The campaign begins on the island of "Kressos". The inhabitants have been affected like any other part of the Empire, and the people have morphed into things that are totally inhuman. An infernal mist blankets the island, civilization has ended, and what remains is something worse than anarchy.
However, not everyone has descended into madness. Some have clung to the old ways, these are followers of the Goddess Athnea, their faith has partially prevented them from the horrible transformation of their brethren. A sacred artifact called the "Sun-stone" maintains the sanity of those nearby.
Player Races
Dark Folk: This isolated group has retained their humanity more than any other within the Empire. They worship the Goddess Athnea from within their cavernous ungerground temples.
Derro: The Derro were never human to begin with, but are descended from Fey. They have taken refuge with the followers of Athnea in a bid for protection
Orc: These are people from above ground that have been physically afflicted by the "Curse of the Prophet" which shall be explained later. Proximity to the Sun-stone has caused their sanity to return.
Vanara & Thri-Kreen: The same situation as the Orcs Applies, but with radically different Forms.
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= Grippli
= Sasquatch
= Grippli
= Shifter (lycanthrope-lite)
= Gillmen
Tarugar Lake sits right smack dab in the middle of a large forest. Fed by waters from a nearby mountain spring, the lake is known mostly because of the ruins that sit at its bottom, ruins known as the Sunken City of Tarugar. Long ago, the city (the known as the Floating City of Tarugar) was a centerpiece of a magnificent human empire, powerful magic allowing massive stone towers and statues to float on the water. However, a long ago cataclysm destroyed the empire, and the magic that kept the city afloat was broken. Over the course of one night, the city sank below the waters of the lake.
Today, the ruins are inhabited by a few descendants of the once-proud city. The cataclysm's magic mutated them, allowing them to breathe underwater. However, they've lost much of the magic that their ancestors had, only the preponderance of arcane bloodline sorcerers and bloodragers hinting at the magical prowess that they once had.
Some of the other human survivors managed to make out of the city, where they were set upon by a clan of werewolves. The survivors managed to fight the wolves off, but their children always had a hint of wolfishness about them. There is some distrust between the Gillmen and Shifter communities, but they get on well enough to trade with each other. The shifters also get on well with the various sasquatch tribes of the forest, who helped them fight off the werewolves and who taught them how to survive in the nearby forests after the destruction of their home.
The largest racial group, though, are the grippli. Originally frogs who were magically raised to sentience by the mages of the floating city as an experiment, the grippli were uniquely suited to the new post-cataclysm environment. There are two major ethnic groups of grippli; the Lakesiders and the Treehoppers. The Lakesiders live in various towns along the edge of the lake, scavenging the ruins of the city for treasure and trading with the Gillmen and Shifters. Meanwhile, the Treehoppers live in nomadic groups that wander the forests. They tend to be more brightly colored, aggressively struggling with the Sasquatches and the Shifters over resources, and occasionally warring with their Lakesider counterparts if a Treehopper chief can command the loyalty of enough grippli.
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Aquatic races make this hard.
Okay, let's just get the Al Gore joke out of the way. He invented the internet and s~@%. 'Kay? Done? Let's proceed.
Nobody is exactly sure when the world froze. Nobody is exactly sure why. It has been like this for centuries, but all everyone is sure of is that it hasn't always been so.
And now, after all this time, it is beginning to thaw once more.
Welcome to Hiela, a continent surrounded by frozen oceans, where soil is a rare commodity and water is almost as precious as your weapon. Almost. Enormous and ancient glacier elementals crawl across the landscape, carving new paths and, sometimes, cutting through the ice to reveal something not seen in hundreds of years. Ruins. Caverns. Crypts. Quite often, monsters. And as the ice gets thinner, more and more monsters have been appearing. But the most terrifying monsters of all are those that can become of man.
Half-Elves: Often called "ice chasers" or "riders", this nomadic people rides upon the backs of glacier elementals. Some simply use this as a sanctuary, as their mystics alone seem capable of communicating their needs to the lumbering creatures.
Most clans, however, have taken a more mercantile approach to this. They watch the rear of the elemental with interest, sending out raiding parties to claim what treasures it might unearth. Half-elves have earned an unsavory reputation as a result. More often than not their efforts end up releasing more monsters into the world—such as the undead remnants of their elven and human ancestors—and many races resent them for this, seeing them as greedy drifters.
Some half-elves wonder if, perhaps, this is deliberate on the elementals' part. Perhaps the venerable creatures are trying to tell them something. If they are, the mystics aren't listening.
Orcs: Through it all, the orcs have survived. Through famine and cold, they persevered. Through wars against monsters, they thrived.
The orcs have changed a great deal over the centuries. They are no longer alone in their fight for survival. There are no great civilizations that mock them. There is only the brutal war for life. This has affected their moral outlook just a little, and orcs are more likely to be Chaotic Neutral in Hiela.
Now, orcs follow the roving herds above the ocean, occasionally sharing kills with their friends beneath the ice, the cecaelias. More and more often, however, they have been forced to face stranger enemies—undead, constructed, and aberrant creatures from the ruins, unearthed by glacier elementals or simply a changing climate.
The orcs are warlike and brutal, but they have an affinity for the icy tundra that keeps them alive. Orcs of Hiela lack light blindness and gain immunity to snow blindness (most races must wear goggles to avoid being dazzled during the day).
Aasimars: There are no true survivors of the old world. None sane, anyways—and the monsters aren't talking. But surviving isn't always a prerequisite.
The aasimars (in Orcish, "remembered") of Hiela are not strictly Celestial. Rather, they are the remnants of the honored dead. Filled with holy energy, they began to emerge roughly fifty years ago, when the thawing began. They entered the world as children, confused and displaced. The aasimars remember little of their past lives.
Now, the aasimars wander the world, often joining up with half-elf or orc communities. They have a curious innate nervousness around gnomes and rarely associate, though this is by no means without exceptions.
Hielan aasimars have universally dark hair, skin as pale as bone, covered in strange but beautiful patterns. They lose their spell-like abilities and cold resistance, but gain the half-undead creature type.
Gnomes: It is said that, far beyond the mapped territory, there dwell pale gnomes so old that they remember the time before the ice.
The gnomes are the last shreds of the old world. Many have chosen to live in the uncovered ruins, while others live deep within the blizzards. Gnomes struggle to get along with the other races. Some blame them for the thawing which threatens to flood the world with monsters. Some blame them for the original freeze. And some fault them for both.
But the gnomes do not all avoid the other races for this reason. While the others fear ancient dangers, the gnomes know that they have never been alone. And they are not the only ones angered by the thawing. Fey like the cold riders, frosty chiselers, darklings. Undead like the hoar spirits and winterwights. And worst of all, the savage windigoes that multiply by the thousands. Only the gnomes, with their ancient stockpiles of cold iron weaponry, can keep back the rising menace.
Gnomes lose Hatred and transfer their Defensive Training to creatures of the fey type. In addition, they gain Cold Resistance 3.
Cecaelias: Of all the races, none are quite as odd as the octopus folk beneath the frozen waters.
The cecaelias are hunters. They have always been hunters. But they have not always been forced to leave the water to do their simple tasks.
Unfortunately, they have had to for quite some time. Prey is scarce, even underwater, and often entire clans are forced to leave the ocean and slither to new hunting grounds, often relying on land-dweller guides to help them through.
Somewhere down the line, the cecaelias lost their touch with the First World and became like the gnomes. They're still a little resentful of that, and many try to avoid the "mortal" races. But though most of them don't know it, the shift may have saved them. For their leaders know the same grim truth the gnomes do: The fey of the world are turning dark and twisted. Nature is changing too fast, and mortals are to blame. By turning mortal, the cecaelias avoided a much feller fate.
This is, in reality, why they are moving. Prey is in abundance everywhere, but so are predators. The cecaelias are not alone in the water. Evil fey and enormous grindylows have begun to swarm the depths, chasing the cecaelias, following secret channels into the lakes and rivers.
The cecaelias have few friends and few enemies among the land-dwellers. They get along quite well with the orcs, though, and couplings are not uncommon (though they're believed to be incompatible for breeding purposes). Certainly, alliances are frequent. The clan leaders sometimes meet with the gnomes to discuss new fey strategies, and they are beginning to depend upon the surface too much to treat the other races poorly.
Currently, the cecaelias emerge from holes cut in the ice by cecaelias or orcs. But as the ice gets thinner, these holes will begin to appear naturally. Soon what barriers there are will be gone. The ruins will be open, their prisoners loosed upon the world. The windigoes and other monsters of the ice will converge, seeking to eliminate the mortals once and for all.
It could be years. It could be months. The only thing every race agrees on is that the world has not always been frozen, and that soon, it will not be once more.
Aquatic races make this hard.
Okay, let's just get the Al Gore joke out of the way. He invented the internet and s***. 'Kay? Done? Let's proceed.
Nobody is exactly sure when the world froze. Nobody is exactly sure why. It has been like this for centuries, but all everyone is sure of is that it hasn't always been so.
And now, after all this time, it is beginning to thaw once more.
Amazing.
Thanks, Midnight-Gamer! I had to work really hard on that joke, but it was worth it.
But seriously, thanks. :P
Well, I did it. I made myself like aasimars. Incidentally, Book of Life? Probably not exactly underrated, but more people need to watch it in Spanish. It's so much better if you can't understand the pop culture references.
Adlet, Ogre, Ettercap, Nereid, Tengu. Huh. That's an interesting mix. This almost feels like it should have a Japanese theme, considering I got the ogres and the tengu. Also, ohey nereid, fancy seeing you here again. And adlet—woulda been nice to have you in the last setting, but I'm not complaining.
Hm. What do adlets remind me of?...
22- Catfolk
42- Satyr
60- Vegepygmy
94- Ooze-based humanoid
15- Ifrit
This should be interesting! I'll have to really think about this one...
That was a really interesting world, Kobold Cleaver.
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Gnomes
Sasquatch
Sahuagin
Gargoyle
Oread
THE DEMIPLANE OF LOAM
Where the Elemental Planes of Earth and Wood intersect is a frequently-overlooked dimensional nodule known to scholars as the Loam. It is a place of massive mountains sheltering equally massive valleys, rich and spectacular forests, seas choked with silt and plant life, and fungal growths the size of small continents. Though somewhat poor in mineral wealth, it is rich with life. It is rough life, however, where only the very strong survive - or those so weak and small as to be able to evade notice. Five sentient races have made their homes here: The Oreads, descendants of extraplanar settlers ancient beyond clear reckoning, who have carved three great imperial hegemonies through the plane; the Gargoyles, whose nation of pirates and spies is literally synonymous here with "the sky," and who claim privileged access to the Elemental Planes of Air and Fire besides; the Sahuagin, former invaders who live along the great Tap Root river that winds its way to the Elemental Plane of Water, and coexist uneasily with the other races; the Sasquatch, the oldest race of the plane who strive to maintain their ancient way of life in the face of disruptive newcomers, and have recently begun to seriously contemplate taking the offensive over forever hiding in the deep forests; and last and least, the Gnomes, who have survived against their often-brutish neighbors by mastering a philosophy that claims strength to be weakness and weakness to be strength.
Oreads are as normal, and their favored classes are Druid, Bard, Fighter, Ranger or one of the following depending on which of the three great hegemonies they hail from: Rogue, Samurai, or Wizard.
Gargoyles are slower than others of their kind, but more intelligent, and their favored classes are Ninja, Fighter, Bloodrager, Ranger, or Wizard.
Sahuagin are as normal, and their favored classes are Fighter, Barbarian, Cleric, Witch, or Monk.
Sasquatches' favored classes are Druid, Brawler, Barbarian, Shaman, or Hunter.
Gnomes gain a +2 bonus to Wisdom instead of Charisma, gain Stealth as a class skill instead of Obsessive, and swap out Gnomish Magic for Fell Magic. Their favored classes are Bard, Monk, Druid, Alchemist, or Wizard.
Among Wizards here, the Earth and Wood Schools are heavily favored as such spells gain a free +1 to CL and saving throw DC.
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Doppelganger Changelings
Gillmen
Strix
Dhampir
Aberrant Humanoids
GLAVNAYA
Somewhere within the mortal realm is a hidden land of dark forests, mystical caverns, and shadowy cities, reachable only by those who are hopelessly lost. It is Glavnaya, where ancient curses level families and even entire kingdoms, cases of mistaken identity lead lovestruck youths either to tragic doom or new horizons of wonder, and mad wizards commune with unthinkable entities and literally bring dreams to life. It is a place difficult to leave, as the worlds visitors came from give way here to an entirely different one none of them recognize, and so it is, through the millenia, that those who found their ways here made it home, and have been warped by its strange power. There are five great lineages here; the Changelings, shapeshifters born human on other worlds and then snatched away and brought here by mysterious beings; the Rusalkadeti, aquatic folk descended from those dragged here from other worlds through the glassy surfaces of lakes and ponds, or who were lost at sea only to catch the attention of Glavnaya's inscrutable Sea Czar; the Strix, a race of trapped nomads and scavengers; the Dhampir, the majority race born of humans slowly tainted for centuries by the indigenous wasting disease known sometimes as vampirism; and the aberrant Erzons, former humans transformed into something unrecognizable by the influence of far realms of Chaos and insanity.
Changelings
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...' favored classes are Ninja, Investigator, Inquisitor, Slayer, and Medium; they are specially watched over by the local nightgaunts.
Rusalkadeti (Gillmen) receive a +2 bonus to Strength instead of Constitution, are vulnerable to all spells and spell-like abilities cast by giants rather than enchantments by aboleths and receive no bonus to saving throws versus enchantments otherwise, and rather than die after more than a day without immersion in water, suffer a -2 penalty to Strength instead that is restored after an hour submerged in water; their favored classes are Fighter, Slayer, Rogue, Summoner, and Bard.
Strix gain -2 Strength, +2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom, and +2 Charisma, bonuses to saving throws versus disease instead of Hatred, a small suite of spell-like abilities, and vulnerability to sonic damage and effects; their favored classes are Bard, Witch, Barbarian, Oracle, and Rogue.
Dhampir gain Life-Dominant Soul as a bonus feat; their favored classes are Sorcerer, Bloodrager, Wizard, Cavalier, and Occultist.
Erzons' (Aberrant Humanoids) favored classes are Witch, Alchemist, Summoner, variant Chaotic-aligned Monk, and Psychic.
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Goliath
Derhii (winged, intelligent gorillas)
Suli
Gnomes
Half-Orcs
I'd rather not have half-orcs as a crossbreed in a world without humans or orcs, so I'll tentatively call them the Greenskins.
The setting is a mountainous region with jungle along the lower slopes and the bases. The jungle is a dangerous place subject to frequent storms, but is also abundant in life from fruits and medicinal plants to game animals to monstrous predators.
The greenskins have recently come to dominate the jungle due to a combination of their fecundity and ambition. As their population grew they took territory from their less militaristic neighbours and transitioned to an agricultural city-building culture, in which form they have more or less stabilized for now. They worship an ape god of strength and an eagle goddess of wisdom. During a coming of age ritual, young greenskins venture deep into the jungle alone. A small fraction of youths are transformed by this experience into imposing winged apes, the Derhii. This is seen as a sign that you have attracted the gods' interest, and such youths are under great pressure to excel and lead - those that fail to live up to expectations are sometimes ostracized.
The gnomes, a much older and slower race, were driven to the mountains by their more aggressive neighbors. There they made contact with the goliath. Though initial meetings were tense, the two races soon learned to cooperate, the gnomes providing the goliath with magical and mundane tools. Though most gnomes take to the goliaths' nomadic lifestyle happily they have also created a few towns which have become centers of trade in the mountains. Some gnomes, however, remember the settlements they left behind in the jungle - possibly still containing the treasures of their ancestors.
The suli, meanwhile, represent the descendants of those who responded to the harsh realities of their world by making alliances with the elemental powers that surround them - the sweltering heat, the storms, the freezing wind at the highest peaks. While initially it was common to negotiate only with one or two elemental powers, these deal-makers soon forged alliances among themselves and are currently intermixed enough that most have roughly equal connections with all elements. This fellowship also served them well in resisting the greenskin expansion; while the suli are by no means dominant they have largely retained their original territories.
While the gnomes and greenskins are no longer openly hostile, a racial grudge still exists. The suli typically act as intermediaries and merchants.
Amazing.Aquatic races make this hard.
Okay, let's just get the Al Gore joke out of the way. He invented the internet and s***. 'Kay? Done? Let's proceed.
Nobody is exactly sure when the world froze. Nobody is exactly sure why. It has been like this for centuries, but all everyone is sure of is that it hasn't always been so.
And now, after all this time, it is beginning to thaw once more.
very, very good, kc
Gonna try this:
So... Nixies, Wayangs, Aasimars, bariaurs and tieflings. Hmm.. I'll come back to this, leaning toward somekind of planar setting, given the origins of many of these.
The Mist of Eilsath
Final Entry of the Journal of Valmur’ss Helvindar; Official Chronicler to High Priestess Zaravin Zau’ath of the Night Guard:
I know not how much time I may have. Within this journal rests all that I know of the fiends that walk the earth, killing and maiming all in the name of the night. Few know what true terrors lay within what has been aptly named the ‘Dread Mists’.
But I know. For I have seen, with my own eyes what resides there. Dark, twisted beasts haunt that mist. Creatures of neither man nor wolf, but something in between. Sharp talons of steel, teeth like blades and eyes of fire. Some are as beautiful as the fey, with pale porcelain skin and death in their black, humorless orbs. Still there are others. Foul figures of mottled, rotted flesh, desiccated and melted like wax in a fire. Some of these are little more than shambling, cracking skeletons, risen from the dead to do some fell master’s bidding.
I am hidden from these creatures, penning this very entry to warn everyone of what is waiting beyond what can be seen or felt. The dangers of the night are no mere fantasy to frighten children. They are real. They hunt me because I have discovered their secret.
If this record survives me, please heed my words. Never let the fires extinguish. For the night is dark and full of terrors.
Quetzalcoatl carry us all.
Used the “Wife” method and got:
93. Dragon-based Humanoid (wildcard, make your own!)
34. Kitsune (shapechanging fox-folk)
5. Half-elf
74. Serpentfolk
11. Drow
Drow – Elven masters of the night
Half-Drow – The offspring of Drow and Kitsune
Irrithra – Fearsome decedents of dragons (use Degenerate Serpentfolk)
Kitsune – Friendly and good natured forest spirits
Serpentfolk – Wise and leaned rulers of the jungle
All the races of Eilsath have at least low-light vision, most have spell-like abilities and a bonus to Dex and Cha. So I picture this green and gold Mayan/Aztec world in the deep jungle with Stone Age weapons and high magic. With Quetzalcoatl as the main god, dragons are seen as semi divine and the Serpentfolk and Irrithra are seen as the decedents of the gods.
The Night Guard was once made up of only Drow and Half-Drow but in this troubled time they take any body they can get. The jungle is dense so even during the day the light at the forest floor is at best equal to early twilight. At night it’s pitch black.
The enemies in the mist are all manner of undead and lycanthropes lead by vampires and liches. They follow Tezcatlipoca. They use the mist to hide from the Drow’s Darkvision, and employ hit and run tactics.
Race 1 = 22 - Catfolk
Race 2 = 25 - Vanara
Race 3 = 14 - Fetchling
Race 4 = 64 - Locathah
Race 5 = 13 - Aasimar
Hmmm... I'll need to think about this.
Amazonia
The deep jungles of Amazonia blanket most of the world, offering protection and homes for the many species that inhabit the forested lands. Dangerous monsters and strange creatures prowl the forest floors, making life a constant danger to all of the inhabitants. The Catfolk and Vanara are the most prolific races, living in raised tree cities suspended well above the forest floor. Their natural talents make traversing the winding branches easy, especially with the many bridges and intertwining trees forming highways for them to travel across.
Below them on the forest floor, dusky Fetchlings live in small carefully guarded villages, hidden by the perpetual shade of the trees above them. Stories say that these people made pacts with the Plane of Shadow long ago for the security and stealth to safely dwell in the undergrowth without being hunted down by the monsters that inhabit the jungles.
Winding rivers snake through the forest floor, serving as home to the Locathah. These friendly river people offer the bounty of the water to the surface dwellers in trade, often communing peacefully with the other races. However, they wage a constant war with the vicious Sahuagin tribes that share the rivers with them.
And in the canopy peaks, the Aasimar thrive. They are the only race that sees the sun every day in their home territory. Some people claim that their celestial heritage is a natural result of dwelling so close to the heavens, while others think that they simply chose to move up in response to the birth of their bloodlines. The Aasimar are more isolated, but often descend to lower levels for trade or to challenge themselves against the beasts below.
Medusa
Grippli
Construct Based Humanoid
Lizardfolk
Medusa
x2 Medusae. Hmm... perhaps a variant? Then a Grippli (frog-people), Constructs and Lizardfolk. Swampy forests, but scattered with limestone boulders, outcrops, and oddly humanoid-shaped stones.
My variant Medusae are modeled on Korreds. Long ago a descendant of the first Medusa felt true remorse and sought penance for their ancient sins. They were instead transformed into a bestial creature with wild hair but still bound to the stones they had made of mortalkind. Their penance was to create something from what they'd destroyed.
So there are still the medusa-prime, using their terrifying visage to turn mortals to stone. But their cousin-kin, the korreda use their powers over stone animate the rocks. A coven of korreda, united and using their powers can enact a rite to craft a sentient construct from the rocks.
So... the setting: The Wylds of Verdalith
This is an isolated timber wilderness nestled deep in the lowest vales of the Bonefrost Mountains. Thousands of years before the rise of Karnoss to the east the rugged swamps and forests of Verdalith were dominated by the great city of the Lizardfolk. The god-kings in their ziggurat employed grippli slaves and lorded over the woodland. Over time though their isolation and the dragons of the mountain ranges around them laid low the great civilization and all devolved into primitive chaos.
As small bands of the lizardfolk scoured the Bonefrost they came upon feral humans, the Ruken hillfolk. Unholy pacts and unions between the two resulted in abominations further shaming the once proud lizardfolk. Then Queen Med rose to power among the lizard folk and she wielded mighty eldritch forces. She gathered up her pitiful kind and returned to Verdalith, there ascending the old ruins and proclaiming herself not only great, but greater than any of the true gods. In return she was tested by the Divine and Profane.
Mad Queen Med failed.
The pureblood lizardfolk abandoned their old city once and for all, scattering into the interior of Verdalith to vie for territory among the grippli and the boggards. The human thralls fled the vale and though over the centuries some brave travelers and traders have returned, none dwell in the lands of Verdalith.
Queen Med, herself cursed as the first of the Medudsae, ruled a dominion of ruin. The horrifying abominations, half-lizardfolk, half-human, were her subjects and in her pitiful state she embraced them. Over time the Medusae bred true into their utterly terrifying visage as known today. For centuries to come the Snake Queen and her get would rise in power developing alchemy, mutation, and unleashing horrors across Verdalith. The depredations of the Medusae nearly razed the forests and made stone or worse of the sentient creatures here.
A thousand years ago, during a time of testing from the First World, the lands of Verdalith played host to fey eldest. The woodlands were once more renewed and returned to a primal state. One among the Medusae, Lady Kor begged the fey for aid. She threw herself at their mercies and showed remorse for all the sins her kin had wrought upon the face of Verdalith. The Eldest took pity on Kor and infused her with the power of the wild. She would help remake that which had been destroyed by her kind.
So now the Korreda battle against their cousin kin. The medusae once more rise in Verdalith, creating small settlements in which to create their alchemical sins. The simple korreda go about the land in the natural ways of druids and rangers, culling the land. Every so often they unite in covens; on these sacred moots they create the Gaurdinals - stony constructs with sentience and will who, once given form help their "mothers" hold back the horrors and aberrations wrought by the medusae.
With these two groups keeping one another in check the grippli and lizardfolk have rebuilt. Both races have raised themselves from primitive, stone-age lives to feudal settlements and iron-age technologies. Their small kingdoms coexist as peacefully as they can, trading and skirmishing along the borders where swamp meets forest floor.
At last, I am home.
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I could have sworn you have participated in this thread before?
= Grindylow
= Duergar
= Changeling (Doppleganger-kin)
= Plant-Based Humanoid
= Strix
The Floating Island of Luw hovers above the middle of a vast ocean, and can be seen for miles around. The most common race seen here are the strix, who fly from their homes in the floating island's trees to harass and raid any boat that comes near the island.
The strix also come into conflict with the duergar, who have created a network of tunneling passages throughout the island. The duergar arrived on the island nearly a decade ago using teleportation magic, and the conflict started almost immediately. The strix believe that if the duergar dig away too much, they will cause the island to fall, while the duergar don't care about the ultimate fate of the island, only what they can do with the rich veins of ores found beneath its surface.
In the shadows of the great trees of the island is a large river that spills off of the edge into the sea. Grindylows prowl these waters, opportunistically attacking any duergar or strix who get too near to them. The grindylows tend to leave the Fernlians, a group of small humanoids with leafy hairs growing on them, alone.
Finally, a small group of changelings have made it onto the island. Believing that their God has sent them here, they have begun systematically infiltrating the other groups on the island in an attempt to play them against each other in the hopes that the changelings will be the last ones standing. Only time will tell.
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Nereid
Dark Folk
Sprite
Undine
Dwarf
SKARETHEIM - "THE CARVED WORLD"
The surface, or Shell, of cold and distant Skaretheim is, as far as is generally known, uninhabitable - but the planet's interior is a massive and extraordinary labyrinth of caverns, rivers, seas, and massive fungal forests, lite by bioluminescent vegetation and a handful of radioactive mineral nodes so strong as to serve as weak miniature suns bringing light, nourishment, and strange magic to their world. It is home to 5 major sapient races: The Dwarves, the most stridently landlubber folk who take pride in their ability to carve The Carved World with their own deliberate ingenuity and might rather than trusting to the whims of the epochs-old waterways; the Undines, folk empowered by links to the Elemental Plane of Water, and the supposed remains of a race lost to the shadows of myth that somehow once walked the Shell; the Sprites, highly magical denizens of the deep fungal forests; the Dark Folk, strange and elusive kin to the Undines and masters of the world's deepest and darkest caverns, some of whom insist they have found ways to walk the legendary Shell even today; and the Nereids, masters of the waterways. The Nereids and Dwarves do not get along well for philosophical and regional reasons, and their abodes overlap little save when the Dwarves try to expand or the Nereids try to undo the Dwarves' work; the Sprites are content to be reclusive tricksters, mostly amicable but violently territorial should they feel their great forests are being encroached on too greatly; the Undines are well-known to all and generally trusted, but only up to a point, as history has a good share of aggressive would-be Undine conquerors and exploiters; nobody fully trusts the Dark Folk. Things mostly pass in Skaretheim as they have for millennia, but something wicked this way comes: the world's ecosystems are suffering as the world gets warmer for unknown reasons, unfamiliar and frightful monsters, some extraordinarily mighty, have appeared; whole great caverns appear to be on the brink of catastrophic collapse; all signs lead one direction: To the Shell....
22 Catfolk
3 Dwarf
46 Forlarren
62 Cecaelia
65 Derhii
Sunspot Cliffs
The Cliffs are eternal, say the dwarves. The cecaelia disagree, pointing to the pounding of surf on stone for the proof; all things erode with wind, tide and time. The Derhii say little, content to accept the Cliffs as they are: miles-high white stone, dropping without sand or ceremony into the ocean, sheltering a vast inland tropical forest. Despite their philosophical differences, the three Cliff Peoples live in uneasy truce; the dwarves' stonework is coveted by those in the sea and above it, the cecaelia with their ocean-lore and vast wealth of food, and the derhii with the wisdom of the open sky and wanderlust unbound by petty gravity.
Inland, the children of the wood treat cautiously with each other, the peculiar and tentative dance of generations. The leopard people build their homes in the canopies and their temples on the forest floor, traded white stone and dwarven expertise informing their architecture; the Forlarren eschew both in favor of the wilder places and what solitude they can find to quell their murderous impulses. Trade goes uneasily; the forlarren find the catfolk too pious, the catfolk think the forlarren unstable (and dangerous; the former is always true, but the latter not always so).
All is not sun, wood and surf; the cecaelia battle back aboleths on all fronts, and the dwarves' lowest sea caves hide refugees and hostile creatures from land and sea alike. In the treetops of the inland woods catfolk and derhii sometimes war over territory and sometimes band together to ward off drake rampages, and hidden among the ancient white stone temples of the forest floor are evil secrets the earth whispers to the weak and vulnerable...
I could have sworn you have participated in this thread before?
Not that I can find on my Search of this Thread for my name!
(And, as much as I do this kind of thing, I don't recall seeing this thread, previously...)
ANYWAY:
= Nixie
= Treant
= Drow
= Drider
= Raptoran
Ohohohohoh~oh! Iiiiiiiiiinteresting!
Edit: HEH! I need a very specific alias for this one...
Edit 2: Ooh! I hadn't even made any posts with it yet... niiiiiiiccccceeee...
x2 Medusae. Hmm... perhaps a variant?
You reroll duplicates; I did. Granted, your approach worked out well.
5. If you get the same number more than once, you have two(or more) very different variants of that race, like the divide between elves and drow.
:)
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Dwarves receive Craftsman and Saltbeard as alternate racial features, and also gain a +1 racial bonus to Knowledge (Dungeoneering) and Knowledge (Engineering). Their favored classes are Cleric, Skald, Ranger, Fighter, and Artificer.
Undines receive Amphibious and Terrain Chameleon as alternate racial features, are classified as Humanoids rather than Native Outsiders, and do not take a penalty to Strength. Their favored classes are Swashbuckler, Bloodrager, Rogue, Cleric, and Sorcerer.
Sprites' favored classes are Sorcerer, Ninja, Bard, Alchemist, and Druid.
Dark Folk's favored classes are Ninja, Magus, Witch, Inquisitor, and Shadowcaster.
Nereids' favored classes are Druid, Cleric, Barbarian, Oracle, and Hunter.
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Looks fun! Can't guarantee I'll have the time to write up the setting here, but very curious what I'll get:
Catfolk
Thri-Kreen (four-armed Psionic insectoids)
Wayang (gnome-like with shadow-plane origins)
Cecaelia (like merfolk but octopus tentacle bottoms)
Mongrel Man
...Interesting...
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...
...
...
... from Anarchy came The First.
Chaos. Madness. Infinite variation. Randomness. Chance. Death.
This is the place once known as Limbo , or the Maelstrom, Kythri, or Elemental Chaos.
There was naught but constantly emerging and presented potential, but, as the truly random is want, any potential that emerged and presented was continuously run up against (and collapsed from the pressure of) all other emerged and presenting potentials.
This is the rule of chaos without bounds.
From the infinities of chance, at a point in time that may as well be arbitrary, and before time truly started, the elements of potential gave rise to a something that had always arisen yet had simply sunk back to the depths from whence it came, swallowed in the moment of brevity, until now: order, solidity, calm, focus.
There was a place where the four elements had, in their own way, stabilized, for a time. A massive region of fire and positive energy was separated from a region of earth and water with twin fields of ether (that is akash, or void) and air between them.
It is from here that mighty being, the World Tree, first came into being. The earth was warmed by the fire, enriched by the water, and fed by the air. Reaching forth to touch the aether, the World Tree, First Wood (the very first of the Three New Elements), came into being.
He rose and stretched forth, emerging from his roots deep within the earth, breathing the air into itself, and drinking deeply of the water.
Life.
But stable is not enough within Chaos, and the whims of fate were struck once again, even within order. And so, the tree was blessed with a Soul, with a Mind, with Self-determination and the essence of Movement, and the ability to Learn and Grow and enact Change.
The tree began exploring its refuge, learning of the air, the earth, the water... and the fire. Exploring, touching, and coming to know each of these - from the earth he ate, the water he drank, the air he breathed, and the fire he warmed, and the ether a protection against excess fire - he grew wise and became. With his explorations, soon the World Tree learned that its place of birth was small - a refuge of order and life against the chaos all around him. He named his place of refuge: Garden, the place where life is nurtured.
The Tree of All pushed forth from his cocoon and experience the turmoil of reality beyond his birthplace. It was disorienting, destructive, and nearly overwhelming, but then the World Tree learned how to exert its will over the madness, and create calm and stability within.
The First Art was created, and the Tree of All became the First Creator.
There were many struggles for the Great Tree - the rise of the Primordials, the establishment of the other two New Elements (Blood and Metal), the Conflict with Nether (and the rise of the shedim or jinn and the mizzikin of those by way of qlippoth), and the organization (or discovery - it's unclear) of the Three Great Expanses, and the full Establishment of the Nursery - on his path to Enlightenment.
At the end of each, he discovered a new Secret and a new Truth, until he had achieved All. It is then that he became the World Tree and became the one who is responsible for All Creation.
- Sahasrara (Crown): Time/Space/Balance/Gravity/Cosmic/Universal/All-Elemental
- Ajna (Third Eye): Nether/Darkness/Shadow/Death/Poison/Black Magic
- Vishuddhi (Throat): Aether/Light/Life/Lightning/Electricity/Energy/Magnetism
- Anahata (Heart): Air/Wind/Magic/Sound/Music
- Manipura (Navel): Fire/Heat/Flame
- Svadhisthana (Sacral): Water/Ice/Snow/Steam/Fog/Mist
- Muladhara (Root): Earth/Rock/Nature/Soil/Metal/Wood
Having learned many lessons, and grown vast, the One Who Grows birthed within itself the First Seeds. Within these beautiful extensions of himself, he crafted the potential for great truths, and hold the seven components needed to achieve a version of his own enlightenment.
And so the First Seeds were planted in the Nursery. Time was permitted, and reality progressed, and the First People were born, and the First Grove established.
Understanding loneliness and purposelessness all too well, the First Artist gave the First Grove to each other, and gave them the First Task, which was tending and nurturing all of the plants and the lesser creatures all around them, introduced slowly in order to allow them to learn and understand.
Very quickly, however, the mizzikim learned of the Nursery and, filled with hatred and jealousy, caused mischief against the First Grove for the sake of the Tree of All. From the influence of these storms and mischief and imbalance, the First Grove found itself quickly overwhelmed. Though he cleansed the Nursery of these first mizzikin - sealing all of their shedim into a small crystalline growth, the jinn into brass taken from the ground, and casting their resulting qlippoths (now devoid of any knowledge of the Nursery) back into the chaos - The Tree of All understood that it was only a matter of time before others found and infested the world again. Thus, to the First Grove, he gave them a singular gift: the ability to reproduce, as he had done. This would allow them to slowly grow with the world, and encourage and protect it, no matter how large things grew.
The first shedim and jinn who had been captured were naturally angry and frustrated and bored - even more so as they had been mizzikin. The First Tree, in his wisdom, understood that they could not be contained forever, and should they be released even worse things might come; however, he did not hate them, and had a gift both for both the sealed shedim and jinn, and also for the First Grove. Though the Water had long nourished the land, and the Air had long given Breath, the great bodies thereof needed a protector as well. Although First People could enter water and moved through the, they were not born to either, and could not reach the great depths. Thus, the First Maker gave the crystals of shedim and brazen urns of jinn to the First Grove and gave them the task of discovering and understanding how to develop a guardians for the waves and wind.
Though it took some time, the First Grove eventually established the idea of using the element of Blood in the establishment of the new races, mixing Blood with Water and placing the the jinn urns - balanced along the seven keys to Enlightenment - within it to create the Second People and the First Tribe. At first somewhat resentful, the Second People quickly became enthralled with their new existence. As the First Grove had absorbed wisdom from the Tree of All, they understood that, as the world grew, so, too, would the need for more defenders; thus, they enabled the Second People to create more of themselves, though, to ensure they desired to do so (instead of refraining from spite), they made it desirable. Though they loved their new friends, however, the First Grove also understood the volatility of these, and left them a weakness to metal, as a reminder and a fail-safe. For friends and allies, and to help focus their purpose, the Tree of All created gifts, they were given many small creatures and new plants, the better to have things to protect.
The shedim were slightly trickier, as the more fragile of the two, and First People found it necessary to discover how to allow movement even through the Deep Air. To that end, they studied the Air and learned its properties, and the World Tree created new creatures that nested within the upper reaches of the First People and that used the Air as a method of travel. The First Grove were able to imitate these ideas, and, together, replicating their achievements of reproduction and enlightenment within this race as well, created the Third People and the First Flock.
At last, the three people were established, and the First People believed that all of Creation, every part of the Nursery was fully protected.
Even as the three races continued their growth and expansion, something else was approaching the Nursery.
When the Tree of All had removed the qlippoth from the mizzikin, leaving only the shedim and jinn, he wanted to teach his Children as he had learned - through experience. And so he left it up to them to determine how to cast the qlippoth back into the chaos (a feat beyond their ability at the time, but not beyond their comprehension). And so, the First Grove considered in a great Moot, and chose to send them by the Shadow, that Great Expanse that, though sometimes filled with Nether, is also a Swift Path and a way to move quickly and easily.
The Tree of All looked an knew that Terrible Things would derive from this, but knew as well that leaving the qlippoth would result in naught but the obliteration of Nursery, and knew that the Three Peoples and the Nursery would survive the return of the Terrible Things, and be able to turn Good Things out instead.
And so he listened to his Children and cast the qlippoth through the Shadow toward the Chaos, where they sank into the depths below and intersected a grand well of Nether, and the spawning stone. This mix of nether, spawning stone, qlippoth, shadow, and malice created a source of evil and power.
It is here that some few of the most violent and destructive primordials - foes of the World Tree, all - first discovered the empty and cast-off qlippoth, and these few learned how to divide themselves and insert themselves into many of the qlippoth, becoming the obyrith.
Because time has little meaning in chaos, these obyrith used the qlippoth learned of the Nursery and of the things the Tree of All did and, in their fury and jealousy and perversity, sought to do all the First Artist had even more beyond him.
To this end, their first act was learn the power of banishment and sealing to be able to send others "away" and seal themselves deeply, but because their imitation was too thorough yet poorly made, they learned only how to banish themselves, taking darkness with them, and sealing themselves inside a brazen crystal. Unable to go anywhere but "away" they imitated the World Tree's creation of Nursery, though seeking to learn quickly how to undo all he'd made, they made time different and rapid in theirs.
The obyriths created a world of horror, and lived, grew, died, and consumed that world, passing from early to ancient to nullification all in time unlike that found in the Nursery. The Ancients became Ancient beyond comprehension, until Time itself no longer held important meaning, and madness became All.
Though sealed away for "all eternity" after eternity passes, there was nothing else but to be free. And it is here that the proteans, ancient by most standards, opened the doors beyond reality to find something both far older and far younger - a realm of madness that was anathema even to anarchy.
Though the gates were closed, and the escapees warred against by the proteans, the Seal had been breached and some things slipped through in both directions. The obyriths began to crawl from the depths of their evil, and the Abyss was truly born.
It is then that the obyriths began to seep into the world. Having learned from the qlippoth that the Tree of All would act if they were too forward, the obyriths slithered into the world into the hidden and dark places, inhabiting the world in secret. Following the path of shadow, they found that they could not easily inhabit the air or the water or the surface - the defenders of reality were present - but deep below the surface, deeper even than the roots reached, was darkness. There, though the qlippoth they wore were still banished, they made contact. Using the nixie's curiosity, they drew their first future-converts into the deep holes of the world and into darkness. The vile things done in those depths cannot be truly spoken of, but the results are that the nixies were possessed by malevolance of the kind they hadn't known since before their race existed. Using this corruption, they used their power to draw the other race who'd left their qlippoth behind: the raptorans. There, in the darkness, the obyriths scaled the nixies and cut their webbing, removed the feathers and wings from raptorans, and injected their shadows and nether into the resulting creatures, forcibly breeding them in terrible ways, and, through violence and death, creating the Fourth Race, the first race that no longer produced by Seeds.
This new race worshiped their obyrith lords - for what else could they do? And deep below the Earth, realms of wicked debauchery reigned and were created. This corrupted, afflicted people had an affect upon their masters, however. Within their worship and reverence, the obyriths found themselves... influenced. What's more, with each death - for these creatures and their forebears tormented by the obyriths were the first Race in the Nursery to ever die (though simple plants and animals often did) - the lingering essence of these beings slowly fled through the Shadow and back to their masters, who experimented with and consumed them in debauchery similar to their worshipers. Many, however, fell through the cracks, often becoming fodder for many of the qlippoth lurking in the darkness. The qlippoth who consumed the souls eventually ruptured into larvae to became the first demons. Within these depths and wickedness, the first demon lords arose from the obyriths and who consumed the souls. The last souls - those who remained undevoured - were slowly absorbed into the Abyss itself (to become the first oozes), escaped to the chaos to be absorbed and reborn in elemental seeds (to become the first kobolds "dragons"), or returned through the shadow (to become the first undead). A very few even escaped back into the world, becoming the first bhut.
The madness of the obyriths followed them, however, and infested some of these their servants. Those dedicate to such maddened demon lords... remembered their history and, tapping into the madness in realms beyond the obyriths' sought out and created abominations (who, themselves, would go on to make more). Influenced by the terrible new demon lords, these servants eventually experimented on themselves, eventually creating the Fifth Race.
Flushed and maddened with success, insanity, and power, the obyriths and demon lords began leading their Fourth and Fifth people to enact raids and despoil the Nursery. Though the First, Second, and Third people opposed them, the Fourth and Fifth people did things that were unknown to the First Three: kill their fellow People. To complicate matters, the obyrith slowly began to corrupt segments of the Second People, drawing them away from reverence and into wickedness. Many of those killed did not travel into the darkness, but had nowhere to go to, becoming the bhut as those who'd fled the Abyss had.
In the end, the obyriths and demon lords attempted to open gates into the world, which was when the Tree of All stepped in to stop them. Creating a Divine Seal, he forced all obyriths out, even of the Shadow, and banned the demon lords from ever entering... but, due to their transformation, the World Tree discovered they had the "right" to access the Shadow, and did not fully ban them from that place. Those that remained in the Shadow eventually changed once again, the demon lords becoming the mighty titans, the demons becoming the demondands and xacarba.
By this time, the divide between the obyriths and demon lords had become sharp - the obyriths finding the demon lords revolting. The qlippoth, too, loathed what the demons were and had become, and the two were divided and engaging in mutual slaughter. The proteans, jinn, shedim, and primordials, too, waged war against these monstrosities, disgusted by their awfulness, each finding a perversion that was too much to bear in such creatures. Even the mizzikin were unwilling to ally with such vile creatures, though they found a place for themselves by agreeing to seal the Abyss. A compact was created between all these disparate people, and the mizzikin became the jailors and torturers of the Abyssal forces, invading Shadow and creating a "lid" to "seal" away the Abyss.
The greatest of these mizzikin went by the name Mara, though later they divided under another named Angra Mainyu when many migrated to the Shadow to oppose the titanic fiends there.
During the assault on the Nursery, many of the People were Sacrificed to the Demon Lords and Titans. So many were given to certain Titans that they, too, still consuming the souls of the dead, had begun to change, taking on the qualities of those sacrificed to and consumed by them. These Titans were overcome with a curious sensation: guilt. In time, they began to act in ways unthinkable prior: they began to help the living and guide the First Three People, and even elements of the Fourth and Fifth People to peace. As the portals were being prepared to open, and before the Tree of All had yet acted, they gathered their followers, their power, and their essence and assaulted their former fellows, disrupting the rituals.
In this way, these Titans found redemption and freedom from the wickedness of their origin. Though far too anarchic to have achieved true Enlightenment, they became staunch allies of the Tree of All, and were blessed by him, and permitted to exit the shadow and enter astral sea, taking their followers with them. There, they acted to create the Lattice of Heaven, that is Elysium, and enjoyed unbridled freedom.
After all things had settled down, the bhut of the dead were restless and stuck, and so the Tree of All gave them a choice - either find a place in one of the Three Great Expanses, go to the Chaos, become new Guardians of the World, or become Guardians of the Many Worlds. Those that chose the first became the first petitioners that were not demonic. Those that chose the second became Shae or Nihiloi or Psychopomps , Hypnalis or Jyoti or Xill , or Valkyrie (who would later choose Einherji) or Couatl or Kirin ; Chaos Beasts or various kinds of elemental creatures ; or Aeons or Kami .
At the end of the war, there was much bitterness and hatred between the Races for the war. And yet, the First People knew of the sacrifices certain segments of the Fourth and Fifth people, and helped the Second (those who were not corrupt) and Third people see these as allies. Though they were afraid, the Third and Fourth people who embraced the Nursery were welcomed as True People among the First Three, establishing new civilization and life in various places to help guard the world from its threats.
And so the Nursery was purified once again, the ordering of the realms was established, and the Tree of All saw his People through to survival.
And so it was.
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One thing I keep forgetting:
2. The corresponding numbers will show you the five races on the list that will be the player races for your setting. These five races are the only "default assumption" choices for your setting's player race options.
So, this means that the five I roll up are just the default PC races. In my regular homebrew campaign right now I've developed kobolds with a whole society as a major part of the setting, but they're not a race the players want to use.
By that logic, my setting in this thread doesn't have to be ONLY the five races I make up. Think about it; what if you got x2 medusa, grippli, construct-based humanoids of your own creation and lizardfolk, but the setting was about how the humans, dwarves and elves replaced goblins, kobolds and orcs as the "villainous" races?
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Adlet, Ogre, Ettercap, Nereid, Tengu.
Three in the morning in the Eightfold. A cluster of ogres huddles around a small table, playing one of those cardgames where nobody cares about the rules as long as you don't get caught. On the stage, a birdwoman from the Eastern Lands sings a slow, sweet tune in her own language. Nobody can understand her, but nobody's really listening. A lone adlet sits at the bar, given a wide berth by the other patrons—superstition hangs around the northern wolfman like the blanket of cold that seems perpetually bound to him. The staff strapped to his back radiates powerful magic. Nobody wants to cross that.
The crunching sound of footsteps in dry, cracked soil heralds the approach of another patron from outside. A moment later, the salon doors swing wide.
In walks a vision.
The tengu's song skips a beat. The ogres for a moment cease their shameless efforts at peeking at each other's hands to stare, without shame, at what has entered their presence. The adlet glances back, seeming caught off-guard for the first time since his arrival.
The nereid sways over to the counter. She's been injured, it's not hard to tell, but the wound in her back does nothing to mask her otherworldly grace and beauty. Charisma oozes around her, choking the room in a miasma of attraction. She looks around, and everyone staring at her quickly averts their gaze. The fey leans on the counter—though it's hidden well, she in fact can barely stand—and beckons the bartender over.
The bartender is a spider. It leans over, mandibles clacking. "Would the pretty girl like a drink?" it rasps.
"Maybe." The nereid's moment is quiet; so quiet the keen-eared ettercap has to strain to hear. "Maybe. But first. First I need someone." She looked up, fixing the spider with a gaze that made it feel like it was staring up at falling icicles. Sharp ones. "I'm looking for someone unafraid of the Old Webs. They've taken. Taken something from me. I want it back."
The Waste is a harsh, unforgiving sort of country. Built above the ruins of an old arachnid empire, those who remain here do so because they have nowhere else to go.
The ettercaps were once the favored servants of the drow. They would also prove the instruments of the drows' destruction. One morning the high priestess of the drow decided the empire would be moving a little bit deeper down, and the ettercaps, so in love with the light and color of the surface world, said no. With spiders. The drow were so slow and glutted, so accustomed to minions doing their fighting for them, that they barely stood a chance. Since then, the ettercaps have learned to love music, art, and good food, though their idea of all three isn't always to other races' taste.
The ogres, once enslaved by drow and their ilk, have cast off their shackles and now roam the desert. Some of them are mercenaries, some are wandering do-gooders, and many are simple, honorless bandits. The ogres enjoy a somewhat mixed reputation, but in truth a lot of them just like being allowed to wander in peace. Ogres tend to have mean senses of humor no matter what, but generations under the drow's rule has made it harder for them to really enjoy seeing others in pain like they used to. Many ogres have taken to a more disciplined, almost monastic path, defying all that the drow held to—sadism, sexuality, slavery—and now walk the land attempting to fight such things.
The nereids also enjoy a mixed reputation, for they are the keepers of the oases. Some of them are kind and manage their charges with generosity. Some of them are cruel and debauched and hold their water hostage in exchange for whatever they please. And some leave the oasis communes and set out in search of new companions, new song, or even the dreaded adventure. Many nereid bards are highly attracted to the drow style of music, and they've been known to occasionally delve into the old ruins to retrieve instruments or compositions.
The tengu are a mostly foreign race. They tend to see themselves as "civilizers", helping the Waste inhabitants build communities that can last. Nothing has gone far beyond large towns, but the tengu are persistent. They miss the grand skyscrapers of their homeland. Some tengu—the less "civilized" sort—have turned to mercenary work, or even robbery, as skill with the sword is highly prized even in their urban culture.
Finally, the adlets are almost entirely new. A recent schism from far north has forced a large quantity of the mystical wolfmen south into the Waste, where they must attempt to reconcile the highly brutal way of living in their homeland with the more subtle but just as brutal way of the Waste. Many of them continue to admire nature's savagery—just in the desert, rather than the tundra—but most of them still prefer to come out during the cool nights. Adlets are regarded with a great deal of superstition, and are either seen as good luck or bad luck to have around Their ability to conjure coolness is always welcome, of course. Some adlets are hired just to provide use of their icy magic to restaurants, lounges and inns.
The scattered towns and oases tend to skirt around a particularly sinister network of canyons known as the Old Webs. These crevices are claimed by nests of ettercaps that never quite assimilated into the surface culture. They hunt at night, with swarms of giant spiders and cruel, terrible traps, using magic, webbing, and the remains of their victims as lures to draw in more food. It doesn't have to be nonsentient. Not long ago, an entire town fell to the creatures, having been placed far too close to a yet-unknown chasm that had been covered up by a landslide. All that remains of the town now is a webby prison of snares and trapped treasures. Though the potential rewards of delving through ruins can be great, few regard it as worth the risk of running into a pack of huntresses.
Some ettercaps hail from this more primal society, and they are treated with a mixture of hate and consuming terror. It is believed that to kill one of this special group is to invite the wrath of a whole nest upon the town. How the ettercaps are actually regarded by their old nestmates only they know.
Dragonborn, vegepygmy, ratfolk, derhii, satyrs.
Dragonmen, fungus men, ratmen, goatmen, and flying monkeys.
Huh.
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Adlet, Ogre, Ettercap, Nereid, Tengu.
Three in the morning in the Eightfold. A cluster of ogres huddles around a small table, playing one of those cardgames where nobody cares about the rules as long as you don't get caught. On the stage, a birdwoman from the Eastern Lands sings a slow, sweet tune in her own language. Nobody can understand her, but nobody's really listening. A lone adlet sits at the bar, given a wide berth by the other patrons—superstition hangs around the northern wolfman like the blanket of cold that seems perpetually bound to him. The staff strapped to his back radiates powerful magic. Nobody wants to cross that.
The crunching sound of footsteps in dry, cracked soil heralds the approach of another patron from outside. A moment later, the salon doors swing wide.
In walks a vision.
The tengu's song skips a beat. The ogres for a moment cease their shameless efforts at peeking at each other's hands to stare, without shame, at what has entered their presence. The adlet glances back, seeming caught off-guard for the first time since his arrival.
The nereid sways over to the counter. She's been injured, it's not hard to tell, but the wound in her back does nothing to mask her otherworldly grace and beauty. Charisma oozes around her, choking the room in a miasma of attraction. She looks around, and everyone staring at her quickly averts their gaze. The fey leans on the counter—though it's hidden well, she in fact can barely stand—and beckons the bartender over.
The bartender is a spider. It leans over, mandibles clacking. "Would the pretty girl like a drink?" it rasps.
"Maybe." The nereid's moment is quiet; so quiet the keen-eared ettercap has to strain to hear. "Maybe. But first. First I need someone." She looked up, fixing the spider with a gaze that made it feel like it was staring up at falling icicles. Sharp ones. "I'm looking for someone unafraid of the Old Webs. They've taken. Taken something from me. I want it back."
The Waste is a harsh, unforgiving sort of...
you are on fire
Thanks! I try to always have one of these sets on the backburner. But really? We have dragonborn—a non-Pathfinder race—and no aranea? Screw it. I'm officially replacing changelings with aranea as far as my rolls are concerned.
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Let's see: Kobold, Sprite, Halfling, Sprite, Gnome - looks like it's a Small world after all!
In the town of Oakwood was decked out in brightly colored streamers and balloons. The residents had all been preparing for the festival, and some of their neighbors from Bogwood Lake had come to join in, their skin as brightly colored as the decorations. The sea sprites could live in any body of water, and these had lived in Bogwood Lake since time out of mind. A few kobolds hung around in a small group, their delicate jewelry and mechanical music makers ready for buying. Overhead, a few sprites flew, their butterfly-like wings coloring the skies.
"They're coming! The gnomes are coming!"
Gnomes traveled along regular paths, trading goods from near and far as they went. Their yearly visits were always looked forward to. Since they were also known for creating their own unique items, it looked to be an exciting time all around - though halflings always wondered if one or more of their number might run off and join the gnomes when they left.
Treyford is a quiet, pastoral country inhabited by Halflings for the most part. To the west, Kobolds lived in their mountain citadel of Zornahzin while the Undine live in Bogwood Lake to the north. Sylphs live in the Lighttree Forest to the east, while Gnomes travel the lands all around, largely in the Haywild Plains to the south. However, in the north-east lay the Nomik Wyldwood - where the realm of the wild fey meets the Prime. Though it is largely quiescent at certain times of the year it becomes active and dangerous.
The halflings are one of the native races of the Prime. They maintain small, rural communities widely spread out. Though they are generally content with home live, they occasionally get wanderlust and will go on various adventures.
The kobolds are another of the native races of the Prime. Though they tend to prefer mountainous or hilly areas, they will live anywhere else. They enjoy a brisk trade with the halflings, being excellent crafters and masons as well as miners - trading their mined goods for halfling goods, particularly their beer.
The undine (sea sprites) come from the realm of the fey. Whether they, their airborne cousins or the gnomes were first is impossible to say, but they were the first that the halflings encountered. Undine are small and look like gnomes. Their skin has patterns like colorful tropical fish or nudibranches, with seaweed like hair that has colors like coral.
The gnomes also come from the realm of the fey. Traveling in covered wagons and yurts they trade as they travel and love to entertain. Their fair trade makes them very popular among both halflings and kobolds, though the more serious kobolds often look at their behavior in askance.
The sylphs (sprites) are the third small race to come from the realm of the fey. They have butterfly-like wings and long, pointy ears with tips like antennae. They are more similar physically to halflings and, though they love to wander, they also enjoy the comforts they find when around halflings.
The Wyldwood is the realm of the fey. It attached to the Prime at some time in the past (at least five thousand years ago), however, the only fey to leave it initially were the sprites, sea sprites, and gnomes - though all have stories of being driven out by some dark force. five hundred years ago, this dark force manifested in the form of the Phobetoi - soulless nightmare creatures. Their entrance caused the Wyldwood to become permanent in some places. Rather than flee, however, the gnomes, undine, and sylphs stood fast with the kobolds and halflings and drove back the phobetoi and placed magical wards on the Wyldwood so that it could only open into the Prime at certain times of year. Similarly, the fey world can only be accessed at these times. Daring adventurers have found ruins there that suggested the fey once had an advanced civilization before the phobetoi came and drove them out - but gnomes, sylphs, and undine have no memories of it - presenting another mystery.
27 Strix
39 Kobold
41 Dryad
56 Minotaur
61 Sahuagin
Well this should be... interesting to say the least. Ill think on it and see what I can come up with.
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Metakarus glanced at the fire runes on his greataxe for what felt like the thousandth time,knowing that they would be there, but feeling the need to make sure. He couldn't help it, being in this damnable, cursed place had set his nerves on edge.
I should have never taken this job, the burly minotaur thought, the old cities are cursed, filled with evil things. Hungry things. But the money is to good.
Metakarus was drawn out of his thoughts when he heard a crash and some swearing in Draconic. Up ahead were two more members of this little expedition, two Redscale kobold brothers. Twins actually. Ferro and Upat. They were apparently some of the best Reclaimers in the area, having an excellent salvage record and a reputation for being professionals.
Or so he was told. Metakarus couldn't help but raise his brow as Upat retrieved his breaker's kit from where he had tripped over a piece of pipe before heading over to his giggling brother.
"Look everyone! It's my brother, the smoothest rouge in all the Freeholds laid low by a simple lead pipe and his own two feet!" Ferro laughed, a clawed hand on his stomach as he leaned against the metal door that lead further into this building.
"Shut it Ferro," Upat snarled back as he laid his kit down and began to produce some strange looking lockpicking tools, "Just remember that for all your fancy sorcery, Shixsa still picked me to mate with."
They began arguing even as Upat started on the door and Metakarus signed. He really missed being among his own kind.
"Is everything all right down here?" a voice that could only be described as a breeze ruffling the leaves on a tree asked, "I heard a crash."
Metakarus turned to face the owner of the voice and who also happened to be his employer. "One of the kobolds tripped over a pipe. They're working on the door now," he replied while staring at Arlessia.
She was a dryad, one of the tree shepherds and Arlessia was quite skilled in the craft of drudism. Which made this job all the more strange, as normally the dryads avoided the old dead cities with the same fervor his own people did. But Arlessia wanted something in this place. Wanted it badly enough she had hired a exiled, honorless Kyzan like himself.
She smiled from beneath the hood she wore, her emerald eyes lighting up with anticipation, "Excellent, soon I shall have what I came for and all of you will be richer than you could have ever dreamed of."
Metakarus was going to reply when the fifth member of their group came down the stairs, Iokvas' sahaughin features standing out as much as the breathing tank strapped to his back and the bombs around his waist.
"Birdboy just signaled me. We got a big pack of ghouls coming our way. And these ones have guns."
"Tell him to start firing as soon as they are in his range!" Arlessia turned towards the kobolds "How much longer?"
"Five minutes. Possibly six."
The sound of growling and moaning soon filtered down the stairs and Metakarus heard the distinctive crack of the strix ranger's rifle from outside.
He gripped his axe and sighed. "Better make it two."
It is said that long ago, Trilana was a vibrant and advanced world where technology and magic blended seemlessly and dozens of intelligent races shared the world in relative peace.
Trilana is no longer that world.
Details are scarce, but it is said that the strongest nations of humans and elves warred with each other, unleashing unimaginable destructive weapons of technology and magic on one another until both sides destroyed each other and their war brought an apocalypse that killed off ecosystems, species and entire races. Scarred the planet with spots of radioactive wastelands and vicious, reality warping mana storms and leaving only dead cities filled with robotic guardians, walking bioweapons, and the ever hungry undead.
But life finds a way, and in the centuries since the Collapse, five races have not only managed to weather the dangers of Trilana, they have thrived.
The kobolds are the most numerous of the races and the most successful. Organized and innovative, the kobolds have built several half-buried city-states across the planet, strange mixtures of Pre-Collapse tech and modern kobold steamcraft. Kobolds are gifted with a knack for technology and they have an unparalleled mastery of arcane magic and while sorcerers are the most common and prized members of the community the kobolds produce more wizards, witches, magi, and bards than any other race. This comes at the cost of most kobolds scoffing at divine magic, as their society views relying on uncaring gods for power as weak when those who tap into the arcane can change the world according to their wishes, beholden to no one. As a result, most kobolds tend towards atheism. Kobolds are racially divided by scale color, which also grants them minor resistances to different forms of energy. Redscales are the most common, with those with metallic scales being the least. Many kobold city-states are connected by carved out underground tunnels and tram ways called the Hollow Roads, however the kobolds are fiercely protective of these passages and other races can only access them with restricted permission.
Trilanan kobolds posses the following modifiers
-2 Strength, +2 Dexterity, + 2 Charisma
Kobolds receive Draconic Aspect as a free feat.
Arcane Aptitude: Kobolds treat their intelligence scores as 2 points higher than they actually are for the alchemist, witch, and wizard classes.
The minotaur are a mighty, proud, and deeply spirtual race of nomads who roam the storm wracked plains from atop their Darkla steeds ( treat it as a furry triceratops with an electrical breath weapon) fighting the elements, bulettes and feral trolls to survive. Minotaurs fervently beleieve the spirits of the world punished the old races for their transgressions and most minotaurs view Pre-Collapse tech as cursed and many refuse to even touch it. They view the old dead cities with superstition, with clans refusing to even let their herds graze within sight of them and viewing enetering them as a dangerous and shameful act. Yet while most minotaurs have a strict sense of honor and tradition, they have their fair share of outcasts. Known as Kyzan or shamed ones, these minotaurs have committed some sort of transgression aganist their clans and have been exiled as a result. While most of these waywards find themselves living in ghettos in the kobold cities, the more depraved or brave individuals settle in the old cities, usually forming loose gangs to survive or turning completely feral, little more than wild beasts who prey on the many scavengers who come to loot the cities. Most minotaurs are barbarians, brawlers, fighters, or cavaliers, with he only real casters among them being shamans and druids.
Trilanan Minotaur Stats
+4 Strength, +2 Constitution, -4 Intelligence, -2 Charisma
Trilanan Minotaurs are Large Monstrous Humanoids.
Trilanan Minotaurs do not retain the immunity to maze spells and can become lost.
The beautiful and mysterious dryads are true remnants of the old world, one of the few surviving fey races on Trilana. Dryads are sometimes known as tree shepherds to others, as due to the poor soil of Trilana and to stay ahead of the mana storms, the dryads literraly use druidcraft and fey power to move the few remaining forests like herds of cattle across the landscape. While some dryads still bond themselves to the trees, most of the race has diluted the bond so that they may walk freely across the world should the need arise. Dryads tend to be surprisingly outgoing despite the often reserved and forlorn look the possess and though they can reproduce asexually, most dryads take mates from the other races in order to keep their population levels up, as the couplings always result in a dryad child. Dryads view the old cities with unadulterated loathing and often launch into tirades of anger at the ancient humans and elves for the ruin they brought to the world. Dryads tend to be bards, druids, hunters, ranger, and sorcerers.
Trilanan dryads have the following stats.
+2 Dex, - 4 Constitution, +2 Wisdom, +2 Charisma
Following spell like abilities
At-will: Speak with plants
1/day - Charm person, Tree Shape
The strix are a race of avians who were once enslaved and hunted by humanity before the Collaspe. Now the strix are free to fly across the landscape unimpeded, free of the chains that once bound them. Unlike the minotaur and dryads, who avoid and detest the old cities, or the kobolds and sahaughin who often loot what they can from them, the strix actually prefer to live in them. They make aeries in the ruined skyscrapers, safe from the hungry ghouls and infectious vegepygmies below. The strix raise small gardens on the rooftops and hunt game in the wilds surrounding the cities. Strix are prone to wanderlust and since their tribes are rather loosely governed affairs, many strike off for years at a time, seeking adventure in other lands before eventually returning to their home aerie. The strix often hire themselves out as guides to scavenger groups and will trade with other races, but the steadfastly refuse to let outsiders know the locations of their aeries. Strix tend toward martial classes but do have a psychic affinity due to human breeding programs in the past and produce more occult classes than any other race.
Lastly, the sahaughin have been forced to adapt to a world that has polluted the oceans and drained the seas. Using alchemy, they artificially evolved themselves to be able to tolerate freshwater. The sahaughin are a fractured people, with small settlements scattered around marshes and lakes. The main stay of sahaughin civilization is in the now landlocked Sea of Tears, where they have major settlements on the sea floor. Otherwise, they tend to wander, never seen without their alchemical breathing tanks of replenishing water strapped to their backs and gills. Because of limited resources, most sahaughin communities select tribal members at random and force them into a sort of temporary exile, where they are not allowed to return to the community with the exception of spawning season or if they have valuables to trade. Thus any sahaughin, especially young males ply the lands as merchants and mercenaries. Sahaughin are a deeply religious people, though each community tends to have a different patron god or local pantheon. Sahaughin tend to be alchemists, clerics, fighters, monks or rouges.
Trilanan Sahaughin Stats
+2 Strength, -2 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, +2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma
Sahaughin are water dependent but all start out with a non-magical breathing tank. Nonmagical versions of this tank hold enough water for five days before it must be replenished and cleaned. Magical versions replenish and clean automatically and indefinitely.
Sorry for the length but this was the bare bones I could give. If anyone is interested in me developing this setting further let me know, as I am personally very interested in learning more about Trilana. I might also continue the story of Metakarus and his companions in a future post if I feel like it.
= Darfellan (powerful humanoids with orca-like skin)
= Half-Elf
= Rogue Modron (free-willed box-like construct)
= Treant
= Changeling(doppleganger-kin) (descendants of humanoids and dopplegangers)
Hah! Vvvvveeerrrrryyyyy intriguing... I'll have to look into this later...
= Changeling(doppleganger-kin) (descendants of humanoids and dopplegangers)
= Ooze-based Humanoid (wildcard, make your own!)
= Uldra (small blue-skinned fey adapted for cold environments)
= Nymph
= Aberration-based Humanoid (wildcard, make your own!)
Second try, since the first one got eaten.
Neat! I'll have to think about this!
EDIT: Uh... okay! I guess I'm in for two. Hm... time may be slow in coming.
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Darfellan (powerful humanoids with orca-like skin)
Half-Elf
Rogue Modron (free-willed box-like construct)
Treant
Changeling(doppleganger-kin) (descendants of humanoids and dopplegangers)
So... this is interesting.
We all know half-elves and treants, though figuring out how to have half an elf and half a human in a setting without either will be... interesting.
Darfellan, Darfellan, and Darfellan.
From the OP's description, Changeling, changeling, changeling, changeling, changeling, changeling, changeling (4E, but still), and Changeling; however, I'm combining it with Pathfinder's; that means changeling, changeling, changeling, changeling, changeling, changeling, changeling, and changeling. This results in this, this, and this as a kind of "standard" base appearance (though with multicolored eyes instead of purely black orbs). This also necessitates the introduction of the hag and doppleganger creature kinds; that is hag and doppleganger, but I feel that these can be monstrous races in this setting.
Modron, modron, modron, modron, modron, modron, modron, modron, and modron and modron. (I lack open-source stats. While the D&D Wiki has rogue modron it's not only in the home brew section, but that place tends to... tweak... things, from my experience, even if not, so I'm not entirely sure if those are reliable at all.) Very interesting potential for this setting, and possibly related to a Monad-like entity (originally Primus in the D&D setting).
Those are the races for Setting 1 (which will really just be an extension of my previous setting).
Changeling(doppleganger-kin) (descendants of humanoids and dopplegangers)
Ooze-based Humanoid (wildcard, make your own!)
Uldra (small blue-skinned fey adapted for cold environments)
Nymph
Aberration-based Humanoid (wildcard, make your own!)
We've covered changelings, and we all know the nymph, however that's where the "normal"... ends.
The uldra, uldra, uldra, uldra (on the right), uldra, and uldra. (Though there is the older uldra, uldra, uldra, and uldra, I like the other better, for how it links into my game world; that said, this is pretty adorable.)
Next we need some ooze- and aberration-based humanoids.
With oozes, we have ooze listings, and with templates, we have ooze creature, slithering ooze, and id ooze. The mezlan especially could be very useful.
With aberrations, we have aberrations in general, as well as some templates... but I feel strangely unsatisfied with that tack. I have an idea, but it'll require digging out old notes...
That's all for now: pictures and mechanics referenced for future use in development.
Human
Nixie
Plant based humanoid
Girtablilu
Changeling (hag-kin)
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[dice=R1]d100
[dice=R2]d100
[dice=R3]d100
[dice=R4]d100
[dice=R5]d100Sprites, Locathath, Darfellen, Grindylow, Duergar
Hrmmm. I think I know where I can go with this.
It will involve a lot of water.
Nearly two millenia have passed since the world broke, leaving it as naught but the Great Ocean.
No one remembers exactly what happened; the Sprites and Duergar speak of a time before when the world itself was as green and earthen as it was wet. Ruins and strange bones litter the Dark Depths, hinting at a world much more diverse than what remains. But now, it is all water. One vast ocean covers the planet, dotted with Cityships that have been expanded, repaired, patched, and altered beyond any recognition for what the once were. Storms savage the wave regularly. In the night's sky, the Three-in-One watch over mortals, their sundered gaze judging silently. On occasion, a Godstear falls from them, a reminder of the world's failings. The Sprites say a great sin was committed to make the Three-in-One; a sin that much of the Fey perished in trying to repair. The Duergar remain silent, keeping to their Dark Depth bunkers, scavenging the ocean floor for relics towards an unknown purpose.
On the topwater, the Darfellen Admiralty continues to grow on the backs of their servitors, the Locathath. Once equals, the Darfellen declared the Locathath heretics for suggesting their races arose not because they were the fittest for this world, but instead by desperate design and experimentation. The Locathath who live in the Cityships act as laborers, slaves, and servants to their conquerors. Free Locathath are hide in underwater colonies, remaining nomadic to avoid their distant cousins' cruelties. Much of the Darfellen people go along with this order, but some question the iron grip of the Admiral's Council. Others leave the Admiralty entirely, keeping to free and rogue Cityships that answer to no Admiral.
The Sprites keep to themselves, working the old magic as a trade for anyone with the coin, food, or freshwater to pay. Some say they've started to lose their color, fading slightly with each generation. Some even suggest they're the last of the Green Fey, and unless they find and nurture what mythical earth and green remains somewhere, they will surely die out or go mad. Some talk of deranged Fey trapped in the Dark Depths, neither fully alive nor fully dead, but forever drowned. The Sprites don't like to talk about it.
The strange, squat Duergar hide away in their Dark Depth bunkers, rising up via their Diving Pylons to visit with the Topwater races. Reclusive, they scour the Dark Depths floor and below for relics and treasures of the last world. Their gods are ancient and alien, referencing strange things there are no words for in the Common tongue save in old, water damaged tomes. Duergar often arise from the Dark Depths to trade, giving away hordes of treasure for the most seemingly innocuous object. They generally shun outsiders and are difficult to deal with. Some say they have an entire city below the great depths, hidden away from the world. Others say they're to blame for world being as it is.
Collectors of junk and baubles, the Grindylow work as an expansive trade network between those races that eke out a living from the Great Ocean. No one particularly trusts the Grindylow, but no one can live without their goods. Those in power also know the most valuable commodity traded by the strange cephalopods: Secrets. The Duergar look down upon the creatures, calling them thieves, scavengers, and savages. Some of the most ancient of Duergar hint that the Grindylow are really no better than ravenous beasts. But the Duergar don't really like anyone.
The tides have begun to shift over the past generation, becoming more unpredictable. Astronomers claim the Three-in-One are restless, pointing to the increased fall of Godstears through the the sky; massive chunks of burning stone and rubble that churn the waters into steam. Creatures of unspeakable horror sometimes emerge to stalk the waters and terrorize the Cityships. As the tides shift and horrors begin to wander the waves, change and upheaval are sure to come in their wake.
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(Hopefully, this hasn't been posted in this thread, already....)
This thread reminds me of a similar campaign generator using Magic: The Gathering cards that I came across, recently. (Linked here)
Basically, the process is that you can to a M:tG online database and randomly select cards until you have selected 5 creatures and 3 landscapes, and then come up with a setting that combines all of them.
I find this fun because it's very easy to deviate from the standard fantasy tropes that we all encounter. Here's what I came up with for my friends when we were talking about it:
Creatures:
-Araba Mothrider, a guy with a katana who rides giant moths
-Spirit Weaver, a human wizard that seems to focus on protection magic
-Xathrid Gorgon, does the petrification thing
-Lightning Reaver, electric zombies!
-Hellhole rats, rats on fire, apparentlyLandscapes:
-Farmstead
-Safe Haven, looks like some place that can be used to restore lost creatures
-ForestPutting it all together:
This is a land covered in thick forests, except where civilization breaks free wherever it fells the trees. Humanity has never advanced beyond an agricultural lifestyle, however, due to the ever-present threat of a race of gorgons, who can turn men and women to stone with just a glance. Certain people have learned to "rescue" the spirits of the petrified, however, tugging at the threads of the soul trapped within stone. They bring these spirits to a magical haven, where the spirits live again as giant moth-like creatures. Humanity has learned to mount these moths and battle the gorgons, using the large wings to block the gorgons' stare. Only too late did they learn that the soulless statues left behind have a chance to turn into an undead creature that can harness the powers of nature.Also, everyone hates all these fire rats that are running around, everywhere. Seriously, so annoying.
(Hopefully, this hasn't been posted in this thread, already....)
This thread reminds me of a similar campaign generator using Magic: The Gathering cards that I came across, recently. (Linked here)
Basically, the process is that you can to a M:tG online database and randomly select cards until you have selected 5 creatures and 3 landscapes, and then come up with a setting that combines all of them.
I find this fun because it's very easy to deviate from the standard fantasy tropes that we all encounter. Here's what I came up with for my friends when we were talking about it:
Creatures:
-Araba Mothrider, a guy with a katana who rides giant moths
-Spirit Weaver, a human wizard that seems to focus on protection magic
-Xathrid Gorgon, does the petrification thing
-Lightning Reaver, electric zombies!
-Hellhole rats, rats on fire, apparentlyLandscapes:
-Farmstead
-Safe Haven, looks like some place that can be used to restore lost creatures
-ForestPutting it all together:
This is a land covered in thick forests, except where civilization breaks free wherever it fells the trees. Humanity has never advanced beyond an agricultural lifestyle, however, due to the ever-present threat of a race of gorgons, who can turn men and women to stone with just a glance. Certain people have learned to "rescue" the spirits of the petrified, however, tugging at the threads of the soul trapped within stone. They bring these spirits to a magical haven, where the spirits live again as giant moth-like creatures. Humanity has learned to mount these moths and battle the gorgons, using the large wings to block the gorgons' stare. Only too late did they learn that the soulless statues left behind have a chance to turn into an undead creature that can harness the powers of nature.Also, everyone hates all these fire rats that are running around, everywhere. Seriously, so annoying.
Very cool, though there was a thread here for features and here for classes to make an organization. Though your scenario is pretty interesting.
...
...
...
... from Peace came a New Beginning.
Yet not all were satisfied, and after the advent of the Titans, the Nursery could never truly be called "whole" again - too much bloodshed, hatred, and malice had befallen the world and the Five Peoples. Even in peace, even in acceptance, some few could and would never accept the Fourth and Fifth people.
Beyond that, there were even true monsters that the Shadow Titans and their followers had created. Vile things that lurked in the depths, able to twist the minds and hearts of all but the First People, and sowed filth and corruption in their wake, seamlessly blending among the populations of the Second, Third, and Fourth. These Predators blended and sowed corruption, reveled in chaos and terror and death, and stole and ate the children and mates of these people.
Because of these horrors, and because of the distrust and strife created between the Second and Third peoples and the Fourth and Fifth peoples, and because of their own distrust and wariness, a new "Hidden Grove" of the First Peoples gathered and held a great Moot in secret. This "Hidden Grove" was of like-minded people who had come to enlightenment enough to believe for evil had infected the nursery, and they did not believe it could be contained. It was spurred by the appearance of two new kinds of people.
First, in some few, the Second and Fourth people came to one another, and fell in love, and blended their lines. The seedless unions produced a new people. These were called the "darfellan" or "terrible secret". These new children terrified both the Second and the Fourth people - many were frightened by the sudden differences, curious elements both dissimilar and like their parents. When several had been slain by groups of neighbors believing the Shadow had returned, and their parents destroyed for engaging in "conspiracy", several of the First People gathered all those of the Second and Fourth who were lovers, and their children, and guided them to a remote location, secreted away from the worlds.
Second, and around the same time, it was discovered that the Predators were creating daughters with the first three people. These daughters were innocent, but, when discovered, were terrifying, and were very susceptible to the power of the Predators. They were killed rapidly and quickly by their own parents and neighbors when discovered. The bhuta of many spread rapidly, making them even more unpopular. These "Changelings" were seen as another attempt by the Shadow Titans to destroy and sunder the Five Peoples, and cause chaos and strife and death. They were rejected and hated.
It was for both of these reasons that the Hidden Grove of the First People held their Moot, and quietly undertook steps to claim all of the Darfellan and their parents, to claim all of the daughters of the Predators, place all of these in remote locations and hidden places for their protection; and to hunt the Predators before their daughters could be claimed and transformed. Though very successful, the Hidden Grove could not find all the Darfellans, Changelings, or Predators. Further, their hidden places were becoming ever-more-endangered of discovery and attack; as the populations slowly grew, they could not imprison either the Changelings or Darfellans. Tensions grew and, though the Hidden Grove was mighty, and more often than not successful, they were fewer than the Predators, who began to become organized in response to the Hidden Grove's successful hunts.
Gaining the assistance of a purified Titan and her entire host of devoted petitioners who sought more redemption, the Hidden Grove, and an enormous and powerful mercenary faction of Fourth People (the faction was named Aelfar, or "dark guardians") carefully stole through the shadow realms; thus was the Exodus born.
The Exodus' journey was a hard and long, and many of the Hidden Grove and the Aelfar fell to the horrors of the darkness... but at last, they arrived at a place where Shadow and Chaos intersected and their borders thinned. With the help of the Hidden Grove, the Titan opened a portal, and the Exodus entered the realms of impossibility. There, the First Artist itself, having watched permissively during its children's decisions, gave his guidance and blessing to the Exodus, creating a great seed from the chaos there... but explaining that there was no victory over the evil they fought without sacrifice, and that they lacked the same power as the Tree of All. The Tree of All was willing to do this for them, but would also allow them to create their own world, if they so chose... despite the cost.
All the remaining members of the Hidden Grove produced as many seeds as they could (a small number, to be sure), and combined their power with that of the Titan, while most of the Aelfar did the same, pouring themselves, their life force, and their spirits into creating a new world - the Studio.
With the creation of the Studio, the last of Exodus - those Changelings and Darfellan (and their parents) in stasis, and the remaining members of Aelfar, and the seeds of the Treants - entered, and became the first People of the new world. Aelfar oversaw the tending and growth of those who first woke...
Unfortunately, due to alchemy and magic, woke with few, if any memories of who they had been, or where they had come from. With intent to keep them safe, the last members of the Aelfar kept the truth from them, writing the truths down and sealing them away, in case they were needed in the future, but to prevent the foolish from seeking wickedness in the present.
The last of the Aelfar bred with the few remaining Second and Fourth people - here called Nixies and Drow - and the many (and quick-breeding) Changelings and Darfellan. In so doing, these races and peoples effectively disappeared from the world, blending to become the Phaollk.
The Aelfar and their Phaollk descendants tended the seeds of the Hidden Grove of the First Folk - here called Treants - and carefully brought up the children of their allies who'd sacrificed all, and growing with them into prosperity and grace.
And so the world became: the Phaollk lived among their Treant "brethren" among the lands and forests, the Darfellan spread to and through the waterways, and the Changelings moved between them as the mediators and traders of the world.
With their ancient secrets sealed away, and their descendants and allies' descendants well-established and free from immediate racial threat, and the mission of saving the Changelings and Darfellan accomplished, the Aelfar were, generally, content to fade away.
Though well-made, the Studio was not as perfectly crafted as the Nursery, and so with the fading of the Aelfar came a great frozen age, where the races abandoned many of their old habitats and were separated and scattered. But it was good - for the secrets of the Exodus and Aelfar were buried under ice and snow.
After many years - even centuries - during the time when the ice was receding, a group of exploratory Changelings - an ever-adaptable, curious, and creative people - discovered some of the frozen ancient secrets, buried under the deep ice and snow in the frozen north. Though much was irreparably lost or ruined, they discovered enough to learn an appreciation for digging, and from there, metal, stone, and other advanced building materials, and a process called a "Research Process" - a formalized and systematic approach to experimentation - by which new knowledge was gained and solidified.
What's more, ancient texts referred to "the Five Races" in "Ages before Time Began" and the purpose of these races: to guard aspects of reality from evil.
The Changelings who discovered this, and their allies - large community of industrious and hardy Phaollk who lived nearby in frozen southern regions - not only built off of the discoveries made, but freely shared them with the world.
This changed everything.
The explosion of knowledge and technology arising from applying the Method was intense and profound. Quickly new resources were discovered - elements and substances long deemed worthless suddenly became invaluable, and various reactions and processes long ignored suddenly found immense utility.
Devices were crafted capable of far outperforming even the mightiest of beasts, made impossible tasks trivial, and made the unimaginable the everyday.
Lines of steel and wood charged with electrical current crossed the world, as steam and smoke pushed enormous wagons of metal across the slowly thawing world. Cities were built of stone grown from the world around it and reinforced with living wooden supports, lines of metal wrapped in arcane substances carrying lightning - and thus power and information - across the world faster than the eye could blink. Fire was replaced with control over the air itself, and seemingly limitless resources were gently nudged forth from the unexplored depths of the earth. Disparate peoples - those who'd been separated for so long, they no longer knew there were others - were connected, and reached, and became known to all.
Civilization was expanded. Civilization was established. Civilization was Revolutionized.
The Darfellan people, despite being scattered and varied, mostly responded in the same way: limited interest to disinterest. While some few embraced the new ways, the majority simply accepted that, much like the tide, it would come when it would, and neither rushing nor resisting would work well. To this day the Darfellan are found to be relatively laid back in their attitude toward the Technological and Methodical Revolution, and are often slow to accept new things, but putting forth little resistance (if any) when they do. This attitude was (and remains) aided by the fact that few of the revolutions are specifically tailored to aquatic environments they call home. Nonetheless, a few of the Darfellan split along the lines of the Phaollk - some becoming avowed devotees, and some becoming staunch opponents.
The Changelings were, perhaps, the most divided in their responses. According to their nature, they blended into many different societies - it was impossible to categorize how a given Changeling might respond. It was this individuality and personalized response that, ironically, gave Changelings their poor reputation among the rest of the races, despite the rest of the races most often desiring their services and allegiance. Though untrue, Changeling loyalty was considered as adaptable as their form, and they have had suspicious glances cast their way ever since.
War, strife, and division began to plague the Peoples - some had been separated for so long, they found it unnatural to be together with others, while others found it impossible to remain apart.
The Ideology had caused knowledge and power and unity to flourish, but also fractured and drove apart. Families were rent. Love was lost. Blood was shed.
Though none can say what the true first bloody conflict was, it is popularized that it occurred on the exotic South East Coast. Legend holds, that what started as an argument over the rights of Treant farmers, Darfellan hunters, and Phaollk miners, with Changeling negotiators (contracted to mediate peace and represent the various parties) turned into a minor physical scuffle between the Darfellan and Phaollk. When (at the behest of the Changelings) the Treants got involved, the scuffle turned into a brawl. When all but one of the Changelings quietly slipped away, the brawl turned into an all-out battle. The only death, legend holds, was a Changeling... but each party accused the other. With no mediators, the lines were drawn, and war was met (and the Changelings, according to conspiracy theorists, were behind the whole thing).
While this is generally accepted as a fable, none can argue that some of the earliest and most shocking violence of the whole Revolutionary War did, in fact, start in the South East, among the exotic fields, hills, rivers, beaches, waves, swamps, and trees there - a perfect cluster of things to fight over.
Regardless of where it started, it quickly spread. The world was too connected and too intimately tied together for it to be merely a local problem. Though disorganized, and highly dispersed, that it was a War in all but Formal Declaration is undeniable.
It was during this that, regardless of the ideological divide, true nations began to emerge, definitive governmental divides between neighbors consisting of groups of cities and regions - once independent city-states and largely unaffiliated individual settlers - gathering together to produce a single, organized front.
The Revolutionary War lasted for over three centuries. During this time of conflict, in unknown places, the idea of the Processional began. A vaguely religious set of tenets, affirming faith that the Process would lead to Perfection and Truth, the Processional quickly took hold of those who were pro-Revolutionary in thought and idea, becoming a mantra and ideology to cling to.
Similarly, during this time, the religious conceit of Tyrraatism - the concept that the world was a living, breathing thing, made of the bodies, souls, and spirits of all who've gone before, and thus deserving of worship and honor - became a kind of mantra for the anti-Revolutionary groups.
Several other important religious congregations emerged during this time - notably the Cyclical (where cycles happen continuously, focusing on reincarnation; it is, itself, divided into plethoras of competing sub-religions arguing over the "true" Reincarate Order), Finitism (a destructive philosophy devoted to "the end" of everything, with an end-goal of "peace"), Naturalan (an extremist form of Tyrraatism, in which only those "natural" things are permitted), Transformism (the Optimist/Pessimist janniform philosophy of the inevitability of altering the world to match your ideals, including the body, soul, and spirit), Traumatism (the belief that only through Trauma can enlightenment be reached), and Xenosticism (really more of a vast collective of conflicting beliefs relating to alien and often un-provable creatures and thoughts) - but none achieved as massive a support as the Processional or Tyrraatism, and many of those hold either the Processional or Tyrraatism (or, in a few rare cases, both) as over-arching or addendum religious or philosophical conceits.
Of course, soon a new religious discovery would be made - a discovery that would cause tension and strife, unification, and chaos. A discovery that would end the war, but resolve none of the tension that caused it.
What was discovered was a Voice, called the One, unlike any seen in the world before, and more ancient than any could imagine.
It was in this exhaustive Learning that it was discovered that there was something beyond reality: information, and, perhaps, clues to the origin of everything. The information was sought with the power of some of the greatest casters and learned sages the world over. Together, spells were researched and developed, successfully, ultimately pooling resources and power and generating the ability to Contact... something.
When Contact was, at last, made, what was heard was a - no the - Voice, a power so ancient and unfathomable that it was referred to only as the One.
Onism - the first active religion to serve a singular godlike entity beyond Tyrraatist's reverence of the world itself - was founded, and worship of the One, the Machinist, the Order, was taken up.
Contact with The One once again revolutionized the world. Though contact was not wide-spread, and much of it confusing and nearly incomprehensible, and most of their origins remained undetermined secrets, many inhabitants of Studio embraced the new religion nonetheless, and, in so-doing, learned much of themselves and their world, and even managed to open seals to allow the servants of the One to enter it. Believing the Architect's servants to be the missing Fifth race, they had sought the permission - which was granted - to return that which was thought "lost". Unfortunately, as the Machinist had warned (though the inhabitants of Studio had not understood), the servants were unable to function properly, or even maintain cohesion, merely collapsing to base parts upon their entrance.
When this occurred, the devoted few, descendants of those who'd originally made the first contact, began a concerted effort to put the pieces back together again, seeing the loss of such as a puzzle to be solved by the Process, hoping to gain insight into Perfection through doing so.
What they got instead, was a Modron. With no true understanding of what or why the creatures existed or functioned, and only a most rudimentary understanding of how creatures functioned in general, when the Onists who sought to bring the One's followers back by restoring their parts, they simply came to the wrong (if entirely logical) conclusions. Placing parts of one creature within another, filling the gaps with parts of a third, and putting the parts they did have in the wrong order - but in ways they all fit together - the Onists accidentally built a new creature.
When the first creature returned to life, it was hailed as a miracle of the Process and the One. When it turned out to be confused, ignorant, and uncertain - lacking any sort of divine insight or purpose - it was supposed that they simply had to make more of them. By the time a sufficient number had been "restored" (really "created") and no divine insight was forthcoming, the Onists hit a crisis of faith.
A number of Onists fell away from the faith, leaving the failed experiments, the garbled messages, and the wasted lives in the worthless Project, and spread their rejection of Onism and the Processional to many of their fellow faithful as they left the North across the world.
But others became convinced that this was only another step in the test, and these ardent devotees vowed to aid the Modrons to recover their purpose - the Modrons, they explained, were the Fifth Race, the final Guardians of the world, sent by the One itself! With solid proof of their faith made real - and with the Modron ability to begin self-replicating through repetition of the process taught them by the Onists - many former disbelievers and even ardent anti-Processionals came to view their previous disbelief as mistaken.
Onism rose sharply in a number of circles once on the fence or even opposed to the idea... as did Finitism in a number of communities on all sides, finding the broken, confused Modrons as the ultimate "proof" that, while the One exists, it was malevolent and spiteful.
Meanwhile, the Modrons struggled to find their place in a world that alternately views them as miracles-made-real and a source of hope and honor, the ultimate proof that there was no purpose, or evidence that reality is meaningless and the One is ultimately malevolent.
With the influx of religious and social confusion and many switching sides, the war - at least the majority of instances of it - effectively ended, causing a simmering peace of resentment, confusion, and distrust spread across a world in doubt and turmoil.
And so it was.
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Huh. I did make it today. I wasn't sure.
I've gotta do that thing that Kobold Cleaver* does where he makes a scene in italics to give a feel for the setting. That's pretty daggum cool.
* And lots of others!
EDIT: To be clear, I might get to the next one tomorrow... or maybe not for a while. I'll have to find out!
Neeeeeeed to dooooo thiiiiisssss... :I
Maybe later.
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5d100
Dragonborn, vegepygmy, ratfolk, derhii, satyrs.Dragonmen, fungus men, ratmen, goatmen, and flying monkeys.
Huh.
The forest was in no mood tonight to be quiet. Boughs creaked. Roots of living trees groaned and ground their way through soil. Crickets chittered. Leaves rustled as a derhii flapped gracefully through the air, clanging a pair of cowbells and shrieking at the top of her lungs.
"WIGHTS COMING THROUGH! WIGHTS COMING THROUGH!"
Her words were answered by a deafening multitude of tiny whispers.
On the forest floor, a dragonborn hen began packing her clutch of eggs into a well-cushioned sack, calling out for her "lazy cockerel of a husband" to wake up and help her. Two male dragonborns responded to this call, and both quickly became embroiled in a vicious argument over which was the one being addressed. A third had also initially responded, but after seeing the other two, the satyr wisely decided that the best way to help would be to get the hell out of there.
Up in the understory, a nest of ratmen was pouring out of a tree hollow and making its way up higher. It was amazing how many had been able to fit, but fairly predictable how much trouble they were having getting out. Shrieking ensued when they noticed a satyr had been close to the bottom of the nest resting with them.
As a tribe of vegepygmies rushed with spears to fend off the wights long enough for their russet patch to be safely transported away, the derhii grabbed onto a hanging rope up in the canopy. Colorful lanterns swung around her head from identical ropes. She grinned, seeing her mate up above, and began climbing towards the nest.
Undead really were a floor-dweller's problem.
"The Frenetics", as it is called, is a vast jungle within a valley pocked with dangerous caverns and ruled by roaming undead. Over the years, the jungle's inhabitants have gotten used to avoiding undead attacks, and have managed to eke out a pleasant—if high-stakes—life in their portable neighborhoods.
The dragonborn, draconians whose wings long ago evolved back into arms, are a race of extremely dysfunctional ground-dwellers. "Marriage" is a confusing concept to them. While they rarely mate for life and even more rarely engage in exclusive relationships, their culture places enormous value on having a partner at all times. This is further conflicted by their (metaphorical) flightiness—dragonborn are famously terrible at keeping track of their own relationships, and sometimes forget to dump one primary mate before picking up another. They love to bicker and criticize their partners, but are often quite friendly to others and love making new friends.
The ratfolk of the Frenetics have extremely close families. Sometimes a little too close. Four or more generations will nest in the same hollow, even if it means someone's head is sticking outside the entrance. They get along with vegepygmies very well, and sometimes a family will descend to help protect a neighboring tribe protect its russet mold patch from harm. Otherwise, family matriarchs tend to guide their families to avoid outsiders—especially other families, who should only be visited for short periods on neutral turf during mating season. And even that can be thrown off if one family does something "suspicious" (like showing up late, or showing up early, or being suspiciously punctual). "Despite" this clinging lifestyle, adventuring ratfolk are fairly common. Some ratfolk also leave their families to work as nannies and eggsitters-for-hire.
The relatively uncommon satyrs are almost universally regarded as lazy good-for-nothing vagrants. For the most part, this is correct. Any given satyr, male, female, or other is almost certain to have a list of sexual escapades longer than the hairs on their chin. Of those that aren't quite so inclined, there are even fewer that have really committed to a profession of any worth. No, of those, most of them instead choose the life of the adventurer. Some satyrs choose to serve as self-appointed "wardens of the forest", though their authority is rarely taken fully seriously.
The derhii, halfling-sized flying monkeys of the canopies, dwell in great mobile villages of ropes and lanterns. Using enchantments and an amazing cultural knack for knots, the derhii settlements are speedily relocated every full moon. Some villages place themselves nearby "floor-dweller" communities, to help warn and protect their neighbors. Others don't give a s$*&, or even try to sabotage the vegepygmies, who they hold in particular contempt. The friendlier groups occasionally descend to host beautiful festivals of light and laughter, though such gatherings must of course immediately be scattered the moment word of a ghoul pack arrives.
The vegepymies are the one species in the jungle that regularly fights back against the undead menace, and are arguably the only reason the unliving population has stayed as low and scattered as it is. Using druidic magic to awaken trees and fungi, many tribes and gangs have declared direct war on the wights and ghouls prowling the jungle. Unfortunately, most of the especially successful tribes have employed the questionable technique of "turning" members of other species to bolster their numbers. The derhii, bringing the valuable power of flight to a tribe, are favored targets. Plenty of tribes abhor this practice, but their numbers are, for obvious reasons, much fewer. Their only new arrivals come from willing humanoids, generally near death and wishing to be of one final use.
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5d100
Dragonborn, vegepygmy, ratfolk, derhii, satyrs.Dragonmen, fungus men, ratmen, goatmen, and flying monkeys.
Huh.
The forest was in no mood tonight to be quiet. Boughs creaked. Roots of living trees groaned and ground their way through soil. Crickets chittered. Leaves rustled as a derhii flapped gracefully through the air, clanging a pair of cowbells and shrieking at the top of her lungs.
"WIGHTS COMING THROUGH! WIGHTS COMING THROUGH!"
Her words were answered by a deafening multitude of tiny whispers.
On the forest floor, a dragonborn hen began packing her clutch of eggs into a well-cushioned sack, calling out for her "lazy cockerel of a husband" to wake up and help her. Two male dragonborns responded to this call, and both quickly became embroiled in a vicious argument over which was the one being addressed. A third had also initially responded, but after seeing the other two, the satyr wisely decided that the best way to help would be to get the hell out of there.
Up in the understory, a nest of ratmen was pouring out of a tree hollow and making its way up higher. It was amazing how many had been able to fit, but fairly predictable how much trouble they were having getting out. Shrieking ensued when they noticed a satyr had been close to the bottom of the nest resting with them.
As a tribe of vegepygmies rushed with spears to fend off the wights long enough for their russet patch to be safely transported away, the derhii grabbed onto a hanging rope up in the canopy. Colorful lanterns swung around her head from identical ropes. She grinned, seeing her mate up above, and began climbing towards the nest.
Undead really were a floor-dweller's problem.
"The Frenetics", as it is called, is a vast jungle within a valley pocked with dangerous caverns and ruled by roaming undead. Over the years, the jungle's inhabitants have gotten used to avoiding undead attacks, and have managed to eke out a pleasant—if high-stakes—life in their...
THIS IS AWESOME