Fifth Realm: The Story So Far...

The Fifth Realm is the setting I've been running my Fantasy games in for awhile now. It follows the standard fantasy tropes and uses most of the races from Dungeon Fantasy 3. I've run games that are somewhere between the full on Murder-Hobo-re that is Dungeon Fantasy and something closer to "serious" fantasy. The latest world events might just start shifting things a bit towards "dark fantasy" but we'll see how things develop....

Here is a recap of some of the events that have happens leading up to the current events.

The Turning Island Indecent

A few years back a group of adventures arrived in Port Destiny on Turning Island. They were commissioned by the leader of a group of "concerned citizens" to look into a strange temple found deep in the islands jungles. Soon they discovered a cult of a banished god were looking to open a gate way for that god to return to this world and bring about the end times.

They raced across the island seeking to five stones that could heal the magic seal that prevented this dark god from returning. Eventually they were able to defeat the cult and seal the god away, but at a high cost. Each of them lost one of the "elemental" essences.

Mistwood's Troubles

About a year ago the goblins started to attack the remote town of Mistwood. A (new) group of adventurers defended the town, tracked down the goblin hideout and defeated a group of mercenaries and a woman bent on using demonic powers to destroy the town.

Later the adventures chased off a black dragon that was making it's home in some nearby ruins. While there they met a group of orcs and had an unusually friendly experience. They also found a door marked with a seal they had seen before (on an amulet they had sold) and a carving that might have been been left by one of the adventurer's long lost uncle.

They tracked down the amulet, opened the door and found a vast underground realm that had been sealed off for thousands of years. Later they learned that this area was sealed off by a cabal of seven races to prevent crossing worlds as this "under realm" was a boarder land to other dimensions. They also discovered that the uncle had used a necromancy ritual to enter the land of the dead (still intact) in order to escape. The party had to find a lost relic, "The Returning Bell" to rescue him from the land of the dead.

After retrieving the bell, the party found Mistwood occupied by the Inquisition. These were suppose to be the King's most loyal who were tasked with upholding the law. But they betrayed the king and were going to hang the Mayor. The heroes ended up breaking the Mayor out of jail, just in time to learn that the town was in danger of total destruction.

The next morning the party had to get as many people out of town while avoiding the Inquisition. In the middle of the evacuation, the ground began to rumble, split, and rise. Soon it was a mad dash out of town, avoiding sinkholes and land slides.

When the day ended, only a scattered group of refugees were left at the banks of the river nearby. In the following weeks those that remained salvaged what they could. Mistwood was no more, but the troubles for it's people were not yet over....