"Each one of us are stories, child! The only
difference between the farmer and the legend is the amount of ink it takes to tell
the tale."
-Hurnodd Longyarn,
Half-Orc Bard
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He came from the black, endless waves of the Abyss.
His name was Rutheranakk, a Nether Giant who
clawed his way into the world of Oerth to spread his evil and achieve the grim
goal of attaining Godhood through the use of a primordial artifact known as the
Heart of Shaagran, which could be consumed in a mass ritual sacrifice to
elevate him to divine status.
It did not take long for a nefarious being of such power
to attract desperate, twisted souls to follow him and aid in his grim plans,
and soon, Rutheranakk’s influence grew, and word of his foul deeds spread to
the ears of the noble Paladin Sir Kavathan Stroden, bravest of
adventurers and purest of souls. He dedicated his lance to eradicating
Ruthernakk’s influence, and set in crusade against him and his fiendish cult at
every turn. It did not take long for Sir Stroden to realize that while his
heart was just and his skills in battle formidable, the threat that Rutheranakk
posed to the good of the realm was simply too great for one adventurer to
handle alone, and so he gathered bold allies to lend to the might of his cause.
First, there came Gargrin Gravelbrow, a Warrior as
hard as Mithril, whose skill with the hammer was only rivaled by his command of
the battlefield.
Then joined the Elven Wizardess Meznaleen Sparksmile,
who found laughter as easy as weaving the forces of the cosmos.
Coorlander Snyde the Halfling Rogue was a master
opportunist and one with the shadows, and his blades matched his wit in their
sharpness.
Last among them was the Half-Orc Cleric Porgal
Brokenjaw, favored of Kord. His physical strength and that of his faith
were reliant and true.
With his potent circle of allies complete, Sir Stroden’s
crusade against Rutheranakk and his putrid influence intensified, and these 5
adventurers became heralded for their brave deeds and heroic acts. It was not
long before they earned the name The Ardent Assembly.
As was inevitable, the Assembly and the forces of
Rutheranakk were destined to clash, and did so in a monumental confrontation at
the apex of the Nether Giant’s ritual, where he gathered all of his deranged
worshippers to sacrifice themselves in unison, their souls set to flood into
the dreaded Heart of Shaagran all at once, and then be consumed by
Rutheranakk’s massive maw.
But alas, the Ardent Assembly disrupted the ritual,
fighting valiantly through waves upon waves of the Nether Giant’s forces.
Nearing the climax of his gruesome rite, Rutheranakk brought the dreaded Heart
of Shaagran to his dry, cracked lips and was about to gorge upon it when Sir
Stroden himself, atop his powerful warhorse and armed only with his legendary
lance, charged forth and pierced the heart in a desperate, bold last action.
Upon impact, the heart expelled all of its dreaded
negative energy in one potent burst that washed over the area, spreading
entropy and death in its wake. When the smoke cleared, the vile Giant
Rutheranakk and all of his followers were slain on the spot, along with 3 of
the 5 members of the Ardent Assembly. As the ruthless Nether Giant fell to one
knee, he used his final breath to let out a grim promise that he would return
from the realms of death to finish his mad quest for godhood.
Hearing those haunting words, Gargrin Gravelbrow pledged
to make certain that the evil of Rutheranakk would never plague the world of
Oerth again, and so he built an imposing keep, where he would train troops and
prepare for the Nether Giant’s eventual return.
The once free-spirited Elven Wizardess Meznaleen, seeing
the fall of 3 of her most loyal friends, never did laugh again, and retreated
to the hills near the site of the battle. Due to the sorrow that battered her
spirit following that day, she was given the surname Stillheart, which she
carries to this day.
Word soon spread of the tragic tale of the fate of the
Ardent Assembly and the fall of Rutheranakk, and the following months saw a
steady stream of curious onlookers, history buffs, and those simply looking for
something new come to the site of the battle. A small town soon grew there,
which was named Strodenmarch, after the sacrifice of Sir Stroden and the
allies that marched with him against Rutheranakk and his dreaded cult.
It’s been 25 years since the founding of
Strodenmarch, and it’s become quite a place.
