Fort Ostoril

A massive fort in Armel that was once on the front lines between Armel and Tamil centuries ago. The fort mysteriously disappeared towards the end of the conflicts between the two nations, presumably lost. Just recently the Fort has returned to its original location. A few have attempted to go in and explore, but none have come out.

The history of the Fort being tied to the long embittered war between Armel and Tamil has caused a plethora of armed forces to gather outside the Fort and try to lay their claim to the spoils, though no one wants to be the first to go in.

## Timeline

* 4540 M.E. - The war between Tamil and Armel has taken its toll on the two nations and their people. Fort Ostoril, a military encampment near the borders between the two nations, is often on the front line of defense, defending Armel from Tamil. The border itself shifts constantly, leaving their supply lines and reinforcements unknown as resources dwindle.
	+ An elite group of soldiers from Tamil, augmented with some mercenaries, is sent in to infiltrate the fort and assassinate the leaders and possibly destroy it from the inside
		- Hungar Mandrake - Human warrior and leader of the Tamil soldiers and the group
		- Iris Valnarian - Elven fighter and leader of the mercenaries accompanying the group
		- Pan Devereaux - elder Human wizard and mercenary with a powerful scroll just in case the mission goes awry
	+ The mission is a moderate success, infiltrating and assassinating various leaders of the fort, including **General Ombar**, the leader of the fort, sending the fort into chaos once his body is discovered
	+ The chaos makes it hard for the group to escape, and although Hungar is willing to die, taking out as many as he can before he dies, the mercenaries aren’t as willing to die for the cause
	+ Pan pulls out a summoning scroll and begins casting, the rest of the mercenaries protecting him as he casts.
	+ Though the scroll is meant to summon a powerful being, it is miscast and the powerful energies actually pull the entire fort into the Astral Plane
	+ Immediately their battle is interrupted by beings on the Astral Plane
* 4550 M.E. - a temporary cease fire occurs for a few years as they all combine forces to defend the fort from beings on the Astral Plane. Eventually a the docks are swarming with Githyanki and other beings, but they have collapsed some tunnels and keep them from getting in, instead sticking to the skies to defend
	+ After a while they realize they don’t age or need to eat or drink and magic works weird here
	+ Hungar keeps secret that he had a powerful magic item he planned on using to destroy the fort, and from discussions he realizes that his magic item may have caused the scroll to cast weird
	+ As the fighting with Astral Creatures dies down, the infighting begins
* 4563 M.E. - Armel soldiers and Tamil soldiers separate in the fort. Tamil soldiers are isolated and outnumbered so they make deals with the Githzerai and reopen some of the tunnels in exchange for protection. Though necessary, many of the mercenaries led by Iris, are not okay with this alliance
	+ The powerful magic item on Hungar attracts beings from other planes, who take up within the exterior walls of the fort, assaulting the Armel soldiers while the Githyanki assault from below
	+ Eventually the Armel soldiers begin to lose, but Pan discovers what item Hungar has been hiding, an Orb that is meant to be broken and reign destruction on the area (i.e. a bomb), and that he might still use it and that it might have cause the scroll to miscast
* 4565 M.E. - Iris and her mercenaries split from the Hungar and the Tamil soldiers, also splitting some of the Githyanki forces into factions. Various Mind Flyers join the fray, and the demons and devils begin fighting up above, causing the war to be on multiple fronts for everyone
	+ Hungar realizes his item is attracting all these beings and decides to leverage that for power. Little does he know but the Orb is necromantic and has slowly corrupting him over time. He gains many powers from it but it has side effects
	+ Hungar allies with Armel forces, claiming he can fight off the demons and devils with his new powers. In a brutal act, he betrays his Githyanki allies and raises them as undead servants
	+ Hungar slowly corrupts the Armel soldiers and as they die fighting he raises them to keep fighting as undead, eventually the undead outnumbering the living. He takes over the upper floors of the fort and rules there as a necromantic king
* 4579 M.E. - As people die, Hungar’s ranks flourish. The more powerful demons and devils leave, realizing they are fighting a losing battle, even if some of their minions remain behind. Many of the mercenaries die in the battles and only Iris and Pan remain alive
	+ Iris and Pan manage to find a way to barricade themselves in the tunnels below, trying to research a way to get back to the world
	+ Three leaders emerge within the demons and devils, an Orobas Devil, a pair of Ultraloths, and a Merelith Demon, which divide up the three outer rings of the fort. Numbers change constantly as the balance remains between the three forces
	+ Githyanki, Illithid, and various celestials are fighting over the lower floors, some wanting to destroy Hungar’s artifact, others use it
* 4720 M.E. - after years of equilibrium, eventually Hungar manages to capture Iris. Pan attempts to rescue her, but after several failed attempts, Hungar has managed to turn her into an undead servant and brainwashed her, making Pan finally alone against the onslaught of monsters
* 4803 M.E. - Pan has gone insane and he has boobytrapped and magically enchanted areas of the tunnels and prison, marking travel through them almost impossible. The Docks have been mostly abandoned, except for to be a launching pad for ships and flying to attack the fort from above
* 4865 M.E. - the fort has slowly drifted through the Astral Plane and was on a collision course with a large settlement that is actually the corpse of a dead God called Ovmar. A settlement with mostly travelers and traders, it was made up of all kinds of beings and creatures that are traveling the plane
	+ The fort crashed into the floating God corpse, causing various tunnels below to crumble and new ones to open, also causing some of the fortress to crack
	+ Hungar immediately sent forces onto Ovmar to kill and recruit new undead, getting various creatures under his command
	+ Many flee the corpse of the god, but some defend it, including a group of giants of various types and a white dragon that managed to sneak into the tunnels
	+ Various stones from the corpse of the God, actually parts of the body, found its way into the fort, and these are called Pieces of Ovmar. They are not natural rock and can be used to forge and enchant magical items
* 4945 M.E. - Borders have been strictly defined. Part of the Ovmar corpse is permanently attached to the fort underground structure, extending the caves
	+ Each type of fiend has one of the rings outside the fort, devils on the outer ring, yugoloths on the middle ring, and demons on the upper ring
	+ Part of the tunnels are the area of Pan, while others belong to the White Dragon, Quelvirox, and others have been carved out and taken over by a clan of giants
	+ The docks belong to the Githyanki, who are often defending them from various Illithid attacks who have been pushed off long ago.
	+ The celestials have move on, mostly keeping an eye on the moving war zone from afar, but ready to jump in if they see any one group about to seize power or the artifact
	+ The fortress itself is crawling with various types of undead.
* 5000 M.E. - Pan has finally figured out how to return to the world. He has collected a few Pieces of Ovmar, hoping to augment his spell. However, he underestimated how powerful the pieces would be, and once again, Pan moved the entire fortress and the attached tunnels from Ovmar back into the Prime Material Plane
	+ A cloudy, stormy sky seems to be permanently hovering above the fortress
	+ The tunnels from Ovmar’s corpse have integrated themselves into the ground surrounding the fortress, causing a series of collapsing farmlands and forest just south of the fortress, but the tunnels are mostly intact
	+ The inhabitants have stayed inside the fortress for the most part, but a few occasionally roam outside the walls, causing a buildup of military force from nearby nations of Armel and Tamil, who have come to an awkward standoff outside the fortress.
	+ Multiple groups have gone in exploring, some officially sent, others are adventurers or mercenaries, and none have returned.

## Current

The fortress is currently under the command of Baron Arkul Wrax who was granted the title when the players destroyed Hungar Mandrake and the artifact power his reign of terror.