In the Mists of Manivarsha - Journeys through the Radiant Citadel

In the Mists of Manivarsha. An Adventure for 9th-Level Characters The final day of the Shankha Trials unfolds in the city of Sagorpur. But the joy of this most auspicious competition turns to terror as the city's great river swells in a destructive wave-sweeping away both the trials' champion and the sacred trophy. The characters join the effort to rescue those lost and seek out an ancient corruption that has returned. Background Shankhabhumi is a forested swampland where three great city-states thrive on solid ground created by the graces of the riverines, sapient river spirit guardians. Each riverine is the patron spirit of a river, which shares its patron's name. The riverines of the four largest rivers in this land-Iravati, Mehul, Joltara, and the now-lost Adirohit-raised the islands on which the great cities sit. In exchange, the people of Shankhabhumi pay homage to the capricious riverines through the Shankha Trials. There were originally four cities in Shankhabhumi, but the city of Manivarsha was destroyed during the Shankha Trials five hundred years ago. Manivarsha's patron riverine, Adirohit, vanished, and his river dwindled into dozens of swampy streams. Manivarshi citizens who were away from home were forced to adopt new lives in the other three cities, but the memory of the lost city of Manivarsha remains. No further catastrophes happened for centuries. But now the conclusion of the most recent Shankha Trials has attracted the attention of a sinister figure from Shankhabhumi's past. This is the ancient, fiend-tainted athlete Jijibisha Manivarshi, a wicked soul whose desire for eternal honor directly caused the destruction of Manivarsha. Having lived a cursed life as a pride-obsessed fiend in the depths of the swamps for centuries, Jijibisha has recently heard of a rival that threatens to claim her title as the greatest Manivarshi athlete of all time. Her delusions insulted, Jijibisha prepares to use the power of a trapped riverine to claim both the ho...