Whitefeather History

### **History**

The land of Whitefeather has been around for more than 900 years, but not where it currently resides.
Before it was settled and ruled over by King William I, it was an untamed wilderness that stretched for
400 miles from west to east and 900 miles from north to south. It was mostly forest and untamed
grasslands that held a wide variety of wildlife and was largely untouched by civilization. Elves didn't
live there, but they did hunt there for a time before humans discovered it. Dwarves and gnomes weren't
around back then, preferring the mountains that bordered the land to the north. The reason that
civilization avoid the area that was known as the Devil's Peninsula was because of what ruled that
territory for thousands of years. Dragons.

Green dragons ruled the forests, Black dragons ruled the jungles and swamps, Blue and Red dragons
ruled what few mountains that were in the area. Those traveling across the peninsula took their lives in
their hands when they ventured into the area, as dragons could smell their fear and seek them out to
devour those foolish enough to get too close. For many centuries, adventurous bands of orcs, goblins,
even giants would try to move into the territory to make villages and camps, but the dragons would kill
them down to the last man to reclaim what they felt was rightfully theirs.

In the Year 90 of the current calendar, a knight by the name of William left his home in what was then
Tar-Stone and traveled east, entering what is now Whitefeather, though then, it had no name other than
a moniker of the Devil's Peninsula. He was retired now and looking for a good place to build his keep
so that he could settle back and retire fully. He had only been within the borders of the Devil's
Peninsula for two days when he was set upon by a blue dragon, out hunting for prey. The dragon
underestimated the knight and was slain. William considered this a fluke and continued on his journey.
Within seven days of entering the territory, he had slain four dragons. Word traveled fast among the
dragonkin in the territory and soon the undisputed ruler of the territory, an ancient red dragon named
Amvorixol, went out to find this foolish knight and teach him a lesson.

The two met in the southwest part of the land, where the city of Aurora stands. Amvorixol attacked
from the skies, but William wore armor that protected him from dragon fire, so he emerged unharmed.
The titanic struggle took more than an hour, but in the end, William defeated the ancient red. With their
defacto ruler defeated by a lone knight, the dragons of the land retreated to caves, forests and swamps
to avoid meeting the same fate as their leader. For his part, William liked this land and felt that he could
settle it, with help. He called upon a ranger friend he had met in Kietus by the name of Sindar. Sindar
was an elven ranger who believed that the land belonged to no one, so he gave his counsel to William
about this. William didn’t seem to believe that he should just let the land rule itself, but he promised
Sindar that he would do all he could to allow the land to continue as it had been, meaning, he wouldn’t
allow forests to be wiped out and he wouldn’t attempt to reclaim land that was overgrown naturally.

With the help of Sindar, William was able to settle most of the unclaimed land and built the city of
Aurora in the southwest, making it the capital of the land he called Whitefeather. There is nothing in
the historic archives about why he chose this name. Sindar took to the forested areas, acting as a liaison
to the new king and watching over the settlement of the land, while William had Aurora built and set
up his government. It took him ten years to get the city built and the government set up, by then the
land was filling up with settlers who were looking for a new home and a new way of life. What they
found was far different from anything they’d known so far. William was a militaristic leader, who
believed in a strong chain of command and a rigid set of laws to govern all people. The people didn’t
seem to mind this stricter rulership and flourished under his reign, but the times would change soon
enough.

William the First only got to rule for twenty-one years as his health declined quickly and he died of pneumonia
when he was just fifty-one. His son, William II, took the throne and continued his father’s good work,
but he relaxed many of the stricter laws his father had put in place, thus easing the burdens of the
populace. The problem with this edict was that it opened many doors for criminals to take up residence
and refuge in the land, beginning many illegal enterprises. A thieves guild formed. An assassin’s guild
formed. Gambling became commonplace, though not public, and a slave trade began to grow. The king
was completely unaware of these activities.

For fifteen years, these illegal and immoral businesses grew to such enterprises that they began to plot
the overthrow of the Whitefeather government and the king. Sindar got wind of this plot and rushed
back to Aurora to inform the king, but it was too late. William II was assassinated by a member of the
Assassin’s Guild, leaving his young daughter as the new monarch. Being a trusted friend of the king’s
family, Sindar took control of the land as the regent to the new Queen and mobilized the Whitefeather
guard to squash those responsible for the king’s death. This event would later be called The Cleansing.
Hangings were common in those first years of Queen Evelyn’s reign, with Sindar as the regent. The
Assassin’s Guild was wiped out completely and gambling was outlawed through royal decree, thus
shutting down and destroying all gaming houses in the land. Houses of prostitution were abolished and
the slave trade was crushed by Sindar and his crack unit of rangers who acted as spies and royal guard
until Evelyn could reach the age of ascension. It only took Sindar and his men three years to clean the
land back up to where it stood when William I was king. By then, Evelyn had reached the age of twenty
and ascended to the throne of Whitefeather.

The criminal element that had found itself under fire, hunted by Sindar and his men, would not go
without a fight. They laid low, conducting much of their activities underground or just across political
borders to avoid persecution, until they felt that the heat was finally off of them and could return to
Whitefeather and work under the radar of the government. With Evelyn now of age, Sindar returned to
his forests, taking his friends with him so she could rule as she saw fit. With the ranger and his crack
unit out of the way, the criminal element moved back in to test the new Queen.

Evelyn heard rumors of their activities and sent her royal guard to handle it, but they failed in their
mission as the criminals bribed them to turn a blind eye to their activities, but reported to the Queen
that the problem was taken care of. When the rumors persisted, Evelyn knew she needed help with this
problem. Her help came in the form of a royal wizard by the name Coranthar. Coranthar wasn’t an
archmage of tremendous power, but he was formidable enough to handle the job. What he brought to
the crown was the ability to divine information through his magic. He couldn’t launch wicked fireballs,
but he could eavesdrop on criminals from hundreds of miles away and this made him invaluable to
Queen Evelyn.

Soon, the royal guard was making regular visits to underground gaming houses and warehouses that
held slaves bound for destinations unknown, confiscating gold and items in the name of the crown.
They freed captives that were enslaved by the traders and they beheaded criminals on the spot, all
based on Coranthar’s findings. Armed with her new wizard, Evelyn took back control of the realm and
passed some new royal laws to prevent the criminal element from returning.

### **The Artifact**

Ten years after Queen Evelyn reached the age of ascension, her royal wizard, Coranthar, used his
considerable divination magic to locate an object that would forever change their future, the lost Staff
of Baltharan. Baltharan was a powerful druid who once protected the forests of the land. He fashioned
a staff from Ironwood and enchanted it with powerful druidic spells, but his deity, Uller, blessed the
staff with even greater power for his chosen druid. One of the abilities it had was that those who
touched the staff and spoke the command word would never age. Coranthar located the staff and
retrieved it for them to use. Now, he and his Queen, who he had grown to love, would never age.
Though Coranthar loved Evelyn, she didn’t feel the same way about him, seeing him as a trusted
advisor only. Coranthar didn’t let this alter his plan to keep his Queen in power for a very long time to
come. Only they knew of the staff and its power, and he aimed to keep it that way.

### **The Great Sundering**

In the Year 825, the two were dining in the castle when the entire land was rocked by the first fiery
mountains that struck the continent of Grendoth. Thinking they were under attack from a foreign
source, they went right to the basement of the castle to stay safe. For seven full days, the bombardment
didn’t let up and they feared the worst, that the kingdom was lost. At the end of the seventh day, the
quakes stopped and they finally ventured out to see what had transpired. Large rocks and boulders were
strewn about the city, some buildings destroyed, but otherwise, the city of Aurora stood. Coranthar
went to his chambers and used his crystal ball to scry upon the land. What he found shocked him. To
the north, where the dwarven home was located was gone. Everything around them was gone.
Whitefeather now floated on the sea without any borders with any other realms. They had no warning
at all.

The reason they received no warning about the Great Sundering is because neither Evelyn, nor
Coranthar, worshiped any of the gods of the land, therefore, they weren’t told to evacuate. Why
Whitefeather was spared is still unknown. For the next seventy-five years, Whitefeather existed in
name only. The northern part of the land was in ruin from falling boulders from the Dwarven
Mountains to the north, wiping out whole cities and some forests. The populace was in a total panic
over what happened and chaos reigned supreme during this time. Refugees came from the north,
seeking safety and shelter after losing their homes, villages and cities and Evelyn did what she could to
provide for them. It was a trying time for her kingdom.

Eyewitnesses told of the rain of fire from the skies for seven days, destroying everything around
Whitefeather, and how those fireballs caused the dwarven mountains to come raining down on them.
Traumatized by the event, Queen Evelyn became paralyzed with doubt, not knowing what to do to
make her kingdom whole again. Coranthar tried to snap her out of it, but she was unable to make solid
decisions anymore.

### **The Great Quake**

Seventy-five years after the Great Sundering, a major earthquake on the planet caused the nation of
Whitefeather to break free of the ocean’s floor and begin to drift southward. Coranthar was able to
discern this fact, but there was nothing anyone could do to stop it. Less than a fortnight after this
quake, the land came to rest, causing another earthquake, just seven days sail from Greyfeather Island.
Coranthar was able to scry and find the island nation, but he withheld this information from his Queen.
He knew she wouldn’t be able to reach out to the other island nation and that she might even lose her
mind over the knowledge. If she knew that her beloved country was now an island resting next to
Greyfeather Island, she might go mad with grief, so he kept this knowledge to himself.

What Coranthar didn’t expect was for the King of Greyfeather to come to their shores. In the Year 905,
just two years after the final quake, King Christopher arrived in Whitefeather with a team of
adventurers in tow. They came to Aurora to find out more about the island, but their arrival was
fortuitous, as the Black Orcs of Yestari had begun to lay siege to the land, attempting to conquer it. A
wizard named Basquel and his companion, Velmir, arrived at Aurora just in time to intercept one such
attack and they took this information back to Christopher. He waged war on the Black Orcs and drove
them back to the city of Yestari in the northeast, ending the attacks, and this seemed to snap Evelyn
out of her stupor.

When he told her that the Black Orcs had agreed to stop raiding, Evelyn returned to her old self, going
right to work on rebuilding her realm. Within five years, Aurora had been restored to its former glory
and new cities and towns began to spring up again. Commerce improved after a trade treaty with King
Christopher and life was slowly returning to normal. The agreement Christopher made with the Black
Orcs was broken just eight years later, when a new chieftain took control of the tribe and began to raid
again. Christopher returned to Whitefeather at Evelyn’s request, along with several heroes, and put
down the orc uprising once more. This time, he demanded a non-aggression treaty between the orcs
and the crown of Whitefeather, which the orcs had no choice but to sign.

### **The Last 50 Years**

Queen Evelyn has made great strides in rebuilding the land, but there are some glaring omissions.
Though trade is good between Whitefeather and her allies in Greyfeather, she refused to trade with
King Debren, the new king of Greyfeather. To her, he betrayed the kingdom by aiding Vecter in staging
a bloodless coup, so she cut ties with the crown. Instead, she formed new alliances with the dwarves of
Greyfeather, as well as the gnomes, and the Ty’larenthar elves. She has a treaty of trade with Falfarren
and with Portaraine, as well. This has added to the coffers of her kingdom and helped with the
rebuilding process.

So far, she has remained unmarried, therefore, there is no heir to her throne, but she has signed a pact
with Coranthar saying that the wizard will be the one to choose the new monarch, should something
unforeseen happen to her.

### **Life In Whitefeather**

The economy in Whitefeather has vastly improved since Christopher drove the Black Orcs back to their
city in the northeast. Farmers were able to plant crops, merchants were able to sell goods and skilled
craftsmen were able to make those goods. A mint was created so they could mint their own currency
there, but it is run by the Rock Gnomes and this causes some delays in production due to their
insatiable desire for everything to be modern and perfect. Every month, Evelyn must meet with the
Master Minter of the Royal Mint to discuss his ideas for changes and improvements. It is not her
favorite thing to do. That being said, there is a vast amount of undiscovered wealth in the land that lays
waiting for some hearty adventuring party to discover. This means that Whitefeather has much
untapped potential.

Mineral resources in Whitefeather have surpassed those in Greyfeather now that the dwarves and
gnomes are back to mining again. With the orcs under control, they were able to re-open the mines and
start to return to their livelihood again. Around the Year 972, during a deep dwarven mining
expedition, they discovered several precious metal veins that would take centuries to fully mine.
Mithral, Adamantite and Blacksteel veins were in great abundance down there and the dwarves have
laid claim to them all.

In the Year 1006, the Dark Alliance made an attempt to revitalize the orcs, convincing them to resume
their raids. They did so for six months, until they arrived at the Valshire Mountains in the central part of
Whitefeather. There they were met with dragonborn knights in service to Queen Evelyn. She did not
send them, they chose to take the orcs on themselves. The orcs were crushed under the onslaught of
these draconic creatures and driven back to the City of Yestari to lick their wounds. Now, they only raid
roadways with caravans when they’re sure the dragonborn knights aren’t around to fight them.
In the Year 1010, as predicted, the portals to Faerun closed in the Valshire Mountains and the final
Dragonborn and Tieflings entered Whitefeather. The populations of those two races now number
around a thousand and they still reside in the mountain range, either within the caves there or in the
shadow of the peaks. Some have left the realm for greener pastures in Greyfeather, but very few,
according to reports. They have grown to like Whitefeather very much and they are reluctant to leave
what they know.

Though they haven’t formally met with Queen Evelyn, the dragonborn are solid supporters of the
Queen and her realm. The Tieflings have no quarrel with the crown, but aren’t as rabid about
defending her lands as their dragonborn counterparts. Dragonborn and Tieflings are quite common
and well known in Whitefeather, and many live outside of their original communities, living among the
other races comfortably. Though some Tiefling are viewed with suspicion due to their demonic
heritage, most are viewed in a neutral way and treated with the same respect as the other races.

### **Magical Discovery**

In the Year 990, a wizard by the name of Melalaine, made a huge discovery, by accident. During a
walking trip from his home in the Torwood Forest in the northern part of the land to Aurora in the
south, he happened upon an old abandoned wizard’s tower. Being the curious sort, Melalaine chose to
investigate the tower and discovered a treasure trove of magical items and magical research done by a
wizard who had died centuries before and left the tower unguarded. How it survived as long as it did
without someone else discovering is unknown. Seeing this as a chance to learn more about his craft,
Melalaine, who preferred to be called ‘Laine’, remained within the tower for nearly ten years, studying
each piece of magical equipment and pouring over magical tomes. When he was finished, he took his
gains to the crown, who then sold the items to a merchant who paid handsomely for the items.

This merchant began selling the magical items to any who could afford them and soon the land was
magic rich. His shop is located in Aurora and it caters to all who have the coins to buy his wares. By
doing this, the Queen inadvertently created a glut of magic items in the land that can’t be reversed.
Magic items became commonplace and some were even replicated by other magic using entities,
creating more of a glut. Laine also began to create items based on his research and sold those to the
merchant so he could sell them at his shop. Thankfully, this merchant is the only one authorized to sell
magic items, but by now, it’s too little, too late.

The influx of magic hasn’t caused any major issues with the kingdom or its inhabitants, but it has
created a market for higher magic among the adventurers of the realm.

### **The Economy**

Whitefeather’s economy has finally reached par with Greyfeather’s economy, though trade between
them is still a requirement to get all of the essential goods they need. Even though the land make a
fortune in gold from the sale of the magical items that flow freely through Whitefeather, there is little in
the way of inflation of prices there. Treat all purchases and sales in the land the same as they would be
done in Greyfeather.

### **NPC Classes**

In keeping with the high fantasy feel of Whitefeather, there are some NPC classes that can be found
and interacted with here that players should be aware of. They are more for support of players than they
are adventuring types. One such classes is called the Psychic. They are more for divination and location
for the players to utilize and can be found in some larger cities in the land. Another is the Timelord. The
Timelord is also good with divination, but they can also be used to help players with certain projects
that would require some manipulation of time. The Shaman NPC class can also be found here. Again,
divination and information gathering is their strong suit and can help players with those things.

Another NPC class that will be more readily available, though not a strange class, is the Arch Mage.
They are moderately high level wizards who can enchant items for players for a price. The price for
such enchantments are very expensive. Below is a chart giving some idea as to how much it would cost
to have something enchanted or made from scratch.

### **Training**

Players will need to take into account the time required to train new skills here. Before the characters
can use new abilities of their class, they will need to take time off to train those abilities. When your
class abilities increase, you must go back to your trainer. The wisest course of action when choosing a
class is to centralize the location so that you don’t have to travel for weeks to train and weeks to come
back to the party. Each time you train, you will have to pay your trainer for the new training you
receive and the cost will vary, depending on the level you are training. You only have to train when you
gain a new class ability, not every level!

Since you gain class abilities at various times depending on the class you choose, the cost will be
determined by the number of times you need to train. Some classes train at 2nd, some at 3rd, some get
their abilities at 1st level, so it will all depend on how often you have to go train.

### Training Costs

* 1st Training ***50 gp***
* 2nd Training ***500 gp***
* 3rd Training ***2,500 gp***
* 4th Training ***5,000 gp***
* 5th Training or more ***10,000 gp each***

This might seem high to players, but in a high fantasy world, gold is plentiful, and this will be the case
in Whitefeather. The land is old and largely unexplored, so there is treasure aplenty to be found and
claimed.

### The Sect of the Eclipse War

In
1012, a movement began in Whitefeather that threatened its very existence.  A group of men formed a cult that wanted to
bring the King of the Underworld, Asmodeus, into the land as their ruler.  It began as just a small gathering of
like-minded individuals on the promise that Asmodeus would grant them a place
at his side and give them eternal life, but it quickly bloomed into something
much more sinister.  Asmodeus heard their
calls and made contact.  If they could
recruit enough followers, they could truly bring him into the world and he
would give them riches beyond their wildest dreams and he would control all of
Whitefeather.  Over the centuries, other
cults had attempted to draw him into the world of the living only to be put
down by hearty adventurers, so this wasn't a new concept, but this time,
Asmodeus felt that he might succeed this time.
And he had a plan.

He
sent his cult members to Yestari City, home of the Black Orcs, to petition them
to aid him in his return.  In return,
Asmodeus would grant them the capitol city of Aurora, a city they had been
trying to capture for more than 100 years.
The emissary of the cult found a receptive ear in the orcs and an
alliance was formed.  While the cult
recruited more members, the Black Orcs would raid villages and towns to keep
the Queen's soldiers busy and unaware of their activities.  The key to this plan included a half-orc
blacksmith's apprentice named Kraksha who resided in Cyrsei, a city on the
east-central side of the island nation.

Kraksha
had uncovered a mine beneath Cyrsei that was filled with Cinnabar, a mind
altering powder.  With it, she could
control those who ruled the city and eventually take it over, along with her
guild.  Cinnabar was found nestled
between copper veins below the city and she used the copper mines to hide the
fact that she was also mining the Cinnabar for future use.  What she didn't plan on was someone getting
wise to her activities.  Nearly sixty
percent of the fast growing city worked in her mines and this made her guild
much more powerful than all the others in the city.  This alerted a powerful mage/psionicist named
Gallorill Greenmantle.

Originating
from Greyfeather Island, Gallorill had escaped to Whitefeather in 1006, when
King Debren of Greyfeather took the throne, along with King Christopher's son,
Jenek, another psion.  Since his arrival
six years prior, he had opened a spy network that protected the crown and Queen
Evelyn, the Queen of Whitefeather.  When
he saw how fast Cyrsei had grown, he knew something was amiss and sent spies
into the city to find out why.  The only
thing they could uncover was that guilds had overtaken the city and that mining
was the main source of growth and income, though they couldn't uncover what was
being mined.  Whatever it was, it was
quite lucrative.

He
employed a group of adventurers to travel to Cyrsei and find out what was going
on.  Rhogar, a dragonborn priest of
Raina, Ember, a dragonborn paladin of Dragokar, Welna, a halfling rogue, Leo, a
priest of Gabrielle, and Roxie, a swashbuckler warrior, were dispatched to
Cyrsei to dig into the dark underbelly of the city and report back their
findings.  Over the course of several
days, they were able to uncover that Kraksha was mining Cinnabar and that her
plan was to poison the water supply of the city so she could take over the city
in the name of the Cult of the Eclipse.
Gallorill, going by the name of Graven Dawntracker, instructed them to
take her down.

After
the defeat of Kraksha in Cyrsei, Gallorill asked them to investigate this cult
and find out how strong they were, how advanced they were, and to find out what
plans they might have.  This began an
epic journey for the five companions.
They traveled from Cyrsei to Lightmoor, a coastal city.  This is where Rhogar disappeared suddenly and
the companions had no idea where he had gone to, but they couldn't give up the
mission, so his disappearance was just a mystery.  From Lightmoor, they went to Gonderun, a
large city in the north-central part of the land.  They fought and defeated scores of Black Orcs
and Cultists along the way, working toward Gallorill's master plan to stop this
cult before they could bring Asmodeus into the world.

They
recruited giants and dragons from the Khalkist Mountains to aid their cause and
took down several outposts held by the Cult, disrupting the plans at every
turn.  With the pieces all in place, they
traveled to Yestari City, home of the Black Orc army, to deal a blow to the
cause and end any chance that Asmodeus woucl be brought to Whitefeather.  They arrived too late.  A devil known as the Prophet had already
performed the ritual that would bring Asmodeus to Whitefeather, on the island
of Krellis, which rested 75 miles of the western coast of Whitefeather.  They killed The Prophet and then set out for
Krellis to end this war.

The
battle would involve the King of the Underworld and his minions and this caused
much trepidation in Gallorill and Jenek.
He was the most powerful devil there was and they hoped that this
adventuring party was up to the task.
The battle was pitched and difficult, but in the end, they were able to
defeat Asmodeus before the ritual to make him a demi-god could conclude, thus
saving Whitefeather from a fate worse than death.  Queen Evelyn was so elated that she knighted
them all, granting them titles and land in Whitefeather, and paid them
handsomely for their efforts.

The
Black Orcs were defeated, but not wiped out, so they scattered from Yestari
City to settle as smaller tribes all around the nation.  The cult was rounded up and put on trial for
their deeds, all of them executed for their crimes.  In the spirit of cooperation, the constant
tension in the Khalkist Mountains seem to ease after this, and soon dragons and
giants were trading and interacting with each without bloodshed.  The cities of Cyrsei, Lightmoor and Gonderun
became quite popular with bards as stories of the Saviors of Whitefeather
flowed freely from those three cities.

Patriarch
Leo, along with Lady Knight Ember, were granted Yestari City by the Queen and
they went to work turning the massive three tiered city into a fortress of hope
and learning for the pious of the land.
They drew in paladins and clerics from all religions to help rebuild the
city and to make it a bastion of piety for all to enjoy.  Grandmaster Thief Welna returned to her
halfling home to live out her days in peace and tranquility, with a good supply
of wine provided personally by Jenek.
Lady Roxie had confiscated a ship during one of the sea battles the
companions participated in during their travels, and she returned to Fort Gray
to retrieve it after the war.  She
petitioned the Queen to allow her to settle on Krellis, the unclaimed island
where they battled Asmodeus, and build a port where all walks of life could
come and find relaxation.  She called it
Haven.

After
aiding the companions in the battle and personally funded the journeys of the
group, and because her current royal wizard, Coranthar, had done so little to
help this cause, she removed Coranthar from his station and appointed Gallorill
as her royal wizard.  Jenek moved south
to the southern tip of the island nation to build a small cottage and live
peacefully there.  No one knows what
happened to Allimere, the monk who aided them in the final battle.