Editing Other kingdoms (section)

==Petty Kingdoms==

===Omphalo, sapling colony city===

Omphalo is a city of many religions. It was founded as the fortress city and headquarters of the Second Great Crusade, and still persecutes the forbidden cult of the Hollow Men. According to legend, this was also the birthplace of the Twin Sisters, and although scholars doubt the veracity, it is still a pilgrimage site for many people. In the time since the Second Great Crusade, other religious cults have come to the city for their own reasons. As have adventurers and scavengers, hoping to glean ancient wonders from the ruins in the marshes. 

Each rainy season, Omphalo and the marshes flood when the seasonal rivers of the grasslands flow. Buildings in Omphalo are build on stilts, and during the flood season people get around by flat-bottomed boats. These same boats are used in the marshes as well. Although the city subsists off pilgrimage, it also produces a surplus of crops that require flooded fields. These crops are generally sold to one of the three northern cities. The crusaders of Omphalo have found patrolling the undead-haunted ruins of the Thousand Flowing Waters easier during the flood season, and so when the waters rise boats of armed Silent Brothers set forth for their sacred mission.

Occupations: Crusader, Priest, Boatman, Farmer, Fisherman
Suggested Skills: Area Knowledge (Omphalo), Boating, History, Religious Ritual, Theology, Occult (vampires)
Social Background: Cultural Familiarity (1 pt., Twin Cities), Glossa (native language), Literacy
Suggested Quirks: Careful, Code of Honor, Vow
Sample Contact Groups: Silent Brotherhood, Seven Sisters, Cult of the Opaque, other Cult
Suggested Spells: Sort Living from Undead (IQ/Average)
Rumor: “It is said that the Opaque Tree, the Tree of Many Shadows, the fourth and dark Crystal Tree, was discovered or hidden in Omphalo. The Cult of the Opaque has become very influential in Omphalo recently because so many of its followers have come to the city seeking their mystic tree.” 

--Kakita Kojiro

===Heliade, tributary petty kingdom===

Heliade is known as the Amber Kingdom. It is located on the Pleione river, which flows from the south, and borders on the marsh ruins of the Thousand Flowing Waters. Its inhabitants scour the river and marshes for spells and spirits frozen in amber from ancient times. These talismans are valuable wealth for trade, and Heliade is often subject to tribute to one of the three great cities of the north. Occasionally they go to war over this imposition of tribute, but although their archers are armed with devastating amber-tipped arrows, they are no match for the sorcery of the three cities on the battlefield.

Heliade magicians take dross amber and make use of it in many ways. It is dissolved into amber lacquer that hardens their armor against danger. It is used to trap images within, that may be seen at any time by peering into the amber. It is also melted down and gathered into vats of molten amber – through which, they hope to peer into the spirit-world. There is a belief in Heliade that there is another [[Spirit_world|Crystal Tree]] – this one, of amber, weeping jewels – and the Heliades believe that if it is found, their city will rise to preeminence.

When Heliade marches into a Flower War, its warriors wear amber-laquered armor. They are armed with amber-tipped arrows and spears.  Some of their amber arrows hold trapped within them hostile spirits, or ancient lightning-strikes. When these strike an enemy in battle, they cause considerable havoc and panic.

Occupations: Ambergleaner, Archer, Flower-Warrior, Lapidiary, Merchant, Amberwright
Suggested Skills: Area Knowledge (Heliade), Bow, Current Affairs, Jeweler, Occult (amber)
Social Background: Heliadic (native language), Glossa (accented language), Literacy
Suggested Quirks: Dreamer, Obsessions (amber), Thin-Skinned*
Suggested Spells: Capture Image In Amber (IQ/Average), Smelt Amber (IQ/Hard)
Rumor: In Heliade they have learned to enter the spirit-world through vats of molten amber. Therein they say the spirit-world is upside-down; you walk upside-down with the ground above your feet and the sky below your head. However, they have not discovered how to leave the spirit-world, and as the amber hardens, the explorer is trapped, entombed alive in a block of amber, upside-down. 

--Kakita Kojiro

====Amber Magic====
mantra: time is frozen in amber
tools: amber
talent: Amber Magic (10 pts/level)
spells:
''capture image in amber'' (IQ/Average)
''see within amber'' (IQ/Average)
''free from amber'' (IQ/Hard, req. Amber Magic 1+)
''smelt amber'' (IQ/Hard, req. Amber Magic 1+)
''capture magic in amber'' (IQ/Very Hard, req. Amber Magic 2+, capture image in amber)
''capture spirit in amber'' (IQ/Very Hard, req. Amber Magic 3+, capture magic in amber)

--Kakita Kojiro

===Astomo, tributary petty kingdom===

Astomo is called the Mute Kingdom, for long ago it was ruled by priest-kings whose lips were ritually sewn shut. It is still ruled by their inheritors, holy men known as Voices, whose lips are also sewn shut. Astomo lies on the borders of the Thousand Flowing Waters, and believe themselves to be the proper heirs of the ancient civilization that lies in ruins there. The people of Astomo are fascinated by the ancient ruins, and most will study some aspect of the ruins at some time in their life.

The Voices who rule Astomo do so by religious decree. There are a bewildering variety of subsects, all with teachings that confuse outsiders who cannot determine if they are philosophies or religions. As with the priest-kings of old, the Voices have their lips ritually sewn shut. Their ritual asceticisms allow them to survive without the need for food or drink, and to speak without speech, among other wonders.

Occupations: Archaeologist, Interpreter
Suggested Skills: Area Knowledge (Astomo), Gesture, History, Linguistics, Stealth, Hidden Lore (ancients)
Social Background: Glossa (native language), Backaric (broken language), Literacy
Suggested Advantages: Silence
Suggested Quirks: Cautious, Humble, Obsessions (ancients)
Sample Contact Groups: Sect
Rumor: “The old mouthless priest-kings of Astomo were, in fact, heretical offshoots of the Hollow Men. The Voices who still rule Astomo keep this secret carefully guarded, lest fanatic crusaders hear of it and Astomo be destroyed.” 

--Kakita Kojiro

===Pharsus, tributary petty kingdom===

This is the Land of Masks, between the rivers Cephissus and Maiandro, near to the Thousand Flowing Waters. After their coming-of-age, each adult here has at least two special masks, which they wear at all times. Each mask has its own identity and personality – it is the mask that is considered to be the real person, not the body that the mask is wearing. Each mask may have a different job, different spouse and family, different friends, and always different dress and mannerisms. If crimes are committed, it is the mask that is punished or destroyed. And sometimes one mask will fall sick or die, while the others continue on unaffected. Should all of an inhabitant’s masks be lost or destroyed, he or she becomes only another faceless foreigner.

Foreigners can become very confused in Pharsus, believing that they have met someone because they recognize the body, and not realizing that they must be introduced to the new mask. Of course, the people of Pharsus will politely ignore the presence of anyone with a naked face, so outsiders must learn to wear masks if they wish to be acknowledged – and to not change masks, lest they be regarded as a completely different person. Interestingly, Pharsus became a satrapy of the Narcissus hegemony voluntarily after being astounded by the first emissary from Narcissus, who donned a mirror as her mask.

Although they have been a satrapy of Narcissus for centuries, the inhabitants of Pharsus practice no magic of any kind – other than their masking. In some way that baffles magicians, the mask is the person, and any magic affects only the mask – and that magic ends when the mask is removed. Most of the masks of Pharsus are styled after birds or beasts, and mask styles tend to be similar by profession. Generally, a newly-made adult will receive one mask from each parent, but children of important people will be given additional masks by other sponsors.

Occupations: Boatman, Fisherman, Farmer, Maskmaker
Suggested Skills: Area Knowledge (Pharsus), Acting, Body Language, Fishing, Mimicry (speech), Masking (IQ/Very Hard)
Social Background: Pharsic (native language), Glossa (accented language), Literacy
Suggested Quirks: Personality Change, Staid, Incompetence (magic skills)
Sample Contact Groups: Sponsors
Advantages: Pharsic Mask (Magic Resistance – access requires mask, -10%)
Rumor: “The people of Pharsus claim that they and the Enkidi are distantly related, even though their languages are dissimilar and the Enkidi do not acknowledge any kinship. However, it is known that while the Enkidi will indeed take the heads of trespassers from Pharsus, their masks are always sent back even though the heads are kept.” 

-- by Kakita Kojiro