DMs Notes - Chapter One

Ongoing Games » Xorvintaal - The Jaxtasha Years » DMs Notes - Chapter One

Part One: Getting To Skyborne

The players entered the land of Skyborne, each with their own reasons for seeking out Jaxtasha, and just in time...

As the dawn broke on a new day they made their way through the streets of Skyborne each separate but destined to meet at the foot of the Skyborne monastery. The town was still smouldering from the fires which raged not hours before.

As they walked through the streets they noticed that the outer parts of the town, which they guessed were no more than cloth and twig shanties had been completely destroyed. They walked for about half an hour but could see that the further they walked into the town the more it was built ready to withstand attack.

As they walked the houses were no longer just piles of ash. Although they were still uninhabitable their wooden constructions were able to withstand more of the attack. A brief look around gave them clues to the district being mainly the common folk of the land. Houses that still stood were single story, constructed of wood and had humble land if any surrounding them.

They walked for nearly another hour before the scenes changed again; they could see more houses in the skyline as they entered into what they perceived as the wealthier areas of the town. Stone buildings two stories high which on the whole still resembled buildings, although many had walls crumbling, roofs ripped off and scorch marks covering most of them.

They walked for two hours before reaching a fortification. The wall surrounded the city on the eastern side. Although sections of the wall remained intact there were huge gaps where the walls had been breached. There are areas where the stone appeared to have been ripped apart leaving gigantic rends through the stonework. In other places the stone work was scorched where huge fires had ripped through. Further round it looked as though vast legions had just walked through the defences of the town. There were guards frantically trying to put out fires, secure falling buildings and clerics seeking out the wounded but none really paid any attention to a lone person walking among the destruction.

People they passed were frantically moving through the streets to put out the remaining fires, or check on relatives and friends, or sat incredibly still, in shock at the state they found themselves in. As they made their way through, people stared at them with a mix of fear, resentment and suspicion. Children pointed at them from the protection of their mother’s leg until those same mothers scolded their children for drawing their attention to them. Even in the dirty, worn, clothes they had travelled in they stand out as being different. But heroes often do...

As they passed through the remains of the fortification they were presented with an horrific beauty. They could see the impressive temples of many religions, towers, libraries and other important buildings which were still licked in flames. The once impressive architecture underneath still visible through the smoke and flames. This was obviously the seat of the battle. Whatever attacked was concentrating on here and left very little intact. It looks as though some colossal creature had turned the city inside out looking for something and had burned and broken anything in its way. People were leaving in their droves, refugees heading to either Riverbyn, Harborough, or Mord.

As they continued to walk they reached the very edge of the demolition where they were confronted with a sea of scorched and flattened earth. What was once the fields that supplied the monastery with food were torched beyond salvage. They all descended on the field at much the same time and walking towards each of them was a tall but portly human male; dressed in purple robes with gold trims he was leaning heavily on a walking stick and laden down with bags and potions. His robes were blackened and torn. His face covered in blood and dirt, lines showed his age and yet he seemed cheerful.

“Good Morning travellers, Brother Ellannan is expecting you. Follow the path up to the Baixa Mosteiro. Brother Noraver will greet you. I must wait for the others and help those I can.”