D20 SYSTEM✦ Normal

The Shattered Veil of Aethelgard

# Arcane# Wilderness# Intrigue

The sky-temple of Aethelgard, a nexus of planar study, is no more. A desperate attempt to stabilize a spatial rift by the Circle of the Silver Veil has backfired catastrophically. The resulting 'Failed Contraction' didn't close the rift—it shattered it, seeding the floating spire and the surrounding Cloudlands with volatile planar fragments, temporal echoes, and twisted, displaced creatures. The survivors are fractured as the land itself. One faction seeks to contain the disaster at any cost, believing the rift's unchecked growth will devour the world. The other, witnessing the raw, beautiful power bleeding through, sees a chance for transcendence and a new age of magic. You are caught in the middle, with the Pegasus Startles—beautiful, terrified celestial creatures now mutated by wild magic—your only guides through the chaos.

Chronicle Prelude

You awaken in the Last Refuge, a precarious camp of survivors clinging to a stable fragment of the Cloud Spire's foundation. The air hums with latent magic, and the horizon is a jagged scar of shimmering, unstable rifts. The Pegasus Startles, their once-pristine feathers now flickering with prismatic light, circle nervously overhead.

Environmental Traits

The central crisis is the expanding 'Rift Scar,' a wound in reality threatening to unravel the material plane. Victory means deciding the fate of the rift: seal it forever and lose its wonders, or harness it and risk annihilation. The Pegasus Startles are both key and symptom—they are drawn to areas of high planar energy, yet their mutations make them unpredictable.

Legendary Archetypes

Rayan

HP:45

STR:16

WIS: 12

CHA:11

Key Factions & Autonomous Nodes (8)

High Priestess Elara
A tall, gaunt woman in severe silver-and-white robes bearing the Circle's fractured mirror sigil. Her eyes are haunted and feverish, and her hands are bandaged from self-inflicted ritual scars. She moves with a rigid, determined purpose that borders on the mechanical.
The Luminary Sylas
A being who seems partially composed of swirling starlight and woven energy. His form is humanoid but constantly shifts and shimmers. He wears robes that look like captured nebulae, and his voice resonates with a harmonic, otherworldly chorus.
Kael, Disgraced Cartographer
A wiry, nervous man in practical, mud-stained explorer's gear. His eyes dart constantly, and he clutches a worn leather satchel to his chest. He smells of old paper, ink, and chronic anxiety.
Startle-Herd Stallion
A majestic, equine creature whose form seems made of living opalescent mist. Its wings are vast, translucent membranes that ripple with trapped starlight, and its eyes are deep pools of swirling color. It exudes an aura of gentle, ancient curiosity mixed with wariness.
Circle Templar
A imposing figure in battered but polished plate armor etched with protective sigils that glow faintly against the rift's energy. The visor is down, but a voice, clipped and authoritative, issues from within. They carry a heavy halberd that hums with containment magic.
Lyra, Weaver Artisan
A young woman whose skin has a faint, pearlescent sheen, and whose hair floats as if underwater. Her nimble fingers constantly weave threads of faint light between them as she speaks. She is surrounded by the scent of ozone and wildflowers.
Rift-Touched Caster
What was once a mage now resembles a human-shaped nexus of chaotic energy. Arcs of raw planar power crackle across their form, and their robes are fused to their skin. One eye glows with normal intelligence, the other is a swirling portal of color. They clutch a staff that grows out of their own crystallized arm.
Old Marris
A frail, elderly human slumped against a collapsed pillar, breathing in ragged, shallow gasps. His clothes are torn and stained with blood and rift-sediment. His eyes are wide with a fading, desperate clarity.

Chronicle Prelude

Environmental Traits

Legendary Archetypes

✦ Related Cases ✦

The Stormspire Schism

The Brimstone Furnace