New OOTS products from CafePress
New OOTS t-shirts, ornaments, mugs, bags, and more
Results 1 to 7 of 7
  1. - Top - End - #1
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    EvilClericGuy

    Join Date
    Aug 2012
    Location
    Darkest Dorset (UK)
    Gender
    Male

    Default Fall of antiquity (alpha V0.2)

    [Disclaimer] I have never role played but I love to write. This setting is mostly fluff coming from a writers angle. Also please note that this is very much a developmental alpha and has a lot of artifacts and early version weirdness to iron out. [/Disclaimer]

    Basic concepts:

    The setting is a low fantasy/semi high magic version of late classical antiquity staring a coming dark age straight down the throat.

    Belief makes things true, human belief created the gods, faeries and things that go bump in the night; fantasy ensues. I have used a mixture of Greek, Norse and Celtic influences for a D&D Feel.

    I want to use classical civilizations as templates for the various factions and kingdoms. I do not however want to just lift familiar civilizations straight from the pages of history. Instead I intend to use names most people know haven't heard of combined with the less familiar aspects of more well known names.

    Overview:
    Spoiler
    Show
    Setting: low fantasy, Mediterranean late antiquity equivalent. A dwarf/elf cold war whilst Human barbarians are overrunning the northern reaches of the divided elven empire in a series of shock invasions. Subjective alignment system.

    Cosmology: Absent creator (possible pandeistic/pantheistic or panethiestic universe)
    Belief makes things real. Fairies, magic, the gods, daemons all exist because people do believe in them. The elder gods are simply the gods of the very strange beings that lived and went extinct millions of years ago. They woke up when humanities faith in things that aren’t there brought the magic back.

    Plains

    Prime material plain
    Jhonthiem: Giants home plain

    Major elemental plains

    Terrestrial plain: standing in for TFR’s under dark to a degree. The under dark always broke the willing suspension of disbelief for me so this is a way of having it yet not having the physically and geometrically impossible voids everywhere. The best way to get to this plain is through deep caves or passing through a natural stone arch.

    Ethereal plain: Sky islands, flying cities, cloud people, air whales and airships. To get hear you must fly into the sun (not litteraly).

    Infernal plane: Burning skies, rains ash and embers, lava seas and liquid metal rivers. Practically a resort destination. The fastest way onto the infernal plane is to through yourself into the mouth of an active volcano.

    Pantalassus: An endless, bottomless ocean full of sea monsters, floating islands, mobile reefs and ghost ships. Portals can be opened up in waterfalls, whirlpools and still deep lakes.

    Vital plain: A vast forest of giant trees and massive creepy crawlies under a pulsating red sky. Instead of water, sap or juice there’s blood; the plants and fruits bleed when cut, the rivers run red and it rains blood. There are many ways to enter the vital plane, none of which can be printed.

    Necrotic plain: An endless twighlight moor coated in thick mist. Indistinct figures haunt ghostly ruins and there are half heard whispers on the edge of your perception. The surest path to the necrotic plane is to die.

    Elemental demiplains

    Umberal plain: The plain of darkness and shadow. The best way to get there is to walk through your own shadow.

    Borial plain: The plain of cold and ice. Entry is by stepping through ice.
    Archaic plain: The realm of thunder, metal and lightning arcs everywhere. You get there by being struck by lightning.

    Magic: hybrid high and low:

    Basic magic: More of a highly flexible workhorse. More accessible (less need to prepare).
    o Bards: more low level spells per day
    o Wizards: More feats
    o Sorcerer: More power!

    Invocation: High power, high difficulty, high risk with at least a minor back lash if things go right (much more if things go catastrophically wrong). You can do things to increase the power of invocations you can cast; however you can get right out of you depth and the backlash if the spell goes wrong will kill you stone dead (if you’re lucky).

    Divine magic: earn your spells by:
    o Making, keeping and completing vows
    o Slaying the hated enemies of your god
    o Completing divine tests and ordeals
    o Making sacrifices

    Schools:
    Biomancy: The control of life.
    Necromancy: The summoning, controlling, razing and laying of the dead.
    Psychomancy: Telepathy and the creation of illusions.
    Kinesis: The manipulation of forces.
    Evocation: Controlling, channelling or transmuting the elements.
    Conjuration: Summoning and teleportation

    Magic items: They exist, they are obtainable. Don’t expect to find them in the shops or for most merchants to be able to purchase an item for anything like its real value.

    Boons: These are gifts from the gods, given in recognition for a service (or to help to perform a service). They can bite you in the ***e if mishandled or if you lose the favour of your god; often transient and definitely not for sale. Fixed to a gods chosen and can have unintended side effects in the hands of others (for example your male rouge might start to get in to serious “trouble” after acquiring an “amulet of the blessed”, a boon typically associated with the mother goddess) .

    Focus: A focus is used to channel magic which comes from the wielder and not the item. Wands and staves are the typical focus though a holy symbol would be a good one for divine magic. Rather than allow you to cast a spell you don’t know it gives you a circumstance bonus to a given school or domain.

    Djin/fae items: Powerful, destructive, dangerous and unpredictable. They carry great risk and can only be wielded at a cost to your health, sanity, freedom and/or soul.

    Artifacts: Powered by the souls of forsaken children. Well maybe; it depends.

    Imprintable items: This items effects are bestowed by a caster/enchanter. They can be permanent or temporary with a time or use limit. Might crumble after a single full use.

    Major races:

    Nim: Humans. We have been enslaved for a very very long time; massive nimmen invasions have over run the northern territories (now it’s our turn).

    Valna: Elves. Dominant for a very long time, the central power is on very shaky ground BUT many valna are celebrating that fact (damn those liberal imperialists! We are free! Free to embrace the old ways! Free to enslave whoever we want, however we want; it’s the natural order of things)

    Shen: Dwarf/gnomes. Culturally they possess shades of Middle Eastern antiquity. Once they dominated the known world. They are currently in the 8th century of a drawn out cold war with the valna; enjoying the sense of Schadenfreude. (Revenge is a dish best served …eventually)

    Minor races:

    Haval: Half elves; form a kind of pseudo lower middle class in the valna societies. Some use their position and freedom for dubious personal advancement; forming “chivalric brotherhoods” and “friendly benevolent associations”. They are some of the most vocal opponents to nim rights. (I’ll make you an offer you can’t refuse).

    Chonir: Orcs. They are tough professional mercenaries, combat pragmatists and nomads. What passes for honour amongst them is all about the clean kill. Think mercenary barbarian gypsies with lots of bling.
    Wight’s: The living dead. Ghouls that are under a hereditary curse, they are “alive” for a given value of alive. They can pass for human most of the time.

    Goblins: Because it’s about time that the humble gobo got to be a PC race in my opinion. Not chaotic evil (because chaotic evil simply does not exist) and definitely not stupid. Goblins are lithe, limber and good climbers. They have retractable claws, slit pupils and cannot handle their drinks.

    Classes re-fluff

    Favored: This is my equivalent of the paladin. These warriors have been given, won or have been afflicted with the “favour” of a powerful spiritual being. They gain power by completing ordeals and keeping or completing vows (though not necessarily by choice). They follow the cause of their patrons; possibly against their will (gods can be like that sometimes). Think less Arthurian chivalric knight (A.C.K) and more Greek tragic hero (G.T.H) and you’re there.

    Sorcerer: These guys are reality warpers; they change things simply by the force of their personality. They carry the blood of giants with them (note that this could mean that they were born on land where a powerful titian was slain ages ago; blood in its literal meaning). They are not necessarily descended from giants, giants developed from the some of the children of the first sorcerer.

    Orators: Bards/scalds/scribes/actors/poets/philosophers and tyrants. These guys talk …a lot. Think Elan with a healthy dose of Aristotle and Solon of Athens.

    Spellfist: The somatic components of their spells are actually martial arts katas. They fight unarmed and unarmoured, specializing in unarmed strikes and touch attacks. (possibly new class required to do this)

    Alignments

    Out with the old.

    RE Chaos vs. Order: Both are emergent properties from the other; from chaos springs order, from order springs chaos. The distinction has no real value at the top end of things. It on a human scale boils down to “Do as you’re told” Verses “Do as you like”.

    RE Good vs. Evil: In this setting morality is subjective, the meaning and limits of what is good and what is evil depend on the observer and the initiator. Spirits may be Evil (for a given value of evil), gods are (supposedly) good (goodly: of gods) but what that actually means is not set in stone. As to which if any side (if you can find a definite side) can be said to hold the moral high ground (that is if it exits at all) in any given moment is anyone’s guess.

    In with the new.: Progressive-Conservative-Traditional

    Progressive: These guys want change; they want the society that is to become the new society of their ideals. They can want gradual or revolutionary change, it can be for the betterment of the many or for the few, it can be idealistic or pragmatic, it can be sound, speculative or insane; it doesn’t matter, all that matter is that they want to explore the possibilities of the future.

    Conservative: They want a tomorrow that looks more or less like today. They value stability and continuity above tradition and possibility. They are the stalwart defenders of the status quo (or more likely the resumption of the status quo in response to an unwanted change). That they might seek small improvements to the status quo or particular their place in it is of no matter.

    Traditional: They long for bygone days; they lament the passing of old glories. They seek to restore the old ways and often speak of “traditional values”. Whether or not their vision of the past is the unvarnished truth, romanticized nostalgia or an outright fabrication is of absolutely no importance; they want what they want.

    Major Powers

    The gods:

    The gods are real, present and active. These guys are petty, vindictive and don’t really understand the concept of freedom of will. Spend most of their time engaged in their own concerns and only pay attention to mortals that attract their interest (and havens help you if you do). The gods use oracles (mortals in sync with the gods mind set and purpose) to dispense with most of their business with the bulk of their followers.

    Primal gods: The gods of the elements and the natural world. Little interest in mortals most of the time, they will occasionally help worshipers (or rather stop hurting them) where appropriate sacrifices and tributes are offered. A lot of invocations draw on their powers so they are not as distant as you might imagine.

    Patron gods: The gods of civilization. These guys tend to have a greater degree of involvement with mortals and are more likely to have temples and permanent organized clergies. They can have something of the view that most of their mortal worshipers exist only as vectors for their patron aspect when they aren’t actively worshiping them; as a result blessings can leave something to be desired (and the god in question probably won’t understand why you would be disappointed (or totally freaked out), they might even get offended).

    Giants:

    Think less brothers grim, more ragnarock. Adult giants (titans) are mile high reality warpers who have built their own plain of existence (jhonthiem) and scare even the gods. The ones you see in our world are infants or runts; almost all of them outcasts for wickedness, being as ugly as sin or for being too stupid to be allowed into the gene pool (think leave the sickly babe out in the cold and you are half way there. NB. I know it it the antithesis of PC these days but it fits the setting and exposure was used as the background for many characters in classical mythology).

    Minor powers:

    Dragons:

    Dragons are form of physical elder god. Dragons are intelligent, intensely magical and extremely manipulative. They watch the world unfurl around them with alien curiosity. Dragons play with the lives of those under their shadows, a game either of solitaire or in competition against others to achieve whatever their objectives might be (examples: Give the crippled orphan girl a happily ever after (this after ensuring that the girl is a) orphaned and b) crippled) whilst simultaneously driving the benevolent king mad, who can get the most unlikely possible clamant on a given throne, mortal husbandry or the ever popular orbital trollstrike).

    Dragons horde treasure; I don’t mean stuff like the jeweled headpiece of the staff of Ra; monetary value is irrelevant. I mean objects that hold treasured memories, items that have enormous personal, social or emotive value (the doll you had since you were a little girl, your only memento of a lost grandparent, that one amulet that is proof of kingship and is thus drenched in generations of human blood, the relic of the ancestors and symbol of your nation). They wrap themselves around the echoes of the past and let the memories and feelings permeate their dreams.

    Dijn

    These beings are desire and ambition incarnate. The Djin are powerful spiritual beings that are said to grant wishes, but always at a price. The payment they extract isn’t coin; sometimes it services rendered. What they really want is more esoteric; a pound of flesh, a part of your power, a sense, a peace of your mind, your children, your soul. They are tricky, deceptive; if a bargain with a djin looks too good to be true that’s because it is. There are only two reasons why a djin would give a wish for “free”; 1) because you have them over a barrel and it’s an offering or bribe 2) because it amuses them or will cause a large amount of suffering for little to no benefit (usually one and the same thing).

    Note: I was going to have daemons in this setting but eventually I relented. I am splitting the "Unholy terror" aspect off and putting that into the faebolgs whist I am keeping the "Faustian corruption" aspect of daemons and putting them into these sinister genies

    The fae:

    Mad, bad and dangerous to know. More down to earth than most of the others on this list as they (usually) possess physical bodies that are of human size and humanoid-ish shape. At least with these guys they can look you in the eyes as they torture you just to hear you scream; you should be able to read the delight on their shining faces.

    Immortal, arrogant and capricious; the fae are wondrous and terrifying in equal measure (often with the same breath). They never lie and never break a promise (but they are so good at word games and subtle deception that it never really matters).

    Faebolg: Creatures of fire and shadow, the children of fear, the faebolg are masters of negative energy. It was they who unleashed the first strains of necromancy on the world. They are responsible for vampires and the plague of undeath.

    The sihdee defeated them in the final stages of the fae war and banished them from the surface; they and all their children can no longer abide the touch of the sun.

    Sidhee: Gods made flesh, final victors of the fae wars of ages past. From their loins spawned the valna; they ruled over their mortal children as divine ancestor kings. It is said that the valna are but pale echoes of the sihdee in form and in deed, so it was that their cruelty knew no bounds. In the end the valna could stand no more, they forged new gods from their tears and desperation; with their aid they fought and defeated the sihdee; banishing them to the storm clad Prethic Isles.

    Feamori: Once a race of powerful spell casters and great philosophers. Their understanding of the creator was unparalleled and it was thought that they would emerge victorious from the fae wars.

    However were early casualties of the fae wars. Enslaved by the faebolg they sought refuge in annihilation. Now they are but a shadow of their former selves, their magic all but spent, their bodies destroyed and even their minds lost. All that remains of them in this world is the joint undermind of the faemin hives.

    Trow/faelin: The original trow where powerful changelings, masters of trickery and deception. They were the progenitors of the gobliniod races. They were allied to the sihdee in the fae wars when they were betrayed; the sihdee stole their power and left their race a husk of its former self.

    Faelin are tiny beings, small enough to fit into the palm of a human hand. Their magic has recovered somewhat but it is still no match for what they once wielded. As faelin they spawned the diminutive races. The most important of their descendants are the shen.

    Modern trow are ascended trolls, who use the power of their giants’ blood to reignite their immortal fae ancestry
    Last edited by Blightedmarsh; 2012-08-23 at 02:06 AM.

  2. - Top - End - #2
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    EvilClericGuy

    Join Date
    Aug 2012
    Location
    Darkest Dorset (UK)
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Fall of antiquity (alpha V0.2)

    Reserved for the major races

    Glossary
    Spoiler
    Show
    The primary three humanoid races:
    Valna: (lit: people beings) Elves, these guys are the cultural equivalent of the Greco-Roman (possibly with a bit of Etruscans and Thracians thrown in for good measure).
    Shen: (lit: enemy) A biological mishmash of dwarves, gnomes and Halflings without any of the silliness. Culturally the equivalent of the Bronze Age middle eastern and Mediterranean civilisations (with a little of the Mesoamericans for the southern shen)
    Nim (lit: Slaves) Humans, the base stock for all humanoid races and the primary slave race for the other two. Nb: Nim is derived from Nem (lit: livestock).

    Nimba: (lit: Slave being [diminutive]) human child under the age of majority
    Ner: (lit: Vassal) Typicaly applies to a retainer or the resident of a vassal state.
    Ennim: (lit: Un-slave) Free human resident of a valna polis (City/charter town)
    Nimmen (lit: slave foe) Human barbaian
    Phanim(lit: land slave)Human serf bound to a village or estate
    Haval: (lit: half people) Half elves
    Elf: (lit: Master) The nim word for valna, Legal owner of a nim.
    Chonir: (lit: Ugly bandits) Orcs, surprisingly well intergrated.

    [Nb: These are the masculine nouns, used for generalities and masculine specifics. The “Na” suffix is feminized as “Rasa” so Valna become Valrasa. The en suffix (meaning opposed) applies to both genders, as an enemy is an enemy regardless as to what equipment he or she possesses. Both the Nim and Nir suffixes are feminized by the application of “A” so Chonir becomes Chonira and Valnim becomes Valnima. The “Ba” becomes “Ra” so nimba becomes nimra]

    Kyma: (lit: beasts)Artificially created man/beast hybrid races
    Suinim/Suinir (lit: Pig slaves/bandits) A mono-gender race of male shock infantry.
    Eponir: (lit: Horse bandits) equine centaurs; dominate the central plains of the world island.
    Anuba: (lit: Lizard beings [diminutive]) A short reptilian/mammalian hybrid race created by dragons. A cultural cross between Native Americans and kobolds.
    Umina: (lit: Sea beings) Mermaids; warm blooded, scale less, mammalian air breathing mermaids

    Kyrosna: (lit: Dead being) the undead
    Sankyrosna: (lit: blood dead)Vampire
    Sankyrosnim: (lit: blood dead slave) Vampire thralls
    Kyrosnir: (lit: Dead bandits) Ghouls
    Kyrosnim: (lit: Dead slave) Controlled/razed Zombies, immortals.
    Kyrosen: (lit: Opposing dead) Plague zombie
    Kyroslin: (lit: Dead spirits) Revnants, ghoasts, the spirits of the dead.

    Jhontus: (lit: Giant being [semi-divine]) Giants
    Jhonba: (lit: little giant) Ogres. Better known as Ohnir: (lit: savage bandits)
    Taitus: (lit: largest beings) The eldest and most powerful giants, the titans.
    Ghoathus: (lit: Vermin demigod) Ascendant trolls.

    Fae: (lit: fairies) A race of immortal magic beings with physical bodies.
    Faebalin: (lit: little fairy spirits) sprites/true fairies
    Faeba: (lit: little fairy) Pixies
    Sidhee: (lit: Fair folk) the ancestral progenitors of the Valna race.
    Faebolg: (lit: Dark fairy) Shadowy creatures of fire and magic. Creators of the vampires.
    Faemori: (lit: strange fairy) A once dominant fairy race that created the Faemornim.
    Faenim: (lit: strange fairies slave) A subterranean mortal race with a hive unconsciousness and symbiotic implants.



    Valna

    Spoiler
    Show

    The valna (or alfr) are a race of long lived and magically gifted humanoids. Valna are essentially elves for all intents and purposes. Valna are the decedents of humans and sihdee; some philosophers claim that they are ascendant humans destined to become fae, others that they are fallen spirits that are degenerating into humans and still others that they are a chosen people who are in no way related to humans (who as everybody knows are only a kind of goblin after all). The truth of the matter is that even their very first ancestors were still human, they used the power residing in their sihdee blood to make themselves “more” than human (for a predefined value of more). As an artificial race valna are physically very varied. They often have this uncanny quality about them that transcends beauty or ugliness, truth be told many valna are difficult to look at (or away from); whilst usually it nothing you can put they just seem wrong (something that even they themselves find although they would never admit it).

    Valna reach adolescence at about twenty and full adulthood around 100 years. Valna can live for as many as 600 years, the vagaries of old age touch lightly on them and they are resistant to disease. Women reach fertility at 120 (though the men at a quarter of this age)and remain so until they hit menopause at 450, valna pregnancies take 26 months though it is common practice amongst wealthy families to use nima or Havala surrogates.
    One might wonder if (note please the if) Valna are so wonderful, so beautiful in comparison to any and all other life why do Haval exist at all? The simple answer is that underneath the veneer of civilization beats the heart and lusts of a caveman. Whilst “because they can” goes a long way to explaining valna and nim unions and ”Love is blind” does help the real reason is that valna still see the human body, the human form as physically attractive; not that any would ever admit this. Good enough for the dark isn’t about the looks of their partner is about their embarrassment at wanting that, about not getting publicly shamed for their “unnatural perversions”.

    One would imagine that they either must have either a low birth rate or an explosive population growth, neither is the case. Put simply Valna adolescents (valba) have a very high mortality rate with ½ of any generation of girls and typically less than one quarter (one tenth during times of intense conflict) of boys living to see adulthood. This is due to:
    o A sense of personal immortality
    o Congenital defects
    o Boredom induced wanderlust
    o The recklessness of youth
    o Arrogance and a disproportionate sense of entitlement
    o Military service
    o Indifferent parenting
    o High rate of suicide
    o 80 years worth of adolescence to get into a world of trouble

    Valna society states that the people who are ruled best are ruled least (note that they apply this formula only to themselves, for all else the either the iron fist with or without the velvet glove and/or silken chains are the order of the day). It also states that magic is the birthright of every valna (little more than a polite lie; whilst they may have the aptitude most simply don’t have the discipline and focus to really master the subtle applications of magic).
    Speaking of magic the kind that valna have historically excelled at is biomancy. This is the manipulation of life using magic; it entails:
    • Magical examination, diagnosis and treatment
    • Grafting, transplantation and regeneration.
    • The boosting of physical or mental attributes (buffing).
    • The creation of kyma and the control of other forms of permanent bodily transformation, alteration and mutation.

    Congenital defects

    The valna are a self made artificial race. They were altered and breed magically in ancient times by human sihdee hybrids who did not have any real idea of what they were doing at the direction of powerful being who simply did not care about the consequences.

    The results of this have wrought a long and tragic history of birth defects and mutation. The only bright spot is that a combination of the generations of savage winnowing as well as better understanding of the use of biomancy has ameliorated the worst of the effects.

    The on going effects of this genetic meddling include:
    • Increased rates of miscarriages, still births and maternal and neonatal mortalities,
    • Disproportionately high levels of blindness, sterility, cardiovascular and motor neural defects
    • Dwarfism and albinism
    • A broad palate of skin tones including grey blue, pale green, copper, black and white (all from the orininal olive brown).
    • Nonstandard hair coloration including green and blue
    • Chromatic abnormalities in iris pigmentation including radial, segmental and true chromaticism as well as exotic pigments including yellow, violet and silver.

    Hormonal problems leading to endemic levels of a variety of morphologies and parapsychologies:
    • Abnormal or unstable levels of sexuality
    • Gender dysmorphia
    • Psychopathy, sociopathy, paranoid delusions, hysteria, hallucinations and schizophrenia.

    Slavery


    The valna have a long and sordid history of slavery. They enslaved the entire population of the second human tribe they encountered in the first three months. Valna have always regarded nim as less, the intellectual and moral equivalent of children at best, happiest when ruled firmly.
    Valna think themselves superior, they have however a neurotic insecurity about this; How do you define better (thought, deed or being?), to what extent and to what limit? This is further muddied by the fact that the valna are themselves descended from slaves who over threw their progenitors and masters in the face of intolerable cruelty.
    In response to this the valna have a compulsion to justify their action, particularly the more questionable ones like slavery. As part and parcel of this they set limits on what they do and do not allow; they congratulate themselves on this, saying that proves that they are better, more civilized and thus entitled. They include:
    • Gratuitous violence or cruelty.
    • Using magic to enslave or destroy a beings mind.
    • Violating families with no just cause
    • Ectra…..

    This is not to say that the valna do not abuse nim, it happens; it’s even quite common. The fact of the matter is that they would rather just pretend that it doesn’t happen; they don’t want to see, they don’t want to hear, they don’t want to know. Cruel masters can do pretty much whatever they want within reason; they just have to be discrete. Those who attempt to expose or place further limits on abuse will find little cooperation from the authorities, win few friends. Conversely those who have been indiscreet are likely to find themselves isolated and destroyed in a storm of scandal. As stated valna don’t want to acknowledge that abuse can and does happen and tend to be hostile to those who force them to.

    Ancient History

    The valna have always been politically defined in relation to their ancient rivals the shen. 2500 years ago the expanding valna states came into a prolonged series of conflicts with the dominant second shen empire resulting in the valna obtaining the islands (Valshu) and northern shores of the western inland sea (Valmere) as well as control its waterways.
    1200 years ago the valnic league finally broke the third shen empire and where able to seize vast swathes of territory, however they were unable to hold in the face of the plague of undeath that had so fatally weakened their enemies.

    Etruic hegemony

    In the aftermath of the disaster in the east the city of Etros was able to destroy its great rival Romos and using its new suinim shock troopers seize the neighboring state of Sebine. On the back of this victory Etros consolidated its hold on the heartlands; the lands on the northern shores of Valmere and south of the bulwark mountains.
    After its failure to secure lasting control of the Valshu (peoples islands) and its costly victory against the shen in wresting back the ancestral valna homelands Etros turned its attention north of the bulwarks. She built up an extensive hegemony of Valner protectorates, small feudal principalities and micro-republics ruled directly by Valna and loyal to Etros.
    The hegemony finally fell some 30 years ago. Weakened by decades of civil conflict the hegemony was forced to withdraw its armies to defend its heartlands. This allowed the nimen invasions to overwhelm the frontiers and tear the hinterlands to bits, destroying most of the northern protectorates. The homelands -already at war with the capitol- used this opportunity to secure their independence.


    Notes:The elves of this setting, large and in charge. The owe less to Tolkiens' Legolas and Gladriel than they do to Elric of Melnboorne and a particularly disturbing Television advert I saw some years ago.

    Shen
    Spoiler
    Show

    The rulers of the near east. Once their realm starched from the mouth of the Valmere to the foothills of the high Esters, from the bulwarks to the borders of the southern veld. In the time when the Valna were but the bastard get of the fair folk the Shen ruled the known world, the shen were the known world.

    They stand around 3’8”-4’10” tall with disproportionately large heads, eyes, hands and feet. They are primarily nocturnal and have very good night vision. Their builds can range from rotund to slim, from skrawn to brawn; the average shen has a lean wiry quality to them.

    Shen are patriarchal and matrilineal; the most exalted positions in society are usually reserved for males but caste, status, affiliation and property are passed down through the maternal line. As mentioned they hold a strong caste system that decides if a shen is a priest, mage, warrior, merchant or artisan; below this there is a system of profession specific subcastes (smith vs. tanner for example but it is fairly simple to change). It is possible to change ones caste but a shen would have to be adopted into a family to do so. Noble and outcastes stand respectively above and outside the caste system

    Clans

    Each clan is a sovereign unit. Clans are forms of an alliance of extended noble families, their vassals and retainers. The clans inner circle is formed of a council of family heads, a new clan leader is chosen by elections from the circle. Clans can and do form stable partnerships with others. Lesser clans are often subjugated, paying homage to an overclan. This is usually the way for a new clan; they will be bound by fealty to their mother clan.
    Shen clans operate out of strongholds; fortress homes designed to take advantage of the landscape. Such strongholds are normally surrounded by a fortified town that accommodates the bulk of the clansmen, industry as well as provides an extra layer of defence to the stronghold.

    The absolute authority of a clan extends only a dozen or so miles beyond their stronghold. Past that lie other strongholds, wilderness or human protectorates (note that the shen prefer to be on the borders of two or more such states rather than as an enclave in one as this gives them much more room to maneuver). Rather than directly ruling over vassal human lands clans use complex arrangements of treaties, trade deals, patronage and obligations to hold sway over their neighbors. It is not uncommon for two or more clans to conflict over the “stewardship” of such states, it is also not uncommon for a canny human ruler to play such clans off of each other for his own benefit.

    Religion: Shen worship the creator god, they acknowledge the ideal of a duel masculine/feminine nature of the divine. Below this they worship various local pantheons of patron and primal gods. A unique feature amongst the shen is the absence of good or evil, they dismiss such concepts as irrelevant constructs.

    They believe that on death the soul is eventually reincarnated; the emphasis being on eventually. The souls of the dead may spend time in paradise, in torment, in limbo, in binding or even just wandering the earth; the amount of time before rebirth and the nature of that interlude depends heavily on the life that person lead, the nature of their deaths, what was done to their body and what has been done to their soul. In this at least the shen have hit the nail on the head; this is the fate of all mortal souls. ”Eternal” reward and “eternal” damnation always end when the divinity/ies holding the soul dies or the soul is released.

    Furthermore the shen affirm a belief in karma. It isn’t about punishment or reward; they believe that the consequences of your past lives for better or for ill will catch up with you. They believe that a wise being should wield the consequences of their existence responsibly. The ultimate objective of their faith is to leave the cycle of rebirth, to become beings of pure consequence; propagating out and effecting all things for all time, in so doing becoming as of one with the entire universe and thus the absolute divinity; the creator.

    Magic: The shen are the masters of necromancy, second only in power to the faebolg and in technique to none. They wield the negative energies in the creation of the undead armies and golem heavy infantry that make them so feared. They use it to make the arrays that give them power over the magical landscape and make the barren deserts of their homelands bloom. They use it to speak with the dead, to commune with the ancestors and foretell the future.

    The other school that shen are famous for is psychomancy. Whist the valna may use it for glamor, suggestion and illusion the shen wield it to impose their mental dominion over others, to commune, to dominate and to rip information straight out of their opponents mind. Many a valna thought weaver have found their subtle web of falsehoods ripped to shreds by the razor edged will of their truth seeker opposites.


    Notes: I made the shen up whole cloth. They are my rendition of dwarfs/gnomes. The early version referred to several shen cultures based off of various ancient eastern nations. Their religion is a mosh up of my own beliefs with oriental philosophy and applied to this particular world-scape (I was kind of stuck for ideas so I went with what I knew).

    Humans

    Spoiler
    Show
    Humans are unquestionably the oldest and almost certainly the most numerous race in the world, however we are far from the dominant one; most particualy in the civilised world. Whilst the facts that both shen and valna are magically far more adroit as well as (not incoincidently) longer lived then humans are factors in this the primary reason is that these races are appreciably more resistant to disease than humans.

    Whilst shen and particularly valna have little to fear from human borne diseases there is one that gives them pause and has shaped the rise and fall of civilisation; the plague of undeath. This dread illness is all but incurable and causes death in a matter of hours by violent delirium inducing fevers. The real terror is that it causes its victims to rise again as mindless Kyrosen -plague zombies- who obey no command, respect no ward, fear no rebuke and hunger for the flesh of the living. It is the periodic outbreaks of this plague that has shaped attitudes to humans (albeit unfairly as we are not the only carriers), architecture and urban planning throughout the old cities of the inland sea.

    The power of mankind is the power of faith; not only did human belief people the world but it also has the power to shape it. Whist other races can and do believe and whist individuals can hold passionate convictions no other race can sustain the kind of mass irrational fanaticism that humans can build up. When the fires of jihad are lit it takes the full resources of an alliance of nations generations to extinguish.; as the valna say “Wanis no nimir” Lit: humans are insane.

    Nim

    Nim are for all intents and purposes strictly human beings, the name being the word the valna use for us, particularly those of us under their rule. The literal meaning of the word nim is slave[male] with nima being its feminine equivalent. The word is derived from the awld-alvash “nem” meaning livestock or chattel.

    These days most of the nim in the valna controlled regions enjoy a measure of freedom (this is not to say that these states do not have large populations of human and nonhuman slaves as that is most certainly the case). Most free nim (ennim or “unslave”) live either in small –and in theory- human ruled vassal states(nimphal), as indentured (phanim or “land slave”) or itinerant labourers or as resident non-citizens. The exceptions to this are conservative or traditionalist controlled states that require all resident or itinerant nim to be registered and indelibly marked to be sold and held as property. As valna are the undisputed masters of biomancy it is of no surprise to learn that terrible things happen to nim in their lands.

    In the shen realms it is a little simpler; one is either the free resident of one of the large number of human states that are a patchwork across shen lands, a guest of the shen or a slave. There is absolutely no middle ground with them. As shen are the undisputed masters of necromancy it is little wonder to know that terrible things happen to nim in their lands.

    Naming traditions tend to be fairly strait forward. For example Rholan of the city of Etros might be called Rholan Etronim, Meris an ancestral servant of the Ashna family could well be named Meris Ashnema. As few humans can speak classical valna neither would realize the full meaning of their names when they introduce themselves; on that note Nema (lit: cow) and its derivations form the basis of some of the most popular girls names. Name suffixes translating as son or daughter are also fairly common although far more so for valna than nim.

    Nimir

    These humans live beyond the control of shen or valna. Traditionally the name means bandit (implying weakness or a lack of serious threat) however since the fall of the northern hegemony it has come to take on the meaning of barbarian. The areas of the world currently under nimir dominion include the northlands, the fallen provinces of the Etrus hegemony, the Prethic isles, the savannahs south of the Mamori Jungles and the Vast as well as the mountains and lands beyond the far eastern fringes of what was the third shen empire.

    Nimir raiders, pirates and bandits (forgive the pun) are known through all but the safest parts of the inland sea and Shen lands. Nim uprisings and nimir invastions have been known to form “Nimirphal” (lit: slave bandit states), this is held as a dangerous phenomenon and these cities are considered to be the source of many of the troubles that plague the civilised lands.

    The barbarian northmen who destroyed most of the hinterland states have become known as the Nimmen or just Men. The Nimmen invasion was prompted by both a strategic weaknes on the northern borders as well as a series of hard winters and an escalation in the attacks from the centaur plains from raids to full scale assaults.


    Note: These guys were where I started. The phrase "the elven word for human was the same as the elven word for slave" was what got me inspired to do this and create and frame it with the "Valna glossary".

    Haval (lit: Half people)
    Spoiler
    Show

    This race is descended from the children of valna and nim. Adult haval stand between 4’8” and 6’6”, they reach adulthood at thirty and can live for 120 years. They tend to have robust athletic physiques, high cheekbones and slightly pointed ears.

    They find it hard to conceive children amongst themselves, most haval are first or second generation with no pure line fifth generation haval recorded. As a result the haval have one of the smallest populations and are only found in large numbers where valna and nim reside together.

    They have a social status above ennim in valna society but obviously below that of the valna themselves. They act as a kind of middle class of tradesmen, merchants and skilled artisans. A very large proportion of haval are directly employed in the slave trade, valna have traditionally liked to keep some of the more ethically and aesthetically questionable aspects of their society out of sight and out of mind; these haval slavers are dirty hands held at arms length.

    The social reforms of the Etros hegemony were perceived as a direct threat to the haval and their way of life. The increased socioeconomic standing of ennim undermined the livelihoods of haval workers with previously unheard of levels of competition. Furthermore the ennims increased protection from enslavement and the review of the phanim statues drastically reduced the population of slaves; thus threatening the only industry still dominated by haval. Worse still was that due to the reduced power that valna held over nim and phanim, the reduced numbers of nim and the increased social status and legal protection of ennim the numbers of first generation haval dropped to an all-time low; the haval were facing extinction.

    The haval are quite understandably the biggest and most vocal opponents to the cause of nims’ rights and ennims’ enfranchisement. The hegemonies backing down on the issues in the wake of the northern disasters is seen as their biggest victory in this war of words. The tensions between the haval and the ennim have continued to rise as a result of this. There are very few true haval slaves (hanim)as few are ever enslaved and of those that do very few live long. There are rather more Havalner; bound haval vassal and retainers.

    Most cities have one or more “civic brotherhoods”, in theory they are chartered to protect haval homes, businesses and communities from ennim attacks as well as proactively moniter and break up ennim unrest. In reality most of these brotherhoods are little more than licenced criminal gangs who violently assault anyone they don’t like at the same time as extorting money from the very people they are supposed to be protecting. The brotherhoods have become heavily involved in various criminal enterprises such as theft, money laundering, fraud, trafficking, bribery, black marketering and the off books slave trade. This has lead them into violent confrontations with each other, the older criminal networks and on occasions the civil authorities


    Notes: knew I needed to include half elves. I thought about what It might mean to be a half elf in such a society, then I applied the genetically unstable hybrid mafioso template.

    Chonir
    Spoiler
    Show

    The orcish race is a study in contrast. Traders, mercenaries and haunting musicians; the orcs are truly a many talented race. They stand between 4’10” and 6’8”, they have thickset broad shoulders and a muscular physique. Their faces have high pronounced cheekbones, brows as well as flat noses.

    Society:

    Most chonir are nomads, particularly in the civilised lands. They travel from settlement to settlement in wagons, barges or boats selling goods and services. Many are sell swords; professional mercenaries that drift from contract to contract; always looking for the biggest profit.

    The southern foothills of the Stormshield Mountains also play host to settled chonir communities, this is considered to be the ancestral homelands of the chonir.

    Social status amongst the chonir is directly dependant on wealth and the ability to generate wealth. For this reason most chonir are fixated on profit; it is a measure of worth, standing, influence and marital eligibility. The richest display their wealth with ornate wagons, fine weapons, exotic slaves, holding extravagant feasts and patronage.

    In society:

    In the northlands many chonir are fully integrated with nimmen society, even going so far as to hold rank and marry into the new human nobility. Their strengths and prowess are much admired amongst the nimmen whose own culture is far more accepting of the chonirs violent tendencies.

    It is normal to find chonir amongst or even leading mixed bandit groups. Bandit raiders whose numbers are dominated or solely made up of chonir are by no means uncommon; caravans have been known to engage in opportunistic banditry.

    Amongst the valna they have a reputation as troublemakers but also as “problem solvers”. The noble houses have been known to employ Chonir retainers. They require special dispensation to set foot in valna cities. Few chonir are ever enslaved as they are considered to be more trouble than they are worth.

    Combat:

    The chonir have a reputation for excessive violence; casual displays of violence are considered a normal everyday part of life. Chonir are resistant to blunt force trauma and are able to heal better than most other races (for example they can regrow lost teeth); moderate violence amongst their own carries far less risk and as a result no social stigma. Boxing, wrestling, stave and club fencing are common activities in chonir communities and are used to settle disputes, as sport and entertainment.

    In actual combat chonir are far from the mindless brutes of myth. They are first and foremost pragmatists, ready and able to use any and all means to achieve victory but will also walk away without a moment’s hesitation if there is nothing to be gained or lost from it. They prefer simple plans rather than convoluted strategies; they are masters of the fundamentals of tactics.


    Note: I did not want the typical Tolkien monster ork, nor did I want the Warhammer style ultraviolent hooligan. I Most certainly did not want a proud warrior guy Klingon clone. I think I have managed to make something that is none of the above and yet still interesting.

    Goblins

    Spoiler
    Show
    Goblins are the descendants of humans and Trow. Adult goblins stand between 3’ and 4’6” tall. They are lithe and limber creatures, fully capable of bending and stretching in eye watering ways; this allows them to be experts in the kind of climbing and contortionism required of their cave and forest homes. The come in a range of greens, yellows, browns and blues. They have disproportionality larger eyes, course spikey hair and sharp teeth.

    Goblins reach maturity at about 12 years old and can live to about 60 in captivity. Spell casters can and do live longer; 120 years old being not untypical. The oldest recorded goblin was Rhas’Tothek who lived in captivity in the menageries of Aos until her death at the approximate age of 350. Anecdotal evidence indicates that there are goblins an order of magnitude older than that but most serious scholars discount this.

    Goblins are temperamental, have little patience and are easily distracted. The also suffer from memory problems, particularly short term memory lapses; the upshot of this is that goblins simply can’t read, the letters merging into indecipherable gibberish in their minds. However goblins are not stupid; they are capable of extraordinary feats of lateral thinking, creativity and they are possessed of a deeply intuitive mind set.

    Society:

    Goblins exalt cunning and power above all else, the strongest and most powerful rule a tribe either alone or in council. Most goblin tribes exist as primitive hunter gatherer, the progress of their society forever stemmed by their illiteracy.

    Tribes with a high percentage of hobgoblins usually advance to a fare more developed level when given the opportunity. They build monumental earthworks and megalithic structures, they farm the slopes and hillsides as well as develop stratified ordered networks of communities.

    Goblinoids have been known to engage in conflict with their more developed neighbors, raiding villages for food, tools or captives. They are often considered a menace by farmers as they hunt livestock. More serious conflicts arise when they try to drive out settlers or when settlers try to eradicate them.

    Despite this many communities encourage peaceful relationships with goblins: trading slaves, craft goods and strong spirits for the fine leather, local knowledge, slaves or precious gemstones that goblins can produce. Shen in particular get on well with goblins, they view them as the height of physical beauty and (albeit distant) kinsmen due to their shared blood.

    Magic and religion:

    Goblins worship the primal deities in their guise as nature and animal spirits, through the rituals of their druids and shaman goblins seek to affect the physical and spiritual world and their place in it. For the tribes magic and religion are irrevocably linked, power –be it arcane or divine- is always from without and always extracts a price.

    They are one of the most magically gifted of the mortal races. The valna emphasize the way of magic; they excel at incite and subtly, the shen emphasize the craft of magic; they excel at will and diligence but goblins are masters of the art of magic; they excel at inspiration and spontaneity.


    Notes: I wanted goblins to be both fun and serious. Less of a joke character, more of a lethal joke character. I added in a dash of gnome, fae and catgirl to get a new blend.
    Last edited by Blightedmarsh; 2012-08-21 at 11:41 AM. Reason: Additions

  3. - Top - End - #3
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    EvilClericGuy

    Join Date
    Aug 2012
    Location
    Darkest Dorset (UK)
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Fall of antiquity (alpha V0.2)

    Reserved for the gods (and similar) cosmology and magic.

    Concepts scrap book
    Spoiler
    Show
    The way I would like magic to work is the following:
    You get a repertoire of basic spell effects, these you can expand, empower, combine, alter and prolong in a myriad of tactically creative ways. The catnips and domain first level spell have no limits on the number of times they may be cast.

    Spells carry risks and backlashes. The more powerful the spell is the bigger the backlash it causes. There is technically no limit on how powerful a character can cast; however if they attempt a spell that is far too powerful for them it more than likely will kill them flat out.
    Wisdom: this is based on the idea of tying into the forces of the natural world. Circumstances have the biggest effect on this school.

    Charisma: Adaptation, improvisation. The spell caster attempts to manipulate the forces of magic based on instinct and pure force of personality rather than knowledge. Basically you bluff the universe into working the way you want it to for a short period of time.

    Intelligence: Fortune favours the prepared, the caster uses her knowledge to manipulate the forces of magic.

    Constitution: Power comes at a great cost. The caster simply accepts the risk and focuses on enduring the consequences.

    Schools

    Kinesis:
    This school is all about the manipulation of forces. This includes
    telekinesis, force fields, feather fall, water walk, crushing fist, magic missile, ghosts touch and similar.

    Basic rules:
    You cannot directly affect anything inside an animate target (no crushing an opponent’s heart).
    Increased levels of procession, force, area, distance and duration make spells harder.
    Acknowledging and making use of the laws of Newtonian physics (I am looking at you Bhor, and don’t think I can’t hear you Plank sniggering in the back) spells get easier or more powerful.

    Conjuration: This school is about teleportation, plain shifts and summoning of one sort or another.

    Rules of summoning:
    1) You cannot summon something that does not exist
    2) To summon an object, person or entity you have to have some sort of seal attached to it.
    3) If summoning to another location it must be a pre prepared on to which you currently possess a physical or mystical link.
    4) Dijn and similar entities may come when summoned:
    a. If their true names are invoked
    b. If you arouse their interest
    c. If you have a standing contract.

    Rules of teleportation
    1) You may not teleport an object physically inside or attached to another (Eg: an eyeball, spleen) without taking the whole thing.
    2) You may not use teleport to insert an object within another (Eg: telefrag)
    3) The further you attempt to teleport a body the harder it is.
    4) A larger or more massive body is harder to teleport than a small one
    5) It is harder to teleport to an unknown or unseen area.
    6) It is easier to teleport to or from a preprepared area.
    7) It is easier to teleport a preprepared body
    8) Teleportation is significantly easier when attempting to exchange the position of two bodies of similar mass.


    Jhontus

    Spoiler
    Show
    Giants

    Giants are the juvenile form of titans. For the first three hundred years of life a young giant will live with its mother. They leave home when they reach about 50’ tall and begin to wander the land. The childlike naivety of newly independent giants does not –in human eyes at least- fit well with their massive size and can them the unfair reputation of stupidity and clumsiness.
    As mentioned giants are nomads; they roam over vast tracks of land and most will make a pilgrimage to bathe in the oceans of both the west and the east. They are by and large solitary, though most will form a loose association of intermittent acquaintances. When giants meet they usually either fight or drink, both outcomes are an apocalyptic nightmare for anyone nearby. Giants tend to settle down in a home territory at about 500 years old.

    Giantesses usually stay fairly close to home. These comely wenches are rarely seen abroad and often have to fight off potential suitors with a stick (a good stout oak if she can get it but failing that any conifer will do). Giantesses normally leave home when they are ready to settle down.
    Giants have the power to affect the world around them; their prolonged presence in an area causes plants and animals to grow to abnormal size. Without this power the larger giants would starve as the natural world simply cannot provide enough food for them.

    As the giant ages it will slowly accumulate great knowledge, wisdom and cunning. Giants grow almost thought out their lives and at around the age of 1000 they generally reach around 100M or 300’ high. It is about that age that the giants’ nascent reality warping powers become fully fledged and the giant becomes a titan.
    Jontushiem

    This massive plane of existence was created and is maintained by the elder Titians. It is the realm of the giants and it is where most giants live. Those giants found in our world (Midghiem in the giants tongue) are outcasts, adventurers or the truly lost. Those outcast giants are often abandoned, exposed here to die because of some deformity of mind or body, or perhaps exiled for unspeakable crimes; this is why most of the tales of giants in our world today speak of wickedness, hideousness, foolishness or stupidity whereas many giants and titans from myth are known for their wisdom or physical beauty (although not necessarily for their benevolence).

    Titans

    Titans are the mature form of giants. The titan uses their powers to retreat from the world; forming their own pocket plane of existence tailored to suit them. Titans can no longer live in the wider world; the laws of physics and biology simply will not allow it. As a result few titans ever leave their realms save to visit others of their kind.

    Titans continue to grow as they age though the rate becomes increasingly slowed. The smallest measure 300’ tall, the oldest titans stand at over a mile high. These ancient titans are some of the most powerful and cunning beings in the world; even the gods give them a wide birth and think long and hard before dealings with them.


    Fae
    Spoiler
    Show

    Faemori

    While the faemin are essentially still human the faemori are not, nor ever they were. Once a powerful species of fey, they have denigrated into their current form.

    Once upon a time the faemori where mighty; they vied with the sihdee, the trow and the faebolgs for lordship of the faery. Their wars long and bloody, the stalemate bitter. Once they were wise beyond measure, of all races theirs was said to be the closes to understanding the mind of god; this was to prove their undoing.

    As they exist today they are a spiritual parasite. Rather than possessing individual bodies a faemori inhabits the minds of an entire colony of faemin. In a very real sense it is the joint unconscious mind that binds them; when a faemin speaks of “a spirit of community” it is to this that she refers.

    Trolls

    These are one of the least understood and most variable of all the races.
    Trolls are turned to stone in the light of day; THIS DOES NOT KILL THEM. This is a necessary and essential part of trollen biology and psychology. When stone a troll will heal injuries and purify its body of poisons and magics, they revert to flesh when the daylight fades.

    Trolls are not stupid; they are however forgetful. As stone they forget much of what has occurred on the previous night. The most cunning trolls migrate north over winter and hide from the sun while they have a specific task. Trolls who forsake the light of day however are driven to bestial fury by their constant wakefulness.

    Adult trolls start around 7’ tall and can get up to 150’ high; trolls can grow or shrink at will by about 10% of their height per day. Trolls live alone or in small groups; usually in caves or isolated cottages. One favoured hunting strategy is to lurk underwater and ambush passers bys; dragging them down to their deaths.

    Trolls possess the blood of both giants and faries. Certain magic using trolls unlock the hidden deapths of this power becoming as of their immortal trow ancestors. Trolls who are on the path to becoming trow are the most driven and cunning of their kind.
    Last edited by Blightedmarsh; 2012-08-23 at 02:04 AM.

  4. - Top - End - #4
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    EvilClericGuy

    Join Date
    Aug 2012
    Location
    Darkest Dorset (UK)
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Fall of antiquity (alpha V0.2)

    Reserved for politics/geography and history.

    No world map as of yet but a basic overview of the terrain

    The north

    In the far north you have got the stormshields, high snowy mountains with lots of fiords.

    South of that you have the wooded foothills that make up the orks homeland running down into the great forest.

    To the east you have the vast steps of the centaur plains.

    South west of the great forest is the plains and river valleys that once made up the Etruic hinterlands, a patchwork of valna client kingdoms that where over run by the nimmen invasions. These days its a conflicting mess of barbarian kingdoms and nomadic tribes whilst the valna struggle to hold on to the remaining fortress cities bursting with bitter holdouts. Hidden villages that are little more than squalid encampments are home to hollow eye refugees, most totally unused to their current hardscrabble hand to mouth existence.

    To the west lies the shores of the great ocean, three days sail from that are the storm sentential and the myst clad Prethic Isles; where the gods have banished the sihdee and their minions.

    Valmere

    The northern borders of the Valmere region are marked by the bulwarks, the traditional edge of civilization. The southern foothills of the bulwarks are the Etros heartlands; named for its most prosperous daughter.

    The southern coast of the Valmere lies the great windshadow desert, a vast expanse of sand and meandering river valleys that stretches to the Khymek mountains. It is home to the southern shen as well as coastal settlements of eastern shen and valna colonies.

    A large number of island are found within the Valmere, many play host to the numerous independent valna states and confederacies.

    The northeastern shore is the plains, islands and mountains of the ancient homeland of the valna. Only recovered from the shen in the last thousand years these lands have recently won their independence and everything is up in the air as to the shape of things that may emerge as a result.

    The hard deserts that border the eastern shore of the Valmere are the undisputed territory of the eastern Shen.

    Nimic code

    Spoiler
    Show
    Valna usually apply heavy restrictions to nim directly under their rule. This example of a Nimic code is pretty standard and only the most liberal and “nimophilic” of valna states would even consider loosening -let alone abolishing- any.
    1. Nim have special obligations and requirements such as:
    a. physical inspection and quarantine upon entry to a city, port or border crossing.
    b. additional taxes and rates
    c. to register for conscription
    2. When ordered by the proper authorities all nim are required to submit to:
    a. Random searches of persons and properties
    b. Public physical and medical inspections (typically held biannually by district)
    c. Alignment checks and deep mind probes
    d. Ethical retraining or mental reconditioning
    3. Reduced penalties for crimes committed against nim, particularly those committed by valna (almost to the level of unishment in some cases).
    4. In criminal cases nim are subject to a much harsher punishment regime including
    a. Liability for the crimes of family members who have perished, absconded or are otherwise unfit or unavailable to stand trial or accept sentence.
    b. Joint liability for the crimes of associates and family members where a nim is believed to have knowledge of and failed to report or where they refuse to give evidence against the accused.
    c. Public corporal punishment and/or mental reconditioning for all minor infringements in addition to the usual fines, penal servitude, ritual chastisements and custodial periods.
    d. summary enslavement, sale and/or rehabilitative mutilation as the alternative to custodial sentences longer than three months, exile or the inability or refusal to pay a fine, debt or compensation of more than 5 gold (an approximate figure, it varies from state to state).
    e. automatic death sentence in cases involving the death or actual bodily harm of a valna unless extenuating circumstances warranting enslavement are proven.
    5. Nim are subject to additional restriction on:
    a. the ownership of weapons
    b. education
    c. employment
    d. sedition and incitement of unrest
    e. Dress code, either conditional or universal.
    f. Access to legal representation, the ability to bear witness against valna and credit.
    g. Protection from torture and other forms of enhanced interrogation
    6. Ennim may only enter a city centre with one or more of the following restriction:
    a. By paying a toll
    b. By invitation
    c. With constant supervision
    d. After a complete search of persons and possessions
    e. Upon submitting to a deep mind probe.
    f. Whilst physically, magically and or mentally bound
    g. During the hours of daylight
    h. Under no circumstances.
    7. Phanim may not
    a. Leave their elfs’ employ
    b. Move without the express orders of said elf
    c. Marry without permission.
    d. Disobey a direct (and legal, this addition after too many years of unscrupulous elves/owner using nim as patsies) order.
    8. Phanim must
    a. Submit to any medical or magical procedure their m is authorized (or does not require authorisation) to order from a properly qualified individual when instructed.
    b. Pay the agreed upon percentage of all procedes to its master
    Whilst this is pretty severe most of the valna states do recognize that nim are sentient beings deserving of a measure of protection and thus have their own bill of rights (which is surprisingly often more comprehensive than any such protections or guaranties offered to the valna themselves).
    For indentured or owned nim.

    A master may not:
    o execute, mutilate, disfigure, mutate or perform magical experimentation on a nim without first informing and gaining the permission of a magistrate.
    o Enter a nimba into any sort of combat event, gladiatorial bout, blood sport or any other public event involving gambling without the prior knowledge and express consent of its guardian.
    o Oblige or force any form of sexual favour or service from any nimba
    o order a nim to commit any sort of criminal act.
    o Order a nim to perform any morally repugnant* or sacrilegious act without the permission of a priest (*see appendix b5)
    o sell, gift, or permanently exchange any nimba for any purpose without the informed consent of its guardian.
    o Separate a married couple or a nimba from either both of its parents or a guardian for a period of more than two months without the expressed consent of all those involved.

    A master must (unless given an exemption):
    o Maintain an acceptable level of sustenance
    o Provide sanitary living conditions
    o Allow for at least 6 hours of rest per daily rotation
    o Free a nima who successfully carries to term at least two healthy valba
    o Permit access to at least a minimum level of religious services and education.
    o Pay any fines, debts or taxes their nim accrues.
    o Honour any contract they hold with a nim or on a nims behalf.

    A serf or true (owned) nim:
    o Is not personally liable for any fines, debts or taxes they might owe.
    o Is not liable for military conscription without their masters consent
    o Has the right to earn money and own personal property
    o A nimba has the right to a guardian.
    o Has the right to ask to be sold
    o Has the right to purchase freedom for themselves or any member of their family for a price agreed upon by a magistrate.

    An ennim has the right to:
    o Marry as they see fit
    o Emigrate to any state or province with a citizen willing to sponsor them or to any vassal state.
    o Immigrate from any allied or vassal state or to move residence between provinces as as an ennim if a citizen is willing to sponsor them (for unsponsored migrants see entry 4.d. of the nimic code).
    o Be served for all goods and services at the same rate as what is publically available
    o If deemed fit then serve in the military at the standard rate of pay
    o Purchase the freedom of any member of their family for a price agreed upon by a magistrate
    o Indenture themselves or any nimba they are guardian of into servitude for a fixed term, indefinitely or in perpetuity.
    o Sell themselves or any nimba they are guardian of into slavery
    o Worship any religion and in any capacity that the state permits to nim
    o A nimba has the right to a guardian.
    o Receive any of the rights and protections of a non valna or haval spouse or gaurdian is willing to afford them for as long as they are prepaid to do so or until reaching majority in the case of a nimba and guardian.


    End of reservations
    Last edited by Blightedmarsh; 2012-08-21 at 03:17 PM.

  5. - Top - End - #5
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    EvilClericGuy

    Join Date
    Aug 2012
    Location
    Darkest Dorset (UK)
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Fall of antiquity (alpha V0.2)

    Bestary

    Undead:

    Spoiler
    Show
    Ghouls

    These once men are the epitome of the living dead, straddling the worlds of the living and the dead. They need to eat (being possessed of an unnatural hunger for human flesh) sleep, breathe and all of the other things that that makes living beings alive (including aging and eventual death by old age). Furthermore they can procreate; they can breed true with a human partner. They are however dead; they are cold to the touch, they register as dead to the magic’s, they are resistant to disease, poison and privation, they may enter into a state of suspended death called torpor and they must be destroyed physically or magically to be killed off (although severe damage may cause system shock induce torpor).

    Ghouls possess the ability to shape shift into an almost human form, this is the form that they would look like (or once did) if they were human. Tell tail giveaways are that their shadows are darker than they should be, the coldness of their skin and the feint smell of dry decay. To cover this ghouls in hiding often wear gloves and a light perfumes (which is a common affection even amongst men in certain societies).

    In their natural form ghouls have grey sallow skin, lank matted hair, emaciated bodies. Their faces have sunken red eyes and thin lips covering large mouths full of sharp fangs and possessed of a harsh rasping voice and rancid breath. Ghouls have an aversion to strong light and may be forced into their natural form by believer pressing a holly symbol against their skin and speaking a true name of its associated god, (that is if said god has a declared objection to the undead, surprisingly many have kept silent on the issue or in fact declared for the other side).

    Ghouls are caused by a magical or divine curse that may be passed down through generations. Those who are born as ghouls are said to be being punished for misdeeds in a past life; the affliction usually starts to show around the age off five and take hold upon reaching puberty. A ghoul may become human by braking the curse, exactly how (or if it is possible at all) depends on the specifics of the individual case; how and why it was inflicted and by whom. This often involves making amends for the misdeeds of the ancestral originator or the destruction of the castor.

    To be a ghoul is to be caught between life and death, between light and dark. Much like their vampiric cousins it is a constant struggle for them to retain what is left of their humanity, for some it is too much; they devolve into beasts in the shape of men. Others choose to embrace the darkness; it can be a perilous path, great power and immortality can be theirs but at the risk of total ruin and the price of utter damnation.

    Ghouls are often the servants of powerful vampires; they are also strongly associated with the southern shen where they act as their servants and body guards. Independent ghouls sometimes form isolated communities or possibly take on roles in society at large that allows them to hide their carnivorous nature; for example undertakers or often as magistrates (hiding behind authority).

    Notes: It is possible to play as a ghoulish PC or for a living PC to become a ghoul, either as a noble but flawed being trying to stave off its hunger and brake its curse or possibly as a character comfortably (or outright relishing) the “advantages” of its affliction. As NPCs they can make an interesting option. The creepy village with the disappearing travelers; Ghouls, the shadowy village elder giving dubious quests: also ghouls. However in certain societies that an NPC is a ghoul does not give the party a license to go all murder hobo on their skanky undead ***e just because.

    Zombies

    The rotting, the shambling dead, the horde; they have many names and all are expressions of the near universal contempt, disgust and fear that zombies engender. There are three principle forms of zombie; the risen, the construct and the plague.

    The risen

    These zombies are the bodies of the dead raised by a magical or divine ritual. They are usually under the complete control of the caster and remain only for as long as the spell continues. The more zombies a caster tries to raise the harder they are to control, this can manifest as a failure of some or all of the zombies to rise, a noticeable lack of coordination or strength amongst the zombies or the total loss of control of the undead; often resulting in the messy demise of the caster.

    The plague

    These creatures are a blight on the world; highly contagious, near mindless and perpetually hungry. They are the reason why the historic centers of most of the world’s ancient cities are walled or otherwise fortified. The reason why no matter how peaceful a province may be the fortified manor houses and estates will always remain so.

    Only humans can become plague zombies, all other races suffer a painful paralysis upon being bitten invariably followed by a painful death (being torn limb from limb and devoured alive by said zombie is the number one cause). This is the primary reason why humans do not rule the world and one of the major contributing factors to antihuman sentiment from the other races. It is said that the valna in particular do little to prevent outbreaks as they feel that they are helpful in culling the human population down to manageable levels.

    Minor outbreaks are not uncommon and as long as they are court early enough only represent a minor problem. Major regional outbreaks usually happen less than once in a century. The last global pandemic was 1200 years ago and helped caused the downfall of the second Shen Empire.

    Note the following contains alpha version weirdness and must be revised.


    Faemin
    Spoiler
    Show

    This is a race of symbiotic humans that are found all over the northern hemisphere. They live in substantial underground colonies and survive by farming mushrooms, giant molluscs and insects as well as blind fish and raiding and/or trading with the surface world.

    The obliquities cranial sheath is what makes a faemin. Without it they cannot use the other implants and unlike some of the others it cannot be removed or replaced. It is a chitinous segmented helmet like thing that adheres to the back of the head and penetrates the skull; it has a segmented tail running the length of the spine. Through holes in the sheath faemin grow small toughs of hair that they take great pride in and often braid. Humans (even those not born of a colony) may become faemin via a cranial implant.
    The other implants may include living armour, heat sense eyes, napalm spit glands, poison stingers, gills and an assortment of others dependent on what the colony has available. These implants bud off of other symbiotic organisms.

    As a race they have a low level of hive mind, a kind of group subconscious. Individual Faemin are just that; individuals, still broadly and biologically human. However they share a real empathy for members of their colony, this is intensified by rubbing their antennas against another’s. They can draw on the memories and experiences of their fellows, furthermore the most powerful and important memories are passed down the generations. They can also share joint dreaming and it is not uncommon for an entire colony to receive a powerful or prophetic dream.

    The dark side of this are the following:

    Faemin identify each other more by psychic ability than anything else. Outsiders feel wrong and non fomainians are dead to their empathic senses. This makes it hard for them to relate to them or identify them as real people at all.

    As memories are passed down grievances are not forgotten, grudges and vendettas can persisted for generations. When two colonies are in conflict the violence can continue in a self-feeding cycle indefinitely.

    A shared unconscious can cause a powerful mania to become a shared mania. When a colony goes mad it goes mad as one.

    Of the faemin themselves most are born in the colonies, some are lost, injured or orphan humans taken in, still others are “converts” who join seeking power, protection, community or just for love. Finally some colonies take people and forcefully implant them, this is most often as a direct response to a perceived threat and/or to replenish drastic losses (the latter often being the cause of the former or visa versa); of course some colonies are simply that malignant.

    Note: I see these guys as subterranean semi-telepathic bio-cyborg bug communists.




    Construct
    Spoiler
    Show

    A construct is an artificial unlife form. Constructs are made from the bodies and or souls of the dead; they are the signature of the eastern shen although by no means limited to them. Some constructs require constant control and supervision; others are partially or fully autonomous and still others are possessed of their own intellect.

    Of the simpler forms of construct some are in-persistent; that is they will ceases to function when their creator dies or is incapacitated. Others are semi-persistent; that is they require a constant source of magic power or periodic recharging. Finally there is the enduring sort, these have their own power supply and are usually partially or fully autonomous, enduring constructs can operate for centuries after the death of their creators, faithfully carrying out their appointed tasks.

    Golems

    These are usually humanoid constructs made of stone, clay, metal, bone or other more exotic components. The activation ritual involves the sacrifice of a living sentient being and the binding of his or her soul (the animus) into the machine. They may or may not be intelligent or autonomous. The bigger sorts are often used in the military, in mining or construction.

    Immortals

    These are the highest form of zombie. Fully aware, obedient and almost indistinguishable from humans (except for the fact that they don’t need to eat, drink or sleep and can survive anything up to and including decapitation). Immortals once formed the backbone of the shens military and helped build the now defunct second Empire. Immortals are an important part of the Shens’ magical arrays; immortal witches are used to perpetually focus magic and or cast particular spells indefinitely.

    Artifacts

    An artifact is an object that contains the bound souls of the dead. In the case of sentient objects they are invariably artifacts of one sort or another and the soul may or may not remember their former lives.



    Kyma

    I don't have the concept as fully flesh out as I do the undead but here is the gyst of it:
    Spoiler
    Show

    The valna (amongst others) use biomancy to create humanoids by combining humans and animals. They control these kyma and uses them as expendable shock troopers on the battlefield. Each major valna power creates its own brand of kyma based on its "national animal", this is considered part of its civic pride and to be dependent on another breed is considered a sign of weakness; basically advertising that a state lacks the funds and skilled mages to properly defend itself.

    Suinim: Pigmen. Manufactured by the Etros hegemony. They are a highly successful breed, they are clever, clean and suitably violent. There are only male Suinim but their sons always breed true.

    Centaur: Made by the horse goddess Epona in response to a myth that she had created as then nonexistent race of centaurs. They dominate the central steps and once conquered a massive continental empire (which is falling apart as rapidly as it was built).

    Gnoll: The breed of choice of the city of Lycos. Young gnolls seem almost human. When they are needed for combat a change is induced and they are irrevocably transformed into full adult gnolls. About 3/4 survive the process but at least 1/2 die within the first year and fewer than 1/10 live past the fifth year of the change. True born gnolls should be a lot healthier but the valna always kill them at birth, those few who undergo the change naturally have a far better survival rate.

    Mermaids: The creations of the sea god Iyapatus. The heads, torsos and arms are almost human except for the addition of blowholes, the lack of noses and the gill fronds instead of hair. Instead of legs mermaids have 6 tentacles that can lock together using small hooks on their mantles to form a tail. Only the royal males are fertile (at least to mermaids) and only the royal males look like males; you can't tell the others from the females at a glance.
    Last edited by Blightedmarsh; 2012-08-23 at 01:59 AM.

  6. - Top - End - #6
    Dwarf in the Playground
     
    scarmiglionne4's Avatar

    Join Date
    Sep 2012
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Fall of antiquity (alpha V0.2)

    The idea of people believing things making them exist it totally something I have done in campaigns and still do. I wonder if you and I are inspired by some of the same things. The film Erik the Viking perhaps?

  7. - Top - End - #7
    Ettin in the Playground
     
    TheWombatOfDoom's Avatar

    Join Date
    May 2012
    Location
    Aldain
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Fall of antiquity (alpha V0.2)

    I'm also a writer on here, but I also have a lot of experience roleplaying. Let me know if you need someone to bounce ideas off of. I know I think best that way.

    I love the idea for your magic system. It's one I'm writing my novel around, though I think I've gone in a different direction than yours. I'm actually still in the process of some final ideas in it, but you can check out the thread I've put it up on. It's come a long way! It might give you some ideas for your magic, but more importantly if you have anything to say toward it I wouldn't mind some PEACH.

    I love the idea of the Kyma. Rooted from Chimera? You could also do things like the jackle and hawk headed gods from egyptian mythology, and even get more creative and make some non traditional combos as well.

    As a question, if people stopped believing in something, would it die like in peter pan and fairies?

    I love all the omages to other things, such as the horse god and epona, an Nim (if that was intentional) as a nod to Nym?

    I've heard Valmere somewhere before...where have I heard it before....
    Scientific Name: Wombous apocolypticus | Diet: Apocolypse Pie | Cuddly: Yes

    World Building Projects:
    Magic
    : The Stuff of Sentience | Fate: The Fabric of Physics | Luck: The Basis of Biology

    Order of the Stick Projects:
    Annotation of the Comic | Magic Compendium of the Comic | Transcription of the Comic
    Dad-a-chum? Dum-a-chum? Ded-a-chek? Did-a-chick?
    Extended Signature | My DeviantArt | Majora's Mask Point Race
    (you can't take the sky from me)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •