Lords of the Cruth Lowlands - Vaults of Pandius

The Ruins of Achelos
The Ruins of Achelos
The Kingdom of Achelos, dating back, with
some interruption, to the golden age of the
Traldar, had its capital in the eponymous
city on the banks of Achelos river. The city
was sieged, conquered and burned down
by the invading Thyatian Legions under
the leadership of Tel Akbiri legatus
legionis Mahmud Alharbius in 900 AC. The
last king, Achelos II Ivanovich, died during
the siege. Thereafter, the city was all but
abandoned, and several goblinoid tribes
used it as a camp after being chased from
the Five Shires.
The ruined city can be used as the main
setting for a sandbox adventure, in the
style of the “Ruins of Adventure” AD&D
module and the “Pool of Radiance”
computer game.
The basic plot goes as follows: Lord
Alexius Korrigan, the Duke’s Seneschal, is
looking to extend Karameikos’ control over
the Cruth Lowlands, and has finally
managed to get together several members
of the guilds in Specularum to act as
investors in a project to resettle Achelos.
Each guild has its own goals (often
contrasting with those of other guilds), and
Korrigan’s envoy has to mediate between
them.
He manages to secure some support from
the Church of Traladara, the Order of the
Griffon, and General Diomedes Draconius,
the commander of the western
Karameikan army. However, he’s also
forced to hire Thyatian mercenaries, the
Green Company, to guarantee the defense
of the new settlement, Nova Achelos (or
Achelos Nova, in Thyatian), and of the
supply lines from Luln and Riverfork Keep.
The Colonists
This section provides details on the
inhabitants of Nova Achelos, the new town
that has been established around the
south-western gate to the ruins of Achelos.
The stakeholders
The Karameikan government is
represented by Lord Kaerin Penhaligon
(F4, L), who has been charged by Lord
Korrigan with overseeing the development
of the settlement. This is a way for Kaerin
to prove himself as an administrator,
which is important to him as the heir
apparent to both Kelvin and Penhaligon.
Kaerin is well meaning and quite brilliant,
but has no experience in matters of
government, and has lived primarily in
Thyatian-ruled communities (Kelvin,
Threshold and Penhaligon), so he is not
familiar with the Traladaran aristocracy or
the Specularum guilds.
The Church of Traladara is interested
primarily in recovering any Traldar age
relic, as well as in protecting the local
Traladaran communities from exploitation
at the hands of the Thyatians. Patriarch
Aleksyev Nikelnevich sends one of his
more experienced priests, Bishop Dimitri
Sokolov (C7, L). Sokolov is 40 years old,
and is a friendly sort with some scholarly
interests. He’s been mostly working in
Specularum during his career, and has a
good knowledge of the bureaucracy and
the guild system. He has an assistant,
Priestess Marina Kolarovic (C3, N), a
younger (25) member of the church who is
more comfortable with the borderlands,
having some experience as an adventurer.
The Order of the Griffon is involved
ostensibly to protect the Karameikan
faithful (and, more specifically, Baron
Kelvin’s brother-in-law) from the dangers
of the wild lands. Patriarch Alfric Oderbry,
however, sent the Knights and squires
under the command of Sir Befrick (F6, L),
because he fears that the consolidation of
Traladaran interests in the area -- with the
Traladaran captain at Riverfork Keep, and
the Hin border so near (Alfric dislikes the
Hin, who are too friendly with the
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