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The Hollow Isle, A Pathfinder Campaign

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edited 2016-03-31 21:50:10 in Roleplay & Games
On this world, under the Great Moon, Takamagahara's celestial plain... There was once naught but seas. Then two Goddesses descended, to build upon it, and breathe into it life. Majina-umi, mother of arcane magic, carved great earth and stirred up storms to give the world form, and her wife, Megu-umi. mother of divine magic, sculpted life and gave them names. Upon the last of their creations, these crescent islands upon which we live, they rested before returning to the heavens. However, with life, eventually came death... And death, betrayal... Slain by her wife as retribution for creating an abomination, in bleak Yomi, Majina-umi's corpse gained new life, fueled by her despair and rage. Mother of the Undead, and Origin of All Curses, Yomotsu Norou-umi lies by the furnaces of that land consumed by her envy, exacting her vengeance upon the living by her profane brood...

The greatest of these vengeances was only a century and some score of years ago...

In the ages that passed since her death, four great nations rose upon those islands, where she once lay with her beloved. Called Ohtsuki by those who lived there, settled in four vast kingdoms. In the north, Kazeseki, where winter winds howl, bringing vast drifts of snow, the Eijo clan ruled with their Elven kin, fervently protecting their realm from outsiders who would harm the wilds of their lands and the beloved humans under their care. Upon the greatest of the islands, Daishu, where spring's sun brought life to all it touched, the dwarven heroes of Kanzaki fought with honor and claimed the island as their dominion. Under their care, all humanoids from humble halflings to furtive gnomes prospered. On a scattered chain of islands, collectively named Ooishu, where summer storms rage, the Oni Lords reigned with an iron fist, enslaving the strange peoples of their lands, such as the skilled tengu, and the cunning kitsune. Their vile deeds even brought half-breeds calling themselves Orcs into the world... Finally, on the dreary island that was once a majestic capital, Ginkoku, where autumn's chill called to the graves, the Shingaki ruled over a decaying, wretched hive of corrupt nobility and restless commoners...

Until the mouth of dreaded Yomi opened.

With livid skin and regal white robes, the greatest servant of Norou-umi, a lich, rose with armies of the living dead. Upon that bloody night of a new moon, thousands were slain and turned, until the island was ruined, and the undead ruled. With the great magic, the lich, calling herself Shibouhime, erected a bastion over her domain, Karayajima, and set her sights upon the remainder of this land. For four years, this War of Yomi raged, rivers dyed red in the blood of martyrs, Oni and Undead trampling over Daishu, razing and slaughtering all, routing even the mightiest of Kanzaki's cavalries. So desperate were they, that the Elves descended from their lands to aid in their defense, but it was for naught. Daishu was claimed, and Kazeseki was next. All seemed lost... 

But hope came in the form of a rebellion. Brave Ryoma, a kitsune slave, rallied his kin and comrades to slay their Oni masters, and turn against the Lich they had sworn allegiance to. As the Oni generals fell, their armies united under Ryoma's banner, and finally the living fought as one, destroying Shibouhime's armies, driving them back into her bastion of Karayajima, where the Lords confronted her and destroyed the lich once and for all, shattering her phylactery. When the bronze hairpiece that held her soul fractured, the fell powers of her mistress spewed forth, cursing the island, corrupting it, causing all manner of wicked creatures to seek out the castle and guard its halls.

As the Lich fell, an Empire rose, Ohtsuki united under its banner, ruled by noble humans whose clan had martyred themselves in the name of a seemingly futile cause. The Elves opened Kazeseki's gates, and the Dwarves ruled Daishu in the Emperor's name, while Ryoma and his fellow slaves, now liberated, returned to Ooishu, where he would reign under the name Kagura. As for what had once been Ginkoku? Karayajima it remains to this day, filled with the mysterious treasures the Oni had offered as tribute to their lord in that bloody war... But the Lich's curse remains strong, and strange and evil things wander those halls, and in the depths beneath that towering castle, the Mouth of Yomi remains opened wide... Where the Pallid One waits, plotting her next act of retribution upon the living...


The Ferry to Karayajima

Below the deck of a small sailing ship, six adventurers sit together. Their destination is the Forbidden Island of legend, Karayajima. Each assured in their skills in spite of their inexperience, they have agreed to travel together in hopes that their cooperation would make their quests more profitable for each of them.

A Kitsune, two Tengu, a Human, an Orc, and an Elf form this company, but even so, having only just agreed to fight together, have not properly introduced themselves.

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