D20 SYSTEM✦ Normal

The Saltmaster's Fractured Core

# Wilderness# Intrigue# Construct

The endless Salt Flats are no longer silent. Hulking, crystalline golems—once docile maintenance constructs—now patrol with hostile intent, blocking the vital trade route to the city of Veridium. At the heart of the desolation lies the Saltmaster's abandoned Control Core, a source of immense power and the cause of the malfunction. Two desperate factions seek to claim it, each with a plan that will reshape the region, and the players are caught in the middle.

Chronicle Prelude

The players arrive at the fortified waystation of Brine's End, the last settlement before the lethal expanse of the Salt Flats. The air tastes of minerals and despair. Caravans are stranded, merchants are desperate, and the local garrison is overwhelmed by the sudden aggression of the salt golems. The Control Core is spoken of in whispers—a legend made terrifyingly real.

Environmental Traits

The Salt Flats are a vast, white wasteland under a blistering sun, dotted with jagged salt crystal formations and the ruins of old mining outposts. The region is in crisis: the golems, once programmed to maintain the delicate ecosystem, are now enforcing a brutal, warped logic, attacking anyone who crosses their designated zones. The source is the Control Core, which is either malfunctioning or has been corrupted. Reaching and deciding its fate is the campaign's victory condition.

Legendary Archetypes

Rayan

HP:45

STR:16

WIS: 12

CHA:11

Key Factions & Autonomous Nodes (8)

High Priest Kaelen
A gaunt man in salt-stained white robes, his eyes burning with fanatical fervor. He wears a crown of jagged salt crystals and carries the Crystal Tuning Fork like a scepter. His skin is cracked and dry from constant exposure to the Flats.
Director Halva
A middle-aged woman in practical, dusty traveling clothes of Veridian cut. She has a brass-rimmed monocle, ink-stained fingers, and carries scrolls of schematics. Her expression is one of constant, weary calculation.
Captain Maren
A weathered woman in battered leather armor, the insignia of Brine's End's watch faded on her shoulder. Dark circles underline her eyes, and her posture is slumped with exhaustion. She constantly scans the horizon.
Silas the Mute
A gaunt, dirty man with a haunted look. A crude, scarred line marks where his tongue was. He communicates through frantic gestures and drawings in the dust. He wears the tattered remnants of a miner's outfit.
Zealot Lyra
A young woman in novice Cleansing Tide robes, her face drawn with uncertainty. She fidgets with a salt-crystal pendant. Her eyes dart around, as if expecting censure.
Engineer Voss
A man in a torn Veridian technician's jumpsuit, bruised and bound with salt-crystal cords. He looks relieved but panicked.
Salt Golem Prime
A towering humanoid shape of fused, dark salt crystal, easily twelve feet tall. Its joints grind with a sound like tectonic plates. Its 'face' is a smooth plane, but a deep, resonant voice echoes from within, distorted like a memory.
Ghul the Scavenger
A wiry, sun-scorched raider clad in mismatched armor made from golem parts and caravan hides. He carries a cruel, hooked blade and grins with broken teeth.

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