Also known as:Goken Hometown: lone cabin in the Wall of Heavens
Race: Human Age: 25 Height: 5`9" Weight: 136 lbs. Eyes: black Skin: light Hair: black Class: Martial Artist (aka unchained Monk) Alignment: Lawful good Deity: Shizuru Affiliation: Pathfinder Society Signature weapon: Kamehameha Famous quote: Ka-Me-Ha-Me-HAAA! Prominent features: none so far Primary role: close combat striker Secondary roles: athletics
Die Uralte Ruine, die als Distelkrone bekannt ist, ist schon lange der Unterschlupf der Goblins. Derzeit dient sie noch einem weiteren Zweck. Nämlich als Versteck einer Bande von Gesetzlosen unter Nualias Führung, die die Goblins als Instrument der Verwüstung rekrutiert haben, um Sandspitze vor diesen Goblins zu bewahren mussten die hiesigen Helden von Sandspitze nun nach Distelkrone aufbrechen.
Allerdings sollten die neuen Helden der verlorenen Küste dafür sorgen, dass sie für dieses Abenteuer gut gerüstet sind. Verglichen mit dem, was in und unter der Distelkrone lauert, stellen die Goblins nur eine mickrige Gefahr dar, denn die Ruine war eine von vielen, die der Runenherrscher Karzoug vor Jahrtausenden in seinem Krieg gegen seine Feine im Westen nutzte.
Ancient Thassilon was not ruled by wizards and spells alone, for even the runelords had their martial champions. Also known as the Alara'hai or the Seven Blades of Conviction, the Seven Swords of Sin were the weapons of those champions, assorted blades imbued with the deadly might of the schools of magic that dominated Thassilon. The following introduces all of the Seven Swords of Sin without their fully awakened states, along with details on their first wielder, the blade masters who served as the first champions of their respective runelord masters and from whom each blade takes its name and imbued intelligence.
Asheia, Sword of Lust
Accepting the burning blade intended for her champion, Runelord Sorshen strode directly into her harem and buried it between the legs of her least favorite consort. To the hundreds of shocked courtesans remaining, Sorshen made a simple promise: whoever returned the cleaned blade to her in her private chambers would be deemed her most devoted servant and gain the honor—among others—of being named her champion. Shouts and shrieks followed the runelord from her seraglio. Few survived that night, and none save one were fit to please their mistress in the aftermath. When they emerged from the royal chambers days later, Sorshen dubbed the exotic swordswoman Asheia her champion.
Baraket, Sword of Pride
Runelord Xanderghul had intended to personally wield the blade crafted by his servants at Runeforge. For weeks he studied the weapon, and though he would never admit a personal failing, he found his martial skills lacking. For a time he sought to further ensorcell the blade to allow it to wield itself, or create a simulacrum swordsman to wield it, but ultimately he settled on enslaving a peerless creature to serve as his guardian. The runelord conjured a princess of the ghaele azatas to his court, and for years subtly courted her while wrapping her in a phantasmagoria of masterful illusions and deceptions, twisting her perception of reality until she accepted the runelord as her master. Baraket rose as one of the most unlikely of the runelords' champions, a deceived celestial being whose consciousness lingered on even after she was slain over a century later by the agents of the empyreal lord Chadali—emissaries attempting to liberate her.
Chellan, Sword of Greed
For centuries the transmuters of Shalast idealized the arcane pursuit of transfiguring lead into gold. Upon unlocking that secret, they sought even more challenging and dangerous transformations, among which was the quest to turn gold into living flesh. Presenting their master with the petrifying blade they'd created, the arcanists of Runeforge included a second wondrous gift, a woman of living gold they called Chellan. She excelled at all things—art, dance, song, magic, swordsmanship—and it seemed fitting that she would bear the blade that birth from Runeforge made her sibling. But Chellan's time proved short, and after 5 brief years of reducing the enemies of Shalast to rubble, her unperfected animating forces dissipated—all except for those vestiges of calculating fanaticism that imprinted upon the blade that came to bear her name.
Garvok, Sword of Wrath
Garvok was merely the first wielder to be cremated by the blade that took his name and consciousness. A particularly brutal member of the Shoanti caste, he was granted the weapon crafted by the evokers of Runeforge and, to display its might to the Runelord of Wrath, entered the arena of Xin-Bakrakhan. Facing wave after wave of soldiers, Garvok was finally brought down not by the spears of his foes, but by the explosions of his own sword and the resulting collapse of the royal arena. When the sword was dragged from the rubble, drops of Garvok's blood still boiled upon the blade's shattered edge—a fitting christening for the sword of wrath.
Shin-Tari, Sword of Sloth
When the conjurers of Runeforge presented Runelord Ilthyrius with the blade he had bid them create, he immediately ordered their executions. The tales he had heard of golden weapons and fortress-leveling might far exceeded the stunted short sword his lazy wizards had presented to him. Unable to enter Runeforge himself, he unleashed a contingent of xill raiders into his own servants' midst, and bid the alien warband's leader personally gut his lead arcanist with the disappointing blade. The xill did as commanded, but in wielding the weapon, discovered the extent of its remarkable properties. After carrying out their murderous rampage, they reported their victory and the versatility of the extraordinary sword their leader had come to call Shin-Tari—the Quicksilver Talon. In a rare display of thanks, Runelord Ilthyrius commanded the new conjurers he installed at Runeforge to etch the blade with images of their slain predecessors, whose collective intellects had take up residence within the sword.
Tannaris, Sword of Envy
One of the early bearers of the title Runelord of Envy, Runelord Tannaris sought to master every pursuit he applied himself to, harboring vicious jealously toward experts of fields he'd not personally conquered. Unwilling to let the skills of others exceed him in any capacity, Tannaris sought to prove his bloodline's endless potential, and upon having his first son left him in the care of Edasseril's most talented weapons masters. Raised to be a champion of envy—and a strong host for Tannaris's consciousness should such ever be needed—the child, named Tannaris as well, grew along the paths the runelord dictated, becoming both a phenomenally skilled warrior and devoted bodyguard to his father, eventually accepting his lord's newly crafted dispelling blade. Yet for all his son's talents, Runelord Tannaris could not share in his offspring's accomplishments, and grew resentful of his skills. Finally the runelord attempted to murder his son, but Tannaris the swordsman was prepared. Expecting his father's betrayal, he was able to catch the runelord off guard and instigate a lengthy battle that left both slain. Yet one consciousness remained, trapped within the blade of the champion of envy, though it remains unclear whether it is the intellect of the fallen soldier or the scheming mind of his runelord father.
Ungarato, Sword of Gluttony
With the completion of their work, the necromancers of Runeforge set forth for Xin-Gastash amid a contingent of their most potent—and conspicuous—undead attendants. While skirting the northern ridge of the Kodars, the necromancers fell under attack by savage northland barbarians aided by ferocious white dragon twins. Few of the wizards survived, and those who escaped lived only long enough to report to Runelord Goparlis the loss of their masterpiece and the name of the blood-haired barbarian dragon master: Ungarato. Runelord Goparlis sent a legion of his finest soldiers in pursuit of the blade, and when they fell, he sent a contingent of slaves and necromancers to reanimate their bones so they could march on. Ungarato's forces struck like axes of glacial ice—lethal, but melting away after every attack. The runelord spent much of his remaining reign pursuing Ungarato, but never captured the savage warlord or laid hand upon the blade crafted for him. Goparlis's distraction and obsession eventually cost him his rule, when his apprentice, Krune, betrayed him and took up the mantle of Runelord of Gluttony. Soon after Runelord Krune's ascension, Ungarato sought to meet with the new tyrant. Exposure to the twisted energies of the evil sword, the endless assault of Goparlis's magic, and his own drive for vengeance against the runelord—who for so long had harvested the northland tribes as materials for profane experiments—had warped Ungarato. Upon a chariot pulled by twin skeletal dragons, Ungarato revealed that he had fallen years ago, but conviction and rage had restored him as a graveknight. The warlord offered to trade his Thassilonian blade for Goparlis's body, so the northlanders might have a trophy of the tyrant's fall. Although impressed, Runelord Krune proposed a different exchange: his predecessor's corpse in exchange for the blade and Ungarato's service as his personal champion. The graveknight accepted and took the fallen runelord's body north. When he returned, he did so at the head of an army of his kinsmen, who to show their devotion had sacrificed themselves upon his blade so they might follow their master even in death. Centuries later, when Ungarato finally fell—bearing with him a portion of his master's final creation, the Gluttonous Tome, amid the ruin of Thassilon—his essence and devotion passed on into the foul blade that now bears his name.
The ancient empire of Thassilon (pronounced THAH-sih-lon) occupied most of western Avistan for over a millennium. While its power was great, struggles for control within the nation itself tore Thassilon apart. All that now remains are mysterious ruined monoliths scattered throughout the landscape of Varisia.
The Seven Domains
Bakrakhan – Wrath – Evocation
Cyrusian – Pride – Illusion
Edasseril – Envy – Abjuration
Eurythnia – Lust – Enchantment
Gastash – Gluttony – Necromancy
Haruka – Sloth – Conjuration
Shalast – Greed – Transmutation
History
Founding & Rise to Power
Thassilon was founded by the benevolent emperor Xin, who first harnessed the power of rune magic. Due to the immense size of the empire, Xin established seven fiefdoms run by his most trusted advisors and the most powerful arcanists in the land. As his personal influence over the nation became smaller, his ideals were also pushed to the wayside, making way for the villainy of the sinful runelords, who gained even more power than Xin, but did so on the backs of the people of Thassilon.
The Fall of Thassilon
The true reason for Thassilon’s destruction has been lost to time, but several theories exist. It is quite likely that the constant feuding between the power-hungry runelords ruined the nation from within. Some historians theorize that the enslaved stone giants revolted and tore apart the very structures and edifices they were forced to build, outlawing the use of rune magic. A smaller number of Thassilonian scholars hypothesize that, in their efforts to explore newer and darker realms of rune magic, the runelords unleashed an evil power so immense that even they could not control it, resulting in the downfall of their arcane empire. Whatever the reason, Thassilon is no more than a thing of legend in the modern world—a reminder that even the mightiest can fall.
