The World of Telvar

Status of Sark
The nation of Sark is now effectively a World Empire colony. Their supply lines have been cut off (see The Telvar Gazette, No. 2), and the remaining troops are essentially stranded in Sark.

The armies of Sark contain many types of troops, including humans, orcs, hobgoblins, giant spiders, fomorian giants, and even dragons. The dragons in Sark are strong, dumb beasts bred for war by the World Empire.

Despite the presence of these horrible forces, Sark is not an unsafe nation. While travelers who appear to be rich or powerful may be assaulted, common folk are generally not molested.

Realmish Civil War
In December 2167, the Drake Army assisted the citizens of the Realmish State of Wunka in defeating the military forces. The Drake Army was crushed at the capital city of Wunka, but they accomplished their mission. It is commonly believed that Cromwell hired the Drake Army to perform this mission.

The dispute had been expected to conclude by 2168, but the war continues in the Realm in 2169. The civilian forces (considered by many to be the “good guys”) are winning the civil war. The Realm was first expected to be in turmoil for many years—through 2175—but the war should conclude in 2168. The current leader of people is expected to become the new emperor when the war concludes.

According to current plans, elections will be held in the Realmish State of Wunka around 2175. It is believed that elections are being held in all sections of the Realm. In each section, elections for emperor will be held. The emperors will reconvene the council and elect the High Emperor of the Realm. The current High Emperor already has enough votes prepared to be elected to his current post.

The Realm is ending many expansionist moves to stabilize in light of these events.

Kilroy & the Codex
The Kilroy Party used the Codex of Constructs to destroy the town of Riverneck and the Far World troops there. They also rescued the compass-maker and destroyed two of the World Empire’s cloaking ships. They then took the remains of their enemy’s camp fortifications and built a Nevronian church at a village east of Riverneck that had been sacked by World Empire forces.

The High Emperor of the Realm wrote to offer a deal to Kilroy. His Imperial Majesty said that if Kilroy’s party abused the powers of the Codex of Constructs, the Realm would use their Codex of Illusions against them. In addition, a high-ranking priest in the Church of Nevron sent Kilroy a letter asking them to use it only for good.

Kilroy was last seen headed to Koralgesh in 2166 with a 20-person high-level force after them from the Far World.

Restoration of the Trees
In the winter of early 2168, trees suddenly started growing throughout the New World. Areas of dead trees in Petethal (including those areas killed by the tree-bane) began to regrow, but more importantly, trees started to grow throughout the previously-cleared lands such as Dunador. All farmland in the New World is now covered with young trees.

Within one week, the new trees grew into 14-foot saplings. For the next 10 years, they are expected to grow at an accelerated rate. It does, however, appear that the trees could be cleared where desired without too much difficulty since the trees are young and weak.

On each new tree, there is a small but visible symbol of a god of chaos. The origin of this symbol is the subject of much scholarly debate.

Post-War Politics
The nation of Cromwell expanded by 25 June 2167 to its original borders. Cromwell also had a clear opportunity to conquer Drake and Latt. King Ranore got his capital province back (Grenthorn), and the Dunadorians who had settled in the captured part of Cromwell were offered land holdings in the new area if they moved, so the original Cromwellians who were released after the Chaos at Blackstone could have their lands back.

Secton, Trent, and Dunthrane are all that is left of Dunador. These three provinces are now being called “Old Dunador.” Andevar now acts like it is its own country, and Drake has declared independence.

The Sarkian government-in-exile has representatives at Koralgesh. It is currently trying to gather money to raise armies to reconquer Sark.

Following the deaths of the grey elves, Wicker does not want to run Petethal; no one does now. However, an expedition sent to the Far World is seeking Sir Topaz, the last known grey elf, to ask him to return to govern Petethal (see “Return to the Far World” below).

Baron Trellman is somewhat allied with Dunador.

The World Empire is now without a leader, and its supply lines have been stopped. Thus, it seems that the war is over for the most part. The remaining World Empire troops have turned into pirates.

The Democratic Revolution entirely disappeared in the winter of 2168-69. Their headquarters in A-2 appears to have been abandoned.

Koralgesh
Koralgesh is officially a city-state protectorate of Cromwell, and King Plin is King Ranore’s vassal. Cromwell currently plans to build a road to Koralgesh, but they are undecided on the best route.

Koralgesh has a troll and giants prisoner from Leinstadter. Roam was cleared, and they are working on Leinstadter.

They found a tribe of 2,000 goblins on an island near Gesh, but they were too far from the sailing lanes to be pirates. Adventurers are still clearing Leinstadter.

The city of Koralgesh exploded in 2168, caused by something about trying to play with Realmish mining blasting charges. Only interior walls and floors were destroyed, and they will rebuild without difficulty.

Around 2168-69, Seraphandor, a Dunadorian hero and former leader of Gramaliustranstalus’ adventuring group, retired at Koralgesh. He now trains fighters.

They are now having problems with spell-casting dwarves who were cursed so as to be beardless. In 2169, they mounted an attack on the dwarves. They invested a lot of money in preparation, especially in magic spells. They used a heroes’ feast spell and find the path to locate the dwarves’ living quarters. Unluckily, the living quarters were quite spread out. Nonetheless, with the help of Dunstill & Illic, the forces of Koralgesh killed over half of the dwarves, and the survivors fled into the many miles of tunnels. Dunstill & Illic took a fraction of the profits from the expedition, and Koralgesh made about 30,000 gp net profit. As of June 2169, they are planning a second expedition to wipe out the rest of the dwarves. The main goal of the expeditions is to gain control of the mines.

Randall Brightoak, the bard of Koralgesh, is now a burglar-acrobat. He has enough experience to enter the bardic colleges, but he does not have enough information to write his thesis on the city-states of Gesh. If he does not find enough information in the next several years, Randall plans to switch thesis topics.

News from Cromwell
A group of adventurers in the Academy’s employ has had good success lately in recovering magic items for Cromwell. They have entered a kobold lair, met a live imp, done investigative work, and fought a transdimensional demon.

Rono-ke and Liber-sniz were captured on 3 February 2166 when the Cromwellians were cleaning out the Kasil vault. Rono-ke is the Realmish Shock Trooper who nearly killed Konrad at the vault years before. He is of higher rank now (Type IV or higher). Liber-sniz is a magic-user thug. King Ranore held him in his dungeon for a while but released him to foster good relations with the Realm in the future.

Southern Waste News
Duke Konrad had to release about 40 Sarkian mercenaries after returning with the Oracle Spheres; they all opted to go back to Sark.

Dr. Montana Platt has retired to the Temple of the Eye for further archaeological research. Shanshadow, a Dunadorian hero and former adventuring companion of Gramaliustranstalus, later began research there as well.

Quickdanthalus, a Drake soldier and adventurer and former companion of Gramaliustanstalus, was killed by a sand worm in the Southern Waste.

The werewolves and the will-o’-the-wisp were taken care of by Halt’s party. Phargus now has the pipes of the air that Glach had.

The people that showed up around Sleepy Hollow are all from Southern Dunador, now all Duke Konrad has to do is find a safe way to get people down to the Forest. If he can put an irrigation ditch all the way down the path to the forest, Konrad can get people there with no problem (multi-year task, and he has to find a water source, but it seems that sandworms do not like water very much.). Konrad also hopes to borrow a very nice decanter of endless water from King Plin to help with irrigation. Thalbers had a government of nine people: he was in charge (LE fighter) and had eight thugs (evil, suspected fighters, thieves, and assassins) who do not seem to get along with Duke Konrad.

The cathedral is almost finished, and Sleepy Hollow is being rebuilt along the lines of the original human settlement there. The Duke is trying to get a Blue Star Inn in town soon. All the gnoll traps have been removed, and the area is being converted to farm land, which is why there is a population now.

Duke Konrad estimates that he can move about twelve people a month down to the forest until he gets a safe method of travel or has the formorians at the end of the tunnel removed. He may need to get an outpost started there soon and try to get the area irrigated and farmable.

Return to the Far World
Lorm, the High Priest of Aurora, led a group of adventurers from Koralgesh to the Far World in 2168. As of 2169, they had arrived, traveled, and were making plans stay in the Far World for at least three years before returning home. Joshua is the bard traveling with the party.

The group used criminals from Dunadorian death row as rowers on the ship. The Dunadorian government paid them to take the criminals off their hands, and with the money, the heroes purchased a goblin galley for the trip.

In general, they found that most of the Far World has lost interest in the war. Some new forces have joined the Freedom Fighters, but the World Empire forces are not as belligerent as in the past. The hill dwarves want to have nothing to do with anyone else, and it seems most folks are just tired of the situation.

The group also found Sir Topaz and convinced him to return to the New World to govern Petethal.

Heroes in Sark
A group of adventurers (former companions of Gramaliustranstalus) traded the mage scroll from the Dilman Estate to Wicker in exchange for lots of magic treasure (hand crossbow +3, elven cloak & boots). In mid-2169, they made plans to go to Sark to clean up the mess there.

Two groups of heroes, most of whom were former companions of Gramaliustranstalus, went to Sark to help fight the remaining World Empire forces. The political group is now safe with Baron Trellman.

The scout group traveled deep into Sark when they encountered a group of fomorian giants, hobgoblins, and a mage. They killed all but one of the enemies, and then they learned that they were only an hour from Runk. The enemy forces knew they were coming and had been told that they were pillaging all of Sark.

A green dragon then attacked the scout group and killed all but one of them. Fred and John were raised at Fontenmere. After a speak with dead spell, Memphis asked them to trade his magic amulet to the druids for reincarnation. Memphis was reincarnated as a centaur; he has taken on a new name and identity and now dwells with other centaurs in Petethal and Trent. Braol was reincarnated as a bear, and he lives with the druids.

Assorted Other Notes
Dunstill & Illic are believed to currently be in Posidonis. They fought in the war.

There is a quest to save a kingdom like Dunador within the Old World.

Recently, a book was discovered on how to be a good kraken, and gives instructions on innate abilities and how to discover them. It gives hints on psionic abilities that are usable by humans. Other parts of the book indirectly reveal ancient history from before the Brink of Time.

For years, there has been a Tuggutten assassin in Blackstone in Eldrin’s army

In spring of 2169, King Ranore of Cromwell and Duke Konrad of Estwurl (the two most powerful paladins in the New World) quested for their warhorses. They journeyed across Cromwell to a desert in the Realmish State of Wunka. There, they found pegasi sent by Nevron to serve as their steeds.

No one is claiming responsibility over Blackstone and Drake, but since anarchy has not set in, someone must be running the place. It appears to be a council.

Current Status
Peace has returned to the land. The warring has abated, though invading armies still control Sark.

--Gramaliustranstalus

For more information on many of the countries, places, and individuals mentioned herein, consult The Telvar Gazetteer, a reference work available through the Kingdom of Koralgesh.

Copyright © 1994 David Thomas Chappell. All Rights Reserved. Printed in U.S.A.
Used here by permission of David Thomas Chappell.