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[[Category:Campaign Setup]]
 
[[Category:Campaign Setup]]
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=Campaign Setup=
+
 
 +
=The Motley Crew: Campaign Background=
 +
 
 +
Welcome to Cinnibar and Odd Arbage, a Provincial rivermouth town and Village port, respectively.
 +
They are located at the end of the world in a Dark age. You are the crew of the ''Motley'' a ship of indeterminate size but enough heart for bold adventures in an age of Bronze and Iron.
 +
 
 +
==Campaign Setup==
  
 
This is the wiki page for the campaign setting of The Motley Crew, an odd band cast into dangerous times at the end of the world.
 
This is the wiki page for the campaign setting of The Motley Crew, an odd band cast into dangerous times at the end of the world.
−
==The Motley Crew: Campaign Background==
 
−
Welcome to Motley and Odd Arbage, a Manor town and Village port, respectively.
 
−
They are located at the end of the world in a Dark age.
 
  
−
===Recent history===
+
Countless (450) years ago, a piece of the moon fell from the sky and destroyed the Great Powers, who had grown decadent and dangerous. You are the descendents of their servants, subjects and pets.
 +
 
 +
This is a Bronze Age setting with limited magic, where Iron is slowly altering the way magic is used. Most gods are now silent in the world.
 +
 
 +
The known lands are filled with humans of many different cultures and races. There are other, stranger creatures and peoples on the fringes of the world.
 +
 
 +
The people of your home areas are civilized and live as part of a larger Empire. However, your local area has seen three empires in the last 200 years and is still here.
 +
 
 +
=Characters and Players=
 +
 
 +
'''[[Ineya]]'''  Boat people girl. Played by Jarulf
 +
 
 +
'''[[Sithalkes, son of Teres]]''' A Warrior from the high valleys of the Lees, [[played by Asen_G]]
 +
 
 +
'''[[Logan the seaborne]]''' A man with no past, played by t@nya.
 +
 
 +
'''[[Malie Hinapouri]]''' 'Shark in the dark of the moon'. A spirit Warrior from the Islands==, played by Bulya.
 +
 
 +
*Chalkine
 +
*Max
 +
 
 +
'''Character creation'''
 +
 
 +
*[[Creating base characters]]
 +
*[[Master skill List]]
 +
*[[Motley Crew Character Sheet]]
 +
 
 +
=Equipment=
 +
 
 +
 
 +
 
 +
We are using [[Price Lists]]from Griffin Island.
 +
 
 +
for a more expanded list, use [http://www.dimacleod.co.uk/rpg/rq.htm],
 +
Duncan Ianin MacLeod's excellent website. If prices clash, go with griffin mountain.
 +
 
 +
 
 +
==Starting Gear==
 +
 
 +
Assuming an average level of wealth
 +
 
 +
*100silver +200silver in goods
 +
*An average outfitting of weapons and non metal armour.
 +
*If your profession pushed you higher up the social scale, this increases.
 +
 
 +
For instance, Bulya's character was a spirit-warrior of the Shark, so will have access to to metal armour.
 +
 
 +
*Anyone can voluntarily up their social standing pre-game, as long as you can justify it. A crafter might have a small workshop in Odd...or be the head of a coral/pearl/shell trading empire and be living in one of the big houses near the citadel.
 +
 
 +
Once you've set your status, though, you will need to support it. Being poor has its advantages for adventurers.
 +
 
 +
=Setting =
 +
 
 +
==Languages==
 +
 
 +
*There is a '''trade Argot''' , though it doesnt rise above 50% + mod.
 +
 
 +
*The base language for motley would be '''Gott''', with a lot of people speaking the '''elder tongue'''.
 +
 
 +
*'''Low and high Gault''' are the languages of the Empire - Low Gault and Gott are related (half chance to understand the other)
 +
 
 +
*'''Islander''' is totally unrelated to any other language nearby.
 +
 
 +
==The Shallow Seas Ocean Daughter==
 +
 
 +
The Mother Ocean has many daughters and they are the seas of the world. In the shallow seas they call her daughter The Rainbow Daughter. She is the mother of all the corals and creatures that call the place home.
 +
 
 +
There are many spirits within her realm, but they define themselves by their relationship to her. Deep ocean has other spirits. Islands each have a spirit and the people who llive there need to acknowledge them.
 +
 
 +
Rainbow Daughter has two lovers - the sun and the clouds. When she is with one, the other rages. Her many children are the animals and humans that live on or in her.
 +
 
 +
==History==
 +
 
 +
'''The Grand and Terrible Age'''
 +
 
 
When the [[Grand and High Powers]] finally fell to arrogance and insane magics in the Great Age, they took much of the Light out of the world.
 
When the [[Grand and High Powers]] finally fell to arrogance and insane magics in the Great Age, they took much of the Light out of the world.
−
*Whole peoples, races, spirits and divine beings became pieces and pawns in their elaborate, ritual wars and amusements.  
+
*Whole peoples, lands, spirits and divine beings became pieces and pawns in their elaborate, ritual wars and amusements.  
 
*They bent time and space, plane and cosmos to their bidding, summoning Eldritch horrors to their own amusements, stocking and populating grand territories with their own creations.
 
*They bent time and space, plane and cosmos to their bidding, summoning Eldritch horrors to their own amusements, stocking and populating grand territories with their own creations.
 
*They violated ancient and divine precepts and slaughtered their avengers.  
 
*They violated ancient and divine precepts and slaughtered their avengers.  
−
*They bent the very fibre of reality to accommodate their increasing perversities.
+
*They began to bring change to the very fibre of reality to accommodate their increasing perversities.
  
 
The [[Great Wheel]] finally turned. So much so that the Moon, it’s mother, spun a tear from the sky to finally quell the Grand and High Powers.
 
The [[Great Wheel]] finally turned. So much so that the Moon, it’s mother, spun a tear from the sky to finally quell the Grand and High Powers.
Line 21: Line 98:
 
'''The Moons Burn.'''
 
'''The Moons Burn.'''
  
−
Completely destroyed every Grand or High Power, any offspring, anything that contained any of their essence or fragment of their spirit. It reached across all the known planes at the same time and even into the infinite. All trace of the Powers ceased to be.
+
Completely destroyed every Grand or High Power, any offspring, anything that contained any of their essence or fragment of their spirit. It reached across all the known worlds at the same time and even into the infinite. All trace of the Powers ceased to be.
  
−
The Tear of the Moon fell on the heart of the Powers Empire and destroyed half a world - leaving behind huge, glassy wastelands surrounded by desert or desolate badlands.  
+
The Tear of the Moon fell on the heart of the Powers Empire and destroyed half the world - leaving behind huge, glassy wastelands surrounded by desert or desolate badlands.  
  
 
Only in places like Land Ends, where tall mountain ranges absorbed and deflected the worst of the Moons Burn, did people survive. Even here, great storms boiled overhead, thier rain and lightning seeking out and destroying any trace of the Grand and High Powers.
 
Only in places like Land Ends, where tall mountain ranges absorbed and deflected the worst of the Moons Burn, did people survive. Even here, great storms boiled overhead, thier rain and lightning seeking out and destroying any trace of the Grand and High Powers.
  
−
===Even more recent history===
+
'''History begins'''
−
That was a long time ago as the Sages tell it, in the lives of grandfathers even to the Elder folk. Those who count say its 227 solar years.
+
 
 +
Things that were not part of the Powers survived the Moons Burn if they were not touched by the great burning light directly. This included people. Most of the survivors were servants of the Powers, their pets or slaves, unwitting or otherwise. With all the great wonders and everyday magics of the Powers gone, most peoples fell to barbarism or reverted to more primitive lifestyles. Here and there, cities or estates held on to enough knowledge and civilisation to use metals and mills and keep some of the old skills alive.
 +
Most of these places, like Motley, have a similar history, holding on to enough of a civilization to weather the Storm and the chaos afterwards.
 +
 
 +
'''Recent history'''
 +
That was a long time ago as the Sages tell it, in the lives of long dead ancestors. Those who count say it's been 442 solar years.
 +
 
 +
But the world still feels small this side of the mountains that saved the remnant populations of the hundreds of different types of subject peoples, left behind when the Grand and High powers were consumed and used to rebalance the world.
 +
 
 +
Illis is an isolated citadel and market town and has been for nearly 200 years - although two Kingdoms and three Empires have come and gone, Illis has been Illis through all of it. The same with Odd Arbage, one of several villages and clans owing loyalty to Illis. It is a Cliffside fishing town and deepwater port, home, like Illis, do well over a dozen clans and bloodlines from the last age. It has a small Keep and residing Captain, three shrines and a small collection of houses and homes. It is also home to the adventurers.
 +
 
 +
The area is ruled by the Illisian Prince, now Governor and Marshall of Eastport - a title that has changed hands more than once. The current Prince hopes to establish a legacy, but then so did the last three.
 +
 
 +
Between them, the Town and Villages provide shelter for 4 000 souls, and support the surrounding 15 000 who work the land and sea. The province is sheltered between the Saviour Mounts to the East and North and the Karstfells to the West, and has very little flat, open land, except around the rivermouth. Odd Arbage sits East the mouth of the Aird river, which flows North and East through rugged, unnavigable twists and turns, all the way to the Lee Plateaus and the Republic of which Illis is currently a far-flung arm.
 +
 
 +
Not that it is an ignored subject - the fisherfolk bring in exotic Southern fish and other things, dyes and shells the sell well in the north. The same with the local fruit and root crops - all have a market far away, which means coin and exotic goods, and the folk of Illis grow barley and wheat enough only for their own needs. Even the peasants do well by Republican standards.
 +
 
 +
Add the small but steady merchant ship traffic that ventures into Odd Arbage from the Border colonies or Manii to the west, and the place is fairly cosmopolitan for a village of 650 odd.
 +
 
 +
=='''Technology:'''==
 +
 
 +
'''No Stirrups, no shipboard weapons.'''
 +
 
 +
'''Mature Bronze Age (Early Iron)'''.
 +
 
 +
The civilized nations of Land Ends (and a few less civil) have built themselves around Bronze. Both Tin and Copper can be found locally and traded for fairly easily.
 +
Iron is available but until recently has been hard to find...many Powers had Iron mines that are now unstable or unworkable and any readily available source was too poor in quality. The Empire of the Lee Plateau (which has no name at present and only a vague political structure) has recently begun producing more Iron, mainly for infantry and heavy Cavalry.
 +
 
 +
The many, many barbarian and nomad tribes are generally able to buy or make some bronze, but a lot of it is acquired through trophy.
  
−
But the world still feels small this side of the mountains that saved the remnant populations of the hundreds of different types of subject peoples left behind when the Grand and High powers were consumed and used to rebalance the world.
+
Some more primitive cultures don't use metal at all, especially ones isolated from general cultural contact.
  
−
Motley is an isolated manor and market town and has been for nearly 200 years - although two kingdoms and three empires have come and gone, Motley has been Motley through all of it. The same with Odd Arbage, one of several villages and clans owing taxes and loyalty to Motley. It is a Cliffside fishing town and deepwater port, home, like Motley, do well over a dozen clans and bloodlines from the last age. It has a small manor and residing Knight, three Churches, and a small collection of houses and homes. It is also home to the adventurers.
+
'''Ships'''
  
−
The area is ruled by the Baron Motley, Lord Eastport - a title that has changed hands more than once. The current Baron hopes to establish a legacy, but then so did the last three.
+
As far as ships go, you are looking at single masted square rigged galleys, smaller lateen rigged coastal traders and single mast fishing boats as your most advanced ships. No wheel and rudder mechanisms and oars rule for speed. You'd rarely spend more than a night away from shore and most ships beach or layover at night. well known trade routes are the exception to this.
  
−
Between them, the Town and Villages provide shelter for 2 000 souls, and support the surrounding 10 000 who work the land. The barony is sheltered between the Saviour Mounts to the East and North and the Karstfells to the West, and has very little flat, open land, except around the rivermouth. Odd Arbage sits East the mouth of the Aird river, which flows North and East through rugged, unnavigable twists and turns, all the way to the Lee Plateaus and the Monarchy of which Motley is currently a far-flung arm.
 
  
−
Not that it is an ignored subject - the fisherfolk bring in exotic southern fish and other things, dyes and shells the sell well in the north. The same with the local fruit and root crops - all have a market far away, which means coin and exotic goods, and the folk of Motley grow barley and wheat enough only for their own needs. Even the peasants do well by kingdom standards.
+
'''Magic use.'''
  
−
Add the odd merchant ship that ventures into Odd Arbage from the Lesser Isles or Moonburn, and the place is fairly cosmopolitan for a village of 350 odd.
+
*Must always have a '''POW of 15''' - it it drops below this, magic ties are lost.
  
−
===Current situation.===
+
*'''Iron effects all magic''' - a human can have contact with only a limited amount before it begins to disrupt it.
−
Bandits - or worse. Thats what the knight said when he gathered all he could - men at arms, the village mage, the local priest, the woodsmen, the militia - and rode out to hold Airdsford crossing. Fully two thirds of the fighting force of the village, leaving behind the sick, the older, the ill trained and the young.
 
−
Now it is dawn two days later and there has been no word. The local Squire, left in charge, barely has enough stubble to rub in indecision - and no word comes from the North.
 
  
−
Someone has to do something...
+
*There is '''Spirit (or Common or Hedge) magic''', but it is restricted to Members of Magical or Spiritual orders, commonly known as Low Magic.
 +
This is the magic of Craft Guilds, Religious Orders, Barbarian warrior Lodges, witches and Warlocks, apothecary and Herbalist. Bards and initiates gain this sort of magic.
  
−
=Characters and Players=
+
In the past it was more common. Part of its decline may be attributed to increased Iron usage.
 +
 
 +
*'''Divine Magic''' is gained through the worship of and bargaining with divine forces. Only priests and champions may wield it. Druid types, too.
 +
 
 +
*'''Spirit Magic''' is obtained through bargaining with spirits and only occasionally involves learning spells. More often, you have allied or bound spirits.
 +
 
 +
*'''Sorcery''' Confined to the literate, must be learned from Grimoires.
 +
I'll decide which books magic to use once people start creating their PC's.
 +
 
 +
'''Non Humans'''.
 +
Humans make up the peoples of Land Ends. There are many different kinds of people, some altered by powers in the past to be servants, pieces of Art or pets.
 +
 
 +
There are, however, many, many other sentient folk, though non human.
 +
Most are hybrids, like Centaurs and Satyrs - a mixture of human and animal forms.
 +
 
 +
There are Sauri, however - sentient creatures descended from the dragons. The two most common types are Saurians (lizardfolk), a generally savage people who inhabit warm, desert lands and Newtlings, who live along rivers and in swamps.
 +
 
 +
There are the giants and their descendents, too. They were common as the brute force component of a Powers lands or holdings, and their descendants plague the less hospitable parts of the world.
 +
 
 +
Most other sentients fall into the category of embodied forces from other planes of existence, from elementals to The Kind Folk to Gods and their servants.
  
−
=House Rules=
+
These many, many races tend to exist away from human society or on its fringes - most have learned that humans make poor neighbours.
  
−
==Basic changes==
+
==Themes==
  
−
*Runes are the basic magical mapping system of the universe personified. They exist as part of a great Wheel. All magic is ultimately Rune Magic in some form.
 
−
*The runes are different here - they map to an ascending scale of Wheels. These are:
 
  
−
**The Eight Elemental runes. The Primal Wheel of Fire,Air,Water,Earth, and the Spirit Wheel of Sunlight, Darkness, Moon and Storm.
 
−
**The Form Runes. Plant,Beast,Dragon,Folk,Spirit. Each one expresses an ascending order up the chain of being. It is seen as a wheel of four with Spirit at the centre.
 
−
**The Power Runes. In ascending order Stasis/Change [Elemental Power] then Death/Life [Plant],Harmony/Disorder [Beast],Truth/Illusion [Dragon], Fate/Luck [Man/Folk].
 
−
These map out ascending wheels of the Powers that the Forms contend with.
 
−
**The Condition Runes. Mastery, Magic, Trade[Balance], Law/Chaos,Infinity. These form two wheels; the Conditions of Magic,Mastery and Balance and the High Runes of Law/Chaos and Infinity.
 
−
**The Lesser Runes. Metal, Cold, Ice, Dark Earth, Green Earth, etc.
 
  
 +
===The Coming of Iron.===
 +
Iron has previously been a scarce metal, found either as relics of the great Age [in various forms of steel] or as bloom iron, pounded into wrought iron or layered steel. The Powers had Many uses for Iron in the past and have mined all but the meanest sources.
  
−
==Magic.==
+
Iron affects magic. A little makes it unstable, a lot disrupts it entirely.
 +
Steel can be the same, but is sometimes a conduit for magic force instead. The hows and whys of this were known to the Powers, but that knowledge is yet to be regained.
  
 
I'd like to have a variety of different magic types in the game, based around systems from BRP, Legend and Runequest Three. Their relative rarity is up to you.
 
I'd like to have a variety of different magic types in the game, based around systems from BRP, Legend and Runequest Three. Their relative rarity is up to you.
  
 +
 +
==Magic Types==
 
Possible magic types are:
 
Possible magic types are:
  
−
'''Innate Magics'''These are the heroic magics that set heroes apart without them being spellcasters.
+
'''Innate Magic'''
 +
 
 +
These are the inner magics of true skill that set heroes apart without them being spellcasters.
 +
 
 +
*'''Natural Magic - Talented (skill % based)'''.
 +
 
 +
Talents are skill based and each skill has a talent. Some people are born with a Talent, even before they master it and these are known as Birth talents. Some people develop a talent for a skill after years of practice (95%+ in the skill) These are known as Masteries.
 +
 
 +
*'''Gifted Attribute'''.
 +
 
 +
Similarly, some people have Gifted Attributes - the warrior who always pulls off feats of strength, the scholar who can will an obscure piece of knowledge out of their memory, the tracker who can run all night. Each attribute can be taken as gifted.
  
−
*'''Natural Magic - Talented (skill % based)'''. There is a talent for each skill. There is a point of Pow invested in each talent taken.  This grants the ability to invest MP in creating occasional success or amazing rolls, at a MP cost based on their skill roll. It is entirely situational.
+
*'''Maximum umber of Talents and Gifted Attributes'''.
  
−
*'''Gifted Attribute'''. The same effect as a Talent is granted to one attributes rolls. There is a point of Pow invested in each attribute that is gifted.  
+
Each Gift/Talent takes up a point of your Int, in the same way spirit magic or Sorcery does. The three aren't eclusive, So a PC with Int 15, three talents and two gifted attributes has ten points available to memorise Low magic or Sorcery spells.
  
−
* '''Rune bonding'''. Gain Runic powers for bonding with that Rune (up to one third of Pow in each rune). There is an upper limit of Pow in rune bonding.
+
*'''How to use Talents and Gifts'''
−
Can be used as a source of MP by any tradition, but only with spells that invoke the Rune.
 
  
−
*These three innate magics all compete for the same ‘space’ in a characters Pow. A character with Seven Talented skills, Three gifted attributes and Three Bound Runes at 3,2 and 1
+
'''Talents/Gifts''' consume 1MP per 10% difference between a skill roll (or attribute test) and a desired result. Adding a special success (or a x 1 result for an attribute check) costs +3 pts over and above the % cost to reduce the roll to that level of success. Adding a critical success coss +6 pts.
−
has filled a pow of 16.
+
*Talents are used before a roll is made. MP cost is worked out after the roll is made.
  
−
'''Use'''
+
For '''Gifted attributes''':
 +
Attribute Tests fall into two types, Resistance rolls (Att vs some other force) and Characteristic rolls (Attribute x One to five gives degree of success)
  
−
*Uses of Talent and Gifted attributes consume 1MP per 10% difference between a roll (skill roll or attribute test) and a desired result. Adding a special success costs +3 pts over and above the % cost to reduce the roll to that level of success. Adding a critical success coss +6 pts.
 
−
*Talents are assigned to a roll before it is made. MP cost is worked out after the roll is made.
 
−
*Gifted attributes Attribute Tests fall into two types, Resistance rolls (Att vs some other force) and Characteristic rolls (Attribute x One to five gives degree of success)
 
 
MP's are consumed at the rate of 1 per 5% change on the resistance table or 1 per 10% reduction in a characteristic roll, +3MP for Attribute x1
 
MP's are consumed at the rate of 1 per 5% change on the resistance table or 1 per 10% reduction in a characteristic roll, +3MP for Attribute x1
  
−
'''Possible Magic schools.'''
+
'''Note''': Talents and gifts are not considered magical, so magic hating types can still have them.
 +
 
 +
='''Magic schools.'''=
 +
 
 +
'''Magical Talent'''
 +
 
 +
Only people with a Talent in a magical skill can use magic. The skill might be Worship Rude Pantheon, Low Magic, Sorcerous Art or something more specific.
 +
 
 +
This makes magic rare...you are either born to it or get there after great effort.
 +
 
 +
If you actually want to be talented in a magical skill, you need to use up two talents to do so - one to have magical talent, one to be talented in it.
 
   
 
   
−
*'''Common Magic''': Learned from Background/Profession.
+
'''Low or Common Magic'''
  
−
There are Six Subtypes or traditions of common magic: Battle/Hunt, Craft/Hearth, Spirit, Elemental, Wild, Common. These are purely cultural and anyone who can learn common Magic can learn any spell.
+
Learned from particular Backgrounds and Professions.
  
−
*'''Basic Common Magic''':  You may learn spells up to your Int in points.
+
There are Six Subtypes or traditions of common magic:'''
  
−
*Advanced Tradition: ''Wizards'', who use manipulation. They only need to memorise the minimum Pow of common spells.
+
*Battle/Hunt
−
Must embody the magic rune.
+
*Craft/Hearth
 +
*Spirit
 +
*Elemental
 +
*Wild
 +
*Common
  
−
'''Divine''': Divine magic as per RQ, but tied to Pantheons.
+
These are purely cultural and anyone who can learn Low Magic can (in theory) learn any spell.
  
−
*Two Pantheons:  
+
You may learn spells up to your Int in points. (Minus any Talents or gifted Attributes).
−
**Rude Pantheon. A pragmatic Divine order with links to many diverse survivor gods, who have formed a survival compact with Mortal Races. Priests of the order form temporary bargains with gods in return for fulfilling divine requirements.
+
 
−
**Church of the Child. A variety of Orders with one link - the Child of Light, who reincarnates in a mortal form once every generation. The teachings of the different Children have led to a multiplicity of different Sects and Orders.
+
'''Divine'''
 +
 
 +
Divine magic as per RQIII, but tied to Pantheons. Through sacrifice of permanent POW, you build a 'Divine reservoir' which you fill out from the pantheons spells.
 +
These can be changed each time you pray for renewal, which will be daily or hourly depending on your rank.
 +
Divine ranks require high POW - 15 for Acolytes, 18 for full priests. Acolytes can only memorise 1/4 of their POW in spells, Priests 1/2.
 +
 
 +
*Three Pantheons:  
 +
**''Rude Pantheon''. A pragmatic Divine order with links to many diverse survivor gods, who have formed a survival compact with Mortal Races. Priests of the order form temporary bargains with gods in return for fulfilling divine requirements.
 +
**''Church of the Child''. A variety of Orders with one link - the Child of Light, who reincarnates in a mortal form once every generation. The teachings of the different Children have led to a multiplicity of different Sects and Orders.
 +
**''The Old Ways'' Druids, Bards, Lawspeakers, Smiths, rangers and witches, warlocks and old Earth gods.
  
 
*Can also worship in cults to individual gods.  
 
*Can also worship in cults to individual gods.  
 
*Can also be gained in limited ways from other traditions and guilds, who have patrons.
 
*Can also be gained in limited ways from other traditions and guilds, who have patrons.
−
** The Harpers Hall, The Guild of Sages, Philosophical Orders, The Old Ways, etc.
+
** The Harpers Hall, The Guild of Sages, Philosophical Orders, , etc.
−
Must embody a set of runes through divine deals or worship (temporary or permanent).
+
** These are semi divine orders, often with only a few divine spells.
 +
 
 +
'''Sorcery'''
  
−
'''Sorcery'''. Study of specific grimoires to learn a group of related spells. Many schools of sorcery are confined to specific rune combinations.
+
Could be MRQII Sorcery or BRP/Basic fantasy magic.
  
−
Many traditions have some sorcery. Could be MRQII Sorcery or BRP/Basic fantasy magic.
+
*Sorcery is the study of a Sorcerous Art (to manipulate spells). There are many. Each Sorcerous Art allows you to cast spells from Grimoires of that type.  
 +
*Sorcerors must also learn specific Grimoires to gain access to a group of related spells.
  
−
'''High Arts'''. Studies in very specific areas of magic. Alchemy, Necromancy, Summoning.
+
Many schools of sorcery are confined to very specific effects.
  
−
 
+
='''The Different Folk of Land Ends'''=
  
−
**[[Hearth magic]]
+
*Different breeds of human inhabit Land Ends - this often leads to humans having different baseline Attributes from normal. The common types in the area are mentioned, but there may be others.
  
 +
*Folk of Illis
 +
*Valley/Sea folk(local)Golts or Gelts - Std
 +
*Mountain Folk: Gaults or Goltish (locals) - Std (From the Lees Plateau)
 +
*Wood folk: Gern or Cern (locals) - Std
  
−
Less common but available.
+
The above make up 80% of the population.
  
−
**Law, Chaos or Trade (Balance) Servants. Must be bonded to the Runes of Magic, Mastery and the relevant rune.
+
*Sylvan folk: Bacchae or Woses. -2 Int, +2 Con and Cha (from the elder woods - Relics)
 +
*Elder Folk:Limnis. -3 Str, Siz, Con. +3 Int, Pow.(from the elder woods - Relics)
 +
*Andermen: -3 Siz.(from the Fells. Minor race.)
 +
*Helleas: -3 Str, Con. +3 Pow,Cha. (old slave race)
 +
*Islanders: Vanu or Piri : +2 Str and Siz. (from across the seas)
 +
*Bladhamers: -6 Siz, +3 Con. (old Servant race)
 +
*Goblins: Heabog or Snauk: -3 Str, Siz. +3 Dex. (from the Fells)
  
−
=='''The Folk'''==
+
*There are many non-human races or oddities in the area - generally creations of the great powers.
  
−
*Different Folk or breeds of human inhabit Land Ends - this often leads to humans having different baseline Attributes from normal. The common types in the area are mentioned, but there may be others.
+
'''Other well known folk of Lands End'''
  
−
**Local Folk
+
*Republic of the Lees is the formal title of the Leelander Republic. The population is mainly Goltish or Gaults, but there is a minor race of Fenlings along the coast of the Shallows.
−
**Mountain Folk
+
Fenlings -4 Siz, Str, +2 Con, Dex. Semi-Aquatic, excellent swimmers.
−
**Wood folk
 
−
**Sylvan folk
 
−
**Elder Folk
 
−
**Andermen
 
−
**Halleas
 
  
 +
*The Haut: Haut were a Powers idealised nomad guard. They still reside in the area sculpted for them before the Fall.
 +
These days, there are two breeds of Haut - the old Kloos or Dragon Haut and the New Clans, who make up 80% of the population.
  
−
*There are many non-human races or oddities in the area - generally creations of the great powers.  
+
Old Haut: +1 Str, Siz, Con.
 +
New Clans: -2 Siz, +2 Con.
 +
 
 +
All humans can still interbreed, so they are Races.
 +
Old Haut dont...they try to keep their bloodline pure. There are only 10 000 or so left. They are idealised nomadic barbarian horseman, not really fit for the practicalities of true steppe living. Everything about them is too big. Their mounts are too large, too hungry, their technology and weaponry require too much metal and they are large, not compact people. They have survived through acting as a warrior clan for the New Clans.
 +
The new Clans are survivors who came to the Haut for help and knowledge after the Fall. They are mainly local races, interbred with the now extinct plains folk and the few Haut who sire bastards.
 +
 
 +
Most border cultures (Primitive peoples, desert nomads, border States) will be standard human.
 +
 
 +
'''Raft People'''
 +
These encompass several closely related groups of people, with a shared heritage as an experiment from one of the more benevolent High Powers. They can be divided in two very broad groups, the settled ones and the semi-nomadic ones. The settled groups live on the islands and on small villages made up of a crazy maze of rafts, small boats and stilt homes. They are poor people but trade some with neigbouring lands, mostly various forms of fish and other sea food, sponges and pearls. Their economy has slowly improved over the last few decades.
 +
The nomadic groups follow different sholes of desired fish depending on the season. Small groups of a few families often band together but no groups would exceed more than two or three families. Once a year they all try to head back to their cousins for the great ceremonies and markets that are becoming increasingly important in keeping cultural continuity between the two groups. This is a time of trade, marriage negotiations, tall tales and so on.
  
−
Possible Exceptions are folk of the five forms:
+
Both groups are peaceful, though the settled folks are becoming increasingly aware that they present a target for both slavers and raiders. Many of their barge towns have become too complex to easily untangle for a quick escape.
−
** The Dverger. People of the Land. A range of giant to small, strong and durable folk, long lived and tied to the Primal Runes.
 
−
** The Lios. People of the Spirit. A range of  large to small, light and subtle folk, long lived and tied to the Spirit Runes.
 
−
** The Saur. People of the Dragon. A range of giant to small, long lived hardy folk, tied to the Dragon Runes.
 
−
** The Taur. People of the Wild. A range of Large to small hybrid folk embodying beast and human forms. Tied to the Beast Rune.
 
−
** The Huldre. People of the Green. A range of giant to tiny folk with plant based attributes. Tied to the Plant Rune.
 
  
−
==Experience ==
+
They often have great stamina and peculiar powers related to their life style, such as being able to hold their breath far longer than most people, swimming deeper into the ocean and so on. Some say they can even communicate with dolphins and sing with whales. Some reportedly have finely scaled skin and webbed hands and feet, though that may just be rumours.
  
−
I want to start characters as the equivalent of newly made knights, adept or acolyte magicians or priests, etc.
+
'''The Shallow seas'''
−
To this end, i'd like people to pick a background from RQ3 that best suits their concept [Nomad Warrior, etc]. You get 10 years training then raise five skills by 25%, Three by 40% and one skill by 50%.
+
(Ill have to put that back on the map) receive the full blast of the warm Western current. The reef shown is coral and the sheltered areas teem with tropical marine life. The sea should be dotted with tiny islands, reefs, atolls, giant kelp beds, etc. These people hunt sharks and giant crabs in the shallows and whales along the continental shelf.
  
−
*Anyone skilled in Divine Magic, Sorcery or Spirit Magic[Summoning] will add all the bonuses usually given to ceremony, etc to their magic working skills.
+
'''The Folk of Seven Forms'''
−
*Anyone with any low magics [common magics] can add any of the old bonuses to their relevant lore skill.
 
  
−
==NPC bases==
+
These are the generally accepted sentient 'Races' or cultures, according to accepted knowledge in Land Ends. All are considered to be rare and exotic, living for the most part away from humans.
 +
They are each associated with a Form rune and the man/folk rune.
  
−
Untrained
+
*The Shee. People of the Spirit. A range of large to small, light and subtle folk, long lived and tied to the Spirit Runes.
−
Basic
+
*The Kin. People of the Folk/man rune. Humans in all their wondrous variety.
−
Trained
+
*The Saurii. People of the Dragon. A range of giant to small, long lived hardy folk, tied to the Dragon Runes.
−
Experienced
+
*The Taurii. People of the Wild. A range of Large to small hybrid folk embodying beast and human forms. Tied to the Beast Runes.
−
Master
+
*The Huldre. People of the Green. A range of giant to tiny folk with plant based attributes. Tied to the Plant Runes.
 +
*The Dverger. People of the Land. A range of giant to small, strong and durable folk, long lived and tied to the Primal Runes.
 +
*The Nerii, People of the Waters. A range of colossal to small aquatic beings, tied to the Water Runes. They're not counted among the Six Forms because land dwellers don't usually have much interaction with them, lacking any common language or medium of communication, since air breathers can't speak in water and vice versa, just to begin with.
  
 
=Local Knowledge=
 
=Local Knowledge=
−
==Land Ends==
+
== A Map of Land Ends==
 
Land Ends is an East Facing Strip along the border of the continent. The area pictured is in the 40 degree north equivalent latitudes. The East Side experiences a mild Maritime climate, the area around the Lesser Sea a more Mediterranean climate. The Eastmarch Valley is a Temperate Seasonal climate.
 
Land Ends is an East Facing Strip along the border of the continent. The area pictured is in the 40 degree north equivalent latitudes. The East Side experiences a mild Maritime climate, the area around the Lesser Sea a more Mediterranean climate. The Eastmarch Valley is a Temperate Seasonal climate.
  
 
There are scattered, semi nomadic peoples to the West and South of the EastMarch, across the Sea to the Lonely Shores there are Saurian Tribes. The Elder Wood is home to several small nations, including a grand City-State on the shores of the Lesser Sea. The towns near Irdis deep are all independent and involved in petty wars.
 
There are scattered, semi nomadic peoples to the West and South of the EastMarch, across the Sea to the Lonely Shores there are Saurian Tribes. The Elder Wood is home to several small nations, including a grand City-State on the shores of the Lesser Sea. The towns near Irdis deep are all independent and involved in petty wars.
  
−
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r14/drifterne05/LandEnds.jpg
+
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r14/drifterne05/MegamapII-1.jpg
  
 
==A map of Motley and the EastMarch==
 
==A map of Motley and the EastMarch==
Line 201: Line 368:
 
Old Odd is the centre of the village, despite being smaller. It is here you will find the market once a week, and the few buildings devoted to anything other than living and working.
 
Old Odd is the centre of the village, despite being smaller. It is here you will find the market once a week, and the few buildings devoted to anything other than living and working.
  
−
Families and clans: [on average, a family will be 5 people, a clan 10] total population is usually 375 or so. You are currently missing about 20% of the population [70 people], mostly the fighting age men and women and their leaders.
+
Families and clans: [on average, a family will be 5 people, a clan 10] total population is usually 675 or so.  
  
−
* 9 clans of Local folk [Olive skinned, brown hair and eyes. The 'average' human]
+
* 24 clans of Local folk [Olive skinned, brown hair and eyes. The 'average' human]
−
** 5 fishing clans, devoted to various aspects of gathereing ocean harvests.
+
** 15 fishing clans, devoted to various aspects of gathereing ocean harvests.
−
** 3 farming clans, devoted to a mix of hillside and bottomland farming.
+
** 8 farming clans, devoted to a mix of hillside and bottomland farming.
 
** 1 Milling clan, devoted to the growth, grinding and baking of grains.
 
** 1 Milling clan, devoted to the growth, grinding and baking of grains.
  
−
* 3 clans of Mountain folk [Fairer skinned, tending to blondes and redheads] From the North and the Lee Plateaus.
+
* 6 clans of Mountain folk [Fairer skinned, tending to blondes and redheads] From the North and the Lee Plateaus.
−
**2 Herding clans, devoted to cattle, sheep and goats, the production of dairy, and butchering.
+
**4 Herding clans, devoted to cattle, sheep and goats, the production of dairy, and butchering.
−
**1 Orcharding clan, devoted to the growth of cooler fruits, Olives, and oil production.
+
**2 Orcharding clans, devoted to the growth of cooler fruits, Olives, and oil production.
  
−
*3 clans of woodfolk [smaller, nore nimble]. Originally from the Great Sylan Lords parklands.
+
*3 clans of Elderfolk [smaller, nore nimble]. Originally from the Great Sylan Lords parklands.
 
**1 Forestry clan, devoted to the management of the local woods and creatures therein.
 
**1 Forestry clan, devoted to the management of the local woods and creatures therein.
 
**1 Fishing clan, involved in pearl of shell and dye-making, as well as exotic sea goods.
 
**1 Fishing clan, involved in pearl of shell and dye-making, as well as exotic sea goods.
 
**1 Farming/gathering clan, devoted to the gathering of wild growth foods, herbs and spices.
 
**1 Farming/gathering clan, devoted to the gathering of wild growth foods, herbs and spices.
  
−
* 2 Families of High Goblins. [from the Fells]
+
* 2 Families of Underfolk. [from the Fells]
 
**1 Ponyriders clan, Devoted to the breeding, training and use of forest ponies, donkeys and Mules.
 
**1 Ponyriders clan, Devoted to the breeding, training and use of forest ponies, donkeys and Mules.
 
**1 farming/fishing clan, devoted to subsistance living and labour for hire.
 
**1 farming/fishing clan, devoted to subsistance living and labour for hire.
  
−
* 4 clans of Andermen [short, rounder, healthy] Originally from the Parklands
+
* 8 clans of Andermen [short, rounder, healthy] Originally from the Fells.
 
**1 Ponyriders/Houndbreeders clan, devoted to the breeding, raising and selling of ponies and hounds.
 
**1 Ponyriders/Houndbreeders clan, devoted to the breeding, raising and selling of ponies and hounds.
 
**3 Fishing clans, devoted mainly to shoreline and river/pond/lake fishing and the finding of exotic water foods.
 
**3 Fishing clans, devoted mainly to shoreline and river/pond/lake fishing and the finding of exotic water foods.
 +
**4 Crafting clans, mainly in timbers and ropes.
  
−
* 1 Family of Water Goblins [from the Fells]
+
* 1 Family of Undersea folk [from the Fells]
 
**Fishing clan, devoted to deep sea fishing and working with Dolphins.
 
**Fishing clan, devoted to deep sea fishing and working with Dolphins.
  
−
* 2 Families of Elder Folk.
+
* 6 Families of Old Northerner Folk.
 
**1 Crafters family, working in Iron and Wood, leather and other, more exotic goods.
 
**1 Crafters family, working in Iron and Wood, leather and other, more exotic goods.
 
**1 Archers clan, devoted to the making of bows and accessories, their instruction, use and hunting skills.
 
**1 Archers clan, devoted to the making of bows and accessories, their instruction, use and hunting skills.
  
−
* 2 clans of Northerners [big,strong]
+
* 2 clans of Islanders [big,strong]
 
**1 fishing clan, devoted to deep water runs and whale hunting.
 
**1 fishing clan, devoted to deep water runs and whale hunting.
 
**1 Herding clan, devoted to goats and high mountain sheep.
 
**1 Herding clan, devoted to goats and high mountain sheep.
  
−
* 1 clan of Water Folk.[small, nimble,semi-aquatic]
+
* 1 clan of Otter Folk.[small, nimble,semi-aquatic]
 
**Devoted to deep diving and pearl of shell gathering.
 
**Devoted to deep diving and pearl of shell gathering.
  
−
* 1 family of Hellas [Bred as servants to the Powers]
+
* 1 family of Helleas [Bred as servants to the Powers]
 
**Devoted to healing and herbs/spice gathering. Also, inverventions with house and evil spirits.  
 
**Devoted to healing and herbs/spice gathering. Also, inverventions with house and evil spirits.  
  
−
* 2 clans of Earth Folk. [short,broad,muscular, tireless]
+
* 2 clans of Bladhamers. [short,broad,muscular, tireless]
 
**1 shale gathering clan, devoted to the gathering, shaping and use of high quality shale and slate.
 
**1 shale gathering clan, devoted to the gathering, shaping and use of high quality shale and slate.
 
**1 Fishing clan, devoted to deep water and shoreline netting.
 
**1 Fishing clan, devoted to deep water and shoreline netting.
  
−
* 1 clan of Sylvan folk [tall, nimble, wise, lack strength]
+
* 1 clan of Bacchae. [tall, charming, lacking wisdom]
 
**Devoted to the production of wines and ciders, the growing and grafting of grapes and apples.
 
**Devoted to the production of wines and ciders, the growing and grafting of grapes and apples.
  
−
* 9 'Mixed' clans - open to joining by outsiders without marriage or blood ties, unlike a normal clan or family. vitally important to the social fabric of Motley and the whole Lee Kingdoms, these 'mixed' clans gave the homeless and lost a sense of place and belonging in the days after the moons tear. 120 years of tradition have cemented them into the social fabric alongside family or 'blood' clans.  
+
* 9 'Mixed' clans - open to joining by outsiders without marriage or blood ties, unlike a normal clan or family. Vitally important to the social fabric of Motley and the whole Lee Kingdoms, these 'mixed' clans gave the homeless and lost a sense of place and belonging in the days after the moons tear.
 +
120 years of tradition have cemented them into the social fabric alongside family or 'blood' clans.  
 
**The workers clan. a collection of small families who work mainly for others.
 
**The workers clan. a collection of small families who work mainly for others.
 
**The fishers clan. a collection of small families who make their living from the sea.
 
**The fishers clan. a collection of small families who make their living from the sea.
Line 256: Line 425:
 
**The Militia clan. Maintains and supports the watchtowers, their gardens and foodstores, weapons and provisions.
 
**The Militia clan. Maintains and supports the watchtowers, their gardens and foodstores, weapons and provisions.
 
**The Crafters clan. An unofficial clan made up of all practicing craftmasters without immediate clan ties, and their families.
 
**The Crafters clan. An unofficial clan made up of all practicing craftmasters without immediate clan ties, and their families.
−
**The Manor clan. Another unofficial clan. Composed of the knight, his family and entourage, their families and hangers on.
+
**The Citadel clan. Another unofficial clan. Composed of the knight, his family and entourage, their families and hangers on.
 
**The Temple. All the associated folk who run and maintain the Temple of the Rude Pantheon.
 
**The Temple. All the associated folk who run and maintain the Temple of the Rude Pantheon.
 
**The New Temple. All the folk who are associated with the Temple of the Child of Light.
 
**The New Temple. All the folk who are associated with the Temple of the Child of Light.
Line 262: Line 431:
 
**The Clan Marine. A local version of the Militia clans common to the kingdom.The local version requires decent boating skills.  
 
**The Clan Marine. A local version of the Militia clans common to the kingdom.The local version requires decent boating skills.  
  
−
The manor is made of logs. Here is a map of sorts.
+
The citadel is made of logs. Here is a map of sorts.
  
 
==A map of Odd Manor==
 
==A map of Odd Manor==
Line 268: Line 437:
 
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r14/drifterne05/arbagemanor.jpg
 
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r14/drifterne05/arbagemanor.jpg
  
−
=Nearby Places and Facts=
+
=[[Nearby Places and Facts]]=
−
 
 
−
==Bladhame==
 
−
Bladhame, "Son of the Stones", was a (Dvergar/Mountain Folk) fortress at some point in the distant past; a mountain hollowed out through unknown magics or unimaginable labor. A handful of folk dwell today, along with odd mountain races and a great many humans. Precisely what killed the original inhabitants of the city remains a mystery, but stories and theories abound. Ask any two Bladhamers, and you'll hear half a dozen tales between them.
 
−
 
 
−
It remains, however, one of the few remaining gateways to the World Below. Behind enormous stone doors, sealed with runes and sigils of obscure and arcane power, Taggit Dal Uggrit ("The Road That The Sun Never Sees") still runs deep into the earth, bringing the occasional caravan from the peoples who dwell below.
 
−
 
 
−
The trade in strange goods and stranger knowledge, these merchants, and none can truthfully claim to have seen their faces. But they deal honestly and well, and their occasional presence has drawn folk from great distances with the hope of learning...or acquiring...something that will give them a bit of power.
 
−
 
 
−
==The Older Ones==
 
−
Late on the quietest winter nights, some of the shormost residents of Odd Arbage say that they can hear, just for a moment in the dead of night, a strange bell tolling out across the waters. By day, the stories are ridiculed, dismissed; but on those nights, the people of Odd Arbage shutter their windows tight and keep a roaring fire.
 
−
 
 
−
The oldest among them speak tales, when in their cups, of a time when the bells were answered by bells from the shore, and when they were they drew closer, and dark happenings took place at the shoreline.
 
−
 
 
−
But that hasn't happened for nigh-on twenty years, they say, though they glance fearfully at the odd gold trinkets that are in some family heirloom collections: little-worn and ill-favoured by all but the most brazen, who often come to a bad end.
 
−
 
 
−
Have new trinkets been seen around the town of Odd Arbage? None are sure. Perhaps the stories are so long-forgotten that the pieces are no longer seen as cursed. Perhaps some benighted jeweller is replicating them out of ignorance or misguided curiosity.
 
−
 
 
−
But the fishing this year has been the best ever; better even than the year before that, which was better again than the year before that... and some of the old folk wonder to themselves, and stoke roaring fires...
 
−
 
 
−
==The Movealong Shadows==
 
−
Once there were villages in the foothills of the Karstfells, to the west. Some of the elders can still remember when they were burned out, or found empty. Now only wild men, the nomads, dare to dwell there, and even they speak of enemies that come in the dark, through some moonless night or thick fog, leaving behind only empty tents to be found in the morning. None know who or what they are, but they move through the rocky hills like ghosts, evading watches and guards. Each dark night you camp in the same place you risk them finding you, and then you are never seen again.
 
−
 
 
−
==The Karstfells==
 
−
The Fells have a bad reputation, getting steadily worse the further west you go...which pushes Bladhames trade route undergound, where these attacks, oddly, never occur.
 
−
 
 
−
Your character might have been driven out of the Karstfells as a child...or know more than he's telling.
 
−
 
 
−
Considering the Karstfells as the fantasy equivalent of Bolivia/Central America cave system wise, this creates an environment where the surface is bleak and dangerous and the underearth is possibly safer and a more diverse, vibrant ecology...probably connecting to underwater rivers and ocean openings [a sunless sea or two?], where ancient marine races have found their contemptuous
 
−
conquerers to now be a thing of history...
 
−
 
 
−
==The Hellas clan==
 
−
 
 
−
The Hellas clan has been in Motley since the world changed...though their circumstances have changed somewhat. The result of twisted, magical crossbreeding between higher and lower outsider bloodlines, the Hellas were magical accessories, bred much as pets are in some cultures.
 
−
Those few in Motley at the time of the world change were part of the retinue of a minor local Power. When he vanished in a flash of light along with his inner circle, those Hellas left banded together with a few refugees to form their own clan - specialising in otherworldly magics.
 
−
 
 
−
There is only one family of Hellas clan in Odd Arbage - Natt the healer, his wife Eleanor the Herber and their daughter Bough - who seems to have a way with spirits and such.
 
−
 
 
−
==The Brotherhood of the Blessed Bolt==
 
−
The Brotherhood of the Blessed Bolt
 
−
 
 
−
This organization of wandering ranger/paladins formed after the Fall of the Moon's Tear to deal with the monstrosities that still roamed the land.
 
−
 
 
−
They do not crusade. They hunt and protect.
 
−
 
 
−
As monstrosities declined, so did the Brotherhood. Most went on far-ranging journeys to find evil, and few ever came back. Those that stayed became more like knights-errant, wandering and dispensing justice as they saw fit. Those few though kept the memory of the traditions alive, the techniques of monster-hunting, of the various weaknesss and vulnerbilites of demons, devils, lycanthropes and worse.
 
−
 
 
−
They revere the Father Sun, whose face watches and judges them by their actions everyday.
 
−
 
 
−
A fallen Brother is said to have forgotten the face of his father.
 
−
 
 
−
They train not so much in direct combat, as in stealth and attack from a distance, using specially crafted repeating crossbows.
 
−
 
 
−
==The Archivists Order==
 
−
They call themselves, in their clandestine meetings, the Archivists. Others call them thieves. Some few refer to them as the Bookwyrms, and regard them with a special sort of loathing.
 
−
 
 
−
The Archivists feel that is their divinely appointed task to accumulate as much knowledge as possible, in any and all possible form, and to cache it in hidden places to keep it from being lost forever the next time that the Moon sheds a tear.
 
−
 
 
−
Some, it must be admitted, take this sacred duty rather more seriously than others.....
 
−
 
 
−
==The Sambaqui Mounds==
 
−
Dotted along the coast of the Lesser Sea are barrow-like mounds known as Sambaquis, mostly overgrown and unnoticeable. The Church maintains that they are simply piles of refuse, shells and broken pottery, from ancient primitives who once lived here.
 
−
 
 
−
The common people know better, however. The Sambaqui are burial mounds for the first of the Kuo-Toa kings. Any man who sets foot on one of the mounds is blighted - he will never raise a son to take his place and his dreams will shrivel. A woman who steps on a Sambaqui will have her children taken by the Kuo-Toa but will be blessed with unnatural health.
 
−
 
 
−
It is said that the Barons, ignorant of common wisdom, have all stepped on Sambaqui and have even taken taken some of their wealth from the mounds. But they have paid the price.
 
−
 
 
−
*Characters are part of a small community who lose the majority of their defenders in a conflict - the PC's are the apprentices, squires and initiates who were left behind to provide a skeleton guard. Now they are all that is left. Using a 'points of light' [more a 'dark ages', really] background for the setting, the game becomes about dealing with the outcome of most of your workforce [and family] being dead, keeping the community alive and replacing all the lost resources that losing most of its fighting population results in. This will be hard to do in a resource poor world [if you consider population as a resource].
 
−
 
 
−
*The concept is fairly different to 'normal' [in the loosest sense] D&D, in that the characters start with a vital objective [save the village] and a resource poor environment to do it in [no high levels, no magic traders]. The community itself becomes the 'treasure' and the characters need to defend it from bands of looting orcs, various baddies and other adventurers... and the replacement of people in a small community is a long term objective, inclined to tie the party to one area.
 
−
 
 
−
 
 
−
==Gods and the Rude Pantheon==
 
−
The relationship between mortals and gods is fundamentally different in this campaign.
 
−
The Grand and High Powers planted their heels firmly on the neck of many deities, great and small, during their increasingly insane reign. Some, like Pelor, Ehlonna and Boccob, who's existence is woven into the make of the world, were supressed into little more than their earthly manifestations [Sun, woods and magic]. Others, like Lolth and Yondalla, were enslaved. Some fled and hid, some were killed. All were humbled.
 
−
When Bahamut fell and the Winds stilled, the world paused...and one of his semi divine sons took the mantle of Bahamut. The magical and philosophical implications of this are still being fought out in the hearts of mortals and Outsiders alike.
 
−
 
 
−
Only the primal forces of Nature and the Middle Way endured unchanged as their existence was the canvas on which the Powers made their marks. The Old Ways, woven into the interdependence of existence, were only in danger near the end, when the Powers began to claw down existence and were flattened by nudging the Wheel. As those clerics who have had [oddly frank] divine messages answered can attest to, the Moon's Tear had a number of effects across all the planes, all fatal to the powers and their ilk - and many others besides. Apparently, Hell and the Abyss are pretty much empty.
 
−
 
 
−
The Gods of the Rude Pantheon
 
−
 
 
−
This is a religion - a new approach to faith between the devout and the Deities that remain. Inspired by Caeran Twiceborn, who died and lived again after talking with the god of Death, who was a god without a name. Returning to life is not unknown, but returning after a year and a day is.
 
−
The story from there is long and involved, but the part crucial to the church is the compact it promises between gods and mortals - namely that gods will strive together to ceate a better world as mortals must. Old emnities are not part of the Church's way, and the
 
−
"Rude Pantheon" is called so with understanding of it's possible interpretations.
 
−
 
 
−
In practical terms, the Rude Pantheon is a collection of the remnants of the gods of another age...and the few who have arisen since the Moon's Tear.
 
−
There are many other Gods and semidivine beings, but they are generally unimportant in the area.
 
−
 
 
−
==The Gods and goddesses that remain.==
 
−
All deities except for Crom cruach are from the 3.5 greyhawk campaign, so theres a pile of information on them out there if you need it.
 
−
 
 
−
All the Gods and goddesses of the rude Pantheon are in bold. The Church is built around a combination of romanesque local god acquisition and the practicalities of both mortal and divinity surviving the age of Powers.
 
−
a note on the condition of Gods.
 
−
 
 
−
A [[Returning God]] is one who was suppressed during the reign of the Powers. Their influence in the world is now far more embedded in what they represent, with much less free will.
 
−
 
 
−
A [[Broken God]]is one who was used and abused in some manner by the Powers. most have suffered power loss and permanent disabling/crippling injuries of some sort. they cannot really be worshipped with any regular expectation of help, but provide a general amount of power for clerics of a pantheon [such as the rude Pantheon]to draw upon.
 
−
 
 
−
A [[Dead God]] is just that - gone from the world. you will not that no major god is truly dead - someone/thing has taken their place.
 
−
more minor deities tend not to have as well defined a portfolio for some ambitious demibeing to occupy.
 
−
 
 
−
Lords of Law Major
 
−
 
 
−
* '''Bahamut''' [G] Wind Cold (Metal Dragons). Was killed and 're embodied' in one of his sons.
 
−
* '''Heironeous''' [G] Chivalry, valor, war. A Broken God.
 
−
* '''Hextor''' [E] Tryranny, conflict, fitness to rule. A Broken God.
 
−
These brothers, while they have not set aside their viewpoints, now have a truce of compact.
 
−
* Kurtulmak [E] Traps, (Kobolds). A Silent God, unheard from since the time of Powers.
 
−
* '''Moradin''' [G] Smithing, building (Dwarves-once). A returned God. Dwarves refuse to worship him.
 
−
* Tiamat [E] Conquest, Trickery (Chromatic Dragons). A broken Goddess. Her worshippers now only gain divine aid through blood relation.
 
−
* '''Wee Jas''' [N] Death, magic, vanity. Scarred and enslaved by the powers, she is now the Goddess of Death only, and consort to the unnamed god of Afterlife.
 
−
* '''Yondalla'''[G] Protection, exploration (Halflings). A Broken Goddess. 
 
−
 
 
−
Lesser
 
−
 
 
−
* Cyndor[N] Time, the infinite. Dead - the post is now filled by a league of Outsiders
 
−
* Delleb[G] Scribes, writing, study, lore. Dead, though many strive to fill this position.
 
−
* Osprem[N] Ships, sea voyages, sailors. A returned God, now considered fickle. Proprietry worship only.
 
−
* '''Pholtus'''[G] Light, Order, Stability, steadfastness. Dead. A Solar of odd heritage holds this 'post'
 
−
* '''Rao'''[G] Peace, serenity, inner knowing [monks] Dead and returned. One of he few gods to come through the time of Powers with inner honor intact.
 
−
* Wastri[N] Animals, bigotry, purification. Gave himself to the Old Ways as is now part of their 'pantheon'
 
−
 
 
−
Circle of Nature Major
 
−
 
 
−
* '''Boccob''' [N] Knowledge, Magic. A Broken god, enslaved and drained by the Powers.
 
−
* Crom Cruach [N] Darkness, earth, stealth, trickery. Something awoken by the Deepfolk during the time of Powers, a grim, silent goddess who survived by never being anywhere.
 
−
* '''Ehlonna''' [G] Nature, forests, fertility, flora/fauna.(Humans). A returned goddess.
 
−
* Fharlanghn [N] Roads, travel, trade. Dead.
 
−
* '''Garl Glitter Gold''' [G] Humor, wisdom, trickery. The other God to survive without betraying his nature, Garl played a dangerous game of high Drama cat and mouse with the Powers most decadent and most in need of amusement . He is now the prime dwarf god...
 
−
* '''Nerull''' [E] Underworld, crimes, murder. A broken God, made blind.
 
−
* Obod-Hai [N] Nature, Freedom, hunting, animals.(Humans). A formerly enslaved God, broken to the demands of the Powers to service their creations. Now a suspicious, lonely and haunted version of himself.
 
−
* '''Pelor''' [G] The Sun, Light, Healing. A returned God, whose special place as ruler is now reduced to humble tasks.
 
−
* Vecna [E] Secrets, intrigue. A Broken god, literally a twisted Shadow of its former self.
 
−
 
 
−
Lesser
 
−
 
 
−
* Bralm[N] Insects and industry. Broken and twisted to many tasks. Now beyond the reach of all but a few followers of the Old Way.
 
−
* Celestian[N] Astronomy, Wanderers. Dead. His dying was cruel and long.
 
−
* Geshtai[N] rivers and lakes. Broken and enslaved, now a haunting echo confined to magic gifts over or in water.
 
−
* Incubalos[E] Plague, famine, disaster. Dead. His sphere is contested by foul things of the outer planes.
 
−
* Istus[N] Destiny, the future, foretelling. A Returned God, now considered fickle.
 
−
* Joramy[N] Volcanoes, wrath. Dead.
 
−
* Moquol[N] Trade and negotiation. Dead
 
−
* Pyremius[E] assassins, poison, fire. Dead
 
−
* Tharizdun [E] Insanity, destruction. Dead
 
−
* Xan Yae [N] shadows and stealth. Dead
 
−
* Zuoken[N] Mental power, inner strength [monks] Dead
 
−
 
 
−
Courts of Chaos: Major
 
−
 
 
−
* '''Corellon Larethian''' [G/N] Arts, Music, Magic. (Elves) A partly enslaved and broken god who survived by dissappearing into their spheres of influence. Now darker in attitude.
 
−
* Erythrul [E] War, frenzy, slaughter, panic. Broken and enslaved. This god is now near mindless and lends only the powers that bear his name.
 
−
* '''Gruumsh''' [E] War, territory, leadership. (Orc kind) Now blind, crippled and forced to depend on others.
 
−
* Kord [G] Strength, courage, fitness. [monks] Dead. A human with mighty relics of the god stands in his stead.
 
−
* Lolth [E] Darkness, spiders, deceit (Dark Elves). Broken and enslaved.
 
−
 
 
−
Lesser
 
−
 
 
−
* Beltar[E] Malice, caves. Dead
 
−
* Iuz[E] Deceit Dead
 
−
* Llir[G] Poetry and the Arts. Insane.
 
−
* '''Llerg[N]''' Beasts, nature. Broken
 
−
* '''Procan'''[N] Oceans, seas, water. Broken and enslaved.
 
−
* Telchur[N] Cold, winter.
 
−
* '''Tritherion'''[G] Individuality, Liberty. Broken.
 
−
 
 
−
 
 
−
Religion, like other things, goes through cycles. The current cycle in
 

Latest revision as of 10:29, 21 April 2012


The Motley Crew: Campaign Background[edit]

Welcome to Cinnibar and Odd Arbage, a Provincial rivermouth town and Village port, respectively. They are located at the end of the world in a Dark age. You are the crew of the Motley a ship of indeterminate size but enough heart for bold adventures in an age of Bronze and Iron.

Campaign Setup[edit]

This is the wiki page for the campaign setting of The Motley Crew, an odd band cast into dangerous times at the end of the world.

Countless (450) years ago, a piece of the moon fell from the sky and destroyed the Great Powers, who had grown decadent and dangerous. You are the descendents of their servants, subjects and pets.

This is a Bronze Age setting with limited magic, where Iron is slowly altering the way magic is used. Most gods are now silent in the world.

The known lands are filled with humans of many different cultures and races. There are other, stranger creatures and peoples on the fringes of the world.

The people of your home areas are civilized and live as part of a larger Empire. However, your local area has seen three empires in the last 200 years and is still here.

Characters and Players[edit]

Ineya Boat people girl. Played by Jarulf

Sithalkes, son of Teres A Warrior from the high valleys of the Lees, played by Asen_G

Logan the seaborne A man with no past, played by t@nya.

Malie Hinapouri 'Shark in the dark of the moon'. A spirit Warrior from the Islands==, played by Bulya.

  • Chalkine
  • Max

Character creation

Equipment[edit]

We are using Price Listsfrom Griffin Island.

for a more expanded list, use [1], Duncan Ianin MacLeod's excellent website. If prices clash, go with griffin mountain.


Starting Gear[edit]

Assuming an average level of wealth

  • 100silver +200silver in goods
  • An average outfitting of weapons and non metal armour.
  • If your profession pushed you higher up the social scale, this increases.

For instance, Bulya's character was a spirit-warrior of the Shark, so will have access to to metal armour.

  • Anyone can voluntarily up their social standing pre-game, as long as you can justify it. A crafter might have a small workshop in Odd...or be the head of a coral/pearl/shell trading empire and be living in one of the big houses near the citadel.

Once you've set your status, though, you will need to support it. Being poor has its advantages for adventurers.

Setting[edit]

Languages[edit]

  • There is a trade Argot , though it doesnt rise above 50% + mod.
  • The base language for motley would be Gott, with a lot of people speaking the elder tongue.
  • Low and high Gault are the languages of the Empire - Low Gault and Gott are related (half chance to understand the other)
  • Islander is totally unrelated to any other language nearby.

The Shallow Seas Ocean Daughter[edit]

The Mother Ocean has many daughters and they are the seas of the world. In the shallow seas they call her daughter The Rainbow Daughter. She is the mother of all the corals and creatures that call the place home.

There are many spirits within her realm, but they define themselves by their relationship to her. Deep ocean has other spirits. Islands each have a spirit and the people who llive there need to acknowledge them.

Rainbow Daughter has two lovers - the sun and the clouds. When she is with one, the other rages. Her many children are the animals and humans that live on or in her.

History[edit]

The Grand and Terrible Age

When the Grand and High Powers finally fell to arrogance and insane magics in the Great Age, they took much of the Light out of the world.

  • Whole peoples, lands, spirits and divine beings became pieces and pawns in their elaborate, ritual wars and amusements.
  • They bent time and space, plane and cosmos to their bidding, summoning Eldritch horrors to their own amusements, stocking and populating grand territories with their own creations.
  • They violated ancient and divine precepts and slaughtered their avengers.
  • They began to bring change to the very fibre of reality to accommodate their increasing perversities.

The Great Wheel finally turned. So much so that the Moon, it’s mother, spun a tear from the sky to finally quell the Grand and High Powers.

The Grand and High Powers, in their arrogance unrepentant, were destroyed in a Light that decimated the Known lands.


The Moons Burn.

Completely destroyed every Grand or High Power, any offspring, anything that contained any of their essence or fragment of their spirit. It reached across all the known worlds at the same time and even into the infinite. All trace of the Powers ceased to be.

The Tear of the Moon fell on the heart of the Powers Empire and destroyed half the world - leaving behind huge, glassy wastelands surrounded by desert or desolate badlands.

Only in places like Land Ends, where tall mountain ranges absorbed and deflected the worst of the Moons Burn, did people survive. Even here, great storms boiled overhead, thier rain and lightning seeking out and destroying any trace of the Grand and High Powers.

History begins

Things that were not part of the Powers survived the Moons Burn if they were not touched by the great burning light directly. This included people. Most of the survivors were servants of the Powers, their pets or slaves, unwitting or otherwise. With all the great wonders and everyday magics of the Powers gone, most peoples fell to barbarism or reverted to more primitive lifestyles. Here and there, cities or estates held on to enough knowledge and civilisation to use metals and mills and keep some of the old skills alive. Most of these places, like Motley, have a similar history, holding on to enough of a civilization to weather the Storm and the chaos afterwards.

Recent history That was a long time ago as the Sages tell it, in the lives of long dead ancestors. Those who count say it's been 442 solar years.

But the world still feels small this side of the mountains that saved the remnant populations of the hundreds of different types of subject peoples, left behind when the Grand and High powers were consumed and used to rebalance the world.

Illis is an isolated citadel and market town and has been for nearly 200 years - although two Kingdoms and three Empires have come and gone, Illis has been Illis through all of it. The same with Odd Arbage, one of several villages and clans owing loyalty to Illis. It is a Cliffside fishing town and deepwater port, home, like Illis, do well over a dozen clans and bloodlines from the last age. It has a small Keep and residing Captain, three shrines and a small collection of houses and homes. It is also home to the adventurers.

The area is ruled by the Illisian Prince, now Governor and Marshall of Eastport - a title that has changed hands more than once. The current Prince hopes to establish a legacy, but then so did the last three.

Between them, the Town and Villages provide shelter for 4 000 souls, and support the surrounding 15 000 who work the land and sea. The province is sheltered between the Saviour Mounts to the East and North and the Karstfells to the West, and has very little flat, open land, except around the rivermouth. Odd Arbage sits East the mouth of the Aird river, which flows North and East through rugged, unnavigable twists and turns, all the way to the Lee Plateaus and the Republic of which Illis is currently a far-flung arm.

Not that it is an ignored subject - the fisherfolk bring in exotic Southern fish and other things, dyes and shells the sell well in the north. The same with the local fruit and root crops - all have a market far away, which means coin and exotic goods, and the folk of Illis grow barley and wheat enough only for their own needs. Even the peasants do well by Republican standards.

Add the small but steady merchant ship traffic that ventures into Odd Arbage from the Border colonies or Manii to the west, and the place is fairly cosmopolitan for a village of 650 odd.

Technology:[edit]

No Stirrups, no shipboard weapons.

Mature Bronze Age (Early Iron).

The civilized nations of Land Ends (and a few less civil) have built themselves around Bronze. Both Tin and Copper can be found locally and traded for fairly easily. Iron is available but until recently has been hard to find...many Powers had Iron mines that are now unstable or unworkable and any readily available source was too poor in quality. The Empire of the Lee Plateau (which has no name at present and only a vague political structure) has recently begun producing more Iron, mainly for infantry and heavy Cavalry.

The many, many barbarian and nomad tribes are generally able to buy or make some bronze, but a lot of it is acquired through trophy.

Some more primitive cultures don't use metal at all, especially ones isolated from general cultural contact.

Ships

As far as ships go, you are looking at single masted square rigged galleys, smaller lateen rigged coastal traders and single mast fishing boats as your most advanced ships. No wheel and rudder mechanisms and oars rule for speed. You'd rarely spend more than a night away from shore and most ships beach or layover at night. well known trade routes are the exception to this.


Magic use.

  • Must always have a POW of 15 - it it drops below this, magic ties are lost.
  • Iron effects all magic - a human can have contact with only a limited amount before it begins to disrupt it.
  • There is Spirit (or Common or Hedge) magic, but it is restricted to Members of Magical or Spiritual orders, commonly known as Low Magic.

This is the magic of Craft Guilds, Religious Orders, Barbarian warrior Lodges, witches and Warlocks, apothecary and Herbalist. Bards and initiates gain this sort of magic.

In the past it was more common. Part of its decline may be attributed to increased Iron usage.

  • Divine Magic is gained through the worship of and bargaining with divine forces. Only priests and champions may wield it. Druid types, too.
  • Spirit Magic is obtained through bargaining with spirits and only occasionally involves learning spells. More often, you have allied or bound spirits.
  • Sorcery Confined to the literate, must be learned from Grimoires.

I'll decide which books magic to use once people start creating their PC's.

Non Humans. Humans make up the peoples of Land Ends. There are many different kinds of people, some altered by powers in the past to be servants, pieces of Art or pets.

There are, however, many, many other sentient folk, though non human. Most are hybrids, like Centaurs and Satyrs - a mixture of human and animal forms.

There are Sauri, however - sentient creatures descended from the dragons. The two most common types are Saurians (lizardfolk), a generally savage people who inhabit warm, desert lands and Newtlings, who live along rivers and in swamps.

There are the giants and their descendents, too. They were common as the brute force component of a Powers lands or holdings, and their descendants plague the less hospitable parts of the world.

Most other sentients fall into the category of embodied forces from other planes of existence, from elementals to The Kind Folk to Gods and their servants.

These many, many races tend to exist away from human society or on its fringes - most have learned that humans make poor neighbours.

Themes[edit]

The Coming of Iron.[edit]

Iron has previously been a scarce metal, found either as relics of the great Age [in various forms of steel] or as bloom iron, pounded into wrought iron or layered steel. The Powers had Many uses for Iron in the past and have mined all but the meanest sources.

Iron affects magic. A little makes it unstable, a lot disrupts it entirely. Steel can be the same, but is sometimes a conduit for magic force instead. The hows and whys of this were known to the Powers, but that knowledge is yet to be regained.

I'd like to have a variety of different magic types in the game, based around systems from BRP, Legend and Runequest Three. Their relative rarity is up to you.


Magic Types[edit]

Possible magic types are:

Innate Magic

These are the inner magics of true skill that set heroes apart without them being spellcasters.

  • Natural Magic - Talented (skill % based).

Talents are skill based and each skill has a talent. Some people are born with a Talent, even before they master it and these are known as Birth talents. Some people develop a talent for a skill after years of practice (95%+ in the skill) These are known as Masteries.

  • Gifted Attribute.

Similarly, some people have Gifted Attributes - the warrior who always pulls off feats of strength, the scholar who can will an obscure piece of knowledge out of their memory, the tracker who can run all night. Each attribute can be taken as gifted.

  • Maximum umber of Talents and Gifted Attributes.

Each Gift/Talent takes up a point of your Int, in the same way spirit magic or Sorcery does. The three aren't eclusive, So a PC with Int 15, three talents and two gifted attributes has ten points available to memorise Low magic or Sorcery spells.

  • How to use Talents and Gifts

Talents/Gifts consume 1MP per 10% difference between a skill roll (or attribute test) and a desired result. Adding a special success (or a x 1 result for an attribute check) costs +3 pts over and above the % cost to reduce the roll to that level of success. Adding a critical success coss +6 pts.

  • Talents are used before a roll is made. MP cost is worked out after the roll is made.

For Gifted attributes: Attribute Tests fall into two types, Resistance rolls (Att vs some other force) and Characteristic rolls (Attribute x One to five gives degree of success)

MP's are consumed at the rate of 1 per 5% change on the resistance table or 1 per 10% reduction in a characteristic roll, +3MP for Attribute x1

Note: Talents and gifts are not considered magical, so magic hating types can still have them.

Magic schools.[edit]

Magical Talent

Only people with a Talent in a magical skill can use magic. The skill might be Worship Rude Pantheon, Low Magic, Sorcerous Art or something more specific.

This makes magic rare...you are either born to it or get there after great effort.

If you actually want to be talented in a magical skill, you need to use up two talents to do so - one to have magical talent, one to be talented in it.

Low or Common Magic

Learned from particular Backgrounds and Professions.

There are Six Subtypes or traditions of common magic:

  • Battle/Hunt
  • Craft/Hearth
  • Spirit
  • Elemental
  • Wild
  • Common

These are purely cultural and anyone who can learn Low Magic can (in theory) learn any spell.

You may learn spells up to your Int in points. (Minus any Talents or gifted Attributes).

Divine

Divine magic as per RQIII, but tied to Pantheons. Through sacrifice of permanent POW, you build a 'Divine reservoir' which you fill out from the pantheons spells. These can be changed each time you pray for renewal, which will be daily or hourly depending on your rank. Divine ranks require high POW - 15 for Acolytes, 18 for full priests. Acolytes can only memorise 1/4 of their POW in spells, Priests 1/2.

  • Three Pantheons:
    • Rude Pantheon. A pragmatic Divine order with links to many diverse survivor gods, who have formed a survival compact with Mortal Races. Priests of the order form temporary bargains with gods in return for fulfilling divine requirements.
    • Church of the Child. A variety of Orders with one link - the Child of Light, who reincarnates in a mortal form once every generation. The teachings of the different Children have led to a multiplicity of different Sects and Orders.
    • The Old Ways Druids, Bards, Lawspeakers, Smiths, rangers and witches, warlocks and old Earth gods.
  • Can also worship in cults to individual gods.
  • Can also be gained in limited ways from other traditions and guilds, who have patrons.
    • The Harpers Hall, The Guild of Sages, Philosophical Orders, , etc.
    • These are semi divine orders, often with only a few divine spells.

Sorcery

Could be MRQII Sorcery or BRP/Basic fantasy magic.

  • Sorcery is the study of a Sorcerous Art (to manipulate spells). There are many. Each Sorcerous Art allows you to cast spells from Grimoires of that type.
  • Sorcerors must also learn specific Grimoires to gain access to a group of related spells.

Many schools of sorcery are confined to very specific effects.

The Different Folk of Land Ends[edit]

  • Different breeds of human inhabit Land Ends - this often leads to humans having different baseline Attributes from normal. The common types in the area are mentioned, but there may be others.
  • Folk of Illis
  • Valley/Sea folk(local)Golts or Gelts - Std
  • Mountain Folk: Gaults or Goltish (locals) - Std (From the Lees Plateau)
  • Wood folk: Gern or Cern (locals) - Std

The above make up 80% of the population.

  • Sylvan folk: Bacchae or Woses. -2 Int, +2 Con and Cha (from the elder woods - Relics)
  • Elder Folk:Limnis. -3 Str, Siz, Con. +3 Int, Pow.(from the elder woods - Relics)
  • Andermen: -3 Siz.(from the Fells. Minor race.)
  • Helleas: -3 Str, Con. +3 Pow,Cha. (old slave race)
  • Islanders: Vanu or Piri : +2 Str and Siz. (from across the seas)
  • Bladhamers: -6 Siz, +3 Con. (old Servant race)
  • Goblins: Heabog or Snauk: -3 Str, Siz. +3 Dex. (from the Fells)
  • There are many non-human races or oddities in the area - generally creations of the great powers.

Other well known folk of Lands End

  • Republic of the Lees is the formal title of the Leelander Republic. The population is mainly Goltish or Gaults, but there is a minor race of Fenlings along the coast of the Shallows.

Fenlings -4 Siz, Str, +2 Con, Dex. Semi-Aquatic, excellent swimmers.

  • The Haut: Haut were a Powers idealised nomad guard. They still reside in the area sculpted for them before the Fall.

These days, there are two breeds of Haut - the old Kloos or Dragon Haut and the New Clans, who make up 80% of the population.

Old Haut: +1 Str, Siz, Con. New Clans: -2 Siz, +2 Con.

All humans can still interbreed, so they are Races. Old Haut dont...they try to keep their bloodline pure. There are only 10 000 or so left. They are idealised nomadic barbarian horseman, not really fit for the practicalities of true steppe living. Everything about them is too big. Their mounts are too large, too hungry, their technology and weaponry require too much metal and they are large, not compact people. They have survived through acting as a warrior clan for the New Clans. The new Clans are survivors who came to the Haut for help and knowledge after the Fall. They are mainly local races, interbred with the now extinct plains folk and the few Haut who sire bastards.

Most border cultures (Primitive peoples, desert nomads, border States) will be standard human.

Raft People These encompass several closely related groups of people, with a shared heritage as an experiment from one of the more benevolent High Powers. They can be divided in two very broad groups, the settled ones and the semi-nomadic ones. The settled groups live on the islands and on small villages made up of a crazy maze of rafts, small boats and stilt homes. They are poor people but trade some with neigbouring lands, mostly various forms of fish and other sea food, sponges and pearls. Their economy has slowly improved over the last few decades. The nomadic groups follow different sholes of desired fish depending on the season. Small groups of a few families often band together but no groups would exceed more than two or three families. Once a year they all try to head back to their cousins for the great ceremonies and markets that are becoming increasingly important in keeping cultural continuity between the two groups. This is a time of trade, marriage negotiations, tall tales and so on.

Both groups are peaceful, though the settled folks are becoming increasingly aware that they present a target for both slavers and raiders. Many of their barge towns have become too complex to easily untangle for a quick escape.

They often have great stamina and peculiar powers related to their life style, such as being able to hold their breath far longer than most people, swimming deeper into the ocean and so on. Some say they can even communicate with dolphins and sing with whales. Some reportedly have finely scaled skin and webbed hands and feet, though that may just be rumours.

The Shallow seas (Ill have to put that back on the map) receive the full blast of the warm Western current. The reef shown is coral and the sheltered areas teem with tropical marine life. The sea should be dotted with tiny islands, reefs, atolls, giant kelp beds, etc. These people hunt sharks and giant crabs in the shallows and whales along the continental shelf.

The Folk of Seven Forms

These are the generally accepted sentient 'Races' or cultures, according to accepted knowledge in Land Ends. All are considered to be rare and exotic, living for the most part away from humans. They are each associated with a Form rune and the man/folk rune.

  • The Shee. People of the Spirit. A range of large to small, light and subtle folk, long lived and tied to the Spirit Runes.
  • The Kin. People of the Folk/man rune. Humans in all their wondrous variety.
  • The Saurii. People of the Dragon. A range of giant to small, long lived hardy folk, tied to the Dragon Runes.
  • The Taurii. People of the Wild. A range of Large to small hybrid folk embodying beast and human forms. Tied to the Beast Runes.
  • The Huldre. People of the Green. A range of giant to tiny folk with plant based attributes. Tied to the Plant Runes.
  • The Dverger. People of the Land. A range of giant to small, strong and durable folk, long lived and tied to the Primal Runes.
  • The Nerii, People of the Waters. A range of colossal to small aquatic beings, tied to the Water Runes. They're not counted among the Six Forms because land dwellers don't usually have much interaction with them, lacking any common language or medium of communication, since air breathers can't speak in water and vice versa, just to begin with.

Local Knowledge[edit]

A Map of Land Ends[edit]

Land Ends is an East Facing Strip along the border of the continent. The area pictured is in the 40 degree north equivalent latitudes. The East Side experiences a mild Maritime climate, the area around the Lesser Sea a more Mediterranean climate. The Eastmarch Valley is a Temperate Seasonal climate.

There are scattered, semi nomadic peoples to the West and South of the EastMarch, across the Sea to the Lonely Shores there are Saurian Tribes. The Elder Wood is home to several small nations, including a grand City-State on the shores of the Lesser Sea. The towns near Irdis deep are all independent and involved in petty wars.

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r14/drifterne05/MegamapII-1.jpg

A map of Motley and the EastMarch[edit]

The Eastmarch lies in a Wet Mediterranean climate zone, with long dry Summers, stormy and wet Autums and Winters that only bring snow to mountainous areas, though they will be wet in the lowlands. Frosts are confined to the highlands, so there are two different growing seasons for two types of produce. Local vegetable and fruit production is pretty much continuous over the seasons and the area has a diverse food base, enough so that famines are rare.

The Eastmarch produces: Exotic citrus, grapes and wines, apples and cider, olives and olive oil, 'southern' fish, pearl of shell, purple and blue dyes, inks, high grade shale, southern hardwoods and herbs/spices. Local wheat and barley/rye only.

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r14/drifterne05/Motley.jpg

For a rough sense of scale, it is 50 miles [82km]as the crow flies between Motley and MiddleMount.

Major Features.

  • The Burned Mounts. These low mountains burst into flame during the Moons Tear. Their people and places are forgotten.
  • The Bad Lands Mostly desert and patches of fused sand, there are oases and patches of seasonal green in this dry land. Temperatures vary considerably on this high, wasted plateau but run to the chilly, and only the various warm blooded saurian species seem to thrive there.
  • The Savior Mounts. High and jagged mountains that are impassible at all but two points, both treacherous. These mounts protected the river valley and places beyond from the direct effects of the moons tear, and have provided a barrier to the strange creatures that have grown in the Bad Lands since.
  • The Lesser Sea A warm and shallow ocean protected by landforms and island chains from global currents. Home to much of the Eastmarches wealth and the trade route to the Lesser Isles [a collection of large and small island colonies] and Moonburn [the last true Citie].
  • The KarstFells a former Holding of a minor Power, the KarstFells were an idealised expression of an UnderEarth wonderland. After the Moon's Tear and the fading of the old powers, the place settled into a more natural ecology, both on the surface and underearth. Many of the slave creatures and exhibits have reverted to their old gods and ways, and many odd, dangerous things haunt the Fells.

A map of Odd Arbage[edit]

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r14/drifterne05/arbage.jpg


Just a little picture of Arbage. fully brown buildings are covered longhouses. The others generally have gardens and reflect three or four odd styles from around the races/cultures settled since the Moons Tear.

There is not a lot of fine detail, but brown = mostly wood, grey = stone and black=Grand Age Architecture [read: unbreakable.] The black dots near the deepwater groyne are spikes that never move or wear.

Old Odd is the centre of the village, despite being smaller. It is here you will find the market once a week, and the few buildings devoted to anything other than living and working.

Families and clans: [on average, a family will be 5 people, a clan 10] total population is usually 675 or so.

  • 24 clans of Local folk [Olive skinned, brown hair and eyes. The 'average' human]
    • 15 fishing clans, devoted to various aspects of gathereing ocean harvests.
    • 8 farming clans, devoted to a mix of hillside and bottomland farming.
    • 1 Milling clan, devoted to the growth, grinding and baking of grains.
  • 6 clans of Mountain folk [Fairer skinned, tending to blondes and redheads] From the North and the Lee Plateaus.
    • 4 Herding clans, devoted to cattle, sheep and goats, the production of dairy, and butchering.
    • 2 Orcharding clans, devoted to the growth of cooler fruits, Olives, and oil production.
  • 3 clans of Elderfolk [smaller, nore nimble]. Originally from the Great Sylan Lords parklands.
    • 1 Forestry clan, devoted to the management of the local woods and creatures therein.
    • 1 Fishing clan, involved in pearl of shell and dye-making, as well as exotic sea goods.
    • 1 Farming/gathering clan, devoted to the gathering of wild growth foods, herbs and spices.
  • 2 Families of Underfolk. [from the Fells]
    • 1 Ponyriders clan, Devoted to the breeding, training and use of forest ponies, donkeys and Mules.
    • 1 farming/fishing clan, devoted to subsistance living and labour for hire.
  • 8 clans of Andermen [short, rounder, healthy] Originally from the Fells.
    • 1 Ponyriders/Houndbreeders clan, devoted to the breeding, raising and selling of ponies and hounds.
    • 3 Fishing clans, devoted mainly to shoreline and river/pond/lake fishing and the finding of exotic water foods.
    • 4 Crafting clans, mainly in timbers and ropes.
  • 1 Family of Undersea folk [from the Fells]
    • Fishing clan, devoted to deep sea fishing and working with Dolphins.
  • 6 Families of Old Northerner Folk.
    • 1 Crafters family, working in Iron and Wood, leather and other, more exotic goods.
    • 1 Archers clan, devoted to the making of bows and accessories, their instruction, use and hunting skills.
  • 2 clans of Islanders [big,strong]
    • 1 fishing clan, devoted to deep water runs and whale hunting.
    • 1 Herding clan, devoted to goats and high mountain sheep.
  • 1 clan of Otter Folk.[small, nimble,semi-aquatic]
    • Devoted to deep diving and pearl of shell gathering.
  • 1 family of Helleas [Bred as servants to the Powers]
    • Devoted to healing and herbs/spice gathering. Also, inverventions with house and evil spirits.
  • 2 clans of Bladhamers. [short,broad,muscular, tireless]
    • 1 shale gathering clan, devoted to the gathering, shaping and use of high quality shale and slate.
    • 1 Fishing clan, devoted to deep water and shoreline netting.
  • 1 clan of Bacchae. [tall, charming, lacking wisdom]
    • Devoted to the production of wines and ciders, the growing and grafting of grapes and apples.
  • 9 'Mixed' clans - open to joining by outsiders without marriage or blood ties, unlike a normal clan or family. Vitally important to the social fabric of Motley and the whole Lee Kingdoms, these 'mixed' clans gave the homeless and lost a sense of place and belonging in the days after the moons tear.

120 years of tradition have cemented them into the social fabric alongside family or 'blood' clans.

    • The workers clan. a collection of small families who work mainly for others.
    • The fishers clan. a collection of small families who make their living from the sea.
    • The Landers clan. a collection of small families who make their living from the land.
    • The Inn clan. Runs the local Inn/townhouse.
    • The Militia clan. Maintains and supports the watchtowers, their gardens and foodstores, weapons and provisions.
    • The Crafters clan. An unofficial clan made up of all practicing craftmasters without immediate clan ties, and their families.
    • The Citadel clan. Another unofficial clan. Composed of the knight, his family and entourage, their families and hangers on.
    • The Temple. All the associated folk who run and maintain the Temple of the Rude Pantheon.
    • The New Temple. All the folk who are associated with the Temple of the Child of Light.
    • The Old Temple. All the folk associated with the outdoor temple to the Old Ways.
    • The Clan Marine. A local version of the Militia clans common to the kingdom.The local version requires decent boating skills.

The citadel is made of logs. Here is a map of sorts.

A map of Odd Manor[edit]

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r14/drifterne05/arbagemanor.jpg

Nearby Places and Facts[edit]

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