300 years ago, something went wrong with Barthus as The Bleak began spreading. Slowly at first, then faster and faster. It corrupted. It devoured. Beasts and demonic energies destroyed towns and broke the empire into pieces. People found themselves altering into strange new forms. The people of the land – humans, elves, dwarves, halflings, and goblins – were driven further south and east until many – those who lived anyhow – started trying to cross the Gray Channel and rebuilding civilization.
However, The Silt is not an easy prize. Orcs and other tribes already living there resented losing their freedom and the great creatures, including dinosaurs and dragons, lashed out if the Barthic diaspora spread too far. The people who migrated also find themselves changing, becoming something like they were but with differences and shifts increasingly highlighted. The end result is that the last three centuries have seen the mighty Empire reduced to a number of cities and settlements on either side of the channel, clinging to the edge of two lands.
To the west is The Bleak and its people contending with the corrupting Darkness. To the east is The Pearl and its people trying to gain a foothold in a savage land.
Four orphans from The Pearl are driven by apocalyptic dreams that something in The Bleak is about to begin a new assault and have traveled across the Channel to see what they can find.
Along the way they have come across a quest to save the last great city in the Bleak, a city called Grunce which handles many of The Bleak’s refugees and also trade across the Channel. The city is on the cusp of falling, the final relic of Barthic magic – The Lighthouse – is winding down. They feel that stopping this disaster will help them to prevent a larger calamity looming. If only they are not too late.
Current Threads [possible spoilers]
In order to keep track of the growing number of characters and events, I created a Bleak + Pearl Threads & Characters list as an informal way to track that. Note that people wanting to start from the beginning might have mild spoilers of events but generally the text is kept a bit vague to act more as a memory device than full record.
Season 1: Blue Delve Boys and the Lighthouse Keepers
- Part 3. The Lost Citadel of the Scarlet Minotaur, Delve 1
- Part 4. The Lost Citadel of the Scarlet Minotaur, Delve 2
- Part 5. Returning the Spear
- Intermission 1. The Monolith of the Cyclops Overview
- Part 6. In Which History Is Discussed and Plans are Made
- Part 7. The Monolith of the Cyclops Delve 1
- Part 8. The Monolith of the Cyclops Delve 2
- Part 9. Bringing the Fight to the Fish Folk
- Part 10. Drying Off Just to Get Wet Again
- Part 11. On Waterfalls in the Dark, Painting the Past, and When Fighting Is Best Saved for Another Day
- Part 12. The Grunkheart Golem
- Intermission 2. Creating the Everburning Forest
- Intermission 3. The Effects of the Bleak and The Pearl
- Part 13. The Boot & Wares, The Southern Plains, and the Ring of Gargoyles
- Part 14. The Sad Encroachment of the Cyclops Grobnir Fronk
- Intermission 4. Leveling up to Level 4 (and the Hunt for Magical Weaponry)
- Part 15. Entering the Everburning Forest
- Part 16. Healing Up and Moving Out
- Part 17. Past the Salamanders to the Second Shrine
- Part 18. Entering the Lab
- Part 19. The Fight with the Cultists and the Meeting with Uuld Alloces
- Part 20. Exploring the Lab
- Part 21. Going Underground
- Part 22. Down into the Past
Transitions to Season 2
- Intermission #5. A { Short | Mid | Longish | Un- } Hiatus from the Mainline Plot
- Intermission #6. New Icons, Learning Rolls, and Meet the Lighthouse 6