Karameikos - Vaults of Pandius

The History of KarameikosTHE TALE OF ROSENTOS’ EXPEDITIONThe adventure module included in AC2 –Combat Shield and Mini-Adventure, titledThe Treasure of the Hideous One,introduced the story of Colonel Rosentos,sent about a century ago by Duke Stefan ‘theHermit’ to explore and claim the wild landswest of Luln – that is the Blight Swamp. Atthat time, the module says, the duke’s land“were very new”. The module features amap, which however is quite difficult to fitwithin that of GAZ1 – even if AC2 itselfclarifies that the map is left very vague inorder to be fitted within whichever setting aDM feels right. This allows a certain freedomof use regarding the map, and the possibilityto tweak it to fit with GAZ1’s map.As the module’s tale is set a hundred yearsago, Colonel Rosentos’ mission was likelypart of the events which followed theThyatian conquest of Traladara. However,Luln didn’t exist at that time, being settledby refugees from the Black Eagle Baronyafter AC 971 - so you can substitute it withthe adjacent village of Lenov. [You may evensuppose that Luln was born as a ramshacklevillage of refugees on the verge of Lenov inAC 971, but later its population swelled somuch that eventually it absorbed Lenovitself, which became one of its suburbs.]After the occupation of the village of Lenov,Rosentos and his men were sent to explorethe Blight Swamp area, to chase someTraladaran rebels who had sought shelterthere, or simply to take possession of thesparse fishermen villages found there.Rosentos’ superior, Duke Stefan ‘theHermit’, could well be Stefan I Karameikos,great-grandfather of present Grand DukeStefan III Karameikos. Stefan I thus wouldbe the father of Boris Karameikos, who isfeatured in the Karameikos family treeshown in Karameikos: Kingdom ofAdventure supplement. Stefan I, beforebecoming Duke of Machetos, would havebeen one of the first Thyatian governors ofTraladara, as his lands “were very new” atthat time. Perhaps he was the very firstgovernor of Traladara after the conquest,or the second one if Flavian Osteropolus –general of the expeditionary force whichcompleted the conquest – was also theland’s first governor. Within AC 910, StefanI was likely called back to succeed to hisfamily Duchy of Machetos, but he couldalso have abdicated the throne to his sonBoris before dying if he finished his days asa hermit (like his nickname seems tosuggest). So the expedition led by Rosentosshould have taken place in the very firstyears of Stefan I’s rule over Traladara,which could be from AC 901 to AC 903.63THRESHOLD: The Mystara Magazine Issue #1