The setting of The Four and Seven

For any of you who followed my short-lived Star Wars campaign, I ended that after just seven sessions due to general disinterest and my own dislike of the system. I decided not to post the remainder of the sessions, as I felt them uninspired and dull, and I'm sure the players felt the same. So I decided to start up a more traditional D&D 3.5 campaign. I know the system better, and I like swords and sorcery a lot more than spaceships and blasters. So, without further ado, here is the backstory and setting of the campaign, which has completed two sessions so far. I will try to get character backstories up soon, and then start writing about each session.



Five years ago, the city of Timsul on the island of Nawir was a happy, peaceful community. Friends were easy to come by, and nobody worried about posessions. But one day, a fire broke out in the forest north of town, and several people spotted men in strange armor. At least, they believed those figures to be men, as large, metal masks covered their entire heads. Villagers believed that these two events were not wholly independent of each other, but once the fire was put out by an unexpected rainfall, they soon forgot about it and went about their daily lives. Nothing eventful happened for four years.

A year ago ago, a man named Fadas entered the town square. He proclaimed that the people of Timsul could be so much happier if they took just a few minutes to listen to him. He spoke of a being, a deity, of supreme power, who was unknown to the people of Timsul. This deity was all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-loving. The deity, referred to as Gihin, wanted to spread his message of pleace, love, and understanding to all walks of life. All he asked, said Fadas, was to take a simple idol of Gihin and place it in your home, and you would be protected forever from evil. Fadas had a trained monkey perform tricks and deliver idols of Gihin to anyone who wanted one. Those who received an idol seemed to become happier almost immediately. Those who did not fell ill. They would continue to be sick until they accepted Gihin and took an idol into their homes.

Fadas also introduced the concept of money to the people of Timsul. He explained that gold, silver, and copper were "precious" metals, and were supposed to be used to trade for goods and services. The days of bartering had passed, and "money" was the new way to show how much you had. The people of Timsul were initially reluctant to this concept, but eventually they accepted change and began to use gold, silver, and copper pieces as the main form of trade within the village and to other villages nearby.

Over the next year, the village became a town, and then a city. Buildings grew from simple one-story houses made of wood and clay to large stone structures. With the aid of the masked men, who began to enter the town more and more, these buildings were constructed at a rapid pace. The masked men traveled in large, strange, mechanical vehicles that ran without horses. Several of these vehicles carried townspeople between other towns for a small fee, in order to avoid the days of travel it used to take to take to get from one town to another.

It was also during this time that several strange things began to occur. For one, the local wildlife either disappeared or became very violent and feral, attacking any person on sight. This forced the city of Timsul to create a large fence around the city, to protect everyone from these wild animals. Also, those creatures that disappeared, returned after several months, only they had been altered. Some changes were subtle, like an extra toe on a foot or a different color of fur, while others were more dramatic, such as parts of an animal having been replaced with that of another animal, or even with a mechanical part. The people of Timsul did not understand how or why these changes were taking place, but they had a fence protecting the city and their idols protected them from harm, so they did not worry. Besides, they had the mechanical vehicles to transport them from one town to another.

Also, people who spoke negatively about anything became sick shortly thereafter. The sickness was debilitating, and forced people to stay indoors for days at a time. Then, they would suddenly be fine and go about their daily lives. But the amount of negativity in the city diminished dramatically for fear of becoming sick and being rendered unable to work to earn their daily bread.

Then, about a week ago, several very large vehicles came from the east and headed towards Echizen Castle to the northeast. The cityfolk were curious as to what anyone might want to visit an old, abandoned castle. It hadn't been used in decades. But when anyone asked a masked soldier, they gave no response. Several people saw Fadas heading to the castle, looking very angry and nervous. They think he might be looking for something of value, even though the castle has been deserted for over 25 years. No one else in the town thinks that the last residents of Echizen Castle would leave anything of value behind. Are the players curious enough to see if there's something there?