River's Heart

About the adventure

The River runs dark... Close to a thousand years have passed since Sakar freed his Dark Master from it's imprisonment in Snake Mountain. Now he sets upon his Throne of Fallen Skulls as God King Draven, ruler of the Sorcerer Kings (and Queens) and all the known lands. All that remains of what was once a lush and peaceful land is barren deserts and scattered patches of vegetation. The wars, that erupted when the god and goddess abandoned the realm, used forbidden magics that drained the very life from the wold around the Sorcerer Kings and Queens; as they battled for dominance. What the wars left behind were lands devoid of forests and metals. The arcane magic used in this way became known as "Defiled Magik". It tainted the ley lines of arcane magic forever. Mages not sanctioned, and controlled, by the Sorcery Kings/Queens, is forbidden...punishable by horrid deaths as "Spell Batteries"; living batteries consummed by the ruling Sorcerers to cast their spells. Now things have settled into divided wastelands ruled over by the victors (if you can call them that), and all bow before the one remaining god...Draven. The God King Draven rules with a fist of terror! None dare oppose him; those that do become a part of his Throne of the Fallen Skulls. The lands are governed by that law of the strongest. If you're not the one meting out a beating, you're the one receiving it. Slavers roam the lands in search of fresh flesh to peddle. Arenas, scattered around the vast desert lands, offer a respite for the populace as gladiators (willing and unwilling) fight for the crowds. Scattered communities struggle to survive amidst harsh laws and rulers. The clergy, devoid of their god and goddess, have become not more than those that ply for power and authority; as many of it's highest ranked members no longer have any celestial magics. The true faithful find themselves bound within their Order by those that while lacking a connection to the god and goddess have rule over the faithful. What clergy do have the power to channel divine magics find themselves, all to often, on the bad side of administrators that look upon them with jealous eyes. Very few clerics with any ability in divine magics remain in the world. Many scholars make theory that their powers are being granted by remaining minions of the absentee deities. It seems no one knows why the God and Goddess abandoned their faithful. Many speculate that maybe the Arcane Wars some how disrupted their celestial forms, or weakened them to the point of near death. Others fear that the God King Draven had something to do with their disappearance. perhaps he has them imprisoned, draining them to raise himself to godhood. But does anyone really know? Turmoil within the hierarchy of the clergy has erupted with the gods return! Administrators unwilling to relinquish power have caused a schism within the faith. The gods themselves struggle to reclaim lost worship...