D20 SYSTEM✦ Normal

The Burning Focus of the Sunward Lens

# Wilderness# Intrigue# Magitech

A conflict erupts over the Lens of Aetheric Focus, an ancient artifact capable of channeling the sun's energy into either a source of limitless power or a devastating weapon. Two factions, each believing their cause is just, will stop at nothing to control it. The players arrive as the lens begins to activate uncontrollably, threatening to ignite the surrounding region.

Chronicle Prelude

The players arrive in the neutral trading town of Sunhaven, nestled in a valley surrounded by crystalline mesas. The air is thick with tension and the smell of ozone. Merchants whisper of the 'glass-blazers' and the 'shadow-weavers' both moving toward the Glasspeak Observatory, where the ancient lens resides.

Environmental Traits

The Sunward Lens is overloading, its uncontrolled focus causing spontaneous, localized sunstorms that scorch the land and create fields of deadly, superheated air. The entire Glasspeak region is destabilizing, and the lens's ultimate activation will either empower one faction's vision of the future or immolate the valley. The players must navigate the factions, the hazardous terrain, and the lens's own defenses to determine the outcome.

Legendary Archetypes

Rayan

HP:45

STR:16

WIS: 12

CHA:11

Key Factions & Autonomous Nodes (8)

Ralin the Shadow
A wiry human male with a network of faded tattoos covering his forearms and a perpetual squint. He wears muted, practical clothing that blends into Sunhaven's dusty streets. His belt is loaded with numerous small pouches and lockpicks.
Captain Voric of the Ascendancy
A tall, severe human male in polished steel plate armor etched with sunburst motifs. His face is scarred and his eyes burn with zealous conviction. He carries a halberd emblazoned with the Ascendancy's crest.
Elder Syra of the Conclave
An elderly human woman with deep-set, worried eyes and white hair tied back in a severe knot. She wears robes of dark blue and grey, embroidered with star patterns. She constantly clutches a worn leather-bound tome to her chest.
Artificer Kael
A middle-aged human male with soot-stained hands and wild, unkempt hair. He wears a heavy leather apron over fine clothes, and multiple lenses are attached to a band on his forehead. He gestures emphatically with tools as he speaks.
Warden Theron
A towering, muscular human male in battered but functional plate armor, painted matte black. His shield bears the sigil of a shattered star. His expression is one of grim determination, and his voice carries the weight of command.
The Lens Guardian
A colossal entity of fused crystal and humming brass, vaguely humanoid in shape. Its body is a lattice of prismatic lenses that refract the light into blinding patterns. Its 'face' is a single, massive focusing crystal that glows with intense, unstable energy. It moves with a grinding, geologic slowness.
Mira the Restorer
A cautious human woman in her thirties, with goggles pushed up on her forehead and leather gloves stained with various alchemical reagents. Her shop is cluttered with bubbling apparatus and shelves of labeled components.
Glass Spider Swarm
A skittering mass of dozens of dog-sized spiders with bodies made of razor-sharp, translucent crystal. They move in perfect unison, their legs clicking against the glass shards of the field. They are drawn to heat and refracted light, attacking with blinding speed.

Chronicle Prelude

Environmental Traits

Legendary Archetypes

✦ Related Cases ✦

The Lost Workshop: Heart of a Raging Core

The Reignited Forge: A Crisis of Iron and Will