OK, well we're nearing the 1500 post/thread limit which I had completely forgotten about, but hay I prefer my OOCs hijacked anyways, and I don't think any overflow er have is worth it's own thread, so feel free to just stick it here with recruitment spoilers... I think you know what I mean having clicked this one...
Post character name, sheet if you want it public, claim a speech color, put up your public background, all the other OOC stuff, and settle in.
The first post from last thread will be the second here, this first will get extra such info as needed.
So I started an epic gestalt sandbox to play in a bit back, it's still slugging along, but it's doing this horrible thing. It's giving me ideas ... yes that's right. If you ever get the chance don't ever give me ideas, because those ideas can be scary scary things. Anywho I decided to host an epic high op level 30 gestalt nations sandbox game where everyone can... well thy can do just about anything they want PVP is naturally allowed, so pack extra contingencies to keep at least one if not a hundred legs sticking out of your grave
Anywho no I don't really have time to host this, but you know what they say about making time right epic destinies besides true genius are allowed, homebrewed monster of legend isn't, paragon is whatever LA it is listed as in the ELH, and lets see about a good old 16:
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1. What game system are you running (D&D, Call of Cthulu, Palladium, GURPS, etc.), and if applicable what edition (Original, Classic, Revised, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 10th, etc.)? D&D 3.5
2. What 'type' or variant of game will it be (i.e. "Shadow Chasers" or "Agents of Psi" for d20 Modern)? What is the setting for the game (eg. historic period, published or homebrewed campaign setting, alternate reality, modern world, etc.)? Sandbox kingdoms.
3. How many Players are you looking for? Will you be taking alternates, and if so, how many? Probably 6. no alts, no limit on players.
4. What's the gaming medium (OOTS, chat, e-mail etc.)? here
5. What is the characters' starting status (i.e. experience level)? level 30 gestalt flat, no extra xp, but I won't bug you about little things like spells to make you undead
6. How much gold or other starting funds will the characters begin with? WBL 4.3 million and a level 28 cohort gets 3.3 million which you can also use to buy an army, followers get NPC WBL (see the MIC for the full table)
7. Are there any particular character classes, professions, orders, etc. that you want... or do not want? What are your rules on 'prestige' and/or homebrewed classes? Multyclassing is fine, but lets keep it within 9 classes to avoid over dipping, homebrew goes by me (dragon and 3rd party counts as homebrew)
8. What races, subraces, species, etc. are allowed for your game? Will you allow homebrewed races or species? 'Prestige' races or species? You have free reign
9. By what method should Players generate their attributes/ability scores and Hit Points? roll
10. Does your game use alignment? What are your restrictions, if so? Anything, I want some across the board, though I expect it to favor evil just cuz it does
11. Do you allow multi-classing, or have any particular rules in regards to it?
answered
12. Will you be doing all of the die rolling during the course of the game? Will die rolls be altered, or left to the honor system?
Roll here, I get some private ones
13. Are there any homebrewed or optional/variant rules that your Players should know about? If so, list and explain them, or provide relevant links to learn about these new rules. See below
14. Is a character background required? If so, how big? Are you looking for anything in particular (i.e. the backgrounds all ending up with the characters in the same city)? Write out a healthy thing, though you can PM it if you don't ant others seeing publicly post all accessible knowledge others can access
15. Does your game involve a lot of hack & slash, puzzle solving, roleplaying, or a combination of the above? RP is important, there will likely be hack and slash, minimal puzzling, but battlefield tactics with huge legions is it's own puzzle as is the game of politics quite naturally.
16. Are your Players restricted to particular rulebooks and supplements, or will you be allowing access to non-standard material? What sources can Players use for their characters?
Epic spells are out, as are any infinate loops (they will be removed in game if you don't do so prior to the game) Though I will allow some 'large scale rituals' in special cases.
OK, there are three other nations besides you, you each get free leadership, epic leadership, and legendary commander.
We'll be using this system to get you a kingdom (I may tweak it tomorrow afternoon... yes I stole this from another game, keinnicht deserves the credit):
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-Subtract 50,000 GP from your starting wealth total. You're a noble of some sort. Not a king, but you have some influence in one country. You probably have a nice mansion. Any magical enhancements or protections on this mansion still cost gold.
This requires very little explanation. You could be born into it, strong-armed your way, etc.
-Subtract 100,000 GP from your starting wealth total. You are the high priest of a small religion. The deity's actual divine rank doesn't matter, only how many worshipers it has. Your religion is relatively unknown - few have heard of your god, you only have a few temples or underground cult chapters (If a seedier religion.) You worship a weak god, an imprisoned god, an elder evil, or other obscure divine force. You have access to 40 1st level clerics, 20 3rd level clerics, 10 5th level clerics, and one 10th level cleric. In addition, you have 300 nonclerics who have 1 level in a PC class, 150 2nd level nonclerics who have 1 level in a PC class, 50 of 5th level, and 2 of 10th level.
Finally, you have 400 members of NPC classes, 90% of which are 1st level.
-Subtract 200,000 GP from your starting wealth total. You're the ruler of a small kingdom (less than 10,000 inhabitants). You have access to a military of a size you choose that cannot exceed more than 50% of the population. These are 1st level warriors, with one 5th level character per 1000 men. You may want to take the leadership feat in order to add more high-level people to your army. A general as a cohort might be a good idea. Or another PC could be your general.
You may have a castle, palace, or other royal dwelling of your choice. This is free once you buy this, but any enhancements or protections are not.
NOTE: If you take this, you're going to have to provide some explanation of your kingdom's government and how you got the kingdom. Inheritance is fine, but boring.
-Subtract 300,000 GP from your starting wealth total. You are the high priest of a medium-sized religion. Most people have probably heard of your god and probably of you too. You have access to 100 1st level clerics, 50 2nd level clerics, 25 3rd level clerics, 20 5th level clerics, and 2 10th level clerics. In addition, you have access to 200 1st level nonclerics with PC classes, 100 2nd, 25 3rd, and 5 5th.
There are 5,000 people with NPC class levels who follow your religion, and 90% of them are 1st level. You must be able to cast 8th level divine spells to take this.
-Subtract 500,000 GP from your starting wealth total. You rule a medium sized kingdom, with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. You may have a military composing no more than 45% of the population, most of them 1st level warriors with a one 5th level character per 1000 men, and one 10th level character per 5000 men. Again, consider taking leadership and explain how you got it.
NOTE: Add CRx100,000 GP if you wish to rule a kingdom of beings with a challenge rating 1 or higher. For example, if you want to rule a medium kingdom of elves, it costs 500,000 GP. If you want to rule a medium kingdom of Drow, it costs 600,000 GP.
-Subtract 1,000,000 GP from your starting wealth. You are the high priest of a well known god. You have access to 1000 1st level clerics, 500 2nd level clerics, 500 3rd level clerics, 100 5th level clerics, 20 10th level clerics, and 3 15th level clerics. In addition, you have access to 1000 1st level nonclerics, 1000 2nd level nonclerics, 500 3rd level nonclerics, 400 fifth level nonclerics, 100 tenth level nonclerics, and 20 fifteenth level nonclerics. In addition, there are 50,000 members of NPC classes who follow your religion. You must be able to cast 9th level divine spells to take this.
-Subtract 1,300,000 GP from your starting wealth. You are the ruler of a large kingdom containing 500,000 inhabatants. You may have a military consisting of up to 40% of these inhabitants in which the standard soldier is a level 1 Warrior, there is one 5th level character per 1000 men, one 10th level character per 5000 men, and one level 15 character per 50,000 men
-Subtract 1,000,000 GP from your starting wealth. You are the high priest of a well known god. You have access to 1000 1st level clerics, 500 2nd level clerics, 500 3rd level clerics, 100 5th level clerics, 20 10th level clerics, and 3 15th level clerics. In addition, you have access to 1000 1st level nonclerics, 1000 2nd level nonclerics, 500 3rd level nonclerics, 400 fifth level nonclerics, 100 tenth level nonclerics, and 20 fifteenth level nonclerics. In addition, there are 50,000 members of NPC classes who follow your religion. You must be able to cast 9th level divine spells to take this.
-Subtract 7,500,000GP from your starting wealth. You are the high priest of a major religion devoted to one of the domonant gods. You have acess to 10,000 1st level clerics, 5,000 2nd level clerics, 1000 3rd level clerics, 500 5th level clerics, 100 tenth level clerics, 20 15th level clerics, 10 20th level clerics, and 4 25th level clerics, you also have acess to 10,000 1st level nonclerics, 5,000 2nd level nonclerics, 1000 3rd level nonclerics, 500 5th level nonclerics, 100 tenth level nonclerics, 20 15th level nonclerics, 10 20th level nonclerics, and 4 25th level nonclerics, in addition there are 100,000 follower of your religion out in the world willing to aid you.
-Subtract 100,000 for a small information network through which you hear the going ones of other nations, or subtract 1,000,000 for a large one that has far reaching influences with spies wherever they can possibly gain access.
-Subtract 6,000,000 GP from your starting wealth. You are the ruler of a major kingdom containing 3,000,000 inhabitants. You may have a military consisting of up a third of these inhabitants as level 1 warriors, There is one 5th level character per 1000 men, one 10th level character ofr every 5000 men, one 15th level character per 50,000 men, one 20th level character per 250,000 men, and one level 25 character per 500,000 men.
-Subtract 2,000,000 GP From your staring wealth, you have managed to magically lift a chunk of land from the ground, it moves at a speed of 5', and can suport a civilization.
OTHER ORGANIZATIONS: Basically, take the listed costs and rules for the high priest ones, change them so they read appropriately. I.E. A wizarding organization has access to wizards rather than clerics, and where it reads "noncleric" it should now read "nonwizard." You must then be able to cast 9th level arcane spells, rather than 9th level divine spells.
You cannot be the high priest of more than one religion. Being a high priest or runner of a wizarding ordrer is different from having a kingdom. Most of the clerics just run temples or secret cults, and the followers are followers of the religion, not minions. You can rally some of them together or task them with a specific mission once in awhile, but they do not solely do your building. Basically, you don't have an army, you have a support base. You may have one paladin type (Slaughter/Tyranny, Antipaladin, etc.) per 500 members of your religion. These aren't in addition to your followers, you may simply have them among your followers. These guys are your champions, and actually do do your bidding.
If you wish to create an organization that would require more modification than swapping out a few words, like a group of high-level antipaladins, you should just take the leadership feat.
The ELC of your most powerful followers cap out at 30 just in cas people were looking forwards to a small kingdom of ELC40 creatures
Taxes: 1cp/HD/week of follower with 5GP=1xp equivalent for crafting xp that your people are willing to spend in exchange for the equivalent tax breaks
I'll toss up a map tomorrow where people can fill themselves in. I am open to bizarre awesomeness, and the plot (if it's enough to call it that):
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Thursday was an odd day. Not only that the sun did not set the night before, but also in that rumors had been circulating about a strange man. He calls himself the for-bearer of the eye. An odd name to be sure, but this alone was not what was troubling you.
A message had arrived, it had suddenly appeared this morning beside you and singed the attendant sent to fetch it. Upon it was a golden image of an eye swerving about, closing the instant it saw you. As it closed the magical energies around it faded... shocking that you hadn't noticed them Within was a message that read
You ____________ are cordially invited to attend dinner with the for-bearer of the eye this sunday. Come alone. and than the oddest thing happened. Your mind locked onto that last part demanding obedience (DC70 will save to resist following it's orders) This naturally smells of a trap, and yet this for-bearer whomever he is has never been heard of, and you can only hope he knows as little of you as you do of him... perhaps you can use this to your advantage... ... but dare you leave your throne with your neighbors as they are...?
More on the plot:
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the eye:
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this kind
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not this kind
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The three nations are as follows:
The witches of Gaiad Forest have always been a mysterious lot. Nobody ever knows what they're thinking, and any who wander into their woods are never heard again. These forests are filled with fey folk and mighty forces of nature long asleep.
Stone Mountain as it is known by the world is a large mountain to the north in which the 'nation of the stone' suddenly appeared. It is often speculated on exactly how they came to the mountain, but all the same thy have quickly fortified it and now nobody but traders enter, emerging with the most wonderful of works.
The final nation is the great empire created long ago by Izelus, a great and mighty dragon king with the help of a wanderer known as the medicine man. The wanderer has long since vanished melenia ago, but not before plaguing the world with undeath and carving Izelus a hefty slice of the world. The great red is the most open of the three believing himself above mortal affairs, and yet constantly hosting feasts for the benefit of various nobles. He has not yet taken the world, but he often brags that this is only on account of his mountains being the only land worth taking.
In your first OOC post when we get there you may state weather you go or not.
Anyone may opt out of being a leader, but I hope to see alliances forming, so I will declare as supreme DM of the game that all players wishing to participate must RP a peace treaty with at least one other player before the start of the game.
Accepted box: has been removed
Additional rulings:
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No, you may choose to not even attract followers via your free leadership if you'd like
Your op is your call, but the bar is at high op
lets say 7d6b3, it keeps stats high (1 reroll, keep the final result, or 40PB)
Also cohorts are gestalt and get PC WBL, followers are equipped through the kingdom or your pocket
Also lets go with no flaws, and feat purchasing will be allowed, magic transparency will be set to all affecting each other.
assuming no infinite loops all wizards D&D3.5 sorcebooks are allowed (though some things like taint I'm not as much a fan of... it's allot to keep track of )
keep in mind you have 4.3 million, your cohort has 3.3, you're allow to use both, VoP means it's gone not invested, and if you want 'pets' we can talk about what would be reasonable (for instants worgs go well with tasty goblins, but great wyrm dragons... not so much. )
The gold/xp listed at the bottom of buying a place in politics is your daily revenue from taxes and what not as well as the max xp that your people can devote to magic without destroying themselves Also important notice
I feel vary silly for forgetting to mention this, but you may and are encouraged to PM your sheet to me so that others can't metagame against you. Ditto for your army's stats, ect. I will keep a big ugly word doc of this stuff myself. (recall you are still expected to post a backstory here of what others know about you regardless of weather you PM me your backstory or post it here) feel really silly for not remembering to say this earlier
Maps
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Morganatic
Hmm, I can't post the map, and the possible scale, yet, since there are a couple of secret things that Drack is planning for us all, but I'm putting forward an argument for major kingdom being ~70,000 square miles (why, Morgan, yes that is 300 miles in diameter).
That gives the other nation sizes at
Major - 300 miles - ~ 71,000 square miles.
Large - 150 miles - ~ 17,700 square miles
Medium - 75 miles - ~ 4,4100 square miles
Small - 38 miles in diameter - ~1,100 square miles.
Worldly fluff
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Aussir
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Name: AussirKhuno Nicknames: Wyrm of Frost, Winterdrake Divinity Rank: Lesser Deity Symbol: Icy reptilian eye centered over a white snowflake Home Plane: Stygia Alignment: NE Portfolio: Winter, Cold, White Dragons Worshipers: White Dragons, inhabitants of cold climates Cleric Alignments: NE, CE, LE Domains: Winter, Cold, Dragon, Evil, Trickery Favored Weapon: Scimitar (Claw)
Most if not all White Dragons pay homage to AussirKhuno; either out of respect or fear.
Other dragons of different colors more often look to Tiamat more readily, and often times look down at those Whites that worship AussirKhuno. Of the good dragons, only Silvers pay any real attention to him.
AussirKhuno is a fickle, vain, evil dragon deity with a heart of ice that once was a mortal that ascended into divinity largely due to well placed favors with other evil dragon gods.
In his natural form, AussirKhuno resembles a white dragon with scales made of ice, and is constantly letting off a fog of cold air even in the coldest of temperatures.
Dogma:
Cover all the lands with ice. Quench fire wherever it is found. Let in the winds and the cold; cut down windbreaks and chop holes in walls and roofs so that my cold may come in. Work darkness to hide the cursed sun so that the chill the AussirKhuno brings may slay. Take the life of an arctic creature only in great need, but slay all others at will. Make all fear the Winterdrake. Revere the Wyrm of Frost and sing his praises into any chill breeze or winter wind. Do not raise your hand against any other cleric of AussirKhuno.
Clergy:
AussirKhuno accepts only evil clerics and druids. AussirKhuno's clerics and druids, like AussirKhuno himself, seek to place the world under the domination of winter.
AussirKhuno claims to not need allies, though most believe he has bargains and favors with many other evil deities such as Iborighu. His enemies are numerous including deities of the Sun and Good like Pelor and Bahamut, with occasional conflicts with interestingly Levistus of Stygia.
Quests:
The followers of AussirKhuno are sent on a variety of quests to further his grand plan of an eternal ice age. Some are easily understood, such as aiding one of his white dragons against a worshipper of Fire who seeks to destroy it and its progress. Others are less obvious such as hunting down specific icebergs for a rimefire eidolon.
Prayers:
AussirKhuno urges his cold followers to go forth and chill the world, fill it with snowy blizzards, and destroy or enslave all others. Prayers to him focus on the goal of the eternal winter.
Temples:
Though most white dragons honor AussirKhuno, few keep shrines dedicated to him in their lairs because they don't want AussirKhuno's vanity to gaze at their treaure hoards. Instead, they dedicate vast, icy caverns or icebergs to their deity and keep them stocked with treasure and sacrifices.
Rites:
To commemorate a victory such as burying a normally tropical climate under snow, or kidnapping a number of sun worshipers, the followers of AussirKhuno celebrate by indulging in great wickedness, including torturing prisoners or sacrificing a summoned fire elemental.
Herald and Allies:
AussirKhuno's herald is an white dragon. His allies include various evil cold deities, and other cold creatures such as frost giants in times of need.
Jones of the white fleet
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Jones grew up as an idle fisherman, after war claimed all his siblings his parents deserted in order to take him out of the wakes of war, and ultimately to the great pirate cove of Glen the pirate lord. Jones had a sort of natural affinity for the sea, and soon he found himself in charge of a large portion of the fleet. By pure chance it so happened that him and his fleet were out when Glen's cove was sieged. Honestly it's quite generous to call it a siege as it lasted only half an hour. While Glen had quite the name he had grown lazier in his age and fame, and had failed to even post proper sentries. Naturally the battle was over before it even began, and overnight Jones found himself with the single largest fleet in the world. Over the next year he managed to gather the remaining pirates to join him, and now he is the most fearsome pirate in all the three seas. (The west sea, The south sea which is somewhat east of the southern glaciers, and the north sea between the island cluster and the two larges land masses. No Pacific, Atlantic, Blood, Indian, Yellow, ect seas in this world )
Now his ships tear across the seas easily identifiable by the white wood of which they are built they sail freely through the sees, and all coast dwellers know what it means when a white ship rises above the horizon.
The Dark Storm
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Many myths and legends surround the wastelands plagued by elemental. The lands themselves are commonly referred to as "The Dark Storm" for a few centuries back the Elementals began actively tearing across the plans leaving everything from gales to trails of flames to slushy bogs of much which in turn are consumed by the ground it's self. The ruling body of The Dark Storm is a humanoid formed of various elements swirling throughout it's form named Titusarvin, and it's accompanying council of Elementsls. While none truly understand their goals They seem not to notice the outside world so much, and as time passes somehow the storm clouds overhead only seem to grow darker, thicker with the clashing elements.
Trolls and tolls
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Any self respecting world has bridges from which trolls collect tolls. Now the toll trolls are not so much a nation as a society, now generally it's not good to disrespect the trolls (like killing them) because there are allot of bridges that you'll probably end up crossing, and that's allot of trolls. That and they stimulate your market by buying local produce
The Road builders (sorry, another ancient idea I just had to pull out)
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Since ancient times... well actually t hasn't been that long at all. About fifty years ago they slipped through a rift in space and instantly set to work clearing their starting point and carving a rather wide and convincing road across the lands as they went. While nobody knows why they build their road, or to whence it reaches many unfortunate nations have fount that the road builders are willing to carve straight through towns, mountains, even building roads over the oceans themselves, resisting attack, building over the corpses of those before them, but overall ignoring the world around them..
It's going to take weeks to cast all the permanent stuff I want to have, mostly because of restrictions on how many times I can ignore XP components. Won't exactly drain me for any singe day, will just do that if I want to use Gate to call in a nasty, the process will take longer.
My main reason to find that unreasonable is that it is completely illogical to not have all that stuff already. What are the odds of my permanencied comprehend languages to have disappeared? All those small little utilities go away because they fall down on the priority list. I usually go with the philosophy of not arguing much with the GM, he says no to something, I go looking for an alternative, but I think a bit more flexibility on this matter will make the game better.
OK, point taken, it'll be a pain, but every spell goes by me, every addition to your 'fortress', the basic geographical layout of your nations, and the base structure for your fortifications. Please excuse if I take quite some time to go through requests as I get this feeling many will be rather large, as usual feel free to PM them.
Base structure should be designed on some manner of grid. wards will be prefested in the following manner
spell name
Spoiler
spell level/class
duration
Any component/xp costs/how you intend to have covered them
location/number
general effect
Book, page #/link
I want a general map of your towns, a less general one of your capital, and one of your country with approximate locations of towns/populations/farmlands and the like as well as basic layout of fortifications for these towns. The geography should be included.
This may end up taking more than a week or two after all
I forget if I said or not, but the table is now in the first post, and gimme a min on tattoos
Edit on Ice assassin:
a) without hair/nails or the such you're creating an ice assassin of a nothing bravo.
b) they aren't under your control and maintain their narcissistic god complex and may smite you for even suggesting they hand over their power to you
c) the divine ranks are ultimately from the god Yes that means polymorph any object has 2 clocks ticking, and when the one buzzes out it just reduces the overall time of the first.
d) you're still out 5000xp
I apologize if my interpretations (you know, the ones that prevent infinite loops) throw a wrench in anyone's plans
Iamorphe
Name: Iamorphe
Nicknames: The Prideful, The Iron Staff, He Who Plots
Divinity Rank: Lesser Deity
Symbol: An iron staff on a purple background
Home Plane: The Outlands
Alignment: LE
Portfolio: Tyrrany, Conquest, Tactics, Magic
Worshipers: Tyrrants, Conquerers, nobles, mages
Cleric Alignments: LN, LE, NE
Domains: Law, Evil, Planning, Pride, Magic
Favored Weapon: Staff
Many who would wish to conquer worship Iamorphe. He is especially attractive to those who plan to use magic to do so. The worship of Iamorphe revolves around discipline and foresight, which makes for excellent additional incentive for a general's soldiers, and many magical generals find that the worship also helps them think about their plans. Many monks also find themselves drawn to him.
Iamorphe is a prideful deity who is vain about his priests; they must all maintain a good appearance at all times, as He does. They also need to be ready for battle fairly quickly, although they need not be personally skilled in battle, as the focus is on tactics and leadership.
In his natural form, Iamorphe resembles a human with red hair and red eyes, wearing a crown, and wielding a staff that glows with unholy power.
Dogma:
Plan the downfall of your enemies. A victory had by chance is only marginally better than defeat. Have a reason when you kill, but never shy away from it. Rule belongs to those who can control the country and manage their resources; those who cannot, should not. Do not raise your hand against any other cleric of Iamorphe.
Clergy:
The clergy of Iamorphe tend to also be in government in some capacity as well, often either being directly in a command structure, or serving as advisors to those who would conquer ... as this lets the cleric control things fairly effectively, without being quite as much of a target - and after all, what ruler doesn't give others tasks?
Quests:
The followers of Iamorphe are often found engaged in various tasks of conquest - be that locating an artifact useful in conquering, raising armies, undermining a country that has grown weak, or maintaining an empire, conquering everything is the ultimate goal.
Prayers:
Iamorphe urges his followers to go forth and conquer the world, bringing it under his rule. Prayers to him focus on the goal of conquest.
Temples:
The temples of Iamorphe tend to be built on the site of great battles. In fact, that is how land for him is consecrated - by the spilled blood of a carefully planned victory. Simple sacrifices will not do, but simple shrines do not need to be so dedicated... and thus, shrines are far more common than temples.
Rites:
To commemorate a victory in battle, the followers of Iamorphe celebrate by putting the captives to work - digging moats, building walls for fortifications, gathering large stones for use with catapults, and so on.
Herald and Allies:
Iamorphe's herald is a young human Sorcerer. His allies include Hexxtor and St Cuthbert, his enemies include Oldimarra and Kord.
Fijursh claming Sienna (bold)
(bold to see the difference between dark orange and because I'm an ex-god* )
*ref to disc-world's Death who always talks in capitals ...
With enough knowledge(religion), you know the following ...
Many spin fairy tails around the Gods were formed ... but I know the truth. How, you ask? because I was there, I was once one of them.
While many spin tales of these noble and righteous lords of creation, the truth is much more bitter: they are greedy and won't stop at anything to get what they want - their bloody trail is simply masked by the fogs of time.
But not all who got destroyed in their wake are remain dead ... and I am one of them.
Once there was a big family of supreme beings - all were child or child of child or even further of Chaos itself. And the elements were formed and the planes were formed and all was well... Until one group was not satistifed with their domain - and slaughtered their bretheren and stole the most valued resource of all: divinity.
I ... was one of those who fell. And while my former brethren set up their divine empires, I lay on the verge of existance, dormant until my faded divine soul was once more touched.
Now recently I awoke from my dormant state.
And now? now I need to survive in this world of men, half-men and no-men, finding a way to take back that which was rightfully mine ...
my worldy domain? The Sah'Gaara Desert - so perpare your endure elements, 'cause it's HOT...
__________________ RFC1925: With sufficient thrust, pigs fly just fine. However, this is not necessarily a good idea.
Character Name: AussirKepesk, the Vampiric White Dragon Lord & Gwyneria, the Frostwind Virago [Cohort] Sheet: Not finished/not public Speech Color:Dark Red for AussirKepesk, Deep Sky Blue for Gwyneria
Public Info post: link 1, link 2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Igneel
I think that I have enough answers from drack to at least post most if not all my 'What everyone knows' on my 'kingdom'. Since I really don't mind sharing what is mostly fluff right now I don't see why I should wait any longer.
What Everyone Knows about... AussirHurtha:Fortress of the Bloody Blizzard
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Inspiration Photo:
Spoiler
The polar seas are a terrible place, spawning grounds for massive storms and tempests, choked with icebergs, haunted by pirates and ghost ships, and filled with dangerous sea predators. It's no surprise sailors who brave the polar waters return to port with strange and frightening stories of what they encountered on the frozen seas. Despite (or possibly because of) these dangers, the majority of these tales are exaggerations or outright lies, making it difficult to sort truth from fiction. One commonly recurring story that had been discounted for many years as a baseless legend, though, has recently been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt to be horribly true... the stories of the blizzard iceberg home of AussirKepesk.
The stories of AussirHurthia are all similar; a ship, blown off course or forced to travel into uncharted polar waters to avoid icebergs or dangerous creatures, catches a view of a set of nine razor-sharp spires of ice protruding from the horizon. The lucky sailors lose sight of the spires, but a few are foolish enough to investigate and before long are assaulted by a seemingly out of nowhere blizzard that never seems to die down. Upon successfully steering closer the nine frozen spires prove to be the peaks of a large iceberg, atop which squats a terrible blood-red ice city of brooding buildings. The whole city rides in the eye of the blizzard on a fairly flat mesa of ice, the sheer cliffsides of which plunge directly from the edge of the city into the briny deep. A enormous structure in the likeness of a dragons maw looks out towards the sea , behind its lower teeth a narrow gash cuts through the midst of these buildings, forming a treacherous harbor spanned in two places by bridges made of bone, metal, and red ice. A building seemingly carved from frozen blood sits on one side of this gash, and two massive towers of a mixture of normal ice and the red ice loom over it on either side. The gash leads to a massive cathedral of blue ice, and a towering statue of a dragon pinning down some creature with resemblences to a salamander sits atop a promontory overlooking the gash. Scattered throughout the city are several tall pitted and hollow spires, and when the wind blows over them it generates a low mournful drone. Above the city squats a massive palace made of the red ice and seemingly stone, its facade seething with latent hatred and despair. But perhaps the most disturbing of all are the city's inhabitants; the streets choked with a large variety of humanoids and dragon humanoid creatures of evil intent such as Arctic Kobolds, Frostblood Orcs and worse. Cavorting amid these fearsome creatures are devilish creatures of all shapes and sizes.
Ships unlucky enough to travel too close to the city are often attacked by flights of winged dragon humanoids or by catapults launching chunks of ice. Other times, they are set upon by powerful spellcasters using cold spells from the edge of the iceberg. A few stories tell of a white dragon perching in the spires, taking flight to attack those who draw to close, only to drop their corpses drained of their life blood dry. Since no ships ever claimed to have successfully landed on the shores of the city, nor even knew its name, these stories where often discounted as lies, or at the best, grog-induced nightmares. It wasn't until recently in the last few years, when the city appeared near a large coastal city to the much more tropical north and launched a devastating attack against it, that the story became fact. Since that attack, the city has launchd raids on other city ports, polar or not, the iceberg propelled by some eldritch means as if it were a massive ship. Since these attacks began, the name of the city has become known to outsiders.
This is AussirHurthia, the Bloody Blizzard Fortress, and floating fortress of the Vampiric White Dragon AussirKepesk.
Edit: Forgot to add in some additional info...
Ruler- AussirKepesk, a Vampiric White Dragon 'Kingdom' Type- Spending 1.2 mil gp on a combination of "High Priest of a well known god" + "Ruler of a Small Kingdom"
Edit II: Updates AussirKepesk
Spoiler
Days Past
Spoiler
Calm Before the Blizzard
Spoiler
Like all else, it starts with nothing but darkness and silence. The same was for the small embryo nestled inside its safe haven of an eggshell cradled by snow and ice just outside. As its body grew and developed, it steadily grew more aware of the near constant blistering wind whistling and howling for what seemed like forever. Eventually time was finally growing short, and the tiny dragon could feel the uneasiness and sudden claustrophobia. Struggling to move its body a scar across what earlier could have been mistaken for a perpetual night sky erupted, and the frigid air rushed inside to greet the newest white dragon wyrmling.
It didn’t take long for the little dragon to be taken care of by its mother, and given the name of Aussir. Later in life he will take on a second name to mark his obtainment of adulthood, but that was still many years off into the future. First he needs to survive the beginnings of winter on a polar ice cap…
That snowball rolling downhill effect
Spoiler
Several thousand rises and drops of the snow storms passed, and Aussir grew into a excellent example of a white dragon. He was fierce in battle, quick to learn new hunting tricks, and showed unusual intellect compared to the rest of his nest mates. It was almost like his namesake AussirKhuno has blessed this dragon for some greater deed. While all the others were too busy gnawing on some scrap of frozen meat, Aussir could be found glancing towards the sky and pondering how snow was made. Not only that but much more, one of the most common being “If the frozen lands we live in are supposedly the harshest place to live, then why are we the White dragons, the bottom of the food chain compared to the others created by Great Mother Tiamat?”
These thoughts and ideas greatly disturbed those around him, eventually granting him a outcast status from the rest of his clutch, despite his steady gaining of power by going the devote path of AussirKhuno clergy. Strangely this didn’t bother him as much as most would think, for he believed that it was better to struggle through life alone rather then with others holding you back.
Around this time a strange phenomenon started brewing in the nearby area to the west of the dragon caves. It was reported by some of the elder dragons that a strange dragon has arrived and claimed an iceberg for itself. What was so weird about it was that the others didn’t want to go anywhere near this dragon despite their normally territorial nature. Something about it was scaring them like a sort of Boogey Man for the humanoids, but it is well known that of the Chromatic dragons the Whites are the most cowardly.
Despite all of this, Aussir grew only more curious as the flight of white dragons spent years afterwards always moving to new locations to avoid this one dragon, especially as some of their number disappeared more and more often. It seemed to take forever for Aussir to finally grow old enough to hunt truly by himself, taking down creatures like polar bears and even whales. It was on one of these hunting trips that Aussir made the mistake of wandering too close to the boundaries of the strange dragon that has been plaguing his flight for years. As he was just finishing the freezing process of his newly captured orca, a shadow flew over him, and before he could react was attacked from behind.
The piercing pain of something biting his neck radiated though his body, and the even more terrifying the sensation of his blood being drained from every vein in his body. Darkness and a cold far more chilling then his home took over him. Muttering one final prayer to his patron god, Aussir prays to see another winter as he descends into unconsciousness.
Look how the snow glistens in the moonlight
Spoiler
Hundreds of years passed since Aussir, now calling himself AussirKepesk, was bitten by his master the Vampiric Silver Dragon by the name OrnCaex. Long ago OrnCaex was bitten by another vampire dragon long since killed and because of this fell from his once lofty position with Bahamut’s clergy. Being exiled from the church, OrnCaex was forced to hide himself amongst the White Dragons and their ice. During his years of isolation he spied upon the Whites and took exceptional interest in AussirKepesk. Something about that White told him that he would be able to obtain his revenge on those of the ‘Light’ that left him in the “Dark’. As the years went OrnCaex grew lax around AussirKepesk, and let him in on a secret about the Abyss. In the Abyss there are several layers, one of which is an even colder place then where they lived now called Stygia the 6th layer, the very same said to be AussirKhuno’s home. In this layer there once was a demon lord that ruled the layer as he pleased that upon trying to seize power from the ‘king of demons’ Asmodeous, was frozen in a block of magical Stygian Ice as a prison. This demon’s name is Levistus, and OrnCaex has started making plans to get back on his once beloved King of the Metallic dragons by one day releasing Levistus through sacrificing souls to him, namely in the form of metallic dragons. In doing so, OrnCaex also knew of a nearly forgotten magic of using the slain dragon skulls to fuel himself with new magiks.
Strangely AussirKepesk was drawn with great interest with these plans, at least the gaining new powers part anyways, and mentally started to make his own plans. Of course he couldn’t let his master know about that, and went along with him as they started working out the ‘floor plans’ for a stronghold to hold their base of operations. Upon finally getting started with building, AussirKepesk could feel his master’s grip over him wane like the moon every cycle or the water receding. Taking advantage of this while out at the work area of a glacier being hand-carved by their claws, AussirKepesk attacked OrnCaex using a shipwrecked boat’s broken mast as a wooden stake and drove it into the Silver’s once beating heart. Making sure that the Silver can never come back to life by leaving his body out where the sun could reach him, AussirKepesk continued on with his plans. Procuring the Silver’s remnants of a hoard, the White went to work with some alterations…
Present day
Spoiler
Thousands of years have passed since AussirKepesk gained his freedom, and the glacier has developed immensely throughout the years. It has started to prosper as a haven for those that reside in the frostfell and cold climates with dark hearts beating in their chest. The now claimed city slash fortress has many qualities that make it different then neighboring frozen port cities. To name a few are the main structures are made from frozen blood claimed from several sources, there is a constant blizzard blowing around the glacier, when in need the glacier is actually mobile enough to move from one area to the next, and supposedly at the heart of the glacier is a portal that leads straight to Stygia for when AussirKepesk is in need of Stygian Ice and other supplies.
Being that the city is built both on top and out of a glacier, there is obviously little to no resources that are naturally accessible like those built on land. Because of this, AussirKepesk has taken great lengths to employ undead created by his closest ally Gwyneira the Frostwind Virago to salvage debris and effectively mine underwater. Not only that, but a majority of the mortal residents on the glacier take in specialties such as whale hunting, ship writing (with materials from pirated boats), and of course piracy.
The majority of the military forces are composed of a subrace of Orcs that are said to inherit part of their blood line from White Dragons, while another faction of the military is composed of unique humanoids that seem to resemble White Dragons that call themselves Frost Draconians.
Nowadays AussirKepesk keeps mostly to staying on his glacier partially because his hoard is hidden somewhere on the giant hunk of ice, and conducting sacrifices and experiments to further his eventual obtainment of his two goals in unlife. To spread the power of Winter and AussirKhuno’s word across the land even more so then what Winter already controls, and the eventual ascension to a demigod like state as AussirKhuno’s servant. As to why he wishes to accomplish these goals, and how are not publically known…
Empire/Capital: AussirHurtha: City of the Bloody Blizzard
Spoiler
The polar seas are a terrible place, spawning grounds for massive storms and tempests, choked with icebergs, haunted by pirates and ghost ships, and filled with dangerous sea predators. It's no surprise sailors who brave the polar waters return to port with strange and frightening stories of what they encountered on the frozen seas. Despite (or possibly because of) these dangers, the majority of these tales are exaggerations or outright lies, making it difficult to sort truth from fiction. One commonly recurring story that had been discounted for many years as a baseless legend, though, has recently been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt to be horribly true... the stories of the blizzard iceberg home of AussirKepesk.
The stories of AussirHurthia are all similar; a ship, blown off course or forced to travel into uncharted polar waters to avoid icebergs or dangerous creatures, catches a view of a set of nine razor-sharp spires of ice protruding from the horizon. The lucky sailors lose sight of the spires, but a few are foolish enough to investigate and before long are assaulted by a seemingly out of nowhere blizzard that never seems to die down. Upon successfully steering closer the nine frozen spires prove to be the peaks of a large iceberg, atop which squats a terrible blood-red ice city of brooding buildings. The whole city rides in the eye of the blizzard on a fairly flat mesa of ice, the sheer cliffsides of which plunge directly from the edge of the city into the briny deep. A enormous structure in the likeness of a dragons maw looks out towards the sea , behind its lower teeth a narrow gash cuts through the midst of these buildings, forming a treacherous harbor spanned in two places by bridges made of bone, metal, and red ice. A building seemingly carved from frozen blood sits on one side of this gash, and two massive towers of a mixture of normal ice and the red ice loom over it on either side. The gash leads to a massive cathedral of blue ice, and a towering statue of a dragon pinning down some creature with resemblences to a salamander sits atop a promontory overlooking the gash. Scattered throughout the city are several tall pitted and hollow spires, and when the wind blows over them it generates a low mournful drone. Above the city squats a massive palace made of the red ice and seemingly stone, its facade seething with latent hatred and despair. But perhaps the most disturbing of all are the city's inhabitants; the streets choked with a large variety of humanoids and dragon humanoid creatures of evil intent such as Frost Draconians and White Hoardlings and worse. Cavorting amid these fearsome creatures are devilish creatures of all shapes and sizes.
Ships unlucky enough to travel too close to the city are often attackd by flights of winged dragon humanoids or by captapults launching chunks of ice. Other times, they are set upon by powerful wizards using cold spells from the edge of the iceberg. A few stories tell of a white dragon perching in the spires, taking flight to attack those who draw to close, only to drop their corpses drained of their life blood dry. Since no ships ever claimed to have successfully landed on the shores of the city, nor even know its name, these stories where often discounted as lies, or at the best, grog-induced nightmares. It wasn't until recently, when the city appeared near a large coastal city to the north and launched a devastating attack against it, that the story became fact. Since that attack, the city has launchd raids on other polar-city ports, the iceberg propelled by some eldritch means as if it were a massive ship. Since these attacks began, the name of the city has become known to outsiders.
This is AussirHurthia, the Bloody Blizzard, and floating fortress of the Vampiric White dragon AussirKepesk.
Cities:
None besides AussirHurthia
A VERY rough draft of AussirHurthia's overview map:
Spoiler
Note that I don't have any of the labels for each area, and I'm thinking about spreading the NPC city to encompass more of the iceberg, along with fixing the lines.
Updated Overview Map:
Spoiler
Note: Got lazy trying to tidy up all the pixels around the buildings, so instead all NPC buildings are now just a generic red coloring to save time. Also threw in a miniature mountain just for a sense that its not entirely flat.
*Addition of Major/minor roads.
*Shrank graveyard to ~x2 the original version instead of ~x4.
*Semi-Topography added for semi-mountain heights.
*Scaling bar added, might be off but at least you get the idea.
*Key for certain icons.
*Compass added despite its a mobile base.
*Smiling whale added for decoration.
Landmarks of AussirHurthia:
Spoiler
Dragon's Maw Gate:
A giant ice carving of an impressive white dragon's head carved so that the one entrance into the 'Gash' [area 2] is literally through the dragon's mouth. Designed so that the bottom jaw's fangs are jagged icebergs that can rip apart nearly any ship that is too large [Larger then Gargantuan-sized ships] as a precaution to keep war ships out. As an added intimidation factor, certain parts of the sculptor has a reddish hue like the ice in those parts were made from frozen blood. Inside its eyes are guard stations that select Frost Draconians are stationed as an advanced alarm system.
Gash:
A sheer gash scars the side of the iceberg here, almost as if a massive giant slammed an equally massive axe into its side long ago. Seawater fills the bottom of the gash, which measures a little more then 100ft wide on average. Several ships are packed into the gash, moored by ropes to large iron bolts driven into the sides of the gash. Nearly 100ft above, an intricate network of catwalks, bridges, and jetties protrude out over the gap, many of which are fitted with lifts operated by bands of slaves. These lifts constantly raise and lower cargo to and from the ships below, along with passengers too nervous or exhausted to brave the numerous rope ladders dangling down the sides of the cliff face.
This deep fissure in the face of the iceberg is generally filled with seawater to a depth of about 30ft, and serves as a sort of harbor for visiting ships. Not many ships can moor here, so the harbormaster keeps detailed records of the schedules of regular visitors to the city and keeps a large appointment book to track when openings are available.
If no space is available, the ship must wait in the nearby ocean for an opening; in this case a appointed Draconian guard goes out to the ship to take names and the purpose of the ship's visit. This guard then reports this information to the harbormaster who schedules the visitors (if approved by his superiors like AussirKepesk or other Frozen Talon members) for a spot within generally 12 days.
Once a ship is allowed to moor in the Gash, the captain needs to pay a daily tax of 100gp/equal merchandise. Obviously, most ship crews do their best to take care of business as quickly as possible, even though once they are awarded a spot in the Gash, they are allowed to keep that spot as long as they can afford. A ship that can't afford to pay yet does not leave the Gash is assaulted by flights of Draconian guards and ships of Frostblood orcs (along with nearby pirates from other ships who want a piece of the action), looted, and scuttled.
A lift can transport up to 2,000lbs of cargo at a time; each transport costs an additional 20gp, and takes several minutes. The numerous rope ladders dangling down from the jetties above are free, but they require a successful Climb check to navigate. Heavily armored or clumsy individuals should probably pay the 20gp for a lift ride.
Statue of AussirKepesk:
A spire of ice looms over the entrance of the Gash, and just behind the Gate of AussirHurthia. Atop it sits a massive stone statue of a grand dragon, its scales of pale alabaster and teeth of seemingly ivory. The statues eyes are two huge black crystals, and under the front claw are pieces of what looks to be a broken holy symbol of Pelor or some other sun-themed deity.
This statue is an icon of the city, and can be seen both by approaching ships and by almost any point in the city itself. At night, the statue glows softly with blue faerie fire, serving as a beacon of sorts for pirate ships approaching AussirHurthia in the darkness.
The statue's twin eyes are two incredibly huge spheres of stygian ice; each sphere is 1ft in diameter and weighs 10lbs. They are worth around 20,000gp apiece if they can be safely transported to a buyer.
Characters who manage to steal the eyes of this statue or otherwise deface it earn the ire and hatred of the entire city of AussirHurthia, and AussirKepesk will put his other plans on hold while he turns all his resources toward tracking down the vandals to exact terrible punishment for their crimes.
Harbormaster:
This massive stone building looms over the edge of the cliff, a massive pier jutting out from one face and out over the Gash. The building itself is crusted over with ice and rime, more so then most of the other buildings in the area, and a large group of white-winged draconic humanoid creatures like to hang around the area. A three-story tower of cloudy blue ice rises from the back of the building, and a sign hangs over the main entrance to the building: "AussirHurthia Harbormaster."
The majority of this structure is carved into the solid ice below; seven large warehouse chambers below the building are used to catalog and distribute new shipments of goods, slaves, and loot taken off the ships from the Gash. This material is then hoisted up through a hole in the floor to the building above and then delivered as appropriate; most of the material here goes to the Town Hall for storage.
This building is the home of the Harbormaster. Among other duties, he is responsible for the ship traffic in and through the Gash. He can usually be found here, going over the records of activity in the Gash and making sure the pirates the city does business with aren't trying to swindle or cheat the system.
The Harbormaster has a good number of guards, living and undead that serve as laborers and clerks.
Cathedral of the Iceberg:
This tall structure stands brooding at the center of the iceberg. Carved entirely out of bloody ice, the building consists of five ragged domes of ice surrounding an icy spire that stretches nearly 200ft into the air. The building itself is open to the air, like a massive pavilion. Inside is a small amphitheater-shaped depression.
This building has become the religious center for the majority of AussirHurthia's people. United under their faith under AussirKhuno, this building fills with massive crowds every evening as the faithful come to worship. Outside of the normal services for worshipers.
Although AussirKepesk is the most powerful worshiper in AussirHurthia, another cleric is the most publicly recognized. His chief duty is as the caretaker of this cathedral, and he usually leads the faithful in the black mass on the night of every new moon. He lives here in the chambers below the cathedral along with his harem of Snow elf slaves.
The chambers below the cathedral are cleverly hidden from prying eyes. The chambers are small, consisting only of living quarters, a personal shrine, a harem, a few storerooms, and a chamber for the allies of AussirKepesk to reside in secret.
Frostwing Rookeries:
This tall spire of stone and ice is riddled with holes and numerous open chambers, giving the structure the look of a massive eldritch flute impaled in the ice. Indeed, as the wind blows over and through the structure, it creates the mournful, haunting drone that can be heard throughout the city.
These spires serve as lairs and homes for the numerous Frost Draconians that serve AussirHurtia as scouts, messengers, and aerial guardians. Seven of these rookeries can be found around the city, each of which can house up to 15 guards with ease.
Frostaxe Barracks:
Each of these twin stone and ice towers serves as a barracks for the Frostblood Orcs that patrol the city streets and enforce its laws. Although each tower can accommodate quite a few Frostaxes at a time, usually no more then 2d6-4d6 of them are present in either building at a time. Two of these are always on guard duty atop the tower, watching for approaching enemy vessels and trouble in town. Each tower top is armed with a large ballista and a pile of a dozen bolts for firing.
The Blood Palace:
Perhaps the most distinctive building in the entire city, this mansion seems to be carved entirely out of frozen blood. The structure's architectural style seems to indicate it as some sort of public building, and the crowds on its front steps, along with the sign above the main entrance that reads "ALL VISITORS MUST REGISTER" would seem to support that theory.
The aptly named Blood Palace is indeed made of magically frozen blood. As the most frequently visited structure, it is also the building most often in need of repairs. Typically, criminals who are executed are drained of blood used to fix the palace, although citizens and even visitors can donate blood to the palace, for quick cash (1d6 points of Con damage, 10 gp per point).
All visitors must travel to this structure immediately upon arriving in AussirHurthia, even if they have been to the city a hundred times before, to register their visit, what their business in town is, where they'll be staying, and how long they'll be in town. Registration typically entails a wait of 1d4 hours, followed by a 1-hour session filling out forms and answering questions. In times of trouble, Detect Good spells are also part of the process, but for the most part the clerks employed here are competent enough that they can spot troublemakers.
A character going through the registration process need do nothing more then pay the 25 gp registration tax if he is honest about his reasons for visiting town and doesn't intend to cause trouble. If a clerk determines that someone is here to cause trouble, he or she is politely asks the suspect to step into a small room on the side, were an interrogator is called upon to interrogate him. This second interrogation is much more in depth, often turning into combat, where other Blood Palace guards gleefully come to aid any if such an even occurs.
Town Hall:
This is a massive structure made of expertly worked stone; the facade of the building depicts a masterful illistration no less disturbing for its subject matter than its shocking realism. The illistration depicted is huge indeed, depicting various creatures of all kinds suffering at the hands of different aspects of Winter whether being frozen solid or skewered by icicles.
Beyond the ice doors is a huge 300-ft square audience chamber that can seat hundreds of people before a large stage, upon which sit 6 icy thrones. Here is where the Frozen Talons, led by AussirKepesk, address the citizens of AussirHurthia; here is where they announce raids, where they make changes in allocations of food and slaves and entertainment, and where they hear the grievances of the people. The Frozen Talons generally hold one town meeting every other month, but hold them more often in times of crisis or war.
Below the main structure lie the stores of AussirHurthia, hundreds of rooms carved into the depths of the iceberg used to house loot, booty, and offerings gained by raids or trade with pirates. The materials are slowly rationed out to the population of the city as needs arise; the Frozen Talons take great pains to make sure that the citizens have everything they need but not everything they want.
AussirHurthia Boneyard:
The bleak and unforgiving spires and crags of the iceberg flatten somewhat here, creating a sheltered valley overlooking the sea. Numerous mounds of ice and stone lie stacked throughout the area, marking the graves of dozens, if not hundreds of men and women whose bodies can just barely make out through the semitransparent ice. A large mound of stones, three times the size of the others, lies against the cliff face at the far end of the valley. This graveyard is where the Frozen Talons send their greatest warriors and allies when they perish; only the most respected and powerful champions of AussirHurthia are allowed to be buried here. Most of the dead are simply stripped and thrown into the sea.
Ice Mountain Caves:
Up in the icy 'mountains' where the winter squalls of the blizzard whip ice and snow are various small openings in the ice that connect to certain 'underice' caverns. Rumors say that long before AussirHurthia became what it is today that these caves were AussirKepesk and his vampire master's home. Upon regaining his freedom AussirKepesk started expanding upon the existing iceberg all the while building upon what already existed such as burrowing new tunnels with each section of ice added. Some visitors that are told of this small bit of history come upon a misunderstanding that they think the ruler of this iceberg hides his treasure hoard somewhere in the twisting tunnels. Maybe there is truth in these ideas, maybe there isn't...
Spoiler
Quote:
Originally Posted by Igneel
That I am interested in. I actually at one point was tempted to try and make a template for Dragon Overlords...
An alliance with beings living in a volcano when my goal is to kill all things that worship the sun or are fire themed, along with an eternal snow age? No it would seem that I will have to turn that down and make you practically enemy number one [unless that elemental kingdom turns into a Fire Elemental or other fire themed]
I shall turn your tunnels of lava into nice tunnels of obsidian!
Also, a prototype of my God I'll be worshiping: [name subject to change since I keep using "Aussir" for some reason...]
Spoiler
Name: AussirKhuno Nicknames: Wyrm of Frost, Winterdrake Divinity Rank: Lesser Deity Symbol: Icy reptilian eye centered over a white snowflake Home Plane: Stygia Alignment: NE Portfolio: Winter, Cold, White Dragons Worshipers: White Dragons, inhabitants of cold climates Cleric Alignments: NE, CE, LE Domains: Winter, Cold, Dragon, Evil, Trickery Favored Weapon: Scimitar (Claw)
Most if not all White Dragons pay homage to AussirKhuno; either out of respect or fear.
Other dragons of different colors more often look to Tiamat more readily, and often times look down at those Whites that worship AussirKhuno. Of the good dragons, only Silvers pay any real attention to him.
AussirKhuno is a fickle, vain, evil dragon deity with a heart of ice that once was a mortal that ascended into divinity largely due to well placed favors with other evil dragon gods.
In his natural form, AussirKhuno resembles a white dragon with scales made of ice, and is constantly letting off a fog of cold air even in the coldest of temperatures.
Dogma:
Cover all the lands with ice. Quench fire wherever it is found. Let in the winds and the cold; cut down windbreaks and chop holes in walls and roofs so that my cold may come in. Work darkness to hide the cursed sun so that the chill the AussirKhuno brings may slay. Take the life of an arctic creature only in great need, but slay all others at will. Make all fear the Winterdrake. Revere the Wyrm of Frost and sing his praises into any chill breeze or winter wind. Do not raise your hand against any other cleric of AussirKhuno.
Clergy:
AussirKhuno accepts only evil clerics and druids. AussirKhuno's clerics and druids, like AussirKhuno himself, seek to place the world under the domination of winter.
AussirKhuno claims to not need allies, though most believe he has bargains and favors with many other evil deities such as Iborighu. His enemies are numerous including deities of the Sun and Good like Pelor and Bahamut, with occasional conflicts with interestingly Levistus of Stygia.
Quests:
The followers of AussirKhuno are sent on a variety of quests to further his grand plan of an eternal ice age. Some are easily understood, such as aiding one of his white dragons against a worshipper of Fire who seeks to destroy it and its progress. Others are less obvious such as hunting down specific icebergs for a rimefire eidolon.
Prayers:
AussirKhuno urges his cold followers to go forth and chill the world, fill it with snowy blizzards, and destroy or enslave all others. Prayers to him focus on the goal of the eternal winter.
Temples:
Though most white dragons honor AussirKhuno, few keep shrines dedicated to him in their lairs because they don't want AussirKhuno's vanity to gaze at their treaure hoards. Instead, they dedicate vast, icy caverns or icebergs to their deity and keep them stocked with treasure and sacrifices.
Rites:
To commemorate a victory such as burying a normally tropical climate under snow, or kidnapping a number of sun worshipers, the followers of AussirKhuno celebrate by indulging in great wickedness, including torturing prisoners or sacrificing a summoned fire elemental.
Herald and Allies:
AussirKhuno's herald is an white dragon. His allies include various evil cold deities, and other cold creatures such as frost giants in times of need.
Progress Report
*Followers/Population
-I'll be frank that this scares me and I have done minimal work on it thus far.
-I know that at least my Cohort, myself, and anything 15th level or higher that follows me/my deity as a high ranking leader/priest/Council member.
*Other Progress
-Etc
__________________
Avvie by the awesome Ceika
"Words ought to be chosen with greater care then either clothing or weaponry. For they can last much longer than the former, and cut deeper than the latter." -Doomraga's Revenge by T.A. Barron
Repost of my stuff, as that other thread should go up in smoke eventually:
Spoiler
<Imagine an awesome picture of a sexy drow Wizardress here>
What anyone with decent modifier in history, arcana and whatever (plus magical divinations), or having someone on their payroll that does would know:
Eceelith Taranis:
Spoiler
Only sporadic accounts of her adventuring days spread out over about a century exists before she settled down in the remnants of the Dzaarani Empire. The tales never mentions her origin or where she learned magics or swordplay, or the arts of the bard for that matter, there is simply no record yet to be uncovered discussing the matter. The earliest reference is about her singlehandedly dispatching a powerful lich, all accounts suggests that few archmages of that day was her rival in the arts arcane even at such an early.
Then four centuries ago, she had allied herself with the church of Hextor and accompanied by 50,000 soldiers of that faith, she invaded the weakened remains of the Dzaarani Empire, having little trouble conquering the nation. After her rule was consolidated, renaming the nation to The empire of Kaendalith, she spent considerable time building a new capital city, Ilph'Unt-Turviir, a name that made many fear that she built a beach-head for a Drow invasion of the surface. Three Centuries later, the only drow that has surfaced have been traders, craftsmen and magicians.
Eceelith generally seems to be operating with subtlety and patience, it is difficult to know if there are schemes and plots with her in the center of it all, or if she is simply content with the current state of affairs and her place in the world.
Curiously, she does not appear to have aged in any way, despite having been around for five centuries and already being a powerful archmage at that time. Elves do have long lives, but they do show the signs of age when they live that long. Unsurprisingly, divination fail to give much in the way of answers.
Kingdom
Spoiler
The empire of Kaendalith (the word is a mixture of undercommon and drow dialect, roughly meaning land of the surface) was forged from the remnants of the Dzaranian Empire 400 years ago, long ravaged by hobgoblin riders from the steppes, the once mighty nation had little resistance to offer when an army of Hextorian soldiers and priests conquered it, at the command of the Drow Wizardress known as Eceelith Taranis. In the two year long campaign, the capital of Dzaran, the port city of Egosea along with the other two major cities still under Dzaranian control, Estis and Anandona were conquered. While the Hextorians settled in and fortified their control over the land. Eceelith enlisted the aid of Kahn Vorbak, one of the hobgoblin warlords, forming an alliance that has lasted to this day. The Tribe of Vorbak has, with the help of Eceelith, assimilated or exterminated the vast bulk of the other Hobgoblin tribes, integrating their way of life into the armed forces of Kaendalith, and society at large. The new empress was also quick to renew Dzaran's historical ties with the Lizardfolk of the river delta, absorbing their warrior culture and traditions as heavy infantry into her military forces.
The arrangement was thus, the church of Hextor would largely control Dzaran, Estis and Anandona, while Egosea and the new capital of Ilph'Unt-Turviir would be placed under governance of people more accustomed to economy and the arts arcane. Ilph'Unt-Turviir was constructed from the ground up, built where the river Angal comes close to Hador Mountain, as it happened, it was on the very spot where a direct access route to the Vault of the Drow had long existed, the Dzaraani were happy to simply maintain considerable fortifications against incursions, Eceelith had a different idea: trade. Given regular abundance of grain in the region, one of the key factors of Dzaraani growth, valuable food could be transported down to the underdark where it is hard to grow, another product, one that Ilph'Unt-Turviir would gain infamy for, was slaves taken by eager Hobgoblins and Hextorians waging war on barbarians and lesser kingdoms. Others where simply sold to Kaendalian slavers.
Today, Kaendalith is three kingdoms in one, the first part being the wealth of the mercantile city states of Ilph'Unt-Turviir and Egosea, the second being the Hextorian strongholds of Dzaran, Estis and Anandona, not to mention the many fortified, some might say excessively so, towns dominated by it's Hextorian castle like temple. Thirdly, there's all the farmers toiling under the feudal yoke, like you'd be finding in most countries. The contrast is startling, on one side, there is the open-minded cosmopolitan nature of Ilph'Unt-Turviir and Egosea, with all races and all sorts of goods represented, favoring trade and stability, Wee Jas, Bralm and Zilchus being the primary deities worshiped, though some good God's, such as Kord, are tolerated. On the other hand, there are the Hextorian militant cities where no other deities, save for Wee Jas and Bralm, are allowed to maintain public shrines or temples, the Hextorian orders, along with Hobgoblin warbands continously make incursions into the smaller neighboring realms and the wilderness in search of slaves and plunder to sell to the merchant cities.
Capital
Spoiler
Ilph'Unt'Turviir is situated on a rocky plateau jutting out of the fertile plain north of the Nobara River, shaped almost as a perfect circle with diameter of 16,000ft and circumference of 50,000ft, it's smooth 100ft high walls took almost 50 years to be raised. The city contains more than 180,000 inhabitants, almost half being humans, with notable populations of Hobgoblin, Drow and Lizardfolk, all common races except surface elves have significant communities within the city. While it's defensive setup is indeed impressive, at least if the magical wards have same sort of quality to them, the city is much more well known for it's trade, infamously so for it's slave bazaar, you will find Illithids openly bidding for "livestock" alongside Drow slavers looking for a new batch to drag in chains down to the underdark and arena stablemasters of all variations. The rules of the city are quite complex, and excessively harsh, though generally easy to abide by, as long as you can afford to have roof over your head. The law shows little mercy for beggars and those forced to sleep in the streets, children are the lucky ones, being sent off to Hextorian Ophanages, adults finds their life expectancy drastically shortened as fodder in the arena, test subjects in arcane experiments, prostitutes, slaves or some other fate best not mentioned. Illithids may breed legally acquired slaves for food, slaves can be sacrificed in religious rituals or be used in any way the owner sees fit. No citizen of Kaendalith may be taken as a slave,, however, indentured servitude is allowed, either voluntarily entered for money or as the result of debt, but not enslaved. Prison sentences and fines are generally reserved for the nobility and influential people, the common folk can expect death, for individuals deemed much too powerful to risk being brought back to life, forms of undeath that strips all personality traits away or even obliteration of the soul is issued. The result is a city decried for it's sins by many good aligned preachers, yet it is wealthy as few, and surprisingly safe and tolerant for those crafty enough to make a living.
The Cathedrals of Wee Jas, Zilchus, Bralm and Hextor compete with the Imperial Palaces and administrative buildings and the Grand Arena for dominance of the cityscape. Of note is the Large Temple of Kord, one of the few good deities that has gained a foothold in the city. The policy of the city is that no religion, faith, culture or group is discriminated against as long as it does not iniate open conflict or violate the law. Most racial deities, with notable exceptions of the Elven Panthenon (including Llolth, aside from a few shrines), have a sizeable representation, as does most non-chaotic and non-good faiths. The empress herself is known to attend major events of all the leading churches, keeping her personal faith a closely guarded secret. The four major Cathedrals receive public support, though whether these are merely alliances of mutual benefit or genuine dedication is not known, one of the more convincing theories suggests Vecna. It is an open secret that Chaotic Evil faiths are heavily monitored. Worship of Tharizdun, Heironeous, Incabulos, Nerull and Demonic entities is outlawed, in the case of Heironeous this is justified by the interest of public order, for the others, the reason given is that worship of these involves the active perpetration of crimes.
Character is almost done. Maybe an additional item or two might be picked up, I need to go over the details, as there's a few things that I missed, like bonus spells known.
Permanencied buffs and pre-set up contingencies probably 50% ish complete.
Cohort is halfway done on sorcerer spells known, prepared spells from other track not yet chosen. Various finishing touches required.
City maps, city profiles (aside from the capital), troop distribution needs to be done.
Various NPC's, I will generally not bothering to stat out anyone of 15th level or below. Given that I currently have 35 un-named 15th level NPC, I am not really inclined to even give them classes at this point.
Claiming Medium Turquoise for Derk, and Plum for Leontrop
Let's see, my cohort doesn't have a weapon at all. She uses her bare hands and even that's rare, she prefers Meteor swarms to the face. Gimme a second whilst I change the cloak of charisma to show it's a 4+.
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Claiming Medium Turquoise for Derk, and Plum for Leontrop
Let's see, my cohort doesn't have a weapon at all. She uses her bare hands and even that's rare, she prefers Meteor swarms to the face. Gimme a second whilst I change the cloak of charisma to show it's a 4+.
Plum is kinda annoying (it's very light). could you perhaps bold it?
__________________ RFC1925: With sufficient thrust, pigs fly just fine. However, this is not necessarily a good idea.
This game is evil...never seen so much bookkeeping in my life!
At least your not going the Dread Necromancer/Thrallherd/Cancer Mage with multiple Leadership feats route...
Dread Necromancer lvl 8 getting you, what? 8xCha mod in HD for undead?
Thrallherd effectively being a second Leadership but replaces killed followers faster with no penalty.
Leadership, Undead Leadership, Legendary Commander, Epic Leadership feats doing what they do.
Cancer Mage + Might Makes Right feat + Str increasing disease for a Leadership score out of the wazzo.
Sad thing is that I'm sure there are other things people could do if they wanted to...
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"Words ought to be chosen with greater care then either clothing or weaponry. For they can last much longer than the former, and cut deeper than the latter." -Doomraga's Revenge by T.A. Barron
Otherwise, sure, though it's the additional cohorts that are awesome, which only is available via thrallherd, though by doing that, you loose the leadership feat, and gets stuck with a pair of cohorts at levels 17 and 15 and relatively very, very few followers. (Without homebrew)
This game is evil...never seen so much bookkeeping in my life!
Yup. though I don't see what you're complaining about considering my roll in this don't worry, I've got my funeral preparations right here, so all you have to do for that is submit the paperwork
Also I' gonna apologize ahead of time for the simple fact that you'll likely be reminding me fifty times about some small detail that I didn't recall all throughout the game
And to answer your comment yes it seems you are doing the bookkeeping of yet another evil character man when will someone invent the divinely blessed bookkeeping? Never fear your oh so kind and not at all demanding DM has been picking at that on the side.
TYChris: maps, wards, defenses, stated out troops, everything?
Maps: No pc as I said before (But that might be remedied over the weekend so I'll just learn how to make maps and do it from there)
Wards(?): Huh......Like magical defences? Pure brute force is more of my answer but I'm not sure. Also I have like 6k worth of gold to spend and that's it so wards are gonna be a no-no (Unless they're cheap)
Defenses: See maps/We have reserves (Swarm anything that attacks us with soldiers)
Troops: Sorry, soooo many troops. 1 million of them (And then the soldiers from leadership )
Everything: Scratch that, everything ELSE.
Edit: Hey, I'M inventing the Divinely good bookkeeping (Well not divine per say but it is good! And maybe divine eventually). So don't count the side of good out jut yet, we still have some guys rooting for us (And the good guys are always outnumbered yet end up on top in the end anyway. Plot armor ahoy!)
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maps/ect: ah yes, fare enough. If you could it'd be a bit better, but unless you're a planes (or desert ) there will be some geography or structures which are relevant to attack, so you're expected to write out a description in the case f being unable to access some map-making device.
Troops: Yes lots of people do, you stat out one level one warrior and that is the state block for all your level one warriors (rinse and repeat for others)
Oh, would you look at that? I'm positioned on plains, because when I asked for a position I asked for the northern plains beneath the islands at the north. I'll try to make an example of a standard city though and if i'm good enough to make the capital aswell.
Time to start stating out troops.......
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Of course I'd look at it. Now I wouldn't memorize it, and I'm procrastinating till they're done so that I don't need to read each fifty times, but why wouldn't I read it?
I'd do it it's just I don't play 3.5 Can someone direct me to a database?
... what?
Well I think this is the wrong thread unless you were looking forwards to DMing one of the largest monsters of a D&D3.5 game I've seen in quite a while. (And if you do I don't discourage it in the slightest as it would free up my hands to play in it ) But that aside why shun 3.5 in light of 4.0?
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... yes that's right. If you ever get the chance don't ever give me ideas, because those ideas can be scary scary things. 
Within was a message that read
... but dare you leave your throne with your neighbors as they are...? 
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