#campaign: Tides of Retribution

[spiderlilyart]

lmfao Sequoia asking Luciano and Sabine if they were together... Luciano just blushed and said they were friends..... Sorry Luciano but denial isn't a river in Egypt............

[cosmicbutterflies]

sometimes I make campaign memes, these memes include memorials for those who died (Nico) and sometimes it's for those that left the party (Zahari)

dedicated to both @arylace and @spiderlilyart

[baiwu-jinji]

"The intensified state regulations and the emergence of dangai industry 'as a form of speculative economy' have greatly altered the ecosystem of the danmei community. Since the ongoing censorship campaign 'relies on a large-scale, omnipresent reporting system', anyone who is unhappy with a writer or work for whatever reason could take vengeance through secret reporting. As the mutual trust and support between danmei writers and readers is ruined, writers would rather swim with the tide than take the risk to innovate and potentially offend their readers. Many veteran readers have started to complain that danmei has degenerated into a ‘silly, innocent and sweet’ genre, not much different from trite heterosexual romance. To counter this trend of banalisation, Sosadfun, a privately-owned, not-for-profit, invitation-only danmei website, was set up in 2017. In this secluded community, writers could be freed from the anxiety of censorship or readers’ retributive reporting while experimenting with new ideas and styles."

-‘OPENING THE DOOR TO A NEW WORLD’: Danmei and the Gender Revolution in China, by Ling Yang and Yanrui Xu

[encyclopediacr]

Last month at the wiki — June 2023

Encyclopedia Exandria is always changing with updates, additions, expansions, and edits. The first Wednesday of every month, we highlight significant work done in the previous month by our editing community.

As always, to start, here's a selection of ten articles created in June. You can find more of our newest articles at the 50 newest pages report—and below, since there were a great many this month.

Joan Abaddina, spiritual leader in Hearthdell

Eidolon, elemental spirits

Hevestro, archdruid living in Irriam Canyon

Irriam Canyon, located in Issylra

Horn of Fog, enchanted object that casts Fog Cloud

Bloodseeker, longbow wielded by Vex'ahlia

Lestera, fortune-teller with Fletching & Moondrop

Timeline of Campaign 2

Eye of Vecna

Goatball, sport popular among goliath clans

There's more to our work than just creating new articles. It was a quieter month, but we've done some work outside of regular updates.

Residuum received an overhaul to cover its role throughout the campaigns. Brokenbank's history was fleshed out to include its role in the Tide of Retribution adventure and missing mentions from Campaign 2.

The Q&A portion of "Liam's Quest" was also added, both questions AND answers, and Adelaide Bluebutton from "The Return of Liam" (or, "The Screw Job") is no longer a series of empty sections.

If you'd like to contribute to the wiki but don't know how, don't worry! Small edits like spelling and grammar corrections, adding reference timestamps, sticking {{cite}} at the end of unsourced statements, or updating out-of-date information is important work.

[rowletraine]

Back at the very beginning of the pandemic, when my family were all stuck in one house together, I offered to run a home D&D campaign for my folks. While the campaign itself didn't go too far, I have a lot of fond memories of our sessions.

I had picked up the Explorer's Guide to Wildemount recently, and though my family had little-to-no familiarity with Critical Role, they were more than happy to run the Tides of Retribution adventure from that book. Piracy and swashbuckling were a big draw for them.

One of my favorite parts of that campaign was the recurring cast of NPCs making up the crew of the Wavechaser, the Revelry ship that our heroes had joined up with. Most of these characters were taken from brief snippets within the EgtW and expanded upon in my notes, and it was fun getting to depict them in a proper piece of art.

[caparrucia]

I feel like this is the end point of a telephone chain of something that, as it often happens, was started with the best intentions.

Back in 2012 or thereabouts, during the height of the trucute vs transmed vitriol discourse that swept through this website like a hateful tide, TERFs started to Ship of Theseus their talking points and trying to get people who ostensibly disagreed with their dogshit takes to reblog them if they worded them just so.

Therefore you ended with people who were otherwise pretty chill/supportive of trans folk putting massive TERF dogwhistles on their blogs and spreading that insidious nonsense all around. It became polite etiquette to reach out to people you follow and let them know that the "women should be allowed to feel safe in bathrooms!" post they enthusiastically reblogged was penned by a raging TERF who did not think transwomen were women and that explicitly considered their presence in that bathroom an act of violence akin to sexual assault.

Like, the context that the OP of a specific post is a TERF or otherwise a known bigot, can and often does change the meaning of their words. And if you know that, you might find you no longer support their message, because their message is not what you initially thought it was.

However, as it often happens, a lot of people started to see this in action but did not understand how or why it worked: to them it was just a way to get content they disliked out of sight or, as it's very often the case with tumblr in particular, a fun new vector of harassment. So now you have a ton of people going into stranger DM's, pointing out that the person they reblogged from is EVIL KEYWORD OF THE DAY.

While I think the list of actions that @quicksandblock outlines is definitely helpful, I'd like to put forward another that's also important and easily highlights if you're dealing with good faith or bad faith anons:

Does OP being what they claim they are in any way change the meaning of their words?

Because that's the point of the OG "OP is a TERF" movement. Context on OP's beliefs and politics dramatically changing the meaning of their statements and transforming them into effectively hate speech. If that's not what's happening, you're way more likely to be dealing with a harassment campaign of some sort. Because then it's not "OP is spreading harmful speech and you shouldn't platform it so it doesn't spread further and hurt others" and it's more "OP did/said something I disagree with and I think they should be ostracized from society forever" which I think it's often very rare to justify as proportional and fair retribution for someone's actions, but an absolute favorite of a rabid hate mob harassing the designated acceptable target of the hour.

The number of times I’ve seen strangers on tumblr receive an ANONYMOUS message about someone they reblogged from, often to as vague a tune as “just so you know xyz on that last post is a bad person”

And the secretive whisper campaign recipient responds “omg thank you I’m sorry please don’t hurt me I don’t know anything about that person of course I’ve deleted it”

Is so wild to me

And frustrating

And also there’s this tiny, evil little voice in the back of my brain going “wow, this is so exploitable, you could exploit this, you could spam so many random messages about literally everyone until everything fell to chaos and maybe someone would even learn something”

Except obviously you can’t and shouldn’t fight abuse by replicating its tactics and that would inevitably do harm even if it is really tempting and also I wonder what would happen if someone made a bunch of bots for even more chaos

[kwaggysshardmindemporium]

I know a lot of my mutuals really hate 5e, but it's the system I GM for the game I'm running right now, and I'd like to share some of the stuff I've been cooking because I have chosen violence for this upcoming arc of the campaign. Basically I want to ratchet up the difficulty curve with something a bit more intense than my usual of "I fully expect my players to dunk on this."

For reference, my players are level 12, party of a whopping six (and as such my designs here are in my mind something resembling like CR 15-19), three of which I'd call munchkin builds, two of which are competent but not power-gamey, and the last somewhere between those. Anyway find some 5e monsters below the cut.

Also if you're a fan of Legends of Runeterra yes these names should be familiar and yes my players are idiots who voluntarily went to the place this shit lives.

Anyway first up is Rhasa. Hey DMs, you ever feel annoyed that absolutely no monster you could ever design could hope to out DPS the party at mid to high levels? Just make a monster who literally aikidos their DPS back at them!

Rhasa the Sunderer

Huge undead

HP 250

Spd 35, AC 19 (natural armor)

STR 24 DEX 12 CON 18 INT 14 WIS 12 CHA 12

Damage Immunities Necrotic

Condition Immunities Prone, Frightened

Retribution. When Rhasa is damaged by a source controlled by a hostile creature, that creature must make a DC 17 Wisdom saving throw or take half as much damage as Rhasa suffered as Necrotic damage. On a successful save, they take a quarter of the damage Rhasa suffered instead.

Legendary Resistance 2 uses per day

Legendary Actions, 1 use per round

Rhasa takes a Scythe attack

Rhasa uses its Suffering Bond action

Actions

Scythe. Melee weapon attack, +12 to hit, reach 10 ft, 1d6+7 Slashing damage, 1d6+1 necrotic damage

Suffering Bond. Ranged magic attack, range 120 ft. Target must roll a DC 17 Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, the target is now under the effects of the spell Warding Bond as though they themselves cast it targeting Rhasa. Unlike a normal casting of Warding Bond, the connection is severed if either creature is ever 120 feet or more away from the target, and can't be dismissed.

Next up is the Terror of the Tides. This is an undead sea monster that masquerades as a giant galleon. The terrain for this fight functionally is just the monster itself.

Terror of the Tides

Gargantuan Monstrosity

HP 500

Spd swim 90, AC 20 (natural armor, plate)

Damage Resistances Cold, Psychic

Damage Immunities Necrotic

Condition Immunities Stunned, Paralyzed, Charmed, Frightened

STR 28 DEX 10 CON 40 INT 16 WIS 28 CHA 10

Freedom of Movement. The Terror ignores difficult terrain, and magical effects can't reduce its speed or cause it to be restrained. It can spend 5 feet of movement to escape from nonmagical restraints or being grappled.

The Terror cannot be grappled.

Nightmare from the Isles. Before attacking the Terror, any creature attempting to do so must first succeed on a DC 18 Wisdom Saving Throw or become frightened of it.

Corruptive Presence. The Terror has resistance to all damage dealt by creatures frightened by it.

Siege Monster. The Terror deals double damage to objects and structures.

Legendary Resistance. 1 use

Legendary Actions, 3 uses per round, only one of which can be Horrifying Maneuver.

Fire the cannons! The Terror makes a Haunted Cannons attack.

Horrifying Maneuver. The Terror immediately rotates 90 degrees left or right in a way that cannot be. Any creature aboard the Terror must make a DC 21 DEX saving throw or fall overboard.

Actions

Cannonade. The Terror makes either five Haunted Cannons attacks that must target different creatures, or a single Haunted Cannons attack with +6 bonus to the attack roll.

Death’s Daughter. (recharge 6) The Terror selects a point within 300 feet. All creatures within 30 feet of that point are knocked prone. Creatures knocked prone this way must roll a DEX saving throw. On a failed save, creatures take 4d6 fire damage, 4d6 necrotic damage, 4d6 piercing damage, and 4d6 bludgeoning damage. Creatures that succeeded on this save take half damage. Effects that would reduce or ignore this damage (besides resistance or immunity) cannot reduce the necrotic damage.

Haunted Cannons. +14 to hit, range 300 ft., 1d12 bludgeoning damage, 1d12+9 necrotic damage. The target must succeed on a DC 20 CON save or be knocked prone. Creatures other than the target within 5 feet must succeed on a DC 14 DEX saving throw or take half the damage dealt to the target this way.

And the last one I'd really like to share is the Mistwraith. So, I'm using an encounter table for this arc, and the bottom quarter of the table is just some variation of these fuckers, but in quantities that scale directly with how many times they've rolled a Mistwraith encounter of some kind.

Mistwraith

medium undead

HP 50

Spd fly 30, AC 14

STR 6 DEX 16 CON 10 INT 12 WIS 18 CHA 12

Damage Resistance Acid, Fire, Lightning, Thunder; Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing From Nonmagical Attacks

Damage Immunities Cold, Necrotic, Poison

Condition Immunities Charmed, Exhaustion, Frightened, Grappled, Paralyzed, Petrified, Poisoned, Prone, Restrained

Ethereal Sight. The ghost can see 60 ft. into the Ethereal Plane when it is on the Material Plane, and vice versa.

Incorporeal Movement. The ghost can move through other creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain. It takes 5 (1d10) force damage if it ends its turn inside an object.

Strength in numbers: For each other Mistwraith engaged in melee with a target the Mistwraith is attacking, the Mistwraith adds +1 to its attack roll. For every two Mistwraiths, the Mistwraith adds +1 to its damage roll.

Actions:

Ethereal spasm: melee weapon attack, reach 5 ft, +6 to hit, 2d6+4 necrotic damage

[theflamebreath]

Critter problems: starting a Wildemount campaign, namedropping Uk'otoa and feeling weird for not hearing any echoed whispers (Uk'otoa)

On a brighter note, all of the players interest was absolutely SNATCHED the moment I mentioned this 'ancient and forgotten deep sea primeval entity'

Can't wait for next session ehe

[cozyhalfling]

I've fallen asleep twice and opened the 'make a post' editor and immediately forgot what I was going to say three times so I'm gonna get this out before the adhd wins tonight.

So I'm dming a Wildmount campaign out of the Explorer's Guide to Wildmount. I've got two ocean gals who are about to complete the Tide of Retribution adventure offered in the book and they're wanting to continue further with these characters. So I'm reading about the Menagerie Coast and it's different locations trying to come up with something that would be fulfilling for these characters and fit with their backstories. My eye kept getting drawn to the Ruins of Sepesca:

In the centuries that followed the Calamity, the Ki'Nau people established Sepesca, meaning "Nature's End," as their holiest of burial temples, built over a lush grove where the blood of the Wild Mother is said to have spilled before the Divergence. Every Ki'Nau priest and king that passed was interred within Sepesca's massive stone structure.

An ancient feud between the goblinkin of the Lushgut Forest and the Ki'Nau came to a head a few centuries ago, when the goblins stormed the region and desecrated the Wild Mother's temple. The Ki'Nau protectors fled from the worshipers of Gruumsh, and the abandoned holy site fell into ruin. Vengeful spirits and gnarled monstrosities are said to stalk its sunken halls, guarding the seeds of darkness left by the Ruiner's faithful.

A few descendants of the Ki'Nau across the Menagerie Coast still seek the means to cleanse this holy location and finally bring peace to the forgotten line of kings

The Ki'Nau rose to power after allying themselves with Uk'otoa. This sect of Ki'Nau-from my understanding (adhd brain not working) - either never joined their brethren in servitude to Uk'otoa and always served the Wildmother post Calamity or broke free of Uk'atoa's influence to follow the Wildmother in this place of bounty and beauty.

Either way, it sounds like Melora and Uk'atoa have a small rivalry about followers that goes way back.

I also find it interesting that there are three other locations of burial across Wildemount built in service to the Wildmother, regarded as holy places of the Wildmother. And that one of those locations is in need of cleansing against ???? and the other was under attack for decades by some kind of mutated and dangerous unnatural creature, and the other is so isolated they had no idea what was happening at the other locations.

I dont know what it all means but it has set up a juicy plot for my players (I hope) since one of them is a cleric of the Wildmother and also set my conspiracy brain awhirling with regards to the three families of the Wildmother

[wayward-inspiration]

I’ve been running a campaign that extends beyond the “Tide of Retribution” module in the EGTW, and we’re 15 sessions in now. I’m playing it as if the party had interfered with Avantika’s plans much earlier, and they just intercepted from a contact of hers in Port Damali the first orb, and it’s been so fun leaving tons of hints about Uko’toa’s true form for them. One of my players is playing a Blood Hunter: Order of the Profane Soul and has been getting lots of dreams from him. Next session they’re going to meet up again with a researcher of the Cobalt Soul they worked with like 10 sessions ago who’s gonna give them the lore dump they deserve after their last battle, which will finally start to put together all the puzzle pieces they’ve been collecting and I’m so excited for them!! 

[ihaveseentruebravery]

Duet DnD

Have started a campaign with the spouse with me as DM. They've not read as much as the Explorer's Guide as I have, but was pretty intrigued by the Heroic Chronicle. Since they're the only player, they're doing a Gnome Artificer (versatility reasons) that fled Hupperdook to avoid making war machines. An older sibling of theirs had a connection to the Myriad to get them from Hupperdook to the Gentleman, who then handed them off to a traveling circus headed to Nicodranas. Ehehehehe.

It's so entertaining ohmygawd. We really utilized the Heroic Chronicle and the Tides of Retribution pre-made adventure. They found out that the Wavechaser ship was crewed by pirates (a darn good investigation check), but the druid wasn't working for the Concord in my game, but for the Grinners.

I'm intrigued to see what else they discover on their own. It seems like they're gonna take the Ki'Nau islandfolk plot thread after they finish up the Sahuagin combat, so that's gonna be fun. We'll see if they actually want to work for the Grinners or not... 🤔 Should be fun. :D

[spiderlilyart]

>:3c

[cosmicbutterflies]

some campaign memes

[lookingattheedgeoftime]

The first few chapters of my end of the world novel, written out of boredom while working in Africa many years ago. You will be the first ever to read this if you want.

The World

In 2025 Quebec declared independence from Canada after years long, systematic campaign of terrorism by the separatist movement. This “independence” was deemed unconstitutional buy the Federalists and they refuse to acknowledge Quebec's right to do so. The Federalists attempted to force Free Quebec into submission with an economic embargo and the threat of military occupation. There was a provision in law and precedence set in the 1970's to initiate war measures act. This provision would allow the federalists to occupy the province.  Threats were not successful and the in 2026 Prime Minister enacted the War Measures Act and ordered the Military to take control of the government buildings in Hull. The Quebec government declared this to be an invasion of their legal territory and a civil war in Canada was initiated.

By late 2027 the civil war in Quebec is in full swing. The Federalists fighting against the Quebec government in a protracted engagement along the borders and waterways of the former province.  The Free Quebec forces were entrenched and working to repel the federalists who searched the length border for weak spots and try to expedite these weaknesses.  The indigenous Indian populations (The First Nations) in Quebec have extensive land claims, for a huge portion of Quebec. Particularly long the Quebec / USA borders areas the federalist forces deemed to controversial to attack from. The aboriginal  community took umbrage with the French claiming the entire province for themselves. As a result of the conflict the cross border activities were brought to an end and resulted in the collapsing their economy. Historically the First Nations also had justifiable issues with significant history of rejected land claims and had little expectation this conflict would result in better treatment. They saw the victor in this conflict as a winner takes all situation and it became seen as a and time to act against current and future oppressors. They were an well-armed motivated people and engaged in a guerrilla war against both sides. Simultaneously throughout the other Canadian Provinces the First Nations took positive control of as much occupied and  disputed lands as possible and blockaded their reservations from the rest of Canada. Other than in Quebec these blockades turned into an impasse rather than out and out war.

The government of the United States of America decides to tried preserve it's considerable assets in Canada and ostensibly to aid in the stabilization the situation by supporting the government of the remaining parts of Canada. This was achieved by with a strong NATO insertion mobilized from the United States. This merely escalated the situation, other provinces with unrealized Independence agendas reacted to the influx of foreign fighters and other guerrilla fronts are formed. Primary in the west the NATO forces are seen as occupiers and were engaged vigorously by the new independence militias. All sides in the conflict take a terrific amount of casualties. This process drags on, it is thought mostly due to the unwillingness of the Canadian government to commit weapons of the types that would damage infrastructure of Quebec. The Free Quebec government has no such qualms and in the areas about to be taken by their opponents were laid to waste.

Radical right in the United States of America were incensed by the NATO involvement in this war with their next door neighbours on two levels. One is that the military power of NATO is being mustered in the eastern The United States of America. They feared that once the forces have quashed the uprising in the North they will be applied to deal with the unruly and becoming more powerful militia movements in the Northern States. The second and the biggest concern is NATO is working against the government of a sovereign state and believe that the sanctity of the free The United States of America is in dire jeopardy by NATO's power.

Mid 2028 the troubles in Quebec have escalated to a peak and both troops from Canada and NATO are fighting against two resistance movements. Within the Provinces in siege, The fighting was bitter and retributions against the general population seen as supporting the resistance movements become more common place. Free Quebec and the First Nations had settled into guerrilla warfare. These two groups are also working outside the borders of Quebec independently to undermine the power of the Government of Canada in the other provinces. The methods of the citizens sympathetic to either cause are terror, sabotage and assassination.  The Militia Movement in the United States of America sets up a coalition between like minded groups within the borders of the United States of America (Religious Groups, White Supremacists disgruntled military factions and politicians) and begin a concerted effort to over throw the government of the United States of America.

This starts a domino effect with the plethora of other factions wanting a piece of the pie. Some of these are very strong (African American, Hispanic and Asian Groups). They mobilize forces to control their own areas and protect their people from the Coalition of primarily white forces. Powerful Drug cartels south of the border see this turmoil in the United States as a opportunity to cement their influence in the southern States. The republic of Mexico, long subjected by US policy and a victim of systemic discrimination see this a opportunity and side with the Cartels and set their sights on reclaiming territory lost to them in the past. The slogan adopted by these forces somewhat ironically, is “Remember the Alamo” apparently seen a the event that there loss of power and territory of their nation.

2029 - The rest of Canada not in conflict with Ottawa, is failing under the burden of supplying fuel and manpower to the war in Quebec. As well as having to deal with their own significant problems with the NATO the First Nations and Militias. The result is once loyal provinces to the central government,  broker other deals and decided to join the fray in opposition.

2030 - North America is in chaos, the United States of America is suffering huge strife due to the anarchy caused by the tactics of the various combatants within and outside their borders. The Militia and Ethnic groups bombings, attacks and assassinations of government and political detractors to their agendas are common place. The United States recalls it's forces abroad to face the growing crisis. Canada and NATO are still fighting in Quebec and the Western and Maritime Provinces are more than voicing separatist rhetoric, using captured weapons to enforce their ideals. The Aboriginal, French and English populations in Quebec and Ontario are greatly reduced. There is a continued huge backlash from the Native movement in Canada as well as the United States of America. Communities near reservations are attacked and looted. Extremely harsh retribution is dealt out in all cases by the governments of Canada and the United States of America. Europe and Asia cut off diplomatic ties with Canada and the United States of America because of the miss use of NATO forces and the ethnic cleansing being initiated in North America. NATO recalls what is left of the non-American contingent back to Europe and the fight is continued by the Governments Canada and the USA under the same banner.

2029 - Radical groups in the Developing Nations of the world see a golden opportunity to strike against the West.  A virulent strain of the Ebola Virus currently rampaging through the poorest parts of Africa is introduced in volume to major Cities throughout the United States of America. Utilizing the returning war fighters from abroad, either infected by Martyrs or on purpose for a never ending list of other reasons. These carriers enter virtually all airports and other points of entry available in the United States, Canada and even through Mexico carefully muled across the borders. The result is huge amounts of first disease cases in North America.  The aftermath is the infection and death of 50 % of the population of North America. Through the wonders of air travel and the infiltrators meant for the USA, it spreads immediately into Mexico and South America.  Panic ensues in the war torn countries, foreigners not willing to leave are deported and the gift of mutated virus is given back to the rest of the civilized world.

2030 - Total Suspension of Civil Rights in Canada and the United States of America.

Similar situations are have cropped up in Europe and Asia it is a time of illness, war and rumours of war. With the largest health risk in the last several centuries being the mutated contagion  most countries in the world close their borders. It is an attempt in vain to stop the spread of this plague. It is  for not, throughout the world in very short time and huge portions of the population dying from the effects of the former tropical disease, not before passing it on to their families, first responders and care givers. The WHO and other such agencies are helpless to stem the tide, the need for anti-virus far outstrips the ability to produce it. The dedicated professionals succumb at the same rate as their patients. With the lack of trade the western world, the European, Middle Eastern countries and Asia are thrown into not only a health but financial crisis.

2032 - Collapse of the world economy, anarchy reigns throughout the world. Only the most remote Countries and Areas are surviving mostly by physical separation and systemic eradication of attempted refugees.  

2032 - In order to protect its borders from active aggression from the surrounding countries, the now isolated Israel launches low yield nuclear attacks against its neighbours. The neighbours who had spent decades readying themselves for such and attack reply in kind. The result is the Middle East is reduced to a wasteland that will produce little but fusion glass and cancer for generations. The fallout darkens Africa, Europe and most of Asia.

2034 -The world is no longer a highly organized place. In the vast majority of World Nation's organized government are no longer in control of their populace. Pretenders to the power such as separatist movements, expansionist regimes,  financial opportunists, religious zealots die just like the rest.  City-states are formed around centres that had a military or other power presence. The other cities and towns decline to isolated areas with populations of roving bands, killing and looting to survive. For the first time in several centuries mankind's numbers are declining at a geometric rate.

An event that started in a huge under populated country has been the impetus of the fall of mankind. But like all good infestations the struggle to live is paramount and globally small groups form and eke out a existence. This is the story of one such individual.

Nathaniel's World

At this point in his life, like most of the people of the world, he was not living the best of times. The New World order has receded to the New World chaos. Citizens of all Nations live in isolated pockets struggling to feed their loved ones and trying to find solace in anything that explains the way it has become. They have little protection against their former leaders or organizations powerful enough to become leaders. Although the population as a whole is one-tenth the size it was ten years before. Famine and disease is still pervasive in the Americas, Europe and Asia. The only outpost of relative prosperity is Australia and they have completely isolated themselves from the world. Airlines do not fly, banks no longer exist, worldwide communication has been reduced to Morse coded messages via cable lines between the outposts of civilization. These pockets of structure and organization disappear at a constant rate.

In the now distant past the North American political system ceased to exist and the population has fended it's self. In the past Governments had enacted powers to seize weapons in an attempt to limit the possibility of a revolution or separation by the provinces or random acts of violence. The result of this is after the decline when the need for security is the greatest there was none to be had. It has left the population unable to defend themselves from the basest elements of the society. A similar policy of the seizure of private assets was enacted to fund the war with Quebec and the Aboriginal population. This generally reduced the population of rich or poor to the same level subsistence and a process of survival of the fittest is the standard.

The wars within Canada and the U.S.A. ended eventually not from a victory but because the armies had been reduced to minimum levels and there was not the material to feed them or fill their weapons. When the few fighters that remained returned to their homes they found vulnerable, impoverished, people with not enough food and little desire to continue living. As thanks for the soldiers efforts, they where stoned in the streets by good and bad alike.

Politicians fared worse, they and their families where hunted down like dogs and murdered. The fabric of society was torn, lawlessness reigned as civic control was lost.

The were exceptions to the rule, one sector of the population the was relatively unaffected by this action was the criminal element. At the onset of the decline the organized criminal fraternities initiated actions against the authorities outside of the general mayhem of the many wars that were  raging. They took their place in the new world with assassinations, bombings and looting. In the beginning these occurrences where perceived by the authorities as revenge of the rank and file masses against a totalitarian regime. Retribution was dealt out mercilessly against the normal population. This was much easier than dealing with the real instigators because of their organization's strengths. This policy was ineffective for obvious reasons  and after the control structure further weakened by these actions. Once these groups held the upper hand, the criminal element concentrated their activities against the people, taking what they wanted.

During this period the constructive elements in the society, the businesses, the people who had managed to continue to work did no better. They had their resources taxed to past the breaking point. The only places to continue to apply their still needed skills was to groups who could pay in food, medicines or protection.

Money, gold, property and any of the other trappings of wealth had no value at all. The criminal elements resorted to harvesting the last natural resources available and this was by the systematic looting and murder of the population. Law and order was a thing of the past and the population was at the mercy of the gangs of looters.

Other than the Criminal elements, other groups with other agendas began to form. These groups unlike the criminal ones in normal times would be considered closer to the norm. The new wealthy, the ones who once were considered paranoia preppers. Built bomb shelters, hoarded food and armaments barricaded themselves into walled continuities and protected them with mercenaries paying them from the stock piles they had hoarded. Religious groups would attempt to hunt for resources in a communal fashion, as would former political and paramilitary forces.

With controls lost in the large centres transportation of the necessities of life had long ceased. Cities with abundant sources of power such as Hydroelectric or Nuclear continued to work on automated systems. Cities that required imported fuels for power and services turned into cold dark ghost towns.

The population in large centres as well as the rural communities had been further reduced not only from disease and violence but by starvation as well. The rural communities that fortified and isolated themselves did the best. They continued to produce the necessities of life for their groups and sometimes were able to fight off the organized bands of looters.

Part one

Something evil this way comes

She could hear them coming up the front stairs, they groaned with the weight of heavy footfalls. No sooner than they had reached  the top of the long flight of steps,  they began to force open the entrance door. The men were laughing and calling to the two women they knew were inside the house. Defenceless women were there candies to them, they seemed to feed on the terror.

A busy night had been had by the gang, several of the houses in the once upscale cul-de-sac were burning, illuminating the predawn sky. The mother was waiting at the top of  a small set of stairs that led down to the entrance landing where the door was being forced open. She was in tears as was her daughter, both of their faces showed fear and rage. From the front window of the house they had seen the marauders execute several of the remaining neighbours and now it was their turn.

The house was a four level back split design. The first level was the garage facing the street, It also contained the mechanical  area, spare room and a crawl space. This was directly under the third level. A short set of stairs brought you up from the garage to the second level at the back of the house. This second level was the family room and a large bed room. The kitchen, dining and main living room area comprised the third level. The three main bedrooms occupied the fourth and final level. From the living / dining room on the third level there  was a sun deck facing out over the garage. In the better days, a nice feature. On a warm summer night to sit and take in the cool air and view the mountains in the distance. Also allowing one to call down to the kids that would inevitably playing on the drive way that supper was ready. The house was the most elevated on the block and the only access from the street other than the boarded up garage door was the set of front steps. There was a landing at the top to access the main door and a once inside few more steps to take you into the main room. The only other entrance to the house was the back door off the second level. In better times the house was one of the nicer residences in the middle class subdivision. Now like the rest was a derelict, by all intentions soon to be yet another burned out husk.

The house next on the left had mostly collapsed because of a accidental fire in the early years when people first tried to made do in the depths of winter with  fire as a replacement for natural gas. There was a large amount of thick undergrowth prohibiting access to the sides and rear of the house. The alley that served the back of the houses on that side of the street had been blocked by wrecks of cars and refuse for years. Like the garage door all the other entrances were boarded over as were the windows.  The ones far above ground level were painted over and mostly boarded up with only a slit to look through. The only open access that was not completely sealed was the door to the balcony over the garage, this was the way they came and went with the help of a extension ladder that was carefully hidden.

It was an optimal night for the looters. A cool moonlit night. Cool was important, it was so they could see light from houses and apartments that were not well prepared. The light would be caused be the occupants were trying to warm themselves with a fire. If it was not the flickering of a cozy fire, it was the warm smoke escaping the domicile's chimney.  The full moon allowed easy mobility and communication. They were not the sort that wanted to work during the day when people might put up a fight. Better to sneak  up in the dead of night when people were alone and boarded up. The menacing laughter and the sounds of burning wood prevailed in the hollow night as they ransacked the houses. This evening they had concentrated the days work thus far, were the more accessible homes who's entrances were on the ground floors and showed signs of life. Although the house was in darkness and looked abandoned, it had attracted the looter's attention when the teen-aged girl had screamed in horror, at the murder of  a neighbour's family. She had baby sat the children in the past, a boy and a girl. No longer toddlers, now well into their teens. Regardless, no one in their right mind could bear to see them die, Certainly not Molly. The gang of looters had dragged the family on to the street as they had done the others. So far six houses in the small neighbourhood were ravaged, the occupants life's blood draining into the gutters. Their prized possessions in a growing pile in the centre of the street. Although there was murder, looting and pillaging, strangely at this late point in the night there was no raping. Perhaps the emaciated people they were victimizing were not as desirable as the hangers on to the tribe were, perhaps the blood lust was enough.

The adults were the first , on their knees in the moon light, the mother then the father, both of their throats opened with a long filet knife. The children shrieked in terror at the sight, then the boy, finally the girl. Before the girl rolled onto the pavement another wail pierced the already chaotic night.

When they saw the mother pull the girl away from the balcony window the looter's attention shifted. The focus of their activities became the large blue house across the street.

The boarded up door flew open with their weight and four of the looters stumbled into the entrance with the momentum of the others behind them. Their expectation was to see helpless new victims to play with. However the woman held to her shoulder a Savage side by side 12 gauge shot gun. It's barrels were cut down to just below eighteen inches, the pattern the shot would print the diameter of the base of a good sized coffee tin at eight feet. That was proved by the bloom that appeared on the chest of the first man through the door. He uttered a gasp and fell back against his compatriots, he clawed at the wound in his chest as he collapsed onto the landing. This was a complete surprise to the new occupants of the entry way and to the group on the stairs. Firearms or more importantly ammunition was unheard of, the game had dramatically changed as did the looters desire to enter the house. The explosion of the shotgun in the dark confined space was deafening. In the dark of the entry way the muzzle blast was like a flash of a camera. The second barrel spewed out its projectiles at the next intruder with similar effect. This time the pellets went high on her target and several of the people in the entrance way were hit by the buckshot. This added  to their confusion with the blood and tissue being sprayed about in the restricted space. The ones not incapacitated by the pellets and bone fragments wanted out of this kill box in the worst way.

The shotgun was empty, she snapped open the action of the Savage and the two spent twelve gauge shells, were ejected over her right shoulder with a pop. Instead of reloading she slid the shotgun up to the crook of her left arm and she pulled the Smith & Wesson, model 640, five shot, 357 mag pistol from the black nylon belt holster at her hip. She raised the small stainless steel revolver and fired double action into the crowd. She methodically fired with care, picking the centre mass of the dark shapes. Moonlight had turned on them, instead of a big help, it silhouetted them in the entrance way. The pistol jumped in her hand and the results of the shots and the hits were spectacular. The detonations in the confined space were phenomenally loud, the light coloured walls reflected the light of muzzle blasts. The hits by the 158 grain pistol rounds did substantial damage to the first target. But with the retained velocity and energy continued through the first man, on the next and in some cases the next man after that. The wounded and soon dead tried to claw past the still standing, trying to escape her fire but were met with resistance from the balance of their number trying to get inside inside the entrance in panic as well. Apparently they weren't having a good time waiting on the stairs outside.

At the same time the looters forced the front door the teen-aged girl walked out onto the balcony over the garage, well separated from the attacker below her she helped the looters pay for their crimes.  She fired her Marlin 1894 lever action, nine shot, 357 mag rifle into the heads and backs of the men on the steps leading into the house. The combined attacks of the two women equated to a crossfire, it chewed up the looters. They fell down the stairs or over the edge of the railing like a water fall of bodies. The Mother's Smith ran out first, she grabbed the still smoking  pistol with her left hand as she opened the action of the gun with her right hand. With the cylinder out, she dumped the still smoking spent cases onto the floor, by depressing the plunger several times. With her right hand she reached down to her belt and took out a SKS push / pull speed loader and dropped the new rounds into the cylinder.

With the firing from inside the door way ceasing the remaining few looters stumbled into the entrance to avoid the fusillade from the girl on the balcony. One started to ascend the first set of stairs momentarily forgetting the woman inside. She dropped the speed loader and grabbed the butt of the small revolver, snapping the cylinder in place with her right index finger. She raised the pistol and straighten her arm. She looked down the sight line and fired point blank into the head of the man climbing the stairs.  The other men trying to avoid the shooting from outside were sprayed  with the brains and skull fragments of their compatriot. The girl on the balcony moved back against the wall of the house and reloaded the rifle. It required both hands and a great amount of concentration to force the shells past the loading gate in the near dark conditions. She could hear the bark of  her mother's Smith and the screams of the dying. As the last round exited the two and a half inch barrel of the S&W, young girl leaned over the balcony and fired a round into the top of the head of the last standing bad guy on the stairs. He fell to his knees and added his mass to the pile in front of the broken in door.

She then walked to the front of the balcony and began searching for targets on the street. Like her mother, the young girl had never shot a living thing before but had practised extensively with the firearms, dry firing them to get used of the actions. She had the training to sight the looters on the street and deal them. Her distances where set by her father and in the small circle of houses corrections for elevation were not required. Some of the hits were not lethal blows, but at least they were bad enough to incapacitate the recipients and leave them writhing on the ground in a puddle of their fluids.

Seeing the lack of new opponents, the woman reloaded her Smith and Wesson and placed it in it's holster. Then she picked up the speed loader she dropped and put them in the pouch it had originated from. She stuck her right hand into her pants pocket and pulled out two more shotgun shells and dropped them into the savage and snapped it closed with a quick motion of her left hand.

She turned and ran down the stairs to the second level to the back of the house and carefully looked through a gap between two pieces of wood that covered the window. She could see that no one had ventured into the back yard so far. This was a very good thing from her perspective defending both entrances would most likely lead to failure. As it was was guaranteed that even if they survived the night and the house was still standing, the following night a distinct reversal of this outcome was inevitable. This was scenario that they had discussed for years and now the time had come. It was with great regret that she prepared to leave her home and abandon what remained of their lives.

She pulled two of the three pack sacks that were in the family room on that level of the house, into the bedroom next to it. She knew that it would be unlikely that the third pack would make it through the night but it was the only note she could leave that might be able to tell the story that the two of them had survived.  

In the corner of the bed room was a desk, she pulled it away from the wall. It was hinged and pivoted easily away from the recess, revealing a trap door. It led to a hand dug tunnel to the far side of the alley behind the house. Her husband had dug it, shovel full by shovel shoring the walls and roof as he went. It was not big enough to stand but sufficient to bring in supplies and move out of their cul-de-sac  clandestinely. It had proved to be structurally sound and weather proof over the  years. Designed to be the method they used to come and go when they wanted to avoid detection. Now it was their only salvation and their last hope.

The young girl chose her last target and fired into the centre of the dark shape. She could see the remaining  marauders trying to get close with torches with out exposing themselves to the young girl's wrath. After the last case was ejected from the receiver she abruptly turned and walked into the house. She pulled the yellow disposable ear plugs out and even though her ears were  slightly ringing she heard her mother calling her from the lower level, “Molly we are out of here”. As she walked through the living room the first torch flew onto the balcony. She reloaded the rifle as she travelled though the house. Looking around at the home she had lived in all her life.

They left through the tunnel and walked north, the supplies in their packs would last a month and they would not stop until then.

[encyclopediacr]

Last month year at the wiki — 2022

Happy New Year! Today, as we all begin 2023, our editing community at Encyclopedia Exandria take the time to look back at the year we just left. Here is a special edition of our still-new monthly retrospectives: last year at the wiki.

2022 has been an exciting year for us as a fan community. The Legend of Vox Machina premiered, Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn, Call of the Netherdeep, and The Nine Eyes of Lucien were published, 4-Sided Dive began, ExU Kymal and Calamity aired, Vox Machina Origins: Series III and Tales of Exandria: The Bright Queen concluded, Mighty Nein Origins: Caleb, Yasha, and Fjord released.

It's been a busy time, especially for us at the Encyclopedia Exandria. The Critical Role wiki at Miraheze was opened to the public on June 9 as a fork from the original Fandom wiki.

In acknowledgement of the hard and exciting work our editors have accomplished over the past year, here is a selection of projects that our community is especially proud to have created or significantly improved (or is excited to have seen others work on) in 2022.

But first, to say: we are grateful for and excited about all work that was contributed to Encyclopedia Exandria, ranging from hefty content updates to spelling and typing error corrections. All of this together makes the wiki the resource that it is, and all contributions made over the past year by our editors—whether they be veteran, new, anonymous, or just passing by—is immensely valued.

Because many of our editors are veterans from Fandom and because this project is a fork, thus is based off the Fandom wiki as it existed in late May and inherited any contributions previously made there, the following projects include those editors of Encyclopedia Exandria completed while at the Fandom wiki. We are proud of that work as well, and they are included in keeping with the spirit of highlighting accomplishments and contributions to our wiki over the past year that our editors are proud of, regardless of where they first made these edits.

A family of articles covering the Tide of Retribution adventure from Explorer's Guide to Wildemount was added to the wiki. "Three Earrings" is a particular highlight.

With new access to the first two Chronicles of Exandria artbooks as a resource, we could make some significant updates. Most excitingly, "Ulugrah" was created, and "Melanie de Rolo" and "Grand Purveyor of the Grey Hunt" were greatly expanded.

Speaking of improvements in Campaign 1 coverage, "Vord" saw much-needed and long-overdue improvements, and the creation of "githyanki skull" covered an old gap of a very interesting item from the campaign. Other notable overhauls include "The Calamity" and "Star Razor".

Some more conceptual articles have also been reorganized and created. Perhaps not as exciting as other content updates, but it has been a boon for readability and information seeking. "Resurrection, "media chronology", and "magic" come to mind.

We revisited the historical decision not to properly cover the verboten Wendy's one-shot. "Feast of Legends" (formerly "Special 48") now treats the one-shot as any other.

We as a community are very proud of our coverage of Exandria Unlimited: Calamity. The topic is vast, and we love many aspects of it, but we are especially proud of "Astral Leywright", "Eyes of Avalir", "Tempus" and, of course, "Bolo Maximus".

All of our Talks Machina articles were renamed and given new episode codes to make them easier to identify and reference. For example, the article for the Talks Machina for 2x26: Found & Lost used to be simply "Talks Machina 74" with a code of "TMx74". It is now titled "Talks Machina 74: Found & Lost" and has a code of "TM2x26". That's not all for Talks Machina! These articles have long stood empty, but headway this year as seen all of them filled with at least the topics covered, and some Talks articles even now contain the cast's answers and discussion.

The family of articles for the Arms of the Betrayers were created early in the year, filling in a large gap in coverage for lore introduced in Explorer's Guide to Wildemount. The work was rewarded when "Mace of the Black Crown" became an important article for Calamity viewers.

Increased coverage of the smaller but unique elements of Exandria has been a joy to see. "Tree of the sun", "Trost", and "candlerock" are but a handful of the new articles on plants, animals, foods, and other small bits of the world.

We've also been very excited about work that is very hard to link to here, such as steadily removing rampant plagiarism, the development of clearer wiki policies, improvements to category structure, updates and re-structuring of infoboxes, separation of the "specials" episode category into one-shots and miscellaneous filmed content, and the creation of a script that near-instantly updates articles when the VOD is released on YouTube. These projects work mostly in the background and are harder to notice, but we feel they've improved the wiki just like any content update.

It's been a very busy 2022, and this is just a small selection of the amazing work our editing community has accomplished. We are proud of all the work that we've seen in the six months since Encyclopedia Exandria was created, and the work in the six months before that that we inherited.

We look forward to 2023 and to the exciting work that year will bring.

[rowletraine]

Elgghinn was one of the PCs from a relatively short-lived Wildemount campaign I started at home during the height of the pandemic, when we were all stuck in one house with not much to do.

One of my players ended up making a GoO warlock whose backstory involved being chased from home by her traditionalist family, who, in this case, just so happened to be high ranking members of the Children of Malice, based in the Kryn city of Asarius.

That player also just happened to be my parent (they/she), so I guess the tree doesn't grow too far from the apple that fell from it. Gurdi would be proud.

To elaborate on the little snippet of anecdote there, we were playing the Tides of Retribution adventure out of the Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, because my family likes pirates. (EGtW SPOILERS AHEAD!)

Ok, so midway through the adventure, after the party board the Wavechaser and escape the sinking of Isle Flora, there is an option for them to be waylaid by Concord navy en route to Sharkfeather Abyss, which is how the party usually learns that Three Earrings and her crew are pirates.

The battle itself was a swashbuckling affair between two ships on the high seas, classic Pirates of the Caribbean shit, the good stuff. It was a real blast getting to play with the hazardous conditions and letting the players use their environment against the enemy.

Well, it was.

From my session summary of that game:

So, lesson learned -- never give your players level 1 bonus feats. Drow High Magic is an evil, evil thing in the hands of a level 2 warlock.