Astyanax was the representative for Bradel Fields on the Alliance War Council. He also acted as the main general of the Alliance forces in strategy and in battle. Astyanax was captured and tortured by a demon during the Second Alliance War leading to a profound change in his personality. While previously he had been a righteous paladin and champion of the weak, after his trauma he became a ruthless dictator over Bradel Fields. This transformation helped the war effort, but alienated his former friends. When Amalius took over the Second Alliance he found himself unable to manipulate Astyanax through diplomacy or magic. The warrior’s stubborn resistance to Amalius eventually led to his death by assassination.

Astyanax was born to Hector and Andromache of Bradel Fields. Hector had been the leading politician of Bradel Fields. Hector became friends with Terroc after the wizard and his adventuring group stopped an assassination attempt during Hector’s wedding to Andromache. Astyanax was born a few months after the wedding around the start of the First Alliance War. Hector perished in the war leaving Astyanax without a father during his childhood.

Astyanax would grow up to replace his father. He trained to be a knight in Bradel Fields’ famous cavalry. He gained promotions and acclaim for his performance in border skirmishes with Dalleer. Meanwhile, Andromache ran the noble family’s businesses and acquired or built more properties within Bradel Fields to improve the family’s voting power. The combination of military, economic, and political power made Astyanax a powerful force in city politics. When Bradel Fields joined the Second Alliance Astyanax stepped up to gain more power and fame for his family.

During the Second Alliance War the Alliance sought the Tome of Agamemnon in the tunnels beneath Bradel Fields. Astyanax went into the tunnels with other key members of the Alliance to retrieve the Tome. During the exploration Astyanax was captured by a sorrow demon and his companions were forced to retreat. They later returned and slew the demon, but were too late; Astyanax had been tortured to death.

Astyanax was too important to the war effort to leave him dead. The War Council arranged for his resurrection. While he returned to life, his mind remained broken by the torture and his face was still missing half its skin due to the damage the demon had inflicted. The once courageous paladin became a depressed recluse. Terroc sought to help his friend by giving him a magical mask that enhanced feelings of heroism. Astyanax recovered in private before storming into a War Council meeting to execute the Bradel Fields Council and take control as tyrant of Bradel Fields.

Astyanax’s steadfast morals of before shifted to victory at any cost. He drafted goblin slaves to refill Alliance ranks after the loss of Phoenix. His spoiled daughter, Cassandra, was married off to the madman of Dalleer, Björn, in exchange for a military alliance. He killed Talos to secure the Geyser of Talos for the soldier making ritual within the Tome of Agamemnon. Finally, he voted with Arendil to expel his friend, Amalius, from the Alliance due to the psion’s lineage.

Astyanax would continue to fight and die for the Second Alliance. He stood against the Brute during the sahuagin invasion of Bradel Fields and was slain. After resurrection he was killed by King Jevaninada II’s necrotic bomb that devastated Bradel Fields. Astyanax was resurrected by Amalius once again, but their relationship was strained forever after. Astyanax celebrated when the Second Alliance War ended. He was left without a city, but at least the fight had gone their way in the end.

After the war, Astyanax led an effort to reclaim Bradel Fields with the goblin slaves he had drafted. Amalius disagreed with this abuse of goblin lives. He attempted to convince Astyanax, but failed. He failed to dominate the resolute paladin as well. Amalius was forced to assassinate Astyanax to prevent the deaths of thousands of goblins. The assassination was blamed on Amalgami. Astyanax was burned with great honors and he is remembered as the greatest hero and the last hero of Bradel Fields.

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I’m Isaac

Welcome to the GoCorral website! I’m Isaac Shaker and this is a place for me to write about D&D and occasionally other topics. I host a podcast called Setting the Stage that interviews different DMs about their campaigns. I’m currently focused on completing the Cimmeria campaign setting and turning it into a book.

Setting the Stage Podcast

86 – Wuxia Adventures in RPGS (Daniel and Metanoia/Ithasen) Setting the Stage, Campaigns for D&D and Other RPGs

I interviewed Daniel, my cohost of the Tabletop Community Spotlight! Daniel created his own setting called Ithasen with an in-progress wuxia TTRPG system called Metanoia to go along with it. Ithasen has a spiritual force known as Ren that pervades the world. Ren is a magical manifestation of the user's, or Rennim's, will upon the universe. Rennim that cultivate their will grow stronger and capable of more amazing feats as the concentrate their power and force of personality.Within Ithasen there are seven lineages of people that decide what type of Ren they can use. Anamor use conversion Ren. Elkyr use flux Ren. Janim use elasticity Ren. Nyl use influence Ren. Okoi use recurrence Ren. Haqol use harmony Ren. Finally, Daruner use use coalescent ren. The two races lineages that drive unique politics in Ithasen are the Daruner and the Haqol.Daruner children absorb the Ren talents of both their parents, becoming a perfect blend of Daruner and another lineage parent. Through this mixing, a Daruner family could potentially include all other lineages within itself. This power has placed Daruner as the nobility of Ithasen.Haqol's power of harmony allows them to amplify the Ren powers of others. This puts Haqol in a vulnerable position as unscrupulous people will do anything to incorporate Haqol lineage into their bloodline. Haqol have experienced something akin to a genocide as their lineage has been consistently absorbed by other lineages and diluted over the centuries.There's a whole lot more than that so strap in!Daniel has a fully setup GitHub Wiki for information on Metanoia and Ithasen that you can explore.There's a Metanoid Discord server you can join to discuss the rules and setting with other fans.The occasional musing on TTRPGs can be found on Daniel's blog, Tabletop Discourse.GoCorral YouTube Channel for watching the Tabletop Community Spotlight.Vote in the CRIT Awards! Voting is open until August 23rd.Check out the Setting the Stage website!Want to be on the show? Fill out this survey.Join our Discord!Support Setting the Stage on Patreon! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
  1. 86 – Wuxia Adventures in RPGS (Daniel and Metanoia/Ithasen)
  2. 85 – Medical Doctor D&D (Justin and Oops! All Healers!)
  3. 84 – Horseback Riding D&D Camp (Michael and SaddleSnaps)
  4. 83 – Call of Cthulhu's Garden (Hem and The Sprouting)
  5. 82 – Tarot Ghosts (George and Fears & Fortunes)