Due to real life and the fact our gaming group is going down different paths (some to 4e, some to Ravenloft), our Mystara campaign is coming to a close. Unfortunately, that means few, if any, conversions will happen again.
However, we are going to end our campaign in style. Thus Mystara- Dierum Clausula has been started. It is really a fluff piece to set the tone for the final run, but it may serve as an interesting place to start a 4e campaign or shake up existing ones.
Basically, it is set in the year AC 1272 and all hell has broken loose, beat down most of the Known World, and a dark age is about to fall.
Below is the "preface" to the work. Later instalments will deal with some major historical events, and with detailed fates of much of the Known World nations post-almanac era. I hope you all get a kick out of it.
Dierum Clausula
by Jamie Baty"It is with great sadness that in my old age, I must chronicle the ruination of not only the once great Empire of Thyatis, but of the world itself. Before you dismiss me as mentally ill, or simply trying to profit upon the misfortunes of my once great nation or the troubles facing all who desire peace and civilisation, know that I have rendered service to Thyatis for 75 of my 90 years, and generations of my family before me did so as well. With honour, I served as court historian and chief archivist for the last true Thyatian Emperor, Lucullus. When he died childless, and the empire was bled dry by usurpers, pretenders, child emperors and pawns, I served his memory by preserving the Imperial archives despite the antipathy to knowledge and history shown by these vulgar and common "rulers." Now in the fading twilight of my life, I seek to leave a testimony to the events that have shaken the world to its core.
"The series of events and disasters that have befallen my nation and our world have a long legacy, starting with the Great War that destroyed Alphatia. Some would argue this, but the devastation caused by its return cannot be ignored. The Hulean menace that has caused many ills throughout the Known World is also to blame. Many curse the weakness and pettiness of the Immortals that blinded them to the true nature of the events unfolding. I will delve into these, and other, causes more deeply later. I had the misfortune of seeing many events and their aftermath firsthand. Perhaps a bigger misfortune was seeing the effect of foreign events written on the faces and bodies of the refugees seeking safety in the confines of a Thyatis City unprepared to deal with them. I shall honour the bravest of them who told me their stories by relating them for posterity.
"Upon reflecting, I am not sure who this will even be read by... The vulgar brutes who tarnish the very idea of the Emperor of Thyatis care naught for history, philosophy, or the arts- they only care for power, gold and bloodshed. The mob of Thyatis is too busy looting and robbing to survive to care- the only thing that has kept the archives intact is they simply believe nothing valuable was contained in them. I can only hope that our civilisation's fall will be followed by a rebirth, much as Thyatis was born from the ashes of Milenia, and that this testament will survive to enlighten a future scholar.
"This is my greatest fear. Thyatis was a strong beacon of light within this world for many generations. It is now a glimmer of itself, and there are no longer any nations capable of rising to the challenge and becoming the beacon of light for what's left of civilisation to rally around. As the light that was Thyatis dims, the darkness creeps ever closer, enveloping the lands and souls of those inhabiting them. With the darkness, comes the loss of hope and the collapse of civilisation. I pray that I will join my ancestors before the last glimmer of light fails and Thyatis is engulfed and truly becomes a figure of the past.
-Marcus Livius Pulcher
Court Historian and Archivist
Thyatis City, AC1272