The Age of Reckoning

The Age of Reckoning began with the Day of Reckoning, which occured on 08/29/10038. It continued for nearly six years. The true end of the Age of Reckoning is widely debated, but historians estimate it to be around 08/01/10044.

Directly before the Day of Reckoning, the island upon which Karfelon was situated had been raised from the bottom of the Alfrego Sea. It was also pulled about 15 mets south. The waves from this event caused some minor damage to ships and docks in Rougtero and Port Haven, and some washover at the new sea wall, but no significant damage had been reported to any surface towns. Klacktri was damaged a little bit more significantly, and New Karfelon was severely disrupted.

The godships were destroyed. Several asteroids slammed into Jaern, one splashed down a few mets west of Pregada and the resulting tidal wave destroyed much of the city and killed thousands of citizens. Thousands of people cried out for divine intervention. At around the same time, smaller, specially-designed projectiles destroyed both the godship and the Superi. All gods aboard these crafts were killed.

All priests - except those of Orus and Rudri - immediately felt their connection to their god disappear. At this point these priesthoods stopped regaining divine energy. Priests of Orus were still connected, albeit more tenuously, with their god¹⁾.

Obviously general chaos among the priesthoods. This will be a time of trial for all religions. Probably within a few months, Orus will stabilize and go back to business as usual. The other gods will not. At’ena saw it coming and chose to go along with it without warning any of her fellow gods. Was she tired of her position or did she see that, through this, the possibilities opened up to finally fulfill their destinies?

A statement from an anonymous Centralian:

• “In the midst of the godship happenings, I had an interesting event happen during my last adventure also. There is now a large, glowing purple orb about 100 mets northeast of Centralia Island. The orb is about 10 feet in diameter and is surrounded by 30 glowing stones alternating in color from red, blue, white, and yellow. The orb itself leads into an alternate dimension completely void of magic and guarded by about 30 aliens. In the area around the orb there is a “Diminished Magic Zone.” In this area, all spells cast, either through normal casting or magic items, generally seem to malfunction²⁾. This “Diminished Magic Zone” occupied about a 50 met radius around the orb. The effect is spreading at about 10 mets per day, meaning that it will reach Centralia Island in 5 days.”

An adventurer's log has been recovered from this time, relevant notes have been compiled into the following statement:

• “The party showed up at the Sepulcher and were escorted into a planning room. There they were told they were to go into the catacombs and recover something. Priests of Anubis can now gain spell units equivalent to the number of priest spells they know (of qualifying rank) or their power whichever is lower. Currently only the first 2 ranks qualify. As the head priests learns the Ordination Group up the qualifying ranks go up. All new (priestly) spells must be ordained by the Sepulcher to their priests before they can be used. Anubis is still not around to answer DI calls.”

The aforementioned Ordination group has been recovered as well, including notes from a head Anubis priest:

“Ordination as a new divine core spell group. Of course the ceremonies involved in the casting of this spell can vary. It also is a built in form of checks and balances for priesthoods if we want it. This of course would only apply when the Gods “come back” (or the priests find the power in other form).”

  1-12 Ordination

  Time to Cast: 1 hour per Rank
  Resist Check: willing target(s)
  Target:    Special
  Duration: Permanent
  Area: target(s)
  Effect: Grants spell usage

  The target(s) of an Ordination spell are bestowed with the 
  ability of casting spells of their belief system. Ceremonies 
  may have many requirements and may not be just be performed on 
  a whim. The higher the Rank and the what the individual spell 
  usage conveys to the target will determine requirements. ( Note: 
  to cast the ordination spell one must be ordained to cast it 
  as it conveys the ability to ordain spells of equal rank to 
  others).

“I would also allow mass ordinations with appropriate numbers of ordaining priests to 'channel the power.'”

A member of the Lentri council is assassinated by adventurers from Rougtero.

An edict was put in place: “In order to travel on elf controlled roads, all travelers must obtain a permit from a station located on the roads. Guards may verify your permit while you are traveling. The permit is good until you leave elf controlled roads and costs 20sp.”

A photograph of Terminal 3 has been recovered. An image transcription, along with historical context, is provided:

• A company called 'Terminal 3' has bought up all portal rights to Centralia. This is a monopoly granted by the Lordship of Centralia and any public portals operating that aren't under control of 'Terminal 3' have been shut-down.
• A display lists the cost to use Terminal 3 (from Lojem to Centralia) as 5 silver pieces per person (cargo is extra). Depicted behind the sign is a large terminal with multiple exits. Some of the exits have rails going in and out and are being switched at the terminal. There are a lot of vendors selling snacks from other worlds, as well as a selection of newspapers and magazines. Persons entering Terminal 3 their tickets being checked, and others are being directed to their appropriate egress portal. Before leaving, the travellers' tickets are checked again.

An adventurer, assumed to be part of the Great Lojem War has scribbled on the back of a scroll:

“The elves of Lojem equip themselves with enchanted items to protect themselves from further adventurer threats.

All guards in elven territory are equipped with +1 weapons, which lose their enchantment in 1 day if they are taken.”

A memo from an Anubis priest:

“Priests of Anubis can now be ordained up to rank 12 providing the temple believes the priest being ordained is worthy³⁾.

All priests of Anubis even those not reordained feel their God's presence again but only those reordained get Divine Units back.

The various Deaths that wander the plane searching for souls of those who have died now follow after parties of adventurers, waiting for them to do what adventures do and kill people. The Deaths won’t follow priests of Anubis or other priests with Last Rites. The chances are now higher that the souls of the recently deceased will be claimed quicker than before. The Deaths cannot be detected unless they want to be and everything is basically the same except that the soul collection process happens more efficiently.”

Snippets of a few news stories are recovered from a Rougtero newspaper:

• A large fireball type thing hit a 1/4 of Rougtero. Many people died, some buildings caught on fire, but it was raining that day and along with that and mages, the fire was quickly controlled. The investigation pointed to Torix's house, where the explosion was centered. There is currently a 10,000 sp reward for information on his whereabouts.

• Two portals at the portal farm were revoked by unknown individuals. The investigators found little information and nothing has happened since the investigation. One of the portals was the Terminal-3 portal. This portal came back up a week after it was revoked; only it seems to be a non-magical portal and is grey in color.

• The elves have continued their enforcement of the 20sp toll to travel through elf territory. They have made numerous arrests, but all arrested people are released without harm. Few deaths have been reported.

• Pirates continue to patrol the waters around Lojem, though their activities are unknown since they do not seem to be attacking any ships as of recent.

• The Sepulchar of Anubis seems to be relocating a lot of its resources to the newly rebuilt Karfelon Sepulchar.

• A large explosion rocked the new Torite stockade just outside of Rougtero. Reports indicate they many people were killed in the explosion and the few that survive say that T'or has returned. Though the old Torite enclave does not affirm or deny this rumor⁴⁾.

• The township of Gendle is proceeding with its road building. There is currently a horse path the whole distance of the projected road and widening is in progress as well as some small-scale bridge building.

• There was a big celebration in the Gelnd village recently.

The following notices were displayed prominently on message boards:

Elf Tolls Continue
The Elves continue to charge a toll of 20 SP to travel through elf 
controlled roads. The roads have been made very safe by the elf guard 
patrol. Traffic on the road is much lighter than previous because most
people who wish to travel in that direction tend to take the cheaper 
ferry to the Portal Farm.

New Ferry Schedule
The Rougtero ferry to the portal farm announced a new schedule with the
addition of two new ferries. Ferries now leave at 10:00AM and 2:00PM 
from Rougtero and at 11:00AM and 3:00PM from the Portal Farm. The trip 
to and from the Portal Farm takes about one day. The price remains set 
at 15 SP for a one way trip.

A memo at the Centralia Wizards Guild:

Many priests of Osiris have reported that their god has returned after a long vacation. They say they feel her presence in the area and vow that she will soon return in full force. Many priests of Osiris have made the trek to Rougtero because they say they were drawn to the area. No other is information is available at this time.

The following notices were displayed prominently on message boards:

Prisoners Still at Large
Escapees from the Lock Kylar prison facility are still at large. All 
of the escapees are reported to be very dangerous. A reward of 10,000 
SP is still out for each prisoner returned alive to the prison. Thus 
far, one prisoner, an Earth Mage, has been captured.

Gendel Road Construction Update
A path wide enough for two wagons has been cleared the entire distance 
to the Portal Farm.  Some excavation was required, some holes filled 
and a couple of low class bridges (trees leveled and layed across) 
built. Starting from Gendle and working toward the farm: one lane at a 
time in 100 yard stretches is being closed down and large bricks put in
place. So far the road is fully brick from Gendel to about one met out.
Gendel is looking into methods to ensure the road remains to top shape 
after it is built through proper draining and erosion prevention.

Karfelon Progress Continues
At first glance, it may seem that little to nothing is going on in 
Karfelon. But, their trade is growing slowly, as more legitimate merchants 
establish themselves. Games are being held monthly at the Hippodrome, and 
attendance there is growing as the city grows. The Sephulcur of Anubis is 
going along well, and the replanting of trees in the Grove is progressing 
as well. The Natatorium is also being reconstructed, and reports indicate 
that plans are awaiting approval for the temple of Orus.

The following notices were displayed prominently on message boards:

Rougtero Solarium Announces New Mission
The Solarium in Rougtero announced that they are in the process of 
restoring order in the City of Rougtero, which over the past decades has 
sunk into a pit of chaos, They wish to establish some form of government 
in the city. Most common folk of the city back the Solarium's initiative, 
but there is also some sizable opposition to the prospect.

Another Lock Kylar Prisoner Returned
Another escaped prisoner from Lock Kylar, a fire mage, was returned by 
Dom Foran last month. There is still five prisoners at large with a 10,000
silver reward for their capture. Dom Foran is the owner of Dominations, an 
armor and weapons shop with many locations throughout Jaern.

Orcs Accuse Elves of Conspiring Against Them
The Orcs have recently accused the Elves of the Lentri Territory of using 
adventurers in a plan to remove them from a town between Rougtero and Lentri.
The Orcs believe that the Elves wanted to force them out so that they could 
take the land without incident. The Elves deny this and they claim the 
adventurers acted on their own with no assistance from the Lentri Elves.

The following sign was posted throughout Rougtero in high traffic areas, including all entrances to the city:

THE ROUGTERO COUNCIL, CONSISTING OF A REPRESENTATIVE FROM EVERY CLASS OF 
CITIZEN IN THE CITY, HAS ENACTED THE FOLLOWING LAWS.

1) A citizen has the right to defend his own health and happiness, and also 
has the right to defend another citizen who may require assistance.

2) Any unprovoked action which will deprive a citizen of his health and well 
being, particularly to the extent that the citizen can no longer care for 
himself or his family is a punishable offence.

3) Any unprovoked action which will deprive a citizen of his means to wealth 
and happiness is a punishable offence.

4) Any use of magic to deprive a citizen of his or her personality, knowledge,
or general memories, and by extension would then deprive that citizen of his 
or her livelyhood and means of income is a punishable offence.

5) Any citizen accused of a punishable offence must be given the means, 
through magic or otherwise, to prove his innocence. If proven innocent, the
accused has the right to pursue a judgement against their accuser through a 
mediator appointed by the council. If the accusation was made solely with 
intent to harm, this is considered a punishable offense under law number 3.

PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT THE COUNCL IS DETERMINED TO DO GOOD FOR THIS GREAT 
CITY. IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE COUNCIL'S WORK, PLEASE CONTACT JORMAR 
OLDARTH AT THE SOLARIUM.

THANK YOU.

A memo signed by the members of the Rougtero Council:

The Rougtero Council has approved a series of patrols throughout the city. 14 guard stations have been set up and are manned 24 hours a day, 6 days a week. They are equipped with bells to alert guards. The patrols consist of various volunteers from various groups including Ra-ites, Anubians, Orusites, Torites, Neptunians, and various marines. The map attached is a rough outline of the routes of the guard patrols. Each of the 7 patrols are to made up as follows, though some may have less people at the moment, ALL patrols will have a minimum of 3 guards:

8am - 2pm (4 guards): Raite Torite Marine Orusian
2pm - 8pm (5 guards): Raite Torite [Torite or Raite] Anubian Marine
8pm - 2am (4 guards): Raite Torite [Orusian or Anubian] Marine
2am - 8am (3 guards): Raite Torite [Marine or Orusian or Anubian]

All members of a patrol are of decent skill in their field.

Also, the list of members on the Rougtero Council has been made public and will be given upon request at the Solarium. The list is as follows:

Where there are ???, due to problems this position was filled by various representatives at various times, so a single name isn't appropriate.

• Anubis Temple Representative (Solen Baraduke)
• Isis Temple Representative (Retiva Toisk)
• Neptune Temple Representative (Cs'esl)
• Orus Temple Representative (Erdcloud Asukarib)
• Osiris Temple Representative (???)
• Ra Temple Representative (Jormar Oldarth)
• Mishra Temple Representative (“Karrie”)
• Old T'or Enclave Representative (Dorgin)
• New T'or Enclave Representative (Brigit)
• Zepherin Temple Representative (???)
• Merchant Representative (Dom Foran)
• Labor Representative (Velman Boutho)
• Service Provider Representative (Gargen Sithnoa)
• Shipping/Trading Representative (Dock Master)
• Mage Representative (???)
• Adventurer Representative (Burnhard Brimstone)

Also, suggestions for ways to improve the city should be directed to your council member. You can leave a note of them at the Solarium.

A Theory About Recent Events by Phil the Sage of Rougtero is published.

The following newspaper article was taken out of a Lojem region journal:

Rougtero Council Implements Guard Patrols

The new Rougtero Council has implemented a series of guard patrols that they hope will protect the city and help keep Rougtero a peaceful and prosperous city. The laws that the patrol will enforce are very general and cover many situations when the guard may intervene.

According to the council representative of the Solarium, Jormar Oldarth, there will be a total of 7 city patrols consisting of a minimum of 3 well trained guards each of various backgrounds. He also said there are 14 well marked guard stations that will be manned around the clock that are equipped with bells to sound the guard in case of problems. Noteworthy locations for these stations are Dominations, the Solarium, and the Dock Master's building.

Jormar Oldarth went on to say that all citizens of Rougtero are encouraged to take a part in the council's activities and that if they have any concerns about the city, they should see their council representative. The list of all representatives is available to the public at the Solarium and messages for a council member can also be left there. The following groups have representatives on the council: Anubis, Isis, Neptune, Orus, Osiris, Ra, Mishra, Old T'or, New T'or, Zepherin, Mechants, Laborers, Service Providers, Shipping/Traders, Mages, and Adventurers.

The following news broadcast was posted around Jearn:

Elf/Orc Conflict Over!
The conflict between the Elves and the Orcs of Lojem appears to be 
over. According to reports, the conflict was started by a third party. 
This fact was discovered by a party of adventurers and later the Elves 
and Orcs teamed up to take down the organization involved. The leader 
of the organization is supposedly still at large.
Elves will still continue to charge a toll through their territory and 
the guard patrols through there will still continue.

Road from Gendle to Portal Farm Completed
A road that extends from Gendle to the Portal is now complete, but work 
is still being done to improve the road by adding rails. At this time, 
the toll for using the road is unknown. Also construction is being 
started on a road from Gendle to New Alimar.