Saving the world on a Sunday afternoon
Note on the date system: Years are referred to in terms of AE, or After Exodus – referring to the crossing of the sea made by the founders of the Kingdom of Exiles to land and establish themselves here in this land. To relate Kingdom dates to Real World dates, add 1900 years (so 110AE becomes 2010 etc).
The land is already populated by a network of primarily human villages, the remnants of the once powerful Hassani Empire. It is a simple matter for a group empowered by the Prince Regent to set out in almost any given direction and travel until they find a village suitable and willing for them to establish themselves there.
After that, locals are recruited into training by the original settlers, all representatives of the various Kingdom Guilds, and strike out ever further amongst the surrounding villages, bringing them the stability of central rule (and taxation), sometimes whether they want it or not.
Captain Lannister uses the help of orc hordes to claim a chunk of the north-western corner of the Barony Van Heusen and begins setting up his own barony.
Around this time the first Barbarians come south, Amazons come north and druids come out of the trees to join the Kingdom patrols, leading to new breeds of chaos.
The Drow make their first appearance from the Underdark – not long afterwards the Illuminati show up, ready to smite their ancient foe.
Talon, god of Anarchy, manages to bring an avatar forth outside the walls of the Kingdom Capitol on a mission of destruction.
The scourge of the ork warlord Grak threatens to engulf the Van Heusen Barony.
The village of Bogglehampton develops some problems.
The Barony is invaded four times simultaneously, a giant bronze skeleton arises and stalks the land, the Baron’s daughter is kidnapped in a plot by the Baron’s son, and their only hope left is a goblin shaman with thick blood.
An alternate universe Might-aligned Barony causes a planar crossover in an attempt to invade the Van Heusen Barony to steal its miraculous and magical resources. The Kingdom’s most incompetent Guard assembles an eclectic squad of misfits which, led by a justice priestess, succeeds in beating them back (The Borderlands campaign).
A patrol is sent into Draxia to deal with the Cult of Ny’Darch and pacify the area; Kailyn Trueshot is taken captive despite an otherwise successful endeavour (Cult Wars IV).
Formerly part of an elven army from Pre-Kingdom days, the Archers formally become a branch of the Defenders and begin to take non-elves into their ranks.
A rescue mission is sent into Draxia to retrieve Kailyn Trueshot from his captors; as a result the Draconian threat is ended and a tentative sort of peace restored to the area (Cult Wars 5 – Kailyn’s Rescue).
The Scara’Fould Barony is founded. A year later, after corruption at the highest echelons of power causes civil unrest and the Barony is caught in the crossfire of two warring Hassani factions, it is informally dissolved. Guard Captain Johen has been charged with taking care of the Scara’Fould Barony ever since (The Scara’Fould campaign).
A team of five powerful mages create an army of living golems, using the still alive villagers of the Barony as vessels for their magic, which they threaten to unleash upon the Barony (The Five Mages campaign).
The Thorn Knights officially rename themselves the Bladesingers after the discovery of Thorn, the founder, as a vampire in the Hall of Champions. Not all of the guild is happy about this, and the debate rages on for years.
In the chaos ensuing from the Five Mages incident, the College of Magic splits into the Towers and Circle, each with their own perspective on the learning of magic. The Defenders also create a casters branch (the Wardens) to more effectively deal with magical and miraculous threats – and some defect from the Illuminati to join all three, causing a certain amount of trouble in the process.
A vampire poisons the winners of the 10th Annual Contest of Arms with his own blood in an attempt to create powerful servants; the contestants band together to save them (The 10th Annual Contest of Arms).
The Lord Sestates asks for patrollees willing to act as his advisers after his lands are successfully declared secured as part of the Barony – and gets far more than he bargained for (Lord Sestates).
The Avant-Garde company mount an exploratory mission overseas to an Exodus shipwreck, resulting in a prolonged guerilla action simply to escape the lands of the Nykrull Empire alive (The Avant-Garde campaign).
The Artificer’s Guild forms.
A troll hunt after the 11th Annual Contest of Arms goes…not as well as hoped (The 11th Annual Contest of Arms).
A crack patrol succeeds in stealing a criminal organisation’s own money from the bank in which it is stored in order to pay a ransom demand by the organisation (The Barony Job II – The Heist).
The Van Heusen Barony area of Ludshire is the site of a planar cross over, as an assortment of fae beings return to the land they once called home (The Shire campaign).
The 12th Annual Contest of Arms has a demon problem, as the hosting Lord’s daughter is kidnapped and nearly forced to marry one. Luckily annulment occurs with the combined aid of the forces of Anarchy and Chaos…and Breeze stealing yet another bride (The 12th Annual Contest of Arms).
Archdruid Necromancer Twiggy causes some grief, and a Sliveen nest in an uncharted part of the world is destroyed (Twiggy the ArchNecroLicheEntTreeDruid).
Earthquakes open a way into a sheltered valley region in the mountains between the Van Heusen Barony and the Grey Earldom, allowing a colonisation effort into the Vale of Tyr (The Vale of Tyr campaign).
‘Bandits’ kidnap Chanilsa from the 13th Annual Contest of Arms out of fear that they and their families are to be displaced from their lands by the local Lord, and Interfector attacks the Shrine of Saint Helen with a squad of undead (The 13th Annual Contest of Arms).
A sentient demi-plane known as the Labyrinth makes its periodic contact with the Kingdom, ‘borrowing’ various heroes for a few days in the process (The Labyrinth).
Warden Lieutenant Tremaine puts together a squad to patrol the lands, leading to the discovery of a lost civilisation and an attack by a floating Ogre citadel (The Tremaine’s Rangers campaign).
The Artisans guild acquires its first patrollee member, after one of its members joins the Blackgate patrol after being unfairly imprisoned on unrelated charges.
The 14th Annual Contest of Arms is relatively quiet – but a Defender training weekend is plagued by Dark Druids after the discovery that the hosting nobles are hiding a secret from the local Grove… (Defender Training Weekend).
A dangerous cult builds a portal from the Plane of Tortured Souls into a ruined temple; despite a side trip to a fae realm, the patrol sent to stop them eventually does so in fine style (In the Shadow of the Scorpion).
A rookie Barony patrol is imprisoned for a crime they didn’t think they’d committed (The Blackgate Prison campaign).
During their stay in prison, the inmates of Blackgate find themselves in the presence of the Eternal Champion – and have to defend the Eternal Realm from Drow trying to subvert it to their own ends (Eternal Champion).
Strange goings on near the Baron’s Forest – and a strange Beast is on the loose. Unusual imbalances between the Divine Planes are reported (Arresting Developments).
The city-state of Waygate allies itself with the Kingdom of Exiles, and a group of patrolees is sent to assist with local issues as a gesture of goodwill (The Waygate campaign).
The Circus of Destiny comes to town to host the 16th Annual Contest of Arms – and a demon Lord is only prevented from rising by Champion Brend breaking his oaths (The Circus of Destiny).
The Death Waker of Orcish legend arises in the north; the Kingdom sends its response with many, many paladins (Green Tide).
An archaeological dig uncovers a forgotten way to travel between Planes – and with it both new allies and an inter-Planar Empire bent on conquest (The Shifters campaign).
The Kingdom of Exiles embraces the metric standard for currency; the groat is revalued from 12 to 10 florins, triggering a brief period of inflation.
The 17th Annual Contest of Arms is thrown into chaos when Warden Sergeant Caled is kidnapped by the Waygate god Suffering at his engagement party, and several enemies of the Kingdom make an unexpected reappearance (Stag Hunt).
Lord Hammond attempts to open a wildlife park on Isla Mieda, using wards already existing on the island to confine the exhibits – including a dragon, a family of werewolves and a Beholder. Oddly enough, this does not end well… (Vitality Park)
The Instant Response Service (IRS) is set up to make use of the FRAN and DAWN networks, only to find itself targeted by association (The IRS campaign).
A major upheaval in the Path of Nature causes the end of Elemental Druidism and the rise of the Seasonal Druids; as a consequence of this and other events (see the Bloom incident below), the ‘Guild’ of Druids is formed within the Kingdom of Exiles (Fall of the Elements and Rise of the Seasons).
The 18th Annual Contest of Arms is oddly quiet, with only a brief bout of trouble caused by eco-terrorist Druids releasing a magical menagerie nearby (18th Annual Contest of Arms).
A patrol to a Defender outpost gone silent reveals the existence of the Bloom, a Life-aligned fungus intent on assimilating the entire world. The patrol is aided by the Church of the Final Dusk, a pacifistic Death cult, and a Grove of Dark Druids seeking only freedom of worship (The Bloom).
The Baron is granted mining rights to an island with an unusual mineral resource – an island that turns out to be home to pygmy orcs, ‘speetles’ and a group of saboteurs, to say nothing of the secret at its core… (The Emeras campaign).
A joint training exercise between the Kingdom of Exiles and the Kingdom of Bader is briefly gatecrashed by the followers of the Dark Sisters in an attempt to break up the alliance (The Bader Games).
Due to some interesting breakages to the flow of time, a group of patrollees manage to lure themselves to the right place with an award ceremony to prevent the destruction of reality some time in the past by a twisted manifestation of both Order and Chaos (Praesent and Incorrect).
The yearly patrollee training intake at Carlin Howham comes up against the return of the Blight – an ancient force that hates all Natural things (including everything living) and has the ability to take over those of a Druidic inclination, especially Dark Druids. Their hope lies in using ancient knowledge left cached by those who fought it before and the remnants of traditions and stories held by the Daeleth clan of elves… (The Seeds of Change campaign).
In order to reclaim an artefact stolen from a Drow pirate ship the Kingdom of Exiles arranges for all crews attending the Hexannual Pirate Games to be manned exclusively by patrollees doing pirate impressions – to a greater or lesser degree of success (The Pirate Games).
The final showdown between the Kingdom of Exiles and the god Necoctzicoatl happens in Amazon lands, made only more complicated by the involvement of the Ludshire god Bres (Scorpion Girt by Fire).
A border garrison town reaches a point of size and stability to allow for a patrolling system to be established in the local semi-wilderness. The locals aren’t entirely happy about this, leading to the return of a powerful Anarchy demon with dreams of godhood and his creepy following… (The Fort Winston campaign).
The Bounty Hunters form.
The Four Corners Grand Guild Tourney coincides with the breaking of a 100 year old prison for an Anarchy god and his Justice, Might and Freedom siblings (Four Corners).
After breaking the forces holding apart the ‘Natural’ forms of Light and Dark magic and defeating the Drow that were feeding off them, Druids cease to feel a complete antipathy towards Elemental Magic – only towards destructive Elemental mages (Evolution).
Undead attack the eastern border (Militzent).
A joint effort between Lannister and Van Heusen clears a rogue orc tribe out of the Rybek Pass, allowing freer trade between the two Baronies – at least as long as the patrols can keep it open despite kobolds breaking through from another plane (The Rybek Pass campaign).
Patrollees are gathered together to put part of the Kingdom back together in a mappable way – and in the resulting chaos the rookiest of rookies have to band together to rescue the experienced patrollees from demonic brain-slugs (Guild of Cartographers).
After a spate of mysterious disappearances, a patrol stages a set of (mostly) fake crimes to get into prison. From there they are kidnapped by an elf called Channing, super-powered by multiple golem-like entities, and forced to fight in the arena for his amusement and to forward his evil plans. The patrol don’t take this lying down… (Dead Man’s Circus).
The Van Heusen Taskforce is created to “show other regions how to do it properly” (The Van Heusen Taskforce not-a-campaign).
The Foresters form.
At the Royal Tournament of Arms, presided over by the Baron van Heusen and the Prince himself in honour of twenty years of successful patrolling in the area, an attack by Darkblades on the Baron is established to be a normal occurrence that at least gets him some exercise and a chance to play. After much xenophobia from many sides Lannister patrollee Corporal Gaheris of Rhade is granted the position of a Knight of the Barony (Pomp and Circumstance).
The Gamesmaster is finally killed off (The Blackest Night).
After nearly being destroyed by an orcish horde, Fort Nemo is designated a patrolling area in an attempt to bring some measure of stability to the more sensible orcs, Druids and regular Kingdom folk that live there. Unfortunately there turns out to be a broken ex-Justice demi-god buried underneath it, and an ogre warlord determined to release it from captivity (The Drums in the Deep campaign).
The Temple of Freedom co-run an archaeological expedition to investigate the Hassani Empire with any patrollees willing to cough up funds; it turns out that the Last and Greatest Emperor is perhaps not quite as dead as everyone had assumed… (Pyramid Scheme)
The Highly Experimental Crafting Division is a joint enterprise by the Artisans, Artificers, Circle and Temple of Freedom to create useful new gizmos to improve the lives of the everyday citizenry of the Kingdom of Exiles. What they mostly seem to produce is Wacky Shenanigans that have to be corrected by the long-suffering Joint Auxiliary Enforcement Group for Emergency Response (the HECD campaign).
A Gladiator-run event to find non-injurious contests that might appease a crowd goes surprisingly well, possibly due to having a number of experienced patrollees hiding in the bushes in case of demon attacks etc. (Challenge of the Champions).
Bizarre goings-on around Fort Winston reveal the ongoing plans of the fae known as ‘Mister Sparkles’. When a cry for help comes from a unexpected source, a patrol with quite a few grudges to work out assembles to put Mister Sparkles out of everyone’s misery at last (Let’s All Go To Candy Mountain).
After a new island (that looks suspiciously like the existing one) appears in the Saltmere Sea, a rookie patrol is sent to investigate – and uncovers both a smuggling operation in progress and a covert war between elementals once revered as deities (The Rhonech Island campaign).
It all goes weirdly quiet. The patrols are duly freaked out by how little mayhem occurs. The incident becomes nicknamed the Year of Peace; no one knows precisely what happened…
An exploration expedition outside of Kingdom borders to the previously unexplored Jigen-kan crater uncovers a wide range of unusual fauna and flora and the group of rookies is determined to catch them all. They also learn about the danger of Dicks. (The Jigen-kan Crater campaign)
The Tournament of Arms takes place in a ‘configurable alternate plane of reality’ with exactly the results that should have been expected (The Brokenborough Hall of Mirrors).