Kallisti

Location: Outlands / Ringlands [or Outlands / Discordia ?]

Nestled near Glorium and Sylvania, Kallisti is a burg that embodies the essence of caprice and beauty. The town encircles a mystical orchard grove, home to golden apples which are guarded by a lively clan of pixies and faeries. These apple are said to grow only when Sune—the Faerunian goddess of beauty—is happy.

The vibrant atmosphere in Kallisti is one of good-natured whimsy, with a tinge of unpredictable chaos. The inhabitants are passionate, and argumentative. Periodic invasions by bands of bacchae looking for their next party bring moments of wild revelry and destruction. These contribute to the town’s ever-changing landscape and skyline—when buildings are wrecked by an over-zealous party, the fairy folks of the burg pull together to rebuild. Architecturally, Kallisti is eclectic for sure, with buildings twisting and turning in eccentric designs, shaped by the whims of its fey guardians.

The very name of the burg, “for the fairest,” is a nod to an ancient Greek legend. Chant goes that Eris, the power of strife and discord, wanted to stir up trouble in the Greek pantheon, as she’d not been invited to a wedding. She created a beautiful golden apple inscribed with the motto, then rolled it between Hera, Athena and Aphrodite, sat back and watched the fireworks with glee. To cut a long story short, kidnapping and forced marriage, ten years of war and a large wooden horse were the result. The golden apples that grow in Kallisti are a literal forbidden fruit, rumoured to bestow youth and beauty upon those who partake—though the penalty for being caught doing so is to be hurled through a portal into Carceri.

There’s some debate amongst the graybeards about exactly where this burg lies. Some say it’s really in the Cordant Plane of Discordia. Others say it used to be, but slipped into the Outlands and that there’s a gate to Discordia hidden somewhere in the orchard grove; or even that it bounced between the two or exists in both simultaneously somehow. And still others say that’s all barmy nonsense and talk of Cordant Planes is a load of old flam.

Adventure Hooks

The Forbidden Fruit: The adventurers are hired to stealthily obtain a golden apple from the grove, ostensibly for a noble purpose. The mission involves navigating the unpredictable pixie and faerie guardians, and facing a moral dilemma once they realise they are breaking a sacred law.
Bacchae Bedlam: A particularly rowdy band of bacchae has opened a portal that threatens to destabilise the burg, or at least trash the town in a drunken party to end all parties. The adventurers must find a way to close the portal and restore order before the burg extreme chaos results in the burg slipping into Ysgard or Limbo.
Sune’s Sadness: A sudden withering of the golden apples indicates that Sune is unhappy. The adventurers must embark on a quest to discover the cause of Sune’s sorrow and find a way to lighten her mood, a journey that will lead them to places which challenge their understanding of the concept of happiness itself.

Source: Chris Nichols and Jon Winter-Holt