D20 SYSTEM✦ Normal

The Shattered Sky-Port of Aetheria

# Dungeon# Construct# Intrigue# Aerial

The floating sky-port of Aetheria, once a marvel of arcane engineering, has collapsed into the jagged peaks below after a catastrophic failure of its power transmission leads. The cause is blamed on the 'Construct Sweeper' automata tasked with maintaining the runway, but the truth is buried in the wreckage. Two desperate factions—the port's surviving engineers and a sect of anti-automation purists—scramble to control the ruins, each seeking to either restore the port or ensure such hubris never rises again. Veteran adventurers must navigate a vertical labyrinth of collapsed platforms, rogue constructs, and fractured loyalties to uncover the real cause before the factions tear each other—and the last hope for the region—apart.

Chronicle Prelude

The windswept plateau of Sky-Reach Outpost, a precarious encampment of salvagers and refugees clinging to the cliffs overlooking the shattered wreckage of Aetheria far below. The air hums with residual arcane energy, and the distant clang of active constructs echoes from the ruins.

Environmental Traits

The crash site of the sky-port has destabilized the region's ley lines, causing unpredictable arcane storms and allowing corrupted constructs to roam free. The ultimate goal is to reach the core power nexus in the deepest intact section to either reboot the port or trigger a final, cleansing detonation.

Legendary Archetypes

Rayan

HP:45

STR:16

WIS: 12

CHA:11

Key Factions & Autonomous Nodes (8)

Guild Master Vorreth
A tall, gaunt human in his late fifties with oil-stained robes and soot permanently etched into the lines of his face. His eyes are sunken but burn with a feverish, determined light. He carries the weight of the port's failure on his hunched shoulders, but speaks of restoration with a desperate fervor.
Purist Elder Kalla
A weathered, iron-haired woman with the lean strength of a lifelong ascetic. Her eyes hold deep sorrow, but her voice is firm and commanding. She wears simple, undyed wool robes and carries a staff of gnarled, wind-blasted wood. A small, carved bird—a symbol of her lost family—hangs from her belt.
Engineer Rix
A young halfling with grease-stained fingers and a nervous, darting gaze. His Guild insignia is partially torn from his coat. He jumps at loud noises and often glances over his shoulder, as if expecting reprimand.
Purist Zealot
A grim-faced human clad in patchwork leather armor reinforced with scrap metal. They carry a heavy wrench or a sharpened piece of construction rebar. Their eyes are hard and suspicious, and they bear the Purists' brand—a circle with a line through it, like a broken gear.
Corrupted Sweeper Alpha
A towering, quadrupedal construct of scarred steel and grinding gears. One of its optical arrays flickers erratically with the same sickly purple energy seen in the conduits. Its massive sweeper arms end in grinding discs and crushing pincers, and it emits a low, distorted drone that sounds like a corrupted mantra: 'Debris detected. Organic contaminant. Purge protocol engaged.'
Scavenger Jax
A wiry human wrapped in layers of scavenged cloth and construct plating. His face is obscured by a makeshift filter mask, and his eyes are wide and constantly scanning. He moves with a skittering, paranoid energy, darting from shadow to shadow.
Core Guardian
A sleek, humanoid construct forged from the port's finest alloys. It moves with terrifying precision and grace. Its chest plate houses a massive, pulsing core of purple-black energy—the epicenter of the corruption. It wields a blade of hard-light in one hand and projects a shield of arcane force from the other. Its voice is a cold, synthesized echo.
Spectral Engineer Alyra
A translucent, flickering image of a middle-aged woman in Guild engineer's robes. Her form is unstable, phasing in and out of visibility, and she is surrounded by a faint aura of static and echoing whispers. Her expression is one of profound confusion and fear.

Chronicle Prelude

Environmental Traits

Legendary Archetypes

✦ Related Cases ✦

The Lost Workshop: Heart of a Raging Core

The Shattered Oath of Granite Hall