# The Kingdom of Nwt: The Azure Return The Saturday campaign in Astrousia: wilderness expeditions, ancient ruins, rival companies, and the mystery of the Azure Sovereign. Selected at Session 0 on September 5, 2026. Campaign guide and session reports. # Start Here: How Saturday Works The Saturday group chose **The Kingdom of Nwt: The Azure Return** at Session 0 on September 5, 2026. Explore Astrousia through wilderness travel, ruins, rival expeditions, and the mystery of the Azure Sovereign. Learn the setting through play; no prior lore study is required. Our planned opening is a beach after a shipwreck, before the party sets out into the wider mystery. - [Campaign overview](https://www.hiraeth.wiki/books/the-kingdom-of-nwt-the-azure-return/page/the-kingdom-of-nwt-the-azure-return) - [Session 0: Choosing The Azure Return](https://www.hiraeth.wiki/books/the-kingdom-of-nwt-the-azure-return/page/session-0-choosing-the-azure-return) ## Getting Your Character Ready The Session 0 starting assumption is level 1. Share a readable character sheet and backstory with Jax before the next meeting. Any sheet format is welcome; a photo is fine for paper sheets. Share an updated copy after each level-up. At Session 0 we agreed to build everything except race while the ancestry rules finished review. Use Jax's latest confirmed rules link for that section. The Session 0 report records the ability-score procedure, starting feats, and other character-building decisions. ## Table Agreements - Humor and seriousness are both welcome; general PG-13 tone and fade-to-black romance. - Avoid on-screen child harm/endangerment and graphic animal-harm narration. Raise other boundaries or concerns privately with Jax when preferred. - Keep intra-party conflict limited and discuss incompatible goals. Party theft and exploitation are unwelcome. - Use workable rulings during play and revisit questions afterward. Correct mistakes without routinely rewinding completed combat. - Begin with short recaps and end with Stars and Wishes. Players are welcome to help recap. - The basic gem rule introduced at Session 0 is banking up to three inspirations for advantage; see the [gemstone rules](https://www.hiraeth.wiki/books/basic-rules-how-to-make-a-pc/page/inspiration-revised-the-gemstone-system) for the wider system. ## Attendance and Communication Play with one player absent; suspend the campaign session if two cannot attend. Remote attendance through Zoom is available. Start after 15 minutes of unexplained lateness, and communicate known conflicts early. Announcements carry updates and links, the main Saturday channel handles shared discussion, and one-on-one channels handle private matters. Check the group channel for each meeting's time and venue, including alternate arrangements on local football game days. Handling of an absent player's character, replacement activities on canceled dates, and standing holiday rules remain open decisions. Recording was discussed for session review and notes; bring any recording or sharing questions directly to Jax. ## Current Schedule As agreed September 5: **no game September 12; next planned meeting September 19, 2026**, starting with remaining character creation and moving into the opening scenario when ready. Confirm time and venue in the group channel. # Campaign Guide The selected adventure and campaign premise for The Azure Return. # The Kingdom of Nwt: The Azure Return **Selected September 5, 2026.** The campaign begins with the planned shipwreck opening below. The funeral mystery describes the wider premise; its timing relative to the voyage remains to be settled. ***The storm remembers her name; the living must decide what it means.*** **At a funeral among the ruins of Nwt's old palace, blue lightning strikes every broken dragon column at once.** The dead sit upright and speak with many voices. Some demand the return of the Azure Sovereign. Others beg the living to keep her dead. A third chorus warns that someone is “making another.” Before anyone can learn more, masked thieves seize the dead archivist's sealed case and flee. The lightning leaves behind a map of a royal road erased after Nwt was conquered. Its seven marked sites point toward lost observatories, roadside sanctuaries, rival claimants, and the legendary Lost Caverns where the dragon-queen's hoard still waits. The party joins an expedition to recover the stolen record, follow the road, and learn which stories about the dead sovereign are true—and what anyone has the right to bring back. > **The adventure:** You want a classic expedition campaign filled with rival adventurers, dangerous travel, ancient ruins, traps, monsters, treasure, and a mystery whose discoveries can change a nation. ## At a Glance
**Starting scale**A shipwreck beach, survival, and the first connections to a lost royal road
**Core play**Expedition planning, overland travel, rival companies, investigation, ruin exploration, dungeon delving, and consequential treasure
**Campaign growth**Adventurers following clues become the people who decide what happens to a legendary hoard and the memory of a conquered kingdom
**Touchstones***Tomb of Annihilation*, *The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth*, and classic expedition and underworld adventures
## Why It Works for New Players Nwt offers an immediately recognizable adventure structure: gather a company, secure supplies and guides, follow a mysterious map, compete with rival expeditions, and delve into increasingly dangerous ruins. The deeper history matters, but players do not need to study it beforehand. Every important piece of lore arrives as something encountered in play—a witness, inscription, law, treasure, monster, or contradiction. Many character types fit naturally. A martial character can guard the company, a rogue can scout and defeat traps, a ranger can guide the expedition, a cleric can speak for a community or tradition, and an arcane character can interpret wards and lost records. Characters may be from Nwt or outsiders. The only requirement is a reason to care about what happens to the discoveries, not merely how much gold they are worth. ## What Play Feels Like - Preparing routes, supplies, guides, and agreements before venturing into dangerous country. - Following a supernatural trail through living communities that remember the old kingdom in different ways. - Racing, bargaining, and occasionally cooperating with rival adventuring companies. - Exploring ruined observatories, sanctuaries, royal works, trapped tombs, and the lesser and greater depths of a dragon's lair. - Deciding whether each discovery should be published, returned, hidden, traded, destroyed, or carried onward. ## Your Characters You might be a local guide, archivist, caravaner, former royal retainer, republican organizer, Stormwarden descendant, healer, scout, relic-custodian, foreign scholar, treasure-seeker trying to make restitution, or veteran of the power that conquered Nwt. Useful expedition roles include protector, delver, ward-breaker, interpreter, chronicler, envoy, quartermaster, physician, and beast-keeper. Each character should have one person, community, institution, or dead figure whose stake in the ruins they recognize. You may begin with a strong belief about the Azure Sovereign, but the campaign asks everyone to remain open to evidence and to decisions made together. ## The Opening Adventure As agreed at Session 0, the planned opening finds the characters on a beach after a shipwreck, with room for someone already ashore to discover the survivors. This scene has not been played. Each character needs a reason for the journey and a reason to cooperate. The funeral, stolen archive, and lost road provide the wider mystery; their timing and the first encounter remain in preparation. ## How the Campaign Grows 1. **The Many Voices:** investigate the necropolis, recover the archive, and choose how independently the company will travel. 2. **The Royal Road:** cross Astrousia through living communities and dangerous sites, gathering evidence about the old kingdom. 3. **The War of Expeditions:** rival companies and foreign powers converge as every discovery changes the stakes. 4. **The Lost Caverns:** enter an old-school underworld of guardians, subterranean rivers, failed expeditions, devils, and an extraordinary dragon hoard. 5. **The Azure Judgment:** decide whether to restore the queen, awaken a reconstruction, crown an heir, transform royal authority, disperse the hoard, preserve the tomb, or prevent anyone from wielding its power. ## Questions for Your Character - Would you rather begin as a connected local, an invited specialist, or an outsider with something to prove? - Which sounds most exciting: overland discovery, rival expeditions, traps and ruins, or the mystery of the speaking dead? - What recovered object would your character refuse to treat as ordinary treasure? - What evidence could complicate your character's first belief about the Azure Sovereign? # Session 0: Choosing The Azure Return **September 5, 2026 | Session 0** ## The Adventure We Chose The Saturday group chose **The Kingdom of Nwt: The Azure Return**. We are heading to Astrousia for an expedition campaign: dangerous travel, ancient ruins, rival adventuring companies, discoveries, and the mystery of the Azure Sovereign. Expect foraging, exploration, and time away from towns. The world is magical, but supplies and magic items will not always be conveniently available. Our planned first scene is **a beach after a shipwreck**, with room for someone already ashore to discover the survivors. We have not played that scene yet. Everyone should have a reason to be traveling to the region and a reason to cooperate with the others. The blue-lightning funeral, speaking dead, stolen archive, and lost royal road remain the campaign's central mystery. When that event happened relative to the voyage, and how each character connects to it, are still being worked out. ## The Party Taking Shape These are the ideas shared at Session 0, with details still open to change.
PlayerCharacter idea
AngelaA wizard born in Astrousia and raised in Delphi, returning to a homeland she barely remembers.
JofussAn Oath of Vengeance paladin disillusioned with his noble family, determined to lead by example and help make a troubled world better. A young adopted companion was discussed; arrangements remain to be settled.
KristinaAn Astrousia-born former bounty hunter and adventurer who has returned from death and is finding her direction again; considering Wild Magic or Fae Warped sorcerer.
MarkA scout-oriented character who left a corrupt detachment, balancing stealth and survival. Exact class, ancestry, and faction connections remain in development.
JimA human druid from a distant land, recently arrived and fascinated by the local culture.
## Making Characters The starting assumption is **level 1**. Multiclassing is allowed when its prerequisites are met. At Session 0, the new race/ancestry system was still undergoing final review. We agreed to work on everything else and finish race-dependent choices with the reviewed rules. Check Jax's latest rules link before finalizing that section. - **Ability scores:** Either use standard point buy or roll 4d6, drop the lowest die, repeat seven times, and choose six results. Do not reroll ones. Once rolling starts, the results normally stand; exceptionally poor results can be discussed with Jax. - **Ability adjustments:** +2/+1 or +1/+1/+1. - **Feats:** Choose a level-1 feat. Jax will review the character and backstory and select or adapt an additional personalized feat. Companion arrangements may affect that additional benefit and need individual discussion. - **House rules:** Proficiency with a weapon gives access to its special abilities. Use the setting's references for the expanded classes, subclasses, spells, feats, and backgrounds. - **Sheets:** Any readable format is welcome. Share the sheet and backstory before the next meeting, even if the race section is unfinished. Send an updated copy or photo after level-ups. - **Miniatures:** Distinctive, preferably painted miniatures are encouraged. Loaners, printing, and a possible painting session were discussed for anyone needing help. ## How We Play Together Humor and serious moments both have a place. The general tone is PG-13, with romance fading to black. We agreed to avoid on-screen child harm/endangerment and graphic depictions of animal harm. Wild-magic effects must respect the same boundaries; details of the expanded table and effect durations still need review. Keep conflict within the party limited and discuss incompatible goals before they become a problem. Different personalities and motives can make good roleplay, but routine party theft and exploitation are unwelcome. Jax will make workable rulings to keep play moving and revisit questions afterward. Genuine mistakes or misunderstandings can be corrected; completed combat actions are not routinely rewound. Private concerns can go through the one-on-one Discord channels. We will begin with short recaps, with players welcome to contribute or take turns. The gem-inspiration introduction was simple: **bank up to three inspirations and use inspiration for advantage**. The full colored-gem system remains available in the rules reference. Recording was discussed as a way for Jax to review sessions and prepare notes. Session reports will help the group remember events and let other wiki readers follow the adventure. Questions about recording or sharing can be raised directly with Jax. ## Stars and Wishes We practiced the closing round we will use at the end of sessions: a star for something enjoyed and a wish for something to see or explore next. Try to offer a distinct example rather than repeating the previous person's. The group was excited to hear the character concepts and start exploring a new region. Jofuss looked forward to starting play and seeing the ancestry system come together. Kristina and Jim were especially interested in how these contrasting characters would interact. Angela wanted to explore the unexpected homecoming. Mark hoped to develop a character that would be fun and fit comfortably with the group. ## Next Meeting **No game Saturday, September 12. The next planned meeting is Saturday, September 19, 2026.** We will finish characters for as long as needed, then begin the opening scenario. Confirm the time and venue in the group channel. We will continue with one player absent and suspend the campaign session if two cannot attend. Zoom is an option for remote attendance. If someone is more than 15 minutes late without a message, the group will start. Give advance notice of known conflicts; local football games may require the alternate venue. Before then, share your developing character and backstory, identify what help you need, and watch the announcements for faction information, the reviewed ancestry rules, and the opening setup.