A is for Actually Starting My Campaign Alphabets!

Khardtha

The Aeries

On many continents, towers and battlements are sometimes kept suspended for decades or centuries past when the main bodies of their structures have fallen, be this due to ancient conservatory magics still upheld, or phenomena such as powerful hauntings, suspension of time, or things of even weirder nature like the tower 'forgetting' to fall when the castle did, for instance.

At first, the Aeries may be mistaken for such things, and indeed, some of the smaller Aeries are of similar shape and size, but few make the mistake of failed recognition more than once, for these are the home of a winged race called the Lahim (LAH-hïm).

These 'bird-men', as many call them, live and raid and make war from their Aeries, with each such flying fortress only beholden to itself and the clans that live within the soaring spires. The lahim that leads any particular Aerie lives on the highest spire on the place, with the order of ascension decreasing as importance decreases. 

The Aeries, themselves, are constructed of varying materials, depending on the clans that build them. Part magical construct and part technological marvel, some Aeries resemble mountaintops that have been ripped from the world and hollowed out, while others seem to be made from various flying machines, dirigibles, and what have you. All, however, bristle with weaponry, ranging from arcane cannons that rain down spellbombs to energy weapons that sear flesh and bone alike. Some are even rumored to be able to fire great lightning cannons or energy weapons from their undersides that could devastate entire villages and towns.

No Aerie has ever been recognized as captured, or even explored, and it seems the lahim, though known for their raiding and war-like tendencies, treat the sacking of another Aerie as a breech of the rules of engagement. Just what exactly goes on in those ominous flying cities (and what powers them) may never be known to the outside world.

Wilderlands of High Fantasy

Atavik's Hammer

+2 Holy Evil Outsider Bane Warhammer

Found by chance as the Unbreakable adventuring company headed south from Bugbear Falls to Modron,  the hammer lay entwined in mutated vines that were being dug at by an ettercap, who sprung to attack the party when approached, for fear of losing its prize. The hammer was claimed after the battle by Jadazh, who knew as much lore about the thing as one could possibly hope.

Atavik's Hammer, for any name Atavik may have given it is certainly lost to time, was forged for that warrior during the Demon Siege of 3227 BCCC by forces loyal to the Overlord to help combat the demon hosts of the World Emperor, though the fate of its wielder was ultimately lost to time.

The warrior Atavik would, himself, be lost to time, if not for the hammer's unique design. Though seemingly carved from a block of white marble, the grip is fairly plain and obviously crafted for function, the rest of the handle and the head are crafted to look like angels, back to back, with their wings in mid-beat, wrapping around the heads of both sides. A serene look on the faces of the angels of both sides affirms that this weapon is a tool of Good, and indeed, Atavik's hammer functions as a Holy weapon. In addition, the hammer functions as a Bane weapon against evil beasts from other planes of existence.

With the rarity of magical weaponry, an item like Atavik's Hammer has the tendency to draw eyes, and Jadazh's ownership is now known, due to flaunting it at his hip and on his tavern table in Modron, and there is no telling what kind of trouble that might eventually lead to, if any.