Domain Jam: Coldrock
Hushed tales are whispered through wildspace, speaking a whispered rumor of the Doom that Came to Glyth, and the nightmare above the former mindflayer colony…The Domain of Fallen Ships and Broken Bonds.
Posted on r/ravenloft subreddit by u/BlueBattleBuddy
Coldrock Domain
- Darklord: Captain Aiduin Krisberos
- Genres: Body Horror, Cosmic Horror
- Hallmarks: Spelljamming, Lost Glory, Fragile alliances, Guerrilla warfare.
- Mist Talismans: Atrophied Mindflayer tentacles, jar of tainted brain matter, a broken flute made of wood, uniform of the Imperial Elven Navy.
Once a grand colony of the Mindflayers, the sixth planet of glyph is now a lifeless husk. Every trace of the once grand mindflayer civilization is reduced to ruin, with the only hint leading to it’s destruction being the new moon hovering over the planet. Filling astronomers with dread was the growing theory that this new moon was none other than the World Born Dead, Atropus. Rumors abound that Atropus was drawn to Glyph by the constant suffering of cattle slaves Mindflayers kept within the planet, but others speak of a darker tale. Rumors in smokey inns and star-flung taverns say that the Destruction of Glyth was a dark act of defiance, a vengeful scheme to end the tyranny of the mind flayers.
Pirate captains, Scro commanders, Elven scouting ships and adventurers alike all have cause to investigate Glyth for the information and riches that the now ruined planet offers. Many ships don’t return, rumored to fall to undead roaming the planet. Ghost stories of these ships sailing into spaceborn mists are rife among adventurers, and how not even shipwrecks could be found on the planet afterwards. The few that manage to return are half mad, ranting of a Tyrant Captain and the fearful monsters that stalk the odd lands of Coldrock.
Those unlucky captains who find themselves traveling through the mists find their ships suddenly lifeless, falling towards rocky ground that is far closer than they first thought. Those that survive the crash landing find themselves in a land of Cyclopean ruins, obscenely angled rocks, and undead twisted undead monstrosities that answer to the call of the tyrant Aiduin Krisberos.
Noteworthy Features: Coldrock is a desolate landscape filled with the crashed wrecks of spelljammer ships and ancient ruins. It is located in what appears to be a massive basin or impact crater, with craggy mountains on all sides that stretch off into the mists. Survivors from fallen spelljamming ships scavenge the graveyards, looking for weapons or scraps that may give them an edge over their rivals. Mindflayers haunt caverns and underground caves, working as desperately as any other race on the planet, trying to survive getting hunted to extinction by a vengeful abomination.
Within the ruins dark cults worship the distorted form of Aiduin in effigy, undergoing blasphemous rites that turn themselves and anyone that’s they captured into monstrous undead, their bodies misshapen and corrupted beyond any healing magic can fix. They unleash these monsters onto the land, using them to track down the survivors haunting the wrecks or any hidden enclave of mind flayers that may exist.
Those spelljamming ships that get pulled into the domain of cold rock find their spelljamming helms suddenly useless, and are on a crash course with the crater. Not everyone makes it alive, but those who do find themselves marooned under an alien sky within the crater of Coldrock.
Those familiar with Coldrock know these facts:
- Spelljamming crews marooned here work together to form settlements, joining certain tribes in order to survive and find a way off this planet. They guard the only Farmable land of Coldrock, oases that the survivors use to provide for themselves. These oases are home to families and newly arrived alike, and filled with glorious stories of the stars the inhabitants once sailed.
- The Mind Flayers of this domain can be reasoned and worked with, but should never be completely trusted. Only an idiot turns his back on a hungry mind flayer, after all.
- The dead and the cults are an enemy that can drive the tribes together into alliances.. But those alliances always seem to fall apart in the end.
- The ruins of Coldrock are of an origin that no historian has been able to place, but they seem to tell a story of this land... and those who look too deep into them are slowly driven mad.
- Spelljammers that fall into this realm are always from the outside world, and often times carry things that make life easier in this hellscape… or weapons that they cannot get from anywhere else. A case of Cigars is worth just as much as a vorpal sword to some.
- Noone knows where the cults came from, and few want to find out. They appear to be humanoids, but the genetic lineage is impossible to pin down. Rumors are that these are the survivors of those that first came to Coldrock, ones that allied to Aiduin in order to escape the constantly roaming monstrosities of this realm… Or that these cults are what's left of the native population, driven to worship the Dark lord as a savior from the mindflayers.
Settlements and Sites
Several settlements are made out of spelljammer wrecks and house meager survivors, but the most important have taken up refuge around the rare oases that dot the land. These settlements stand out in the fact that they often take up ruins as well, creating a strange shanty town like visage.
Dukagsh’s Hold.
This settlement is largely controlled and occupied by the Scro, a race of orcs that seek to conquer the galaxy under
one banner. They are the hated foe of the imperial elven navy, A hatred that extended from the Second Unhuman war to this desolate land. This settlement is named after the founder of the Scro Empire, and The scro hold firm control over the government of the settlement, and ensure a strict regimen is followed to the letter. They encourage skirmishes with the Elvish settlement of Aeckland, but have been known to accept Elven survivors if they are in dire straits, if only for a night. Once the danger has past, they are sent out to find a different place.
Aeckland Fort
Named after the Commander that first built this settlement, Aeckland Fort is run by elves who fell into Coldrock after a scouting mission from the Imperial Elven Navy. They share the usual pomp and circumstance of their kind, even without the usual accoutrement that a galaxy spanning empire supplies. A proud people, they offer refuge to whoever is willing to work with the settlement, but the command structure highly favors those of elvish origin. Scro, Orcs and goblinoids are given a part of the city that is under heavy watch, but are respected enough to be allowed full access to the city and the chance to fight in the militia. Other settlements are seen as to be near barbaric, full of scoundrels that would be driven out in normal circumstances, and most of the higher ups of the Aeckland Fort are loath to work with other settlements for not believing they are as civilized as their own.
The Quality
Named after a crashed spelljammer cutter that occupies the center of the oasis, The Quality is a haven for cuthroats and pirates alike. The laissez-faire attitude towards crime and gambling lead this to be a near lawless state that only a freespirited pirate can love. Those of this settlement are eager to steal something from another survivor if it benefits them, but are known for banding together when the cards are down, and for the dogged determination in defense of their freedoms.
The Northern Ruins
Home to lurking cultists and lurching undead, The ruins are a hellish environment that few dare to enter. A maze of corridors that run at occult angles, this area is far larger than can seem possible for where it is located. The undead are the heaviest around this area, and are known to migrate down in droves to dwell among the shipwrecks. It is said this is where Aiduin lives, commanding the undead from a room deep within the central cathedral and receiving offerings from the cultists to feed the undead horde.
The Warrens
the collective names for the caverns below and surrounding the basin, these are where what is left of the mind flayers dwell. Desperation is rife among the warrens, as the proper supply of brains is limited to the spelljamming survivors. Constantly hunted by malformed undead, the mind flayers are quick to fight whoever they come across. They are willing to form alliances with anyone, and are often times individual mind flayers are found within settlements acting as
intellectuals, thinkers and workers… as long as they have a steady ‘income’ of fresh brains from the unwanted detritus of settlement society.
Captain Aiduin Krisberos
A former captain of the mighty Imperial elven navy, Aiduin’s story is filled with tragedy. A promising commander of the Elven Navy’s Realmspace fleet, Aiduin saw to the defense of Selune’s Tears above the planet of Toril for many years, finding time to raise a family between dangerous forays into space. He took great pride with his efforts to help protect the many trade lanes that asteroid settlements relied on. He showed kindness and humility in his action with allies as much as he showed ruthless cunning against the various enemies that lurked in Realmspace’s darkest corners.
As he rose through the ranks, dire news reached his vessel. His wife and children have been taken by mind flayers, and transported to the world of Glyth. Since the mindflayers and elves have an uneasy truce, Aiduin would have no aid from his commanders. With no other choice, Aiduin left his position in the navy. His crew followed him, commandeering the ship to head down to the surface of glyph.
On the planet, Aiduin found himself and his crew set upon by mindflayers immediately, losing a good portion of his crew and coming close to death himself when they were unexpectedly rescued by the group of former slaves known as the Free thinkers union. Aiduin and what was left of his crew joined the Union, and quickly became a leading member due to his military experience. He engaged in slave liberation raids in the underground caverns of Glyth, but everywhere he turned tragedy seemed to follow. One by one his former crewmates died, but through the years he maintained the struggle to follow. He never found out what happened to his wife, but he remained hopeful even in the bleakest of raids. All this changed when he finally found his son, strapped to a table and undergoing the final stages of ceremorphosis. Aiduin took his son’s life before the transformation could be completed.
Through the years after, his mission to rescue slaves gradually turned to vengeful raids. Aiduin’s tactics gradually turned to killing the cattle slaves rather than let the mind flayers harvest them, seeking more and more desperate means to make the masters of Glyth bleed. As the years stretched to a decade, it seems that this defiance was a hopeless task… until he discovered a book buried in the deepest reaches of the world. Pouring over the book, he discovered a way to rid the planet of the mindflayers for good, and to end the suffering of those taken as cattle.
Summoning the other leaders of the free thinkers union, Aiduin laid out his plans to save the planet. When he was rightfully called insane, Aiduin lashed out in a fury at the same soldiers that had fought alongside him since he first arrived. He used their blood to finish the ritual, and sealed Glyth’s doom. Atropus has been called too, and Aiduin watched from the highest peak as the world that took everything from him was killed. As the wave of death magic rushed towards him, he found himself snatched away by the mists to the Domain of Coldrock…but not as how he had been. His body reshaped, twisted beyond the elven form he
held dear to match the darkness in his heart, he found himself as the Dark Lord of Coldrock…the ruler of an army of the dead and a monster far, far worse than any mindflayer spawn.
Captain Aiduin's Powers and Dominion
Aiduin’s body has been transformed into the form of an Atropal, the twisted form derived from the same Atropus that he used to destroy Glyth. His flesh now grey and rotten, his eyes sunken in a misshapen head, and clutching the broken hilt of his service blade in atrophied hands. He is a being of incredible dark magic and me romantic power, a loadstone for which all the undead of Coldstone follow.
His mind fractured, he is now on a single minded quest to finish what he started on Glyth. In his mind, the spelljammer survivors are all traitors, idiots who have come down to rescue the mind flayers from their deserved fate. His dreadful ranting fill the ruins with echoing sounds, and every word is prophecy for the dark cults that follow him.
Aiduin has the added ability to raise twisted undead minions to do his will, creating a vast army he sends out to hunt down anyone in his way. The potency of the minion depends on their proximity to Aiduin when they are first made, with the strongest ones created during rituals deep within the ruins, and the weakest ones created by infected individuals out within the grave yard.
They roam the shipwrecks in patrols, lay siege to settlements, and provide an occupying force. The settlers of Coldrock cannot take the hordes in force, and have to resort to ambushes, hidden strikes, and fast assaults. These undead monstrosities retain their former sentience even after death, able to feel their body’s shamble in horrible ways even when they should be dead. Broken spines, shattered ribs, dripping wounds… all promises to the survivors of what should happen should they fall to the undead, or get captured by the cult.
In this new form, Aiduin sees the cult that sprung up around him as idiotic members of the free thinkers union. His manic commands and broken words are seen as holy by the cult, who are free to interpret his will as they see fit. They go out into the basin, performing rites to Aiduin or hunting for any survivors to drag back to their master. Should they not find any, they freely sacrifice themselves to become “blessed” with the dark lord’s gift.
Aiduin can only close the borders to those who try and flee on foot. When he chooses to close his borders, a dark fog saturated with necromantic energy rolls across the land outside of the basin, with only the simulated form of Atropus hanging over head, watching as they perish, and slowly twist to become undead that shamble back towards the basin. This fog does not seem to be able to reach those able to use spelljamming to leave, but these kind of exits are rare considering the domain shuts down any helm that passes through. Those that are able to repair the helm to leave are hunted down by every settlement, and are one of the only things to convince everyone towards all out war. Should mind flayers get ahold of a spelljammer, Aiduin will personally show up to stop them from leaving. Captain Aiduin is a powerful creature of dark magic in this new form, all but impervious to conventional attacks. If he is slain by
conventional means, he will take form in a new elven body, corrupting a random survivor or cultist to create a new host. Prophecies written on ruin walls or babbled by insane wanderers provide the basis for his true death. Only a family member, former comrade, or those he recognizes from his past life can end him for good, but only if they do it with love for the person they knew instead of the monster Aiduin has become.
Aiduin’s Torment:
- Aiduin believes he is just one step away from finishing what he started all those years ago. He believes that these mind flayers are the last mindflayers in existence, and he will stop at nothing to slaughter them.
- The humanoid settlers and survivors are all guilty of hiding the mind flayers from him, and must be killed without mercy before they help the mind flayers escape.
- Reflections speak to him, becoming images of himself back in the glory days to denounce him for all the crimes he committed in the name of the “Greater Good”
- Oftentimes heroes and survivors will remind him of those comrades he killed to summon Atropus, and knows they have come to betray him personally.
- Though he himself engaged in the same kind of Guerilla tactics the survivors now use against him, his fractured mind cannot remember the counters to it. He recognizes each maneuver, but is always too slow to command his forces to react, frustrating him at every turn.
Roleplaying Captain Aiduin Krisberos
Aiduin is a force that works behind the scenes more often than not. He doesn’t make direct assaults, but his will extends through the twisted horrors lurking around every corner.
Personality Trait: “I am the only leader willing to utterly destroy the mind flayers.”
Personality Trait: “I will take what I want. Through blood, I WILL achieve my goal.”
Bond: “The Mind Flayers took everything from me. It is a noble goal to burn them to the ground for their transgressions.”
Flaw: “you must be aligned with me, or else you will suffer the same fate as the Mind Flayers.”
Adventures in Coldrock
- A High elf Bladesinger arrived to The Quality, Proclaiming that she is Mrs. Krisberos. Short sighted guards chased her off before more questions could be asked, and now the leaders of the settlement need to hire people to search for her, to see if what she says is true.
- Rumor has it that Aeckland Fort has a council of artificers are working on making their own helm. This sort of achievement is all but impossible for anyone not of the Arcane race even outside of this domain. If it is true, then there may be rewards far beyond leaving Coldrock…
- A new strain of undead has appeared. Vampiric mind flayers now stalk the shipyard basin, and are rumored to be infiltrating the settlements under the cover of darkness. Slim and lithe, these monsters are not the dumb brutes common among Aiduin’s hordes.
- Party members are getting flashes of lives they have never lived, and strange visions of what happened in a time far different than what they are living in now. Mystics proclaim them to be the reincarnations of past heroes, ones that are powerful enough to end Aiduin’s reign. The party gets first hand flashbacks to the fall of Captain Aiduin, and must come to terms with the idea that this is all true...
- A recently arrived spelljammer wreck is rumored to have belonged to the nobility of Krynnspace, and has more wealth, luxuries and magical items than anyone has ever seen. A race to capture the wreck as been initiated, with the glories going to whoever lays claim to the wreck first. Rumor has it there is even a blade that can send the Dark Lord back to whatever hell awaits him, and to end this nightmare.
- A highly influential member of Dukagsh’s Hold is revealed to have been a cultist worshiping Aiduin, and paranoia sweeps the domain as former friends are called into question, and it is revealed that the cult is not just limited to those who live in the ruins.