After the massive push to take down Arbory at the Battle of Berryfield, the war with Fathomfall cooled, with Fathomfall working to consolidate what land it had taken from Arbory, Omar Nadine, and the Federation of Sentience, rather than attempting to grab more for itself. The adventurers were engaged by crews of specialists: sappers and assassins, indirect strikes that could not be traced to Fathomfall.
New Arbory, the kingdom united under the supposedly retrieved heir to the throne of the King, attempted its own push into Twinspire Vale, claiming that they supported Fathomfall’s call for justice against the murderous Outlanders. Enslaved soldiers from the Allied Travaelian Army made guerilla attacks within Twinspire Vale, Arbory, and Omar Nadine; enslaved savage races (kobolds, orcs, giants, and the like) made strikes along the borders; but out-and-out battle was no longer a factor.
This continued for another year, with the Pathfinders and their allies working to defang the Fathomfall war machine as best it could while also foiling the plots Fathomfall’s Captains came up with to weaken the Allied forces. Some worked with Chunka the Giant to help him free his savage kin from Fathomfall’s enslavement; some looked into the cases of lycanthropy cropping up in villages across Arbory and the Vale; some played the political game, looking to broker peace through diplomacy. Still others waged war for the hearts of Fathomfall’s citizens, investing in rebuilding efforts and assisting Fathomfall’s own heroes and adventurers in their quests.
The first great blow came when nobility within Twinspire Vale, led by research from the Arbiter’s Herald, uncovered proof that the “King” of New Arbory had no legitimate claim to the throne. The revelation saw an unprecedented number of volunteers joining the military, forcing Fathomfall to abandon its holdings near the border. Then Fathomfall was forced to retreat from its Mist Gate excursions to the northern Tundra, due to guerilla raids against their camps by the barbarians, resulting in an enormous loss of gold and magical items. Then came the discovery that Fathomfall’s Captains had Enslaved members of the Allied Travaelian Army, and deliberately infected citizens with lycanthropy, using them as “sleepers” to assault Allied villages.
The unrest in Fathomfall came to a head when Dame Nyrani, the Pathfinder Arbiter, released a letter detailing the findings of the investigation conducted by her and hers: that the vision Fathomfall had built its war around had been inaccurate, revealing a stone elf who was not among those present for the ritual - and that Fathomfall’s leadership included a stone elf ritualist among its ranks.
The revolution in Fathomfall was in full effect. The Konig and his advisors were forced to turn their enslaved monsters against their citizens to defend themselves against the sudden civil war. Their holdings in Omar Nadine and Twinspire Vale slipped away one by one, and the Pathfinders and Allied Travaelian Army made incursions into Fathomfall’s own lands, seeking out the Captains and Councilors who had engineered this war.
Then, the final blow - aided by the efforts of members of the Merchant’s Guild and the Pathfinders, the Academy of Elemental Mastery performed a great ritual, tapping into what was left of the fading Essence magic to weave a great spell of destruction that rippled throughout Travaelia, shattering all the objects of Essence power remaining in the land.
Both Forges exploded, destroying half the Academy of Elemental Mastery and gouging a great crater in the southern mountains. The golems that made up the bulk of Fathomfall’s army crumbled to dust and iron filings, and the necklaces that controlled the savage creatures fighting under Fathomfall’s banner disintegrated. The creatures, kobolds and trolls and goblins and ogres and things far stranger and more deadly, at first went berserk; but then their memories returned, and they turned against those who had once beaten and enslaved them.
The loyalist companies of Fathomfall’s armies were demolished. None were even able to surrender, instead forced to retreat from the burning, crumbling capital city. The smarter monsters stormed the Council Chambers, charging into battle alongside the Pathfinders, reaving through the guards inside and sending all but three of the Councilors to the Earth Circle. The Konig chose death before surrender, and received it - three times - before he dropped his hammer and bent his knee.
The war was over.
The Konig was brought before the High Arbiter, who remanded him to the custody of the dwarves for his punishment. He was killed again, and this time did not successfully resurrect.
Shortly afterward, High Arbiter Ziz Arimaspi called a meeting in Twinspire Vale, and invited rulers from all the peoples of the continent. Six rulers answered the call, some with greater claim than others; but after three days and three nights of debate, the Arbiter and the six emerged, and announced that this was to be the first day of the Six Nations Accord.
Old Arbory and New Arbory reunited, with the Queen ruling and the Princess marrying a Count of Omar Nadine in an effort to found a new lineage of kings.
Omar Nadine continued as it ever had, seeking to finish the rebuilding that had begun after the fall of Ruen Kraytor. When the city was fully reconstructed, they flew the banner of the Pathfinder’s Enclave alongside their own flags from the parapets.
The Konig’s son assumed the mantle of Konig, and, swearing not to let his father’s flaws rule him, led his people back to the mountains to mine the new caves ripped open by the destruction of the forge. He lives there to this day, letting the Council of Foremen rule as they once did, over the new dwarven kingdom of Flamehall.
The ruins of Bridgefen were left to fester. The King of the Dark Elves and his people remained there, dwelling in the tunnel systems beneath what was once the capital city. They call their kingdom Second Whisper, and though they cultivate an air of mystery, they are known to be more welcoming than their bearded neighbors.
The lands that were once the Federation of Sentience were claimed quickest of all - by the savage races that once lived there as slaves. Far from the raiders and reavers they had been before the Federation, they began to form their own loose clans and companies, with their own crude banners; but the largest and boldest banner of all belonged to their leader, the ruler of what came to be called the Feral Lands - Chieftain Chunka.
All this took place a year ago by the reckoning of the adventurers who live there. After a year of such lasting peace, the High Arbiter’s agents approached the adventurers, and told them the bitter but beautiful truth - there was no place for heroes in Travaelia at this time. They offered pensions and positions within the city to those who wished to stay, but also started offering to help them find employment elsewhere: none of the threats facing Travaelia required the kind of power they wielded, and with Chunka and his monsters self-policing the savage races, adventurers simply did not have adventures to undertake anymore.
The rebuilt and revivified Academy of Elemental Mastery performed one last great ritual, an inversion of the working that brought the Outlanders to Travaelia in the first place. The ritual was channeled through the Mist Gates, using them not as beacons, but as hounds, sniffing out pockets of civilization in the Mist where an adventurer might be needed; and they promised that if the adventurers of Travealia were ever needed again, they would find a way to send word to you.
Travaelia is safe, and it is thanks to the adventurers who lived there. Celebrate your victories, and prepare to weave a new tale; but first, let me say: thank you for being part of this one.
New Arbory, the kingdom united under the supposedly retrieved heir to the throne of the King, attempted its own push into Twinspire Vale, claiming that they supported Fathomfall’s call for justice against the murderous Outlanders. Enslaved soldiers from the Allied Travaelian Army made guerilla attacks within Twinspire Vale, Arbory, and Omar Nadine; enslaved savage races (kobolds, orcs, giants, and the like) made strikes along the borders; but out-and-out battle was no longer a factor.
This continued for another year, with the Pathfinders and their allies working to defang the Fathomfall war machine as best it could while also foiling the plots Fathomfall’s Captains came up with to weaken the Allied forces. Some worked with Chunka the Giant to help him free his savage kin from Fathomfall’s enslavement; some looked into the cases of lycanthropy cropping up in villages across Arbory and the Vale; some played the political game, looking to broker peace through diplomacy. Still others waged war for the hearts of Fathomfall’s citizens, investing in rebuilding efforts and assisting Fathomfall’s own heroes and adventurers in their quests.
The first great blow came when nobility within Twinspire Vale, led by research from the Arbiter’s Herald, uncovered proof that the “King” of New Arbory had no legitimate claim to the throne. The revelation saw an unprecedented number of volunteers joining the military, forcing Fathomfall to abandon its holdings near the border. Then Fathomfall was forced to retreat from its Mist Gate excursions to the northern Tundra, due to guerilla raids against their camps by the barbarians, resulting in an enormous loss of gold and magical items. Then came the discovery that Fathomfall’s Captains had Enslaved members of the Allied Travaelian Army, and deliberately infected citizens with lycanthropy, using them as “sleepers” to assault Allied villages.
The unrest in Fathomfall came to a head when Dame Nyrani, the Pathfinder Arbiter, released a letter detailing the findings of the investigation conducted by her and hers: that the vision Fathomfall had built its war around had been inaccurate, revealing a stone elf who was not among those present for the ritual - and that Fathomfall’s leadership included a stone elf ritualist among its ranks.
The revolution in Fathomfall was in full effect. The Konig and his advisors were forced to turn their enslaved monsters against their citizens to defend themselves against the sudden civil war. Their holdings in Omar Nadine and Twinspire Vale slipped away one by one, and the Pathfinders and Allied Travaelian Army made incursions into Fathomfall’s own lands, seeking out the Captains and Councilors who had engineered this war.
Then, the final blow - aided by the efforts of members of the Merchant’s Guild and the Pathfinders, the Academy of Elemental Mastery performed a great ritual, tapping into what was left of the fading Essence magic to weave a great spell of destruction that rippled throughout Travaelia, shattering all the objects of Essence power remaining in the land.
Both Forges exploded, destroying half the Academy of Elemental Mastery and gouging a great crater in the southern mountains. The golems that made up the bulk of Fathomfall’s army crumbled to dust and iron filings, and the necklaces that controlled the savage creatures fighting under Fathomfall’s banner disintegrated. The creatures, kobolds and trolls and goblins and ogres and things far stranger and more deadly, at first went berserk; but then their memories returned, and they turned against those who had once beaten and enslaved them.
The loyalist companies of Fathomfall’s armies were demolished. None were even able to surrender, instead forced to retreat from the burning, crumbling capital city. The smarter monsters stormed the Council Chambers, charging into battle alongside the Pathfinders, reaving through the guards inside and sending all but three of the Councilors to the Earth Circle. The Konig chose death before surrender, and received it - three times - before he dropped his hammer and bent his knee.
The war was over.
The Konig was brought before the High Arbiter, who remanded him to the custody of the dwarves for his punishment. He was killed again, and this time did not successfully resurrect.
Shortly afterward, High Arbiter Ziz Arimaspi called a meeting in Twinspire Vale, and invited rulers from all the peoples of the continent. Six rulers answered the call, some with greater claim than others; but after three days and three nights of debate, the Arbiter and the six emerged, and announced that this was to be the first day of the Six Nations Accord.
Old Arbory and New Arbory reunited, with the Queen ruling and the Princess marrying a Count of Omar Nadine in an effort to found a new lineage of kings.
Omar Nadine continued as it ever had, seeking to finish the rebuilding that had begun after the fall of Ruen Kraytor. When the city was fully reconstructed, they flew the banner of the Pathfinder’s Enclave alongside their own flags from the parapets.
The Konig’s son assumed the mantle of Konig, and, swearing not to let his father’s flaws rule him, led his people back to the mountains to mine the new caves ripped open by the destruction of the forge. He lives there to this day, letting the Council of Foremen rule as they once did, over the new dwarven kingdom of Flamehall.
The ruins of Bridgefen were left to fester. The King of the Dark Elves and his people remained there, dwelling in the tunnel systems beneath what was once the capital city. They call their kingdom Second Whisper, and though they cultivate an air of mystery, they are known to be more welcoming than their bearded neighbors.
The lands that were once the Federation of Sentience were claimed quickest of all - by the savage races that once lived there as slaves. Far from the raiders and reavers they had been before the Federation, they began to form their own loose clans and companies, with their own crude banners; but the largest and boldest banner of all belonged to their leader, the ruler of what came to be called the Feral Lands - Chieftain Chunka.
All this took place a year ago by the reckoning of the adventurers who live there. After a year of such lasting peace, the High Arbiter’s agents approached the adventurers, and told them the bitter but beautiful truth - there was no place for heroes in Travaelia at this time. They offered pensions and positions within the city to those who wished to stay, but also started offering to help them find employment elsewhere: none of the threats facing Travaelia required the kind of power they wielded, and with Chunka and his monsters self-policing the savage races, adventurers simply did not have adventures to undertake anymore.
The rebuilt and revivified Academy of Elemental Mastery performed one last great ritual, an inversion of the working that brought the Outlanders to Travaelia in the first place. The ritual was channeled through the Mist Gates, using them not as beacons, but as hounds, sniffing out pockets of civilization in the Mist where an adventurer might be needed; and they promised that if the adventurers of Travealia were ever needed again, they would find a way to send word to you.
Travaelia is safe, and it is thanks to the adventurers who lived there. Celebrate your victories, and prepare to weave a new tale; but first, let me say: thank you for being part of this one.