D20 SYSTEM✦ Normal

The Inverted Obelisk

# Arcane# Aerial# Dungeon# Wilderness

The sky-vessel 'Aether's Maw' lies shattered upon the Obelisk Ruins, its gravitational stabilizers fractured and leaking inversion fields. Local goblin clans, blaming outsiders for stealing their ancestral sky-crystals, now dig frantically to reclaim them, warping the very fabric of reality. The air hums with dissonant frequencies, and the ground itself cannot be trusted. A faction of desperate arcanists seeks to restore balance, while a militaristic order demands the crystals be destroyed to prevent further catastrophe. Your path is not chosen; it is calculated.

Chronicle Prelude

The Cliffside Camp of Velan's Vigil, a makeshift settlement of survivors and arcanists overlooking the treacherous, partially inverted valley leading to the Obelisk Ruins. Gravity here is merely unstable, not lethal. NPCs offer grim context and initial quests.

Environmental Traits

The Obelisk Ruins are a cascading catastrophe of inverted gravity wells, shattered sky-ship debris, and crystalline growths. The goal is to locate the Heart Crystal at the apex of the central obelisk to either stabilize or destroy the region, deciding the fate of both factions and the land itself.

Legendary Archetypes

Rayan

HP:45

STR:16

WIS: 12

CHA:11

Key Factions & Autonomous Nodes (8)

Archivist Velan
A tall, thin human with sharp, intelligent features and eyes that hold a desperate gleam. He wears the deep blue, silver-trimmed robes of the Aetheric Concordance, now stained with dust and wear. His fingers are perpetually stained with ink. He gestures emphatically when speaking, as if trying to physically grasp the solution to the crisis.
Commander Korr
A battle-scarred human woman in practical, steel-reinforced leather armor bearing the hammer-and-anvil insignia of the Iron Mandate. Her stance is rigid, her expression weary but resolved. She carries herself with the weight of command, and her eyes scan the horizon constantly, assessing threats. A faded scar runs from her temple to her jawline.
Shaman Tikk
A hunched goblin with mottled green and grey skin, adorned with fetishes of bone, feather, and polished crystal shards. His eyes glow with a faint, unstable violet light. He mutters constantly to himself, sometimes in coherent Goblin, sometimes in disjointed whispers to the air. He clutches a staff topped with a softly humming crystal.
Elder Zzug
An ancient goblin, so old his skin is like wrinkled parchment stretched over bone. He wears a cloak woven from crystalline fibers that shift color with his mood. His eyes are clear, sharp, and ancient, holding none of the madness that afflicts the younger goblins. He sits upon a throne of woven metal and living crystal in the deepest part of the Heartwood.
Engineer Brynn
A human woman in a torn and scorched Concordance jumpsuit, lying propped against a shattered piece of sky-vessel hull. One leg is splinted with makeshift materials, and her face is pale with pain. Grease and soot stain her hands and face. Despite her injuries, her eyes are sharp and calculating, assessing her surroundings.
Scout Vara
A lean, sharp-featured human woman clad in mottled grey and brown camouflage armor of the Iron Mandate. She moves with a predator's silence, her eyes constantly moving. She wears no insignia, but her gear is high-quality and well-maintained. A longbow is slung over her back.
Apex Guardian
A towering humanoid construct seemingly carved from the very substance of the gravity crystals. Its body is a lattice of sharp, translucent facets that glow with intense, shifting light. It moves with a silent, grinding grace, defying gravity with each step. Where its face should be, there is only a smooth, pulsing core of violet energy.
Maddened Goblin Horde
A shrieking mob of goblins, their eyes wide with violet light and foam flecking their jaws. They are clad in ragged hides and scavenged metal, wielding crude weapons of sharpened scrap and crystal. They move in a chaotic, frenzied pack, attacking anything that moves without tactic or self-preservation.

Chronicle Prelude

Environmental Traits

Legendary Archetypes

✦ Related Cases ✦

The Gilded Cage of Kazadhur

The Stormspire Schism