It is written in the Iron Kingdoms Canon that dealing between Goreshade and minions of Everblight included information about the weakened Dragon Pyromalfic. This information leads Everblight to lay seige to the Castle of Keys in an attempt to take Pyromalfic’s Heartstone. This campaign looks into why Pyromalfic was in the Castle surrounded by a Skorne army, and how Goreshade knew about it. This is the core seed behind the Dragonsbane Campaign.
The Dragonfather Toruk is The Dragon, and is not of the world like we are. His heartstone is indestructible, and will regenerated his entire body if need be. At one point, he decided that fragments of hist Heartstone would generate Dragons, and together they would dominate this world. He fragmented pieces off, and they became Dragons of their own. Dragons, of course, can not think themselves subordinate to anyone, so instead of working together, they all fought for domination. They battled, and ended with the surviving lesser Dragons scattering across the world, and Toruk Dragonfather settling down behind the Cryx Islands to create a Nightmare Empire, hosting armies directly subject to his will.
One Dragon, Everblight, perfected the art of planting slivers of his own Heartstone into his primary minions, transforming them into his avatars. He granted them terrible powers, and could see into their minds, and through their eyes. A neighboring nation, the Skorne, heard of this ability and became fascinated. Their powers included the abilities to manipulate soul energies, harness power from pain, and other dark arts. They desired to know more about this draconic process.
After great effort and expenditure, the Skorne trapped the Dragon Pyromalfic in the Castle of Keys. During a great battle, they obtained a small fragment of Pyromalfic’s Heartstone. The Skorne immediately took this shard away and sealed it in a thick iron cask, and set about it the most powerful enchantments they could devise in the field.
This was meant as a strictly temporary measure. Their intent was to transport the Shard out of the Dragon’s direct influence, and put it into more permanent seals. The small escort party delivering the Iron Cask ran across a force controlled by the Legion of Everblight. The Skorne party was annihilated, and all items taken as prize. This Legion force also encountered a small Rhulic trading caravan. The caravan was destroyed, and most of its people taken as slaves.
This Legion force was on a particular mission, and Random Chance had them cross the Skorne. The Legion was moving towards a meeting with a Cryxian dispatch. This was one of the first overtures between Goreshade and the Legion. Neither party had met face-to-face yet, but they arranged a meeting of “good will,” where they would exchange messages and gifts. Most of the gifts were various slaves and artifacts, and the messages were about further meetings.
The wards around the Cask were still new and strong, and the Legion force did not have an avatar of Everblight amongst them. The Legion force simply did not understand the artifact, so they added it to the “gifts” being handed to the Cryx. Some of the PC’s were part of this exchange, and were handed over at this time.
As the PCs and Cask traveled in the Cryx hold, the wards began to wear down, and Pyromalfic was able to begin to extend influence. It found the highest ranking officer it could put into its power, and began working its way into their mind. This was Mate Fallingblood. After a brief time, Pyromalfic convinced Fallingblood to steal the Iron Cask and flee. It hoped to bring the shard back into its own sphere of influence. Word of the Iron Cask reached the Cryxian leaders, and they understood its meaning. Word was sent out to obtain direct control of the Cask at all cost.
Events happened faster than the word could travel. In the middle of a battle with the Cygnaran Navy, Fallingblood saw her chance to grab the Cask and run. This was the same battle that freed the PCs.
Enter the Dragonsbane Campaign.