The Asylon Campaign

From the Free Dictionary

a·sy·lum

n.

1. An institution for the care of people, especially those with physical or mental impairments, who require organized supervision or assistance.

2. A place offering protection and safety; a shelter.

3. A place, such as a church, formerly constituting an inviolable refuge for criminals or debtors.

4. The protection afforded by a sanctuary. See Synonyms at shelter.

5. Protection and immunity from extradition granted by a government to a political refugee from another country.

From Your Dictionary.Com

Etymology: The Middle English word asylum comes from the Latin translation of the Greek asylon. The Greek word meant protected; a + sylos, the right to seize.

A little more background. From an earlier post of mine:

The Tavern began its strange journey, when a group of adventurers stopped a Demon Lord from drawing several Prime Worlds into its layer of the Abyss. The Tavern was originally located at a point of entry of Abyssal Energies into one of these worlds. Through the use of Wishes, and similar magics, the heroes created a convergence of these points of entry, using the Tavern to tie them together and create a sort of  inter-dimensional plug, or lock, stopping the transformation process and ending the Demon Lord’s plans. Though they were mostly successful, the only way the heroes could find to bring their plan to fruition, was to sacrifice the world from which the Tavern came. The Tavern was sort of a Trojan Horse in this regard and when the Abyss swallowed that forgotten world, the magics built into the Tavern went into effect. Now, as an unforseen byproduct of the spells used to empower the Tavern, it constantly Plane Shifts to the various nexus points which form the connections between the Abyss and the worlds involved in the original conflict. This includes the world from which the Tavern originated, which is now a part of a vast dungeon inside one of the layers of the Abyss. Or, perhaps, this layer is really just one big Dungeon.

The idea for the Asylon Campaign, is that during the inter-planar struggle, the veils separating the various prime worlds under siege, began to thin. Communication and crossover became possible and some of the personages from several of these worlds, were able to collaborate. In addition to working to defeat the Demon Prince, they set about to save some of the populations, from several worlds which were judged too far gone to salvage.

The assault on these planets, was so severe that time and space became mutable.  One world was chosen, fortified and began receiving trickles of refugees, through portals opened for that purpose. Humans, elves, dwarves, goblins and various animals were ushered to temporary safety. Several “monsters,” also made it across, either through their own efforts, or with the aid of those with dark agendas. The science and magic involved in the process of evacuation, created even more stress on the reality of the chosen refuge, which was also still being influenced by Abyssal Radiation. Abyssal Radiation is mutagenic and created “abominations.” I think that Orcs are going to be the descendents of mutated humans or elves. This will probably be the case, for some of the other humanoids as well. Goblins and kobolds will be original, un-mutated creatures. I can also bring in all other kinds of cool beast-men. Not to mention Spider-Goats!

Peoples and creatures from several Prime Worlds, entered this new Milieu. When the crises had been averted, the ravaged local Reality, began fixing itself and stabilized. The time-stream and even physical make-up of the world had altered, being influenced by several factors, including the consciousness of the new inhabitants. Some of the denizens retained their knowledge of the origins of their new reality, while others, influenced by the effects of the universe attempting to right itself, remembered things differently.

One group of survivors, Greeks from an alternate of our Earth, named their new home Asylon. These folk lived in the early years of the Common Era, a time of great religious syncretism and ferment, in our own reality. I decided that they were Isis worshippers and that aspects of Egyptian Religion have flourished on Asylon. Also, a school of magic, following the teachings contained in the Hermetic Texts, will be present, though altered by the events of the mass transmigration.

At this point, I can bring elements from anywhere, into the game. People and cultures from parallel versions of any fantasy world, can be introduced and blended into the setting.

As I wrote above, while the whole, apocalyptic event  was going on, the various movers and shakers were also working on defeating the schemes of the Demon Prince. As time itself became mutable, they called forth heroes from the many worlds under siege, from various times in history. I’ll have most, if not all, of these heroes and the high level architects of Asylon, killed or cut off from the campaign world. Amidst the general chaos, what if some of the summoned heroes were accidently thrown into a time, long after the event was over? Perhaps, due to the aforementioned chaos, instead of appearing as mighty heroes, they arrived on Asylon as the 1st level version of themselves.

Primarily, this allows me to introduce the characters to the setting, with them having no idea of what the fuck’s going on. Discovering the various secrets of Asylon, will be an ongoing theme.

Also, the players can then create a character, which comes from wherever they please. Earth, Greyhawk, the Hyborian Age, you name it. If they want to, they can even re-create a historical or fictional character. A first level version of Achilles, Sir Lancelot or Conan, from an alternate universe and with a new destiny, separate from that of the one hailing from the dimension we’re familiar with. Kinda like the “Conan” seen above.

Because Asylon is a world, which has been kind of tore apart, fubared and reconstituted, all kinds of magical and scientific artifacts and ruins, can come into play. Not to mention cultures, creatures, etc. My goal, was to create a flexible, gonzo setting and I think this background fits the bill. I’m thinking of starting the campaign about a hundred years or so, after the Event. Different inhabitants, may remember it as being further in the past, or more recent. From their point of view, they may even be correct!

Any comments, suggestions, etc., are most welcome. The date has been set for my wife’s radiation treatment and we’re probably looking to start the new Campaign in May. I’m using my Demesne of the Iron Lich map and will make a few adjacent areas, as well, before the campaign gets under way.