Valik Rythan's page

Its not particularly normal to do this but I was wondering if anyone out there would by chance be up to running a 5E game? Or even just playing in one.

Welcome adventures, to the land of Azalia, where magic and machine join to one. A land of wonder and war, of treasure and experience. You may all know each other, or you may all be merely travelers thrown from the winding road onto your path of destiny. Either way, your actions will come to save, or kill, countless people, make or break empires, and even decide the destiny of an entire land. Will you lead it from its darkest hour into a brighter future, or will you watch it burn in the fires of hell for your benefit or amusement.... only time will tell...

Wary adventures, for now come A LONG wall of world related text.

The Races in Azalia are limited. There are:, give or take small bands of monsters.

Humans
Elves
Half-Elves
Orcs
Half-orcs
Halflings
Dwarves
Catfolk
Kitsune
Gnomes.

Many of the Races have developed a distrust, or plain Hatred for others.
Races that are disliked or hated: The following races are exceedingly rare
Catfolk
Kitsune
Orcs/Half-orcs.

These races are looked at as nothing but trouble, and often were hunted down by humans/Halflings/Dwarves and each other. Even now as part of the coalition many of these feelings still show, with them getting front-line duty often, or forced into menial tasks. As such, Catfolk and Kitsune have no grand Kingdoms, instead forced to live in small villages on the skirts of normal society. Very few are left after the assaults and they are on the brink of disappearing completely. The orcs did have a mountain stronghold in the Northern Mountains, but their stronghold was one of the first to fall, and with their hated status they received little to no aid. These races still rely on more mystical practices, with little technology for themselves.

Kitsune/Catfolk:
These people have come to a mutual understand of each other, and often choose to live together in their small villages, while many within their society hate the other races, save perhaps, Gnomes and Halflings, some choose to focus on one day being accepted by all. They see the Nation states of Oswell, who all but protect their kind when they can, as a start. Even if the populace at large in the nation still regard their kind with distrust and malice. This has lead to several close calls of fracturing, with half the folk of both races seeking to fight the others, and the other half wanting only to show kindness in hopes of one day walking the streets, should they ever desire, without pain of death. They live in clay/wooden/mud huts in swamps, mountains and forests to far in the wilds for most races to wander. The only race that treats them with a modicum of respect are the elves, for they see the same type of fey-like touch on them as they have themselves. However most of the intentions of the elves are not stemmed from kindness.

Orks:
Aggressive by nature, and always following the rule of "might is right" they are seen by all other peoples as brutish, uncivilized, and warlike. Of course, they have a long history of their warrior culture, before even their line of rulers had their then enslaved half-orcs build their fortress. They follow a code of honor, crude as it may be.

Elves:
Elves see themselves as the rightful masters of Azalia, their long lived lives giving a sense of superiority over other races. While good-hearted they often seem aloof to others, with schemes reaching forward and back for decades. They found the Kingdom of Elsehien in the southern forests. Using Magic to reshape the trees therein into their homes. Magical by nature, their society relies heavily on magic to survive. They get along well enough with humans and Halflings, however their megalomania causes many problems and they view other races as untrustworthy and uncivilized or crude.

Dwarves:
The dwarves have carved out Mountain homes across the continent. The northern mountains, where they fought often with the orcs, the Southern Fringes, where the Coastal mountains roll across the land, and the heart of Azalia, where mountains larger than life rise high into the clouded mists. Dwarves see themselves as The only useful race aside from Gnomes, with perhaps a fleeting hope for humans. They are perhaps, the least magical race on Azalia. Their cities built from technology, hardwork, and gadgets. All dwarven metal is of quality and work surpassing even the best smiths of other races. (They will get a bonus here.) Any magic they do implement is that gifted by their gods to the priests, or extremely rare, eccentric dwarf wizard who is often seen as a fool and potential problem. Their cities are built with several wonders of engineering and are a marvel to behold. However, they are very stagnant in their mind set of "if its not broke, don't fix it". And little innovation happens lately. They despise elves, orcs, catfolk, kitsune, and have both a curiosity, and worry for humans and halflings. They get along very well with gnomes.

Gnomes:
Gnomes are, at best, Eccentric, at worst, insane. They have no great kingdoms, or lands, but instead, have several Gnome Metropolises set up about the land. Their Home City of of Sparkizze is nestled in the central mountains. A peculiar lot, they are the most technologically advanced. Their cities run off gadgets and innovation aplenty. Their guards, steam golems, clockwork creations, and constructs. Both magical and mechanical in nature. They are 1 of only 3 races that utilize and craft airships. (Others being dwarves and humans) and were the first to invent them (however it was oddly enough, humans that first had the idea). They are exceptionally friendly, and have a hard time hating any of the other races, seeing the good, and the bad, in all of them save orcs. Gnomes hatred for orcs stems deeper than even that of dwarves because of the great burning of the Gnome city in the north, whose name has been lost to legend. The orcs pillaged and burned it to the ground over five centuries ago, killing all inside. Only a few escaped. They haven't returned that far north sense. Their cities are useful, and they provide many new works, even if a 1/4 of them backfire, malfunction or explode. They are friendly with Dwarves, humans and halflings, viewing them as curious, yet frustrating. They view elves as strange for their love of the land and seemingly refusal to use the technology they see as making their lives easier and more interesting. They have a passing fancy of cat folk and kitsune, often providing them with the most friendly atmosphere but they have a fair distrust for both races.

Halflings:
The halflings are peaceful, and simple, for the most part. They enjoy tending their fields, gardens, homes, or forests, and live happy, easy going lives across the land save The Kingdom of Razeria. Welcomed by most other races, and viewed as lucky charms they are often not drafted into the military, and their homes are often spared the horrors of war. Some Halflings however, are born with a thirst for adventure and thrills. These often become spies, scouts, traveling minstrels or some other trade that allows them to travel the world. These have begun to give halflings an air of slight distrust, and while still treated good-naturedly by most, often times humans will keep their coins closer when they know some half-folk are around. They have no kingdoms of their own, save a comfy small, bastion nestled in the foothills just south of the central mountains, where all are made welcome to visit.

Half elves, and Half orcs.
The offspring of inter-race love such as these are often viewed negatively. Half-orcs are often shunned and hated by other races as much as Orcs are. With sayings of you can't trust them, or never know when they'll go wild. While some Cities and a couple of the Great kingdoms accept half-orcs as citizens, they are relegated to poor districts and often have to make a living as thieves, bandits, thugs, physical laborers or soldiers. Only adding fire to the rumors of their war-like ancestry. Half-elves receive a different kind of hate. They are often viewed at with jealousy for their centuries long life-spans and their natural beauty inherited from their elven blood. While generally more accepted than their half-orc counter parts they are often treated distantly, many having few to no friends. Dwarves, who see the elf in all half-elves show almost as much hatred to them as they do pureblood orcs and elves. Elves tend to treat half-elves as lesser beings, only slightly better than the other races, and as such, while not out-right hostile to them, often work to keep their presence in their society low, and out of higher ranked offices. However, the Empire of Belthouse, and the Sovereign states of Oswell are perhaps, the most accepting of both, seeing potential in their blood, with both nations seeking to one day unite the lands. (though, one wishes to rule, the other seeks a diplomatic solution.

Humans:
Hummans are a strange bunch. The most numerous, but perhaps the most divided amongst themselves. There are 4 main kingdoms with several smaller ones comprise the human legacy.

Kingdom of Aloran: To the North, the kingdom of Aloran(a-lor-en), (heavily influenced by medieval Europe) lead by a long running family of warrior kings. Its lands are those of thick woods, snow covered mountains and lush valleys. The kingdom, the smallest of the great 4, is perhaps one of the better ones. The kings have long lead the country benevolently, and fairly. Though their warrior like culture gives many an unease, they are a noble, proud people and while they do enjoy war and battle to an extent, their poets and bards are renowned across the continent, even the elves, who claim a better grasp of these things than any other race admit to their beauty. Aloran is perhaps one of the more mystical kingdoms, with exceedingly few airships(3), few luxuries, and no real technology or other experimental things. Their kingdom's capital is settled betwixt two mountains.

Empire of Belthouse To the south, the Empire of Belthouse(bell-thoose, as in moose), The largest, and arguably most powerful of the Great 4, centered on the Central Southern plains, the Home city of Espero shines as a beacon of light. A metropolis of over 3 million inhabitants, it ranges from the rich, semi-wealthy-poor-and homeless. Its lower streets becoming dens to thieves, guilds, and cults despite the best efforts of the empire and the city watch. The empire makes the most use of technology, arguably more so than even the dwarves, with airships seemingly traveling between the cities endlessly, automatons guarding the gates and keeps of the town and running water (sort of, think, aqueducts but, more advanced, with piping to take water to housing) and power for the wealthier districts, and even a sewer system and water for the poorest. The empire is led by an emperor crowned by a vote of the city barons, Lately, the same line of family has been placed in power for generations though this has actually lessened the power of the emperor, and strengthened that of the barons, who all but rule as an oligarchy, though the kingdom has prospered either way. Armies of Belthouse make use of firearms more than any other race or peoples in Azalia, with over 75% of their military trained in their usage and maintenance, they use siege weaponry and clockwork constructs as well. Due to this reliance on tech their magical academies are growing smaller. The Belthouse Empire has the lowest amount of wizards and arcane practitioners of any human kingdom, but they do have a great academy of alchemy. They also have almost no divine magic users, believing instead to not follow any deities as a whole.

Kingdom of Razeria in the East, Perhaps the kingdom the elves get along with the most, and the one that dwarves and gnomes view uneasily. This kingdom uses little to no tech, even less than Aloran but, has more arcane magic than the rest combined. The great capital is built from arcane energies, floating citadels, endless water, and forced obedience. The kingdom of Razeria is ruled with an Arcane fist by an oligarchy of mages centered at the mages guild in the Center of the capital Kazethi'k (Ka-zay-thii-ik). The most aggressive of the human kingdoms despite its magical heritage. They see mastery of the Arcane as the only true path, and they believe that a forced, obedient society is the path to the future. The guild and academies always via for more power and dominance, and the measure of a man is the amount of arcane energy he can generate and while corrupt, the guilds will always recognize powerful people, as long as they use that power to sustain the status quo. Due to this view, there are only two groups the people of Razeria fall under, those that practice, and are gifted with magical abilities, and the serf work-force that are not, who are all but slaves in name. As such their armies are small, but the destruction they can wreak has kept other nations from attempting to do anything about their aggressiveness. There was a rebellion within the kingdom, or so it is said, lead by a group of powerful mages that wished to change the country, no other word has been heard though, and most believe it was crushed. They view anyone not learned in the arcane arts as lesser, and believe themselves to be the true leaders, the only ones fit to rule the continent.

The Sovereign states of Oswell,(which, Oswell being the largest republic kingdom and the original state) leads the union. It is a confederation of smaller kingdoms, city-states, and empires and is hardly a kingdom itself, but more of a coalition of petty states protecting themselves from the others. They are, in a way, a democracy, with overarching laws all members of the union must follow, that are voted on, and decided in meetings held thrice a year in which all leaders of the member lands meet, debate, and vote. While disputes arise endlessly, (as, empires, kingdoms, and republics views clash) few things get done timely, however in this mass of differences comes strength. They are perhaps, the most diverse of all the 4 kingdoms in that they use technology, arcane and divine magic equally. While one kingdom may see technology as bad, they are forced, by the regulations of the union, to learn of it, and on more than occasion, this has caused other states to accept the practice. Empires (that is, small states lead by an emperor) that abhorred magic, now have Imperial wizards, city-states that detested technology, now use air ships. Problems are tackled from several different perspectives, and the union grows continuously as smaller states and petty kingdoms join every year. Sure, there is deception, and corruption among the leaders, but it has been kept to a minimum. Issues of state and jealousy are nipped wherever found, forcing the parties to meet and "talk it out". That said wars within the union are not unheard of, and while often the council meetings attempt to avoid them, they are sometimes the only recourse. They are a mixing pot, and all types can be found within their nations borders. Perhaps they are best known for their grand alchemy school, boasting the most individuals that are determined to mix science and magic. Surprisingly, even due to the nature of this, and the ensuing explosions and destructive qualities that can come from it, the building has never been shut down once, though many rooms have been remodeled countless times.

Native languages: Only the ones listed here are free.
Razeria peasant/resistance member: common and low gothic
Razeria magi: High gothic, Latin, one other language of your choice.
Aloran serf/knight/soldier: Alorant,
Aloran Noble: common and Alorant
Sovereign States: Common, (High Common: This basically for low skill point classes, it lets you somewhat communicate with anyone that doesn't know common, also counts as its own language between two people who speak it)
Belthouse: Common, Thousian
Northern Dwarves: Dwarvish, Teran
Southern Dwarves: Dwarvish, common
Gnomes: Gnomeish, common
Elven: Elvish, choice between: Common, Sylvan, Elven sign language, or Latin
Halflings: Common, Halfling

Also, on cultures here is something to help you figure out better each races/empires -feel-.
Think of Aldoran as late medieval with signs of early Renaissance, minus the tights, with a tad bit beowulf/viking thrown in.

Sovereign States, Take America, and the Holy Roman Empire (Note, the one lead by Austria in the middle ages) Mash them together about 20/80 respectively and viola.

Dwarves are Dwarves, mix D&D/pathfinder dwarves with Middle earth dwarves and you get a good Idea.

Gnomes: If you have played World of Warcraft, take those gnomes, mix in a little fey ancestry from D&D Gnomes, and thats a good idea of them. Lil Pranksters....

Halflings: Honestly, Shire folk is the best way to describe them.

Elves: take Tolkien elves and D&D Elves, mix a tiny bit of those two with Elder scroll elves(mostly their superiority complex and usage of magic), and thats what they are like.

Razeria: Think Middle Eastern/Asian mix with the European serfdom thrown in. Their lands are mostly Desert, save the cities they magically sustain.

-Thousian- Belthouse National Language

-Alorant- National Language of The Kingdom of Aloran

-Low/High Gothic- Razeria doesn't have a real national language, most of their "work force" speaks the common language or Gothic, which I to this day haven't decided a good name on. Their wizard "overseers" usually speak a mixture of draconic/Abyssal/Latin/Infernal/insert magical language to try and show off to others here. Although, I suppose if you wanted to "fit in" with their limbo language "Gothic" would work well, which is itself split into High Gothic and Low Gothic. Low Gothic is mostly the common language with bits and words thrown in from high Gothic, High Gothic is the closest thing to a "National Language" for the magi and is complex and mixes Latin, Common, and bits of Draconic. (Word of advice, the Magi HATE low Gothic, and see it as a mock to their high Gothic language.)

-High Common- The Sovereign states have no "national" language particularly, theirs is a Semitic language consisting of slightly altered languages of the larger empires they are close too. This has made them rather good at diplomacy as their diplomats usually speak, in at least some way, other Empires languages. I suppose if I had to give a language set to them... Lets just call it High Common, which gives you understanding of the common language, and rudimentary understanding of the other human national languages (Save High Gothic), good example would be a normal high school student talking to someone that speaks ye olden Shakespearean English, with an accent(or worse).

Other languages that aren't really languages can include
Belthouse Military Signals (body+hand)
Elven sign Language (hand)
Languages that are non-existant or extremely rare
Goblin (long been hunter to extinction or more likely, into hiding)
Celestial
Giant
any elemental Language. (the few that speak this come from evlivh or gnome decent, although some Magi from Razeria speak it.)

Now then, for those of you still reading and that are still interested. here is what I would like for character applications

and finally,

I have looking for 4-5 players, if you have any questions, concerns, or comments please go ahead and fire them off.

for aid in writing backstories-

Aloran (northen kingdom) Fought similar to medieval times. (heavy knights, with land owners that were lower on the totem pole providing ranged support in crossbows and archery. with the lower peasants forming men at arms. Favored weapon of the men at arms was a longsword or morning star/mace and shield. Very charismatic people, leaders were known for length speeches to bolster morale. no real schools of study.

Belthouse uses tactics in a mix of Napoleonic and medieval. massed units of firearms and siege weaponry supported by shock units of constructs and mobile knights. The most Esteemed position was as a Dragoon Knight, which had two separate units, the chargers, which resemble the normal mounted knight, and the outriders, which focused on using their mobility and firearm powers to pepper foes with hit-and-run tactics. Also were working on ways to incorporate the airships into war.

The Sovereign States mix several types, though they have the smallest outstanding military their use of mixed unit tactics has been shown to great effect when they drove back an attack by the Razeria Kingdom.

Razeria, of course, uses their magi to do most heavy lifting, controlling weather, fireballs, etc. While using their oppressed "workers" as fodder for enemy soldiers.

Elves used guerrilla warfare, and open field combat. Often striking out with raids over several weeks before committing to a full on battle. During the battles they use their speed and agility to out maneuver foes.

Dwarves fight much like they do in Golarian. Save they make use of firearms frequently. Often forming shield walls to protect their gunners from melee charges.

gnomes prefer to let their large quantity of constructs, steam golems and clockwork automatons do the fighting for them, though they often join in with experimental gadgets such as bombs, and ranged support with firearms and siege weapons.