The Archmage Nex, founder and ruler of the country named for him, has been missing for thousands of years. Nex's archrival, the dread necromancer Geb, still rules his own evil land - a ghost who cannot rest until he knows his ancient foes fate, and is assured of his victory.
For centuries now the countries of Nex and Geb have enjoyed peace, and been able to recover from some of the horrors caused by their master's apocalyptic spell battles. But within Nex many factions stir and the Council of Three and Nine are gathering any with the Archmage's blood, "for their own protection". A single phrase has stolen into the countries consciousness, seemingly from the ether; "Hand of descent extended, I shall return to deliver my people." Rumors speak of the warp storms of the Mana Wastes waxing in violence, of the twisted monstrosities that dwell there growing more frenzied, and of the undead legions of Geb massing for war!
A realm forged by one of the most powerful wizards to ever walk Golarion and named in his honor, Nex (pronounced NEKS) is a realm still filled with arcane wonders and ancient scars left by Nex himself. This combination of history and magic helps to make Nex one of the most cosmopolitan nations of eastern Garund.
History
Nex was formed in the ancient past, millennia ago, before this there was no nation to speak of just a collection of city-states grew from the ancient city state of Quantium. With the rise of the legendary archmage Nex Quantium experienced a rapid rise in power and soon dominated the surrounding city states creating the nation that would be known as Nex. It was not until -892 AR, that Nex's territorial ambitions brought him into conflict with the neighbouring southern kingdom of Geb, sparking the legendary conflict with the necromancer Geb that would make both (in)famous. The war between Nex and Geb was legendary with the two arcanists battling each other for many centuries, the magic used by Geb in this prolonged war devastated the nation of Nex, while the cities were protected from these magical assault the landscape between them has yet to recover. The archmage Nex disappeared during the war (in 576 AR) after a vicious gebbite attack that bathed the whole of Quantium in a poisonous fog that killed thousands and threw the country into political chaos. Despite this infighting the remaining government managed to stave off the attack from Geb, after that a series of arcane cults, cabals and factions have ruled the country. Despite the once fearsome rivalry, the hostility between the countries of Geb and Nex has cooled since Nex's disappearance and now a brisk trade passes between the two with Nex buying much of its food from Geb. The creation of the ruling Council of Three and Nine was a compromise aimed at keeping a balance between the various factions that traditionally fight with each other for control of Nex.
Note: it is currently 4712 AR.
Nex is not a verdant, gentle land, not after the centuries of magical warfare between two magic users as powerful as Nex and Geb, all the land outside of the magically protected cities was blighted by Geb's magic, turning them into a barren wasteland. These lands are now inhabited by tribesmen, outlaws and the descendants of the magical beasts unleashed by Nex during the war (many of them created in the fleshforges of Ecanus). Interestingly the nearby island that is now know as the impossible kingdom of Jalmeray has belonged to the realm of Nex on at least two different occasions, though it now belong to Vudran expatriots.
Government
Who rules Nex is unclear to most of its people, though the most common answer would be the Council of Three and Nine. The Council itself is made up of members from many different factions, and most people are confused about who is really in control - includign many of those who count themselves amongsth the controllers.
Inhabitants
The inhabitants of Nex are for the most part human but the cities are cosmopolitan and filled with people of every race and creed. The people of Nex have had a traditional rivalry with their southern neighbours in Geb, once this rivalry was violent but now it has simmered down and there is even a brisk trade between the two nations. Outside the large cities the human inhabitants turn from cosmopolitan to insular with small tribes and bandit groups attempting to carve out a meagre existence from the blasted and desolated lands. Humans are not however the dominate species as the wastelands between the cities is roamed by foul monstrosities, relics from the ancient war between Nex and Geb many of which were created in the fleshforges of Ecanus.
Major Settlements
Quantium, population 60,000, a port city on the Obari Ocean, is the capital of the nation of Nex. The city prides itself on its diversity; xenophobia is frowned upon. The city has many palaces, hanging gardens, open-air mazes and also several reputable universities of arcane magic. The city's magnificence has been compared with Oppara in Taldor and Sothis in Osirion.
The city's central parade ground is known as the Warlock's Walk. Its centerpiece is a massive marble fountain. Two huge iron golems, one green and one red, silently circle the fountain, as they have done continually since the time of the archmage Nex. There are many statues of the archmage and the heroes who helped him forge the kingdom that still bears his name.
Another landmark is the impressive Bandeshar, one time palace of the archmage but now the meeting place of the Council of Three and Nine. Its lower dungeons contain an entrance to the Refuge of Nex, believed to be the location of the vanished archmage Nex.
Ecanus, population 23,400, is a city in southern Nex that was established as a fortress town during the centuries long war with neighbouring Geb. It is a sprawling city that serves as the hub of Nex's arcane powered military, here the battle mages that make up the backbone of the army are trained in a mixture of potent evocation and battle tactics. The city is also famous for its fleshforges, these building size artefacts were created by the archmage Nex himself and provide the terrifying war beasts which support the battle mages. The fleshforges are responsible for many of the nightmarish creatures which roam the wastelands of Nex, the Barrier Wall mountains, and even the Mwangi Expanse.
The city of Oenopion (pronounced oh-NOH-pee-ohn), population 8,900, in the land of Nex, is known for its alchemists. They brew potions and elixirs, many of which are exported. The homonculi they create have a reputation for cunning and dependability. The city also has a golemworks. The central lake is the site of a massive ooze colony, which has developed a hivemind. As well as being a useful means of disposing of unwanted items, the ooze has proved to be useful in divination magic.
The Kingdom of Geb began as a colony of Ancient Osirion, and takes it name from the exiled Osirani necromancer Geb who became the land’s ruler. Geb plunged the land into war with neighbouring Nex, ruled by the archmage of the same name. Powerful magics were used by both sides, and many thousands of Gebbites died in the magical crossfire. Geb responded by animating casualties into a legion of walking dead. The war with Nex is long over, but Geb retains its undead heritage. Society is divided into three castes. The quick (the living, apart from thralls), the dead (intelligent undead), and chattel (living thralls and mindless undead). The quick and the dead are treated equally; the chattel have no rights. Those who die in Geb are usually reanimated as undead. The city of Graydirge is built out of the bones of those who were unwilling or unable.
Economics
Warm winds from the Obari Ocean creates lush grassland in Geb, allowing crops to prosper. The fields are mainly worked by mindless undead, and foodstuffs is Geb’s major export. They trade food to Nex in return for rare components and luxury goods. They also trade food to Alkenstar, in return for the city state’s ice wine, which is a favourite of Geb’s nobility.
Government
The necromancer Geb, now a ghost, remains the head of state. He rarely manifests before the people, so the acting ruler is the lich Arazni, Harlot Queen of Geb. The country’s day-to-day affairs are managed by the Blood Lords, an aristocracy of powerful living and undead necromancers. The chief Blood Lord is the vampire Kemnebi, who holds the office of chancellor.
The city-state of Alkenstar (pronounced AL-ken-star) has gained an unexpected level of power despite its tiny size, through the invention of firearms, a necessity for survival in the harsh, magic-dead region known as the Mana Wastes. Beyond just firearms and weaponry, the engineers and alchemists of Alkenstar have crafted and perfected technology to a level far surpassing any other region in the Inner Sea, capitalizing on the rich mineral deposits and the need for something to replace the usually omnipresent conveniences of magic.
Government
The Grand Duchy of Alkenstar is technically a vassal of the nation of Nex to the north of the Mana Wastes and Grand Duchess Trietta Ricia should, by the letter of the law, report to the rulers of that land. In practice, however, Alkenstar remains a fairly independent city-state and a force of neutrality between the rival nations of Nex and Geb. The small nation is governed by a High Parliament consisting of 73 ministers representing the various factions in the three settlements and small rural sections of the city-state's realm.
Geography
The city-state of Alkenstar is located on the banks of the Ustradi River where it plunges over the Hellfallen Cliffs in the Alken Falls. Amid the magic-dead region known as the Mana Wastes, Alkenstar is perfectly suited to act as a neutral intermediary between its neighbors of Nex and Geb to the north and south respectively.
The nation itself occupies a low valley amidst the barren Shattered Range and consists of three settlements which are often considered districts of the same large city. The primary of these is Alkenstar City, located on the edge of the cliffs and containing most of Alkenstar's population. At the foot of the cliffs lies the town of Martel, which connects to the main city via two immense towers which climb over the seven hundred feet to connect with buildings in Alkenstar City through skybridges. Linked via the cyclopean sky-bound Bridge of the Gods, the dwarven Sky Citadel of Dongun Hold produces much of the city's mineral resources, used locally in manufacturing or trading abroad. At the other end of the great bridge, on the other side of the canyon, one finds Cloudreaver Keep, which guards the city's eastern border.
History
Alkenstar began as a refuge for residents of Nex and Geb, fleeing the centuries-long war that devastated both nations. In the relative safety of the Shattered Range, they developed, primarily out of necessity, incredibly advanced technology. The rate of progress can be seen by examining the two oldest structures in the city-state, Old and New Bridge, separated by only a few centuries but noticeably different in terms of architecture and technological achievement. The city's Gunworks were founded in 1903 AR and since then the city's renown has only increased. To the current day, nations throughout the Inner Sea region contract the engineers and metallurgists of Alkenstar to craft weapons for them, such as the Taldan bombard Worldbreaker of 2009 AR and their own Great Maw of Rovagug of 4450.
Inhabitants
The Grand Duchy has a primarily human population, with most inhabitants belonging to the Keleshite or Garundi ethnic groups. The nation's proximity to (and encompassing of) the dwarven settlement of Dongon Hold brings a relatively large dwarf population into the mix, though most of these inhabitants reside exclusively in the Sky Citadel itself. Aside from the dwarven spoken in Dongun Hold, most citizens speak either Osiriani, Kelish or both. Commonly worshiped deities include Torag, Erastil, Abadar, and Irori.
Trade
Alkenstar is one of the only places in the world where firearms are manufactured and their understanding of this situation has allowed the city-state to control the supply of these weapons, keeping the price high and their coffers full. In fact, a full ninety percent of all firearms, both personal weapons and artillery manufactured in the Gunworks are kept within Alkenstar itself, both for protection and to maintain product scarcity throughout the rest of the world. In addition to exporting firearms, Alkenstar profits greatly on the commodity of its citizens' expertise in the fields of engineering, alchemy, and metallurgy, sending masters on lucrative contract jobs across the Inner Sea region and beyond. The mineral-rich mountains in which the Grand Duchy sits provide raw materials for export as well, such as the quartz crystals shipped through Nex to Vudra far to the east. The nation's banks, housed in the town of Martel, are known for their shrewd fiscal practices and are little trusted outside of Alkenstar itself.
As wealthy as Alkenstar may be from its manufacturing and engineering exports, the desolation of the Mana Wastes has left arable land quite scarce in the region. As a result, the city-state imports most of its food from its southern neighbor of Geb, often trading one of the few potable goods produced locally, a potent ice wine
Actually I think I'm gonna go fighter for this, Haven't done that in a while.
Sorry guys, I've been waffling on what class to choose. The whole antimagic field thing makes me being a little leery of being any full caster class.
I might just go rogue and crank up the UMD ranks for spell casting, possibly ranged.
Gah changed mind again, I realized I have a Cavalier all rolled up, that just needs modified.
Hmmm, maybe I should not have emphasized it that much, I'm aiming for about 1/10th max antimagic - not beginning until 4th or 5th level. Melee druids and clerics would still fare pretty well, and a caster with a decent ranged attack can potentially pick up a gun. Its also worth considering that the rest of the Campaign will be very high magic, both of the nations having been founded by arguably Golarions greatest ever Wizards so you can expect to face a relatively high proportion of arcanists, and magical supplies/items will be readily available.
So the anti-magic isn't as big a deal? Hmm... how do you feel about multiclassing?
I'm basically okay with it so long as you don't go silly, like five classes by 5th level or something. Honestly I think PF is a grewat deal better about it than 3.5.
On another note, I'm ready to begin. We just need to sort out our 5th player situation and then I'm good to go.
Dhampir Sorc (or Wiz) to Hellknight Signifier sound good?
I'm okay with that, I'll want a good story for the Dhampir origin, but with Geb - which is virtually ruled by a Vampire Aristocracy just next door much less out there than in most games.
So what do you guys want for the 4th character? Caffeine, I don't mind building some sort of cleric if you would rather a different alchemist build.
They all fit pretty well, there are likely to enough outdoor encounters to make a mounted character worthwhile, and an alchemist will have great access to gear and equipment within Nex and Geb - especially in Oneopion. Play what you think you will have the most fun with.
Play will begin in the small fortified town of Dehnet where your characters have been summoned by a mysterious letter warning of a threat to your liberty and lives if you stayed where you were, and promising great rewards.
The following link shows the basic geography of the region if you ae curious about locations Map of Garund. Dehnet is located in the center of the X in the word Nex - for ease of location :) Its a relatively new town, established some fifty years ago in an effort to begin reclaiming the wastelands for civilization.
Sure, I'll put together some sort of cleric or oracle. Alchemists with poison bombs and poison immunity is just broken.
Alrighty, I've thrown together a cleric fo Nethys for the campaign. It might be the least optimized cleric I've ever built, but it should be fun and thematically it fits.
Looks great to me Fanguar, fits the setting well, though I'm not particularly sure why he's unoptimized, seems to be a decent all rounder to me.
Really it's just his domains. Trickery, luck, travel and liberation are such a cut above the rest, they're hard to pass up. Travel especially, it's so amazing, it's practically broken.
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Victor Hughs Should be all there as far as the character sheet goes, still needs a personality ;) I plan on multi-classing him with rogue down the track.
Looks good to me caffeine addict, ideally I'd like a background though. I'm ready to begin the game, but I'll wait a few more days for Almagafor and drawesome to submit characters. I'm PMing them both. Hopefully we can kick off and get to a nice brisk pace ASAP.
Danton here for review.
Note age is well under ARG age for Dhampir starting, but those ages don't make a lot of sense survival wise, much less with backstory, otherwise every Dhampir born would be an orphan for at least 40 years before reaching the minimum age to adventure.
DH here, finally.
I think I'm going to make a gun-toting wizard with a knack for machinery.
How's that sound DM?
Will work just fine for me DH :)
Almagafor I'm perfectly happy with you adjusting the starting age. Light Armor Proficiency does not seem to be doing anything for you though, given that Silken Ceremonial Armor has no ACP or spell failure, can I assume you are taking this in preparation for later feats and armor?
So we just need something from drawesome, and DHs character finalized and we can kick off.
I need it for Arcane Armor Training and Medium Armor Pro, the requirements for Hellknight Signifier.
Ah good thought it might be that, should have recalled you were headed for HKS.
Ok, I think I'm ready to go. Just need to finish up my equipment list.
Okay here's the recruitment thread for a new member. If I have it right for APs we want to avoid, Rise of the Runelords, Carrion Crown - as Fanguar has played, and Serpent's Skull because I'm currently running it. Are there any other APs that people wish to avoid?
Sorry for the delay here, but thinking it might be prudent to try to sneak in a new player before the big briefing.
I'm currently in a Kingmaker game, but I wouldnt mind being in another one. It's pretty open ended.
Could be fun to see the dynamic between an undead scourge paladin and a dhampir whose goal in life is to be the setting equivalent of Judge Dread.
I'm happy enough to have a paladin, but will warn you that Nex is a neutral nation where a lot of dubious stuff goes unremarked. Many of its rulers would be considered evil, so discretion would be needed.
Any progress with your Paladin Mathpro? I'll probably go ahead and get things tomorrow and if you aren't ready we'll just assume you are there and being the strong silent type.
I have my character built just need to organize things the way I like them. But for the sake of game play I'll throw my character up here.
Cool avatar pic. haven't seen that one before.
Thanks.
Mathpro I make you a little shy on the point buy, 22 giving you 3 points to spend by my count, so you could potentially push strength to an 18. I suspect you are also using the unerratered version of heirloom weapon, its much more in line with other traits now and does not give you a free masterwork weapon. You can find the new version HERE.
Apologies for the lack of posts over this long weekend guys, was bouncing on Saturday night and got absolutely drenched and have felt like death warmed up since. Plus every time I go to post the site seems to be down.
The site is definitely having trouble today. Remember to copy your posts before you make them.
Yes, I've long since made it standard practice, but its still very irksome - and there's always that one time you forget normally after you've just typed up a pageful. *sigh*
Thanks DM I will get the changes made.
Changes have finally been made...sorry it took so long.
A spell that takes 1 round to cast is a full-round action. It comes into effect just before the beginning of your turn in the round after you began casting the spell. You then act normally after the spell is completed.
Vance I don't see how you are hitting someone so far away with a 15ft. cone. So far as I can tell your arcane gun ability simply allows you to fire the cone from your gun, it does not seem to allow you to increase the range, etc. I'm more than happy to be proved wrong I just can't see any support for this idea in the text.
For some reason I thought the guy at J24 was the mounted guy. Nevermind.
I'll hold that action until mr horseyman goes again, and hit him when he comes in for his next pass.
Noted.