that changed the law system of Dunador so that it broke basic Realmish law. King Halfred introduced the idea of "innocent until proven guilty" and made the law reflect the monkish philosophical idea of "all men are created equal". The Realm was outraged and troops immediately massed to take Dunador. The experiment was over, and proper law had to be restored. Unfortunately for the Realm, Lord Eldrin would not take the situation lying down.

Lord Eldrin moved to the north to confront the Realmish army. With only twenty-five hundred troops he confronted an army of fifty thousand. By using guerrilla tactics, destroying supply lines, and fighting in narrow areas where only a couple of thousand troops could come to bear, he destroyed a third of the Realmish army. Realmish morale plummeted and even more troops deserted and fled. Eldrin drove north into the Realmish province of Latt. He offered the local tribes self-government if they helped him fight. Five thousand mountain tribesmen joined Eldrin's side and helped him push the Realmish army back out of the mountainous country of Latt. The natives stopped at the pass at the north end of Latt, but Eldrin pushed on through the mountain pass that led to the Realm's major cities.

He was met by an army of twenty thousand at the north end of the pass. Eldrin requested an audience with the Realmish general at the center of the field. Eldrin took his sword and drew a line at the midpoint of the battlefield. He explained that he had no intent of pushing beyond his imaginary line and that he would stop as long as the Realm didn't dare cross Dunador's new northern border. The general immediately stepped across the line and snarled. Eldrin whipped out his sword and cut the general's head off. Needless to say, the fighting resumed. Without strong leadership and strongly demoralized, the Realmish army retreated, leaving Eldrin with control of the whole valley leading to the border city of Asteko. As a show of his control of the region he extended the Dunadorian highway system right up to the city gates. After he finished his building he moved his forces to the south end of the pass and declared that the pass was clearly no man's land. It goes by that name today.

Lord Eldrin blamed the chaos and loss of life on his brother Halfred's "unrealistic, moronic idealism." He declared Halfred the "nicest, but most incompetent ruler to ever see the throne." In the name of the good of the country, Eldrin tried to wrestle the throne from King Halfred. Yet, the King's generous social programs had put the local people clearly on his side. Eldrin's attempt failed because he was unwilling to turn his army against the local militias which stood in his way. There was no question of his ability to kill them, only an unwillingness to fight the citizens of his land. Territory and personal moneys were seized from Eldrin, who returned to Drake grumbling.

When King Halfred was killed in a hunting accident in 2152, Eldrin named himself regent despite protests from King Halfred's advisor Hollend. Accusations flew from both sides when Halfred's son, Prince Edmund, died at the hands of an assassin. Some onlookers assumed that the Realm was responsible and simply trying to start a civil war. When the dust settled, Eldrin was sent home, having lost a trial by combat. An obscure cousin of Halfred, a young girl named Valencia, was placed on the throne to be the Queen of Dunador until she married the man to be king. Law placed the regentship in the hands of Hollend, not Eldrin, and gave Hollend the right to approve or disapprove of any potential suitors. Hollend was effective king with the support of the noble houses who elect the king's advisor, and all was held in a delicate balance.

The Realm stands ever vigilant on Dunador's northern border. Its leadership respects and somewhat fears Lord Eldrin, but makes it clear that "adequate" attacks will resume when Eldrin has passed away of old age. Eldrin has no publicly known successor and few believe any will be able to match his tactical genius. The years pass, and Eldrin grows older...

Life in Eldrin's Army

You are a member of Eldrin's army. Life is difficult, but exciting, profitable, and gains you respect from people everywhere. Salaries are on the order of 100 GP per month for each level of experience you have, and this is sufficient to pay for training, equipment, and some left over for time off.

There are no ranks in the Drake army. The principle is: Ability creates its own respect. It is, however, possible to gain commendation stripes on the shoulder of your armor or tunic. Ten is a typical number for a professional army soldier late in his career, but it is said that half a dozen men have over fifty, and Eldrin's favorite squad leaders have almost eighty! Anyone can award a commendation stripe, but if it is not approved by Eldrin personally, you lose a stripe. This makes making a field commendation a dangerous thing, but it also insures that they are never awarded trivially. It is suggested that each squad of ten men pick a leader in case a snap decision must be made, but the emphasis is on each person always thinking and not requiring constant orders. With no ranks there is no real command structure. Orders come from Eldrin or they are merely suggestions from a fellow soldier.

Respect is also given to those who went through the training in the Delta. Contrary to popular opinion, only about four fifths of all soldiers go through the final training. Because of the low survival rates, exceptions are available for spell casters, scholars, sages, bards, and royalty. Despite the risks, many scholars, bards, and clerics attempt the training. It is popular amongst scholars to study fighting for five or six years before doing so. Characters gain a great deal of endurance from drilling, and this fact is indicated in the non-weapon proficiencies section of characters who have undergone such training. Death, dismemberment, and insanity are not uncommon during Drake "field exercises".

Although there is no command structure, there is some organization to the Drake army. Eldrin calls his squad "The Top Ten". It consists of himself, his bodyguard, his counter-assassins, his top wizard, and his personal physician. There are five units that serve as planning squads. Their job is to provide advice and information to Eldrin, and contain his diplomats, spies, logistics experts, and castellans. Anyone in the Top Ten and the leaders of the five planning squads are authorized to carry orders directly from Eldrin without written proof. Although other orders given by them are not binding, they are usually best heeded. Insubordination cannot exist where there are no clear ranks, but stupidity is well penalized. If one disobeys any of these people, they had better hope that their idea works. About fifty of the units are called support units and are a mix of stewards, craftsmen, clerics, physicians, smiths, engineers, and other workers required to maintain an army. Twenty of the units are designed specifically to patrol the highways of Drake, Latt, and Grenthorn. These units are fast, mobile, and often mounted. The bulk of the squads are combat units designed to inflict as much damage to the enemy as possible, with little concern for anything else. Very heavy armor is the rule, but not an unbroken one. A final handful of squads are so-called specialty squads. These groups are primarily people who were largely trained before they asked to join the army, and undergo a much briefer training process.

DRAKE ARMY COMPOSITION:

SQUAD TYPE NUMBER .
The Top Ten 1
Planning Squads 5
Specialty Units 11
Patrol Units 20
Support Units 50
Combat Units 123
TOTAL: 210

Blackstone

Blackstone consists of a conventional castle linked to a huge geodesic dome. The walls are said to be over twenty feet thick and impervious to conventional attacks. Thin ducts, magically drilled, riddle the walls bringing ventilation and warmth from a volcanic duct deep beneath the castle. Rooms are comfortable and large because there are only two hundred ten squads in the entire Drake army. Although little of the army is ever at the castle, there is enough room and rations to comfortable house the entire army in times of emergency. Every squad has its own room, even if they never see it. With less than twenty squads at home at any given time there is an excess of unused space. Vast empty hallways and mazes of unused living quarters riddle the castle. It is possible to go for long walks and not see a soul. There are a few guardrooms, but not many since the concept of Blackstone being attacked by surprise seems unmentionable. All possibilities that have been considered break international conventions of war limiting the use of magic Since the penalty for breaking these rules is so vast, Blackstone sits quiet and safe even when chaos has reigned right on its doorstep.

The castle is built around a central stack of rooms connected by wide ramps. This is the core of Blackstone. The main floor level of the core is designed to serve as the command center in case the castle is ever assaulted. Bells hang from a domed roof far overhead and serve as the castle communications. They also give the time of day in the windowless fortress. The main level is dominated with rooms and common areas for combat troops. This places them close to the entrance to fend off any assault that pierced the main gates.

Immediately above is the gallery level. The gallery level is largely one open room, but is surrounded by smaller rooms. These include quarters for combat troops and patrol units, the main dining hall, and the main fighter training facility. A wide hole in the floor looks down to the main floor. This hole continues up to the balcony level and the bell dome above. A single small door connects the gallery level of the main dome with the outer fortress.

The uppermost levels of Blackstone contain a mix of storage rooms, a nice theater, two chapels, a gym, a common room, a jogging track, and a scattering of storerooms. A single shaft leads up to the top of the dome, where a pentagonal watch tower is located. The job is dreaded by the troops since the tower top is one hundred fifty feet above the ground. That 's a lot of stairs and rungs...

The first level below the main is the basement. A large amount of the basement is taken up by support squads, their workshops, and their immediate storage. The eastern half of the floor is almost entirely separated from the rest, and is the war planning office. The quarters for the Top Ten and the five planning squads are located there. Few troops ever see this section of the level.

The next level down is the dungeon. Despite its name, prisoners are not kept on the level. The center of the dungeon contains the stables and the wizardry lab, while the rest of the level is filled with support squads, workshops, and storage. A single sinkhole shaft with a basket elevator leads hundreds of feet down to the Drake province prison below. There is also an entrance to the castle crypts which are located underneath the outer fortress and reach deep into the earth.

The Drake province prison is located in lava caves far beneath Blackstone. The prison is not overseen by humans, but by a small tribe of hobgoblins. They are under orders to obey only the orders of Lord Eldrin. The same international conventions that limit the use of magic, set standards for the treatment of prisoners. The hobgoblins' contract requires them to treat the prisoners within these conventions. The prison contains almost one hundred convicts and a like number of prisoners of war. There are rumors that Eldrin has a state meeting hall located in the lava caves. Hundreds of feet of volcanic rock would screen any scrying and most teleport attempts.

If one were to search for a simple description of Blackstone it would be: "A vast, empty, invincible shelter for Eldrin's troops in times of desperation, and a secure location for planning, support, and storage."
--All of the above from the Dungeon Master, Edwin Brooks Anderson, Jr.

---

The AdventureAt the castle Blackstone, from where Eldrin ruled, Eldrin and some of his Top Ten had assembled, to meet with a hero from the nearby Realm who was on a diplomatic mission.

His physician Zing [played by David Thomas Chappell] and another member of the Top Ten (his anti-assassin/bodyguard) were with Eldrin when chaos broke out.

When the hero, Wolfram, from the nearest section of the Realm came into his presence, Eldrin believed that the fortress was being invaded and did not realize that the one-eyed hero was there to negotiate. Thus, he pulled the alarm bells that set everything into motion. Immediately, the exits to the fortress began to close quickly (many guards had to choose to either seal themselves in or to remain outside the action) and a self-destruct mechanism was put into place.

Zing and others believed that Eldrin had gone crazy in that moment and, after a brief fight, tied him up for his own protection. However, the other seven members of the Top Ten, under the mage Wizban, were holding a meeting during this time, and when Zing and the others overheard their planning, the three realized a plot was underway. The seven attacked Zing, the bodyguard, and the Realmish hero, who retreated. While this occurred, the seven captured Eldrin, and cut off his head with his own vorpal sword, bringing the General's life to a sudden end.

The other squads of Eldrin's men in the fortress eventually found the seven and managed to kill all but Wizban, and also disarmed the self-destruct and released a number of Cromwellian prisoners in a slave camp.

The events at Blackstone were described in Gramaliustranstalus' "Telvar Gazette #2" [written by David Thomas Chappell]:

Chaos at Blackstone

The civil war in the Realm prompted Wolfram, a major hero of the Realm, to venture to the New World. He went to Lord Eldrin’s capital at Blackstone, where he hoped to warn the famous general and appeal for help. When Wolfram arrived in Eldrin's office on 27 April 2166, however, all chaos broke loose.

In an interview afterward, Zing, Eldrin's personal physician and member of the Top Ten, certified that Eldrin had gone insane at the beginning of the chaos. After accusing Wolfram of working with the Realm, Eldrin said the invasion was finally coming, and he pulled the cord for the fortress’ emergency bells, which sealed Blackstone from the outside world. One of the survivors later summed up the events: “When the bells rang, none of us knew what to do.”

Most of the Top Ten (Eldrin's top squad), under the leadership of the mage Wizban, killed Eldrin and several other squads. A few squads trapped in the castle survived and tried to investigate the happenings. Wizban and the assassins of the Top Ten tried to kill the other Top Ten members, and all surviving troops investigated the castle in an effort to stop the gas that would eventually explode Blackstone.

Eventually the faithful troops found each other and killed the evil schemers. They found the gas valve and reversed it only minutes before it would have exploded. Others had found a huge underground slave camp of Cromwellians. The slaves were set free, and they ravaged the Dunadorian countryside over the next few weeks as they ran home. Wizban teleported away from Blackstone just before it was saved, and he left while proclaiming his loyalty to a group of magocracy-oriented wizards [Ed: presumably the Order of Calistro]. All the troops who saved the castle were proclaimed heroes, and Berkeley, Wolfram, and Gor deserved special praise.

On 7 October 2166, Lord Eldrin was declared dead, and Drake declared its independence from Dunador.

On of Eldrin's guards [played by Ashley Merritt] had this to say about the events at Blackstone:

I can't shed a whole lot of light on the whole Chaos at Blackstone deal as I spent almost the whole [time] running down the tower to the basement to avoid being killed. I didn't get to do anything substantive until the very end. Anyway, I was one of Lord Eldrin's castle guards and started on the roof of the tower. The defense mechanism suddenly activated and we had barely enough time to jump down through the hatch into the castle.

After that my group ran and ran and ran to beat the clock and avoid being killed. I can't remember if it was an imminent explosion or poison gas we were fleeing, but flee we did. I discovered later that an assassin had gained entry to the place and assassinated Lord Eldrin of Drake (our boss). We finally made it to the bottom with a bunch of folks who didn't really know what was going on either, except a few of them actually did know the circumstances around the death (which I don't recall).

We did run into Eldrin's counter-assassins and a bunch of people whose presense there was unexplained. We haggled with the hobgoblins in the caverns under the tower to let us out which they weren't inclined to do as it was not in their contract with Eldrin. Somehow a [monk among us] got to the mechanism that could stop the explosion or whatever and this monk turned some kind of wheel or lever to stop it (he was killed in the process). So the day was saved. I think Chaos was an appropriate moniker as I am not sure anyone really knew what was really going on.

Keith Nelson added:

I was in a group of guards at the top of the fortress, on watch, when the bell went off and the castle was sealed. Several of my team were trapped outside. We couldn't reopen the door. We immediately noticed gas and realized there was too much to ignite it safely to burn it off instead of allowing it to accumulate to an explosive level. The members in my party were Berkley, Drew, Slim, Bolvis (cleric), Lob, Kal, and Billy. We began descending through the fortress. At the main level, we found the drawbridge closed, and that the squad had abandoned their post and run across. At the basement, we found the top 10 area closed off. We got some pipeworking equipment from the common shop, ropes and a drill. In the dungeon, we found two soldiers in the lab, and got some acid to try to burn the roof open. We sent the soldiers upstairs with the acid and drill to try to open the door. We went down to the crypt and descended four levels, found a secret door in the crypt, and sent the druid, ranger, and Bolvis down with a continual light coin and a whistle. We found an elevator on the dungeon level, got one week of iron rations, barred the doors, and descended.

Apparently we encountered some hobgoblins. They wouldn't let us out (of what, I can't remember) to adjust the gas valves and made us leave. We returned, checked for tracks at the secret door, and then answered a knock at the door! Cackle, the lowest of the top 10, came in, sent Kal and Tab back to the upper levels, and we set up the room again, re-locking the secret door. Cackle checked the door and tripped the one-way fall. Bolvis then cast Command to Raise the door, then used Hold Person on Cackle. We cranked the elevator back up, stripped, bound, and gagged Cackle, then made our way to a guard room where we met Palk (political science/fighter), Delton (paladin), and two clerics. My notes end here. From memory, we made our way to the bottom and someone eventually shut the gas off just in time. We also discovered a huge underground area where slaves were being kept - Cromwellian citizens. One of the master thieves of Cromwell, and a personal friend of King Ranore, brought the day to a close and promised to free the people.

Known Cast (there are many unknown):

Zing, the personal physician of Eldrin, played by David Thomas Chappell

Slim, a castle guard, played by Ashley Merritt

Castle guard, played by Chris Allen

Castle guard, played by Keith Nelson

Other known attendees: Edwin Anderson, Andrew Anderson, Spencer Wallace, Ken Wright, Marilyn Doss, Steve Barbe, Jewel Barbe, Rodger Henson, Alan and Rhonda Jones (before she was a Jones!), Jay Bates.

This summary was edited from the submissions of David T. Chappell, Ashley Merritt, and Keith Nelson.

Kyle=

Expected Attendees:
Andrew Anderson
Keith Nelson
Spencer
Ken Wright - "Ken" (his own character)
Marilyn B
Steve B
Jewel B
David Chappell
David Ahn
David Ridout
David Keen
David Neal - Wolfram
David Jones
Justin Harris
Rodger Henson - "Kal"
Brian Y
Brian Ridell
Alan Jones
Chris Allen
Joey P
Karl C
Genie B
Rick
Shane D
John J
John B
Ashley Merritt
Sean Paus
Pat P
Ahn N
Jay Bates
Craig Nelson
Matt M
Robert T
Mike D
Calvin
Clint C
Max M
Todd H
Davis S

Groups:
Combat Unit - Berkley, Slim, Lob, Drew, Bolvis, Billy, Lit, Nan, Todd, Farn
Planning Squad - Syber, Cramyr, Palk, Jance, Kal, Arr, Man, (plus three on assignment)
Top Ten - Zing, Gor
?? - Christopher,
Surgical Squad - Ken, Tab, Toby, (Tince wasn't actually played)
Religious Squad - Ferris, Marty, Rin, Dalton, Vocard Liles (druid), Ralph (druid)