The "V2" Campaign

For a list of NPCs related to this campaign, please see "The List of V2 NPCs".

The campaign takes place in Southern Rota, with the small town of StillSquall as its home base.

Far to the north are the main population centers of the kingdom of Rota (including the city of the same name). While the southern valley is technically a part of the same kingdom, it is remote enough and small enough to have a kind of autonomy. This is mostly because the crown is struggling with rebellious barons and a huge influx of refugees from the wars on the main continent and can't afford to spend resources imposing its will on the smaller, poorer baronies of the south.

The culture has an advanced Norse flavor (essentially the same as northern Rota). The people have the appearance of Vikings, but with less violence and no raiding. While people are often allied along clan lines and observe a form of vendetta law, their society and legal systems have evolved to have a much more lawful bent.

To the south and east are wilderness and lands populated by civilized demihuman races (Halflings and Gnomes to the east, Lizardfolk, Goblin, and other unsavories to the south). To the north and west is the ocean – which means fishing, whaling, and trade with the north are big parts of life here.

For a discussion about the goals and guidelines of this campaign, please see the V2 Goals page.

Also, please see the House Rules page.

V2 started in January, 1111 and quickly became involved in the mystery of “The House of Circlet”, a shadowy organization that seemed to be pulling the puppet strings on several powerful families in the region. Baron Johann Wildhurst was secretly opposing them.

In March of their first year, while on a mission to deliver a secret message to Baron Wildhurst's cousin (Baron Skaalheim), they stumbled into the “Barrow of the Forgotten King” – where they learned of some kind of evil plot by a race of snake-men (known as “Yuan-Ti”).

A few months later, in September, they followed the Yuan-Ti into the Underdark - - where they found the city of “Pedestal” and “The Sinister Spire”. The Spire lead them to Castle Serastis (also known as “The Fortress of the Yuan-Ti”) – where they stopped the “Vanguard of Sertrous” from awakening the snake demon lord “Sertrous”. They also learned that they had a mysterious benefactor (later to be discovered as the gold dragon, Manorgrax).

On the way out of Castle Serastis, they met a small army of Kevin Arcana's “Arcane Defenders” – who had been dispatched to clear out Serastis (on the advice of Manorgrax).

That Creation Day (October 29th), they were feted in the town of Kingsholm as the heroes who had rid the “Barrow” of its evil. The citizens were, of course, never made aware of the full story.

Shortly after the fall of Serastis, the House of Circlet disbanded and all its operatives retreated to the relative safety of Mosamor marsh. The Yuan-Ti threat, it would seem, was over.

Nearly a year later, they were contacted by Manorgrax and instructed to go to the city of Southbay – where they solved a murder mystery and recovered a strange semi-artifact known as the “Id Portrait”.

That Creation Day (October 29th), while being feted (again) in the town of Kingsholm they discovered that a group of Yuan-Ti had arrived in the area (with some Trolls and Ogres for protection) to do some kind of psionic/arcane research on a naturally-occurring anti-magic field. Perhaps the Yuan-Ti's diabolical plans were not as dead as they'd hoped!

Worse still, on the night before the ceremony, they fell into a carefully planned trap by a Mind Flayer who had escaped the carnage at Serastis. Allie and Heilli were killed – though this allowed them to finally meet Manorgrax in person (who used his epic arcane powers to heal them all).

The next day, during the ceremony itself, the Black Dragon Mosargrax flew in and attacked – forcing Manorgrax to reveal himself to more than just them.

As far as they can tell, Manorgrax defeated Mosargrax – chasing her out of town after only a modest amount of collateral damage. Why she attacked and what the dragons have been doing in the meantime are still unknown.

A few months later, Ketamine convinced them all to help her investigate a problem she heard about in the faraway city of Exag. There, they found that an evil plant-like abomination known as “Sehan” had begun infecting the populace. They destroyed the source of Sehan in Exag, traced it back to a nearby necropolis, and finally to a Yak-folk abode known as “Shambhala-na”.

A couple months after taking care of the Sehan threat, Manorgrax visited the party but was killed by the Dragonslayer. Shortly thereafter, Kevin Arcana arrived and with his help, the party traveled to Mosamor Marsh to confront the Yuan-Ti and their plans to awaken Sertrous.

In the end, it was learned that Kevin Arcana housed the demon lord Gkîlarzzá, (known as the “King of Pain”) and it was he who defeated Sertrous. The Yuan-Ti plot was foiled – but the price was the continued existance of Kevin's “House of Pain” in Rota.

That's it. No more “V2” is planned. Next up: V3!