Another Group Worldbuilding Game

[Eldan]

I quite like these. We've had diary writing, quote-based, mythology making, all of that. But I guess in the end, the short and sweet ones work best. But let's bring some structure into it. Here's the rules.

In your post, write three short things about the world. Three or four lines, not too long. Try not to outright contradict another poster, except when it's an inworld contradiction. (A writer from country A says people from country B are cannibals who worship demons. A writer from country B says they respectfully consume part of their honoured dead and worship an ancestor spirit and that people from country B just see demons everywhere.)

To give this a bit more structure, I think we should have some writing prompts. I propose the following:

A) A prompt of the week. The first thing you write will be the same for everyone and last a week. I'll give the first one, then we'll discuss next ones when they come up.
B) Something prompted by the writer before you. At the end of the post, say what the next writer should write here.
C) Open. Write whatever.

So.

Prompt of the Week: Conflict
Describe in a few words some kind of conflict between two groups and why it exists.

For the writer next to me:
Prompt: Quote a passage from a religious text.

[MoiMagnus]

Hi! This look quite interesting! This is my first time, but I will try to write something good:

Conflict:
I, Magnus Blackrabbit, Archimage of the Three-Towers' university, and chosen student and rightful heir of the Last Guardian -- may the gods protect his soul -- proudly announce the secession of the Free Republic of the Three Towers. May this moment be the beginning a new era of prosperity.
I, Eric Goldentree, Great Mage of the Enhrician Federation, and chosen student and rightful heir of the Last Guardian -- may the gods protect his soul -- claim the Three-Towers' university in the name of the Enhrician Federation. This is an ultimatum to Magnus the Usurper. Surrender now or die while our army march on your insignificant republic.

Religious Text:
And the prophet said "Do not fear power. Do not fear those who use it. But fear those who seek it. Those who seek power in politics will bring war. Those who seek power in magic will bring destruction. Those who seek power in religion will destroy my words."
Then, the prophet looked at the star and said "I know that my warning will be forgotten, and my words tweaked, but here is your hope: Even in the darkest night, stars continue to shine and protect the light."

Free:
I don't understand what's happening. Georges said that the Alchemy class from tomorrow is canceled. That's sad, I like mixing green and yellow stuff to obtain sweet candies. Where is mommy? I didn't talk her about the new word I've learn yesterday. Georges does not answer when I ask where she is. He says I should return to the basement, and play with the others. But they cry and fear always. I don't like the basement. Mommy is not in the basement. Maybe she is in the garden? Georges said something about the garden. The Great Old Tree is in fire. Mommy really liked the great old tree. Maybe she is sad because of that? Maybe that's why she is not here?

For the next writer:
On the subject of merchants and trade.

[Eldan]

Didn't feel right to just write my own prompts. But this is nice. Let's start. As a note, while in character quotes are very nice, they don't necessarily have to be. Feel free to mix in some omniscient narrator.

Conflict
"As far as I can determine, Your Majesty should not be worried. Around the election, there has always been a lot of posturing between the local nobility, and this has always included the hiring of mercenaries. Violence, however, is exceedingly rare and has not been observed in over thirty years. It is my opinion that they should be left to their devices, as this is unlikely to lead to rebellion. Of course, a show of force as a reminder that they are now part of the Empire may be warranted."

On Merchants and Trade
"Merchants are truly the lowest of men. They have not taken any of the Callings: they neither Protect nor Judge, Lead nor Inspire, Create nor Nurture. Yes, goods need to be transported between cities, but it is Our opinion that this could just as easily be accomplished by slave caravans, without the need for greedy men enriching themselves."

Free:
"The Oracle has declared that this year will be under the sign of the Sword. While often seen as a violent sign, this year, the Sign is in the passive aspect: the Sheathed Blade. It mainly represents judicious and restrained use of power by the mighty or the end of hostilities. As such, we can hope for a peaceful year overall. However, another meaning of the Sheathed Blade is the implied threat: the blade is not drawn, but displayed."

Next writing prompt:
Name a nation and briefly describe its government structure.

[brian 333]

Conflict:

The Zeribi is a vast salt plain surrounding a toxic salt sea, home to salt-tolerant creatures, including the Haline Crab which fears nothing, eats everything, and is about the size of a sow pig. What draws people of many races into the region is white gold: salt. Every human, demi-human, and humanoid tribe which borders the Zeribi claims it for their own. At one point or another all of them have been at war with the others, and conflict continues into the indefinite future due to the need for salt and the lust for wealth. A single pound of rock salt is valued at a silver piece by any volk who herd, trade furs, or live away from the seacoast.

The Kingdom of Sa'ach

A fortress city on a long headland into the Zeribi was built by hobgoblins who have discovered flowing fresh water in a vast cavern complex beneagh the desert. The fortress guards the access to the caves, about which outsiders know nothing. They are governed by an heriditary military heirarchy which rigidly regulates every aspect of their lives. Their general is trained from birth to command. While each generation offers many potential future leaders, their training includes the potential for future rivals to kill one another unless one subordinates himself to the other. Thus, though bloodline determines their ultimate potential each officer must earn his rank through vigorous testing.

The Axe-Beak Riders

On the savanna bordering the salt desert a tribe of halflings have taken up bird-herding. Their warriors ride axe-beaks which have been imprinted by them on hatching, and trained to become fearsome combat mounts. The riders use bolas and slings in addition to stone axes and short spears. The tribes herd ostriches for food and wear quilted clothing of ostrich hide stuffed with down, (quilted or padded armor.) They travel over vast trackless grasslands from the forest/savanna mosaic which borders their lands to the salt sea. Whenever it rains they stop whatever they are doing to collect water. They often create water caches of buried ostrich eggs stoppered with clay plugs, and they supplement these caches with roasted ostrich eggs which they bury and consider a delicacy when they are dug up.

The non-warriors use ostriches as draft animals which tow sleds made of poles and hides which carry their goods and convert to domed tents when the tribe decides to remain in a location for more than a day.

Next

Describe a religious practice which is important to or reviled by a culture. This can be two cultures, (one who does it and another who despises it, for example,) or it can be the same culture which reviles a practice they are responsible for. Or it can be something everyone loves and loves to do.

[Eldan]

You know, I do like religion. I'll go with that for all three.

Conflict: Deep Heart
A new cult is spreading among the southern cultures, variously referred to as the cult of the Earth Mother, the Deep Heart, or the Darkness Below. The prophet Wulfa was a mining slave - one of the most brutal and short-lived sentences possible in imperial law - who was miraculously recovered after three day of being burried in a cave-in. He speaks passionately of a new goddess who revealed herself to him, a loving deity with a heart for the oppressed, who promises salvation even to the condemned. Though the cult seems peaceful, its spread among slaves, prisoners and indentured servants has Imperial authorities exceedingly worried and it is said that Inquisitors are being dispatched.

The Chosen
Every three years, on the first day of Spring, the city of Naserib holds the festival of tales. Storytellers from around the world come to the city to regale audiences on the streets and in the taverns with their tales. Those who win the favour of their listeners, expressed by small ivory tokens, win the honour of spinning their tales in the grand arena, where the greatest of them can win the treasured Silver Harp. More than that, however, it is said that the goddess Lenea herself attends the festival in disguise and that she will make the story she likes best come true.

Religious custom: Ancestors
"It is for four reasons that any upstanding man should find the practise of summoning and binding the ancestral spirits abhorrent:

First, it shows great disrespect. The honoured dead are not some manes or quasit to be unceremoniously called to serve at some conjurer's whim. They have earned their blessed rest and to disturb them is abominable.
Second, it is presumptuous. The great men of history have earned their skills through dedication, honest, hard work and divine favour. To bind them and steal their talents and accomplishments in such a manner speaks of lazyness, greed and envy.
Third, it undermines the greatness of the living. What general could stand against Anaxador? What poet would dare speak his words in the presence of Temerant? Beyond the summoner itself, it brings other great men low to have to compare their works against the honoured dead of greater ages they could never hope to match.

It is therefore with great conviction that I demand that the Ghostwise and any who practise their craft must be erradicated with great force."

Next writing prompt:
Describe an unusual possession that is contraband in at least one nation, and explain why that is so.

[Lleban]

Conflict: The Great Southern Rebellion
The Chimerian empire's hold on it's southern provinces has always been tenuous at best, especially since the spread of new cults in the southern regions have aroused the passions of the dozens of peoples to throw off the Imperial yoke. While the cult of the earth mother has remained peaceful, other cults, like the cult of Lord Hauser are significantly more confrontational. The south's thick jungles, marshes and complex river systems have prevented the Empire from permanently eradicating the discordant from the countryside. Fir now though, the main Chimerian settlements and roads remain under Imperial control.

Contraband: Orchid shards
Found primarily underground, Orchid shards are brilliant blue crystals that that resemble the petals of an orchid flower. Large deposits of these crystals often resemble fields of flowers. Orchid shards are considered strict contraband due to their proficiency as magical catalysts. As the Chimerian empire wants to keep a strict hold on its mages, any unauthorized trafficking of Orchid shards is punishable with death.

Open:
Citizenship within the Chimeria is limited to those who've joined the military or taken a job within the civil service.

Next:
Describe a creature that's prominent in universe and explain why

[Eldan]

Conflict: The Bastard's Blade
The Bastard's Blade is a legendary weapon that has a tendency to appear almost at random every few centuries throughout history, then vanish again. Every time, it is found by one dispossessed or exiled and leads them on to great deeds. When last it appeared 150 years ago, a disgraced grandchild of the Chimerian emperor set out and forged the Enhrician Federation by bloody conquest of nine of the aquiline city states.
By the established pattern, no one would expect the sword to return for at least another century. But now there are rumours of a hobgoblin, far from Sa'ach and branded a traitor, travelling the borderlands of the Empire with a mighty red blade.

Prominent Creature: River Dragons
The river people of the southern Empire have a religious reverence for the great serpents that live in the waters, claiming that they are remnants of the great and powerful dragons of legends. Certainly, the serpents are impressive in size, many times the length of a ship, and some have claimed that they are able to communicate. The river people, however, attribute to them great magical powers over the river, as well, controlling the annual floods and determining whether they will bring fertile soil or destruction.

Free: The High Watchers
An elf may live for two or three centuries, but even to them, the Watchers, or High Elves are ancient and mysterious figures, some thousands of years old. Only once every few elven generations one of them is born, a pale child with colourless eyes. As they reach adulthood, they go to into the high mountains to live among their kin and eventually take a Watcher post themselves. They do not say what they are watching for, but each High Elf lives on a mountain top alone, spending most of their time in a medidative stasis that is close to death, eternally contemplating the winds and the horizon.

Next: Describe an impressive geographical feature.

[brian 333]

Conflict: Barbarians of the Badlands

The badlands are so-called because farming doesn't appear to work there. Crops fail or are eaten by wild creatures, rains either don't fall or come in flash-floods, and winters are bitterly cold. But they are home to barbarian tribes which war against one another for sport. Every generation or so a charismatic barbarian king assembles a horde to sweep out of the northern wilderness and ravage the civilized folk who border their vast homelands.

Within the last generation a barbarian queen carved a kingdom from the northern borderlands of the Chimerian Empire and defended it for two dacades against the might of the empire. Though the emperor never acknowledged the new queen, he did stop sending legions north to be slaughtered. Now an aged barbarian queen rules with several sons and daughters vying for the power to assume her throne when she dies, and rival barbarian kings plotting to take advantage of the confusion. Border legion commanders are fortifying and preparing for the war everyone knows is coming.

Prompt: Battlefield of the Titans

The river Mur runs red with the iron-rich clays of the hills from which it springs, and along the many valleys of its tributary streams the gleaming white granite-like bones of titans slain in the Dawn Age of the world lie exposed or stand upright as broken towers and arches. Though worn by time, cracked by heat and frost, and covered in blankets of green growth, the bones where exposed are white and extremely hard.

From vantage points on the ridges around the Mur Valley the stacks and standing stones across the valley can be seen as the skeletal remains of hundreds of titanic beings, though from up close they appear to be a very fine grained white granite. The material of the bones is unsuited to the crafting of sharp edges, though stone tipped clubs and slingstones are possible. No magical properties are attributed to the ancient bones, though the locals do attribute the very red clay to the blood of the dead titans which soaked the ground.

The valley is about ten miles wide and about forty miles long, meandering through the red clay hills with multiple branching tributaries. The skeletal remains are not found outside this region. Locals do not inhabit or use the area because they believe the spirits of the titans haunt the valley, waking from time to time to wage their eternal war.

A legendary prophecy has become folklore: one day the Mur will run clean and clear, and on that day the dead titans will rise to wage war against the gods to cast them down and unmake the world.

Free: The City Of Spu

In a huge river delta of shifting mudflats and channels lies a city as ephemeral as the land under it. In this city nothing stands very tall and a second story is not possible given the construction tdchniques of the inhabitants. The inhabitants are Mud Folk, humanoids composed of mud who dwell in muck. They build mud-plastered wicker domes over pools of ooze, apparently 'furnishing' their home with various soils and clays that appeal to their individual aesthetics.

Shellfish and shells are their primary exports, and they cultivate fresh-water pearls in various colors.

Prompt: Mixed Messages

Create a legend which is shared in a different fashion by different cultures. For example, in our world Alexander The Great is extolled as a hero and reviled as a villain depending on the culture of the tale-teller.

[DMwithoutPC's]

Conflict: The Sacred Island

In the middle of the Bitterwind Sea lies the Sanct, The Sacred Island. For several cultures this is a holy location, for a number of reasons. The Hobgoblins as a race claim their race was born there, even if no hobgoblin has lived there in centuries, the stories are so widespread among all different tribes that there is probably truth to it.The Chimerian Empire uses it as the resting place for their Empresses for generations, because of there associations with the Sea Goddess Teziaa. But now the island is officially in the hand of the Enhrician Federation, speciacally of the port city of Swept. They to associate the Island with Teziaa, but have been unsure what to do with the Tombs of the empresses there.


Promt: Mixed Message: The year of the flood:

The countryside of the south is dominated by the Great Rivers, stemming from the Watcher Mountains in the West and ending all the way in the Lotus Marches and the Bitterwind Sea. These meandering streams have allways been the controlling factor of the landscape and the culture, but the different inhabitants remember the Year of the Flood very differently. The River Folk and the those that lived in the valleys of the south were devastated. Many of there cities were destroyed, and because of the ruined farmland famine ravaged the land even when the water recided. For the Mudpeople in the Marches it was a great of great prosperity however, because the floods flushed much good resources downstream, and the displaced clay and land made there area furtile for the years to come. To the Southern river people it was seen as a divine punishment, and the revolutionaries were quick to point to the empires religious practices as the culprit, and since the help from the empire was lacklustre during the famines, much of the population agreed. For the Marshlanders it was a a blessing however, And much of the wealth and economic importance of this area can be traced back to this event, when the River Valleys were in-traversable and much of the trade went through them.


prompt:
Gods or Myths. Tell me about a prominent figure of worship of a culture. Does not have to be a good or person that ever actually existed, can be purely allegorical.

[DuctTapeKatar]

Conflict: Iron Banner Legion

Two hundred years before, the mightiest of the Empire's army were the Legionares of the Iron Banner. Their status was legendary, and the chainmail standard that flew over their formations were recognised by all in both awe and fear. However, when the Empire went to war, and the commander of the Iron Banner Legion was caught having an affair with the Empire's beloved princess (whom was to be married after the war), they were sent on suicidal mission after suicidal mission, before they were finally betrayed, boxed in by their brother legions and slaughtered to every man. Everything was destroyed, no spear, armor, even dagger was spared from sundering, every scrap of metal melted down and sold to the lowest bidder.
Presently, towns have been reporting strange goings on in the southern half of the Empire. An army has been seen marching along the border, a chainmail standard held high over a thousand legionares. Any scouting party sent to meet them only finds empty countryside, a cold wind blowing at their backs with the scent of rotten flesh filling the air.

Prompt: Legend: There is a famous tale of the infamous Cait Sith, the burglar who could steal anything. Cait Sith began life as a cat, and, instead of doing the catlike thing and spending his nine lives consecutively, he decided to use them all at once, granting him powers beyond imagination. A hallmark trick of Cait Sith is to have one of his lives do a task while he would distract his targets. The most popular story is where Cait Sith disguised himself as a old woman, and conned a prince of his wealth by having the other eight lives would hide in the house and make it seem like the home was cursed until the prince gave Cait Sith all his gold. Other stories include when he stole the sun by hiding it behind the moon, the time he took an entire ocean and hid it in a castle just to irritate a king, and that time he stole the alphabet so that only his story was allowed to be told. There is some archeological evidence to support that such a creature existed and did all of those things, much to the annoyance of those who pray that it was all just a story.



The next prompt shall be to describe a species of bird that is common to the Zeribi desert.

[Eldan]

New prompt of the week: Magic
Describe anything to do with magic: how a certain group or culture uses magic, legends about powerful magic of the past, strange quirks in the laws of magic across the world, et cetera.

Birds: Salt Weavers
The Salt Weaver of the Zeribi desert is one of the few higher animals that permanently makes its home in the vast salt flats. The tiny white birds are well-adapted to this life and, by some trick of internal alchemy, are able to drink the saline waters and separate them into drinking water in two of their three stomachs. They regularly vomit up an almost dry paste of salt, which they use to build amazingly complex communal nest spires, which rise higher than most trees in other lands and keep them safe from ground-based predators. The sight of the crystal spires at dawn, throwing rainbows across the landscape, is said to be one of the most beautiful in the world.

Magic: Hobgoblins
When a new hobgoblin officer takes command of a regiment after defeating all his rivals, he and all his soldiers ritually swear and bind their blood to one another. Not only does this make them all legally sons of the general and brothers to each other, it lays the seed for the particular blood magic that makes the hobgoblin heavy infantry so feared across the continent. Their lives become bound together and any wound one of them takes becomes distributed and diluted across all of them, so that what should be a deadly spear wound to the guts of one of them becomes a harmless scratch on two hundred soldiers. Though they accumulate an impressive array of near-identical scars over time, Hobgoblins are therefore often able to fight in battle after battle without major losses.

Free: Halflings
Due to the importance of their burried water cages, each halfling tribe follow the same migratory routes in great five-year circuits. This five year system also informs their calendar and every five years, they celebrate the feast of the origin, when all tribes together ride to the sacred valley, a steep-walled canyon in the savannah, where it is said the halfling tribe was made. No blood may be spilt in the valley of the origin, and it is a time to end blood feuds, arrange marriages between tribes to refresh the bloodlines and tell great tales of the tribe's exploits in the past cycle to be remembered by all storytellers.

Next prompt: tell us more about elves.

[NekoMancer657]

Prompt - Elves: The Elves are said to be descendants of the Titans by way of the Fey. Certainly they have an affinity for war and construction. Alfin made weapons are renowned as the most deadly; the most feared ability of such tools of war is that the wounds they inflict cannot be healed by magic. Of course not all elves know how to make alfin weapons but no non elf has ever been known to reproduce one.

Magic: The Ghostwise of the Badlands are known to practice healing magic alongside their necromancy, thus allowing the raiders of their tribes to venture out more frequently. This combined with the frequent advice and intelligence gathered from the slain and the tribe's ancestors makes them a far more formidable threat. That said, their hatred of the undead generally means they are unlikely to show up in a raiding party; though that enmity is not commonly known.

Free:The Sorceress-Princesses of the port city of Kaylor (on the Bitterwind Sea) claim to be descended from River Dragons and act as a trading hub for the various hostile powers nearby. If a Chimerian wants goods from the Federation or a hobgoblin wants an Alfin blade, one of the River's Royals will be able to help...for a price.

Prompt: Please give me a temple, shrine or holy site sacred to a cult or religion that is actively opposed by a group in the setting.

[brian 333]

Magic:

In ancient times the dwarves created Rune Magic, which is the binding of powerful spells in graven runes. Learning of this, the ancestral dragons (who thought of magic as their own) grew angry and attacked the dwarves, sacking their ancient first cities. (Some say it was seven cities, one for each of the first fathers, others say eleven or thirteen.)

In attempting to eradicate runic magic, the dragons dispersed it to the four corners of the world as dwarven runecasters took refuge with the other races who learned of their lore. The Art of Wizardry was born of the other races attempts to copy the dwarven runic magic, which also underlies the creation of magic items and zones of various kinds.

The dwarves disdain the use of wizardry, (though there are a few dwarven wizards,) and they retain some knowledge of "True Magic," as they call it, but they teach it only to those who are consecrated to their gods. Thus all Runecasters are also dwarven priests.

The Red Citadel

On a vast plain in the east stands a mountain raised by the hands of slaves captured in raids and wars. This is the home of The Legion Of Blood, an army consecrated to the worship of the god of war, whose great temple is buried deep in the red brick fortress..

When their god decrees the legion sweeps out and makes war upon a nation, sometimes travelling great distances to reach their target. More often, mercenaries under the Banner Of Blood serve in the wars of kings and commoners throughout the world.

When two Red Mercenary groups meet across the battlefield they will most commonly attempt to win by out-maneuvering and capturing their foe, but those riding under the Banner Of Blood are known across the world for honoring their contracts to their deaths.

Those who have no home or prospects sometimes make their way to the Red Citadel, but most often the legions are raised from the children orphaned by war or captured on raids. On occasion defeated generals or kings are sold to the Red Citadel, but what becomes of them is nog known.

The Gift

In ancient days men struggled to survive in a harsh world, starving, beset by hostile tribes and monsters, and subject to famine and drought. The goddess of fertility took pity on them and, going among the scattered tribes of men, she found a worthy king and bore him a son.

He has many names now in many languages because he was the first engineer. He built irrigation and water storage systems, defensive fortifications, and granaries. Those he taught went to other kings and chieftains to offer them their goddess' gift, and those who accepted it prospered.

Even now yellow-robed monks and priests travel the lands teaching land management and animal husbandry. They are never armed with weapons of war, but are experts with farming tools. They are seldom attacked due to their oaths of poverty, but also because of the legend of the great warlord who was slain by a yellow-robed monk with a shovel.

Prompt: A Creature

Describe a creature unique to this setting, be if a twist of an established monster or a completely new one. It can be of any alignment, and it need not be hostile to or aloof from civilized people.

[Eldan]

Prompt: Magic
A persisting legend among the dwarves is that there once existed the Rune of Kings, the first rune jointly carved by all the dwarven fathers, that formed the keystone and origin of all their magical networks. They say when the dragons brought low their cities, they broke this rune and swallowed the pieces and that only by studying the bones of long-dead dragons can a pious dwarf restore some of the shape of that most complex rune. Prophecy said that one day, a runesmith will finally restore the rune to glory and reuinte all the wandering dwarven tribes in a new kingdom.

Prompt: a Creature
The ethereal grazer is a deer-like creature, bigger than a horse, at home in the northern grasslands of the Empire. Few have ever managed to shoot one, because when threatened, the grazer does not sprint away, but instead fades into the ethereal plane, until the hunter has moved on. There are many legends among the peasants, however, of brave hunters who have managed to jump a grazer and hold on to it, merging into the ethereal along them. Most famously, Jack Seven-steps, who talked to the Old Gods of the mists and from them learned seven secrets of the world, which he used in his many later adventures.

Free prompt: The Sacred Island
Though the Island of Sanct and the tombs of the Empresses have been lost to the Chimerian Empire, there has so far been no response, though the Enhrician Federation has held it for over two years. Rumours are spreading that the Lord High Marshall has become soft, or has been bribed by the Enhricians, or even that he has been enthralled by Eric Goldentree, their archmage. The Lady Cardinal-Inquisitor is already openly preparing a challenge for leadership.

[DMwithoutPC's]

Eldan forgot to create a prompt, so i'll create another creature

week prompt: Magic

The Mists in which the Old Gods lies at the fringes of reality, and those sensitive to it can reach for it from within there own mind. These mages are called Mistweavers, the builders of dreams and forming of thoughts. wel practiced mages can even pull objects into reality from the mists. However, the adictiveness of the magic is real, and most of the mages eventually "get lost in the mist". while their body remains, there mind is gone completely, lost to the Mist Immaterial and some say, to the Old Gods Themselves.


prompt: creature

The Spellstutter Larks is mostly found in the Heartlands of the Empire. The song of these irridescant gold birds creates an effect that breaks the concentragion of mages, and makes it near impossible to finish a spell. They were originally bred for battle, carried around by the Imperial Legion to be deployed against oposing magies. These birds were always hard to domesticate however, and many escaped during this time. The bulk of the wild Spellstutter Larks however, got there freedom during the Troubles, when the armies of the Federation marched on the Capital.

next prompt: tell me about the capital of the empire! where does it lie, what does it look like.

[brian 333]

Magic: The Greenstone

The Greenstone of legend is said to embody the power of life, growth, and fertility. It was found by dwarves who mined into a vast cavern which was a mushroom garden tended by mushroom people, (myconids.) They waged a war the dwarves claim the mushroom folk began, ending it by stealing the gem which had illuminated their cavern home from the tip of a stalagmite high in the vault of the cavern.

It passed from dwarves to druids to elves to men, always creating conflict as its power brings fertility to the holder and envy to the holder's neighbors. It has been missing for several generations, last seen in the Chaladain Forest in the custody of the orc king Buloch who was slain by a Chimerian legion. Some say the Chimerians have it hidden in their treasure vaults, but the Emperor has been heard to answer, "I wish," when asked.

Prompt: The City Of Nithotem

Where the River Tanadar meanders southeast across the fertile plains of Anada it encounters the Bast Hills, a small chain of hills worn down to nubs standing only a hundred feet above the plains at their peaks. This barrier chokes the river, whose spring floods created a vast fertile marshon the northwest flanks of the hills.

Humans arrived over two thousand years ago, and they cut irrigation channels and retention ponds through the marsh, over time converting it into prime rice growing fields in the lower elevations and wheat fields where the ground sits above the annual floods.

The hills themselves were fortified. Over time the growth of the city joined these fortified islands, which became the estates of the nobility and the wealthy. Those unable to afford the rent on the hills built houses of two stories, anticipating the lower floors would be flooded by the river's overflow every few years.

The city is built of stone and brick walls roofed with wood. Because of the terrain there are no straight streets; instead, they meander with the river or curve between the low hills. The city is divided unevenly by the river which is not bridged. Over twenty ferry crossings are serviced by a variety of ferries and other boats, and docks serve trading barges which ply the rivers, trading with the cities and towns on the rivers' banks.

Six central hills surround a reservoir, each crowned with culturally important site:

1: The City Of The Dead: a cemetary of stone tombs which are built layer by layer over the tombs of past generations.
2: The Watchtower: the tallest point in the city is crowned by a military garrison with a two hundred foot tall tower.
3: The Circle Of Justice: an amphitheater surrounds the location where trials and punishmdnts are administered.
4. The Emperor's Palace: the opulance of the empire is built around a small, spartan keep in which the Emperor and his household reside.
5: Temple Hill: various deities have opulent temples for the wealthy here, though temples can be found all over the city.
6: Taenarion's Hill: supposedly the oldest occupied hill in the city, the ruins of the first emperor's palace sits across the hill's crown from The House Of The People, which is where the Council Of Aldermen meet to administer the city's affairs.

Free: Rivermen of the Tanadar

Barges about a manheight wide and deep but nine manheights long are poled and rowed up and down the Tanadar by rough and rowdy folk of the lowest social status. These rivermen are served by inns behind the docks and watched closely by the local guards due to their reputation for brawling, vendetta, and other crimes of violence.

Where civilized folk see them as barbarous, homeless, and uncouth, they see themselves as rugged individualists who are the last free folk in the empire.

Prompt: A Forgotten Civilization

Describe a legendary or forgotten civilization. Do they have descendants still in the world? This need not be a standard PC race civilization, but it can be.

Note: Better Ideas Welcome

If your idea for a capital is better, feel free to write it and mine can be moved to another empire, (or left out.)

[Lleban]

Magic: Marks of the Uncrowned Emperor

Legend has it that these marks are assigned to mortals who've chosen by the weavers of fate itself, though some scholars believe these marks to be an offshoot of an unknown type of rune magic. The mark of the uncrowned emperor takes the form of a birthmark shaped as an ambiguously humanoid skull. Each mark bequeaths a unique ability to its owner at the cost of a specific condition. For example the last wielder of the bastard blade was said to have conjured thousands of lesser blades at the cost of becoming paralyzed when submerged in water. A legend among mark bearers is that the one who collects 1000 marks, via slaying other mark wielders, will obtain the sign of the Ascended Emperor.

Forgotten civilization: Midian Shahs

Before the Chimerian emperors when much of the known world still used bronze, the Midians, a group of hobgoblins, solved the riddle of steel. With their military discipline and mastery of metal working the expanded from the savanna's of Zebri to the forests of Chimeria. The Midians were renowned in their era for efficient administration great public works projects, and mastery over the land they inhabited. Unfortunately this mastery would lead to their undoing as decades of deforestation, poor soil management, and a massive drought slowly turned the savanna's and forests into plains and massive deserts. Now all that's left of the Midian's are unnamed cities dotting the Zebri desert filled with unreadable scripts from a bygone age.

Open: Feature The Misty sea

Far to the east past the Zebri desert lays an extensive rift valley. Within the valley's trough lie many fissures filled with carbon dioxide. Crossing these fissures without magic or the proper breathing apparatus is seen as certain death. In fact many view the Misty sea as the edge of the known world. Despite the regions rampant volcanism and pools of toxic gasses, the regions fertile sole has attracted quite the large population mix of dwarfs, humans and hob goblins.

prompt:Describe the sea! or the ocean, really any significant body of water that tickles your fancy!

[NekoMancer657]

Prompt: Magic
Blood Sorcery, powered by sacrifices, has a transmutive effect on both those who wield it and those it targets, beyond that of the intended working. It is not entirely predictable, as they vary according the life taken and the life altered, but it is rarely actively counterproductive to the ritual performed. Of greater concern is these effects can compound if added too and can even last (and passed on to further) generations. The Witch-King Saleb accidentally altered the royal line of the elves by ending the Zebri Famine of his age.

Prompt: The Sea
To the south, lies the Cold Sea. It's waters are as chilling as they are swift, meaning those unfortunate to fall overboard in it often suffer before being brought back aboard, if they are. It grows even colder as you head further south, as surely as the northern waters grow warmer. Dwarven legend says that if you go dead south into the Cold Sea it will eventually freeze solid, trapping your ship in the ice, though no one has ever been able to confirm this.

Free
The dragons of Mur once schemed against their kin, teaching the 'lesser' races some basic magic to gain an advantage against their rivals followers. While the dragons of Mur ultimately lost that conflict and were slain, their followers scattered rather than be destroyed. As they took the foundations of dragon magic, what would become Witchcraft with them, the dragons hold on magic sliped even further than it did upon the Breaking of the Rune.

Prompt: Please give me a trade route between two cities in different nations.

[brian 333]

Magic: The Dread Tower

On a lonely moor choked with brambles, thorns, and heather, stands a broken motte-and-baily fort around a central drum tower. Age has stained the once white stones with mildew and slime. The broken gates of the baily hang in rotted shreds from broken hinges. The iron door of the tower hangs, blasted open by powerful magic in ancient times...

None who enter have ever come out.

Worse: there are those who have heard, from a great distance, the occupants of the tower wage their battle, over and over again on nights with no moon. They say that any who view the battle of the dead is swept up in it, forever doomed to share the soldiers' fate.

It is also said that the tower holds the library of The Necromancer. Many are the mages, both powerful and weak, who have walked the overgrown road lined with broken headstones and open tombs to fearlessly enter and posess it. If any have succeeded they have not returned to say so.

Prompt: A Trade Route

The Great Barrier splits the continent with the Chimerian Empire on its northeastern slopes and on the southwest slopes there are a great many minor kingdoms which are culturally united but politically independent, (as were the city-states of the Hellenistic world.) Among these, enclaves of gnomes fare well, and their world famous alchemists produce wonderous concoctions.

Between the Chimerian town of Westshadow and the Kingdom of Gilammar a trail was blazed across the mountains which, though no more than 100 miles apart, require over 400 miles of road to traverse. At its highest point people from the lowlands cannot survive, so the road is only useable by the Hulawi Shepherds who have tended sheep and goats in the high mountain passes for thousands of years.

They have bred large pack sheep to carry trade goods across the high passes, and will use one or two sheep harnessed to two-wheeled carts for large or heavier gear. None try to ride their sheep or carts, but lead them as would a shepherd.

Free: Western Chivalry

The continent west of The Great Barrier is much less than a tenth the size of the East with a wide variety of terrain types varying by altitude and lattitude from the Binuvi Desert in the north to the coastal jungles of the south. Though they worship a variety of gods and practice a variety of social conventions, they are united by their codes of chivalry which extends from the lowest classes to the highest, binding them in a complex web of social obligations that outsiders consider incomprehensible.

In their codes the common denominators are: protect the weak, deliver on promises, act with decorum and dignity, and similar cariations on those themes.

There are great regional variations in the code; for example, in the north one becomes obligated to a person who shares his water, while in the south the traditional greeting best translates as, "Have you had something to eat?" The response to this greeting may create obligations, depending on how it is answered.

Those born into one of these cultures can quickly adapt, after a few missteps, to the variances of other groups, but outsiders seldom adapt, and thus are held in disdain by westerners for their lack of manners.

Next: An Aquatic Culture

Be there whales who sing love songs? Merfolk and Sehaugin? Selkies? Or a race unknown to other worlds? Where anx how do they live?

[Eldan]

You got me at singing whales.

Eversong
When the Old Gods made the world, they sang it into being. But just as the music ends when the orchestra stops playing, the world would end with their song. Of course, the Old Gods, fickle beings that they are, would not sit in quiet contemplation for thousands of years. They had made the world as an amusement, a diversion, not a chorse.
So they made the whales, who sing the Eversong, the music of creation. All whales are part of it, for even thousands of miles apart, they can hear each other, and sing in harmony, from birth to death.
All old sailors know the Eversong, and why it is forbidden to slay whales. For every whale slain is one less voice in the song, and the world as a whole becomes weaker.
Not everyone cares, though. Whale oil is a precious resource for many growing states that need cheap fuel, and those civilizations that make a living on barren coastlines often have few others way to feed themselves than whaling.

Magic: the Kiritai
The Kiritai are a handful of orcish tribes that live on the northernmost islands of the continent. These are barren rocks, where no trees grow and only bushes and grasses cling to clefts in the stone. The orcs herd sheep, and hunt rabbits with their famous slings, but twice a year, they take to the seas in hide boats, for the whaling. With bone harpoons brandished, they leap overboard, spearing the mighty beasts and rowing them to shore.
There, the blood shamans of the Kiritai slice them open and dive in, to read the future in the entrails and bathe in the blood that renews the tribe's sorcerous power for another six months. When the whaling fails comes a dark time for the tribe, for without blood, their bodies fail and fall victim to the ancestral curses laid upon them by the elves, until they are almost wiped out by disease and raiding.

The Rain Valley
In the middle of the Binuvi desert lies the Rain Valley. As travellers approach, they see little except clouds low to the ground like mist. The entire valley lies hundreds of feet below the desert floor and is eternally shaded by the clouds that never break. The rain is constant, but weak, a drizzle that has, as far as anyone can tell, lasted for at least a thousand years. Mighty trees towers above swampy ground and scattered ponds, though thirsty travellers are warned to stay away, as all manner of dangerous beasts are said to lurk in the muddy waters.

[brian 333]

Prompt the next guy!

[Eldan]

Dammit, I always forget this. Okay, right.

A person
Name an important character in the setting and describe their position and personality.

[Lleban]

Magic: Contract with the Old Gods

A common legend among coastal communities is that the Old gods are capable of granting any wish at a price. What the Old god's ask for in return is usually rather variable and some times even random. A famous example being Jace The Golden Baron, whom apparently was forced to sacrifice 12 tons of salt in the span of a month in exchange for one of the greatest ships of all time. Of course, those who try to scam the old gods are cursed with misfortune that grows more dire the longer the debt is unpaid.

Prompt: Jace The Golden Baron

Formerly a prince from the east, Jace was sent to the western continent to escape a rebellion that would exterminate his family line. Now he's an infamous pirate that operates West of the great barrier. The Golden Baron is absolutely in love with the idea of western chivalry, having idolized the ideology as a sharp contrast to the palace politics of his youth. Despite his incessant predation on the luxurious treasure and silk ships that sail to the east, The Golden Baron is famous for investing in the communities he frequents.

Free: Fortress of Oblivion

A prison for rebellious mages, the fortress of oblivion is perched on the northern fringe of Chimeria. The grounds are tended to by an order of monks dedicated to studying mental magic.

Prompt: a famous food or crop