Current Affairs for Steam Age Arcanus Campaign

Yamazaki: When I run Steam Age Arcanus, this is how it starts...

How many years has it been? Five years now?

It's insane to think that this ridiculous war has continued for so long. I guess that's as good of a starting point for this story as any will be. To be honest, however, I don't know all the details. Just rumors and hearsay.

About 11 years ago, the previous Emperor of Tannish passed away. Most said it was from an illness, but the whispers said it was poison. So Emperor Basle III took the throne, the second son of Emperor Jacob. Basle was a cunning man, to say the least, and increased the power of the Inquisition within years of his rule. But things get messier after a few years. That's when the war started.

Peace is something that Tannish is not particularly familiar with, you see. Before the current war, we had only 17 years of peace since ending the war with the Barbarian Tribes to the Northwest. Basle took part of that war and proved himself an able general. Maybe that's why he started this war... But who knows? There's many rumors surrounding the Emperor, with few facts to back it up. Either way, Basle's family was entertaining some Altzan dignitaries one fine summer evening. The 'official story' goes like this - apparently, one of the dignitaries, a young elven man, fell for the eldest daughter of Basle. I'll admit, even I thought she was looker, so who can blame the man? But that's besides the point here. What happened, supposedly, is that this particular dignitary began a courtship of this wonderful daughter. This went on for a few months, and a few people were talking of an alliance in marriage, found in true love. Sounds awesome, right?

But then something happened. Something very bloody.

While the exact details are a mystery, we do know that this daughter was found dead with a knife in her chest in the young elf's room. The knife was identified as his. Witnesses had seen the young elven man the night before the murder, and he was found 2 days later on the way out of the country. A month later, Tannish had him executed and war was declared upon Altza. That was 5 years ago, to this day.

Sure, we can speculate what exactly happened, but that changes little. This war has been going strong, and a new push is being made this week. A convoy of airship just left for the forward camp of Wyrmfang just past the coast of Altza. And something more sinister is in the works as we speak, involving the Ancients and their legendary MysTek.

Thus begins our story...

Historical Lesson of Arcanus

[ excerpt from Isaac Forland's book: Mysteries of MysTek ]

There are a lot of origin stories of our world out there. Most say it was created by the gods. Not my realm of expertise nor the concern of this book. But what we need to cover is the Ancients.

They were a race of superior intelligence, magic, and technology. They created what is known as Mystical Technology, or MysTek – an amalgamation of magic and technology. The secrets of their creation have been lost to the ages, sadly. But we do know this – they are insanely powerful. One can blow away a target with ease with just a bit of magical power. Golems can be constructed in mere seconds. Wounds healed in an instant. Death can be prevented if applied correctly.

This is why everyone is interested in the Ancient Ruins. They hold the secrets of MysTek. Or at least the various Artifacts that were left behind by the Ancients.

So what happened to the Ancients? If they created such a great power, how did they disappear?

There are a handful of stories of what exactly happened, but nothing is certain. Many say the Gods punished them for their arrogance. I say they blew themselves up.

What we do know for certain is this – all of the mana (the stuff that magic is made of) was drawn from the Leylines (the near invisible paths of mana that cover the world) and focused on the southern polar cap. All this magic in one place caused the polar cap to melt insanely quickly and flooded the world. While the Ancients could deal with this disaster, they could not cope without the power of magic. With the Leylines drained of all their mana, there was no way to recharge the Ancients' mighty MysTek Artifacts. And the mana didn't return to the Leylines until 500 years ago...

You can imagine what happened after the Leylines were bled dry – War over what mana was left. This 50 year war is called the Mana Wars, and what was left after that was the dark age of magic and technology – the Age of Darkness. Eventually, this gave birth the the various races that make up the world today: the Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, and Beastmen.

During this thousand year dark age, the dragons made their move. They took over the world and quietly ruled over all. This was called the Age of Dragons. Towards the end of this age, the mighty Imperial Dragon appeared and forcefully rose to power. He took the Crimson Moon as his throne to rule over all from above.

At some point, the power of magic returned to the Leylines, quietly and subtly. Nobody knows exactly when everyone realized that magic had resurfaced... But we know it changed everything when that realization hit. Especially when they realized that MysTek Artifacts were usable again.

Eventually the races began to chafe under the rule of the Imperial Dragon. Heroes started to gather, armed with the power of magic and Mystek Artifacts. The First Emperor of Humanity and the Black Witch gathered an army, aided by the Lance of the Elves and the Anvil of the Dwarves. These heroes fought the Imperial Dragon until it was weakened. Some say it was slain, others say it was sealed within the Crimson Moon.

After the Great Dragon Wars, the Heroes went their separate ways and created the Nations and Factions we are familiar with today. The First Emperor of Humanity formed the Tannishian Empire and ruled well until he was slain by his former lover and general, the Black Witch. The Guardian Lance of the Elves still protects the Kingdom of Altza, her spear still striking true against the foes that threaten her homelands. The Anvil of the Dwarves forged the Dwarven Merchant Guilds and then vanished from the world. From the ashes of the dragon's servants rose two other factions – the Dragon Knights, sworn to protect the world from both the dragons and the darkness; and the Council of the Undying – a group of undead who quietly watch over the world and making subtle effects upon it.

Today, the search for the Truth of MysTek is one of the main goals of the Mage's Association. We seek the answers that nobody knows of the Ancients and of their Artifacts. We're also the only ones crazy enough to delve into these ruins that are full of traps and dangerous golems...

[/ exerpt from Isaac's book ]

Isaac Forland is the world's renowned archaeological expert in the field of the Ancient Ruins.  His knowledge would be second to very few.  He has written a handful of books on the topic, and continues exploring the Ruins of the Ancients to this day, and usually does it alone...

[It's about bloody time I added to the Arcanus campaign info...  I have more coming soon!  Again.]