Hi, everyone.
I just finished my 3rd Campaign lore project, and very excited to share it. If you want to read my previous work, click here
Per the official story, it was meant to be a comedy-focus kobolds adventure, but the Eldritch Elder Dragon looks too cool to me, that I can’t pass the opportunity to write Lovecraft fanfiction. 
Because of the quest to find a suitable God for the kobolds, I ended up writing a lot of non-campaign Mythic lore that was missing since it stop becoming a game feature. And for doing so, I got some help from the previous work of Sirrian, and even from Lovecraft himself!
Hope you guys have fun reading them as much as I do when I write about gods’ lore. Enjoy!
Chapter 1
The trouble in Khaziel was none of what we expected, it was actually just the kobolds. Emperina said this was still a very serious problem, as since the kobolds had escaped from their waterfall village, they had been following her around, worshipping her, and disturbing her rest. It had become a really annoying issue, so she asked us to go and ‘have a word’ with them.
Goddess Emperina, we are grateful for your protection. Your kindness had helped us to survive, so we will pray to you in a shrine we build in your image. We hope one day we can become a beautiful dragon like you.
The dragon scale toughens our skin. The dragon bone adorns our skull. The dragon heart flames our sorcery. We are the dragon, and for the dragon we live. Long live the dragon.
The Kobold Emissary refused to talk to a lowly human like us unless we brought him a worthy gift: a Mithril ore. Emperina advised we should negotiate with him for something else, as we wouldn’t be able to find this rare mineral on our own, and the dwarves would never let us take theirs either. She suggested giving him some eyeballs instead, as all kobolds love them as a snack.
It worked! We asked him and his kobold friends to leave Emperina alone. He dismissed our request, as he believed his devotion to her had granted him a special power, like when he was able to harness the blue rays when Diamantina reflect her light across the sky. Since then, he became an emissary to spread the word, that having Emperina as your goddess will give you good luck. For this reason, the kobolds will never stop their practices unless we proved them wrong or give them a better god to worship.
We didn’t believe their ridiculous reason but also didn’t see any other way to stop them. Throwing them in the Primal Rift wouldn’t work either, as they will likely find a way back somehow, they were that persistent and stubborn. To prove them wrong would be an impossible task, and finding a new god for them would be easier.
But which god would be suitable for the kobold? Because the dwarves almost killed them last time, we didn’t think they would want anything to do with Stonehammer. Maybe some gods in the vale nearby would be good enough? We traveled there with the kobolds to find out.
On the way, we heard a strange voice in the wind, something like “Y’ l’ gotha nogephaii”. Dealing with the kobold had made us a little bit crazy, it seemed.
Chapter 2
We arrived in Pan’s Vale with the kobolds, hoping to meet with Pan himself. Emperina warned us the Goat God with high pride like him might not easily accept the Kobold as his follower at first, but he would at least set them on an impossible quest, that would at least keep them occupied for a while, and that’s good enough for her. With that objective in mind, we went to Pan’s grotto.
…When the whole village was crying with the joy of watching her savage dance, May finally smiled and said: “Now, make me your Queen, and let us conquer the world.”
The Wildfolks hesitated, but couldn’t back out of the agreement, so they asked Pan what to do next. Knowing all the troubles she had caused, Pan went to talk with May, and offered to crown her Queen of the Wild, but only if she agreed to get married to their king.
May was excited to become royalty, but her excitement faded away when she saw the king for the first time. She hesitated, but couldn’t back out of the agreement.
It went as well as we expected. Pan was quite offended by us bringing the kobolds to his sacred place, but he was humored enough to ask them to collect a thousand magical herbs to prove their worth. Surprisingly, the kobolds seemed thrilled to comply with the task. Was our plan really working?
We should have known better. The kobolds use that demand as an excuse to ransack the vale, looking for the herbs. When what they found was not enough, they invaded the Shrine of the Wilds, angering the royalty. Not satisfied, they went far to the Forest of Thorns, infuriating King Bloodwood enough to follow them back here. It was all a gigantic mess.
We had to apologize to all the gods for the kobolds’ behavior, trying to stop the situation from escalating any further. When we asked the kobolds to give the herbs back, they complained, saying the primitive wood gods were not worthy of their worship, only useful for providing them the herbs, so they could give them to their Goddess Emperina. It wouldn’t be easy to make them give up their relentless determination, it seemed.
Pan was not happy with the chaos we created, so we escaped from his kingdom before he could kick us out, use the Voiceless Golem to silence us, or something even worse. We hope traveling with the kobolds like this didn’t cause someone to put a bounty on our heads.
Emperina felt guilty about indirectly putting all these events in motion. Finding random gods like this wouldn’t work, so she needed to consult with another dragon to come up with a new plan. She knew someone in Silverglade that might be able to give us some ideas, so we flew there with her.
High up in the sky, we heard another voice in the wind: Tharanak ya wgah’nagl. It was even clearer this time. What was going on?
Chapter 3
We have reached the High Elves’ kingdom. Emperina suggested we should leave the kobolds behind on the border, or else they might try to ride Queen Aurora like she was their pet unicorn. Not wanting to take a risk, we ordered some of our knights to look after them, to make sure they didn’t misbehave. We hoped we didn’t run into the princess and the prince on this visit, as dealing with the kobolds already gave us enough headache.
Buried deep in a long-forgotten tomb, the recent time magic had allowed his own daughter, Medea, to discover his unresting place. And now, Deathlock Dreilak, the most powerful Karakoth sorcerer, has returned to the living world again, ready to continue his work of summoning an unimaginable horror.
The timing couldn’t be more perfect. The latest eruption in Broken Spire had broken the reef hiding the nightmare sinking corpse-city. The place of mingled mud, ooze, and weedy Cyclopean masonry, was built in measureless eons behind history. Hidden in its green slimy vaults, there lay the great old one, waiting to be released.
The old god needed more strength to break free, and Dreilak was more than willing to assist. He already marked some unfortunate souls for the upcoming sacrifices. Mgepog r’luhhor ahuh’eog shuggog, he vowed to the god.
When Emperina led us to the garden behind the royal palace, we realized her contact was not just any random dragon, but the royal protector! The guarding heralds wouldn’t let us pass at first, but when they see her, they allowed us to enter Krystenax’s Glade.
The royal dragon was glad to see us, as he had a great story to share. After the Onyx Giant incident, Amethialas, one of the Gem Dragons, had come here, and from her, he learned he was one of their offspring. He was always curious about his origin and had been comparing his blue crystal scales to other creatures to no avail, so he was ecstatic to finally learn the truth.
Consulting him about our kobolds’ problem, Krystenax recommended that having them learn about their own origin might be able to help them stop fixating on dragons like Emperina. They were part naga and goblin, so they might be interested in some gods that were from their ancestral lineage.
We thanked him for his excellent idea and promised him that we will bring Sapphirax’s scales as a gift the next time we met, or ask the Gem Dragon to visit Silverglade.
Considering our next options, we could try the setauri, an ancient Naga tribe for the start. It would quite a distance even in the Underworld though, so we should get some rest before making the long trip. We made a camp on the edge of the forest.
At night, we had an unusual dream about an undead warlock trying to summon an old god. Were the Soul Gnomes sneaking into our camp, messing with our dream? At least we didn’t hear the strange voice in the wind this time, as that was starting to become a recurring problem.
Chapter 4
Traveling in the Underworld with the kobolds was tough. It was hard to keep them on track and didn’t go messing around in other factions. But with great effort, we managed to reach Setuari’s Moor without any major incidents.
It was the war between the Anubites and the Settites that eventually brought Khetar to its end. The Anubites destroyed the Settites’ rivers, plunging the kingdom into chaos. And the Settites broke open the Anubites’ Tombs, unleashing a horde of undead upon the world.
Without the rivers, once prosperous Khetar was no more than a forsaken ruin in an endless desert. Most citizens tried to flee, but they were slain by the leader of the dark Anubite cult, Ankhnum the Destroyed. Even the gods and the pharaohs were not spared.
The setauri was one of the only few survivors of the Settite cult, who managed to escape along the drying river to the swamp. With the help of a powerful naga god, they were able to take a part of the land with them through the portal to the Underworld, creating Fang Moor, a safe haven where they could build a new temple for Set, waiting for his resurrection.
The setauri was hostile at first. They sent their gladiators to fight and stop us from trespassing on their land. After telling them we just wanted to talk about their gods, they began to calm down and willing to discuss their beliefs.
The kobolds listened attentively to the lore, seemed like they were interested in learning about their origin after all. But after it was done, they said they didn’t care much about Set or any god pharaohs, but wanted to learn more about the demonic naga god, Mambasira, to see if she was worthy of their worship.
The setauri was offended by the kobolds’ blasphemy, but we were able to persuade them to continue. They explained that Mambasira was not related to the Gorgon sisters, but instead came from a race of Marilith, nagas who studied daemon magic to gain more power. She was the strongest of all, with the skill to merge with her minions, granting her multiple heads and hands. In that form, she gained the ability to master all sorts of combat and predict all moves of her enemies, countering them all at the same time. Her prowess in battle was deeply revered that other nagas started to worship her as one of their gods.
After she helped the setuari to escape the war, they had been sending tributes to her to show gratitude. The kobolds wanted to be a part of that tribute next time, but the setauri bluntly refused, not wanting such insolent creatures to be in her presence. In retaliation, the kobolds raided their Set temple, angering the setauri even more.
As the conflict between them was starting to become more violent, the kobolds screamed that their ancestors couldn’t be berserk beasts like the nagas, but someone nobler. Not wanting to escalate the situation any further, we dragged the kobolds away from the moor, leaving the setuari in peace again. We hoped our meeting with their goblin ancestors in Zeajin would work out better.
We were quite curious about why the kobolds were suddenly interested in the daemon gods. Was something disturbing their mind? Were they keep hearing strange voices and unusual dreams like us too?
Chapter 5
Once we arrived in Zaejin, Sir Brian suggested we should ask someone to bring Gobmother’s crystal back from the Crypt Keepers and summon her for the kobolds. Before he could raise a toast to the god of bad ideas, we shot down his proposal and smacked him in the ear. Maybe the goblin priests can introduce us to their other gods?
Being scheming little creatures as they were, goblin’s monarchy was not exactly stable. Planning to dethrone a king was just a regular Friday evening activity for them.
Nilbog, the current king named by his very creative parent, no doubt, was the latest person to be stripped of his ruling power. Exiled to the scorching plain of Pridelands, he wandered for days on end, as his plead for help was rejected by all the rakshas he met.
On the brink of starving to death, a banished group of rakshas took pity on him, give him food, and invited him to stay at their palace to recover.
But recovery was never part of the rakshas’ plan. Their leader, Indrajit, wanted to recruit him into their infernal army, so they imprisoned him, intending to turn him into a mindless deamon with their hellfire spell.
Unexpectedly, Nilbog was stronger than they thought. He was able to break free from his prison with his new burning magic power. With his skin turned red from the fire and anger, he vowed to take revenge on all the rakshas, and take back his throne in his homeland.
Back in Zaejin, his unforeseen return was feared by the newest gluttonous King, Norbert the Irongut. To build up his followers for the upcoming revolt, Nilbog formed a cult to become their god.
The goblin had a very particular idea about building a temple. Without the bone altar on top of a trash pile, we would think it was actually, just a pile of trash. The priest told us their god, Flaming Oni, was on a religious mission on the nearby savana right now, and the kobolds were welcome to join. Wanting to take a break from them for a while, we let the kobolds go, so they can get to know their new god, while we waited here in the goblin village.
The kobolds came back with a lot of treasures and jewels. It was not a peaceful mission at all, as it looked like they invaded Pridelands, attacking the rakshas and passing caravans, stealing their valuables. The kobolds seemed to enjoy serving under the demonic god’s ancestor a lot and sought pleasure by causing destruction. We knew they can be devious at the time, but this was starting to be way too much like they were possessed.
When they complained to Emperina that she would be better as if she was a fell dragon, we recognized there must be some worldwide demonic influence at play here. The fact that we kept hearing “Na’ah’ehye ya” repeatedly in our dream didn’t help the situation either, so it might not be just us and the kobolds that were affected.
We should take the kobolds with us to Hellcrag to consult with our new friend, King Torpor, to find out what’s going on. Looked like this Krinklemas wouldn’t be all fun and joy at all, but full of devilish surprises.
Chapter 6
Our previous plan for Krinklemas was to go on the Ironhawk airship to assist Kris Krinkle and his tinker dwarves helpers in delivering gifts to everyone in Krystara. But being a hero, our assistant was always needed elsewhere. This problem was not just between Emperina and the kobolds anymore, but something far more sinister and widespread. We couldn’t just go on holiday now.
You better watch out, You better comply.
You better join a cult, I’m telling you why.
𝕯𝖊𝖒𝖔𝖓𝖎𝖈 𝖋𝖔𝖗𝖈𝖊 𝖎𝖘 𝖈𝖔𝖒𝖎𝖓’ 𝖙𝖔 𝖙𝖔𝖜𝖓
'Cause he will return, better take my advice.
Doesn’t matter, if you’re naughty or nice.
Demonic force is coming for you.
*In his house, he waits dreaming,
Deep down in R’lyeh.*
He shall rise, his kingdom covers the Earth,
With the mist of dark dismay.
Oh, you better bow down, don’t you dare defy.
Surrender to him, before losing your mind.
Demonic force is coming.
Hellcrag was looking a lot more impressive than the last time we were here. Looked like after they built the monument, they wasted no time and immediately started working on restoring the kingdom to its former glory. Pleased about their progress, we ordered some of our men to collect hellstones to join their effort.
Entering the palace, we met with King Torpor and asked him about the development under his rule. He explained that the rebuilding was going well, but aiding the citizens to get used to the new world after being frozen in time for so long was not easy. The horror of the Great Blight was still fresh in their mind. In preparation, he had recently built a new arena in the courtyard to train them. If another infernal crisis happened, they would be ready to fight back this time.
We told him about our own demonic problem. He said he heard the rumor about strange whisperings that were affecting some of the draconic creatures here. He suggested that we should talk to his mystical advisor, Morganite, as she would know more about this issue.
Meeting her in the garden of pink stone roses, she confirmed that the demonic possession was happening to her and her dragons as well. She had been trying to research its origin, but couldn’t find much besides that it was likely coming from something ancient and even maybe otherworldly.
So far, the only way she could ward off the influence was by using Dragon’s Totem, a powerful artifact made from a runestone enhanced by a skull of a fell dragon. She advised us to go to Blighted Lands to build the totem and use it to protect the kobolds from any further corruption.
With the new plan in mind, we went to the depth of hell to find its parts. We hoped being there won’t worsen the possession.
Chapter 7
Blighted Lands could be quite a dangerous place, with or without possessed companions, so the shorter we had to be here, the better. We hastily extracted the monolith to make a runestone for Dragon’s Totem, but as we preferred to not kill the tragic fell dragons, how would we be able to find their skulls?
Getting promoted to lieutenant of The Infernal King, I was still not satisfied with my rank. The king had been growing weak in the past years since the humiliating defeat by that hero, who also exposed his Twisted Hero scheme. With barely any corrupted souls to restore his strength, his immortality wouldn’t mean much if someone decided to rise against him. Why serve the king when you could become one?
His method of gaining power was quite flawed anyway. Healthy heroes can be so stubborn, so I preferred the injured ones on the brink of dying. With my trusted Vrawk minions, they can find a suitable target, then fly back to notify me. Once I got to them, I will corrupt their poor souls to be a Lemure to serve my army, and if they resisted, then their depleting life force can be leached away to reinforce my Damned Blade.
Abynissia took notice of my growing power, so she promoted me to be her archduke. It was a good stepping stone. I can serve the queen for now, but when my mastery grows beyond her, I would rather become the Emperor of Hell.
Emperina suggested we search for the skull in the bone nest of Vrawk Daemons, the scavenger eagle. Finding their hidden dwelling in this hellscape wouldn’t be easy, so luring them to a ravine and tracking them on their return trip would be better. Surprisingly, the kobolds volunteered to collect the baits for us, so we let them help to distract their mind.
We had no idea how they managed to find this many carcasses, but it worked very well in attracting the murder of Vrawks. We flew silently to follow the birds to their nest. There was all sort of skulls there, but Emperina was able to identify the fell dragon’s skull we needed.
Back at the ravine, we were horrified to find the kobolds had trapped some of the Vrawks, torn their bodies apart, and devoured them raw. The possession had advanced way too far now, that we were not sure anymore if our newly assembled Dragon’s Totem would be enough to stop it. We needed to go down this demonic rabbit hole to find what was causing corruption, and stopped it as soon as possible.
Just then, Krystenax flew all the way here to find us to deliver urgent news from King Undine. There was a disturbance in the water under the newly-formed volcanic land in Broken Spire. A group of strange creatures had emerged from there and reached as far as Merlantis. The king wanted us to go down there and investigate what is stirring up the trouble, and he will send Azura to assist us.
Before we went, Krystenax warned us to be careful, as when he soared above there, he felt like the demonic corruption was at its strongest, with the muffled whisper crescendoed to become a maddening scream.
Chapter 8
We had reached the shore of Broken Spire and readied to dive underwater with Azura to find out what trouble was waiting for us below. May the god Aquaria keep all of us safe.
The history of Merlantis was always a dispute between historians, due to the difficulty of research, and the unwillingness of its citizens to impart their history. The popular belief is that it was the only civilization in Krystara to be built underwater, but some conflicting sources tell a different story.
It was recounted that Merlantis used to be an island inhabited by an ancient ancestor of humans. Then one day, an asteroid fall into the ocean nearby, causing a tsunami that submerged the island. Most citizens perished, with only a few with strong magic surviving. It was them who were able to evolve to live underwater to become the Merfolk race we knew today.
Some historians also believe that this asteroid might be the origin of the sea monster in the area. Their theory is that some type of alien organism on the asteroid was able to survive the impact, and thrived in new conditions, creating The Blood Reef around the crater. This then becomes a breeding ground for creatures like Sea Scavengers, the Megavore, and even the Leviathan. Abyssal Gigantism from deeper ocean floor might also be a side effect of it, allowing creatures like Kraken and Kharydbis to evolve. Interbreeding between them and the Merfolk might also happen, leading to creatures like Scylla and the reclusive Mersharks.
It seemed the force of the volcanic eruption was enough to break the Blood Reef, freeing some Sea Scavengers that were trapped inside. They attacked us, but we were able to defend ourselves from them with the kobolds’ help.
We found something unusual. Alongside the corals, there was a buried stone structure, like from a sunken city. How could it end up below the Spire? We got closer to investigate.
The geometry of the place was all wrong, almost like it was non-Euclidean. We couldn’t tell whether the outline of the stone was horizontal or vertical anymore. An angle of the masonry also behaved strangely, like it was obtuse even though it looked acute. It was actually easier to navigate with our eyes closed and followed the strange whispering that was coming from somewhere deep inside.
We found a vault with a huge door. The kobolds were excited and tried to open it with the bone of Sea Scavengers they somehow kept with them as a bounty. We tried to stop them, but it was too late, a titanic dragon with tentacles emerged from there, creating a strong water current that pushed all of us away from the door. By the time Azura was able to save all of us from drowning, we saw the dragon had already headed to the surface on the east. Unfortunately, the kobolds were nowhere to be found.
We swam back to shore on the Spire. Following the dragon would be difficult now, as there was now a thick mist around us, preventing us from seeing anything far away, and the sea was now very rough. We had no choice but to sail blindly.
We somehow ended up on the shore on the edge of Zhu’Kari’s forest. We suspected the dragon was likely heading to Karakoth, so it might be easier to travel on foot under this unnatural weather. The Dark Elves were accustomed to the darkness, so they might be able to lead us there swiftly. Tyri advised us to find The Silken Queen and talk with her about finding us a guide.
Chapter 9
Emperina tried to fly up in the sky, to see how far the dark mist was affecting the land. And as far as she could tell, the whole Krystara was covered by it. This was almost as bad as when the sun was gone for months. The flight wouldn’t be wise now, and a journey through the forest would be our only option.
You draw: The Empress
When stuck in the darkness, you can rest assured that feminine figures will lead you to the light. Believe in her creativity, trust in her ideas, and the problem will be solved naturally, returning harmony to your world.
We lighted our touch and walked carefully through Zhu’Kari to find the queen. Tyri explained that the Dark Elves here were always spilt up into a few tribes, which always tried their best to not interact with each other to reduce conflict. The last time they clashed, Matron Velenne’s tribe ended up getting exiled to the Underworld, for creating undead Bound Mages with their necromancy practice and attempting to convert others to join their cause.
Tyri said The Silken Queen, the one we were looking for, used to be a part of The Widow Queen’s tribe, but getting tired of the endless sacrifices to the spider god, she left and formed a tribe of her own, focusing on making traps with the spider web. Our best chance at finding her would be tracking her soldiers, Silken Fang and Spider Knight, to reach her throne.
We managed to do just that. Her palace was adorned with luminescent cocoons that shine brighter than our torch. The queen was not pleased with our intrusion, but hearing that we were trying to stop the mist, she was willing to help.
The queen ordered her Pathfinder, Seekra Darkwood, to lead us out of the forest to reach the Zuul’ez canal, so we could cross over to Karakoth. Our guide used her longbow to shoot glowing purple arrows to light up the path. Dark Elves really had the most efficient way to travel in the darkness.
With no time at all, we arrived at the canal but met with another issue. The mist was clearer here somehow, so we were able to see the monstrous horde of Deep Ones, the corrupted cult members who worship the Elder Dragon. Seemed like we have to fight through them to traverse this watery arena.
Chapter 10
They were way too many Deep Ones cultists, both Eldritch Disciples, and their daemon minions, who wanted to stop us from getting to Karakoth. We couldn’t fight them all, so we tried our best to sneak past them. Luckily, we managed to cross the canal and met with Ferit, and rescued him from a horde of Cthyryzyx.
The knowledge of the universe is too vast for any human to truly comprehend. Any living life forms, any unfathomable places, and any endless possibility of events are possible in the infinite galaxy.
All human concepts are also meaningless in the grand scheme of the cosmos. Our understanding of physic might be too primitive. Our perception of time might just be an illusion. Even our presumption of life and death might become obsolete, as that is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange aeons even death may die.
Ferit told us, in his unique way, this was all the work of the resurrected Deathlock Dreilak. The warlock was not content with just summoning Abhorath anymore, so he tried to summon the ancient Elder Dragon instead. And unfortunately, his plan was a success, so now we had to do #world-events whatever it took to stop this dragon before his song of madness caused the loss of sanity to every living creature in Krystara.
We spotted the Dreilak near the shore, with The Elder Dragon looming closer and closer in the water. How would we be able to stop such an indescribable horror such as this? Should we just surrender to him to be spared and avoid losing our minds? As a hero, we couldn’t do that. We have to try to save the world, even if we have to sacrifice our lives in the process.
In a surprising turn of an event, we also spotted the kobolds on the raft right next to the dragon. They tried to paddle faster to get in between to stop the dragon’s raid to advance any further. But being small as they were, the dragon just destroyed their raft and used his tentacle to snatch one of them and devoured the unlucky kobold.
Somehow, the dragon suddenly stopped moving. His chest started to grow with an unusual rune pattern, then he violently spat that kobold out. We only learn later from Emperinazara that this was all according to the kobolds’ plan. They tried to lure the dragon to eat one of them with Dragon’s Totem, so they can put it inside his body to limit his power from within. In this way, they could have a tentacled dragon god of their own to worship and serve without having to worry about him trying to find anyone else.
In the end, the kobolds were never that possessed at all, as they were just too focused on their goal of domesticating their new god. Dreilak was beyond disappointed with what happened, but we were impressed enough that the kobolds managed to dispel the mist and save the world from madness without us having to do anything.
The kobolds then began to build their new home right in Karakoth. They built their temple by renovating one of the warlock’s towers like a treehouse to look like the dragon. Emperinazara said she didn’t care about boring Emperina anymore, so she wanted to change her name to Cthulhazara instead. Looked like we also accomplished our goal of restoring peace to Emperina’s life as well after all.
The kobolds were happy, Emperina was happy, and we wish her a well-earned rest back in Khaziel. We wouldn’t have the kobolds following us around anymore as well, so it was a good enough reason to celebrate like it’s a holiday. It would be nice if there is a wedding we can attend.
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See you!