Session zero. The GM introduces the setting of Ereboros and the four player characters — Orrin, Wisp, Vargus, and Rue — are established as recent arrivals to the continent of Edyrea, each isekai’d in from a different home world.
Details
The 200th year of the God-Queen Landaluce‘s reign marks the 200th anniversary of the end of all war, when Saint Sienna sang the final lullaby that put Sarvothemisues, the everlasting wyrm, back to sleep (e00 00:11:40). Edyrea is the central continent of the world of Ereboros, surrounded by an ocean where the sleeping wyrm rests; every 11 years its breath refills the seas with the Pale (e00 00:14:48).
On the surface, life in Wriem and the rest of Edyrea has been fine, even good, until very recently (e00 00:18:55). Beneath the surface lies the Forgotten Depths, home to demons, devils, and spawns of the Pale, mostly kept under control by the Guilds (e00 00:19:57, e00 00:23:02). Elysium is a city in the sky where the gods — the Transcendents — live (e00 00:22:00).
Very recently, a plague called the Hollowing Plague broke out; it spares neither god, mortal, nor metamortal, and the God-Queen has gone silent (e00 00:25:12). Collective fear of the plague spawned an avatar known as the Hollow King (e00 00:26:18) — see The Hollowing Plague.
The four player characters are not native to Edyrea; they arrived recently through portals of varying kinds, part of a light isekai premise for the campaign (e00 00:28:26):
- Orrin (played by Roger) — a human sorcerer from Ternia, an Earth-like world, who resents his new powers and wants a “cure” to send him home (e00 01:07:05, e00 01:08:25, e00 01:10:33).
- Wisp (played by Mike) — a small warlock from The Garden, bound to a patron, wielding a massive greatsword via a magical covenant (e00 01:12:40, e00 01:29:15).
- Vargus (played by Tyrell) — a Goliath cleric and former ship’s surgeon from Val, devoted to Our Lady of the Deep (e00 01:15:45, e00 01:32:42, e00 01:34:44).
- Rue (played by Andi) — an orc barbarian from The Merciless Reach, seeking out someone she wants to kill (e00 01:20:47, e00 01:23:51, e00 01:38:57).
The GM also outlined the setting’s cosmology of essence, souls, and the planes (e00 01:43:22–e00 01:59:53), the origin and structure of the Transcendents (e00 01:59:53–e00 02:11:25), and the laws of Edyrea under Vormonde, god of law (e00 02:15:30–e00 02:17:37).
Mike will eventually take over as GM for a second, parallel group set “underground,” with a hard cut planned to swap roles partway through the campaign (e00 00:20:58, e00 00:35:40).
Still open
- Holst, where the Hollowing Plague broke out, is otherwise unexplained — the name hasn’t been said a second time to confirm the spelling.
- The nature of the “catastrophe” that isekai’d Wisp out of the Garden is mentioned but deferred to future RP (e00 01:29:15).
- It’s mentioned that one of the four PCs may already know more than the others about how anti-essence/summoning magic works; not specified (e00 01:49:38).
Episode history
- e00 — session zero; setting and character introductions established.