"The Bleak and The Pearl" is my first foray into ShadowDark and a good way for me to learn the basic rules while also trying out the new SoloDark toolkit for running ShadowDark solo games.
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.
Season 1: Blue Delve Boys and the Lighthouse Keepers
NOTE: The first two sessions were played prior to the making of this blog. The adventures took on a cultist lair full of undead, found a strange cloak that prevents any magical scrying but also drives the wearer mad, and then came to Grunce where a drunken week of carousing ended up with them finding and joining up with the Lighthouse Keepers.
Transitions to Season 2
Season 2: The Lighthouse 6 and other Sundry Tales
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