Solace

Solace
Campaign	Fantasy High Fantasy High: Sophomore Year The Seven Fantasy High: Junior Year
Type	Country
Location	Spyre

Solace is a country in the world of Spyre. In many ways, it's a typical high-fantasy setting, but it also resembles a much more modern America due to their possession of arcano-tech.

Towns and Locations

• Bastion City (Capital)
• Elmville
• The Dune Fort
• Ashgrove
• Birchburg
• Runekeep
• Harroway Bay
• Mount Shieldgaze

Society

Before the invention of arcano-tech, Solace was more like the other countries in Spyre. It is now ruled by the Council of Chosen. As part of a peace treaty with Highcourt, anyone seeking citizenship within Solace is given total amnesty, and all their past crimes are forgiven.

History

Originally, the area that became Solace was a halfling country. Some time later, humans arrived and conquered it. A human monarchy was established at some point, and the royal family was connected through blood and marriage to the royal family of Highcourt.

Some centuries ago, Solace was conquered and laid to waste by Kalvaxus, Emperor of the Red Waste, who commanded the Nightmare King and the lords of the Necronomicron. He ruled Solace for many years acquiring a vast amount of wealth until the only remaining monarch, Queen Alexandria XII of the House of Tallerin, gathered her armies and defeated the emperor in combat, thus liberating Solace. The monarchy was then shortly disbanded and the first Council of Chosen was formed, which included Langston Thistlefarthing, Morris Van Zweiwild, Calesir Rockboot, Annabelle Troth, Luriel Celengrook, Eleminthindriel the Elven Oracle and a young Arthur Aguefort as secretary and paramour of the Oracle.

Spell scroll used to bind Kalvaxus.

After his defeat, the entirety of Kalvaxus's wealth was destroyed. Kalvaxus was then bound by Arthur Aguefort using powerful spell scroll. The spell trapped him in a more humanoid dragonborn form to serve as Vice Principal of Aguefort Adventuring Academy, in the hopes that working alongside young adventurers would help him see the error of his ways. The binding could only be broken upon Aguefort's death.

Mere moments after the binding of Kalvaxus, the Oracle Eleminthindriel spoke a prophecy to her paramour:

"When Kalvaxus once again beholds his glittering treasure, And seven maidens are once more chained at the mouth of his lair, When war befalls the realm, And a king and queen are crowned anew in Solace, Then will the Emperor of the Red Waste be released from bondage. His destruction will know no bounds. The sun shall fall from the heavens, And the world as we know it shall perish forever."

The Elven Oracle spoke with Queen Alexandria about this prophecy, and promised to return if there was ever trouble.

As a precautionary measure against Kalvaxus ever being summoned again, powerful abjuration magic was cast on the book "Watches and Wards", which prevented summonings or powerful conjurations from occurring on school grounds as long as it remained in the restricted section of the library at Aguefort. The ward prevented Kalvaxus from ever touching the book, or asking someone to remove it for him. Only Arthur Aguefort or the Elven Oracle were physically capable of removing the book, as all others would be knocked unconscious.

The Birth of Rock Music

The first electric lute was invented approximately 350 years prior to the start of Fantasy High. When it was first played, every single person of the 225 people in attendance, regardless of gender, became pregnant. Conjecture holds that they could have been impregnated by the bard who played, but it could have also been the lute.

Not only were they conceived at the same moment, but they were also born at the same time. For the most part, the children born of the event resembled the parents that carried them to term, except that they had awesome mohawks and long hair, and they some were born with denim vests that already had patches on them. A benefit rock concert was held on their 18th birthday, wherein they all ascended the outer planes. It's rumored that there is a 17th outer plane, beyond the 16 that make up the Great Wheel, made of pure rock music.

The Prophecy Comes True

Kalvaxus was once again released into his full power on Prom night the year that Fantasy High takes place. He enlisted dozens of Solisian citizens to do his bidding in order to help the prophecy come about.

Setting the Groundwork

While acting as Vice Principal Goldenhoard, Kalvaxus began to slowly regain his wealth. He worked with the Harvestmen, a radical religious organization from Highcourt, to raise these funds as well as spark a war between the two nations. Coach Daybreak was paid an exorbitant amount of money through the school as its bloodrush coach, which he used to fund the Harvestmen's activities and deposit into a special account in KVX Bank, where Kalvaxus began to rebuild his hoard. The bank was built across the street from Aguefort Adventuring Academy, visible from the doors of the gymnasium.

Coach Daybreak used some of his salary to pay for the apartment of an orphaned student, Zayn Darkshadow, turning him into a stooge for the Harvestmen. Johnny Spells, a warlock and criminal, fell into the Harvestmen after a job went bad at KVX Bank, and Zayn was able to acquire Johnny's warlock contract in order to reverse-engineer it and a create powerful cursed scroll. This curse would be used to create a hellmouth through Perditional Contradoxy, which was considered a declaration of war between Solace and Highcourt.

After falling in with the Harvestmen, Johnny was also used for his criminal connections to run poisoned tea for Kalvaxus. Kalvaxus, as Vice Principal Goldenhoard, would serve the tea to Arthur Aguefort in order to kill him and break his binding.

Kalvaxus also used the Harvestmen's connections to acquire palimpsests, powerful arcano-tech capable of capturing living souls. Through powerful divination magic, Aelwyn Abernant was able to alter a spell to create Detect Maidens, which was used to locate potential maidens for Kalvaxus's lair. Sometime before the school year started, several girls were befriended by Penelope Everpetal and dated and kidnapped by Johnny Spells. They were then trapped inside palimpsests until they were needed. These maidens included Katya Cleaver, Antiope Jones, Danielle Barkstock, and Penny Luckstone, Penny being the last one captured before the start of the school year. Biz Glitterdew, head of the AV club at the school, would get them out of the palimpsests and transport them to the Red Waste when the time came.

The Bad Kids Arrive at Aguefort

As Kalvaxus's plan was put into motion, the Elven Oracle, Eleminthindriel, intended to travel back to Solace for aid. On the day before the Bad Kids' first day of high school, however, she died aboard the Harpy, still disguised as the Cerulean. The ship was sunk in a terrible storm caused by Aelwyn Abernant, who was in possession of a piece of the ship, which allowed her to summon the storm directly over her target, and due to the Harpy's magical properties, the Oracle was unable to predict the storm. After her death, the next elf to become Oracle was Aelwyn's sister, Adaine. Aelwyn taunted her sister on the way to school that morning and dared her to steal a book from the restricted section of the library. Upon seeing the book "Watches and Wards" easily within her reach after arriving at school, Adaine stole the book, thus removing it from the restricted section and breaking the ward.

During lunch that day, Zayn Darkshadow bumped into Kristen Applebees, a Chosen of the god Helio, and knocked her bible out of her hands. He slipped the curse from Johnny's warlock contract inside, hoping to incite Perditional Contradoxy and turn Kristen into a hellmouth. However, the school bully, Ragh Barkrock, interfered and threw the bible into a giant barrel of corn behind the lunch counter. When the bible was retrieved, the curse was left behind in the corn barrel, creating a vicious corn monster that possessed the lunch lady, Doreen. The Bad Kids fought and defeated the monster, destroying the curse and kick-starting their adventure in solving the mystery of how it happened.

Two of the students, Kristen Applebees and Gorgug Thistlespring, died permanently during the battle, but were brought back to life with the use of the last phoenix egg. In exchange for their lives, Arthur Aguefort traded his life and the life of the school guidance counselor, Mr. Gibbons. Kristen, being Chosen, was destined for heaven, so Aguefort hid himself in her backpack as she entered through the gates. As Kristen was sent back down to Earth and brought back to life, Aguefort snuck away go dethrone the god Sol to complete that part of the prophecy.

The Fall of the Harvestmen

Throughout the course of the school year, Kalvaxus's pieces began to fall into place, but not without some trouble from the Bad Kids. As a "precaution" against whoever caused the corn monster, Kalvaxus, as Goldenhoard set up camera crystals around the school for surveillance. However, most of the crystals were actually palimpsests, set up to capture the faculty and keep them out of the way come Prom.

Soon after school started, Johnny Spells captured another maiden, Sam Nightingale, and the party grew suspicious of him. They followed him to his garage, where they uncovered his poisoned tea and the palimpsest with Penny inside, and killed him after a chase and battle. They consulted Biz Glitterdew, unaware of his connections, for help getting Penny out, and provided him with a power source and a covert workspace to do so. He put Penny's palimpsest with the others and staged an attack on himself in order to cover his tracks.

The Bad Kids also read the messages on Johnny's crystal from Zayn Darkshadow about the failed attempt to turn Kristen into a hellmouth. They replied, pretending to be Johnny in an attempt to catch him red-handed. They set up a meeting at the Black Pit, but Zayn knew that Johnny was already dead and set a trap for them. Zayn was able to get away without being caught, but his slip-up with Kristen had brought the Bad Kids too close to the truth for comfort. He was killed by the Harvestmen. Regardless, the kids were able to track him down to his apartment, where they uncovered all the evidence they needed about the Harvestmen's involvement in Elmville.

Since their first hellmouth plot had failed, Coach Daybreak and the Harvestmen turned to an alternate method. After having Zayn killed, Daybreak enlisted the help of Ragh Barkrock to remove the entrance arch of the Cathedral of Sol and relocate it to the bloodrush field at Aguefort. They attempted to use the arch to open a gate to Hell, but were successfully stopped by the Bad Kids. Coach Daybreak was killed in the battle, and the Harvestmen evidence they found on him turned in to the police. The Harvestmen's grip on Elmville was eliminated, and Kalvaxus's plans halted. At least for a short time.

War is Declared

Since the Harvestmen were Kalvaxus's main supply of palimpsests, and they were still short two maidens (and a reason to go to war), he needed to find another supply. He found his dealer in William Seacaster, a retired pirate who was eager to go back into business after seeing his son, Fabian, partake in adventures and battles during the school year.

He then turned to Penelope Everpetal and Aelwyn Abernant to continue the search for maidens. Penelope befriended their next victim, Ostentatia Wallace, and Aelwyn used her reputation at Hudol College as a party animal and her natural spell casting talent to throw a party at Ostentatia's house, where she captured Ostentatia in a palimpsest.

Aelwyn was defeated in battle by the Bad Kids at the Wallace house, and after Ostentatia's parents arrived home to find it a wreck, they called the police on her. Aelwyn's father, Angwyn, was a diplomat for Fallinel, which provided their family with diplomatic immunity, and he tried to stop her arrest. However, Detective Sklonda Gukgak pointed out that diplomatic immunity can be revoked if a member of the family feels unsafe in the presence of another family member. Adaine spoke up, cementing her arrest. Angwyn's reputation as a diplomat was ruined, and the family fled to Fallinel. Soon after, war was declared on Solace and Kalvaxus's plan crept ever closer to completion.

Finishing Touches

Aelwyn's plan seemingly foiled, the Bad Kids investigated her bedroom for clues and find that the last maiden victim was Zelda Donovan. While they weren't able to stop the Donovan house from being attacked and Zelda sucked into the crystal, they are able to recover the palimpsest before it fell into the wrong hands.

They returned to Biz Glitterdew to get both girls out of the palimpsests, this time using a new, bigger power source courtesy of Wilma and Digby Thistlespring. They brought the power source and the palimpsests to the arcade in the Elm Valley Mall where Biz revealed his plot to digitally copy the girls for his own disgusting purposes. They lost both palimpsests in the battle that followed, but Biz assured them that the girls were alive and well in their own bodies again. The girls had indeed been sent back to their own bodies, but they'd also been kidnapped again to be taken to Kalvaxus's lair in the Red Waste.

As the Bad Kids left the mall intending to retrieve the girls, they were arrested for the murder of Johnny Spells. While they were stuck in jail for months, the road ahead was finally clear for Kalvaxus's successful return.

At some point over these few days, Penelope trapped Gorthalax the Insatiable inside a ruby necklace, presumably because Goldenhoard recognized the high-ranking devil lord as a potential threat to his plans.

The End of the End

The night of Prom, everything was set up to run perfectly: across the street from the gym where Prom was being held was KVX Bank, loaded with gold and explosives ready to burst into view; all seven maidens were captured and chained to his lair in the Red Waste; Solace was officially at war with Fallinel; and Dayne Blayde and Penelope Everpetal were all set to receive the crowns for winning Prom King and Queen.

Unfortunately for him, the Bad Kids were able to break out of prison earlier that day and sneak around the school to put the final pieces of the puzzle together. In a last-ditch effort to stop them, Kalvaxus threatened them by setting their houses on fire and sending demons to attack their families. Except for Fabian's father, Bill, they were all able to save their families and arrive at prom just in time to see the crowns poised over Dayne and Penelope's heads.

They quickly rushed in to prevent Penelope from being crowned, but Kalvaxus wouldn't be stopped. They took out Dayne, but he'd already been crowned, so once the Queen's crown reached Penelope's head, everything fell into place. KVX Bank exploded, Kalvaxus beheld his treasure, and it was all over.

Or so he thought.

All hope for the Bad Kids seemed lost in the midst of the battle as all their healers lay unconscious. However, in a once-in-a-lifetime stroke of luck, Kristen Applebees traveled back to heaven, picked up Arthur Aguefort, and returned to life with him in tow. Aguefort reminded her of his magical watch, which Aelwyn had used to her advantage during the battle at the Wallace house. Kristen froze Kalvaxus in time, and the Bad Kids were able to fully recuperate and gain the upper hand. Finally, after a year of sleuthing and combat, Kalvaxus was defeated.

The maidens were successfully saved and returned home by Sandra Lynn Faeth, and were allowed to re-kill a revivified Kalvaxus. In hell, Kalvaxus's body was turned into a ship for Bill Seacaster to travel in as he plundered devil princes.

Fallinel Aftermath

It took almost a year to officially settle affairs between Solace and Fallinel after Kalvaxus's defeat. Kalvaxus's hoard and the country's borders were tied up in legal matters all the way up until Spring Break the following year.

However, this truce is short-lived. A few days after the Bad Kids left on their trip to recover the crown of the Nightmare King, Adaine Abernant, the new Elven Oracle, was kidnapped from her party in Leviathan by her father and the rest of the Court of Stars. While imprisoned, she unknowingly triggered magical warning message set by Arthur Aguefort to students who are being threatened. Aguefort answered the call by climbing through a magic portal, transfiguring himself to be 350 feet tall, summoning hundreds of clay and soil warriors shaped like himself, and literally dragging the sun across the sky as he marched on the Fallinel capital of Stellemere.

Doing so put him in a lot of trouble and bankrupted the school.

Trivia

• The demonym for Solace is Solisian.
• Peach tumblr|twitter created a homebrew Bard College inspired by Rock Heaven! College of Rock Heaven