[Campaign Challenge 2026, Day 21] RPG Campaign Tour Challenge

What are the major organizations of the campaign? How do they deal with visitors?

There are four main organizations active in the Campaign.

The Crown Table is present in the campaign, led by the First One Sir Garrick of the Order of the Whip. Since the Knights of St Edras made an official alliance, Dame Sabine de Montrevault serves as liaison to the group.

Another organization are the Komnenoi, a mercantile alliance led by Alexion Phokas, who was the last Truskan Viceroy of Tarsyn.

The third group is led by the Order of St Argent, an order of knighthood promoting the Vespianic Church.

The final group is composed of several criminals and bandits. The PCs have faced a few times, but not as a faction.

[Campaign Challenge 2026, Day 20] RPG Campaign Tour Challenge

Are there any mysteries as yet unsolved?

The PCs have no idea of the goals or nature of Ysoria La Voilée.

There are hags in the area the PCs have yet to follow up on.

What are Claudia's true aim and goal?

Grimnark the Bloody's true nature?

[Campaign Challenge 2026, Day 19] RPG Campaign Tour Challenge

Any 'Must See' sites?

The city of Tarsyn is a sight to behold.

[Campaign Challenge 2026, Day 18] RPG Campaign Tour Challenge

Forgot to ask: How do we get around?

Walking is the best way. However, riding is possible on the roads and closer to Darveshnagar.

Frequent caravans with wagons come from Mehrengar to the east regularity.

[Campaign Challenge 2026, Day 17] RPG Campaign Tour Challenge

The area around Darveshnagar has been mostly peaceful. However, the biggest battle in recent history was the destruction of the Tower of St Edras. The Crusader army came from the east and destroyed the tower before moving on to the Holy City itself. The village of Darveshnagar made no serious attempt to resist the invaders.

[Campaign Challenge 2026, Day 16] RPG Campaign Tour Challenge

Are there any direct threats?

Although it is much easier to say, politics are particularly cutthroats with the First Ones, their opponents, and several nobles and powerbrokers who vie for power. Being judicious with one's friend can really help.

Near Darveshnagar, the gnolls and bandits form a potent combination as they are an immediate, organized threat.

The gnolls are led by a particularly brutal leader called Grimnark the Bloody who organizes gnolls in the area, he is said to have support from gnolls from beyond the Mists.

The Mists are nearby, creating an impenetrable barrier where anyone who enters them vanishes, never to be seen again.

[Campaign Challenge 2026, Day 15] RPG Campaign Tour Challenge

What are some things in the setting that are best avoided?

There are two powerful individuals the PCs know about:

Claudia Severina is a powerful sorceress who lives is the ruin of Skotadion, a fortress always covered with dark clouds and where light dims and weakens. It is a bleak place most people avoid unless they have a specific reason to approach.

My players are suckers for hot goth girls as one of the PCs asked to make her his warlock patron.

I won't go into too much detail about her actual nature. But nothing bad could happen from that, would it?

Another threat is that of a power fey from Zapel Lake to the Southeast of Darveshnagar called Ysoria la Voilee. Many tales and rumors surround her.

The PCs have yet to explore more about her and her exact nature. They know she a Fey of power, but little else as they stayed away.

[Campaign Challenge 2026, Day 14] RPG Campaign Tour Challenge

What to order to 'Eat like a local'?

Most Tarsynian eat large amount of grain and fowl, flavored with spices like cinnamon, pepper, or nutmeg. Meat is mostly goat as beef and pork are rare. However, there is no prohibition against any meat - at least not widespread.

The best drink is the wine, made from grapes and other fruits. Caravans traveling to other worlds can make large sums of money by bringing back rare foods, wines, and spirits to Tarsyn. Those coming from the original world of Tarsyn are particularly prized.

[Campaign Challenge 2026, Day 13] RPG Campaign Tour Challenge

Where can we get a drink and a bite to eat?

The Copper Flagon is the one public house in Darveshnagar.

In Tarsyn, there are many such establishments.

[Campaign Challenge 2026, Day 12] RPG Campaign Tour Challenge

What do people do for entertainment around here?

Entertainment is usually private, but traveling minstrels, poets, and performance artists are quite common. They visit local villages and noble estates, bringing news and merriment. The three main cultures of Tarsyn create a vibrant artistic community.

A new form of entertainment is growing as retired knights and adventurers tell tales of adventure and unique locations they visited beyond the Mists. Youths dream of quests and adventure beyond the limit of Tarsyn, returning with glory and riches.

[Campaign Challenge 2026, Day 11] RPG Campaign Tour Challenge

Where would we go to find 'adventure'?

In Darveshnagar, they are three main places: The local headsman, Rahim, usually has needs of a civic nature. The Copper Flagon, the local inn, if home to travelers and visitors. Finally, the Bazaar of the Twelve Arches is the commercial center of the town and another place to find adventure.

[Campaign Challenge 2026, Day 10] RPG Campaign Tour Challenge

What's the first thing we should do?

Upon arriving in Tarsyn, obtaining lodging is important. The city is large, and its streets are dangerous at night as gangs, cults, and riots are all common. Add to that the Order of the Whip brutally prevent vagrancy to keep the streets clean.

After that, one should visit the many holy sites: the cathedrals to the Father, the Lady, and the Son, and the Truskan temples. The city is a metropolis along the lines of Waterdeep, Greyhawk City, and Athenion. Mixing Constantinople, Jerusalem, and Ctesiphon as influences...

[Campaign Challenge 2026, Day 9] RPG Campaign Tour Challenge

Who's in charge here?

King Hugo rules Tarsyn, supported by his wife, Queen Livia. He is assisted by the Crown Table, his ruling council. They gather around a massive round table. *Wink* *Wink*

The knights formed an alliance with the Crown Table. The King dispatched one of his knight, Dame Sabine de Montrevault from the Order of the Whip, as his liaison and representative.

The group met with Queen Livia early in their adventures. She shared information with them about the Crown of Tears. Whether they will keep their deal with her remains to be seen.

Locally, the PCs are the lords of Darveshnagar and are expected to protect it.

[Campaign Challenge 2026, Day 8] RPG Campaign Tour Challenge

Tell us about the local people and their cultures.

There are three main cultures in Tarsyn:

Tarsynian The highly-cosmopolitan and highly-educated Tarsynian culture descends from a hodge-podge of people the city conquered and assimilated over the millenia. They are typically olive-to-dusky skinned with dark hair. They form the majority of the population.

Truskan The previous conquerors have settled in Tarsyn and intermarried with the local populace. They favor olive or bronzed skin with hair colors ranging from light-to-dark brown. Truskans are both militaristic and mercantile. They adapted their pantheon to match Tarsyn's.

Crusaders The Crusaders were once a distant part of the Tarsynian Empire but broke away, keeping the Vaspianic religion (Tasyn' main faith), but deifying the first Emperor as The Son. When word of troubles reached their lands, they mounted a huge army, joined by religious fervor that bordered on zealotry, and they crossed half the world to liberate Tarsyn from the Truskan invaders.

Crusaders have pale skins and eyes ranging from auburn to blonde to brown.

Although it would be simple to believe these three groups are at each others' throats, tensions tend to ease off and quiet down quickly because there are always "something bigger" that needs immediate attention.

[Campaign Challenge 2026, Day 7] RPG Campaign Tour Challenge

What's the weather like today?

The weather in Tarsyn is generally dry with short rainfall. Because Tarsyn is not in a plane, determining relies more on astrology and divination than on usual methods. After all... if you can't see beyond the Mists, how can you guess what weather comes?

[Campaign Challenge 2026, Day 6] RPG Campaign Tour Challenge

Where shall we start?

During Session Zero, I told the PCs that they were a fledgling band of would-be knights. (Knights being part of an order of knighthood).

They took their first job escorting supplies to a small border village. While on the road, they were attacked by troglodytes. After several challenges, they claimed the abandoned Tower of St Edras and took the name Knights of St Edras.

[Campaign Challenge 2026, Day 5] RPG Campaign Tour Challenge

Can you tell us about the campaign's history?

Fifty years ago, the Truskan Empire conquered Tarsyn and settled it.

Ten years ago, the Crusaders, a group of people from the edge of the former empire mounted a religious expedition against the Holy City. After years of travel and conquest, they captured the city and established a kingdom for themselves in the city.

Five years ago, Tarsyn and its surrounding area was wretched from its location and pulled... somewhere within the Mists. Since then, the Crown Table (the king's ruling council) has been corrupted and became First Ones.

---

Locally, the Tower of St Edras was created by a religious order dedicated to the Vaspianic Church (main church of Tarsyn).

It was taken by the Crusaders and left as a ruin as their army moved on the city itself. Since its importance waned, no one bothered with it anymore.

In time, the tower was taken over by a band of troglodytes.

This is where the campaign starts...

[Campaign Challenge 2026, Day 4] RPG Campaign Tour Challenge

Is there a map?

There is, but I have not shared it with the players. They have to make one themselves! :D

However, there are two maps of the area and of the city itself:

[Campaign Challenge 2026, Day 3] RPG Campaign Tour Challenge

Where the Heck are we?

The Campaign takes place on the western edge of Tarsyn near the village of Darveshnagar. The party took over the Tower of St Edras after taking it over from a clan of troglodytes that occupied it.

Nearby locations are:
- Zapel Lake which is home to Ysoria la Voilé, a powerful fey spirit.
- Skotadion is a hilltop fort always covered by a dark cloud.
- The Badlands is a rocky area full of canyons and ruins.
- Zapel Lake which is home to Ysoria la Voilé, a powerful fey spirit.

[Campaign Challenge 2026, Day 2] RPG Campaign Tour Challenge

About your Tour Guide

Tarsyn is an "island" floating somewhere in the Multiverse that encompasses the Holy City and roughly thirty miles around. The area has a climate similar to the Levant: mostly dry.

Tarsyn: Lost Holy City is a campaign setting I co-wrote for First Ones Entertainment (FOE) that is inspired by mixing Arthurian Legends with the Crusades, with the city itself taking inspiration from Jerusalem, Constantinople, and Ctesiphon.

The "Island" floats in the Mists, which is a device that links all of FOE's settings. Similar to the Mists of Ravenloft, anyone who enters them, disappears. However, the Mists around Tarsyn sometimes "open" and allows passage to other planes simply by walking across.

So the campaign has some trips to other planes, local politics, and adventure!

[Campaign Challenge 2026, Day 1] RPG Campaign Tour Challenge

Campaign Introduction and Overview

My current campaign is set in the world of Tarsyn by First Ones Entertainment. It is called the Crown of Tears and is the subject of several posts with pictures of the game.

I am mixing elements of the campaign setting (Arthurian Legends and the Crusade) with elements of kingdom building, downtime, and Westmarch.

The Setting Tarsyn is highly cosmopolitan with people from all over the Multiverse making their way here. The party has/had characters from: Olympia, Ozaka, Tarsyn, and a pair of First Ones.

Kingdom Building Early in the campaign, the PCs found and abandonned tower they renovated and made themselves lords of the area, which includes the village of Darveshnagar.

Downtime: Every week, the players can call upon or do research themselves on a topic they want: NPCs, items, or locations and I send them information about that. They get some basic information about it, but sometimes, they get a "This is something you'll have to adventure for."

Westmarch: The PCs discuss what they found during downtime and most times, they get to decide what to do/ where to go. One key I found with this type of campaign is to make sure the party always has MORE hooks for adventure than they have time to do.