Drakonheart

A legend from Polemos, set in the Age of Visitation.

It was at the height of Qhashdean summer, when the flowering Romalian wheat had bloomed, that the cruel serpent descended upon the land. Over nine hundred years he slumbered in unending night under the sea, scheming vengeance for his defeat during the Great War. As the centuries flowed all had forgotten his countenance; overlooked the grim omens that foretold his return. But as Qhashdea was plunged suddenly into a bane and bloody winter, terror and pestilence spread to the nations as fast as a horse could ride. Soon every mouth recalled the name of their looming anguish - Wyrm of Ages, Fallen Star of Woe, Death-Bringer, Lord of Locusts, King of Dragons - Apollyon The Destroyer.

For many days the dragon raged, laying low the mountains and gathering lesser dragons and their dragon-men to him. Abandoned by all his allies and knights, the King of Qhashdea rode out alone to end the rampage. The king's name was Nedafulasi, and though he ruled as a Qhashdean he was born in Dythos, of an ancient royal line. He wrestled with the beast, suffering many grievous wounds, but for the sake of his only daughter he would not relent. When he could fight no more, the gods were so moved that they sent a miracle. In a vision Nedafulasi spoke to his ancestor Arthenia - legendary Queen of Liberty who had tamed the dragons of Agothos. She taught him the power of his bloodline. With it he commanded Apollyon to cease his destruction, and the serpent became as loyal as a pup.

And thus, by King Nedafulasi's great love, peace was returned to Qhashdea, or so the people had wished.

In Drakonheart you'll play as a dragonslayer on a quest of redemption to defeat Apollyon the Destroyer. The story has two main facets - the heroic epic of a war against dragons, and the intimate and personal journey of the dragonslayers themselves.

Dragonslayer is not a formal title - they are merely those skilled enough (or lucky enough) to have killed dragons. At the beginning of the story you will be given a broad and practical pretext to need to kill dragons, but as the story progresses more personal motivations will need to come into play. The exact motivation and method for fighting the dragons will be up to you, but the story explicitly does not support joining the dragons outright.

Regardless of motivation and methods, the battles with the dragons will be the background for personal growth and a redemption arc for the dragonslayers. Thus, each character should have a fatal flaw, or otherwise some reason for a redemption arc in the first place. How willing and open the character is to redemption will be up to you, and the story does not depend on the characters overcoming their flaws by the end, only that they try to improve at some point or another. The story explicitly does not support sliding into complete villainy.

Prior to the story Nedafulasi, King of Qhashdea, has amassed control of several dragons and their armies of dragoons through some mysterious power. Since then he has quickly conquered a vast amount of territory - some believe he may be the one to finally restore the long shattered Romalian Empire, but many of the major warlords still oppose his rule. In Nedafulasi's homeland, the colonies of Dythos, some fear he will make himself into a god-king, and even bring about a new Great War if he continues to use magic to command dragons for personal gain. Though often rebellious towards the mainland in Agothos, the colonies have sought protection from the republic, a call that has been accepted in principle but slow to materialize. Others in Dythos believe he is the reincarnation of Arthenia, and that he can bring about a golden age by uniting Agothos and Romalia into an empire larger than the world has ever known.

About three months ago, news reached the shores of Polus that King Nedafulasi's cherished daughter Helena had been kidnapped, and that he accused the oligarchs of Agothos of the act. Word has spread that cities in Dythos have been attacked by dragon armies, and that at least one army was dispatched across the sea. Rumors of this fleet multiply, with reports of black ships somehow seen heading toward every port and river.

You find yourself in one of these port cities, Euthophor. How you came to the city is up to you.

Though it is a major port for Physia, it is well south of the danger posed by the dragon fleet, who are far likelier to attack Kalolimethos on their way to punish the Senate at Agolos City. Still, dragon panic seizes the populous of Euthophor. To soothe the riotous fishermen raving about dark sails on horizon, Basil Menalosik, Kentarch of the town militia, has conscripted every able hand to defend the city from the phantoms dragons sighted in every dark alley, and to keep order until the fear passes. Whether by choice or force, you have been caught up in Basil's recruitment drive and have joined the Euthophor militia.

When creating your character, please keep the following guidelines in mind to avoid clashing with the themes and tone of the story. If you'd like more details or would like to propose an exception to these rules please see the GM.

Allowed races include:

• Human
• Shapeshifter
• Dragoon
  • Spirit link aspect (e.x. Drakuncion) will be overridden during the course of the story.
  • Motivations should ensure it is possible for the character to oppose dragons as the story progresses.
• Anthegal
  • Stained Nephilim only, though will likely flip to Pure Nephilim at some point.
• Agkelos
  • Sek-Agkelos only
  • Will not be given special insight into any big spiritual questions raised in the story. Background should ensure that no special insight is expected.

• Crafting
  • No permanent or long-term 'base' with crafting facilities will be available. However, it will be possible to spend time at a number of more temporary bases during the journey.
  • The story includes frequent sections of wilderness travel and small communities where crafting facilities will be rare.
  • Campaign-level 'ticking clocks' are on pre-modern timescales. For example, you may not miss any action while wintering at a town, but there could be consequences if you spend a month crafting instead of keeping up with an army on campaign.
  • The story has an action focus, so characters who focus on a trade over combat ability will be difficult, but not impossible, to play.
• Magi
  • No corruption authority.
  • Curse power source (imprecation skill) isn't banned, but could be difficult to justify using later in the story depending on the path the party takes.
  • Holy authority and divine power source will become an option later in the story, but will require character alignment with the goals of the spiritual quest-givers, and will be an appropriately balanced reward with other characters.
  • Spiritual power source (conjuring skill) and summoning arts might cause story conflicts depending on the spirits used, but broadly will be fine as long as 'evil' spirits are avoided.

The events of the campaign will be the most important of your character's life, not the basis of future adventures. Your character may well sacrifice their lives for some Greater Good, particularly at the climax. If the character does have an epilogue, it will be one of obscurity or rest. In other words, the campaign is the culmination of the character, not a stepping stone to greater achievements.

Each player character will have a fatal flaw that replaces or enhances a [corruption] affliction the character would normally have. The fatal flaw is a vice, personality fault, dark past, or some other flaw that defines the character and would normally prevent them from going on a traditional hero's story arc. Work with the GM closely on this flaw as it will be incorporated into the narrative.

Use the following questions to flesh our your character's fatal flaw:

• How does the fatal flaw manifest in the character's life?
• How do people normally discover the character has this flaw - How do people usually react?
• What prevents the character from overcoming the flaw? In general the more impossible the flaw is to resist, the better impact it'll have on the story.
• Optional: What rationalization(s) would the character use, if any, if someone were to criticize him/her about it.
• Optional: Does the fatal flaw have a source or root cause?
• Optional: What has been the hardest moment or most desperate time in the character's life, and how did the fatal flaw contribute to or worsen the situation?
• Optional: Does the fatal flaw prevent the character from achieving things, or has it helped them achieve success but somehow had a terrible price in exchange?
• Important: Who has the fatal flaw hurt? How has it helped shape their past?

Your character's fatal flaw should, however, avoid the following:

• Avoid true psychopathy/sociopathy, or other extreme flaws that would completely prevent the character from functioning in a group-oriented role-playing game. Put another way, avoid flaws that will force the party to abandon you.
• Try to keep any depictions of the fatal flaw to the equivalent of about an R-rating. Your character could have done truly evil things, but the group won't need lurid or traumatizing details.
• Avoid flaws that are born solely out of ignorance or prejudice. It shouldn't be a flaw that someone can simply talk your character out of. In other words, it should be harder to overcome the flaw than being told “don't be bad guy.”
• Avoid flaws that have no effect without secret knowledge. For example, a character might have negligently allowed a sibling to drown in childhood, but without some manifestation like a fear of rivers it's pretty hard for their flaw to have any impact on anything. So “fratricide” is workable as a fatal flaw, but needs to be deeper than simply not wanting a past mistake to be uncovered.
• Your character should have at least a little culpability in the flaw, even if it's just because they don't control it. For example, having a character forcefully addicted to a substance from birth that has life-threatening withdrawal symptoms isn't much of a flaw (at least on the character's part). Adding some active aspect to the dysfunction, for example the character enjoying sharing the substance to trap people in the same addiction, would be needed.
• Avoid a flaw you find difficult to conceptualize, uninteresting, or embarrassed to discuss with the group. The flaw will likely come up regularly and shouldn't be something you dread having to deal with.
• The severity of the flaw should define the dark aspects of the character, but not overwhelm the whole character concept. Usually this is a matter of degree and balance. For example, a berserker that loves killing for sport is fine, but a character who literally spends every waking minute doing unrepentant murders would probably be too simplistic to fit in the story.