On the 13th day of the month of Sarm in the Year 2500 a Dungeon expedition from Fort Venture, led by its then Commander Arril Champion of Tarm, rendezvoused with an expedition from Dwarf Hold, led by its then commander Dválin XII Barrazhâl, at the Altar of Toorm. Both were following a rumour that the Chaotic Pirates (who had been a real threat to shipping in the Great Ocean lately) were burying treasure there. The Pirates were indeed encountered, and defeated, but there were also a number of strange goings-on, which were never fully explained. The Dwarven party suffered some mysterious deaths, which were later attributed to the Evil terrorists Mork and Toplop (who had infiltrated Dwarf Hold, and were responsible for the infamous Wave of Terror there). Then at the Altar the Dwarves encountered a Chaotic Sending, at the same time (it was later discovered) that Eldaglîn, an elf in the Fort Venture party, suffered a fit of unconsciousness.
Three years later, in Sarm 2503, rumours were again circulating: that the Pirates were returning to the Altar to retrieve something, perhaps treasure, or perhaps even the Chaotic Sending. But now the situation was very different in that area of the Dungeons, high up at the top of the Rift. A war was being fought by the Dwarves and their Good and Lawful allies from Fort Venture against the Forces of Heaven and Hell. The Altar was behind the Dwarven lines, but close enough to the front that attacks from Evil infiltration forces were a risk. Once again Fort Venture and Dwarf Hold put together parties to investigate the rumours.
Meanwhile back in Valdran, Arril of Tarm was now Emperor, but faced challenges from Rendor Champion of Satril and Kyarlin Champion of Heaven (the current Commander of Dwarf Hold) on 10 and 11 Sarm. Dválin XII was long since dead, having fallen victim to Mork and Toplop's Wave of Terror, when the Axe of Dválin was lost. But rumours persisted that they turned him into a Spectre, which still haunted the area of the Altar of Toorm.
The Dungeon Expedition to the Altar of Toorm in Sarm 2500 was the first ever run in Anarea, back in September 1979 at the beginning of my third year at Cambridge. 20 years later I was still running Anarea, and we had by then reached Sarm 2503. Return to the Altar of Toorm was a special run to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Anarea, which I ran over the weekend of 9 and 10 October 1999.
In view of the problems with previous 1-offs, I took steps to enforce player co-operation. The players were junior members of Lawful parties, and were expected to obey the orders of their NPC superiors (as was in fact the case in the original Altar of Toorm run). I warned that any in-character trouble would be dealt with accordingly, and that meta trouble might have in-character consequences. However, the run went well, and I was able to allow the players to run their NPC superiors tactically, whilst I concentrated on the DMing.
This was the original note for players to design characters for the 1-off:
"If you wish to take part in the Return to the Altar of Toorm, design up an 8th level character in the usual way for a starting character in the mainstream Champions of Anarea (including a %age roll for luck) and email the spreadsheet to Gathol-Dvalin at prwild.demon.co.uk with your application to join the expedition, explaining why your character wishes to be included. All characters should be plausible volunteers for a reconnaissance expedition from Fort Venture or Dwarf Hold into the High Dungeons behind the War Zone. You may spend up to 4d6 * 1000GP RUD at the Shops to equip your character (who can be assumed to have amassed some wealth on previous expeditions)."
As we ended up with three players (plus one helping me DM), in the event I asked each player to design up two characters, and assigned one NPC leader to each player to run tactically.
P.R. Wild, 5 June 1999, 17 October 1999
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