Solstheim

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Solstheim is a city lying about a league to the north of Kura-Toa. It's name, meaning "Sun's Home" in old Erkanian, denotes the city's status as a central place of worship to the God of the sun, Pelor.

Geography

Layout

Solstheim is roughly 4 miles in diameter. At the center is a large castle-like complex which contains a defensive keep, sprawling gardens dotted with marble statues and ponds, a sumptuous manor hall, and a large and well-kept cemetary. Of course, at the center of it all is the immense Sanctuary of Pelor, virtually unrivaled in the granduer and scale of its design.

Lying around the castle is the city, which is typical for a medieval town. For about a mile around the city's out edges is farmland.

Landscape

The city is situated in a low-lying coastal valley. It is surrounded by lush forests filled with all sorts of creatures and game. Through the forests to the south is the road to Kura-Toa. The edge of the forest is here denoted by a sparkling lake with a great number of fish. Traditionally, ferries have brought people across this lake and back. To the north of the city, about 2 miles through the forest, is the ocean.

Climate

The weather in the general area is typical southern weather: hot and balmy. Due to its proximity to the ocean, however, Solstheim enjoys a continuous fresh breeze that pours through, keeping it pleasantly warm or cool, depending on the time of year. The weather is sunny a lot of the time, with heavy sub-tropical rain occuring about one in every ten days. Morning mist is very common.

History

All of this shining depiction of Solstheim, however, denotes how it once was, before the great catastrophe that leveled it and allowed evil to creep utterly into the land.

Founding

Thousands of years ago, the area inhabited by barbaric koa-toa and lizardfolk tribes. Humans came to the area during that time, drawn by the fair weather and fertile land. They decided to clear out and till a large area of forest in that region, using the timber to build a town. These people worshiped the sun, as was very common for humans to do in those days, and they named this sunny area Solstheim, after their God.

A missionary of Pelor, now known as St. Charle', also took it upon himself to bring his God to the "monstrous" races of the south. In the process he and his missionaries taught the koa-toa and lizardfolk crafts and trade. Teaching them technology helped civilize them, though it failed to bring any lasting reverence to Pelor. Nonetheless, the lizardfolk and koa-toa were now adept in a number of crafts, and although they were unable to live with the humans due to the cultural schism, they established their own town to the south, naming it "Kura-Toa", meaning "our town."

Trouble

Both towns grew into major cities side by side over the years. More and more people moved in, and the cultural and racial diversity of the two cities increased thuswise. With diversity of races also came diversity of morality, but unscrupulous tradesmen found it difficult to succeed in such a morally strong city holy city as Solstheim. They thus moved into Kura-Toa. The lizardfolk and koa-toa, without strong moral guidance, were very susceptible to the influences of anyone with a strong idea and the money and power to back it up. The city therefore became a hotplate of wicked dealings in the area, with Kura-Toa becoming known as the "city of evil and depravity" in other lands.

Over time a few centers of power in Kura-Toa sprang up. Clan wars ensued, and the Scarpoccini clan rose above the others. They have since held power on the trade in the city. The clergy of Hextor moved in and did much to establish order, but did little to help the human condition and spiritual suffering of the masses.

Those who hated Kura-Toa's inhumane atmposphere thankfully had a sanctuary only a few miles to the north.

Disaster

As evil crept into the land around Kura-Toa, so did this evil begin to influence the lands of Solstheim.

The forest, once a safe and lush place, began to be inhabited with all sorts of monsters, and it became a dangerous place. The people of the sun found themselves forced to pave the roads and place guards along them to ensure that attacks were minimalized. Foul weather came more easily, crops yielded less, strange stains formed on buildings, and people began to hang their heads more easily. Needless to say, the clergy of Pelor found their hands full, and were completely unprepared for what would come next.

One day, the bright and sunny sky was all at once blacked out by a sweeping shadow of cloud. Day had become blackest night. The night lasted for an entire week. People were sent fleeing to Kura-Toa, but those people were sent back by Hextorii, who firmly stated that Pelor's kind were not welcome in their city. The dejected people sat in their homes, terrified, while the clergy struggled to find out what was going on. Rangers were sent out to get information, but none returned from their mission.

Then the worst happened.

It started with people hearing strange sounds such as shrieks and horns coming from the woods. Most people evacuated their homes and went into the castle, whose gates were always open, to take sanctuary. Clerics and adepts were sent out to gather others. While they were out, "they" came.

An army emerged from the woods. This was not any regular army, though. It was an army of foul, unnatural fiends. The Undead. They gazed at the city with their hollow eyes and licked their razor-sharp teeth and claws in anticipation.

At the forefront of their numbers was being carried the standard of the skull and scythe. Pelor's enemy, the God of death, Nerull, had come in force.

Immediately, the clerics understood what was to happen. They gathered as many people as they could in a hurry and fled back to the castle. For the first time in the five-hundred years since its building, the gates were slammed shut and the drawbridges raised.

The undead swept through the city, killing all they could find and "converting" them to Nerull's faith. They reached the castle and surrounded it, their shrieking laughter floating over the walls and into the ears and hearts of those who lay huddled.

The terror of those inside overwhelmed them, making them incapable of action. Angela, the present leader of the Sanctuary, rallied those willing to fight and manned the battlements with them, telling them to fight to their last breath. If the battle breached the walls, she instructed them to flee to the cathedral, where the final standoff would take place.

Arrows did little to repel the undead hords from the walls, and they were soon breached and the gates opened. The main force rode in. At the front were seven powerful vampires. The two strongest of these was none other than the Baron von Zeitkonheim, dreaded vampire lord of the North, and his faithful brother, Phaerkadd. They effortlessly swept through the people who intended to give their last breath defending the castle. After cleansing the castle of life, they headed toward the final target: the Sancuary.

There they encountered resistance. In front of the shut doors of the Sanctuary were a small number of heavily armed warriors who halted and destroyed the first waves of undead killers. Even the elite vampire legions had great difficulty against them, and were defeated. Finally, the Baron himself rode in, wielding his massive scythe and cutting them all down.

But one warrior stood to unhorse the Baron. It was Angela. In her hands she clutched her mace, the dread of all Undead, and her grey eyes stared coldly at the Baron. The Baron smiled, accepted the challenge, and charged her.

Their battle was long and fierce. The ringing of their weapons echoed across the walls of the castle, and all trembled to behold them. Any who went in to assist the Baron were immediately slain by the light of the mace. Strangely, however, the Baron himself seemed to have some sort of protection, and he was more durable against it.

Finally Angela, bloodied, bruised, tired, and clearly outmatched, slumped down to her knees. The Baron gave a cruel laugh and walked up to her to take her head off. Then Angela looked up. The Baron realized his mistake: she had been praying.

Immediately, golden light poured through her and into her mace, which she raised over her head, her hands clenched around it. The Baron now felt an emotion alien to him: fear.

The mace was brought down with all her might, and it struck the Baron squarely in the chest. He was blown backward with a deafening roar, and he collapsed the ground, his skin smouldering and his eyes staring blankly into space.

Angela slumped in her armor, exhausted. The mace dropped from her hands and into the mud, where it sank out of sight from its own weight. Pharkaad, enraged, shouted a charge. The undead moved in, and showed her soon-dead body no mercy.

Needless, to say, the door to the cathedral was soon breached. Undead charged in, and killed the people inside. They desecrated the altar and considered themselves victorious, save for one figure who appeared on the windowsill. It was a large man, a smile on his face and a bottle of alchemist's fire in his hand. He yanked a rope, and the door to the cathedral slammed shut once again, locking the undead in. The man chuckled lightly as he threw the fire down toward the horde. Immediately, the entire cathedral was gouted with fire. Too late the undead realized that the entire building had been laced with incendiaries. Every single person in there burned to ashes, making their corpses unusable for undead creation.

Degredation

After the battle, the Baron was forced to go to rest to recover from his battle with Angela. His elite vampiric hordes, numbering in the hundreds, went to rest with him. While he was sleeping, a black dragon known as Maegar the Cruel showed up and made the now-ruined city his home. The undead were unable to do anything about it.

Saved

After several hundred years of rotting away, the city was at last freed by a group of heroes who slew the Baron, enabling the Church of Pelor to muster their forces and ride in on the backs of a crusade. Hopefully, the combined strength of the druids and Pelorites will restore the city to its former glory.