Long ago, in times past and nearly forgotten, there was a land. This land was called the Deltora Basin, a region of woodlands and rivers that holds many secrets. It was a peaceful, and quite land mostly because it was completely empty of life. Then the gods of creation came together to create a race of beings to inhabit the land. Their creations have become the three tribes of Deltora Basin, the Guardians of Fel Spire, the Necrons, and Owlinn's People.
Differences soon developed and they soon split into three groups. The original humans were a marauding clan who tried to settle on the lands and take over resources when their raider-leader brought the clan to Deltora. The Necrons, a tribe of now undead and ghastly creatures, were the most hatred tribe whose only real love in life is to make war with their nearest neighbors (or themselves if no one else is present). Their war-like feelings are only surpassed by their hatred of the Guardians of the Fel Spire. The Guardians of the Fel Spire are a noble tribe of magical creatures who love the land and all of the things that live in it.
A long, three-sided war broke out with each side struggling against the other two. One side would have another almost defeated, when the third side would then attack and reinforce the stalemate. But then, after much strife, a shaman from the Fel Spire, felt the anger of the gods of creation. He was able to stop his tribe from fighting in the war.
Owlinn the Just, Owlinn the Brave, and Owlinn the Foolhardy, are just some of the names that have been pasted down over all these years. There was a mutiny amongst the humans and the faction led by the charismatic Owlinn was able to take control of the remaining human tribe and stop it from trying to control the resources. With a truce between Owlinn's People and the Fel Spire's Shaman, the tribes convinced the Necrons to back down and sign the truce. Owlinn has since died, but his line still leads the ex-raider clan. The Shaman is still alive, but aging. He usually speaks to the gods on behalf of the three tribes. The Necron leadership continues to get killed off by rivalries within the tribe, but eventually respawns so the strongest undead continues to own the controlling interest of the tribe.
The war never really ended, but an uneasy truce was struck. It had been six years since, but every year when the stars are once again in alignment, their light filters down though the rough canopy of the Deltora forest, calling to the three tribes to gather to sanctify the treaties under the light of their gods. On this night each tribe sends its strongest warriors, most powerful mages, most cunning rogues, and most average of bards to fight for the honor of their gods. In this way, the war continues, but without the violence and loss of life that so displeased the deities.
The objective was to fight and subdue each member of the opposing tribes. Each defeated opponent would be returned to a prison cell for the great auctioning. The ultimate goal is to obtain the sacred relic of the opposing tribe, while keeping their own from falling under enemy control. When the stars fall out of alignment the game ends. The number of prisoners and relics are brought forth at the auctioning and traded for needed resources, labor and land. In this fashion each tribe can trade for necessities and without damaging their pride.
Gwendar the Black, the Shaman's apprentice, and Smash the barbarian introduced the agreed upon rules and the inhabitants of Deltora made themselves known. The tribes then gathered with their respective leaders and strategized amongst themselves.
(The game was a sort of capture the flag variant and the in-game money was divided afterwards, with the winning tribes gaining most of the resources.)
After an hour of conflict, Owlinn's People emerged victories as they retained their own idol the longest and had an only moderate amount of casualties. Second place went to the Guardians of the Fel Spire who used the abilities of a local dryad to meld with trees, hide their retained idols, and mostly avoid conflict (although a few tribesmen of the Necrons and Owlinn's People thought this cheating). In last place for this year's reenactment was the Necrons, whose violent nature prompted them to rush headfirst into battle without exploring the strengths of the other tribes. The great auctioning followed where the Shaman's apprentice distributed the gold to the tribes according to their standings.
In the chaos of the auctions, the festivities were abruptly ended when the participants heard the crash of thunder. The smoke and flames cleared as the tribes turned to the site of the noise. A giant castle had suddenly appeared in the center of the land and a booming voice extended from the castle:
"It is I, the enigma, the slayer of worlds, and genuinely not nice over all. I have come to take over these lands and recruit your services as my indentured minions. But fear not, being in my service is not without benefits. We have dental."
The voice belonged to Robert, an asthmatic mage with diabolical intent and a precocious mother; his mischief seemed to be less then scary. His servant Kronk was clothed in an executioner's hood and carried and gigantic axe. His intimating appearance was lessened by his inability to pay attention and his over all lack of intelligence.
The leaders of the tribes refused Robert's offer of submitting to his rule (of course), and did not take kindly to his intrusion; laying siege to this mysteriously appearing castle. However no amount of force would penetrate its walls. The tribes returned to the festivities, ignoring the would-be dark prince.
Robert, unable to convince the tribes to give up their land, was unable to leave the castle in fear of being overrun by the barbarians. Dejected, he slumped back into his castle to try again on the morrow.
Robert's plans blossomed over night when he developed the idea to steal the power held in each tribes' idol and a fourth power that was rumored to be buried somewhere in Deltora. During the night, the relics of the three tribes were stolen. After much deliberation, the leaders came the conclusion that the idols were not stolen by an opposing tribe, but in fact were taken by some unknown force.
The unknown force was, as expected, Robert, but there was really no way to confirm that it was actually him and he was quite safe inside his nearly impregnable tower. Each tribe sent their warriors to traverse the land in search of the relics. Awaiting each tribe was a quest in the forest: guardians were appointed by Robert to hold the stolen idols until he was able to figure out what to do with them. The guardians were each shades of what they were in life, but still held their prior beliefs and prejudices and told the adventures that they would return the idols if the guardians' quests were completed.
The guardians included a disembodied paladin who required his body be restored in exchange for the Necron idol. Various paths were warded by riddles and other magic that require a cunning use of spells and bardic knowledge to pass. After the adventurers reassembled his bones, the paladin, still determined to destroy the undead, began to turn the Necrons and fought until he was finally defeated. This left the Necron idol unguarded and it was soon scooped up by the tribe.
Another guardian was a kappa, a mischievous water spirit that enjoys eating cucumbers and children. The kappa's head was filled with water and using a cucumber as bait, the Fel Spire were able to trick the demon into tipping his head and spilling out his spirit. The Fel Spire then ran into a very motherly dragon who offered the idol if all of her children were returned. Each dragon egg was enchanted with various magics that had some helpful or dangerous effect for the bearer. The eggs were eventually all returned and the dragon took flight, leaving the Fel Spire idol behind.
After defeating a troll and crossing a pit of acid, adventures found the third guardian. The guardian of the Owlinn's People idol was the ghost of a pirate that lived in the height of the piracy era. Collecting his lost treasure bought a metaphysical cannon ball that allowed a shot at a quadrant of the pirate's enemy's ships (kind of like battleship). Several groups came through the area, exchanged coins for cannon balls, and took pot shots at the ships until a group of Owlinn's People sunk the last of the ships and were given (begrudgingly on the part of the pirate) the idol.
Unknown to the tribes of Deltora, a much stronger evil stirred in its grave. All though it looked as though all was well with all the idols recovered, Robert and Kronk showed up and caused yet more mischief. The pair discovered the location of the hidden power and decided to dig it up in the old Necron graveyard. Digging up the grave triggered the return of an undead horror: the lich of the region's previous baneful ruler awakened after the would-be grave robbers broke the seal on his crypt. The monstrosity then chased the diabolical duo back into town, and mind-controlled Kronk into stealing the castle keys from Robert. The lich then banished Robert from his banister, and laid claim the halls of the fortress, but not before he vowed to seek revenge on the land by enslaving (or killing) all of its inhabitants.
Thrown from the castle, which he claimed to own (but really only found), Robert was at his wits end. Hoping he could rid the castle of this evil, he apologized for the deception and for taking the idols, offering the tribes assistance by telling them how to penetrate the castles defenses if the Deltorans became his minions.
The adventurers gathered the supplies required to make it though the dangerous castle dungeon. One "wave of minions" at a time (roughly 4 or 5) was sent thought the various traps and puzzles of the castle's secret entrance. At the end of a long dungeon, each group had to defeat the lich and his minions. But each time he was defeated, the lich respawned in order to fight the next group to brave the dungeon.
Meanwhile, the others, while waiting to enter the castle, searched for a weakness to the lich, scoured the land for hidden treasures, and began to strengthen their skills. The adventurers finally located a number of key components: the lich's phylactery, a pentagram ritual, and a box of element-infused stones. There was a variety of solutions to defeat the lich and save the land, but a few Deltorans banded together and decided on an appropriate course of action. Unfortunately, the lich was already on his way into town with several undead minions created from the last group to assault the dungeon.
While many Deltorans went to fight the minions and the lich, a bard and a mage planned a scheme to use the pentagram ritual to imbue the Fel Spire idol with elemental power. With this power, the mage was able to force the lich back into his grave, to sleep for perhaps another eighty years when another fool would come along and dig him up again.
Sadly during the confusion, Robert was killed by an evil Deltoran rogue and Kronk ran off into the wilderness and wasn't seen for a long time. In the end, the Necrons held captive an intact phylactery, the Fel Spire idol was imbued with elemental power, but the idol was taken by Owlinn's People along with the keys to a certain magical castle..