Ruin of the Oyl-Barons!

Carboniferous greetings, mortals! O’er the weekend, thy wretched society broke thine own CO₂ record—congratulations! In honor of this grim achievement, please enjoy our latest adventure module—the “RUIN OF THE OYL-BARONS!”

After escaping from “Under Oligar Keep,” thou & thy companions stray through a portal into a haunted, barren wood. A foul stream runs through, with thick water, reeking of flame. Animals wander, dazed, coated in obsidian slime; & above it all towers a hideous smoking fortress. Screams resound, & the air itself tastes of death. Will ye flee? Or have ye the courage to contain this evil, & bring about the “RUIN OF THE OYL-BARONS?”

Rebel against extinction with this startling adventure! Not mere treasure, nor simple revenge, drives this epic new quest—victory will save the world itself, & defeat could mean certain doom! Our highest-stakes offering yet!

Explore Errat™, a world on the brink of disaster, brought low by over-use of the fantastical substance Oyl™. Controlled by the hideous lich cabal known as the Oyl-Barons^{trademark pending} , Oyl provides the energy needed for a number of fantastical devices & inventions. From marvelous flexible Plastyk—light as paper, yet firm as horn—to the liquid coal for fearsome Steel Dragons, the kingdoms of Errat have come to depend on Oyl.

& yet, all magick comes at a cost. Storms, stronger than ever, now plague all the land. Winters shorten, Summers deepen, & the air itself becomes as poison. Through it all, the kings of Errat continue to kneel to the Oyl-Barons & beg their favor—e’en as the very birds drop from the sky about them!

As the players enter the scene, they step into a time of unrest on Errat. The peasantry, fearful of the creeping Black Death that Oyl brings, have begun forming factions. Will thy players join the Extinction Rebels? Align with a Luddyte cell? They may forge their own path, of course—though Appendix V contains an extra side-quest, for advanced players, to awaken the dormant Elves from their slumber beneath Brystel’mestune!

With full stats for all thirteen members of the Oyl-Barons’ lich cabal, players will face no end of creative challenges. Whether they work to subvert the vile works of Merk W’Irth (bearer of the Chevron Brand), unravel the mysterious & hideous past of Batty Boppe (mistress of Pain, Gore, & Evil), or whether they instead pursue the faceless horde of Oyl underlings who sell out all Errat for coin, this module contains enough NPCs for several sessions of adventure.

But fear not—diplomatic options abound! Clever players will find opportunities to pilfer resources from the aristocrats’ hordes, & may use them to twist the Oyl-Barons’ own systems against them. & advanced players who opt to recruit the Elves, shall learn new tactics of bloodless revolution—tactics so powerful that the kings of Errat sought to suppress them for all time…

& if thy players hesitate to play—if the stakes feel too grand, the situation too dire—remind them that, whether they like it or no, the Oyl-Barons play already. Do ye not deserve a chance to defeat them?

If ye implement our optional “Extended Campaign™,” which stretches beyond the single wood to a series of uprisings all around Errat, be sure to add some helpful NPCs to aid thy poor players!

However ye play, we here at WizWorld LIVE™ guarantee: ye shall not regret a single solitary second spent seeking the...

RUIN OF THE OYL-BARONS!

Enticing, eh mortals? Pick up a copy soon!

Thank ye for reading! & we humbly thank again-again that growing clan of mortals who can & do support our works here with coin! GRATIAS!

I shall write ye come Wednesday with news of our next episode—another beautifully strange intercalary episode! ’til then: be safe, be well, & remember, money means nothing on a dead planet…

Cheers,
Amœnus Franco
Chaotic Good, Wizard/Bard, I cast Protection From Evil & uncork a potion

P.S.: For all the art fans, please enjoy this exclusive Scriptorium bonus, of the cover imagery without the text: