Season 3

Season 3 of A Symphony of Steel, colloquially referred to as Wither & Bloom is the most recent ongoing campaign within the universe of Kerebos. It debuted following several months of behind-the-scenes worldbuilding and restructuring of various campaing settings held over the past several years, leading up to the "official" launch of Kerebos & The Reach you see chronicled within these codices.

Caution! This article pertains to real-world, out of character information. The information here may not reflect the in-universe canon, or may shine light on information that is clouded by in-universe bias. It should not be used to metagame, as it may not provide the whole context. Creation & Preparation

Following the end of Season 2, there was a clear need to refocus on the world at large to flesh it out for more general purpose consumption and creation. Season 3 was born at the tail-end of that creative process, seeing the world of The Reach revamped into something larger, combining aspects from campaigns dating back as far as 2017, beginning with the island of Blackbriar and the surrounding Ostea, expanding the lore of the distant Andeve and the attached Lorenza, before adding on unique lore-relevant locations in Tyrafin, Frostide, and the Southern Isles. Many locations, factions, and even entire characters have been reworked and refitted into this universe, presenting one unified 'canon' moving forward, while not erasing or invalidating the alternate universe versions of those characters from previous-run campaigns.

Even from its earliest construction, Season 3 was intended to be the backbone of a broader scope of games, modules, and fiction. However, the Campaign itself was the most important piece of the puzzle. Four regular party members joined up, and a new recruit was found through extensive Reddit application processes. The first major arc, The Alderwood's End, is currently ongoing.

The campaign's gameplay focus, as decided by the players at the outset, are as follows: crafting and resource gathering, tactical combat, and heavy, faction-centric roleplay opportunities.

  Season: Wither & Bloom

The Party first assembled as three new recruits of The Wild Hunt, sailing to The Rookery as members of the Frostide Expedition. Though the trio did not know one another, they quickly found common ground within the city, recruiting a local member of The Broken Blade and the adopted son of a local fortune teller to their cause. Much of this early unification came from the guidance of Fernando de Loeffre, an exiled second son of a noble house of Rosegarden who had distant connections to both Vespera and, seemingly, Sparrow.

The party ran afoul of The Stormcallers, who had been preparing some kind of ritual in the abandoned crypt beneath a church of The Herald of the Sky, killing one of the cultists in the process. Though their investigation bore little fruit, they attracted the attention of the city's leader, Meredith Stormguard, as well as the resurrected cultist they had killed days prior, warning them to remove themselves of local affairs.

The Hunt moved on from the Rookery and journeyed briefly to Perilous, where Sparrow made a demonstration of some Lamplighters who had gone rogue and murdered the city's iron-fisted ruler. It was not the first time the group had heard whispers the thieves' guild, though this first impression was hardly a positive one.

As their trek to Sanctum continued, a young member of The Dungeon Scouts went missing in the dead of night. The party followed the trail to a gnoll encampment, where they heard the missing scout shrieking, only to find that she had been helping play with the young litter recently born to one of the few remaining members of The Laughing Rime Clan. There, the grim reality of the investigative thread they'd been following came taut: something had corrupted Frostide, with fungus and mushroom growth running rampant. These gnolls had been infected, just like the wolves and plants they had been stumbling across as they hunted and foraged for food. It seemed tied to their reason for coming to the continent: uncovering what corruption lurked within the heart of the The Alderwood.

Once in Sanctum, the party developed a fraught-but-friendly relationship with Tandys Koltir, leader of the local Lamplighters, and were even recruited following a successful heist beneath the city's bank. They also met Ursha, a priestess of the Herald and member of the mysterious The Alderwyrd, who sought to aid them in the healing of her former home. But she was not the only witch in the woods: during a scouting mission, the party crossed swords with Yoska, a hag who attempted to barter with them to save the life of Rumblestrike. Upon defeating her, a fragment of the hag's powers was absorbed by Vespera, further cementing her ties to the strange powers of the forest.

Now, the Hunt continues its mission. Protected by totems of ancient magic, two small forces lead the charge into the Alderwood. Led by Fern, the party heads to Fortitude, learning that the ancient siege-proof city's defenses seem to be lacking rather considerably, while Luria Frostfang, leader of the Hunt, takes a team of her own toward Helgamut at the heart of the Alderwood, where Vespera was invited to travel by the coven of hags now calling her Sister.

Sidequest: Coronation
Coronation was a two-shot played during one player's leave of absense. Due to scheduling conflicts, it was not completed, and therefore ended on a cliffhanger. The exact details, as they played out, will be revealed to players at a later time.

An invitation was extended across Ostea to attend the coronation of young Ophelia Mercymorn, the sole survivor of her house's massacre at the hands of unknown assailants. The banquet was set to rival none other, as Lord and Lady de Loeffre prepared to advise the girl in her new role as Queen-Regent of the Court of Thorns.

However, as the night unfolded, a plot to assassinate the young girl unraveled. The investigations of Aelion d'Elzarys, Tallow Birch, Luther Toussaint, and Haru led them to back-room deals with various important figures of Ostean influence and Rosegarden's nobility, including a promise to Ophelia herself to keep her safe as the night went on.

According to Fernando de Loeffre, his father sent him an update on the affairs as news began to break: they had successfully thwarted the attempt. According to the report, one of Lady Mercymorn's ladies-in-waiting was a fiend in disguise, and used her power to sway one of Ophelia's personal guard to strike. Further details are currently unknown.

Trivia

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