The Kalachakra

X Worldbuilders:

GM James R

The Kalachakra (unofficially "The Wheel") is the official name of a massive spoked wheel (technically a capstan) that was built by The Venship in the early BR era after they crashed on the shores of Kiston.

The term Kalachakra was given to the wheel by the dark power Akasha. It was said to mean "Wheel of Time".

History

Crafting Process

The Kalachakra was based on ancient prehistoric magic ruins found in the Vecna Campsite by the The Venship, seemingly already aged and decrepit even in the early BR era. Copying the latent magic sigils on the ruins, the original kalachakra primarily was based on the same resonance found in spells like "Banishment" or "Plane Shift". However, the structure and the capstan form was inspired by the last writings of a Vecnan scholar by the name of Fermi.

The majority of the crafting was done by the ancient blacksmith Gymir. The only available material to the crafters who were stranded on the island were carved canyon stone and wood from the native trees. It was originally built with 6 spokes, representing the five members of the Venship and their ally the Vecnan necromancer Promissa.

After it was built, the campsite was ambushed by the great dragon Jatil Jivelg, who picked up the "weapon" to keep it away from the Venship, unwittingly bringing it far inland and towards the The Crystal City, where the wheel would fall into one of the atrium openings and fall hundreds of feet towards into the bottom-most chasms, where Tiamat herself was still experimenting with the infantile Redspawn Worldbreaker. This chance encounter would make the World Breaker the perpetual guardian of the wheel, keeping the realm from locking Kiston again for thousands of years.

After sneaking down to the wheel's new home, the wheel suffered cracks and splinters, even losing one of it's 6 spokes. The remaining 5-spoked wheel was protected by the necromancer Promissa with a "Protection Curse" of some sort, that kept the beast from dragging, touching, or destroying the wheel any more. Unfortunately for the realm, this very same curse locked the wheel to the bloodlines of those present to enact it, meaning that for the rest of time, the only people who could move or damage the wheel would be the very same bloodlines that were there at it's creation.

Rediscovery

The wheel was rediscovered at the very end of the PR era by the Kistonian Institute of Strange Studies during Operation Deadbolt, where powerful bulldozer-like warforged were sent to the heart of The Crystal City to excavate crystals below the deepest caverns. The warforged Brickhouse made the discovery, and passed the information back to the institute, who would go onto summon The Fated Five. Who, unbeknownst to anyone at the time, were the blood descendants of the original Venship.

Behind the Screen

• The Kalachakra was referenced in the ⮞Get Submodule finale when the players were given an inflatable version of the wheel that functioned as an escape balloon, allowing them to possibly escape from a Tarrasque encounter of their own.