You are sailing north aboard the Delightful Rose, an old but dependable merchant trader on its way up the Corsair Coast to Mhalmet. The journey so far has been pleasant and the crew friendly and professional. Now storm clouds brew to the east and the captain and crew all wear looks of worry and even outright fear upon their weather worn faces.
Unless otherwise notes all listed XP are per PC.
* Actions aboard ship and surviving the storm: 150XP
* Defeating the frogmen on the beach: 30XP
* Defeating the prismatic swarm and escaping the bog kraken: 125XP
Treasure Log:
Frogmen on the Beach: 4 short spears, 2 short bows(Parts used to repair PC bows.), 20 arrows, 10 darts, 1 metal bucket, 2 rosewood frog pendants, 2 nets, 20' of hemp rope, 1 packet of yellow powder(Used to heal frogman and fire burst beetle swarm), 1 small tin of thick green gel.
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MIDGARD RACIAL DESCRIPTIONS
Additional race crunch is available, just give me a heads up if you are interested in one and I'll try to post that up first.
Bearfolk:
Bearfolk are massive people of iron resolve and deep nobility, resembling bears that walk upright rather than all fours. Hailing from either the cold climates of Midgard’s Northlands or from a nation of light carved out of the Shadow Realm itself, bearfolk put their trust in family and tribe to stand against the world. In defiance of their brutish appearance, they are deeply spiritual and artistic.
Dwarves:
The dwarves of Midgard live in three great realms: the Northern halls such as Tanserhall and Wolfheim, the cantons of the Ironcrags, and the Southern city of Nuria Natal. The dwarves of the three realms are distinct in their culture, strengths, and style.
NORTHLANDS DWARVES
The Northlands dwarves are keepers of the old ways and the old gods, smiths and warriors, farmers and traders, stout and strong and able to down a barrel of ale at one sitting. They keep busy fighting the giants or the werewolves and worgs in the North, but sometimes the Northern dwarves take to the sea in their longships and raid the coasts, from Vidim through the Donnermark and Krakova to northern Dornig territories, but passing over the magocracy of Allain.
The Northern dwarves are especially accomplished at ring-making and smithwork, and their society of bear‑shirted berserks is celebrated for its ferocity.
Northlands dwarves have the traits of mountain dwarves.
CANTONAL DWARVES
The cantonal dwarves are makers, miners, and smiths, digging deep into the Ironcrags for iron and gold and forging items of great wonder, primarily exceptional spears, crossbows, and arrows, but also great artistic works. Singular items are a lifetime’s masterwork: a clockwork steed or wagon, an airship, a returning hammer, or a suit of invulnerable armor. None of these are beyond the grasp of a cantonal smith.
The cantonal dwarves serve no kings, but rule themselves. They often serve as mercenaries in the Seven Cities, among the Princes of Dornig, and even against the Mharoti Empire, side by side with the Magdar knights.
Cantonal dwarves have the traits of hill dwarves.
SOUTHLANDS DWARVES
The Southlands dwarves are distant relatives at best, with different language, magic, and style. In the desert heat the Southern dwarves shave their heads and wrap their beards tightly in gold or copper wire; sometimes these beards are forked or braided as well. They serve a male mask of Rava they call Ptah, and they build clockwork bodies they call shabti, or servants. Their skin is dark, and— when not shorn—their hair runs to pure black, gold, or red.
Southern dwarves are alchemists and mystics, with a deep hatred of dragons and the Mharoti Empire. They have served the King of Nuria Natal faithfully as bodyguards and as his heavy infantry for centuries, and as engineers who build his temples, city walls, and step pyramids.
Ability Score Increase Your Intelligence score increases by 1.
Dwarven Mysticism. You gain proficiency with alchemist’s supplies, and you know either the guidance or resistance cantrip.
Elfmarked – Same as Halfelves in the PHB.
Elves:
The elves are a people apart, as they are quick to remind others. They were not the first settlers of the forests and fields, but they taught humans and dwarves and others the arts arcane and the art of civilization. The empire they founded at Thorn and in the Arbonesse, which later spread as far east as Sephaya and south to Valera, was a wonder for the ages. Its magical roads, its slim towers, and its speedy and lethal armies maintained an age of peace that lasted until a few centuries ago.
Now the elves are in retreat, and a splintered race. A few with mixed elven/human blood—the so-called elfmarked, who are dealt with in their own section— remain and can claim descent from the great elves of old, despite being as much human as elf. True elves are rarely seen, and are confined to three groups: the windrunner elves of the Rothenian steppes, who are so few in number and so reclusive that they may as well be myth; the shadow fey of the Realm of Shadow, who are discussed separately below; and the reclusive river elves of the Arbonesse, who are the strongest and wisest of the three groups.
RIVER ELVES
The river elves are what remains of the elves of Thorn, with the River King retaining only slight contact with the Domains of the Princes. The Arbonesse forest is their homeland and the river their highway, and their borders include all the land where the leaves’ shadow falls. The river elves sometimes exile one of their number to wander the world for a time (a span defined in decades), but otherwise, the other races rarely see the elves who built so many castles, roads, and cities throughout Midgard.
River elves have the traits of high elves.
Gearforged:
The gearforged are the children of Rava, the Gear Goddess of Fate and Industry. Her priests were the first to forge bodies of brass and copper with cunningly wrought gears and well-balanced mechanisms to support thought and action. Each such body is the safe harbor of a soul that once lived in flesh; a special ritual transfers a living creature’s soul into the housing that makes it gearforged, and attunes it to the soul gems and memory gears that preserve a soul in a mechanical body. Once created, a gearforged can in theory live forever, though in practice most wind down or are destroyed by the ravages of time and the difficulty of surviving as a well-crafted machine.
All gearforged were once other creatures that now inhabit standardized bodies with cylinders, springs, and articulated joints of varying quality. Each is made of iron, brass, and steel and as distinctive in appearance as other people differ by their hair and eyes. The gearforged are thinking creatures and can serve as city guards and soldiers. Gearforged have free will that separates them from other mechanical devices, which are no more than simple servants responsive to orders and capable of little more than a limited amount of memorization.
Clockwork Magic
Gearforged are the product of a specific ritual of soulforging (see MHH or MPG for details), using components such as memory gears and everwound springs. In addition, their creation is the apex of a school of magic called Clockwork Magic, which offers mastery of machines, time, and constructs. It is especially common in the Free City of Zobeck and in some of the Seven Cities, but rare elsewhere.
Gnolls::
The average gnoll views the virtues of work and self‑sufficiency with distaste. Gnolls with leadership skills or who tire of sharing the fruits of their labors frequently break off from the pack alone or in small groups to fend for themselves. Sometimes a male gnoll foolishly announces that he believes males are more fit to lead, and necessarily sets out on his own until he can find a new pack or the controversy is forgotten. Gnolls who possess the will to face danger make excellent adventurers.
Gnomes:
As a gnome of the Niemheims, you bear the mark of a bargain made long before your birth. You hail from the nine Great Cities, which aspire to greatness among the trees of the Wormwood. Surely that faint whiff of brimstone that haunts your steps is not your fault! You have stayed safe in your forest, shrouded from the gaze of Baba Yaga and her daughters. You’ve learned the limits of your sanctuary and have heeded the warnings never to stray beyond the treeline. In your youth, you saw bloody sacrifices made to devils; sometimes unwary travelers and sometimes kin, but all offered to the eleven hells at the point of a blade.
You yearn to see the world beyond the trees. It calls to you, and it terrifies you. How can you walk freely on the roads of Midgard when Grandmother wishes to eat your feet? What have you made from the mushrooms and rooty soil of the forest that will aid you? A hat, made of redcaps
and small growing plants is your safety. If you leave and risk the ancient ire of Baba Yaga, remember—never remove your living headpiece and never let the plants woven into its brim go thirsty.
Human:
Humans are per the PHB. There is one new variant in the MHH.
HUMAN: KARIV WANDERERS
A wind blows over the steppes and through the valleys of the Wandering Realm. Wild thyme and the smoke from a hundred campfires is carried on it. Listen for the old songs sung with too much wine and a quiet sadness beneath.
You have returned to your clan’s tabor after riding the trade caravan to Vellarsheim. Kariv is the name of your people, and you are nomads of the Rothenian plain. The hoof and the wheel are your destiny. None know the land as you do, for you’ve seen it all in your wandering, from the sod huts of the winterfolk in sternest Domovogrod to the limits of Kaa’nesh and its brutish inhabitants. Your pony, sash, and blade have accompanied you at each step, as has your love for laughter, for drink, and for games of chance.
But revelry can’t lighten your strange burden or lessen the pull in your heart to take a step when you’ve stood still too long. Some call your people cursed, and perhaps they are, for they have no homes but the saddle and the caravan.
If you tarry too long in one place, you grow barren and joyless. The colorful silks you wear turn gray and dull, your thoughts turn cloudy, and wolves lurk beyond the low light of your campfire. Don’t fall to this curse, nomad; walk, run, or ride from it as fast as you can.
Kariv humans of the Rothenian Plain are spirited and fierce. They make superior fighters and bards.
Kobold:
Of the smaller races, the kobolds have adapted best to the changing world. Enslaved long ago by reaver dwarves, kobolds quickly carved a niche for themselves as miners, scouts, and tinkerers: small enough to be useful, and also small enough to be dismissed as a threat. At first they were tolerated, then largely ignored. As a result, the shadows of dwarven society are rife with kobold rogues and entrepreneurs (many of them secret worshippers of Loki), seemingly subservient but busily trading dwarven goods for resources extracted from the dwarves’ own mines and storehouses, right under the noses of their “masters.”
Free kobolds defend their mines viciously but otherwise maintain the ruse of a harmless and subservient little folk—at least until the opportunity to sheathe a knife in someone’s kidneys presents itself.
Many other small races have adopted the kobold’s strategy, including the worship of Loki, embracing his cunning ways and the advantages of guile and cunning over brawn and bravado.
Minotaur:
The minotaurs of Midgard are a proud people pushed to the brink. Driven from their ancestral homelands of Kadralhu and Roshgazi by the ever‑expanding Dragon Empire, the bull-folk home is now the Serene Isle of Kyprion. Kyprion owes fealty to the Maritime Republic of Tiolo, and with the support of the Republic’s navy, the minotaurs have stability and strength. Triolo may build all its ships in its own harbor, but many of its best crews come from Kyprion.
Minotaurs are imposing and powerful, with a reputation for ferocity that borders on monstrous. That reputation is well-earned. They chafe under the yoke of being a vassal state, but their Queen Kitane understands that without Triolo, the Dragon Empire would swallow Kyprion whole. The aegis of Triolo’s fleet, coupled with the fact that a minotaur has recently risen to lead the Golden Council of Triolo, salves the bull-folk pride. At least for now.
Ratfolk:
Ratfolk are small, rodentlike humanoids with twitching snouts, bony feet, and long, pink tails. They are about the same size as halflings but of a slimmer build. They often wear hooded cloaks or long robes to conceal their true nature from the gaze of casual onlookers.
Ratfolk can be found throughout Midgard, from Zobeck and other cities of the Crossroads region to the dusty streets of Per-Bastet in distant Nuria Natal and the valley of Golden Ulthar.
The little creatures often inhabit the fringes of human society, scraping a living as petty thieves and tricksters. Many make their homes in decrepit slum tenements, in disused dockside warehouses, or even in sewers and other warrens beneath the city streets. Some, particularly in the Southlands, live a nomadic existence, wandering from place to place and trading in whatever odds and ends they acquire along the way, through honest means or otherwise. Other groups can be found on small tropical islands in the Tethys Ocean.
Ravenfolk:
Few races in Midgard live amid so much rumor, suspicion, and outright falsehood as the ravenfolk. They make their rookeries in every major city. Depending on whom you ask, they might condemn the ravenfolk as solitary wanderers bearing misfortune or praise them as messengers from the gods. Ravenfolk are loyal comrades and treacherous thieves, brave warriors and contemptible cowards. They are despised for their strange and secretive culture, and criticized for having no true culture of their own. The ravenfolk are a study in contradictions. These truths, half-truths, and lies conceal a greater mystery that few outsiders know.
If the ravenfolk have a homeland, it is in Beldestan to the east; or a branch of Wotan’s tree to the North; or on a high cliff of Horus’ hidden temple in the South. They have settlements in Trollheim, Vidim, Domovogrod, Nuria Natal, and the Dragon Empire. None of these are large,
but in Nuria Natal at least, they serve honorably as temple guards and as defenders of the faithful of Horus. Ravenfolk have no wings, but they do have tail feathers that sometimes flare out when they’re angry.
Shadow Fey:
The enigmatic shadow fey of the Shadow Realm dwell in ebon spires and moonlit keeps, encroaching on the mortal world in places where barriers between the planes are thin. They prowl the darkest recesses of the forest, hunting mortal prey. They dance in the darkly luminous halls of their shadow palaces, the lords and ladies of twilight. Their actions brim with contradictions and their motivations are shrouded in mystery. They seek to throw their observers off-guard, for anyone and everyone is a potential enemy.
Shadow fey resemble elves physically, with some striking differences. Their skin color tends toward alabaster white, ebon black, or subtle grays. A few have scintillating, shimmering skin. Many shadow fey have horns, from subtle nubs to large and obvious protrusions, either satyr- or fiend-like depending on the chronicler.
Trollkin:
In ancient times, ogres, trolls, and fey sometimes took human mates. Their descendants are the trollkin. Tall and lanky with a brutish appearance, trollkin are seldom welcome among the civilized races of the north, even when the full extent of their inhuman ancestry is difficult to determine. As a result, most trollkin live in isolated tribal settlements and subsist on hunting and raiding.
Winterfolk Halfling:
Whereas lightfoot and stout halflings seek ways to make life as comfortable and luxurious as possible, winterfolk halflings lead lives of almost unrelenting hardship. They burrow their sod-roofed homes into the windswept hillocks of the Rothenian Plain, where they hunt and trap creatures much larger and fiercer than themselves among the frigid lakes and snow-blanketed evergreen forests. They invoke ancient runes and sigils for protection, and sing droning songs to ancient gods of the sky, the hills, and the forest. Pound for pound, winterfolk halflings are as tough as any dwarf or orc. While they don’t despise their softer cousins, they do view them with a reserved pity.
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Nearby Regions and Cities
Mhalmet:
This freewheeling coastal city is a notorious den of pirates, traders, adventurers, and smugglers at the end of the overland trade routes from Saph-Saph, Nuria Natal, and Siwal. Because the city is a prominent port and also attracts caravans from deeper in the Southlands, it brims with valuable goods and materials. It is said that anything can be found on the dark streets and alleys of Mhalmet - for the right price.
Sar-Shaba:
City of the Seal. Once the bejeweled capital of the fabled land of Aksaba, ruined Sar-Shaba was rebuilt and warded with thousands of angelic sigils as an eternal prison for a thousand demons.
Sultanate of Shibai:
The fabulously wealthy island nation of Shibai controls the fabled Showka Passage, the most important route for commerce in the Tethys Ocean, connecting the north and west of Midgard to Far Cathay and the distant lands of the East.
Founded by a loose conglomeration of beys, or merchant households, from Ishadia, Shibai achieved autonomy and is now nominally ruled by Sultan Hyfad al- Khanlar. The real power, however, is gripped tightly in the withered hands of the five oldest and wealthiest beys, who each control a port city along the coast. Their merchant houses control vast fleets of swift ships, port facilities, warehouses, and other implements of trade.
Ishadia:
Ask the dragons about Ishadia and they will tell you of how the Mharoti crushed armies and devoured godlings. When the Great Lords carved out their empire, they tore its southern flank from the flesh of Ishadia. What they did not conquer, they washed away by shattering the Great Dam. The legacy of Ishadia lies scattered across the Arandis river valley, monolithic works of pale stone that some say rivaled the celestial realms.
Nuria Natal:
The River Kingdom is a tranquil oasis of ancient knowledge. It is a festering cesspit of corruption. It is a well-governed and harmonious land with a special place in the world—and its shadows are filled with ancient terrors. As a land of opposites and millennial histories, Nuria
Natal is difficult to pigeonhole. Its people are powerful and its priests and wizards especially so. Despite a dozen major attempts at conquest, the people of Nuria Natal have turned back the draconic tide, in some cases with ease, in others with a narrow margin and major losses. Its defenses are robust, and the people’s pride in their knowledge and achievements gives them a confidence that others mistake for arrogance.
The Dragon Empire:
When the dragons decided to join together to plunder their neighbors, they changed the world. The Dragon Empire maintains a policy of perpetual war under all sultans and sultanas. This has led to great conquests and occasionally hideous losses, since the dragonfolk have stretched their borders far enough that they must defend enormous provinces from Nuria Natal and Khandiria—two major nations of great power and antiquity—and against a handful of motivated smaller kingdoms that have banded together to face the threat. This bothers the Dragon Lords very little, for their fire and their claws remain as sharp as ever.
Terrotu:
A sprawling country of rolling hills and grasslands, Terrotu is a realm of high and low pasturelands split by the Negele Mountains. Terrotu enjoys a mild climate that allows for two growing seasons, and the nearby Tekeze River flows down to the Tethys Ocean.
The Spice Coast:
Carved from the brutal surroundings jungles, the infamous zinjs (ZIN-j~&-iss) of the Spice Coast provide the lion’s share of trade in aromatic and culinary spices to the Southlands and beyond through trade with Ishadia, Mhalmet, and Mosylon. Each of these manor states exists in a constant war of cultivation against the thriving jungle. The rainy, hot climate allows for yearround production of spice crops, including black pepper,
cardamon, cinnamon, coriander, kava beans, koseret, nutmeg, vanilla, and occasionally some prepared lotus as well as various alchemical and seasoning herbs.
Free Islands of Tethys:
A long chain of jungle-covered specks of earth and rock, the Free Islands of Tethys answer to no single government—or any government at all. Deadly currents and hungry reefs make the islands’ straits and channels both dangerous and a welcome haven for lawless bands of freebooters. Small tribes of sahuagin and merfolk also hunt the rich waters here.
Kesara, Land of the Saffron Rajah:
Where the Chando Mountains stagger toward the seas of the Spice Coast, there lies a deep valley surrounded by thundering waterfalls and towering cliffs. Surrounded by a vast woods, the Silent Forest, this demesne is a soundless place bloated with the smell of death, and all around it are littered the bodies of escaped slaves. Only a single, well-patrolled road enters the kingdom. Those who venture down it are always greeted with the broad smiles of the Saffron Rajah—for the rakshasa ruler welcomes all distractions, even if he is just as quick to visit his terrible wrath upon visitors who bore him.
A cornucopian place blessed with a fine climate, this kingdom is particularly known for its rich harvest of cultivated saffron, upon which the fortune of its tyrannical ruler has been made. So fat now he is barely able to stand, the Saffron Rajah is attended by a harem and endless cringing slaves. His is a world where he is god, where his every whim is enacted and has been for centuries.
Lion Kingdom of Omphaya:
Proud Omphaya stretches from the Gorgonkin Range, to
the east, to the Aggesal Plains, to the west. Long ago, as the mortal armies of the titan general Gamka Omphaya fled the burning city of Gala’ikos, their god’s final admonition rang in their ears: “If you would call yourself a Lion of Omphaya, each of you must strive to be a true champion.”
Former Satrap of Sudvall:
A land of conflicting cultures, the Former Satrap of Sudvall was founded by three distinct groups: minotaur refugees from Roshgazi, two companies of human knights from the northern Magdar Kingdom who were lost on a shadow road, and the kijani, a race of sentient humanoid plants. Once under the protection of Roshgazi, the fallen center of minotaur culture and the capitol of the Moon Kingdom of Tes-Qamar, Sudvall was left adrift when the dragons of the Mharoti Empire annihilated its benefactor. Since then, Sudvall has found a generous measure of its own success by marrying the beliefs and customs of its three primary races with a society steeped in traditional, if often brutal, feudalism.
Veles-Sa, Land of Terrible Lizards:
Located in the primal and fecund Zobanu Jungle, Veles-Sasis a land stalked by dinosaurs and scalykind. These emerald forests are home to the lizardfolk, a relatively unknown humanoid race whose civilization sprang up a mere 150 years ago. Outsiders colloquially refer to the core of the territory as the Valley of the Lizards, named after the hordes of ferocious dinosaurs that roam the dark jungles
Anu-Akma (Anubis, Hades, Hel): God of the Underworld, Judge of the Dead and Guardian of Tombs, Guide of the People of Khem, Purifier of Souls, Preserver of the Worthy, King of Jackals and Patron of the Gnolls and Ghouls.
Aten: Sun God, Jealous Lord of Light and Good, Master of the Law, Father of Khors and Lord of the Horizons, Patron of the Khemti.
Bastet (Ailuros): Goddess of Cats and Hunters, Queen of Perfumes, Bastard Child of Aten, Mother of Alchemy, Patron of the Gnolls, Wife of Anu-Akma.
Horus: Sky Lord, Master of the Sun, the Moon, and the Heavens, the Desert Falcon, Prince of Princes, the Majestic One, the Chieftain, the Vigilant, the True King, Patron of Nuria Natal.
Ninkash: Mother of Beer, Goddess of Merriment, Patron of Brewers and Tavern Keepers, Matron Goddess of the Cantonal Dwarves.
Thoth-Hermes: God of Knowledge and Learning, The Wise, Creator of Language, Lord of Merchants, Patron of Scholars and Thieves, Master of the Arcane Realms, Patron of the Magocracy of Allain.
