The Tale of the Ardent Assembly

"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.