The Empire of Gold

epic campaign spanning two and a half years

The Empire of Gold

The Zenobia campaign will forever be one of my all-time favourite D&D campaigns. It began in 2019 with friends I had made in the film and tv industry. This wildly imaginative bunch expanded and shrank over the time we played which included taking it from the tabletop to the online realm when covid struck. Adventures ranged from the backwoods to the Skyrealms to one of Hyracanum’s moons with stops in other planes along the way. It inspired me to re-create them with an illustrated photo-history which I have gone on to apply to all my campaigns.

By Shakespearean standards, a story ending in death is a tragedy and one ending in marriage is a comedy. Since our final session was “The Wedding of the Damned”, I guess that makes this campaign a comedy!

Campaign History

CAMPAIGN TIMELINE

UR-CHESS

Setting

The southeast quarter of Hyracanum is home to some of its most ancient civilizations. Over the past thousand years, the regional powers have been loosely amalgamated as the Empire of Zenobia, so named after the two thousand year-old Gold Dragon who resides atop the Aqualith that dominates the Zenobi Mountains. However, the Empire of Gold is in deep decline and splintering, with many of its independent kingdoms hardly giving the Imperium the recognition and respect it deserves.

Examples of Zenobian adventurers

These days the authority of the Empire has withered to the core that is was founded upon, which is a fellowship of paladins who patrol the realm forever offering aid to those who need it. These Samaritan Knights of Zenobi, though rare in the extreme, are always sterling examples of Lawful Good virtue as befits the Dragon Emperor they represent. They operate out of two citadels: one in the Zenobi Mountains, the other built on a floating skyland that moves around the Empire according to the winds. The Samaritan Knights are able to telepathically communicate with one another during meditation and this network is how the overall security of the Empire is maintained.

The floating fortress of the Samaritan Knights of Zenobi

The lands of Zenobia are many and varied, covering thousands of miles of tropical and sub-tropical countryside and islands. The northern frontier is lost to the Equatorial Desert and its westward reach is blocked by the southern arms of the Central Mountains. The temperate lands to the south have always resisted assimilation.

Cascaveda – City of Wizards

Kamanora

The Kingdom of Trilliac

Kuth: Isle of the Sorcerer-Kings

The Skyrealms

Vogradopolis

RETURN