The Starbound Ascent

*The Starbound Ascent* follows the stories of the Rose's Thorns, a group of Soulstricken resurrected together from their untimely deaths at various points throughout the last five centuries.

## Campaign Premise

*A true monarch is much more than a ruler of men. A true monarch carries the weight of their souls.* - Queen Celestina the Brightened

As you awake from the slumber of death, you hear a mesmerizing voice call out to you:

"A millennium ago, on the continent of Caranam, the Ringed War that sparked the Age of Anguish broke out, and the Prime Material was shaken to its core as the forces of evil and good clashed over the fate of the moral races. Angels and demons, dragons and elementals; all the great creatures of legend partook in the conflict that threatened to crack the very planes.

On the cusp of defeat, Queen Celestina the Brightened, newly crowned monarch of the Fuscian Dominion, forged a desperate pact with her closest extraplanar allies. Thus, the Worlds’ Aegis was created.

A metaphysical barrier that separates the raw matter and energy of the Inner Planes from the spiritual manifestations of the Outer Planes, the Worlds’ Aegis has safeguarded the Prime Material and its allies from unwanted extraplanar incursion for nearly one thousand years. It alone serves as the bulwark that prevents archdevils and abyssal horrors from wreaking havoc down upon mortal civilization. Even after the passage of time changed Caranam in unforeseen ways, the Aegis remained as strong as ever, if not stronger.

Following the creation of the Aegis, the united forces of Caranam, the Elemental Planes, and the Astral Plane were able to drive the foul creatures of the Outer Planes back to the edge of existence. Once beyond the Aegis, the most powerful among them were unable to return physically, as the barrier casts a wide net for those of extraordinary power. Though, that has not stopped them from influencing mortals in unforeseen ways, nor from sending lesser beings through the Aegis to scheme and plot on their behalf.

With the conclusion of the Ringed War, the people of Caranam, though victorious, were shattered and divided. Only the Fuscian Dominion, an already racially diverse and intermingled nation, remained intact under the guidance of Queen Celestina, who, due to her role in ending the War, was chosen by the Powers That Be to ascend to the Ethereal Throne. As the Ethereal Queen and Queen of the Dominion, she was monarch of body, mind, and soul. Destined to rule from then on into eternity. From her throne, she could utilize the strength of her resolve to usher in an era of peace for the free peoples of the Dominion. Though, it took many, many moons to do so.

As the years passed, and the Dominion continued to rebuild and prosper through the order established by Queen Celestina, another nation arose from the ashes of the Ringed War: the Alliance of Kysharr. Located on the Kysharran Peninsula west of the Dominion, the Alliance is an expansive confederation of smaller, almost entirely independent realms that are held loosely together by their oaths to the Alliance. And, of course, their shared disdain for the Dominion.

At first, the realms of the peninsula were little more than chaotic, free-spirited groups that organized themselves into communities of similar races. In time, they began to war against one another, fighting to be recognized as the Atman of Kysharr, a prophetic liberator from ancient tales that is said would have the strength to lead the united peoples of the Kysharran Peninsula across the Smoking Sea to topple the Dominion and free its people from the grasp of the Ethereal Queen. However, the Atman did not emerge, and they were left with no other options. They set aside their differences and forged the Alliance, if only to spite the Dominion.

As both nations came into their own, nearly 250 years following the Queen’s ascension, Caranam was finally able to begin healing from its old wounds. And as the Age of Anguish came to a close, so too did the Age of Glory begin. A golden age defined by normalcy that the continent had not tasted in over two centuries, the people of Caranam had the chance to live the life of their own choosing. Skirmishes between the Alliance and the Dominion were common, but no war ever broke out. They understood that despite their differences, enough blood had already been shed on the soil they both shared.

You, in whatever way and through whatever means, took part in this Age of Glory. Whether you lived in one of the many realms on the Kysharran Peninsula, in the protected towns and cities of the Fuscian Dominion, or perhaps even in the unknown fringes of the Lands Beyond, you were able to live the life of your own choosing.

That is, however, until your unfortunate demise. A warrior meeting their end on the battlefield, a nobleman being assassinated in their slumber, an orphan alone on the cold streets. Whatever your life may have been, notable or not, your death was supposed to be the last leg of your journey on Caranam.

But fate would not let it be so.

Nearing the end of the year 748 PA, or ‘Post-Ascension’, on a cloudless night, Queen Celestina was holding council with some of the most influential figures in the Dominion, who she counted among her closet allies:

- Clavicus Curio, Ringmaster of the Crimson Troupe

- Lord Maderon the Feeble, Knight-Commander of the Order of the Pale Birch

- The twin dragonborn sovereigns, Anastasia and Jezreel of High Clan Norixius

- High Priestess Shanalotte, of the nomadic Spirit Commune

- Chief Gear of the Silent Plains, Professor Calcorin Quimbly

It was on this night — known now only as the Night of Shattered Glass — that the Ethereal Queen was assassinated in her own throne room.

Her untimely death, at the height of prosperity during the Age of Glory, triggered the Shattering, a cataclysmic event that tore the Worlds’ Aegis asunder. High above the brilliant capital of the Fuscian Dominion — Geminus, the Twinned City — the sky itself shattered into oblivion, creating a portal that connected the Prime Material with the Outlands, the space between the Outer Planes. It was from this planar seed that spread the roots of chaos.

Within weeks of the Shattering, the Dominion collapsed. Geminus was all but destroyed, and its military forces were scattered across the nation. From the Tear — as the newly-shattered sky was commonly called — poured waves of extraplanar creatures. Not only did demons begin rampaging through the countryside surrounding the capital, but the dead began to return to life in the form of ghouls, zombies, and other nightmarish amalgamations.

The few powerful figures that were known to last be with the Queen before her death claimed the assassination was performed by an unknown assailant. With no known descendants or successors to Queen Celestina, and silence from the Powers That Be, Clavicus Curio, Lord Maderon the Feeble, and High Priestess Shanalotte each claimed heirship to the Fuscian throne, taking a portion of the fractured Dominion as their own. Divided between the three Ethereal Heirs, they vie for the title of Ethereal Monarch as they not only combat each other, but also the demonic forces from beyond the Tear, the undead infestation that plagues the land, and the Alliance of Kysharr, who has seized the opportunity to advance upon the western territory of the Dominion.

But there would be no victor.

—————————————————————————

The year is now 749 PA, and life within the Fuscian Dominion has become ever more grim and dangerous. In the open world, bandits frequent small settlements and expansive trade routes, and undead and other monstrosities litter the vastly unexplored countryside, leaving naught but death and decay in their wake. Across the Dominion, criminal organizations have found the confidence to act openly and brazenly, the ranks of fanatical social and religious groups are being filled at disproportionate rates, and martial law is being enforced by many local militia groups. In only a year’s time, a vast majority of the Dominion’s lands have become the battleground of various factions vying for social, political, economic, religious, and military control.

Due to the combined efforts of the Heirs in their individual struggle for the Fuscian throne, the greatest of all the threats that Caranam faces currently, the extraplanar incursions sourcing from the Tear, has been confined to the regions surrounding the remains of the Twinned City. For the moment, at least, as the Tear grows larger with each passing day. With the seeds of chaos spreading across the lands, many settlements within the Dominion have sworn allegiance to the Heir of their respective region, to secure protection and stability. Though, this has only further increased hostilities across the Dominion, fracturing it even further.

This, my dear child, is where your journey continues. While most of the dead that return to life are husks of their former selves, there are those who return to life that are known as Soulstricken: creatures brought back from death as their once former selves. They appear seemingly out of thin air, and the only thing that seems to have changed about them between their death and resurrection is that each Soulstricken possesses a mark etched into their body, an ancient, spiraling brand meant Death.

Some harrow these creatures as signs of the end-times, treating them as Death’s soldiers come to vanquish the mortal races of Caranam. Others still view them as guardians sent by the gods, who, since the Shattering occurred, have been notably absent from the creatures that traverse through the Tear.

You must have many questions.

Why were you brought back to life?

What does the rise of the Soulstricken have to do with the Shattering and the Tear?

What truly happened to Queen Celestina, and why did her death trigger the Shattering?

What are the forces beyond the Tear planning?

If you are lucky, some of these questions may yet be answered.

But for now, I wish you luck in this fractured world. If fate would have, we shall meet again.”