The Chronicles of Phe: Chapter 1

There should be a steep price to pay for my sins against Bahamut. Phe thought to himself as he lay next to the fire. He stared through the flames to the thick forest outside the cave. Even though the night air was thick and still, Phe threw another breath on the fire.

Phe reached into his sack with his leathery scaled hand to pull out a small map. After studying it for a short time, he leaned out past the cave opening to look up at the sparkling diamonds above him. They spoke to him.

He sighed. Will this be far enough away? Will they find me? No one can know who I really am. They would never trust me. The map was very old and had a small seal in the lower right corner that looked like a draconic eye staring through fire. Carefully, he rolled up the map and placed it back in his sack. Tomorrow would be a long day of travel on foot, and he would need all the rest he could get to finish scaling the pass to find the desert. No one would think to search for him there. He hadn't been home since he was a child – and he was not going back.

As he put the map back in his sack, he felt another piece of parchment in his bag. Phe didn't have to look to know that this other document was a poster for The Circus. This specific poster was advertising the Fantastic Pheonixfire and Musician. A rare smirk lined Phe's face as he closed his pack and laid back down.

Though Musician was Tiefling and Phe was Dragonborn they found friendship in their priority of honor. After they were forced to leave home when they were children, Phe and Ian had fled to The Circus. The Circus was a generic group of gypsies and misfits. Each act was as separate as the performers. No one conversed out of their act though they traveled as a family. Phe and Ian performed as brothers. Phe threw flames and ice that would dance to Ian's lute. Their performances were often favorites among audiences.

Unfortunately, The Circus performances often found the seediest parts of the land. The final performance that Phe and Ian held ended in death, destruction and sadness...

The Fantastic Pheonixfire (Phe) is my dragonborn character in our current D & D campaign. I chose to have a solitary character who didn't speak much due to my need during game play to get up frequently and take care of one of the geeklings. My DM (also my husband) added the circus performing bit of the character, which I think is a nice touch. After a couple of the other players asked, “where DID Phe come from?” I started wondering myself. I have never laid a hand on any of the D & D books. But when I made the decision to start telling my character's story, I knew I would have to crack the books and do some research. My husband never thought he would see the day...

Defense at Silver Hollow - World Map

I created the original map in Campaign Cartographer, and then 'traced' it in Hexographer. I think this works much better than trying to draw landmasses and stuff directly into Hexographer. The scale is 12.5 miles/hex, meaning that foot travel on open land is 2 hexes/day, while on horse is 4/day.

Defense at Silver Hollow - Pregame

After a hiatus, we got back into Dungeons & Dragons. We started over with yet another campaign (I know!), but based on the last setting in Silver Hollow, combined with the more epic storyline from the previous Master of the Dead campaign. I know the players probably didn't want to start over, but Master of the Dead suffered pretty hard from my newbie dm railroad, while the Silver Hollow/Exotic Meat Procurement campaign didn't have enough of a story to keep the players interested. We have played a few session on this new campaign and I think it's going to last through the end. The goals for this campaign:

• Starting at level 4 (players are tired of starting at 1, again).
• Epic storyline with meaningful choices.
• Mix of combat and social interaction.
• Travel with dungeon, urban, and wilderness combat.
• Flexible enough to allow players to come and go.

The player characters start out in the walled city of Silver Hollow, meeting up for drinks and remenicence on the fourth anniversary of a heroic delivery of medicines to cure a horrible plague.

Starting players:

• Malik al-Magriba (Nick), Shifter Warlord. A bow-wielding cat-man from the shifter Caliphate in the deserts to the east.
• The Fantastic Phoenixfire (Cathe), Dragonborn Sorcerer. A mysterious circus performer from parts unknown.
• Fyodora (Lisa), Elf Monk. A master of mind and body from the icy north.
• Luccio Rossi (Adam), Drow Rogue. A former privateer from the City-States to the south-west.

Silver Hollow - Religion

The Triumvirate of Silver Hollow The people of Silver Hollow, beyond their personal or racial religious beliefs, venerate the three goddesses as the divine guardians of their city. Avandra, patron goddess of Trade. Prayers and offerings to Avandra are given to assure the safe passage of caravans and good luck in trade negotiations. Ioun, patron goddess of Knowledge. Ioun is invoked by researchers, planners, and scholars to help them find the information they are looking for. Erathis, patron goddess of Civilization. The people pray to Erathis for the continued order and safety of the city. Darker Sides Each of the goddesses has a darker aspect which whispers to the unwary. Tiamat, the five-headed dragon of Greed. Success in trade can lead to greed - Tiamat feeds the desire to horde and covet. Lolth, spider-mother of Secrets. The pursuit of knowledge above all else - and all others - drives those under the influence of Lolth to keep such information to themselves, until it can be used to greatest end. Asmodeé, devil-temptress of Power. Civilization gives those in power control over others; Asmodeé tempts those in power to seek more, at any expense.

Silver Hollow

Silver Hollow is a sizable city located in a shallow valley between two mountain passes. A major trade road crosses the mountain range at this point; the coffers of Silver Hollow are rich with tariffs collected from passing traders and caravans. Wealthy merchant families from many different races have permanent residences in the city. The city is named for the dwarven mines that the city was originally built around. The shafts were excavated to mine Etherium Silver, a shimmering near-liquid used in enchanting. The trade road runs east and west through the passes, through gates in the East and West Walls that guard the city. The middle-class Eastwall and Westwall districts house craftsmen and minor traders. The central Market Circle is the home of the elite merchant families and the banking and insurance halls. In the south-east of the valley lies The Fields, several small farms that supply fresh fruits and vegetables. On the slopes of Goat Mountain to the south is Herdertown, home of weavers and cheesemakers, as well as goat- and sheep-herders who graze their flocks on the alpine meadows above. To the north of Market Circle lies a gash in the rock - The Chasm is a twisting alley that runs narrowly between buildings clinging to the high rock walls. Anything and everything can be found for sale in this sketchy district. Beyond this, on the slopes of Silver Mountain lies Minertown, the remenants of the village built around the now-closed mines. Outside the gates of walls are The Slopes, a collection of huts and tents, home to those too poor or outcast to live even in the squalor of Minertown.