Campaign Frame: The Path of Forgotten Fortua

Previously, the Fortua civilisation called these lands its own, but their fall has been lost to time and memory. What was once built with stone, steel and will has long since been swallowed by moss, root and ruin. The wild has taken back the bones of their world, twisting them into something new and feral. Now the ruins stand like broken teeth against the horizon, reminders that even greatness can be devoured.

You arrive in a fragile moment, when hope and ruin wrestle for dominance. The new settlements cling to life, precariously perched on the river’s edge or nestled in valleys that the wild eyes hungrily. Places like Rivertown promise fresh starts and better tomorrows, but they are surrounded by dangers that whisper of Fortua’s mistakes. Raiders prowl the waterways, marauders stalk the ruins, and in the depths of the Wraith Woods, the very forest seems alive with malice.

Whispers speak of the Taint, a lingering corruption that warps flesh, mind and nature itself. No one knows if it is curse, contagion or vengeance, only that it spreads and festers in the shadows of Fortua’s fallen towers. Yet even here, secrets remain. Forgotten knowledge lies in stone vaults, relics wait beneath the roots, and maps may lead to salvation—or to truths better left buried.

This is a story of discovery and survival, where civilisation pushes into a world that does not want it, and where the past gnaws at the edges of the present. Will your group protect these fragile settlements, carve their own path through the wilds, or be swallowed by the same forces that destroyed Fortua? The ruins are waiting, and they remember.

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Core Concept

This is a story about discovering a new world, its dangerous populace, the fragile settlements that civilisation struggles to anchor, and the forgotten past that shows this land was not so different to where they came from.

Tone: tense and brutal, mythical and wondrous, history-deep, survival at all costs.

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The World and Its Wounds

The untouched wilds are feral, overflowing with untamed magic and twisted tribes.
Cursed ruins, warped creatures, and the lingering echo of wild magic scar the land.
Yet something is worth saving here — the growing settlements like Rivertown, fragile sparks of hope in a hostile world.

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The Central Tension

• Will the new settlements survive, or fall like Fortua before them?
• What drives peaceful people and creatures to madness, rage, and corruption?
• Can civilisation persist here, or is the land itself cursed against it?
• What happened to Fortua, and what warning lies in its fall?

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Factions and Forces

The River Raiders — settlers who turned to piracy and plunder.

• Want: control of trade, power through raiding.
• Dangerous: ruthless, organised waterborne hunters.
• Temptation: bargains for survival or wealth.

The Taint — a living corruption.

• Want: hunger, corruption, to consume the living.
• Dangerous: twisted beasts, silence, warped minds.
• Temptation: forbidden knowledge and Fortua’s secret.

The Marauder Clans — corrupted humanoid hunters.

• Want: dominance, control of ruins and passages.
• Dangerous: cunning, relentless, savage.
• Temptation: power in joining or bargaining with them.

Settlers Council (future faction)

• Want: survival, stability, expansion.
• Dangerous: demanding, ambitious, self-serving.
• Temptation: a place to belong, but at a cost.

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The Places of Play

• Rivertown (Hub): vibrant, hopeful, fragile. The safest place, for now.
• The Wilds (Frontier): shifting, tainted, alive with danger and change.
• The Ruins of Fortua (Mystery): broken spires and relics. Knowledge and power, but heavily contested.

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Player Hooks and Themes

• Who in Rivertown depends on you to succeed?
• What fear keeps you from trusting the woods?
• What secret do you hope Fortua’s ruins might reveal?
• How have you faced the raiders before?
• What have you seen of the taint?
• What vow drives you to survive?
• Why did you come here — choice or decree?

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Arc of Play

• Stage One: Discovery — Raiders, the Taint, the ruins of Fortua. First glimpses of a larger world.
• Stage Two: Escalation — The Taint spreads, marauders grow bold, raiders vanish. Pressure builds.
• Stage Three: Reckoning — Will the players defend Rivertown, evacuate the settlers, or carve a new fate elsewhere?

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Tone and Safety

• Tone: mythic, foreboding, survivalist with hope.
• Boundaries: avoid graphic cruelty. Focus on tension, not torture.
• Spotlight: resilience, sacrifice, haunted history.

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Recurring Motifs

• Fireflies glowing in darkness, hope in fragile lights.
• Broken stone swallowed by moss, civilisation consumed.
• Horns and hunting cries echoing over silence, the sound of predators.

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Flexibility Check

• If Rivertown is ignored: players may join raiders, carve their own haven, or venture deeper into the woods.
• Every faction can evolve — ally, escalate, collapse.
• Failure pushes the story forward, never halts it.

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