Daldarr

Daldarr

This is the reference page for Daldarr, a solo play, collaborative world-building game using the Mythic GM emulator.

• Recruitment thread: http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=495277
• IC thread: http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=495506
• OOC thread: http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=495507

Players & Characters

• Chronicler - TBD
• Devil - [Savage Worlds] Lorash Kalil, mercenary assassin with an unrelenting sense of 'honor among thieves'. Heir to the fallen northern Duchy of Vasterborg.
• Feathers - [GURPS] Chakar the Dog, a Path/Book Ritualist.
• Fred - [PDQ] Caraíbos, a con man and gigolo that lives in Daldarr or Valleyport.
• Harwel - Gamred Tal grew up a street kid and was a fairly successful thief, until he got caught and thrown into the gladiator pits...
• KEK - [Fudge] Dario Lyos was a bard from the city of Aldia.
• Kredoc - [Fudge] Tartin Hamarch, street rat turned rogue.
• Lionrampant - [T&T] TBD
• Neal - Luther, 17-year-old street thief and secret bastard of Duke Talaven.
• Skydigger - A [nameless] former foot soldier who fought (and survived) many wars by skills and guile, and who now survives the peacetime at Daldarr streets.

Play Guidelines

These are the rules governing play for this game.

• No killing off, or irrevocably changing someone else's PC without their express permission.
• Participants are welcome to use whatever system they like, but should follow the guidelines for setting, genre, and power level.
• NPCs are fair game, but ask the creator before dramatically affecting them. I think part of the fun of this will be seeing an NPC you've created suddenly do something unexpected. On the other hand I think it's fair to provide their creator with the option of keeping them in their own character's orbit to some extent. Killing off a PCs mentor, for example, might seriously impact the player's fun.
• Define without constraining. When creating setting, try to add features without creating artificial barriers to further creation. Example: Rather than declaring a pantheon of gods and outlining their attributes, simply declare "there are many gods", then define what is necessary for your own story, leaving the pantheon open for expansion.
• Don't "block" someone else's creative idea for the setting. Like the rules of improv theatre, a scene can only live if the participants say yes to a concept rather than no. For example, if you have set in your scenes that a town is, say, run by a jovial fat man, I'm not going to come in, kill him off, and replace him with someone who works best for my story (unless there's a really compelling reason for that, of course). Or if someone establishes the existence of elves (or something), don't have the rulers of the world suddenly commit genocide on the elven race simply because you don't like them. A ridiculous, extreme example, but it's early for me, and the cobwebs are still clearing. Use what's already established. Build up, don't tear down. This is also pretty much a rule that the Thieves' World authors were going by, IIRC.

Setting Guidelines

• Power level: Gritty to low fantasy
• Style: Swords and Sorcery

The Setting

Raw Dump

Duke Talaven ran Daldarr, until recently assassinated. His whole family was killed, in what almost looked like an accident. Talaven's chief bodyguard, Brutus, a bit of a thug himself, led the hunt for the assassin, but came up empty handed.

Somewhere to the west, towards the mountains, is a hidden temple to some foul god (Vachbar). The undead guardians there have been destroyed...for now. As well, there is an abandoned monastery near the temple where several cultists of Vachbar have recently engaged in some kind of worship. Their apparent leader is an unidentified priest, who masquerades in Valleyport as a priest of the goddess of healing. In the town, he is well loved by the locals for his acts of pious charity. However he apparently has the power to curse his enemies, as he wound up cursing Lorash (my PC) for invading his secret monastery and killing some of the cultists.

Unknown to most, Duke Talaven's murder was arranged by a mediator betwixt Talaven and Duke Hemsegot, who have been at war for some time. The mediator (Vinmar) had Talaven killed in the middle of the negotiating process for unknown reasons (again, very few people would know that he had anything to do with it). Vinmar himself was followed to the monastery, where he was doing some sort of business with the priest of Vachbar. Is Vinmar himself a follower of this dark cult?

Camped outside Valleyport is a small band of circus performers (Gypsies, mostly). Their star performer is a knife-thrower named Teann. She is Lorash's ex-lover, and was not happy to see him when he passed through their camp whilst following Vinmar and the priest.

People

• Brutus - Head of Duke Talaven of Daldarr's bodyguard contingent
• Kai-Kur - Loyal retainer to Lorash Kalil
• Duke Talaven, deceased - former Duke of Talaven. Murdered along with all his family by an unknown assassin
• Vinmar the Mediator - a mediator up until recently negotiating the peace between Daldarr and Kaasgard; secretly had Talaven assassinated for unknown reasons
• Duke Hemsegot - Duke of Kaasgard
• Osvik - Proprietor of the Bleeding Bear Tavern in Valleyport; Luther's adoptive father
• Teann - Star knife-thrower in a wandering gypsie circus; ex-lover of Lorash
•  ??? (Priest of Vachbar) - Priest of foul undead (?) god Vachbar; masquerading as priest of the goddess of Healing, and beloved in Valleyport for his generosity and piety

Places

• Duchy of Kaasgard - a dukedom to the east. Ruled by Duke Hemsegot. Currently at a ceasefire with Daldarr.
• Duchy of Vasterborg - destroyed dukedom far to the north. Overran by foreign powers.

The Crimson Mountains

• A treacherous mountain range, running north to south. A haven for renegades and bandits.

Valleyport

A town near the Crimson Mountains.

• The Bleeding Bear - A popular tavern, run by one Osvik, a rather helpful sort to the local scum. Currently
• Valleyport Ale Festival - A raucous ale festival.

Daldarr City

Capital of the Duchy of Daldarr, built at the mouth of the Daldarr River where it empties into Red Cliffs Bay.

• The Water Market - An open air market surrounded by bars and brothels favored by sailors fresh of the docks. The market features imports from freshly arrived cargo ships along with the daily catch from the local fishing fleet.
• House of Blue Curtains - A brothel near the Water Market.

Other

• Vachbar - old god of the undead (?)
• The Martyrs - Revolutionary band which, under new leadership, has devolved into a glorified thieves' guild