Vhal'Zarim

Start-class article · First seen: pre-campaign brief · Last seen: s22
Vhal'Zarim
the Bastion of the Platinum Flame · Bastion of the Platinum Flame
Portrait of Vhal'Zarim.
Location
StatusUnvisited
First seenpre-campaign brief
Last seens22
FactionPlatinum Order

Vhal’Zarim, the Bastion of the Platinum Flame, is a cathedral-city of black stone raised from the dragon-scorched ruin of Karvos, where Bahamut is worshipped through fire and every citizen swears an oath to the Platinum Flame (world brief). It is Caelumn’s home: he puts it at the very south of the continent, a city of zealots that accepts other faiths only outside its walls [16][19][41]. The DM has twice said that Vhal’Zarim and Aurelia hunted the dragons almost to extinction [15][22]. The party has never visited.

Vhal’Zarim
Vhal’Zarim

Overview

Vhal’Zarim is not a city but a cathedral carved into the bones of a dead empire. Black stone towers rise from scorched earth, the air tastes of ash and incense, and the silence is heavy out of devotion, not fear (world brief). It stands in the crater where the empire of Karvos once stood, and the faithful say that Bahamut himself came down there after thirteen days of wrath from chromatic dragons and sheltered the last survivors beneath his wings (world brief). What rose from the ruin was a covenant, not a city (world brief).

The party has never been there. It matters in the campaign through two threads: it is the home of Caelumn, a rejected initiate of the Platinum Order [14], and it is named, beside Aurelia, as having hunted the chromatic dragons almost to extinction, which is why Sevryn’s Egg Quest is so hard [15].

Geography and appearance

A black-stone cathedral-city: spires rather than streets, sanctified halls rather than markets (world brief). At its centre stands the Sanctuary of Flame, the central cathedral, where Bahamut’s eternal fire burns behind sealed doors, and its bells open and close every day (world brief). Caelumn placed the city “at the very south” of the continent [16], and the DM called it a rather religious city, mirrored in a way to Aurelia [17].

Inhabitants

The people live in orderly devotion, with no crime, no hunger and no chaos, and no freedom either (world brief). Of the few met in play, only Caelumn is from there, and his unnamed mentor in the Order, who “always had faith in me” and is the reason he was “allowed out” [18].

Government / control

The brief gives the city to its Church and the Platinum Order. Every citizen swears an oath to the Platinum Flame and every soul is bound to the will of the Church. Magic exists only in service of the divine: metallic-blooded sorcerers are exalted, chromatic ones vanish, and arcane study is permitted only under the Order’s eye (world brief). The wiki reads the Order as the Bahamut-aligned clergy that runs the city; the brief names no other government. In play Caelumn said the Order accepts all religions “as long as they’re not within our city walls” [19], and that the city “isn’t a very accepting city in regards to other faiths” [20].

Notable features

  • The eternal flame. The faithful look for no paradise, only the flame: “when I die, I shall be burnt forever” [21].
  • Caelumn’s blood. The DM’s post-session-17 corrections say that Caelumn carries a draconic bloodline tied to Bahamut’s flame, with the dragon type unresolved. His fire spells (Fire Bolt, Produce Flame and Chromatic Orb) sit awkwardly beside a city that exalts metallic blood and makes chromatic sorcerers vanish, a tension the table has not resolved.
  • The dragon hunt. The DM has said twice that Vhal’Zarim and Aurelia hunted dragons almost to extinction [15][22]. The accounts have not been reconciled with the one below.

The fall of Karvos

Before Vhal’Zarim the crater was the seat of Karvos. The brief dates its fall to 631 A.I.: a city too eager to serve Aurelia, it burned for it when dragons descended in fury, and what remained became Vhal’Zarim (world brief). The faithful say that Bahamut came down and sheltered the survivors (world brief). Caelumn tells it as the city’s own story: long ago chromatic dragons attacked, and “when the gods abandoned us Bahamut was the one, the only one who came to our aid” [16]. In session 20 the DM said the Aurelians nearly killed all chromatic dragons together with a city that “was pretty much destroyed before the new city was built on top of it” [12]. The DM’s post-s21 clarifications (2026-09-27) read that city as Karvos, which fought beside Aurelia and was destroyed by the dragons, not by the Aurelians.

History in the campaign

Session 4: The Still Current, the Black Mask, and Hugo’s Pact

Main article: Session 4

On the road south, Caelumn told Terry that he was from Vhal’Zarim and a devout follower of dragons, adding that the city was prejudiced against chromatic dragons [1]. At Mirestrand he told the party that his city was very religious, that dragons were much revered there, and that he took the quest to be a calling from the Platinum Dragon himself [2].

Session 9: The Death of Harvo

Main article: Session 9

In the Black Vein Quarry, the succubus pulled Caelumn into a vision of his worst failure. The Platinum Order had taken him in young for his ancient, powerful draconic blood, and he never reached its power or its expectations [23]. She called him unworthy, “a failure to your land and your race” [24]. He answered that his mentor had always had faith in him and was the reason he had been let out [18]. At Harvo’s pyre he spoke of Bahamut taking the dead man into his halls [4].

Session 11: Owlbears and the Soulbinder

Main article: Session 11

On the road east from Umbrafall, a farmer said that he did not like “what they did with those dragons back in the day” [25]. Asked by Caelumn what Aurelia had done, the DM told the party that they would know it had hunted pretty much all chromatic dragons to near extinction together with Vhal’Zarim, “which is why your quest is so hard” [26]. Hugo put his dragon-skull helmet away in his bag [27].

Session 12: Eldwythe and the Candy Cottage

Main article: Session 12

In Eldwythe the orchard farmer Thomas Feld, voiced by the DM, placed Caelumn’s accent. Caelumn gave his home as “the very south of the continent” [28]. Feld asked whether it was true that they have dragons over there, and Caelumn said, “Not anymore. Not that I know of anyway. But we certainly worship the dragons.” [29]. Feld then described a dragon he had once seen flying north-east, towards Palathorn [30].

Session 17: New Hands, the Black Mask’s Renegotiation, and the Rimeclaw

Main article: Session 17

Terry ran through the cities a stranded woman, Nessa, might flee to and found none of them safe. Caelumn offered Vhal’Zarim as the answer, “the city that welcomes all” [7]. In session 18 he put its welcome at the city walls [19].

Session 18: The Wyrm Falls, the Catfish Escapes, and Mike Dies on the Road

Main article: Session 18

On the beach after the swim, Mike asked how Caelumn had healed him. He had cleric training from his time in the clergy, Caelumn said, though he was not really an initiate [31]. He was from Vhal’Zarim, a cathedral city where everyone praised the Platinum Dragon, in the far south of the continent [32][16]. He told the founding story and called the place “super religious zealotry” [33]. The DM confirmed that Bahamut is “very much a god” [34] and that Aurelia treats metallic dragons as holy and chromatic ones as a perversion of draconic energy [35]. Caelumn gave the Order’s tolerance as ending at the city walls [19] and said he awaited the eternal flame [21].

Session 19: A Penitent Priest, an Unmade Leash, and the Pixie in the Dark

Main article: Session 19

When the DM floated a route round Aurelia through Khaldun and Sablemar, Terry pictured a desert, a volcano and “some dragon worshipping crazy people”, and Caelumn took offence: “We aren’t crazy” [36], he said, only “just pious” [37]. This was the table’s banter, not a DM statement about Khaldun [38]. Terry later said he was happy to go on a world tour of Khaldun and Vhal’Zarim [10], but the party chose the road back to Eldwythe [39].

Session 20: The Man Who Was Always Here

Main article: Session 20

Father Thomas’s prayers to the Everlight puzzled the table, and the DM called for Caelumn’s Religion check with advantage: since he was from Vhal’Zarim, “a rather religious city, much kind of mirrored in a way to Aurelia”, he knew that the deity of Aurelia is Aurelia [17]. Caelumn let the priest’s faith be, though “the city I’m from isn’t a very accepting city in regards to other faiths” [20]. Restating the Egg quest, the DM said the hoards still held their energy after the Aurelians nearly killed all chromatic dragons together with a city that “was pretty much destroyed before the new city was built on top of it” [12].

Session 22: The Dragon in the Statue

Main article: Session 22

At the ridge temple Caelumn took the wounded silver wyrmling Rime for the Platinum Dragon himself, pressing him to say he was platinum and begging forgiveness for lying to a dragon [40]. He told the table that his city was “genuinely nutters” for the Platinum Dragon [41]. Rime said Aurelian hunters had trapped him [42]. Father Thomas’s History check brought the DM’s lore that Aurelia together with Vhal’Zarim hunted dragons to near extinction, with sightings since, and the hunts seem to have taken in metallic dragons as well as chromatic ones [43]. That sits uneasily with the Karvos reading of session 20 and with the city’s exaltation of metallic blood (world brief). Whether the DM meant Vhal’Zarim itself or its predecessor is a question for him.

Status

As of session 23. Unvisited. The party has never been to Vhal’Zarim and, resting in the ridge temple north of Greysmere, is far from it. Caelumn’s return home remains open, but his account in session 18 made the city a load-bearing part of his voice at the table. The city’s part in the dragon hunts, a constraint on The Egg Quest, has come up three times (sessions 11, 20 and 22) and is still unreconciled.

See also

References

  1. ^ Session 4, line 304-312: Caelumn names his home city and says it is hard on chromatic dragons.
  2. ^ Session 4, line 1012: Caelumn tells the party that his city is very religious and that the quest is the Platinum Dragon's calling.
  3. ^ Session 9, line 1190-1195: Caelumn's failure-vision at the Platinum Order.
  4. ^ Session 9, line 1628: Caelumn at Harvo's pyre, speaking of Bahamut's halls.
  5. ^ Session 11, line 850-854: A farmer on the road to Eldwythe (unnamed; the DM voicing him) dislikes what Aurelia did with the dragons; the DM says Aurelia and Vhal'Zarim hunted all chromatic dragons to near extinction.
  6. ^ Session 12, line 439-454: Thomas Feld learns Caelumn is from the very south of the continent, asks "Is it true that they have dragons over there?" and describes the dragon he once saw.
  7. ^ Session 17, line 980-988: Caelumn offers Vhal'Zarim to the stranded Nessa as "the city that welcomes all".
  8. ^ Session 18, line 1724-1801: Caelumn's account of the city, its founding story, its order and its eternal flame.
  9. ^ Session 19, line 349-354: Terry's "dragon worshipping crazy people"; Caelumn, "we are just pious".
  10. ^ Session 19, line 389: Terry offers a world tour of Khaldun and Vhal'Zarim.
  11. ^ Session 20, line 754-766: DM lore on Caelumn's Religion check: Vhal'Zarim is "a rather religious city, much kind of mirrored in a way to Aurelia"; Caelumn on its intolerance.
  12. ^ Session 20, line 1263: DM lore: the Aurelians nearly killed all chromatic dragons together with a city that "was pretty much destroyed before the new city was built on top of it"; the city meant is Karvos (the DM's post-s21 clarifications, 2026-09-27).
  13. ^ Session 22, line 867-910: Caelumn takes Rime for the Platinum Dragon and calls his city nutters; a History check names Vhal'Zarim again as Aurelia's partner in the dragon hunts.
  14. ^ Session 9, line 1190-1192: Inline citation.
  15. ^ Session 11, line 852: Inline citation.
  16. ^ Session 18, line 1750: Inline citation.
  17. ^ Session 20, line 754: Inline citation.
  18. ^ Session 9, line 1192: Inline citation.
  19. ^ Session 18, line 1789: Inline citation.
  20. ^ Session 20, line 766: Inline citation.
  21. ^ Session 18, line 1800: Inline citation.
  22. ^ Session 22, line 909: Inline citation.
  23. ^ Session 9, line 1190: Inline citation.
  24. ^ Session 9, line 1195: Inline citation.
  25. ^ Session 11, line 850: Inline citation.
  26. ^ Session 11, line 851-852: Inline citation.
  27. ^ Session 11, line 853: Inline citation.
  28. ^ Session 12, line 440: Inline citation.
  29. ^ Session 12, line 441-442: Inline citation.
  30. ^ Session 12, line 443-454: Inline citation.
  31. ^ Session 18, line 1724-1728: Inline citation.
  32. ^ Session 18, line 1730: Inline citation.
  33. ^ Session 18, line 1750-1754: Inline citation.
  34. ^ Session 18, line 1757: Inline citation.
  35. ^ Session 18, line 1769: Inline citation.
  36. ^ Session 19, line 352: Inline citation.
  37. ^ Session 19, line 354: Inline citation.
  38. ^ Session 19, line 345-354: Inline citation.
  39. ^ Session 19, line 390: Inline citation.
  40. ^ Session 22, line 867-877: Inline citation.
  41. ^ Session 22, line 896: Inline citation.
  42. ^ Session 22, line 904: Inline citation.
  43. ^ Session 22, line 909-910: Inline citation.