The Dark Province

"Thousands of years ago, longer than any historical record can reach, the jaws of hell opened wide. Human hubris into the study of raising the dead led to the unearthing of deep, dark magic. Magic from before there were sounds or colours or words. Magic that brought the choking stench of death and far greater horrors screaming into our world. So the legends say, the archdemon Nonox stood at the front of a campaign of total annihilation against the mortal races of the world. Fire rained from the sky and disea se rolled over the ground like a tidal wave. Through Urth's denizens most valiant efforts, Nonox was eventually cast back into the bowels of the world, but at a terrible price. Aside from the millions of lives lost to the demon and his thralls, Nonox also uttered a curse as he was struck down that would plunge his final resting place and the descendants of his enemies into the same darkness he would soon experience. A twisted, unnatural night fell on the borders of the region of Lariau. A wall of complete and impenetrable darkness was erected all around the province, isolating it from the rest of Urth. As time wore on, the darkness would spread organically, claiming individual chunks of land sporadically from Lariau's most populated urban centres. Beset by this new menace, Lariau's greatest minds went to work crafting a magical artifact, the Sunsphere, that would allow one to pass through the darkness undisturbed. For reasons lost to time, only six were ever produced and only one is currently accounted for. That one lies in the strangest metropolis in all of Lariau: the village of Jardan. Jardan is unique in that it is surrounded on all sides by the great darkness but at its centre sits a great lighthouse, constructed to amplify the light of the Sunsphere to ward off the encroaching demonic magic. The citizens of Jardan have lived for generations huddled in this light, never knowing what might lie outside the darkness. And perhaps if they did know what unspeakable horror and inhumanity lay outside, few would attempt to escape the village and venture into... The Dark Province."

The Campaign
A D&D 4e campaign started in May 2012 and run by John, The Dark Province told the story of an unlikely group of heroes escaping the walls of their oppressive little town to eventually save the region of Lariau from the clutches of House Nocturne.

Tropes for this campaign can be found under The Dark Province 1 Tropes. Spin-offs include Adventures in Arcana and The Dark Province: Escape from Tenebrium!

Handouts

 * Brochure for new students of the Coroleius Academy of Arcane Study

Player Characters

 * Lavinia Malith
 * Aren Windbourne
 * Sylviae
 * Brosca
 * DeBuur
 * Litherion Ormae
 * Moravius
 * Okrim
 * Hyacinth Willowbough Peaseblossom
 * Ennet

NPCs

 * Puck
 * Thessaline
 * Josephine de Beauharnais

Villains

 * Nonox
 * House Nocturne

Setting
The campaign took place on the plane of Urth, a dark mirror of our own world. Specifically, the Lariau region:

Concourse of the Ancients
Built out of the remains of downtown Paris, the Concourse is the safest and most populated civilian settlement in all of Lariau. Merchants with wares from the Feywild, Shadowfell, and beyond can be found hawking their goods to all the newly-minted adventurers.

The Scorched Plain
The Scorched Plain is a wide open field, filled with still standing ruins, just north of the Concourse. The area is supposedly deserted and any native of the Concourse will warn travellers to stay away from the supposedly “cursed” area. Occasionally, locals will report sightings of humanoids walking through the plain, but these have yet to be confirmed.

Abbatoir Corridor
This stretch of still standing city block was once home to the esteemed Shadar-Kai bandit leader Queen Carmine before her unfortunate transformation into a servitor by House Nocturne and subsequent execution by military forces aiding Mount Martyr. In Carmine’s absence a young human has ascended to her throne under the assumed title of Prince Gamboge and continues to operate her arena.

Promisetown
Promisetown is a relatively new construction, a civilian settlement owned and operated by Mount Martyr and connected to the ubiquitous mountain by the refurbished Metro system. Given their close proximity to one another, Promisetown and the Concourse of the Ancients trade with one another frequently and are guarded against outside threats with a pact of mutual protection.

The Coroleius Academy of Arcane Study
After Jardan was forced to sacrifice its Sunsphere and be consumed by Nonox’s enchanted darkness, the elf wizard Litherion Ormae returned to the wrecked town and set upon reconstructing the arcane college that had operated in the village for centuries. Now acting as headmaster, Litherion oversees the training of arcane heroes from all over the province.

Necropolis
Though appearing peaceful enough on the surface, inexperienced adventurers are not advised to attempt to cross Necropolis. What may resemble a peaceful meadow is actually littered with pit traps, ensnaring unwary travellers in a winding series of catacombs filled with restless undead.

World's Stem Plaza
This is the site of a colossal spike of iron erected by the Ancients. It is referred to as the World’s Stem by the human tribe that lives in its shadow and maintains it. The tribe reveres tieflings because of their strong ties to the Ancients, and as such currently houses and protects an elderly tiefling, believing him to be some sort of sage.

The Big Empty
The Big Empty leaves nothing to the imagination. It’s all there in the name. This enormous expanse of scorching desert was at one point the only surmountable barrier between Canopy and the rest of Lariau, but now that the darkness has lifted, it’s just another deserted stretch of land. However, fey pilgrims on their way to Lariau have frequently reported being aided by a race of insect-resembling humanoids.

Reclamation Grounds
One of Lariau’s natural beauties, the Reclamation Grounds are a lush playground of wildlife set amongst the ruined cityscape of the rest of the province. An elite association of shamans presides over the woodland and has begun accepting new initiates to bolster their ranks against the threat of the world outside Lariau. Nowadays, the Reclamation Grounds have almost come to serve as a primal alternative to Coroleius.

Wayward Cairn
This city carved out of a series of hills in northeastern Lariau is the highest concentration of dwarves in the province. The settlement primarily earns its wealth through a combination of agriculture and mining. Other races live quite happily amongst the dwarves in the cairn, but it will always be regarded as the great dwarven city.

The Wailing Fens
Much like Necropolis, the Wailing Fens are crawling with the undead. Ghosts, banshees, and otherwise displaced spirits wander the swampy muck and ruined theatres of eastern Lariau. It is often used as a training ground for neophytes of the Sepulcher.

The Edge
The Edge is a an empty expanse of dense forest and mostly peaceful wildlife located on what was Lariau’s eastern border with The Darkness. Before the Battle for the Sunken City, The Edge was a top secret stronghold for House Nocturne.

The Forgotten Range
The Forgotten Range is not actually a mountain range; it is a handful of skyscrapers constructed by the ancients that have been preserved as a habitat for dragons, secondary to the Sunken City. Humanoid races live in recently constructed canopy homes, high above street level, working closely with the dragons to maintain a bond of shared protection.

Death's Head
Death's Head is a mostly barren stretch of land, only remarkable due to the enormous, monolithic building standing in the centre, likely of Ancient construction. Before the Illumination occured, this was used as a base of operations for House Nocturne.

Devilmarch
Now little more than sparse ruins, Devilmarch was a region almost completely covered in darkness. The area was and is crawling with aberrations, and is said to be the place where Nonox escaped Urth and ascended to a different plane.

Ruins of Malmazzin
The Ruins of Malmazzin are made up of the grounds of an ancient building, that until the Battle for the Sunken City was maintained by a magical entity living within. Recent investigations have discovered that Malmazzin conceals one of many research laboratories for the Elevation Project, the undertaking by the Ancients to create magic and unknowingly bring Nonox to Urth.

Canopy
Canopy is a lush region near the northern edge of Lariau's borders. Populated by elves, gnomes, wilden, and other fey creatures, it is the permanent home of the best-known portal to the Feywild. Prior to the Battle for the Sunken City, it was razed by House Nocturne.

Mount Martyr
Mount Martyr is at once the name of the military organization protecting Lariau, the academy for martial heroes in the province, and the hill which serves as base of operations. Living out of their expansive Seven Crowns Basilica and led by Arknis and a number of other silver dragons, the Knights of Mount Martyr were instrumental in the Illumination and the systematic taking apart of House Nocturne. Mount Martyr exists for the benefit of the people and can often be seen caring for the poor and making various acts of charity and heroism.

The Sunken City
This section of ruins in northern Lariau is almost entirely flooded and home to a great number of dragons. The Concordat Draconium makes it home here and it was also the site where Keladonus and House Nocturne were defeated, marking the beginning of the Illumination.

The Sepulcher
The Sepulcher is a large monastic complex in eastern Lariau. Once home only to a sect of avengers in dedicated service to the Raven Queen, they have recently opened their doors as a source of knowledge and learning for any divinely-inspired hero.

Chapel of Sune
Located across two islands in the Sehanine river, not far from Promisetown, the Chapel of Sune is a small community of psions that took up residence in the ruins there not long after the Illumination. They have been known to train psionically-inclined adventurers, but the audition process to join them is notoriously rigorous due to the high responsibility required to learn the secrets they claim to hold within the Chapel. The Chapel itself is dedicated to Sune, a goddess whose motivations are mostly unknown to modern scholars and is suspected to have been worshipped by the Ancients.