'Breaking The House' Cha'alt / Godbound rpg - Session Zero Character Workshop & Lovecraftian Adventure Location - The Tolgey Woode

Just below Fairyland & connected with the lands of Fairy are the Tolgey Wood, a region of dark woods, wastelands, & mysterious shadows. Shadows so deep that some connect to the plane of Shadow.  These woods are home to many species of Jabberwocky. They are also connected with many lands through mysterious gates of old which lead to many planar bolt holes of ancient species much older then man. Here red caps hunt the locals  with with vorpal knives sharper then surgeon's steel. These have been made for them by fey who collect elemental iron from the winds that blow between worlds. These woods are deceptive for there are kingdoms of humanity within them. Made of the lost, the royal, the insanes, & those who have fallen between the dimensional cracks. Many species of lizard men, kobolds, & troglodyte make their homes here in the fens, swamps, & edges of the many pools that dot the landscape.

Dave Trampier Lizardman
 Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first edition Monster Manual

These monsters have ancient rivalries with the many Jabberwocky that make this place their home. These tribes are the ancient servants to the lands of Mnar & Ib which the Tolgey Wood connects. Though those other worldly places the wood connects with wastelands of 'the forgotten universes' where the echoes of Thomas's Moore's lines still waffle down the future epochs of mankind's doom; "A reservoir of darkness, black
As witches' cauldrons are, when fill'd
With moon-drugs in th' eclipse distill'd
Leaning to look if foot might pass
Down thro' that chasm, I saw, beneath,
As far as vision could explore,
The jetty sides as smooth as glass,
Looking as if just varnish'd o'er
With that dark pitch the Seat of Death
Throws out upon its slimy shore."

These wastelands were once the domains of the mummies lizard kings of far future Zothique. They loath mankind for they were from elsewhere & when. Their forgotten cities cross gulfs of time & space. The elder gods banished them from the Earth in time lines long forgotten. Yet their cities & ruins make the crossing from time to time slipping through the cracks onto the planes Prime. The cults of the Jabberwocky & the hated mummies of the lizard kings even now hold court in the deserts around Las Vegas.


So tonight is the zero session & character workshop in my Cha'alt/ Godbound rpg crossover Las Vegas campaign.  I wanted to leave the door open for Zothique, Dungeons & Dragons elements, & especially Lovecraft. So I'm toning down the gonzo at this point & turning the fantasy elements up to eleven with the Lewis Carol  'Through The Looking Glass', HP Lovecraft's 'Dreamlands' cycle including the Nameless City , & Clark Ashton Smith 'Zothique'  adventure elements.


Wyvern
Dave Trampier artwork from The
 Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first edition Monster Manual

The reason for this is because I've got several touch stones with other OSR & old school campaigns that I've run in the past. The reason for the zero session is simple, get all of the players on the same page right outta of the gate. I'm using all of the tools at my disposal to get the players on the same page right out of the gate & then get moving on Vegas next week. The best use with the time I've got is the best way to get everyone on the same hymn sheet!