Age of Change - The Aspect of Space

"Age of Change - The Aspect of Space" is a chronicle started at march 10th 2022 which got finished earlier as planned after only two seasons at april 6th 2023. The story takes place in the Kingdom of Germatria, which is located at the continent of Ysselhaim. In the timeline of Arceiron as a whole it is a direct sequel to the chronicles Age of Conquest - Fall of the Gods and Age of Conquest - The Calamity of Dragons, which both took place a few years before this adventure began. As such it is the third installment in the cosmology of Arceiron.   The story takes place a few years after the events of the previous campaigns in the year 4 of the newly started Age of Change. In the timeline of Arceiron it is the overall year 3174 Age of Men. It is also the dawn of a new age, after the previous stories finished with the end of the formerly called "Age of Conquest". Many wars in the realm of the mortals, but also in the halls of the gods had taken place and finally ended and the world itself still recovers from the catastrophes, conflicts and terrors, but still have a lot of trouble, consequences and changes to handle. The mighty Empire of Ehlona, located at the northern subcontinent of Ysselhaim, Thameria, still suffers from the not so long finished First Thamerian War and the Second Thamerian War, which is still in progress. While the leading forces of the realm fighting each other for control and dominance and the borders of the kingdoms get set anew again and again with every battle, the populace of the continent suffers from that wars and conflicts and all the trouble that comes with it. And so it is, like it always was before, the strength and willpower of special individuals, which get motivated to answer the call to adventure, take the challenges, that the new age offers them to finally build up a new and better world and future at this dawn of a new age...

Plot Summary

Season I

The Kai'ratha Treasures (Chapter 1 - 19)

In the small town of Everton, located in the Kingdom of Germatria, the influential, local noble, Rhasmir K. Shasa awards a high payment for a special quest, he wants to have fulfilled: to bring him the sacred Scrolls of Kai'ratha, fabulous and wondrous scrolls, that shall contain a lot of mysteries and magic. A band of adventurers, all of them with their own individual reasons to take up that quest and the reward for it, arrives in town to get hired for that quest. The Tiefling and scholar Ruby Darwish is on the hunt for some long forgotten knowledge of old times, which she hopes to recover and to bring them back to the libraries of her homeland. She get's accompanied by her best friend, a Dune Human named Vaelin al Saffiyah, a stoic mercenary, which sees that quest just as another mission for payment and honor. The wild warrior Lea Alvaro, accompanied by her loyal companion, the Winter Wolf Askan, looks for that payment to buy him an armor to protect her best friend from any harm. And the two novices of the famous Arcane College of Helios, the Artificer Lark Goldrain and they best friend, the magical gunslinger Galen Silvers are looking for glory and to improve their reputation by finding a legendary artifact and study it, bringing forth their research as a trophy and so finally ending their status as outcasts in the academy. Everyone of this five individuals is special in some way, outcasts and pariahs with special powers, but also individual dreams, wishes and goals, which they want to get fulfilled by finding that mysterious scrolls.   Although they are so different in their ways of thinking, their moral code and dreams, the five heroes bands together, accepting the mission of the mysterious Lord Shasa and get on their journey to the Temple of Kai'ratha to find the sacred Scrolls of Kai'ratha and bring them to their mysterious client. Their journey leads them first through the dangerous Drudshire Region, where they get into the ways of mysterious Fey and hinder their goals. They also travel through the city of Abbotsbury and get into political affairs, especially into a conflict with the mysterious cult of Xelakor and the criminal syndicate of Nighthowl, which they both have to fight to stop some sinister plans for the whole of Germatria. Finally they arrive at the Temple of Kai'ratha where the fulfillment of all their dreams seems to be hidden. But the temple is not what they believed and there they meet other powers, which want to take control of the Scrolls of Kai'ratha. Slowly the adventurers have to learn, that this tome hides some long forgotten secrets alongside some old and dark mysteries and the fulfillment of their dreams and their mission could easily be the downfall of not just the kingdom, but all of Arceiron, if the dangerous secrets of this scrolls get revealed...

Season II

Adventures in the Empire (Chapter 20 - 45)

The surviving adventurers return from their quest to the Temple of Kai'ratha, broken and scarred from that experience. After returning to Everton, they hand over the Scrolls of Kai'ratha to Lord Shasa, to finally fulfill their mission, but none of them feels any glory, pride or anything else they hoped to find before. The loss of their trusted companion, Ruby Darwish weighs heavy and so her best friend Vaelin al Saffiyah, which now have no longer a reason to stay in that foreign lands leaves the party and return to his homeland of Marquandt, to find a new way for his own and a new purpose to follow. The rest of the party remains disillusioned after their first mission, because of all the things that had happened on their way. The cult of Xelakor is still around in the lands and after the last events the group also learned, that the shadow of Varcor and so the whole Empire of Vile Darkness remains threatening as a lingering shadow above the Empire of Ehlona. The mysteries about the fabled Aspects of Power which the adventurers heard about, also remains unsolved. But before the broken group wants to return to their hometown of Solgard, the capital city of the Ehlonian Empire, they want to fulfill their promise to the little, but also cursed girl Liana and saving her from the mysterious Director. To fulfill that promise they return to the Druid Hills to solve the mystery there as a first hint of their mission. They get accompanied by two new companions for that mission: The curious Witch Elaine Darkshine, which have the duty to safeguard the magical borders of the natural world and keep the balance intact and the Sun Elf and Bladesinger Layana Waenelis, which travels the land on a personal mission, but got interested especially in Galen Silvers and Lark Goldrain. Together they handle to defeat the corrupted Dark Leshy, the guardian of the woods and bring back peace to the forest. The thankful creatures of the woods, represented by none other then the legendary Kurnous the Hunter himself owns the group a favor and so they could get the chance to reach the realm of the Director, but they realize, they are not strong enough to defeat this entity right now and so they have to put the favor and the whole rescue mission for Liana on hold, until the right moment has come.   The restless group finally get's a new mission, given to them by none other then Arkanta van Shadris, the leader of the mysterious Helios Intelligence Agency. They shall travel to Kanmera and escort an important prisoner back to Solgard. After taking up that quest and arriving in Kanmera, the group has to fulfill plenty of missions inside the city, because of the troubled populace needing their help. When they finally take the prisoner, Naralyss Torana, a Drow assassin of dangerous reputation and start their escort back to the capital of the empire, things get out of control soon enough with Naralyss got set free through unlucky circumstances. On the hunt to get her back into captivity the group falls into a dangerous trap, which lead to them fighting a horde of undead in a ruined city, a fight, where Elaine Darkshine looses her life. The rest of the group got's captured by Naralyss and find themselves in the Underdark, where they become prisoners of the infamous House Torana. There they meet the Dragonborn Paladin Wrex Vrondiss, which is there a long time and with his help and the assistance of the mysterious Leta, which Lea Alvaro made a deal with, the group escaped the underdark and return to the surface world. They return to Solgard, failed again in their mission and with another companion dead, which leads to more and more turmoil inside the group itself. In the capital city old and new troubles catch the members of the adventuring party once more and they have to deal with the outcome of their mission. The conflict inside the group reach its peak with Galen Silvers and Layana Waenelis being no longer able to form a proper group, because of their different world views. Finally the group splinters because of all that burdens and as a result of the fails of the past. None of them knows at this point, that the troubles, problems and dangers they set loose at their own or at least got witnessed on their travels will reach them again, still lingering as a threat of all of the empire and maybe all of Ysselhaim. But the adventurers can't escape their duties for good and when the time is right, they will have to return to make things right, being the last bulwark against all the threats for the realm...

Protagonists

Current Protagonists

Lark Goldrain

(Thoralian Human, Artificer, Toymaker Specialist)   The person, widely known as Lark Goldrain is hard to classify and even harder to describe. Not fully tied to a singular gender, Lark is a special person in the world of Arceiron. More then that they special abilities are outstanding and somewhat particular. They is a novice of the Arcane College of Helios and on paper a student of magic. But instead of reading books, learning formulas and spells from old scrolls and tomes, they is a creator of things, especially building toys, dolls, small figures and other stuff, that brings forth a smile on a child's face. But Lark is more then just an ordinary toymaker. They is able to weave them's arcane magic into they's creations and so give them special abilities and powers, in an offensive or defensive way, which makes them a perfect advancement to any challenge an adventuring party has to face. Not being the best warrior of the group or even the strongest one, Lark mostly supports the group out of the second row, being the smart head of the party. With constructing new toys, weapons and items on their travels and even making new inventions on their way, Lark truly is a genius and the boneback of the group. Between Galen Silvers and them consists a deep bond and friendship, because both of them are outcasts of the College of Helios, because of their special abilities and unusual way of using the arcane arts. Lark invented the special combination of gun's and magic, that Galen uses in battle and now they both travel the land to test out that invention and a lot of other ideas Lark has in practice, but also to earn some reputation and prove everyone, that they are not less worth then all the other wizards and mages in the College. They strife for acceptance and to become part of a society, that mistrust and laugh about them, having the dream of showing everyone, that they are worthy members of the Arcane Conclave, even if they are different and somewhat special.

Galen Silvers

(Sun Elf, Spellblade, Tradition of the Eldritch Marksman)   Galen Silvers is a Sun Elf, but have very less in common with the traditional cliche of his people. Instead of being sublime, politely reserved or even arrogant, he is loud, direct and unsparingly honest. The only trait he has in common with his people is being some sort of self-overestimating behaviour and his overwhelming confidence in his own abilities and powers. As a novice of the Arcane College of Helios, Galen should've learned the traditional ways of the arcane magic, but the unsolved mysteries of his past, the complete loss of his memories and personal identity, made this impossible to him. He felt a strong connection to the famous bladesingers, the elite cadre of sun elf warriors, but after he not got the chance to join them and they even laughed about him, he wanted to show them, who he truly is. With the help of his best friend, Lark Goldrain, which shares the stigma of being an outcast at the college, they invented a special pair of guns and created a whole new style of fighting, combining black powder and arcane magic at it's full potential. Under the use of his self-given title of "Hexschütz" Galen now fights brave, confronting every enemy and challenge and tireless improve his skills at their adventures. He wants to make this chosen name immortal in the realms to show everyone, that Lark and he are not just outcasts, but also because this title might be the only identity he ever will have. He deeply hopes, that he will find everlasting glory in battle, but also fights for Lark's well-care and with the secret goal in mind to help his best friend to become a famous and accepted Archmage of the Arcane Conclave one day, making them part of the society they got pushed out before.

Lea Alvaro

(Thoralian Human, Beastheart, Ferocious Bond)   The wild and ferocious warrior, widely known as Lea Alvaro spent more time in the wilderness of the world then in the civilized lands of the empire. She has a deep connection with nature itself, but even more with the most dangerous primal beasts living there. That bonds lasts deeper then any connections she ever felt with humans or the human society. A fateful event in her past brought her into contact with a white Winter Wolf. She rescued him as a puppy from poachers and ruthless hunters and raised him as her best friend, even her brother, naming him Askan. Many years later they now travel the lands together, sharing a deep bond and being loyal companions against all threats and troubles that stand in their way. Lea is also part of the loosely organized society of the World Wanderers, sharing their goals of keeping the balance of nature and society, protecting the borderlands from troubles and keeping the roads safe. To fulfill that goals she travels with Askan through the lands, fighting monsters and tireless protecting men and beasts alike. Askan's raw physical power and her own masterful skills of archery are a perfect combination, which allows them to fight enemies, others would flee in fear and to take on any challenge wilderness brings up to them. Lea and Askan sharing a deep and everlasting bond, which will surpass even death itself and being a unit in battle and life, that shows, how much can achieved in harmony between nature and progress.  

Wrex Vrondiss

(Dragonborn, Paladin, Oath of the Chosen)   A proud gem Dragonborn, the man known as Wrex Vrondiss is a stoic warrior and a anointed Paladin, which is part of the famous and legendary Dragon Knights. For many years he followed the code of his order to hunt down dragons and protect the mortal realms from that everlasting threat. With doing that he tried to hinder that mighty creatures into taking influence in society and into fulfilling their plans and securing the well-care of the mortals, watching himself as a bulwark against that lingering threat to the world. His mighty appearance, an enormous physis and his skills to wield even the biggest of weapons, the most heavy armor and gigantic shields makes him a living fortress against all dangers and threats to his companions and all people he wants to protect. His determination is as strong as his armor and so is his love for battle. This love to combat strong warriors and duel himself with worthy opponents got him the attention of the goddess of battle, Erzaria, which chose him as some sort of champion and blessed his oath of honor to fight the strongest enemies and take up even the deadliest challenges. While on a personal quest, two years prior to the start of the chronicle, he got captured by House Torana and brought into slavery, becoming a guardian of that house of Drows in the Fouldark. He was unable to escape this tormentors of his honor for a long time, but his iron will never got broken by them. When other adventurers, which are about to share his destiny, got brought into the noble house, he took the only chance, he ever might get, allied himself with that group and helped them to escape the Underdark and House Torana. So he was finally able to return to the surface world, where he took up arms to fight the monstrous evils again. Traveling with his new friends and companions, he became part of that adventuring party, finding new friends and allies in his quest to protect the world and to surpass any lingering and upcoming threats, no matter how strong and invincible they might be.  

Former Protagonists

Ruby Darwish †

(Tiefling, Bard, College of Lore)   Ruby Darwish was a traveling scholar, originating from Marquandt, a seeker of knowledge from the order of the Lorekeepers. She was bound to the code of her people, sworn to protect the knowledge and secrets of all of Arceiron. She was on the mission to reachieve some old forgotten knowledge and bring it back to the sacrad halls of the libraries of her order. This knowledge could be historical documentations, stories about special events of the past or even magical informations, formulas or rites. Ruby never was unobtrusive or even silent on her journeys, being a iridescent personality, which is loud, honest, always cheerful and even curious and open minded to everyone else around her. She also was very interested in special things and persons, wanting to know everything about them or at least as much as possible. Her direct and intrusive personality somewhat was disturbing for other people around her, but as a kind and good-hearted person she was able to fill the hearts of even the most gloomy individuals with some sort of joy. She also was a talented adept of the arcane arts, using her sharp tongue and eloquent capabilites to summon and control her magic and to weave her spells. She used her magic in battle, as well as for research and for entertainment. On her travels through Marquandt, she met the silent and gloomy Dune Human Vaelin al Saffiyah, a mercenary, which became her best friend and joined her in her adventures. He became some sort of protector to the young Tiefling, but also a good friend and companion, even followed her to another continent to take on the quest in Everton to find the Scrolls of Kai'ratha. She and Vaelin were obvious opposites in their whole behaviour, but she was the only one to ever earned his full trust and she's also was the only one able to really see into the heart of the stoic Fighter and bring forth some emotions or even some enjoyment of life out of that dark warrior of the dunes.   In the Temple of Kai'ratha, Ruby fought alongside the rest of the party against Corvax Zenarkaras and his Cult of Varcor, where she was essential to finally claim the scrolls, helping her friends defeating their enemies trough the use of her supporting magic. She's also the first one of the party to take a look into the fable and get a first impression about the intense magic that lies within that tome, being closer to her goal then ever before. But when the group tried to escape the temple and enter a room filled with an enormous horde of undead, Ruby was forced to fight them alongside her friends, being exhausted and her magic burned out after the previous intense battle. She got's overwhelmed by the horde of foes, finally bleeding out at the temple ground, before someone could reach and help her. She died a tragical death, with the escape of the room being close and only a few steps away from the fulfillment of the mission and with the biggest treasure in hands a scholar could wish for. Her death was impactful for all of the group, but especially for Vaelin, which lost his only friend and the only person which truly understood him. This was the final trigger to the Fighter to leave the party and the whole of Ysselhaim to return to their homeland of Marquandt, becoming stronger and finding a new purpose to overcome the death of Ruby. Vaelin but the whole world lost a special person that day and up to this day the death of Ruby had impact on the group and influence their whole way for the future.  

Vaelin al Saffiyah

(Dune Human, Fighter, Archetyp of the Sword Dancer)   Grim and fierce, but also brave and determined in his appearance, Vaelin al Saffiyah, a Dune Human from Marquandt is a stoic mercenary, fighting for everyone, which is able to pay him. Armed with his two scimitars, which he is able to wield swift and with ease, more like a dance of blades then the typical swordplay, he is a deadly foe to every enemy of his. He uses speed, acrobatic moves and elegance in battle and with this special technique he is able to overcome even the most hardest of enemies, slicing trough bone and flesh alike and bring them down, before they can catch him. He is a true master of blades and a whirlwind of steel like a real derwish. Vaelin is also part of the Merchant's Guild and shares a deep connection to this faction of influential traders, with his family and especially his father being a very important member of that faction, giving his name some reputation inside their ranks. But Vaelin never saw any honor inside the things, his father and family does, even despises their behaviour and so he left them to find his own way, becoming a deadly warrior to get strong by his own, not just through the name of his father. Vaelin is a very reserved person, never showing more emotions then necessary and never let anyone see, what he truly thinks and feels. He hides his face behind some cloth, which give him some grim and secretive appearance, supporting the look of a mysterious and deadly warrior of the east. The only person, which ever was able to look behind his facade was Ruby Darwish, which he met in his homeland and which become his best and only true friend. Ruby was the only one to understand his emotions, his agenda and his feeling and she was able to bring forth some enjoyment of life in his dark and brooding heart. He followed Ruby trough her journey, even to another continent to take on a special mission to find a mysterious tome. But in opposition to his dark look and brooding behaviour Vaelin is a reliable man, stoic and determined to reach his goals in life, regarding his origins, his traditions and his honor. He is a man going his way in the world, where ever it will leads him.   After the Scrolls of Kai'ratha got achieved and the group brought it back to their client, Rhasmir K. Shasa, Vaelin left the party, because of the death of Ruby Darwish on that mission. Without Ruby and with the fulfillment of their contract he has no reason to stay at the continent any longer, since he never was interested in the political affairs of the Kingdom of Germatria. Overwhelmed by the loss of his own friend and the only person which truly understood him, he returned to Marquandt to take on new missions as a mercenary, travel through his homeland, becoming stronger and fight other battles. Only accompanied by a mysterious entity originating from the Far Realm, which the group met and freed inside the Temple of Kai'ratha he now travels the world on his own, taking up new challenges and wandering to new adventures. If he ever returns to Ysselhaim or the Kingdom of Germatria is unknown.  

Elaine Darkshine †

(Thoralian Human, Witch, Circle of Black Magic)   A Witch, originating from the untouched and untamed wild areas of the continent of Ysselhaim, Elaine Darkshine was a person deeply connected to the Weave of Magic itself. She dedicated herself to the protection of this natural law and the same time watched herself as a protector of the natural world itself, with Bel'sah, the witch goddess being the leading aspect of her whole being and the entity which teachings she deeply adored. She was a follower of the circle of black magic, but mostly not shared their evil world views, tendencies and teachings and always tried her best to do the right thing and follow some path of good. But the influence of her circle, which she was connected to lasted on her person and influenced her behaviour out of her control. Her will to do the good thing and her actual doing wasn't the same often enough, since she couldn't ignore the teachings of her childhood and the dark whispers in her mind. Her whole life was a constant struggle between the path of good and light and the dark and evil ways of her circle. She tried her best to live the teachings of Bel'sah in a good way, worship the natural order of the Weave and fulfill her agenda and mission as a protector of the arcane law and the magical world itself. It was a constant fight to find her own identity and moral code and a lifelong journey to find out, who she is truly meant to be.   While the group, including Elaine Darkshine, hunted the escaped drow Assassin Naralyss Torana and tracked her path into a ruined elven city near Kanmera, they found out the ruin is filled with an army of undead and restless souls, resurrected trough the power of a dark object, the Heart of Darkness, lingering inside the temple of the city. Overwhelmed by the whole undead populace of the city the group errected a barricade inside a ruined house to fight the monsters. Naralyss offered the group the possibility of rescue, if they surrender their mission and let her escape, something, Layana Waenelis not wanted to do, because of her honor as a warrior and because of her hatred for all of the drow. This rejection of help is the doom for Elaine, because she can't stand against the overwhelming odds of their enemies, getting killed the moment her magical energy is used up and her defense weakened. While the rest of the party barely survives and getting brought to the Fouldark as slaves to House Torana, Elaine died because of her massive wounds in the ruins of this city. Her death is not just tragical but also even more bitter, since it was the decision of her own group, that brought her into that situation and finally ended her life.

Layana Waenelis

(Sun Elf, Wizard, School of Bladesinging)   A Sun Elf, originating from the far realms of Niiringard, Layana Waenelis is a student of the school of Bladesinging, which makes her, beside her status as a noble, part of the most elite cadre of elven warriors in all realms. She combines the art of arcane magic with the stilistic and elegant use of the blade and therefore practice a combined style of fighting, using acrobatic, swiftness and arcane powers at the same time. She's a typical Elf, being decent reserved and formally polite to others, but let them feel all the time, that she is superior and looks down at anyone else as inferior to her nobility and skills. She's calm and effective in her doing, never let anyone see some emotions, which helps her to fight her enemies and achieve victory. As addition to her normally cold behaviour she mostly covers her face with some cloth, which even more hide her identity to others and give her a somewhat mysterious look, making her a faceless person, no one can assess. Originally she left Niiringard and travels through Ysselhaim to reachieve some old and long forgotten treasures of her people, which got lost after the fall of the ancient kingdoms of the elfs in the past of the continent. She also shares a friendship with Brynn Corandiel, which told her about the adventuring party she met, especially the human Lark Goldrain, which rescued her life and also the sun elf, Galen Silvers, which asked questions about the bladesingers and seems to have some connection to them. Layana decided to join the party after their return to Everton to find out more about that two individuals and also because she got interested in their agenda.   As part of the adventuring party she quickly became one of the strongest warriors in the group, but her somewhat radical world view brought her into conflict with Galen, who not shared her sense of elven superiority and even hates and despises that. On top of that his past with the bladesingers is antagonistic, which leads to even more conflict between him and Layana. In Solgard, after the group finally failed the mission to escort Naralyss Torana and got into captivity, Layana left the party out of frustration and with her sense of honor heavily damaged by the fact, that she got captured by some Drows. She left the party and even the continent of Ysselhaim, returning to the noble lands of her origin to master her skills and become an even deadlier warrior. If she would return into the Empire of Ehlona, when she finds out about all the troubles and dangers the group has to face, if not for some type of friendship then for reachieve her own honor and status is unknown.