The Cleanse of Rust: A Soroth Kor Campaign

Beneath the crumbling grandeur of Soroth Kor lies the Gutter Warren, a sprawling maze of tunnels where the city’s refuse and decay are drawn like blood to a wound. Here, among the rust-choked pipelines and whispering shadows, the Gutterkin emerge - a race of tireless scavengers bound to the city by a dark compulsion. These creatures neither sleep nor falter; they are the dead made dutiful, twisted by the city’s rot and a strange, ceaseless hunger that drives them to cleanse Soroth Kor of all that would clog its veins. Corpses, shattered relics, and even fragments of ancient spells are all swept up by the Gutterkin’s macabre march, their purpose a mystery to all but those who dare call the Warren home.

At the heart of this festering labyrinth, bound in layers of rusted iron and crumbling stone, slumbers the Rust-King. He is a legend and a shadow, a decaying deity whose presence seeps into the very walls of the Warren. The Gutterkin serve as his thralls, stewards of his morbid kingdom, and custodians of his unfathomable will. To the Rust-King, Soroth Kor is more than a city; it is a body in constant flux, an ever-consuming organism that demands sacrifice. His essence spreads through the Gutterkin, binding them in an endless cycle of collection and decay, feeding the city’s twisted hunger.

Warbands descending into the Warren seek more than just spoils or renown - they descend to pit themselves against a city that is itself a predator. Each battle is a ripple that disturbs the Rust-King’s restless slumber, drawing his attention like blood in water. Some venture to harness his corrosive power, dreaming of conquest over the city above. Others aim to seal him once more, fearing the unholy dominion he would bring if unleashed. Yet all who enter are prey to his influence, for the Gutter Warren is as much a weapon as it is a resting place, a realm that reshapes itself with every step taken deeper into the abyss.

The Gutter Warren, a sprawling network of decaying tunnels and sewer systems beneath the industrial district of Narthol Hor, serves as the focal point for this campaign. The Warren houses ancient forges, malfunctioning machinery, and scavenging Gutterkin that view all intruders as detritus to be digested. Warbands venture into this forsaken labyrinth to seize control of its remaining industrial resources or bring it all to ruin.

The forges and pipelines are remnants of Soroth Kor’s golden age, an era when the city thrummed with industry. Though decayed, they still link to one another, like parts of a dying organism whose systems struggle to function together. In Phase 1, warbands contend with the forges, which control the heartbeat of the Warren. Restoring or corrupting these forges alters the district’s industrial pulse, impacting the machinery and the toxins it produces.

Phase 2 reveals a hidden network of ancient conduits threading through the Warren’s depths. These pipelines, once carefully calibrated to control the city’s industrial flow, now act erratically, carrying the energies and residues from the restored forges - or the corrosive, toxic overflow from corrupted ones - through every twisted corridor. Warbands must decide to either stabilize sections of the area’s crumbling pipelines or unleash toxic sludge into its depths, spreading corruption and further compromising the Warren’s structure.

Thus, by the time of Phase 3, the entire Warren becomes an extension of the choices made by the players - either a haven of tenuous stability or a fetid chamber of unchecked decay, its environment now attuned to the forges and pipelines that pulse through it. Now, the warbands must decide: will they attempt to bind the Rust-King in his toxic slumber, preserving the tenuous order within Narthol Hor’s depths? Or will they embrace the decay, allowing the Rust-King to awaken and unleash his corrosive power upon the Warren and beyond?