Background
It has been 50 years since the city of Phlan was a small but growing city on the shores of the great MoonSea. Trade sailed into to Phlan, past the fortress of Sokal Keep where the watch scanned the sea for pirates, into the small harbor at the mouth of the Stojanow River. Galleys, pinks, cogs, and schooners came from the merchants to the south, braving the sea to this small northern port. Townsmen offloaded pungent spices, dark woods, reptilian leathers, filmy cloth, gnarledbarks, hammered steel, veined marbles—the riches of the southern shores. From the north came thickbearded men—men of the bitter plains, granite mountains, and icy swamps beyond, leading caravans burdened with silky furs, heavy wools, rare ores, straight-beamed woods, and the ivories of beasts long forgotten in lands further south. Slowly, with patience and endurance, the caravans plodded to Phlan meeting others, friends in the dwarves of the Dragonspine and elves of the Quivering Forest, foes in the orcs who came from the Tweenhill gap or the reptilian race of the swamps. In Phlan northman and southerner met, haggling, cheating, lying and drinking. Phlan was well on its way to becoming a prosperous trading town.
And then the dragons and their armies came. At first the men of distant villages stopped trekking to Phlan. No trader came back with tales of new discoveries. The distant outposts slowly disappeared. Then refugees began to arrive. At first they were solitary survivors straggling in to lose themselves in the maze of the slums. Then families arrived perched on plodding wagons. They told stories of neighboring villages set to the torch, the humans slaughtered—or worse. Trade dropped off. Fewer caravans arrived. Fewer ships came to collect the scanty cargoes. The merchants were concerned. Scouts were sent. They returned telling of hordes of orcs, goblins, ogres, and giants doing
what they had never done before— marching as armies with order and discipline. It was the fear of their commanders, fearsome dragons, that held them together. Towns closer and closer to Phlan fell, the stream of refugees increased. Cautious merchants packed their goods and left. Greedy merchants hurriedly amassed fortunes from the frightened people while keeping one eye always on the door. The Council fretted and fussed. Some wanted appeasement, some favored an army, and still others poured money into the walls of Phlan. But no strategy was ever agreed upon.
When the armies finally came, Phlan was simply not prepared. For a day the Council watched the lines drawn up outside the walls—ranks of leering, skull-painted beasts dragging obscene machines of war. They could not surrender, for they knew there would be no mercy from these cohorts. Valiantly, but futilely, they mustered their men. Their spearmen were ready to meet the charge.
From the start of the attack, the humans were defeated. They were out-numbered, out-fought and outgeneralled. The first wave struck from the air—wheeling flights of dragons after dragons swept over the rooftops, setting ablaze vast portions of the city. As the flames licked over the chimneys, the attackers charged into the trapped militia. The Battle of Phlan was a massacre.
In 50 years, however, the dragon armies have flowed and ebbed, leaving behind pockets of despair and desolation. These isolated domains cannot withstand the unstoppable flood of human dominance. Men have returned north of the MoonSea and are determined to reclaim their lost homes.
Such is the case in Phlan. Although the city proper—its districts and its fortresses—are still held by the twisted offspring of the original conquerors, good men have managed to gain a foothold in the ruined city. Fired by the feelings of destiny and progress, they have set their sights on reclaiming all of Phlan and restoring it to its former glory. To this end, they are backed by a new Council, a consortium of the children of the original merchants of Phlan and new, eager speculators.
Plot Overview
The basic story is very simple. The player characters are hired to help clear the ruined city of Phlan of the evil creatures that have overrun it. The reward will be cash, although property can be taken instead. As the player characters begin the task of blockclearing, they hear rumors and threats about the “Boss” —the master brains behind the uneasy confederation of evil creatures. It is clear that this “Boss” holds some special great power over the goblins, orcs, hobgoblins, and others of the city, binding them to his will. All of them speak of him with hushed awe and fear, but none know exactly what his hold is. At the same time, Porphyrys, the son of Cadorna the Cloth Merchant (one of the old families of Phlan), becomes curious about this “Boss” and the source of his power. Using his position on the council, he begins to send the characters on different missions, ostensibly to clear the city, but also to gain secret knowledge for himself. As the characters complete these missions, they bring back more information about the nature of the Boss’s power. Gradually, the son of Cadorna (and hopefully the players) learn of the Pool of Radiance. This pool supposedly confers great power and leadership on those who bathe in its waters. However, the location of the pool is unknown. The location of the pool is a lost secret, now only known to the Boss. By now suspicious of the motives of the player characters, Porphyrys leads his own band of adventurers on a mission to extract the Boss’s secret.However, reaching the boss is not an easy matter. It is known that he uses the fortress on the hill as his base. The only landward approach is heavily fortified—a small army would be needed to penetrate the main gate. Along the river, the ground rises in steep cliffs (though not insurmountable). Worse than this, the Barren River (once known as the River Stojanow) prevents anyone from reaching this side. This river is a seething current of acid and poison. Somehow the water is steeped in acids so powerful they can destroy a boat (or person), even if the deadly toxins don’t kill first. As if these two were not enough, horrible unknown creatures crawl the banks, looking for prey. Until the river is cleansed, there is no way to reach the fortress of the Boss.
However, the Boss has not been blind to what is happening. As the player characters become more successful, the Boss tries to organize better defenses for the tribes under him. When these fail, the Boss goes about gathering new recruits. He makes a point of having his agents avoid contact with the player characters, if at all possible. The player characters will become aware of these movements as they deal with those outside the city and they pass information on to them.
In the final confrontation, if the party succeeds in reaching the Boss, they discover the evil leader is a Bronze Dragon. However, bronze dragons are not normally evil. Instead the poor creature has been possessed by a terrible and powerful being—the Pool of Radiance was not all it was supposed to be. When the dragon bathed in it centuries ago, a thing lurking there seized its mind. Boring into its skull, the creature has controlled the dragon and through it the forces of the city.
However, the creature is not immortal and must find a new host quickly if the dragon is slain. Thus, at the same time as the player character arrives, so does Porphyrys and his party. A battle may break out. If the player characters concentrate on defeating Porphyrys, the dragon/thing will use the diversion to escape. If the characters concentrate on the dragon, Porphyrys will try to stop them (since he does not want the dragon killed). One way or another, the spirit possessing the Bronze dragon will transfer to another character (Porphyrys, unless he is defeated, or another non-player character) and, in a massive demonstration of new power, make its escape. The dragon, confused, will continue to attack, believing (perhaps rightfully so) that its life is threatened by the player characters.
With their leader gone, the evil inhabitants of Old Phlan will become divided, disorganized, and easily defeated.
