The Black Ballad: Chronicles of the Crossing, #1

By Rick Heinz, Patrick Edwards and Storytellers Forge

You Died. Now What?

Where do the dead go when they rest?

The poetic mystery of death has long been a fascination for the living. The images of warm hearths and a familial embrace are conjured for some, while others picture screaming in eternal torment at the hands of a demon. And yet, clerics have the power to pluck the dead back from that plane, thrusting them back into their mortal coils or even raising them into a state of eternal Undeath. Surely the gods would grow weary of their clerics pinching souls that rightfully belonged in their afterlife. Wouldn't they?

A partnership forged in fire and blood between musicians, artists, writers, editors, and more currently rests in your hands. The Black Ballad is a 10-chapter roleplaying campaign made alongside DiAmorte's second album, a savage metal opera of cosmic proportions. This saga will let players decide the fate of the afterlife itself while immersing themselves in musical works focusing on loss, acceptance, and determination in the face of one's own death. Will your campaign have the gall to challenge the will of divinity?

Features: 

• Over 300 pages, designed with both Storytellers and Players in mind.
• Multiple endings and player agency options. Choice matters.
• Full story campaign with 10 major cinematic chapters, 30 acts, and over a year of gameplay.
• A detailed look into how gods in fantasy settings deliver divine magic to their clerics.
• New mechanics for the faithful such as The Godless Core Class, New Domains, New Spells.
• New lineages designed for dead characters such as the Unhallowed or the Soul Stitched.
• The setting of The Sunless Crossing, a realm of waiting for the dead, built to handle the impact of resurrection in fantasy settings.  
• Dynamic encounter design to accomodate Theater of the Mind and Grid Style. Every fight is epic.
• ADA compliant multiple formats (pdf, epub, and more!) for digital distribution.
• Written and illustrated by award winning game designers and artists from around the world!
• Compatible with 5E and designed to be easily convertible to any D20 system.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Storytellers Forge
• Release date: May 15, 2024
• ISBN: 9798823203647

Book preview

Open Gaming License:

Notice of Open Game Content: This License applies to any Open Game Content that contains a notice indicating that the Open Game Content may only be Used under and in terms of this License. You must affix such a notice to any Open Game Content that You Use. No terms may be added to or subtracted from this License except as described by the License itself. No other terms or conditions may be applied to any Open Game Content distributed using this License.

Designation of Open Game Content: All monsters, magic items, setting materials, layout, and written words within The Black Ballad are original creations. We use the SRD for base class characters, dice mechanics, and rules sets within the SRD. For The Black Ballad, this typically refers to Cleric base class and the Divine Spell List within the SRD.

Storytellers Forge LLC Submitted Open Game Content: Playable classes created for The Black Ballad, magic items, and new divine spells may be used under OGL.

Product Identity: The worlds of The Black Ballad and characters contained within, along with their stories, music, artwork, encounters, and all written works and lore. Only classes, magic items, and new spells are submitted to the OGL universe.

OPEN GAME License Version 1.0a The following text is the property of Wizards of the Coast, LLC. and is Copyright 2000 Wizards of the Coast, Inc (Wizards). All Rights Reserved.

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15. COPYRIGHT NOTICE Open Game License v 1.0a Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, LLC. System Reference Document 5.1 Copyright 2016, Wizards of the Coast, LLC.; Authors Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford, Chris Perkins, Rodney Thompson, Peter Lee, James Wyatt, Robert J. Schwalb, Bruce R. Cordell, Chris Sims, and Steve Townshend, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.

Xanathar’s Guide to Everything Copyright 2017, Wizards of the Coast, LLC.; Authors Jeremy Crawford, Mike Mearls, Robert J. Schwaib, Adam Lee, Christopher Perkins, Matt Sernett, Ben Petrisor 

The Red Opera: Trademark and Copyright by DiAmorte LLC.; Authors Drake Mefestta, Rick Heinz, Dark Star Records.

Book I

Foreword by DiAmorte

Welcome, Dear Reader. Thank you for joining us. We have waited for your arrival to share the tale at hand. 

The night is long, and there is much to tell of what came before—times of grand adventure, music, and glorious battles stirring in our imagination. All these things play profound roles in what lies before you within these pages.

Death is why this book exists, why you are here, and why they are here. Those whom we have loved, lost, and mourned now reside in gentle respite under veils of falling ash. For what enemy can remain in a place where nothing can be remembered? Residing within the realm of peaceful oblivion, the Sovereign and Arbiter of the Godless Monarchy rule hand in hand as warden and judge while visiting clerics assist the society of souls who have settled in the Sunless Crossing in the journey to their determined afterlife. However, some souls refuse to forget; some will never let go of their bloodlust, their vengeance, or their memory. An insatiable scorn shatters the stillness of the void, a plague of vicious conflict and unspeakable suffering set upon those we cannot save… not from the domains of the living… 

The Black Ballad was crafted by skillful hands and minds with loving intent, possessing uncompromised standards in its creation. That understanding binds all involved in forging this book: the desire to create worlds worth believing in and remembering. I have been blessed to work alongside this team in crafting a unified vision to stand on its own as a testament to the love of fantasy and respect for ever-youthful imagination. 

The Black Ballad music stems from a personal expression of life experiences, philosophy, and satire through story and song. Those musings are reflected outward, set to the beloved arts in classical music, visceral metal, musical theater, folk music, Shakespearian tragedy, and dramatic opera. 

The music dominantly began near the closure of The Red Opera album. It was in my fifth year as a mortuary assistant, living within the very same funeral home where I worked and composed. In time, death showed very valuable truths. With the satire of life playing the role of inspiration, I wanted to share that intimate journey through the music. Death shows a nihilistic understanding of inevitable decay. Yet it is our nature to carry on and prosper, defiant to the end. In time, death becomes an ally, motivator, and teacher.

Through shared experiences, we find connection, and through the arts, that experience is communicated between us. The unification of these mediums gives experience: be it the music, story, or production, it is now meant for you. 

This is your story now. We provide naught but an empty canvas, a blank page, and the unknown fate to come. To you, Dear Reader, whose time is the most precious gift—thank you for your time with us. 

To all in DiAmorte and Storytellers Forge that collectively brought you this experience, I thank you for your belief and support. 

Drake Mefestta

Signature by Drake Mefestta

DiAmorte - Founder / Composer / Vocalist

Introductions Are in Order…

Gods are nothing more than mortals who’ve discovered everyone around them is but an insect… They’ve kicked our hive long enough. It’s time they felt our sting.

Kel’Zier, General of the Accursed Guard

Can any truly explain what it means to be divine?

Every cleric and paladin in the land would leap at the opportunity to answer this question. I can see them all now, screaming with furor and righteousness about the glory of their gods, smiting their enemies and performing miracles—all while operating on borrowed power. Their grand temples and cathedrals are prominent across every countryside and every plane of existence. To me, they are but hollow monuments constructed of ignorance and empty promises.

You see—and here is the secret I am going to let you in on—these caterwauling holy servants have no better understanding of divinity or where their supposed power comes from than the very gods they worship.

We’ve all heard the legends, stories of champions transcending their earthly limitations only to find themselves wearing the vaunted mantle of demigod. From that lofty station, less empowered beings began worshipping them—perhaps out of love, perhaps out of fear, but worship followed regardless. Then, no doubt after some legendary deed or heroic act which inspired bards, that demigod found access to true divine power and a direct connection to a domain. With a fresh perspective and purpose, the newborn god doles out power to worthy followers, and the cycle begins anew.

Only it’s not their power they hand out, is it?

Warlocks strike their deals directly with patrons. Wizards spend decades mastering their craft. Sorcerers are lucky enough to be born with it. A fighter wears their battle scars proudly to prove their mastery. Yet clerics only need to pray: to fall in line, recite the dogma, and raise the symbol of their god. A god who, in turn, parcels out the power of their self-proclaimed domain—domains that serve as fundamental building blocks of our universe. Yet there always seems to be more than one god tied to a domain…

Which, my friends, is our recipe for universal disaster.

Just look at the gods of death, for example, scrambling over one another for the power of the Death Domain. Some espouse holy and good virtues, and others use the power for sinister endeavors, while others sit neutrally by doing nothing of note. Which of them holds true to the principal purpose of death? Even if the answer is All of them, then why can warlocks whisper to Those-Who-Wait-Beyond and drink from the domain’s power as well? All of them are naught but greedy children fighting over what is, unfortunately, a finite resource.

We all know that scarcity breeds war. Suddenly, strife in the heavens bleeds down upon their champions and those they have influence over… and a glorious cycle of life and death continues below, as it is above. All waged war over resources that none can claim by right. And so it has been. For countless … boring … centuries. The cycle is endless. A ceaseless cavalcade of gods, jealous entities, and would-be demigods all battling to stake claim to a sliver of power. That power may be available for the taking like pomegranates for the starving—but it is just enough to create a feast, not enough to feed all at the table.

Demons, angels, devils, and unwitting servants of the domains find themselves embroiled in the glory of righteous murder for their place within the divine order. A beautiful kaleidoscope of chaos plays out unseen in the heavens around us every minute of our existence—all to keep our world turning. It is here that our clerics and paladins see themselves fitting into the jigsaw puzzle. They gaze into the cosmos just enough to glimpse this battle’s importance. A small act of healing the innocent might just tip the eternal conflict in their god’s favor after all, and so they do so. When their soldiers run thin, they resurrect them from the dead.

That, my new friends, is the glaring flaw in this cosmic cycle—resurrection.

While I might lament how predictable and tedious the endless war for divine power is, there was solace in the fact that it all followed the sacred principles of the cosmos. At least there was—until some cunning deity shared how the dead could be brought back to life, changing the way the system worked and edging us ever closer to a breaking point. Despite divine magic following principles of life, death, knowledge, trickery, and more, between these frameworks, mortals now learned something that should have remained a closely guarded secret. These mortals intrinsically fear death itself and will desperately embrace the most profane practices to avoid it.

Truly, I would be impressed by the ingenious hubris of whichever long-forgotten god devised this loophole if it weren’t the cause of so much tragedy. I’ve often pontificated on why this power was gifted to mortals, and I’ve come to one conclusion: once resurrection existed, the gods themselves were truly immortal. For even if they were cast from the heavens, their ever-faithful followers would dutifully toil in the shadows to resurrect them.

Some deities saw the havoc this wreaked on the afterlife as mortal souls were not meant to be akin to a child’s toy bouncing between realms. The very power of domains themselves would eventually be stretched and broken beyond repair, toppling the entire house of cards if left unchecked. So in response, the gods created a bandage of sorts, a purgatory for the dead who were likely to be returned, and a place for clerics, demons, angels, and more to sort out and lay claim to these souls before they entered a proper afterlife and taxed their destination domain’s power more than necessary. The result, almost laughably, is that this allowed the gods to continue fighting for their own power: immortal, undying, and revivable without consequence.

Well… until now.

After a millennium of being pilfered, plundered, and plowed, the very domains themselves have begun to stir and wake. These manifestations of consciousness should never have existed in the first place but for the dreams and wishes of countless mortals passing through their eldritch barriers. Such dreams and wishes gave even the likes of me a form. Jealous patrons and gods were quick to label me a betrayer for even daring to exist. How dare I give form to the formless? How dare I speak for those without a voice? But maybe I’m as curious about them as you are. Perhaps I’m not filled with nefarious intent and hellbent upon destroying our universe.

I’ve spent a long time trying to solve this problem—a problem that no one else understands or even acknowledges. Finally, I have found a way to gain the attention of every holy warrior and spellcaster the world over, which in turn, should attract the attention of their gods … and my brethren among the domains—forcing them all to face the divine hypocrisy their plays for power represent.

So, I ask you once again, friends, do you understand what it truly means to be divine? I ask this because one could say that to be truly divine is to present cosmic solutions that echo from domains on high to mortal homesteads below and everything in between, all without prejudice or desire for reward.

My place in this drama is merely to highlight the problem, but the solution, the choice to act, must be someone else’s. Perhaps it is you who will lead the divine orchestra to a crescendo, or maybe you will simply sit idly by listening to the melody of a cosmos destroying itself?

Either way, you will participate… willingly or not.

Welcome to The Black Ballad.

Welcome to The Black Ballad

My vengeance upon you will leave none left to tell the tale. History will not remember you by dawn. I will not stop until your very existence—every last one of you—is naught but ash and blood in my hands.

Dorian, the Accursed King

A partnership forged in fire and blood between musicians, artists, writers, editors, and more currently rests in your hands. This epic tome, The Black Ballad, is a 10-chapter campaign for roleplaying games made alongside DiAmorte’s second album, a savage metal opera of cosmic proportions. This saga for the ages follows the fate of the afterlife itself in your campaign world; decisions must be made whose repercussions will be felt for all time, and it is your table that shall make them! And everything echoes the themes found in musical works focusing on the loss, acceptance, and epic nature of determination in the face of one’s own death or the gall to challenge the will of divinity.

Clerics are the minders of the divine. Each prays to a god and serves as a flag bearer, enacting the will of their deity upon the mortal realm. The very gods themselves parcel out power from the domains they’ve become intrinsically tied to, rewarding their followers for their servitude. While some gods demand great cathedrals be erected in their honor to prove their followers’ faith, others are content to watch their clerics steal from the rich, and adventures are filled with tales of clerics who defile the dead in their god’s name. Yet no matter which adventuring party, society, or dogma one belongs to, clerics form the spiritual backbone of those who surround them—influencing culture for better or worse. For when tragedy strikes, it is the clerics who summon forth the power of gods to restore injuries and revive the dead.

But where do the dead go when they rest? The poetic mystery of death has long held a fascination for the living. The images of warm hearths and a familial embrace are conjured for some, while others imagine screaming in eternal torment at the hands of a demon. And yet, clerics have the power to pluck the dead back from these planes, thrusting them into their mortal coils or even raising them into a state of eternal undeath—seemingly at their whim. Surely the gods would grow weary of their clerics pinching souls that rightfully belonged in their afterlife. Wouldn’t they?

It is clear that whichever god invented resurrection was a trickster at heart. Even in our own legends and mythologies, freeing souls from Hades often required a bit of deception and cunning. The promise of eternal paradise or condemnation of eternal torture are very real promises from gods with active hands in lands of magic. Yet that very same magic allows mortals to pluck their comrades directly from the very gods who promise these afterlives—often by an opposing creed. To prevent the gods from warring over the souls of the fallen, a place was created for the dead who were likely to be resurrected. An act even demons and celestials find troublesome, this is a home where souls could rest in waiting before clerics would ply their craft and return the dead without angering a demon lord or god and starting another heavenly war.

Within this book, you’ll find that very home for the dead detailed: the setting of the Sunless Crossing, the great city of Nox Valar, its major players and politics, and a catastrophe that strikes. A calamity threatens this once stable realm of the dead—and the fate of the greatest of all divine loopholes: resurrection. The only catch is … it all occurs in the afterlife.

Our adventure begins where your last adventure ends. The Black Ballad is a perfect campaign to run after your party has fallen to sword or dragon’s fire. Of course, there are many ways the party members could find themselves here—and that’s surely an interesting story. As a Storyteller, you’ll find the cleric-focused city of Nox Valar to be a perfect hub to launch this campaign and plug into any world like Ravenloft, The Red Opera, or even a homebrew world of your own creation—regardless of your Players’ character levels.

Nox Valar has existed for many millennia as a nexus between the countless realms that each god or devil carves out for an empire. There, the souls of the dead engage on a journey of self-discovery while clerics from all religions (both living and dead) serve as ambassadors with their own ambitions and machinations. Ruled by a tragic monarchy that sacrifices everything in the name of divine purpose, Nox Valar and its plane of existence was always meant to be a temporary fix to an unsolvable equation: Does death hold meaning?

The Black Ballad is a full adventuring campaign in the styles of Elden Ring, Shakespeare, and the morbid beauty of metal. Tales of tragedy, sacrifice, and the acceptance of mortality await your Players within the realm of the Sunless Crossing. A realm designed to serve the gods is thrust into a savage war between two factions that ignites from the lands of the living and spreads into the land of the dead. The Players’ choices throughout will determine not only their own fates, but that of the Sunless Crossing, the countless souls trapped within, and the cosmos itself! Each iteration features a different ending, allowing you to run this campaign multiple times with vastly different outcomes.

Each chapter is keyed to a full orchestral song from The Black Ballad album which serves as the perfect background music while your Players explore and weigh their choices. Are you willing to walk away from the safety of healing and cradled magics that restore life? Would you willingly take this power from the gods in order to save the world? Or even change the very rules that death itself must abide by?

The fate of the Sunless Crossing, the armies in play, and the afterlives are yours to weave within The Black Ballad.

Enjoy.

How to Use This Book

Now that our work is in your hands, it behooves us to give you a guide to this book. Each major section of this book has certain major themes for organization’s sake.

Book One contains mostly back of house and early tone-setting (table of contents, OGL, credits, etc, and this section!). Book Two is focused on player content that seeps into the world, such as new backgrounds and domains. Book Three is focused on the setting of the Sunless Crossing itself. There you’ll find locations, the major characters, factions, a full in-depth guide on running the adventure as well as various elements that you might find handy when telling your own Black Ballad. Book Four is the actual adventure. Ten chapters that play off the prior one to help guide the narrative of a campaign where Players will determine the ultimate fate of themselves, the Sunless Crossing, and the very afterlife itself. Book Five contains the closing and all the stat blocks for monsters, maps, and magic items in one handy location.

Originally designed for 5E, The Black Ballad is compatible with existing homebrew worlds, official 5E content, or any tier of play. We’ve designed our encounters to be epic high-level scenarios, but in the section called Running the Adventure (as well as in each chapter), there is guidance for scaling down the difficulty as needed. For this reason, our villain and monster stats only reside in Book Five. They can be quickly referenced as needed but won’t clutter up your encounter beats within the chapters should your Players be low-level and experiencing The Black Ballad through less battle-hardened eyes.

But what if you aren’t running 5E? Perhaps a new edition has been released or maybe your group prefers an entirely different game system? Fear not, Mortal! This campaign is about choice and consequence, not the specifics of what die to roll and when.

As a story focused on the Players’ choices, an epic battle between two factions who despise each other, and the fate of resurrection, your world only needs to have those elements. Not every game has magic, an afterlife, or demons and gods, but even in science-fiction games, the question of what happens to characters’ souls when they die is a pertinent one. As a Storyteller, it can be helpful to draw inspiration from popular media titles from that genre as you prepare your game. In this case, examples such as Dead Space or Event Horizon are works of science fiction that this campaign might be compatible with.

All that is required to run this campaign using other rule sets is the adaption of monster stats, or custom creations, with that game’s rules. We have endeavored to make sure that the storyline of The Black Ballad will run true regardless of the mechanical elements of play.

Music and Storytelling

DiAmorte and Storytellers Forge Studios have partnered together to supplement this campaign with an instrumental version of their album of the same name, and each of their ten tracks serves as a theme song for the individual chapters. Both the instrumental versions and the full metal lyrical versions are available for streaming and should be paired with the campaign as appropriate. You can find the music by scanning the QR codes or by visiting 
www.diamorte.com for the full metal version.

While we love the epic metal that DiAmorte has produced, in actual play, a single track on repeat would indeed get quite tedious. We suggest taking some prep time to plan each game session around enough music for three to four hours of play—music based on the Players’ characters, the tendencies and genre your group subscribes to, and your own musical preferences. Some recommendations to get you started building your thematical list are instrumental renditions of classic metal songs and bands like Apocalyptica, for instance. DiAmorte’s first album The Red Opera is already available for streaming in instrumental version as well. Truly, any metal band’s music rendered via string elements can help inspire proper smiting of the undead.

One final musical storytelling tip would be to have your Players submit soundtracks for their own characters and weave them into your playlists as needed.

Soundtrack 
and Letters

Diamorte Website

A Quick Guide 
on Terminology

There is a lingo tied to the fabric of tabletop gaming. If you are new to being a Storyteller or Storyteller, knowing some of these terms and how we use them might help you feel less lost.

•Players: When we refer to Players, we are referring to the actual people sitting at the table—the ones holding the shiny math rocks and scribbling notes down on their character sheets. There are certain tasks that we, and you, will ask the Players when they are getting started and throughout the campaign.

•Game Master and Storyteller: Many games use the title Game Master or GM to represent the rules and guide the Players through the adventure. We use the term Storyteller or ST interchangeably with Game Master. After all, we are the Storytellers Forge, and we tend to focus more on riveting storylines and compelling roleplay rather than rules adjudication. Whichever term you prefer is fine by us. Hopefully, your Players thank you for your efforts with offerings of food and drink, but regardless, you will be rewarded by sitting back and watching your Players waffle with moral quandaries as you weave this tale with them.

•PC, Player Characters, Party, or Characters: If you see the term PC, Player Characters, or Characters in this campaign—that means we are absolutely talking about the imaginary characters controlled by the Players. We use each of these terms to add diversity to our writing, but ultimately, they all mean the same thing: the character sheet and love poured into the personality that gives them life.

•God, god, Deity, or deity: As a cleric-focused campaign, the divine host is certainly going to come into play. We use lowercase god when referring to generic deities that are not defined: gods of life, for example. However, the Goddess Nyxia, a God of Life, is in caps when specifically referenced. Deity and deity are used for the same reason and mean the same thing.

•Limbo, Purgatory, Underworld, Realm Between, or Sunless Crossing: Officially, the Sunless Crossing is the name for the plane of existence where much of the campaign takes place. We include several in-character letters, dialogue quotes, and universe-building elements that present alternative terms for flavor. In the minds of those characters or NPCs, they flavor their vision of the afterlife with their own language. Feel free to refer to the Sunless Crossing by several other names based upon that NPC to spice up interactions.

•Tiers of Play: Tier 1, 2, 3, or 4 are often level representations in game systems with class levels. With 20-levels of character progression, each tier represents a segment of power. For example, Tier 1 represents character levels 1 through 5. In game systems without a level-based progression system, this can reflect how much experience the characters have earned before reaching the elusive end-game content.

•Realms or Planes: These terms are used to refer to other worlds beyond the living world. It could be Hell itself, a plane made entirely of fire, or perhaps even a private afterlife catered by a god for the souls of the faithful—any place that is not physically upon the central world in which the majority of the living reside.

•The Godless Monarchy: Refers to the royalty within the City of Souls and is comprised of the Sovereign, the Arbiter, and the immediate ranks below them. Often, we will refer to the characters Ashlynn (Sovereign) and Valen (Arbiter), together using the royal title of the Godless Monarchy—for their will together drives the entire faction.

•Divine Portfolio, Portfolio: A portfolio is what the deity is all about, including ideas, species, places, or things. Generally, the more powerful a deity, the broader the portfolio.

Getting Started—The Fast Way

Are you ready to face oblivion but only have minimal prep time? For the groups that wish to just jump right into play and explore this tome between game sessions without reading the entire book first (and let’s be real, Players should never be reading the entire book… There are precious Storyteller secrets contained within!), here is a quick start guide:

•Assemble a group of willing participants who are present and living. (Non-living participants require extra resources, and there are other books dedicated to running for ghosts and undead.)

•Read Running the Adventure contained within Book Three. This offers a quick synopsis of the overall storyline, custom rules, and information that is vital for storytelling.

•Instruct the Players to create their characters and afterward, write a Last Will and Testament for them.

•Write an obituary for each of the characters. Both the Last Will and Testament and the Obituary are saved for later but help set the tone for the characters.

•Provide the spotlight for each Player to tell a quick story about how their character died as if the Player is the Storyteller. Work with Players to define the world from whence they came, what they were doing, and what critical failures lead to their death—perhaps it was one giant total party kill!

•Run Chapter One—For the Glory Of. This chapter serves as an introduction to the Sunless Crossing and will kick off the epic events of The Black Ballad at the chapter’s conclusion. No prior information about the Sunless Crossing is required as the chapter brings the Players (and you) into the setting.

•Explore the rest of this epic book at your leisure between game sessions! Let your Players’ characters roam between each major chapter as you see fit. When you are ready to begin the next core chapter (or feel the stakes between chapters are so high, the characters need to be involved asap), don’t hesitate to prepare and launch straight in.

•Enjoy a campaign where everyone will get to feel the impossible weight of the will of divine gods and the consequences of resurrection upon their mortal shoulders. The fate of the Sunless Crossing, the afterlives, and the gods themselves now rests on your game table.

•Download free custom Black Ballad character sheets for your table at www.storytellersforge.com

Book II

Valen’s Discarded Wisdom

The dreams of gargoyles grow more intense with age. Tragic that such a gift should prove fatal.

Majin, The Betrayer

Ashlynn, I know you value your time alone when you tour your realm. This letter brings neither guidance nor affairs of state. Before you left, you posed a question to me. An answer strikes me now, and I fear it will fade like the afterglow of lightning should I await your return to convey it.

Gargoyles can live forever, but that doesn’t mean we can’t die. A pierced heart, whether by mortal implement or pathos, is sufficient to return us to stone. Many mortals are confounded by the idea that an immortal would risk death, much less choose it. They struggle at the base of the hourglass, fighting to keep their heads above the rising sand. We do not need to race time, and so our lives must look like leisure in comparison.

Time weighs on us nevertheless. Each grain piles up like snowflakes before the proverbial avalanche. Our hearts beat with love for the mortals we watch and break a little with each one’s passing. We do not lounge while the world passes us by, for we live in it just like you. If mortals must constantly claw their way up from a grave, then we immortals must maintain our balance lest we fall into one.

Young gargoyles learn the story of an Arbiter whose statue now stands far back in the Hall of Past Reflections, though given your diligence in researching past Sovereigns, I’m sure you’ve noticed her. Time has dulled her form, but her wingspan remains immense. Millennia were to Pella the Granite as decades are to the rest of us. Her heart beat only for the realm, unmoved by the plights of the short-lived souls who passed through. People were so convinced her watch would be eternal that they titled her the Last Arbiter.

Then came Oneira the Fallen—the ultimate immortal who lost her balance. She was an archangel of the Justice Domain, and she fulfilled her duty to watch and counsel for time untold. But as you and I know, too often is justice denied while other times the mercy that should temper it fails in timing. She grew angry at mortals who ignored her wisdom and at her fellow immortals with whom she came to disagree. She believed there had to be a better way and made the ultimate commitment: she’d give up her wings, she told her god, begging for one lifetime to prove that mortals can build a more just society, to let that example be a beacon lighting a better way.

Some say she became a tyrant, blinded by her ideology. Others say she succeeded and became so worshipped by her fellow citizens her god feared her as a rival. All we know for sure is that she rose to immense power in under a decade before divine intervention struck her down and wiped her influence from the world.

Rejected by her deity with no one left to resurrect her, Oneira became a monarch here. Pella’s cold heart met its match in the burning passion of Oneira’s eons. She wondered how an archangel famed for evenhandedness and neutrality could come to such an end. Yet Oneira had no regrets—rage over betrayal, yes, but regret for acting, never. Out of that conviction, Pella realized a life derived meaning from what it accomplished, not its duration. We could stand still and never suffer harm, but then how would we be different from dead stone?

Pella declared that her long watch was not one to emulate, for the only thing any soul should fear more than change is the inability to do so. She committed to Oneira, and the two passed into history together.

I’ve never been eloquent when speaking. My mind leaps from one subject to another. In writing, I ensure I say everything I wish… and not one word more. No slip of the tongue or stray thought escapes the scratch of my quill. I pile the waste bin with thoughts that could have been. Yet each time I write this letter, I cannot help but admit I have stood beside Pella’s statue and stared at Oneira’s portrait, wondering at the power of a soul that could crack bedrock.

All I see is you.

No, I’m sorry. I must fail you. No more letters. I cannot answer your question.

Species of the Sunless Crossing

When a soul is born in a land constructed for the dead, is that truly a joyous occasion? 
Or is it a sentence for a lifetime of longing for what could have been?

Marchie LaGraner

Death welcomes every creature with open arms. The Sunless Crossing is a realm with no unifying element or background among its inhabitants other than the obvious transition. There is no special lineage, amount of wealth, or physical trait that offers an easier path to success within Nox Valar. Even among the Godless Monarchy, where one half is always chosen from a native to the realm, the other is always drawn from a pool of candidates unfortunate enough to perish earlier than expected.

Adventurers new to Nox Valar are often surprised to see just how many creatures from across a multitude of realms are awaiting some form of resurrection. From lifeforms they may have never encountered before awaiting a cleric’s miracle to sentient beings (dragons, for example) ripe for an unholy, necromantic ritual—all wander the Ashen Fields, biding their time. Yet what about travelers who happen to be living? Visitors with enough magic or outright purpose coming to the great city of Nox Valar to conduct business? They run the gamut from planar travelers to emissaries from deities, devils, and celestials alike. Often, they are easier to identify from the dead because their faction or clothing tends to be newer in season and vastly more tangible—they aren’t a soul, after all.

Building a new character in the Sunless Crossing, living or dead, opens up more options for Players. Storytellers are encouraged to veer into more obscure races and cultures when drawing upon their NPCs as well. There are, of course, limitations—the Sunless Crossing is difficult for the soulless to enter. Constructs, golems, and soulless entities require significant amounts of magical knowledge to enter the realm via travel, making these entities some of the rarer to wander the streets of Nox Valar.

Below, you’ll find new playable species that are native to the Sunless Crossing. These creatures are made within the realm and are suitable for both Players and Storytellers to draw from as adventurers.

A female gargoyle wearing leather clothing and a dagger attached to her hip holding a large sword over her head as if she is preparting to swing.

Nyxian Gargoyles: Scions of the Storm

We have stood watch over sacred lands for eons. Through turmoil, storm, blood, and tears, we guard with purpose regardless of any mortal’s interpretation of divinity. For you, my child, were born into this world with the spark of the divine crystalized in your heart, and you will never want for the search of purpose—only the eternal longing for freedom. I pray for your sake your wings carry you far.

Vitel, the Obsidian

Domains fuel the power of divine magic, allowing gods mastery over particular facets of existence within the same vein, and all gods, good or evil, discover the power of miracles available early in their ascension. With their constant manipulation of such energies, the gods (perhaps unknowingly) helped the divine energies become concentrated enough that the gargoyles came into existence. Beings forged from stone containing the divine spark of their domain, gargoyles vow to protect that which gives them shape—even if that means standing against those Clerics and Paladins who squander those very gifts.

Impetus in Heart

Clergy of every denomination, whether residing in the lofty heavens or the pits of the abyss, find gargoyles drawn to their temples when their faith has emanated enough to create sacred or unhallowed ground. In their youth, gargoyles are drawn to the comforting energies of their domain’s power. Gargoyles of War find eternal battlefields bring as much solace as gargoyles of Nature find in a serene and isolated forested temple. Few mortals notice Nyxian Gargoyles congregating around their temples, straddling the border between worlds and watching from the edges of the ethereal planes.

It is the act of observation that allows young gargoyles to grow from mere physical manifestations of divine principles into fully realized individuals. By studying temples, clerics, and faithful that pass under their watch, the gargoyle’s personality and temperament form from the actions they witness: how to communicate, how to interact, how to kill, or even how to fall in love. For the same divine spark that grants any creature purpose beats at the core of their being, regardless of their stone exterior.

Chiseled in Chaos

The essence of divine domains governs nearly every aspect of existence and flows through the bedrock of every world. When the energies of a domain become concentrated enough from a temple, place of worship, or rituals commonly taking place, such energies can begin to take solid form as either a stone or gem. This later serves as the heart of a gargoyle, around which the body begins to take shape. Such appearances were once as chaotic and rough as the universe itself, yet as societies developed and mortals began to ascend to divinity, their subconsciousness created more refined appearances for gargoyles.

Legends suggest the gargoyle’s iconic wings were gifts from the first devils that began to wield divine power to create a mockery of angels, but that could very well be a rumor devils spread to make themselves seem more important. After all, Nyxian Gargoyles are forged from the same divine spark—but while angels are tasked with a direct purpose, Nyxian Gargoyles must find their own.

This drive for purpose is perhaps what puts Nyxian Gargoyles on a path of wandering and adventuring. Still, scholars of Nox Valar have drawn many connections between these stone-hewed guardians and the angels and devils who guard over their respective heavens and hells. It would seem that, in some way, the cosmos sensed a need for divine guardians for its own domains, the very tethers of creation.

Unless born as twins from the same energies, gargoyles rarely look alike, small or large with an endless variety of features: horns, tails, wings, or cloven feet. Yet their skin always resembles the stone which granted them life. Truly, the manner of their appearance is born from the subconscious of gods and wielders of the divine, but the principles of the domain are what gives them a soul. Within Nox Valar, the Nyxian Gargoyles tend to be bound to the Domains of Life and Death more than any other, with appearances equally as fitting.

An Eternal Watch

Gargoyles age, but never die—at least not naturally. With each passing year, their features become more pronounced: growing in size, enhancements, and wingspan over centuries. Death only comes for a gargoyle when, after many centuries, they themselves decide their watch has ended. After experiencing enough, only then do they let their essence fade back into the ether; their bodies hardening into lifeless stone—resting until entropy decays the statue they have become. Such a passing is typically honored by other gargoyles and is highly revered within the Sunless Crossing.

Despite this seeming immortality, there are still two avenues to death that threaten gargoyles. Being slain is the most common, for beneath their stone skin lies a heart capable of being shattered. Perhaps more haunting to any gargoyle though, is the obliteration of a domain itself, something which can take centuries of deicide—the slow eradication of an entire concept from the universe by removing any deity or entity, living or undead, that could fathom its existence. There is a legend, whispered between the stone guardians atop cathedrals and temples alike, that if a god perishes, all gargoyles born of that domain will turn to lifeless stone. Gargoyle scholars debate this, pointing to the very essence of their heart being born from a domain, not a deity… and yet, where a deity’s grave exists, there are often hundreds of gargoyles whose watch has ended. Often the statues seem trapped in agony, all because energies of that domain have ceased to flow, like a dying creek running through a desert. Or it could simply be that those gargoyles have simply lost their will to exist, choosing to take their eternal watch.

Gargoyle Names

Gargoyle names are often taken from the society and culture they are drawn to when they first take flight. Since all gargoyles of this species are called Nyxian Gargoyles, regardless of what domain they were originally forged from, some natural naming conventions formed over the years. All gargoyles are inherently proud of their divine origins and the energies that gave them form, and as such, all Nyxian Gargoyle surnames represent the stone they are made of. Early in life, many might carry the same moniker, simply of the jade or something similar until their personality forms enough to take on a first name.

The first name is most commonly based on the first temple the Nyxian Gargoyle watched over, a bit of history they carry with them forever. It could be the name of the land, the church, or even a prominent patron or figurehead they spent time observing. For those gargoyles created in, or who take up residence within, the Sunless Crossing, they often choose the name of a fallen member of the Nyxian Guard, seeking to live up to their legacy and give honor to their name.

Society and Culture

A natural kinship develops among watchers who endure storms and lay their lives on the line for such divine purpose. Even between two gargoyles born from opposing domains, respect is given, for all domains serve a necessary purpose. Typically, a gargoyle might be shunned from the local community for engaging too heavily in the religious dogma and politics of the gods—for the gargoyle’s tradition has long been to guard the energies of the domain itself in lieu of deific worship.

The very moniker of Nyxian Gargoyles comes from what could arguably be called their capitol. Within the Sunless Crossing, and Nox Valar in particular, a vibrant culture among the gargoyles exists. Many varied religions have embassies in the lands of the dead, and with their presence, came the watchers. Seeing a great purpose in defending the Sunless Crossing due to its connection to a multitude of domains and planes of existence, gargoyles forged from every domain can be found within. Some serve in the Nyxian Guard, others tend to a temple of their choosing, and some simply pass through—watching over a soul who struck their fancy in the lands of the living.

As for the gargoyle who takes up the mantle of Arbiter, that one is revered universally by all gargoyles. For all know that taking up the crown of rulership within the Sunless Crossing means one thing—that gargoyle will end their watch here and never be allowed to leave its borders.

Adventurers

Young gargoyles rarely adventure. They spend most of their early years observing society to learn how to navigate its cultures and languages. In most cases, Nyxian Gargoyles begin their path as adventurers upon taking their first name, after having watched or guarded enough culture to form their identity. Yet certain domains do have wanderlust inherently, such as Travel, and their watchers naturally find themselves on the road earlier than others of their kin. However, once older and more seasoned by the divine acts they have witnessed, gargoyles might find themselves taking up the mantle of an adventurer because their heart demands it. A war might brew that sparks action, or perhaps the journey to better understand the concept of Death might guide a gargoyle’s heart.

Gargoyle Traits

Over eons, gargoyles have evolved as they weathered storms and provided stewardship over their domains. Some traits are common among all gargoyles while others are based upon the domains they are forged from:

Ability Score Increase. You can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, and another ability score of your choice by 1, to a maximum of 20.

Size. Your size is medium.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Primordial.

Infused. You are blessed with divine power. Choose a domain from the Divine Infusion table detailed in this section. You can cast the spells associated with those domains, so long as you meet the prerequisites. When you cast a spell that is not a cantrip in this manner, you cannot cast that spell again until you finish a long rest.

Stone Forged. You were forged to guard divine energies, and your familiarity with their flow grants you the following effect: Choose a type of damage at character creation other than bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage. As a reaction, when you take damage of that type, you may instead take half that damage. Once you have used this feature, you must finish a long rest before you can use it again.

Terror of the Skies. You have stony wings that grant you a limited capacity to fly. On each of your turns, you may take a bonus action to grant yourself a fly speed equal to your base walking speed. At the end of that turn, this speed is lost, and you immediately fall unless something is holding you aloft. The older you are, the larger your wingspan grows; upon reaching 7th level, you gain the ability to fly at will and no longer require an action or to stop each round.

Inexplicable Digestion. The diet of gargoyles is a perplexing mystery to many. You can consume rocks and crystals with the same ease as eating an apple or slice of bread and feel just as nourished. There is only one caveat: a gargoyle can never eat the same material they are made of. Doing so will result in them being Poisoned until they finish a short rest.

Unhallowed: Lost Vagrants of the Wastes

I was so close… Gods, I thought I had it all figured out. I thought I had finally found a way out of this time-stuck city. I remember the months of studying… I remember late nights in the Codex, combing through ancient texts until I had finally found it. I remember tearing open that damned portal and stepping through, into light—not the artificial arcane twilight of the Sunless Crossing, but real daylight. I felt the warmth on my skin and remembered what it felt like to be alive. But when I looked around… I didn’t recognize where I was. I didn’t know the lands; I couldn’t remember the faces or places. I couldn’t even remember my name. And when I finally went to sleep… I woke up here again.

First Unhallowed

In the earliest years of the dusken city, there were no permanent residents, no true inhabitants to fill the streets of Nox Valar. After souls began crashing mercilessly into the Ashen Fields, they were each ferried into their eventual afterlives—or ripped suddenly from the lands back into the mortal realm.

After so many years, decades, or centuries, even a city as darkly beautiful as Nox Valar can lose its luster. Souls who’ve been waiting ages to be ferried on to their afterlives sometimes grow tired of finding ways to pass the time, letting impatience and curiosity guide their wayward minds. Knowing they will never find what they seek in the Sunless Crossing, they comb the lands in search of a way back; be it by making illicit deals with patrons and devils, hazarding ancient portals with unknown planar tethers, or hoping that their sheer force of will may protect them from the Storm of Broken Worlds long enough to find their way back to the material plane. And sometimes… Sometimes, there are a few who find a way to cross that veil back to the land of the living. But they often don’t like what they find.

When a soul condemned to their fate in the realm of waiting manages to find an illicit path back to their mortal shells, they awake in a world unfamiliar to them.