Mr. R

Another place: Appliance Store. Here have a new dishwasher!

In the supplement Rasul is a theocracy, dedicated to the god of commerce where strict religious and statutory laws keep people in place. Is very divided, with clergy at the top then, far below them the tradesmen, then a bit lower serfs and slaves and finally females. But they are known for being the best merchants on the continent. But merchants have no political or economic power. (Non sequitur, must analyze. Faulty, faulty! Must Sterilize!). So how do I keep them as a mercantile city, where Tobaris, God of Commerce, Travel, Exploration is still held in high regard, merchants have more of a say in the affairs of the city and finally where females have a greater share of the power. I was going to use a system of government taken from a city in the Turakian Age supplement. But now I think I will add as a wrinkle, the wife may vote in place of her husband, if they declare she has his proxy vote before the council before he leaves town. And the reverse is true also. HMMMM! Ideas welcome. OH OH OH. Is actually a matriarchy today. The men got so full of themselves and the majority left town to fight the goblyns, and got destroyed. Now we have a city of mostly females who have been taking the reins of government because they have no other choice. Even if some of the men make it back, the city has been irrevocably changed, and refuse to go back to their tidy small existence.

A combo of 1- the world is broken and needs fixing. Goblyns overrun parts of the Basin area. Up in the northern jungles are rumours of lost cities with treasures and goblyns. Even the Coastal cities and the Divided Plains are not safe, and the Bola Desert has a large contingent of them. 2- finding and exploring those cool places like : the former capitol of Tenryk, now a ruins inside a goblyn forest A mythical island of a pirate king and his treasure, just beware he may still be guarding it A city surrounded by an ever storm in the Bola Desert. If you can get in, what treasures await. Also rumoured to hold the Library of Readaer.

I am not sure if you remember, BUT, my goblyns are actually a whole host of creatures lumped under that umbrella. It includes Goblyns- your standard unnamed hordes Goblyn Lords/Mages- yep, these guys practice magic and can become nasty warriors Bugbears- bigger, stronger goblyns Ogres- for when you want to challenge the whole party with one guy Ogre Magi- for when you want to scare the party with one guy Giants- walking disasters. One giant can be a major event. Oh and yes the giants can practice magic.

Well since the Unlife is hardly (actually I think never) mentioned in the supplement, it was not going to be a major part of my game. I did mention that undead do exist, but not as an organized meta opposition. Also they mention Essence Flows, but really it seamed to keep everyone else out of this continent. Which suited me fine. This continent north south is equivalent to South America (complete with coastal mountain chain) in size. It is fairly BIG. I just want it that if my players decide to zig left rather than right, I can accomodate them as I have some idea of what awaits them and not "Here be Dragons!"

Personally I like Point of Light types of games. Civilized town, then an agricultural area of small villages, then wilderness. In some cases there are places where the PCs can make a real difference (Opening up the river for the city of Koy or at least making Ruecha safer for the peasants.) But I also want some strange things out there in case my players decide to go a exploring!

So I am going to give a short synopsis of the supplement I am using. Name: Shadow World- Star Crown Empire and the Sea of Fates Published 1989 Iron Crown Enterprises I won it at a Convention Pages 5-11 are a history of the setting encompassing 6042 years in the basin area called the Gefting Sea. We get wars, alliances, plagues, assassinations. through it all the seven same nation states all seem to stay the same, and by same I mean the borders never seem to change. War happens, orc invade and rampage, but as soon as things calm down we go back to the same towns and borders as 500 nay 5000 years ago. Page 11-12 a glossary of terms for the geography of the area Page 14 -19 a thumbnail of each nation Danris: a farming nation made up of slaves, serfs, and land owners. It also makes good money on the slaves taken from the northern jungles. Politics is based on land owned, cattle owned and property (yes slaves count). Fey: Magocracy. If you know magic, you are nobility, regardless of background. Politics is a mage council with an arch mage heading it. His word is final and to go against him is to challenge him to a duel. Small agrarian production, with pearls, sea products and luxury items. NOTE- slavery is illegal here. Kerq: Classed society of serfs the craftsmen and finally Crafts Masters. Essentially a collection of city states that grouped together for mutual protection. Major military power due to it have the largest navy of all the states, this despite the fact they import all the material to make the ships. Moregador: a competitive and aggressive people. lives are centered around success, achievement, social position and wealth. Spend a lot of time hatching diplomatic coups! Social mobility is based around how ruthless and capable you are and is designed to cull "the weak". Political power can change within months. Economically is an exporter of grains, fruits and vegetables and lumber. Ruecha: Basically Sparta. Warriors at the top, then craftsmen, tradesmen then slaves. Exporter of weapons, armor and some food scuffs. Thosque: A merchant nation dominated by a clergy to the god of commerce. Religious and statutory laws are enforced. Classed society with clergy and nobles at the top, then far below, tradesmen and finally serfs/slaves. Shares a border with Moregador. Tenryk: Next door the Danris. They have a common border along the Kulana River that empties the Gefting Sea into the Northern Bays. Like Fey, slavery is illegal. Is an oligarchy in system, but society is feudal in nature. Page 19-25 Other races. This includes dwarves and elves and centaurs (all eliminated) as well that the Nomads to the west, the highlanders to the south and the icemen who inhabit islands to the south of the continent. Also the people who inhabit the northern jungles are given a mention. Page 25 - 29 a small town is explained as a place young adventures can get started. Its nice enough except it is NOT located within the above states, but in the borderland. Page 30- 42 three small adventures, none of which occur anywhere in the above nations. (One is a floating island located in the surrounding ocean. ) pages 42-48 Religions, Money (basically different denominations over the 6000 year existence) Remarkable individuals (Magic, literature, the arts, theology, philosophy. I wish this sections was expanded), Healing and medicine, Types of magic (basically Rolemaster colleges) and Languages Page 48-60 NPCs and tables for various militaries and a small weather table. If you are curious the central basin has a temperature range of 0-110 F ( -17 to 43 C) with most of the precipitation coming in winter and spring. In the center is a pull out section with a map of the continent in color and smaller maps of the individual nations. Just to note the scales for the smaller maps all agree with each other, but not the scale of the big color map which has the scale 1/3 smaller. Thus I am going by the smaller maps which gives the Basin Sea a size of about 1000 km east west and between 150 to 250 km north south! Hope this helps understand why I am asking for help to flesh this out!

Thank you both!

Well the supplement doesn't really say, BUT, I get the feeling that it was supposed to be a hereditary aristocracy, IF you didn't get eliminated. As to what happens to you heirs if you are deposed...... Well I am getting images of Richard III here. As far as the offices, well think of any upper offices in a monarchy. So just off the top of me head: finance, law, transport, armed forces, as well as the stewards of any areas that were of importance. Think of all the Ministerial positions a government, which were open only to nobility. So you want in on the action, but you are not a noble. No problem, you start scheming, bad mouthing, framing and if necessary killing your way to the top. Declare yourself count, and take over. All you have to worry about is it happening to you. As you can imagine, this makes for a very paranoid system of government. Cooperation would not exist as you can't be sure that the person you are allying yourself with won't through you under the bus at the first opportunity. Best guess, this started as a standard Medieval type government turned in a self serving, opportunistic, backstabbing mess!

Judging by the map, I'd say navigable up to where it gets into the foot hill of the Southern mountain chain that runs along the south coast of the continent. (Named Moreg's Brow). So at least 2/3 to 3/4 is navigable!

This is because Diltren is actually new to this game. I mentioned Old Moregador above, that Chaotic Evil, back stabbing, Social Darwinist country, where the upper classes would be in a state of continual flux. On the other side is Old Thosque, a theocratic dictatorship, with an almost caste-like society, strict gender delineations and sumptuary laws enforced. And in the middle is Diltren. Diltren is along a river that at one point was the border between the two nations. So imagine Talislanta's Zandir and Aa, but without a KMs long wall with ONE gate separating them. Instead it is a river. You live one one side you are in a Lawful Evil dictatorship. The other a Chaotic Evil nightmare. So when the fracturing of both countries occoured, Diltren and the other nations along the river joined together in a confederation. This is very much a "Plague on both your houses!" type scenario. So Diltren is actually testing its feet so to speak. Many along the river fear the return of the previous insanity. To that end they maintain a collective army, made up of representatives from each city. Thus they have weathered the goblyn attacks better than their former masters. Unfortunately many exist that did well under the former uncertainty and so want Diltren and this little experiment to fail. Any other ideas?

Well the original country was straight out of Talislanta. It was Zandia. You know that country opposed to Aa that worshiped Paradoxathy. You know 10000 questions with no answers, a king who changes the day by day, people ignore most of the laws (as they are so malliable) etc. So Moregadore was a place with harsh draconic laws, but nobody really follows them. And everyone engages in cut throat politics at every level. And I mean that literally. At one point the supreme leadership of the country changed hands five times in a one year period. Even the Drow are not this chaotic. So how does this country continue to exist? Well when you have well trained middle managers, they can keep things level over time. So the former ruling class is basically a bunch of self absorbed, violent jerks. If you wanted to be part of the aristocracy/ruling class, well you became Chaotic Evil and a user. But what if the middle managers realized that it was they who held the power. They were the Corporal O'Reilly's of the country. They run it and have the rulers rubber stamp it all. Basically it a country that is being forced to become more stable, and soon the the bureaucrats will be officially in charge. Any ideas?

So I found a few ideas:

Well Reuchia as written was basically a stand in for.... SPARTA. Yes, that military dictatorship built upon the backs of slaves and serfs. There were two classes, the soldiers and the workers (slaves). So historically Sparta talked a great game, but in reality it only managed to last so long because it was isolated. But by the time of its battles with Thebes, it was a shell. Well Reuchia is not so isolated as Sparta. To the north is the Bola Desert, west is the Wyrmian Mountains, southwest across the Wyvern Hills is Kerq and south is Feydor. So its not like it would be hard to get out. So take a cut in the source of slaves, a seven year drought, an invasion of goblyns, and a feeling like they have nothing to lose, and you get slave revolt right at the perfect time. So who are the players to get back in? 1- Remainder of the former lords. They were in charge, they will be again. But what kind of government will they set up? 2- People from the Bola Desert. This would be a great place to start reclaiming the Desert. Are they allies? 3- The people left behind. There are two port towns that are still viable. But the former social structure has been radically changed. The slaves will not go meekly back to being slaves, not after all they have done to keep the land from the goblyns. 4- Kerq and Feydor. Either one would like to get at the resources in Reuchia, especially mineral. 5- Outside adventurers. Conan types to tame a land and become kings of their own!

In the center of the Bola Desert is the City that Storms, called that because of the over present storm that surrounds the city. Adventurers still try to get into the city for the riches that it contains, but also for the Great Library. Supposedly there is located in the city a library with every book/treaties/manuscript ever written. All magically protected. If you can get into the city, you can get into the Great Library to research/find the answer to almost any question. Many consider the trouble and risk to get into the Great Library worth it!

As others have commented, having the Gods (Goddesses) demonstrate their power from time to time helps in breathing life into the world. To that end I wish to give each deity at least one sacred location, a place where their power is seen! So here is a list of Deities, please help me get a sacred spot for each. Note: none should be in a city location. This is an out of the way location, that the god/dess has chosen for what ever reason! Note I have done two-

Why Overconfident twice, and at different values?

This is no accident. In the last war where cities joined in one alliance or another, one remained neutral. The reason was it was told to be by the rulers in Ebon Bay (the capitol). Ixon is not really a city state, but a city in a state, Feydon. But yeah, this is the place you go to the get all that wierd magical stuff. Only Aerelios can come close to rivalling it. Ixon's problem is that it is close to the craziness in the former Moregidor, as well as goblyns coming through the Hrange Forest to attack the links between Ixon and Ebon Bay. Also even though it is pretty far, many refugees have managed to reach even here. So far, schools have been set up to teach them, but people still wonder what is going to happen to them!

An island of sailors just off the coast

Kerq problem with the government is not the old aristocracy. It is that the craft guilds are the aristocracy now. And they certainly want to keep their power. In the 400 years since they took over, rules to join the guilds, rules for being in good standing, rules for giving journeymen their master certificate, rules for wieghing a persons vote (for some members their vote counts for two or more) has led to corruption. This is actually having an effect on their products. Some feel that some sort of change is needed. Just not sure what. On top of that the goblyns are roaming over the northern parts cutting into profits. They are also threatening the Godess Wood and the Sacred Stone Tree. Finally the refugees from Reuchia continue to cause problems. If they know a skill are they added to the rolls and get a vote? Most were former slaves and are uneducated. Some would love it if these refugees just disappeared. And some are feeding the flames of the refugees for their own purposes!

I had forgotten about that group. it would be perfect. Consider it sto.... errrr Borrowed!

Time for an update The City of Mercenaries

Koy is having the problem that it is a border town and the goods are drying up. Koy is the last town on its river that eventually leads to the Gefting Sea and Aerelios. is is also the end of a pass through the nearby hills that leads to the plains that are Kerq. So before there was trade through the hill to the other side, as well as some small mining. Also the River leads north to a set of mountains rich in minerals and precious stones. But the goblyns have cut them off from all that and are moving south, threatening the pass as well as the town. Koy is a city in need of heroes. Both the goblyns and the undead are making life difficult. If some people can free the upper river from goblyns and open up the other two passes and get mining operations going again, well...... Koy is not meant to be flashy, it is meant to be that decent, hard working place where honest people can make a living. Yeah that can be boring, but it is a nice boring!

Ok some extra info about Danica. Because of its position halfway to the Northern Jungles it was (and is) the clearing house for all the goods coming down from the north. Also it is the start point for any caravans heading north east to the Bola Desert and even further, the Divided Plains. But the current goblyn attacks make both more dangerous, and are cutting into their profits. Add the stop to the Norther Slave Trade with the Anti Slavery City at the terminus to the Kulana River, where Danica was the location to which these slaves were first brought and sold. This further has cut into their bottom line. In addition Danica until recently was EXTREMELY patriarchal. Women were little more that baubles used in political games. They had little rights and even less education. This resulted in a brain drain to Aerelios, which was much more egalitarian. Thus greater restrictions were placed, until the ladies begged the gods for aid. Thus the week of Red Blindness. ALL males went blind, with only a red haze in their vision. Though called the week, it lasted a bit longer. During that time the city almost fell apart as the only ones who could see were totally incompetent to any type job due to lack of education and training. If not for a number of trained female visitors to the city, who were able to help rally people, the city would have fallen apart. Thus some are deciding that females need to be educated, but some are still resisting the idea. (If you think this is far fetched, just remember we have people today in Canada who think a woman's place is in the home). Thus Danica is a place that is undergoing social change while its economic base is being undermined!

I'll get on it!