Karameikos - Vaults of Pandius

Fort DoomTraladaran refugees in both Luln and Specularumhave told stories about the evils going on in FortDoom. Townmistress Sascia of Luln, in particular,has been very vocal about Baron von Hendriks inher reports to Specularum. Even one powerfulThyatian, Lord Alexius Korrigan, the Duke’sSeneschal, has voiced concern about continuingcrimes being committed against the Traladaranpopulation. The Duke is caught in a difficultposition, as he is pressed to believe one of hiscousins over the other. Thus, he has actedindecisively up to now.Meanwhile, Freiherr von Hendriks has startedagitating among the Thyatians against theaccusations. In Ludwig von Hendriks’ own view heis the good guy and the efforts done by Lord AlexiusKorrigan in spreading these lies are essentially thespreading of evil. If other Thyatians start to listen tothese lies, they could destroy years of work inbringing prosperity to Karameikos, and they couldeven lead to a new Traladaran uprising.The key concept in his campaign is the following, asstated at political meetings by Ludwig himself:"Rebellious forces of the Traladaran resistance tryto remove me and spread discord among theThyatians. But should I fall, the Duke will be nextand all Thyatian holdings will be in jeopardy".Whether this is true or not, most Thyatians believeit.Thus removing his cousin could spark a Traladaranuprising, since these horrors will have to be formallyadmitted, instead of remaining rumours. The Dukealso knows that hardline Thyatians might take theside of "cousin Ludwig" and lead to a civil waramong the Thyatians, another event that couldeasily spark a Traladaran uprising. His politicaladvisors tell him to remain ignorant and naive in thematter, so that is his policy towards his cousinunless he goes into open rebellion: "See nothing,hear nothing, say nothing."New spell:6th level clerical spell.Range: 500 yards in radius from aWar Banner of Vanya.Duration: Until battle has endedEffect: All sentient creatureswithin rangeThe caster establishes a centerpoint on the consecratedbattlefield, which must be abanner of Vanya. The caster musthold the banner when casting thespell, but can then give it toanother person. Around thisbanner, the power of Vanyaensures that “proper” fightingtakes place, making it impossiblefor casters on both sides toconcentrate on their spells or foritems to be activated. This is a kindof internal anti-magic shell. Magicbonuses to items will still functionnormally.Any creatures arriving to fightvoluntarily get no saving throw,but creatures caught in range ofthe spell that had no intent to fightget a save. If they miss, they willflee the battlefield for the durationof the battle. If they succeed, theycan observe the battle unaffected,but should they join the fight theywill be affected by the spell and beunable to cast spells or usemagical items. It also makespeople dispel any magic cast onthemselves or the area, becausethey get in a fighting mood. Only136THRESHOLD: The Mystara Magazine Issue #1