I decided to set it in the Forgotten Realms (20 years after the Thunder Blessing - in my games the demihumans age at the same rate as humans until maturity, but aren't considered adults by their communities until their respective adult category ages), simply because I have so much 2e and 3e material for it, and as it was my first campaign world experience, I have a fondness for it. Thus, the plot:
A small band of dwarves have been carefully selected by a near-unknown sect of the Morndinsamman, who have read the portents after the Thunder Blessing and decided that it is time for dwarves to return to their ancient empire of Deep Shanatar, and restore dignity and respect to their race. The signs suggest that only the heirs of that ancient empire can do this mighty task, and it must fall to none other. The sect has spent centuries following bloodlines back, looking for the true heirs - and now the time has come for that patient work to pay off.
(In game terms, this small band is of 6-8 player characters, since player attrition is a real problem in online games, and also because there are 9 subkingdoms of ancient Shanatar, so not counting clan Duergar - perfect match?)
The theme is that dwarves have been in decline for ages, and their empires have all fallen - while it's not a stretch, it's not strictly canon for the FR, so I did some tinkering with the setting.
Since I've actually worked out this campaign, I don't want to give away the details until my players have encountered them, but the game started with a journey from Eshpurta to the Omlarandin Mountains, with opportunities to get to know each other and the theme of the game. Bankrolled by the sect for this introductory stage of the adventure, the sect is so small and unknown that their power and resources are quite limited - but the gods help those who help themselves, do they not? Honest toil and hearty valor are dwarven virtues, and the party must not balk at taking on this quest alone.
They visited Clan Ghalmrin of the Starspires, who laid claim to being the "last true blood of Shanatar" - a visit they handled astonishingly well, avoiding making an enemy of the Ghalmrin at this early stage. They were beset by dwarf bandits, a sorry sign of the state of disrespect and undignified behavior the race is falling to without the unity of their traditions and knowledge. And finally, they reached the Gate to the Deep, where an adventuring party awaited. The Company of the Dragon's Tooth were the adventurers who had found the hidden entrance to the warded section of the Underdark that Shanatar's dwarves had once claimed, then destroyed all knowledge of as they fled their enemies of ages past. The adventurers will have a significant role to play, but it's too early to reveal what.
(Making the section of the Underdark that Shanatar lay in inaccessible due to rune-warding and hidden entrances was one of the biggest changes I made to the canon setting assumptions.)
That's as far as they've gotten as of yet, but with the last two character introductions in the gate challenge, they'll be set to speed up the pace of the game.
Well, relatively...
At PBEM speeds, the game is slow going, but I'll try to update this blog now and again to reveal plot points and party actions. Hopefully all that work researching the history, geography and quirks of the setting and race, and piecing together what I hope is a compelling backdrop for the players to weave a story, will pay off!
