Campaign Theme
Eighty years ago a young half-orc wizard from Amarith named Amstrum reached the royal court of Ethium, a human kingdom. He quickly demonstrated his prowess at magic and was recognized as the most powerful wizard in generations. King Frederick the Righteous soon grew reliant on Amstrum, made him one of his most trusted retainers, and lavishly rewarded him.
Under the rule of Frederick, with Amstrum’s assistance, Ethium prospered until the “Night of the Bitter Hand”. Seventy-five years ago on mid-summer eve Amstrum declared his love for Frederick’s daughter Princess Aelina, and asked for her hand in marriage. For the first time Amstrum’s heritage troubled Frederick as he stated his daughter could only marry a pure blood human. Amstrum argued, pleaded, and coaxed, but Frederick would not relent.
When Amstrum realized he could never convince Frederick a bleak rage overtook him. He placed his hand on Frederick’s breast and intoned, “If I cannot have your daughter’s hand, then I pledge by my hand that no-one else shall lay a hand on your daughters”. With that he vanished into the night.
It soon became apparent that no man could touch any of his daughters without searing pain in their hands. When his son succeeded him it repeated with his daughters. This resulted in all daughters of each king going unmarried and childless.
Attempts to the remove the curse proved fruitless. The king promised a great reward to whoever could lift the curse, but the only progress was a divination that Amstrum’s hand was needed to remove it. There are also tales from about that time that a one handed wizard travelled Amarith distributing relics that looked suspiciously like fingers.
The campaign begins with the party sailing to Amarith to follow up on the tales in hopes of removing the curse and claiming the reward.