Daldarr

Daldarr

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

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

Players & Characters

• Chronicler - [BoL] Valinor the Prelate, an annointed demon-slayer and witch-hunter of the Church of Solanthar in Alynsia.
• Devil - [Savage Worlds] Lorash Kalil, mercenary assassin with an unrelenting sense of 'honor among thieves'. Heir to the fallen northern Duchy of Vasterborg.
• Feathers - [GURPS] Chakar the Dog, a Path/Book Ritualist.
• Fred - [PDQ] Caraíbos, a con man and gigolo that lives in Daldarr or Valleyport.
• Harwel - [BoL] Volun Tor is a northern barbarian whose tribe was defeated by a rival. He has since worked as a mercenary, turning his hand to whatever is most profitable.
• KEK - [Fudge] Dario Lyos was a bard from the city of Aldia.
• Kredoc - [Fudge] Tartin Hamarch, street rat turned rogue.
• Lionrampant - [T&T] Arathor Welson, mercenary from Duchy of Kaasgard.
• Neal - Luther, 17-year-old street thief and secret bastard of Duke Talaven.
• Skydigger - [PDQ] Lors, former foot soldier who fought and survived many wars by skills and guile, and who now survives the peacetime at Daldarr streets.

Play Guidelines

These are the rules governing play for this game.

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

Setting Guidelines

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

The Setting

People

• Brutus - thuggish head of Duke Talaven of Daldarr's bodyguard contingent. He investigated the Duke's death but came up empty handed.
• Kai-Kur - Loyal retainer to Lorash Kalil
• Duke Talaven, deceased - former Duke of Talaven. Murdered along with all his family by an unknown assassin
• Vinmar the Mediator - a mediator up until recently negotiating the peace between Daldarr and Kaasgard; secretly had Talaven assassinated for unknown reasons. He has dealings with the Unnamed Priest and potentially the cult based at the hidden temple and monastery ruins west of Valleyport.
• Duke Hemsegot - Duke of Kaasgard
• Osvik - Proprietor of the Bleeding Bear Tavern in Valleyport; Luther's adoptive father
• Teann - Star knife-thrower in a wandering gypsie circus; ex-lover of Lorash
• ??? (Priest of Vachbar) - Priest of foul undead (?) god Vachbar; masquerading as priest of the goddess of Healing, and beloved in Valleyport for his generosity and piety. He apparently has the power to curse his enemies, as he wound up cursing Lorash for invading his secret monastery and killing some of the cultists.
• Gana Hamarch - Tartin Hamarch's mother, a prostitute working in the House of Blue Curtains.
• Vajrad - con artist and thief, a member of Hidden Justice.
• Vishin and Prada Camir - a pair of thuggish brothers (Vishin's the one with red hair, Prada is the fat one). They live near the Water Market and recently put a hurt on Tartin, stealing one of his prized throwing knives in the process.
• Daksha Camir - cousin to Vishin and Prada, works as a mercenary guard. Not too sharp.
• Polroth Iros - a corpulent man of obvious wealth who recently hired Volun Tor in Daldarr City to track down and recover stolen art from the thief, Emtis Ethon.
• Emtis Ethon - a man accused of stealing a statue from Polroth Iros. Looks kind of like a rat and has stringy black hair.
• Riold - Polroth Iros's lackey / bootlicker. Dresses in yellow silks.
• Sharad, a one-armed old man, is one of several people who serve as informal bath attendants at The Steps.
• Kari a young girl who works as a waitress in the Three Goblets. She has long black hair and a scar on her left cheek that gives her a perpetually crooked smile.
• Prankar is the proprietor of the Three Goblets.

Places

Guideline for locating places: Let's use Daldarr City as the center point of our map and place other locales relative to the city. For distance I think near (within a day's travel), far (a few day's travel), and distant (much further) are reasonable to start.

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

The Crimson Mountains

A treacherous mountain range west of Daldarr, running north to south. A haven for renegades and bandits.

• The nearest point on the range is far (three days) from Daldarr's west gate.
• The narcotic mushroom Alache grows on the upper slopes of this mountain range.

Valleyport

A town west of Daldarr, near the Crimson Mountains. (Far, at the edge of the Crimson Range)

• The Bleeding Bear - A popular tavern, run by one Osvik, a rather helpful sort to the local scum. Currently
• Valleyport Ale Festival - A raucous ale festival.
• Circus camp - a small band of circus performers (Gypsies, mostly). Their star performer is a knife-thrower named Teann. She is Lorash's ex-lover, and was not happy to see him when he passed through their camp whilst following Vinmar and the priest.

Hidden Temple and Monastery Ruins

Somewhere to the west, towards the Crimson Mountains, is a hidden temple to some foul god (Vachbar). The undead guardians there have been destroyed... (by Lorash?) for now. As well, there is an abandoned monastery near the temple where several cultists of Vachbar have recently engaged in some kind of worship.

• Their apparent leader is the unnamed priest.
• Far west of Daldarr.

Daldarr City

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

• The Water Market - An open air market surrounded by bars and brothels favored by sailors fresh of the docks. The market features imports from freshly arrived cargo ships along with the daily catch from the local fishing fleet.
• House of Blue Curtains - A brothel near the Water Market.
• Red Cliffs Bay lies south-east of Daldarr.
• The Fleeting Bowl Inn is an inn and tavern, popular with merchants passing though.
• The Steps is a section of river bank that's been reinforced with stonework. The poor use it as an informal bathhouse.
• Three Goblets is a low-class dive of a restaurant near the riverfront.
• The Keep is a colloquial name for City Guard heardquarters.
• Eastern Gates is one of ofiicial routes in an out Daldarr. Tolls are collected at the local guardpost.

Valar

Frigid lands to the north of Vasterborg, with many barbarian tribes who continually battle with each other for scant resources.

Groups

• The Martyrs - Revolutionary band which, under new leadership, has devolved into a glorified thieves' guild
• Hidden Justice - a waterfront criminal gang, running a protection racket on the businesses around the Water Market and preying on the foreign sailors that venture there after dark. They also keep the area clear of press gangs, a service that earns them their nickname and the friendly support of the local fishermen.
• The Stonebreakers - a company of mercenary infantry that has recently been operating in the area south of Kaasgard.

Deities

• Vachbar - old god of the undead (?)
• Estume - goddess of love, sex, and fertility
• Bhayoni - a deity of unknown qualities

Other

• Alache - a narcotic mushroom native to and cultivated on the slopes of the Crimson Mountains.