About the Campaign
First off, the world you are living in has no official name; it's simply 'the world' or the material plane. It's a world that has declined out of its golden age. Numerous empires have fallen, leaving ruins, wilderness, and the remnants of grand cities once inhabited by denizens of far-flung civilizations. Monsters and other strange creatures have been running wild for centuries, and the majority of the people of Avarios; the largest and most heavily inhabited continent in the world, cling to their city states and tend not to venture out from region to region. However, many others have chosen careers as mercenaries and adventurers, causing them to travel through hazardous conditions and dangerous wild lands for money, prestige and knowledge, among other things.
The campaign begins on the Western side of Avarios in the city of Kaldiir, capital of the Kaldiirian plains. One of the few remaining metropolises of the long-dead human empire, Kaldiir is filled with merchants and traders of all races and abilities. The plains are just south of the Margrave mountains, home of the deep dwarves, and just north of the Eldasarian forest, home of the elves.
Several decades ago four young followers of the Raven Queen, goddess of death, made a pact to uphold the Queen's ideals and formed The Raven Queen's Talon, an elite and extremely strict organization dedicated to enforcing their goddesses ideals of natural death, defying the undead and striking down those who attempt to cheat fate.
Nowadays, the Raven Queen's Talon is six members strong and gaining respect and a strong reputation in the Kaldiirian region as a specialized unit working for the death goddess, who has a strong following in Kaldiir. The six members [Evan, Alpha, Corey, John, Jordan and Chris] are summoned to the Council hall of Kaldiir by your immediate superior, High Priestess Aliira Eringess. She tells you that you have been summoned to perform a series of quests that require your superior skills and abilities.
The other four members of the council have also summoned people with special skills for this mission, two others from the local region (Diana and Jake), as they don't think the Talon has the power to undertake these particular missions alone, and the areas of expertise found in these two other members will compliment the Talon's abilities. The Talon is not yet aware of the two extra members of the group in the time before the beginning of the campaign.
What are these missions? You aren't sure yet, though some of you have heard rumors of a rise in numbers of undead in the area as well as other aberrations. Whatever happens, the council will stress the critical importance of all of you working as a cohesive group that relies on each other's skills and abilities in order to complete these and other upcoming missions. They promise you will be well rewarded for your exploits, as they fear you are the only ones who can succeed in this mission, whatever it may be.
