Undertower (5E Campaign)

This campaign takes place 20 years after the first Age of Heroes campaign, 50 years after Heroes first emerged following the Sundering, and 250 years after The Donner Party campaign.
== Background: The Fall of Undertower ==
250 years ago, The Sundering happened, breaking magic as the world knew it.
Fifty tiers of Undertower were plunged into darkness as the glowstones, carefully enchanted and laid throughout the city, winked out. Citizens and leaders worked to restore order for days, distributing torches and oil lanterns and getting the city back on its feet again.
But unknown to them, the Tarrasque had already begun tearing the Beastway through the Underdark.
Bursting out of the Sightless Citadel in which it had been imprisoned by the fanatical Nulls, the Tarrasque destroyed outposts of Octax, breached the Midnight Barrier guarding the frontier of Menzoberranzan territory, and slew the great shadow wyrm Arazhant whose veils had hidden the Scaled City for so long.
The Tarrasque had left a broad, open passage that now effectively connected the great powers of the Underdark while simultaneously compromising their defenses. Immediately, of course, they turned on one another. Into this war boiled a horde of abberrations, some released from the Sightless Citadel, and more still streaming through rifts to the Far Realm which began appearing at this same time.
On the night of the twenty-seventh day after the Sundering, the Tarrrasque exploded up through the heart of the Undertower. It clawed, crushed, and ate its way to the surface. The Great Lifts were destroyed along with most of the core neighborhoods, which previously had been the most wealthy and prestigious.
Aberrations and creatures of the Underdark followed in its wake, and the city's true nightmare began.
=== Undertower in the Age of Heroes ===
The War of Emperors began with the Sundering, as the Imperium disintegrated without its magical infrastructure. The rulers of Roma, Greka, and Orient each declared themselves the new Emperor. Roma and Greka quickly consolidated under the rule of House Marvad, at which point the Orient province rescinded its Imperial charter, returning to its pre-Imperium name: the Dawnrealm.
The government of the Occident province disintegrated under the assault of the aberrations, becoming known as the Harrowlands.
City-states in the Harrowlands protected themselves, becoming islands of safety in a dangerous frontier which had only recently been the breadbasket of the Imperium.
==== 50 years ago ====
Heroes began emerging with a new kind of innate power, one which defied the old ways of harnessing and crafting, but which seemed limitless. While the gods no longer could affect the world directly, Heroes could, and their devotion to martial, divine, and arcane paths channeled their powers to produce miracles of many kinds.
Heroes of Yore, Heroes of Fate, and Heroes of the Blood brought their powers to bear on the nightmares stalking the Harrowlands.
== 20 years ago ==
A leader emerged in the Harrowlands among the giants. Titanicus, originally a captive giant, emerged from the Bloodwrought Coliseum as its champion and thereby earned Imperial citizenship. Titanicus began unifying the many kinds of giant as "the Great Races," gathering them in Colossea, an enormous city they built at the southern end of the Serpentine Labyrinth canyon system.
Titanicus intended to bring order to the Harrowlands through the rule of might. His original plan, it is believed, was to wipe out the "Lesser Races" and thus end the chaos.
But a Hero named River, from Brighton in the Kingdom of the West, also a champion of the Bloodwrought Coliseum, convinced Titanicus otherwise by a trial of combat. Both combatants ended the fight senseless. Titanicus judged that this meant some of the "lesser races" were in fact equal to giants, and therefore he would not wipe them out. But as most of them are still unworthy, only giants are fit to rule.
And thus the Pax Titanicus was established.
=== The Pax Titanicus ===
The Pax Titanicus states:
- The larger, the wiser.
- Life for life, pound for pound.
- Payment for peace.
This means that a giant is always right, the death of a giant must be repaid in enough lives to equal that giant in weight, and that weaker beings must pay tribute when demanded or face the consequences (and when payment is given, peace must be honored).
Functionally, this means that giants rule the Harrowlands, but stay out of those cities wealthy or powerful enough to have reached acceptable tribute terms. It also means that a giant who goes on a rampage will shortly face a death penalty after killing his or her weight in smaller victims.
The Great Races have agents among the Lesser Races, so loose talk or deliberate cheating on tribute can be risky indeed. Duergar and spriggan are common quislings, although cloud giants have been known to use their knowledge of spells to move undetected among smaller humanoids as well.
=== The Twice King ===
In the nearby Kingdom of the West, a crisis emerged. The Queen passed away, triggering the traditional Dragon Challenge. However, none of her three children passed. The Pact was in danger of ending, freeing dragonkind to once again prey upon the Westerlings.
At the last minute, a Hero stepped forward to face the Dragon Challenge. The dragons immediately accepted him without further testing, saying he had already passed as he had previously been a King of the West.
The stranger gave no name, and quietly took the throne. The Twice King, as people began to call him, now rules the Kingdom of the West. His close adviser Teodahr keeps him connected to the elves of the Evergreen Wood, and some say even the Watcher of the Seal visits him as a friend.
Vertenhold, a former Imperial fortress at the foot of the Parapets at the western edge of the former Occident province, swore fealty to the Twice King and joined the Kingdom of the West. It is said that Vertenhold's master, Lord Kava, was a traveling companion to the Bloodwrought Champion River and to the Twice King. If true, this group of heroes indeed changed the course of history.
== Today ==
The War of Emperors continues, though it has cooled somewhat. The Dawnrealm presses the attack against the Imperium, and its agents seem omnipresent.
The Harrowlands are still unsettled, though the aberrations from the Far Realm have lessened thanks to the region's active Watcher of the Seal, Aria the warforged.
Vertenhold is a city-state ruled by Lord Kava, dragonborn paladin. Lord Kava is allied with the Kingdom of the West. As a result, Vertenhold and the region immediately surrounding it are protected by the Dragonpact.
The Nulls have come out of hiding. They are an active force, though outlawed under the Pax Titanicus. Some believe they have split into two factions, one which seeks to heighten the chaos following the Sundering, and one which believes the Sundering triggered the opening of the Sightless Citadels too soon, and seeks to recapture the escaped creatures and artifacts.
Undertower wasn't completely destroyed by the aberrations. Some pockets resisted, while some who were driven out have gathered allies and returned. Plus, given the sheer size of the city, it's theoretically possible that some inhabitants never got driven out at all.
The only way to know for sure is to go there.
=== Sample Backgrounds/Allegiances ===
Riven, one whose family was once of Undertower but was driven out. May have enormous debts but also may have title to potentially enormous wealth.
Westerling, from the Kingdom of the West, drawn by tales or the cause of peace. Protected and bound by the Dragonpact.
Malringer, from the fortress city of Malring, soldier of fortune. Not bound or protected by the Dragonpact. Malringer Heroes have the Duke's Oath tattooed on the left wrist, guaranteeing revival if delivered to Malring.
Null, who wants to bring the world to chaos and ruin -- or want to recapture the horrors for a later day.
Colossean, agent for the giants.
Telxian, agent for House Telx, merchant and mercenary house powerful in Darkember.
Marvadian, agent for House Marvad, political and assassin house powerful in the Imperium.
Dawnling, agent for the Dawnrealm, the former eastern province of the Imperium.