By land, by sea by stranger paths they came, soon forgotten by kith and kin, lost on the roads of history. Yet in another world they now shall find fate and fortune good or ill. The winds blow cold, the horns sound fel and sharp. The time is nigh.
Age of Ice and Blood: A Pathfinder System Heroic Fantasy Quest
Black are the waves against the stones crashing, fair are the ships with sails white as fluttering clouds, far are the shores in the distance fading. Woods of dark pine pass into plains of swift fading gold rippling in the northern wind. The pillars of the world shine white in the distance, mountains higher than high that no mortal foot has trodden upon. Into this world strangers step unknowing, but not wholly unwilling for there is promise here as much as peril.
No princes or emperors and by the mighty and the learned of their lands soon to be forgotten, another soul lost by sea or by land. Yet not all who are discounted at the journey's start reach its end in like manner as ways to stranger worlds before the traveler's feet open.
Who shall by fate or fortune walk in the world of ice and blood?
[] Tiberius Florius Gaius, the young optius of the Third Century of the Fifth Cohort of the Legio X Equestris. Your centurion is dead in disgrace by the will of the Emperor, by the will of Cesar they say. You are too young to curse his name for the blood spilled on Egyptian soil in wars of pride and power that saw the sons of Rome cast down, but you are not so young as to name your legion Gemini as to forget the glories and the victories of Gaul.
+Lockstep Discipline (your men belong to one of the most celebrated legions of the age)
+Engineering knowledge (more than the swords of its legions, it is the skill of its engineers that has built the Empire)
-Glory starved (Long has it been since the Tenth has known any triumphs and they hunger for it)
-Fear and Disdain of Magic (While no strangers to superstition the veterans of the tenth have little care for sorcery and those who work it. It reminds too many of their stay in Egypt, and the disastrous loss that followed)
[] Sir Ronald Verley, a crusader returning from the disastrous battles of the Fifth Crusade not with absolution or with peace, but with a deep disdain of all you have seen there. Greed and pride sleep in the same bed and the blood of innocents is spilled like wine in the half of dukes prelates and princes. That lesson you learned in your heart on the sands of Egypt.
+Ship and Crew, as the one in command of most of the armed men aboard the Genovesse ship that was supposed to take you to Sicily as well as the only noblemen aboard it is an easy thing to commandeer the ship
+Fine Horseflesh, the ship holds your horses and the horses of your men, they have so far made the journey in fine form
-Broken Faith, having been lead not to the Holy Land but to Egypt to the Sack of Damieta only to then see the flower of chivalry broken as it marched on Cairo, only to see your lords deal so lightly with those they had before called as devils in human flesh you no longer know what to believe on matters spiritual or temporal
-A motley crew, between your own men at arms, the Genovesse crew and the other passengers there is little to unite you before a strange world
[] Thomas of Kent, an English merchant whose caravan had left Vienna in haste in the wee hours of the morning. You claimed that it was because the papal authorities were prepared to arrest you on trumped up charges, for no reason than being a pious son of the Church of England, in truth there may have been the matter of the copper you sold being less than pure and the spices being cut with sawdust and the wine being watered a tad, but what did it matter? You had your gold and you left your debts far behind you, farther than you thought possible in truth.
+A Wealthy Man, you got your goods' worth and a little more in Vienna and silver and gold are valuable everywhere
+An eclectic education, as a young man you had been sent all over Europe to learn from the best and the brightest even if you did not quite pick up the lessons your father might have wished
-Bad with money, for all you could sell sand to an Egyptian the gold never seems to stick to your hands
-Crooked Merchant, your usual tactics work best when you can move around
OOC: And we are off, hopefully to an interesting start. To the people coming over from ASWAH welcome to the new quest, hopefully I will be able to carry the good things from it forward, to any new readers welcome to the madness, now without the wheels of someone else's setting.
Special: +2 bonus when using the Trip, Disarm, Dirty Trick, Feint, Reposition, or Steal Combat Maneuvers, and does not provoke an Attack of Opportunity.
Special:
+2 Traits bonus vs Mind-Affecting effects.
+2 Resistance bonus vs Mind-Affecting effects.
+3 Morale Bonus vs Death effects, Fatigue or Exhaustion effects, and poison or poison effects.
+2 Morale Bonus vs Fear effects. On a successful save, you gain +2 Morale bonus to attacks and CMB against the originator of the Fear effect for 1 round.
+2 Circumstantial Bonus to Reflex Saves while on Marcella
Bodyguard: When an adjacent ally is attacked, you may use an Attack of Opportunity to attempt the Aid Another action to improve their AC.
Aid Allies: Whenever you use the Aid Another action to assist one of your allies, the ally receives a +3 bonus to his Attack Roll, Saving Throw, or skill check, or a +3 bonus to his Armor Class.
Cumbrous Will: Before rolling a Will save, you can choose to gain a +6 bonus on your saving throw. After the saving throw is resolved, regardless of the result, you are Shaken until the end of the encounter.
Mounted Combat: 1/round when your mount is hit in combat, you may attempt a Ride check as an Immediate Action to negate the hit. The hit is negated if your Ride check result is greater than the opponent's attack roll.
Tactical Presence (Ex): Your presence bolsters both yourself and your allies with one of the following effects. Changing between Tactical Presence abilities uses a Move Action.
Diplomat's Presence: You add a +4 Competence bonus to Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate and Sense Motive checks.
Indomitable Presence: You and all allies within 30-ft. gain the benefits of the Diehard feat, and add a +3 Morale bonus (Charisma modifier) to Fortitude saves versus Death effects, Fatigue or Exhaustion effects, and poison or poison effects.
Challenge: 1/day, you can Challenge a foe to combat as a Swift Action. The Challenge remains in effect until the target is dead or unconscious, or combat ends.
Your melee attacks deal +2 extra damage (equal to Cavalier level) whenever the attacks are made against the target of your Challenge, but you take a -2 penalty to AC except against attacks made by the target of your Challenge.
Whenever you issue a Challenge, your allies receive a +1 Circumstance bonus on melee Attack Rolls against the target of your Challenge whenever you are threatening the target.
Warlord's Gambit (Ex): Use a Swift or Immediate Action to perform a Warlord's Gambit. You gain a +1 Luck bonus (1/2 Charisma modifier) to succeed. Success provides a bonus effect and recovers 3 expended maneuvers (Charisma modifier), but failure inflicts a -2 penalty on d20 rolls for 1 round.
Unbreakable Gambit: As an Immediate Action, you make a Fortitude or Will save against a non-harmless extraordinary ability, maneuver, power, spell, spell-like or supernatural ability. Reward: You heal 9 Hit Points (3 x Charisma modifier).
Brave Gambit: You make a Charge attack. Reward: You and all allies within 60 feet gain a +3 Morale (Charisma modifier) bonus on the damage roll of the next attack they make before the start of your next turn.
Equipment of Note:
Cold Iron Short Sword
Bronze Breaker
Appearance: This Gauntlet is wrought of black iron in menacing guise, with claws that tear and a grip that crushes.
2/Day as a Swift Action, the gauntlet gains the properties of Adamantine for one round. This allows attacks from the gauntlet to ignore Hardness below 20 in any attacked or Sundered objects.
Upon command, strikes from the gauntlet deal +2d6 damage against inanimate objects and crystalline creatures on a successful hit and ignore the Hardness of objects with a Hardness of 5 or lower. This effect remains until another command is given.
Durendal
Appearance: Wrought in the image of a knight's sword of finest bronze, the mark of Oroki of Apuku can still be read upon the base of the blade, yet in its journeys from that island the work of greater smiths has been made upon it also. It burns now with white flame along its edge, as though it had never left the smith's anvil, its hilt bound in a thousand small scales that shine like emeralds in the dark.
Appearance: A ring wrought of flowing yellow gold in the shape of a dragon or a serpent swallowing its tail. Eyes green as grass sparkle by moonlight and by sunlight.
Ability: The medallion grants a continuous +2 resistance bonus on saves versus mind-affecting spells, spell-like abilities, and supernatural abilities. If the wearer fails a save to avoid becoming dominated or confused, the amulet immediately allows the wearer to roll a second saving throw to resist the effect as a free action. If this second save is successful, the medallion's power fades away entirely and it becomes a simple piece of jewelry.
Redman's Regalia
Appearance: Wrought of bronze and carved with runes of ruin, this armor is the mark of a great king unbowed in battle til the last, and it is the mark of secret sins that one can but guess at, a home of daemons wrapped around the heart.
Appearance: Of shining bronze unmarred is the face of this shield, as a mirror to the light of sun and moon and of the hidden realms beyond. What meaning the runes set about its rim might have you cannot say, yet when the power of some spell or enchantment it upon the bearer they burn white as forge's fire.
Abilities:
+1 AC (Constant)
When affected by a spell of levels 1-3 the bearer may choose as a free action to roll 3d6 for Spell Resistance. If the resulting SR is defeated by more than a margin of 10, the shield gains the Broken condition. If this is repeated with the shield already broken it is destroyed. (3/Day)
Talismans:
Nikure's Grace: This silver talisman in the form of two delicate intertwined spirals glows blue whenever an evil creature targets the wearer with magic jar, possession, or a similar effect, or with a charm or compulsion spell or effect that allows the creature to exercise control over the wearer (such as suggestion, but not sleep). If the spell or effect allows a saving throw and the wearer fails it, he receives a second saving throw. If he succeeds at the second saving throw, the wearer is also protected by protection from evil for 5 rounds.
Talisman of the Deep Roots: These talismans are wrought not of gold or silver, even of copper, but the pits of mango taken from sacred trees grown in lands where none may turn axe upon the living wood upon them is inscribed the name of the tree from which they are taken, that the bearer might be guarded from sudden falls, as the tree is warded against the storm. The bearer may re-roll any failed roll against being bull rushed by magical or mundane means if this second roll succeeds they are may attempt a grapple against the enemy as a free action.
Shared Vigilance (Ex): You and your designated companion gain Alertness as a bonus feat whenever you are adjacent.
Evasion (Ex): If you are subjected to an attack that normally allows a Reflex saving throw for half damage, you take no damage if you make a successful saving throw.
Tenacious Guardian (Ex): You can always act in a surprise round (though you remain flat-footed until you act). As long as your ward is adjacent, you remain conscious (though you become staggered) when your hit points fall below 0. While below 0 hit points, you lose 1 hit point per round but gain a +2 morale bonus on attack rolls, saving throws, and skill checks, dying only if its hit points reach a negative total equal to your Constitution score plus your total hit dice.
Special: +2 bonus when using the Bull Rush, Dirty Trick, Disarm, Drag, Feint, Overrun, Reposition, Steal, Sunder, or Trip Combat Maneuvers, and does not provoke an Attack of Opportunity.
Armor Training (Ex): Whenever you are wearing armor, you reduce the Armor Check Penalty by 1 (to a minimum of 0) and increase the maximum Dexterity bonus allowed by your armor by 1.
Tactician (Ex): 1/Day a a Standard Action, you can grant the Coordinated Maneuvers or Shake It Off feat to all allies within 30 feet who can see and hear you. Allies retain the use of this bonus feat for 5 rounds (3 + 1 round per 2 levels of Fighter).
Equipment of Note: +1 Ghost Touch Cold Iron Spear (+2 bonus to CMD against disarm attempts)
Bombs: +3 (BaB) + 1 (DEX) + 1 (TA) = +5 vs Touch AC (Rather than targeting an individual, you can instead target a given space, which inflicts splash damage and effects as normal, but does not have a main target. Targeted spaces have an effective AC of 5.)
Tanglefoot Fire Bomb: 2d6+6 Fire damage, plus 8 points of splash damage in a 5 foot radius, Range Increment: 20 feet
Special: The target and everyone in the splash zone are Entangled, and the target is glued in place as if affected by a Tanglefoot Bag. A successful DC 16 Reflex saving throw allows targets to avoid these effects and halves the splash damage inflicted.
Poison Use (Ex): You are trained in the use of poison and cannot accidentally poison yourself when applying poison to a weapon.
Swift Alchemy (Ex): You create Alchemical items in half the normal amount of time and you can apply poison to a weapon as a Move Action.
Mutagen (Su): You can create a Mutagen in one hour of brewing. Once brewed, the Mutagen persists until used or you brew a new one. You can drink this Mutagen as a Standard Action in order to gain a +2 Natural Armor bonus and a +4 Alchemical bonus to one of your physical attributes at the expense of a -2 penalty to a mental attribute. Increasing Strength decreases Intelligence, Dexterity decreases Wisdom, and Constitution decreases Charisma. The Mutagen's effects last for 30 minutes (10 minutes per Alchemist level). You cannot benefit from more than one Mutagen effect at a time, and the effects of a new one immediately replace those of the previous Mutagen. If a non-Alchemist consumes the Mutagen, they are Nauseated for 1 hour unless they succeed on a DC 15 Fortitude saving throw (10 + 1/2 Alchemist level + INT modifier).
Bombs (Su): You can create and throw an Alchemical bomb up to 8/Day (Alchemist level + INT modifier) as a Standard Action that provokes an Attack of Opportunity. The bomb inflicts 2d6 Fire damage (+1 bonus point per damage die), plus bonus damage equal to your INT modifier, and splash damage in a 5 foot radius equal to the bomb's minimum damage. A DC 16 Reflex saving throw (10 + 1/2 Alchemist level + INT modifier) halves splash damage.
Fire Bombadier: You only add your INT modifier as a damage bonus to bombs and other Alchemical substances if they deal Fire damage.
Talismans:
Nikure's Grace: This silver talisman in the form of two delicate intertwined spirals glows blue whenever an evil creature targets the wearer with magic jar, possession, or a similar effect, or with a charm or compulsion spell or effect that allows the creature to exercise control over the wearer (such as suggestion, but not sleep). If the spell or effect allows a saving throw and the wearer fails it, he receives a second saving throw. If he succeeds at the second saving throw, the wearer is also protected by protection from evil for 5 rounds.
Sea Creature Empathy: You can influence the attitude of water-dwelling animals and animals that live along coasts and shores, including birds, as if using Wild Empathy. You use your Witch level as your Druid level for this ability.
Guiding Spirit: Once per day as a Swift Action, you can look to your Guiding Spirit for advice. The next time you roll a d20 in that same round, roll twice and pick the better result. If one of these two rolls is a Natural 20, you can use this ability again that same day.
Conduit Surge: You are adept at channeling energy from ley lines to enhance your spells. 5/Day as a Swift Action, you can increase your effective caster level for the next spell you casts in that round by 1d4-1 levels. After performing a conduit surge, you must succeed at a Fortitude save (DC = 10 + level of spell cast + number of additional caster levels granted) or become Staggered for a number of minutes equal to the level of the spell cast.
Equipment of Note:
Ikomi-blessed Cauldron of Brewing (+5 Competence bonus to Craft (Alchemy) skill checks and self-heating)
Description: Honey gold crystal bursting forth from roots of silver, this crystal seems more akin to some fruit of the earth than anything mined by the hand of man. Having once been forged for a respected and much beloved midwife and healer of the Boar Folk of Lirman this stone seeks to preserve its bearer against all the ills of the Border Woods, from poison to dark enchantment.
Ability: The Stone of Safekeeping grants its wearer a +2 resistance bonus on all saving throws made to recover from a continuing effect, such as ongoing poison damage, daily saving throws against disease, a hold person spell, or lingering damage from an attack. This bonus does not help against initial saving throws against such effects. Should the wearer ever drop below 0 hit points, the stone heals the wearer for 2d8+3 points of damage and then crumbles to dust.
Talismans:
Nikure's Grace: This silver talisman in the form of two delicate intertwined spirals glows blue whenever an evil creature targets the wearer with magic jar, possession, or a similar effect, or with a charm or compulsion spell or effect that allows the creature to exercise control over the wearer (such as suggestion, but not sleep). If the spell or effect allows a saving throw and the wearer fails it, he receives a second saving throw. If he succeeds at the second saving throw, the wearer is also protected by protection from evil for 5 rounds.
Special:
+1 Against Illusion Spells
+2 Against Poison or Drugs
+4 Against the effects of Alcohol
+2 Circumstantial Bonus to Reflex Saves while on the Marcella
*Bonus applies to the Hunch task when dealing with anyone in some way related to your Profession (Sailor) skill.
**When dealing with people associated with the marketplaces in which you have invested.
Psionic Abilities: Power Points (5/Day)
Mindlink: As a Standard Action costing 1 Power Point, you can establish a telepathic bond with a willing target within 25 feet for up to 10 minutes which allows for two-way telepathic communication. Once the bond is formed, it works over any distance.
Special Abilities:
Charmer: Re-roll Diplomacy 1/day.
Coax Information (Ex): You can use Bluff or Diplomacy in place of Intimidate to force an opponent to act friendly.
Inspiring Speaker: You gain a +1 trait bonus on Bluff and Diplomacy checks when addressing crowds of 10 people or more.
Doubt: Whenever you fail a skill or ability check, you take a -4 penalty on that type of skill or ability check for the next hour.
Honeyed Words (Ex): 1/day, you can roll two dice while making a Bluff check, and take the better result. You must choose to use this ability before making the Bluff check.
Convincing Attitude: If you attempt a Diplomacy check and fail to influence a creature's attitude by 5 or more, the creature's attitude remains unchanged instead of decreasing by one step.
Combat Advisor (Ex): Whenever you miss with a melee attack against an opponent, you can designate an ally within 30 feet of the target to receive a +1 Insight bonus on their next attack roll against that opponent before your next turn.
Wild Talent: Your latent power of psionics flares to life, conferring upon you the designation of a psionic character. As a psionic character, you gain a reserve of 2 power points and can take psionic feats, metapsionic feats, and psionic item creation feats.
Boots ofCat's Luck
Description: At first sight these boots looks like nothing more than sturdy travel wear, albeit with an ostentatious fastening, but to the mage's eye there is a glint of good fortune forged into the silver, such that one should only ever fall like the cat upon its feet.
Ability: The boot's wearer always takes the minimum possible damage from falls (as the result were 1 on each die of damage incurred by the fall) and at the end of a fall always lands on his feet.
Fey Gold
Description: A lumpy piece of unworked gold imbued with the power of a Fey creature, this pendant was taken from the corpse of slain pirate lord when we ended his reign at sea.
Ability: While wearing this Fey Gold pendant around their neck, the wearer gains Fire Resistance 1 and a +1 resistance bonus on Will saving throws.
Special: The pendant's other powers, to allow the wearer use Chill Metal 1/Day and to use Mending at will to repair metallic objects, remain unavailable, as you were not its original recipient. Perhaps one of the Tinker Fey can unlock this power once more?
Talismans:
Nikure's Grace: This silver talisman in the form of two delicate intertwined spirals glows blue whenever an evil creature targets the wearer with magic jar, possession, or a similar effect, or with a charm or compulsion spell or effect that allows the creature to exercise control over the wearer (such as suggestion, but not sleep). If the spell or effect allows a saving throw and the wearer fails it, he receives a second saving throw. If he succeeds at the second saving throw, the wearer is also protected by protection from evil for 5 rounds.
Arcanist Exploits: Each use of an Arcanist Exploit uses one or more points from your Arcane Reservoir.
Arcane Barrier: Provides 6 Temporary Hit Points (Arcanist level + CHA modifier) and inflicts an equal amount of Negative Energy damage on whoever breaks the barrier.
Necromantic Focus (Ex): You must prepare at least one Necromancy spell of each spell level you can cast.
Arcane Reservoir (Su): You start each day with 5 points in your Arcane Reservoir (3 + 1/2 Arcanist level), and it can hold up to 7 points (3 + Arcanist level).
Twilight Barrier (Su): Whenever an attack removes the last Temporary Hit Point from your Arcane Barrier, the barrier lashes back at the attacker, dealing an amount of Negative Energy damage equal to the barrier's maximum Temp HP capacity.
Soulward (Su): As long as Esha has her Soulrider on Roland, she can at will as a swift action give him +2 profane bonus to will saves until her next round*. If active, it can be seen by seers with a particularly discerning eye or a specific hatred of the living dead*.
Consume Life (Su): By wresting a soul from life to death, you gain a slightly deeper understanding of mortality, fueling your curiosity and eldritch power. As a Full-Round Action, you can consume the life energy of a helpless living creature, killing it. This creature must have 2 or more Hit Dice and be below 0 hit points. You add 2 points to your Arcane Reservoir if the creature's Hit Dice equaled or exceeded your character level, or 1 point if the creature's Hit Dice equaled at least 1/2 your character level. This ability is a Death Effect.
Weaknesses:
Light Sensitivity: You are Dazzled in areas of bright sunlight or within the radius of a Daylight spell.
Unhallowed Birth: You take a -1 penalty to your caster level whenever you are in an area affected by Consecrate, Hallow, or a similar spell that makes an area Holy.
Hold Breath (Ex): You can hold your breath for 52 rounds (4 times your Constitution attribute) before risking drowning or suffocating.
Thought Speech (Su): You can communicate with any other creature within 60 feet that has a language. This communication is thorough but not always perfect, particularly when dealing with abstract or arcane concepts you are not familiar with. It is possible to address multiple creatures at once using Thought Speech, although maintaining conversations with more than one creature at a time is just as difficult as simultaneously speaking and listening to multiple people at the same time. You lack the mechanisms to vocalize complex language.
Limb-Climber (Ex): When you are adjacent to or in the space of a corporeal creature at least one Size category larger than yourself, you can climb that creature's body with a successful Climb check against a DC equal to the target creature's CMD. Although you are holding on to the creature, this action isn't a Grapple; it doesn't provoke Attacks of Opportunity from the creature, and neither you nor the creature you climb gains the grappled condition. While you are on the climbed creature, the creature takes a -1 penalty on attack rolls against you (equal to the number of Sneak Attack dice you possess).
E6, this is a low magic setting where magic is precious and hard to get your hands on (Link to the P6 Codex).
The Elephant is in the Room, this quest uses a rule change designed to make the game more fun and engaging at low levels by eliminating feat tax.
No teleportation stronger than dimension door can be used normally. Point to point teleportation may exist somewhere in the world, but it is likely to be limited difficult to access and dangerous, do not build your character hoping to get it.
The planes are not right next door. There is no easy access to any plane, no plane shift spell or similar. The closest are the transitive shadow/ethereal/fey which all normally mirror the material and which therefore cannot be used to fast travel, though they might eventually be used to bypass material impediments.
Death and life after it: While spells that revive the very newly dead (a matter of rounds) are available as resuscitation actually bringing back the spirit of the well and proper dead is either impossible or the subject of an epic quest. Death is not a revolving door. The undead do exist and how they factor into this is best revealed in the quest.
Wealth by Level does not exist, your access to magic may be limited by circumstance and the relative scarcity of such works, but you will not be limited in amount of wealth you will be able to acquire and make use of by arbitrary limits.
Handle Animal will work on anything with animal level intelligence (INT 1-2) as well as animal behavior. This mostly applies to magical beasts, though it might apply to plant creatures and others if you know more about them specifically either through your own skills or by having it explained by an expert.
Lore
War, Sin and the Late Crusades: That the war of princes was unjust and ungodly was a matter generally accepted by the 16th century. Yes the kings of Europe were anointed by God, but that did not make their every act God's will. Some of those same princes actually used that, the Plantagenets whom Roland served as a knight in Normandy actually boasted of being children of the Devil, it made them seem more fearsome, it made their enemies quail, it gave their threats a bit more weight to them. When someone claiming the Devil himself as kin said he was going to burn your fields and poison your wells you would perhaps be more inclined to take them at their word. And yet in spite of the fact that such wars were seen as unjust pious knights still took part in them, why? Because that was just how the world worked, you sinned in war for gold, for land, for honors and for glory and then you sought absolution.
The crusades were different, they were not supposed to be sinful, but the manner in which one would be cleansed of sin, you were not fighting your coreligionists, but the heathen, who could be converted yes, but they could also be killed without worry about the rightness of the deed since the war was just right? Well this comes to a screeching halt when you get to something like the Fifth Crusade, when rather than obtaining absolution in victory or in death the people in charge settle. Does that mean that this was no different from all those other wars then? Does that mean you have been sinning all along? Or does that mean that the godly war has been stopped by the will of these princes? Either way what is the state of your soul from accepting not just defeat but settlement?
Local Calendar
41 days of Elnu-eza [Elnu Ascendant] (Spring, 1.5 lunar circles) - Elnu remakes the world for the new year,
5 days of festivities
41 days of Elnu-hamba [Elnu Descendant] (Spring, 1.5 lunar circles) - Elnu hands the world over to mankind,
4 days in between:
Day of Glory
Day of Rule
41 days of Olweje-eza [Olweje Ascendant] (Summer, 1.5 lunar circles) - Olweje drums for strife over the world (war season),
5 days of festivities, Dekokoro (Festival of the Chained Wyrms)
41 days of Olweje-hamba [Olweje Descendant] (Summer, 1.5 lunar circles) - Olweje settles the last disputes,
4 days in between, Greensinging
41 days of Ashinu-ezna [Ashinu Ascendant] (Fall, 1.5 lunar circles) - Ashinu makes the fruits ripen and the corn grow fat,
5 days of festivities, Festival of the Snapdragon
41 days of Ashin-hamba [Ashinu Descendant] (Fall, 1.5 lunar circles) - Ashinu stows his might for the next year,
4 days in between, Light's Passing
41 days of Ikomi-eza [Ikomi Ascendant] (Winter, 1.5 lunar circles) - Ikomi cleanses the world with cold and rain,
5 days of festivities
41 days of Ikomi-hamba [Ikomi Descendant] (Winter, 1.5 lunar circles) - Ikomi retreats to her deep realm,
4 days in between
4 days in between every 16 years, insert 4 days of religious festivities and sacrifices to empower the gods for the next cycle (leap days)
Ojo Iku - Day of the Dead - Day to commemorate and commune with the ancestors
Currency: Not all that glitters is Gold in the world of Age of Ice and Blood, but gold is a part of it. As you travel and discover new societies you will discover all manner of trade systems, form the simple barter based economies of hunter gatherers to the nomads driving vast herds across the cold steppe to the complex agrarian empires which boast vast and complex traditions with regards to the proper acquisition and wealth of wealth. Gold in this sense is and abstraction, it is simply how much wealth you have in a form that is not inherently bound up in the vagaries of trade and which is in no danger of being degraded in a long journey.
A herd of horses will be marked down as a herd of horses because they can still get sick or get hungry on the journey and thus die. A pile of precious metals on the other hand does not suffer that limitation and neither does a pile of polished gems or amber. If the gems are particularly large or impressive or the amber notable for some extraordinary fossil in trapped within then they will be noted. Otherwise they are 'Gold'. Local forms of currency will be mentioned in the narrative and you can try to interact with them as such if you wish, but for most purposes they will be abstracted for ease of play. There is a one to one equivalency with the standard Pathfinder gp for ease of use, though how that interacts with enchanting shall be revealed if and when you have access to an enchanter.
Leadership: Triumvirate of Antonio, Roland, and Zaia as joint council
Fleet of the Company
Marcella
Basic Construction: Eastern Mediterranean Galley, 121 ft length, 21 ft width, 130 metric tons of cargo
Touched by the Far Realm: The ship has passed though the Realm Between and it has been... changed. It Hungers for life and yet it seems bent on preserving the life of its crew.
Sails upon the Dreaming Wind: Marcella no longer sails solely with the wind of mortal realms, able to even travel against it at great need, though to linger among its rigging grows more of a strain upon the mind of man.
Ship's Eye I: All those marked by the ship gain +2 Circumstantial to Reflex Saves while on the ship.
Special: +2 bonus when using the Trip, Disarm, Dirty Trick, Feint, Reposition, or Steal Combat Maneuvers, and does not provoke an Attack of Opportunity.
Special: +2 bonus when using the Trip, Disarm, Dirty Trick, Feint, Reposition, or Steal Combat Maneuvers, and does not provoke an Attack of Opportunity.
You can use a net in melee to Trip or Disarm opponents instead of Entangling them. You gain a +2 bonus on Disarm checks made to use a net in this way (stacks with Deft Maneuvers).
If you have an opponent Entangled in your net, you can attempt to Drag or Reposition that opponent as long as he is within your net's reach or you control the trailing rope on your net.
Special: You deal additional damage equal to your weapon's critical hit modifier when you score a successful critical hit with a weapon; this additional damage is added to the final total, and is not multiplied by the critical hit multiple itself.
Fast Movement (Ex): When you are not wearing Heavy Armor or carrying a heavy load, your land speed is increased by +10 feet.
Rage (Ex): You can enter a Rage or leave that state as a Free Action for up to 15 rounds per day (10 + CON modifier + 2 per level after 1st). Temporary Constitution increases do not affect your daily ability to Rage. When you stop using Rage, you are Fatigued for twice as long as you Raged, and you cannot enter a Rage while Fatigued or Exhausted. If you fall unconscious, your Rage immediately ends. Your ability to Rage is renewed each day after resting for 8 hours, although these hours do not need to be consecutive.
Reckless Abandon (Ex): While Raging, you can further reduce your AC by -1 to increase your attack bonus by +1
Rage Effects: +4 Morale bonus to Strength and Constitution, +2 Morale bonus to Will saves, and -2 penalty to AC. You cannot use any Charisma-, Dexterity-, or Intelligence-linked skills (except Acrobatics, Intimidate, and Ride), or any ability that requires patience or concentration.
Equipment of Note: Cold Iron Spear, Steel Chain Shirt
5 Anwa Warriors (Warrior 3, Horn of the Werebear ready)
Special: +2 bonus when using the Trip, Disarm, Dirty Trick, Feint, Reposition, or Steal Combat Maneuvers, and does not provoke an Attack of Opportunity.
Anwa Islands 4/10: Strangers you are seemingly risen up from the foaming waves of a storms come upon the island, strange is your ship and strange is your manner. Some call you aid unlooked for in a time of need, some birds of ill omen, come to pick over the bones of the True Folk
-Lirman: 6/10: You were welcomed by the king into his hall, yet you have made few freinds among the clans, even those who were once you allies now speaking ill of your deeds. Yet none can deny that you came in timely manner with news of the darkness growing over Korman. It is said you have slain a dragon, and a dragon's head you brought forth for song and saga
-Korman: 3/10: Champions of Olweje, and bearers of His shield you have been named outlaw and kidnapper by the new king of the Island. It would be death for you to show your face in the capital, though perhaps other lords might thing better of you
Orinilu 2/10: One of your leaders is a member of the League of Captains and honored for it.
The White Lands 1/10: Your deeds are great , but they have not yet resounded upon the frozen plains from the horns of the Wyrdoki and the drums of the Danuk
Brewed from the musk of a creature long trapped in the dreaming world this concoction allows a mage to greatly enhance the effects of spells of slumber. Add 2d2 HD to the cap creatures affected by a sleep spell. Cost 150 gp/dose.
Notable possessions
Books on Alchemy and Metallurgy (+3 to Craft Alchemy and all Metal Craft skills as long as one is in a position to reference the tomes)*
Masterwork Smithing and Alchemy Tools (+2 to relevant rolls)*
A cauldron of brewing looks like a fine cooking pot with four stout legs. The cauldron is capable of heating any liquid placed in it to a precise temperature (anywhere from just above room temperature to hot enough to boil salt water) and maintaining it indefinitely while still remaining only slightly warm to the touch on the outside. A cauldron of brewing provides a +5 competence bonus on Craft (alchemy) skill checks.
Instructions for Dragon Crafting (a book that when consulted allows an alchemist to act as though they possess Dragoncrafting at the cost of taking twice as long as with the feat)*
This set of kettle drums is carried on a shoulder strap and played one-handed using a single two-sided mallet. By making a DC 20 Perform (percussion) check, the bearer can grant the effects of a haste spell on up to 5 creatures. The drums can affect up to 25 creatures per day.
While wearing a Fey Gold nugget around the neck, the wearer gains fire resistance 1 and a +1 resistance bonus on Will saving throws.
Northern Fury
Northern Fury
Description: This heavy oaken club, roughly carved, is not quite sentient, but still seems drawn to violence, dragging its wielder into battle with it if it can.
Powers:
+1 Greatclub
The wielder takes a -2 penalty on Will saves against any spells or effects that incite rage, compel hostility or otherwise contribute to starting a fight.
With the first hit made in a combat the club casts Deadly Juggernaut as a free action, but also requires the wielder to make a DC 14 Will save to retreat from melee-range of any opponent still standing. The spell can only be activated once per day.
Horn of the Werebear
Description: A horn in form but not of horn wrought, rather it seems to have been carved from a single piece of ivory by most skillful and loving craft. Carved all about its length with scenes of war that feature men and bears as well as the obviously quite painful transformation between them.
Power: A sacred relic of Olweje, when this horn is blown it can temporarily transform a warrior into large, armored monstrosity of a bear, a Zentragt. The warrior must accept the transformation willingly and after the battle for which he was transformed sacrifice the arms and armor of all foes he has slain to Olweje (by eating them in his bear-form), or else the warrior remains a Zentragt and is driven battle-mad to attack his former comrades.
The transformation takes a full round and lasts for an hour, the target of the transformation must be within 10 feet of the hornblower.
Okunrin Okomo's Hollow Drums (might be used for enchantment)*
Broken Wyrd Lantern (might serve as the base for future enchantments)*
Shadow's various potions and poisons* Shadow's dragon tablets*
Roland-Esha silent communication policy: inconspicious signals and nauseating drought for Roland to initiate silent communication from Esha though her Soulrider as per Sending when they are together / apart respectively.
Weather and danger checking when sailing policy: with Inge, via marine life and Eagle eye.
Detect magic policy: check with all detect cantrips all new things and people we interact with.
Recruit vetting policy: vet and check people we recruit with our magic.
Marcella and Wayfarer's Respite inspection policy: inspect Marcella when leaving port and Wayfarer's Respite when leaving / arriving with our magic.
Wayfarer's Respite
[X] Wayfarer's Respite Building Plan
-[X] Wooden Walls & Moat: Cost: 1,920 gold (20 SS x 160 gold x 0.6; ratio of outer vs inner walls of a 20 space stronghold)
-[X] Outbuildings/Open Space:
--[X] Alchemist's Lab (x1 space): 350 gold
--[X] Courtyard: x5 (x5 spaces, x3 of them upgraded to be suitable for training): 750 gold
--[X] Dock (x1 space): 500 gold
--[X] Guard Posts: x2 (x1 space): 600 gold
--[X] Otter-kin Burrow (x1 space, with neat underground tunnel connecting their burrow to the inner courtyard of Wayfarer's Respite): 400 gold
--[X] Stables (x4 spaces; room for 24 horses): 4,000 gold
---[X] Sub-Total: 8,520 gold
-[X] Main Structure, Ground Floor
--[X] Barracks (x2 spaces; room for 20 men): 800 gold
--[X] Baths: x2 (x1 space): 640 gold
--[X] Dining Hall/Common Area (x2 spaces): 2,000 gold
--[X] Kitchen (x1 space): 2,000 gold
--[X] Storage: x2 (x2 spaces): 500 gold
---[X] Sub-Total: 5,940 gold
-[X] Main Structure, 2nd Floor
--[X] Armory/Strongroom (x1 space): 500 gold
--[X] Bedrooms: x6 (x3 spaces, x2 separate bedrooms per space): 2,100 gold --[X] Storage: x1 (x1 space): 250 gold
--[X] Study/Office: x2 (x1 space): 400 gold ---[X] Sub-Total: 3,250 gold
--[X] Total: 20,366.5 gold (+3% due to location, +15% due to tech limit, +3% due to Winter, -6% discount due to using Fellowship soldiers for some labor)
Note: Locations will be presented in the order they have been encountered in quest, either in person or as a concept. Generally only those of which significant amount is known IC will be presented.
The Blue Sea [The Mediterranean]
Dotted with small mercantile city states the sea provides a vital link in trade with the steppes and even the colder lands of the White Isles. Climate is relatively temperate with forests of evergreens and even broad-leaf trees being present north and south of the Sea
The Spear Islands [Columbretes Islands]
Small islands in the western Blue Sea which are counted sacred to Ikomi, due to the lack of reliable fresh water only a small settlement can dwell year round on the islands, using a reservoir to collect rain water, they are nominally under the authority of Orinilu the Fair. This is where the Marcella first made landfall in the new world and where it discovered the aftermath of a battle between Anwari sailors lead by Ilfa and the locals winch ended first in the death of the invaders, save only Inge, then in their rise as undead who destroyed the settlement and killed the priests.
Orinilu [Located in what would be Valencia]
Merchant city at the mouth of the river Kine grown rich off trade with the nomads to the north who bring goods from far and wide the city is well known for its glass-making and pottery as well as some of the best blue ships the Anwari know of. They are lead by a conclave of merchants and landholders which selects a 'Regency Council' of five members. The line of kings for which they are supposed to be regents was banished from the city three generations ago, but they kept the name, ruling in the came of the people and not the king. Rivals of Ibanora. Zaia' notes.
Eriran the Seer
An Oracle more timid than bold and more mired in debt that he would like to admit, he has nonetheless proven skillful in the art of divination, if costly to make use of. The price of his aid was first the translation of a forbidden tome and then quite a hefty sum of silver. He seems to always be swinging between not wishing to be troubled with 'trifles' and not wishing to be involved in dangerous affairs.
Anisi, Anar and Eki
Hunters given the grim task of hunting down those who transgressed against Elnu and Ikomi, the gods of Fate and Death. By your understanding this includes fiends like the Anjo-Oru, malicious fey and wizards who work their arts in defiance of the law of the city and its environs. Hunters were more common in the days of the kings for now the temple of Elnu is no longer held in high esteem. Though your initial meeting with the three was balanced on the edge of a blade you eventually came to an understanding and earned the liking if not the trust of Anisi in your deeds in the city
Captain Ukuju
One supposes that a man chosen by the League of Captains to negotiate with Antonio, or perhaps one with enough sway to push though a foreigner just come to port into their ranks, is wealthy or powerful. Alas all you can recall of him is the odd wig. You wonder if all the nobles of the city wear such a thing.
Odorin Koire
Current lord of House Koire. The boy does not look any older than twelve or thirteen at the most, with a narrow face and a nose that one might count aristocratic if it were not just a little too upturned. A likable sort and willing to even sell land to strangers from far off places, though on the other side of things also seemingly a fine morsel for cursed wanderers looking for their next meal. You begin to wonder if the misfortunes of the House that left one so young in charge are not just coincidence
Bragi
A man who lost 5000 Golden Icari in the game with Esha. Worse still he was humiliated when he confronted her, the kind of person who would lose so much gambling might well act on impulse in other ways as well
Hengo Perys
A minor noble interested in horse breeding program.
Sigan Iskhan
Sword of the Purple who made proposition about Zaia' potions. Has a reputation as a dueler, some would even whisper assassin, though not too loudly around him
Kefele Akumu
Leader of the Purple.One might count his manner excentric as he dresses in a manner that would not earn a second look in most of Farshore. Any of the highborn who might encounter him in such a state would surely have all their worst thoughts about the Purple confirmed.... though how many would have the opportunity?
Ibanora [Located in the same area as the presumed city of Tartesos]
One of the major exporters of Tin in the western Blue Sea, the city is militaristic, lead by a Triad of Kings, one of Stone, one of Blood and one of Sea. They are the head of the Tin league, the most populous league of city states on the peninsula, though not the richest. Rivals of Orinilu.
The Mouth of the World [The Straights of Gibraltar]
The passage between the Blue Sea and the Sunset Sea, what the Anwari call the True Sea, the seaway is contested between the armies of the Tin League, particularly the phalanxes of Ibanora and the Stout Folk who had called the area home since time out of mind. Attempts have been made in the past by the city states to hold the straights and tax the trade that passes through them, but that is mostly in the form of Anwari Longships, who do not take kindly to attempts at pinching their hard earned, or hard-looted goods.
People of the Narrow Way
Knikut tribe that lives in the area of Mouth of the World. They felt the Far touched nature of Marcells from the beginning.
Bear Bane
A woman perhaps into her fortieth winter, old by the harsh seasons of the north, but here still hale and obviously a respected elder. She sailed east with the group of her people, trying to find her daughter.
Sings to Sorrow
Owl skinchanger who followed Marcella and settled near Wayfarer's Respite.
Sunset Sea/True Sea (Atlantic Ocean)
Colder and far more perilous sea than the Blue Sea, it is also called Ikomi's Sea because souls are thought to follow the sea to the west and because it is thought to stretch out endlessly westward
The Sunset Islands (Islands of the Anwa) [The Canary Islands]
A collection of eight major and many more minor islands in the Sunset Ocean, they are host to a people of skilled and far traveling mariners, traders and when the chance presents itself raiders. While the islands are rich in good timber and fine soils thy lack both tin and copper, needing to import both from far off lands. Though most of the Anwa are farmers as in other lands a significant numbers are fishers, some of which even dare to hunt the great leviathans of the deep as part of the rites of anointing new kings. These are by most accounts a people quarrelsome as they are bold with the head of every household partaking in a local assembly to which the minor lords must give account even as they can call the kings to account.
Island of Lirman [Fuerteventura]
Easternmost of the Sunset Islands and the one the Marcella made landfall upon after passing the Mouth of the world, it is flat with only a few modest peaks in the south of the islands, where it is not farmed the land is covered in forests of Laurel and other ever greens. The locals fish, farm and and brew strange red beer. There are wizards practicing their arts openly in the king's court
City of Apuku
Counting perhaps 25.000 souls the city would be called a town in other lands, but it is the largest settlement on the island. All the halls of the local clans are built around the Hearth Trees, to which they give much honor, almost as minor gods of the home. The king of the siland dwells here and he has given a princely welcome to the Marcella and her passengers.
Ohun Greenbelt
Aged and presumably learned sorcerer. He is by his own account a councilor and you have found a former regent to the young King Ansefu of Lirman, vouched for your passage onto the island and your oaths by a God not of the Anwa. Careful with his words and subtle of mind the old man is nonetheless not wholly opposed to taking risks as he did offer an important task to strangers on their first day ashore.You have agreed to make a trek on his behalf and see to the 'standing stones' he seems concerned for.
King Ansefu son of Ensefu of Lirman
A young lord new-come to power and yet unused to its ways. For all that you have found him courteous and open to tales of distant lands. He rules it seems by the consent of the clans as much as by blood and the proclamation of the priests. He might have been born a bastard, if you understood the tale of his family aright, but that does not seem to carry any special stigma among the Anwa, or perhaps they would rather have a bastard than a woman ruling them.
Lina Osane
Elder sister of the King of Lirman, by somewhere between five and ten years, she was born to a foreigner and the mark of it is still upon her, in the brilliant green of her eyes. She has taken your side at court, seemingly out of a generous impulse and a unwillingness to bear fools silently. Still there is something more it it you are suspect. She was too quick to brush off her own aid for one who is used to the games of courtly power. Has been shown to be the daughter of a sea nymph and in some manner summoned home by the fey as the pride of their aid. So far she has refused the call.
Eki Teranoa
A bear of a man at first sight and truly his voice has something of a growl to it, one who is defending his lair perhaps. Apparently the reason he and all his clan have cause to quarrel with him is a promise Antonio made with his clan's rivals, though he seemed quick indeed to belittle you and yours and that you shall not forget, no matter the cause. Second fiance of Aina. Was killed on the duel by Roland.
Onogu Iranea
Old is he and blind as a traveler in deepest whitest blizzard and white the color of his eyes, though according to Antonio any man who thinks that he has lost his wits with his sight is likely to be swiftly dissuaded of the notion, if he is lucky with words, if he is not with sharpened bronze in the back. An ally of convenience made with the promise of offering a chain shirt for study of the clan's smiths. Alas what might have been a hopeful cooperation was cut short by a chance meeting with one of his House practicing Blood magic upon hapless Boar Folk. During Light's Passing head of true Onogu Iranea was found. Later it was revealed that he was killed and replaced by one of the Formless, following the questioning of his spirit.
Almun Iranea
Bard from House Iranea who practiced Blood magic upon hapless Boar Folk. His face is pale and not in that natural manner than might show merely an aversion to the sun, but yellowing like old parchment and somehow... thin, as though there was something beneath waiting to burst forth.
Alfin Iranea
Participated in the raid on Noromo. According to Aina, his warrior reputation is exaggerated.
Darun 'Half-hand' Torag
He deserves his name honestly enough to judge from the stump of his right hand, though he is no stranger with the use of his left. Was killed on the duel by the Unke the Red during battle near Noromo.
House of Atuko
The only one House represented by a woman, still dark haired and straight backed she could be any age between forty and sixty with that particular poise that comes from having ruled long and shrewdly.
Oroki
Smith in Apuku who forged Durendal. Tall figure of a man dressed for harsh work and dirty work. Unlike most of those in Apuku, certainly most wealthy folk he keeps his beard trimmed too close for rings and chains, maybe to keep it out of the danger of the forge.
Fey of Lirman
Being called the Lonely Ones in accordance to the ancient belief that they are the spirits of an elder people who have become one with the land itself the spirits of Lirman are many things, guardians of lands, keepers of lore, hunters of unwary men
Ukuhamba
Guardian of the well between standing stones. His skin is grey as a misty morn, hair white as sea-foam rippling down to his shoulders framing a face fair, and indeed it seems as if some secret light flows through him from realms beyond this one.
Lone Branch
Treant from the Walking Woods. He looks like a tree is walking on great roots and limbs too thick around for a man to grasp them and yet bending like willow reeds, a giant crowned in leaves of green, his beard like the fine clinging vines of grapes and in his eyes an uncanny stillness.
Rokeke
Fey thief who took Tom's spear.
Ro'No'Ron
Bulabar smith. Was tricked and bound by Rokeke, later was released by Roland. Former apprentice master of your own gremlin smith
Boar Folk
Being of two natures they revere the passing of the moon, yet unlike more 'civilized' peoples they do not seem to have magicians among them. They live a semi-nomadic life, Their other form allwoing them to live off marginal clearings and woodlands, though they avoid the sea. From their looks they do not seem to be kin of most of the Anwari and they speak their own tongue among themselves
Iori
Little boy that hide during Iranea's assault on Boar Folk village.
Uhumbi
Leader of Boar Folk.
Island of Korman [Gran Canaria]
More fertile and more geographically central of the Sunset Islands Korman's tribes are richer, their ships larger and more venturesome and its ports more accustomed to traders from far off places. Mead brewed in Korman is famed throughout the islands and beyond Aina's description of Korman towns and villages.
City of Noromo
Build not around hearth trees but the imposing pale walls of the Thousand Caves Noromo is far more of a fortress city and on its darkened alleys free sails walk untroubled, brigands in all but name looking for a master unwise enough to open their purses to them. Worship of Olweje is common during the summer and raucous when it does take place. One is more likely to find better deals on all manner of precious and valuable goods in its capital
Fioke of the Teeth
The commander of a company of free sails and raiders, though more clever and willing to negotiate than most of his ilk Fioke is a fel fighter though less for the strength of his arm or even the skill of his dagger as for the cunning with which he commands his men. You would not to meet him and his folk in a proper battle with no priests to adjudicate the trial.
Luaza
Great-grandmother of Aina, eldest and wisest druid of Anwa Islands. Old she seems almost beyond telling, her skin as dry and lied as tree bark, her hands like ancient roots knotted beneath a mantle of furs, her hair a wispy halo of white about her head. Was killed by anjo-oru.
Adetayo and Obari of Korman
Twin princes of the island who were involved in the slaying of their father and their great-grandmother Luaza at the behest of the shadow-kin, the anjo oru. They appear to be possessed by the creatures or utterly subservient to them. They have shown dark gifts from their pact, or enslavement, though not enough to judge what the source of the magic might be
Aina of Korman
Princess of the island and the only one left among the royal clan who still resists the evil which has infected their home. She has shown herself skillful in dealing with the fey, though whether by ancient pact or sorcerous powers of her own Roland does not know for certain. Her pride is unbent, though her means are limited, dependent as she is upon the favor of a foreign king.After tough and bloody war and three dead fiances she became Queen of Korman.
Negu of Orinyiya
Cruel and vicious raider, little better than those who go in Razirah against kin and that only because his neighbors would turn against him, but he is also a canny warrior and and bold in battle when he has the chance, he has taken the heads of many young and old who came against him. Was swayed on the side of anti-Obari coalition. Third fiance of Aina. Was killed during the encaunter with Pale men by the assassin.
Island of Aram [La Palma]
One of Sunset Islands from which ship with Esha sailed.
Island of Surman [El Hierro]
Westernmost of the Sunset Islands worth the name, a poor and rocky place that drives its people to sea more than any of the others.
Okunrin "the Red" Okomo
Anwari raider and drummer who tried to attack "Pride of Koire"
Isele Okomo
Quite a vengeful brother of Okunrin Okomo.
The Northlands
Beyond the forests of birch and oak that girdle the coast of the inner sea there can be found a great grassy steppe that stretches to the west until the shores of the ocean and to the east is lost in the haze of tall tales beyond the ken of any map that can be found in the markets of Apuku. Though there are hills and mountains, lakes and rivers along which one can find forests of cold pine no nation rules those lands, only tribes of the Knikut and the hosts of the Horned Riders know their paths. The former keep to the forests and the hills whereas the riders hunt the herds of wild cattle, horses, mammoth and other strange beasts on the plains. Cold is the wind from the north and swift to steal the breath of any man caught in the open when winter lays upon the land. Should one care to listen there are legends abroad of frost fiends drawn to the traveler's fire and savage beasts with fangs sharper than any dagger.
Foothills of the Greyspine [The Alps]
Watches in Darkness
The most senior, or perhaps simply the most skilled of the warriors you met in the trials of Ikomi on Korman. He is proof that just as a fine manner and a silver tongue may hide a wicked heart so too might a savage mien be the garb of a warrior honorable as he is strong
Tender
Though not truly her name of the the owl masked shaman this is what she is called so long as he has not yet chosen her guiding spirit. What this means you understand only a little, but you can respect anyone who would set off on so dangerous a journey in search of his gods and even more so one who is willing to heal a former foe moments after being defeated in a duel.
Willowbrook Hall
Cave near the cost of Sunset Sea, probably on the territory of would-be France. Home of otterkin, although cave itself was not made by them. The construction of the hall seems oddly akin to the flooded hall whence a monster waited, a dragon born of dreams and malice which claimed to have had a hand in the making of the gentle otter-kin. Is there any truth to it? You would not credit it.
Great Voice
Elderly otter-kin, about 12 years old. Lider of Willowbrook tribe.
Heavy Tail
Brother of Swift Pebble. Like his sister he too had seen the wonders that the southerners had brought with them and he too had desired them for himself and for his kin, but unlike his sister he had thought long and hard of how they might bring them to all of the people. It came to him that you could still make tools of the simpler stuff sch as copper.
White Lands (Modern day Cornwall,)
A great promontory of land thrust out into the sea, its head buried in the eternal ice of the northlands. Life here is harsher than in the woods, leaving little chance to forage and none to farm the land. Most live off the sea or off herds of great beasts that can survive on the hardy grass that does not die off within the snows.
Crowfeeder
Chief of Danuk tribe.
The Deadlands
Ice sheet of the Glacial Age. Zaia' notes.
Virokaia
Cro-Magnon tribe which dwells on the cost somewhere south from the Willowbrook. They drive away strangers from Wormhalls wich is known among them as a place of bad omen.
Yarduk
Tribe which by cunning craft held the pass through the mountains that held off the frozen breath of the east wind.
The Great Lands
Inaurna Empire [Somewhere in Sub-Saharan West Africa]
One of the oldest and richest realms known to the Anwa, given the name 'Great Land' by its own folk and travelers alike it is and empire rules it is said by divine mandate from one descended of the God Elnu himself. The God Kings it is said can witness all in heir land and much beyond and they are quick to bring war and misfortune upon those who displease or defy them. Yet for all the gold in their treasury and all the tomes of lore in their great libraries the Anwa count this a decadent realm, where men bow and scrape to scribbles on clay and blood grown thin through the ages. Having heard this sort of talk before one might suspect more than a bit of Fox and Grapes in the matter
Oromo of the Hundred Towers
Capital of the Inaruna Empire, famed in song and tale as a center of commerce art and architecture as well as a city which has never fallen to a foreign invader, though not for lack of trying. Rich in both gold and silver which shine upon the tops of its many towers it is nonetheless just as notable for the repositories of knowledge from all across the world for that it is said the God Kings value above all other treasures.
Humbai
City of traders and sailors, though of a far less rough breed than the Anwa, their wide flat ships are made not to cut the currents and dare the storm, but to carry the works of the city to far off realms. In this city Ziku and Moru were born.
The Candleblight Caverns and the Deeps of Durik
Dark and perilious places, yet promising a bounty of precious things that have never seen the light of the sun to any bold enough to enter and fortunate enough to return
Region ofBlue Sea
Yayar
Riders of the horned beasts, distant kin perhaps of the Wyrdoki, though far fiercer and more numerous. They do not gather many in one place save when it it time for war or for feasts in honor of their strange gods. the Yayar serve not the gods of the southern pantheon, nor yet the animal gods of the Wyrdoki in the north, rather they believe in a duality of seasonal spirits who can take the guise of men or beasts which they call the Dancers. Dancers of Summer an d Spring are counted benevolent and those of Fall and Winter more ambivalent towards the trials and tribulations of men, though the shamans of the tribe to their best to appease them. All manner of lurid and bloody rumor goes on about these rites, though as ones far-traveled you know not to pay too much heed to waging tongues
Atun [Morocco]
Herein well many men that are bold and heavy handed, leal to kin and oath, though like the shark under whose bannners they often sail they tear the meat from the flesh of any they deem weak. Much as in Orinilu there is no one master in this city, though unlike the Regency Council with no king the Circle of Teeth draw their authority directly from the citizens, they are elected once every seven years, though only a third of the Council is up for election in any one year normally
Sealkin Islands [Balearic Islands]
City Isangu (on the Eastern Sealkin Island) was founded by Agberi mystics, the Brotherhood of Nu, seeking shelter from persecution more than two centuries ago.
City Luaru (on the the Western Sealkin Island) is a heavy fortified city founded roughly at the same time as Orinilu. Zaia' notes.
Agber [Land roughly assosiated with Sahara] Zaia' notes (mostly about vetala)
Has some kind of impressive building named White Arch.
Nokuma [Greece]
Land of star worshipers and skilled miners of silver, so of that silver they make bells to symbolize their gods and they hang them in their temples as tinkling curtains, an echo of the celestial dance. Thousand Gods are worshipped there. One of the cities is Ilium.
Neios
Young man from the family of keepers of Sea Gate. Organized expedition to Wormhalls in a desperate attempt to retrieve some kind of grandfather's treasure.
Glimerdale (Fey Realm near Lirman)
Glimerdale is the place of memory, the place where lightning runs in veins of stone, many, many lives of men ago it became a place for the trading of knowledge, of rumor and tale as well, true or false, fact or fancy the keepers will buy it, so long as it is honestly answered and so many of those who have a love for the knowing of things, sages and seers and then the making of things, tinkerers and tricksters.
Mynid the Wayguard
Troll who keeps the water flowing, guarded and safe. Lonely and talkative one.
Wingless
Moster of law in Glimmerdale. Born of the pixie-folk and beloved of the air he lost his wings to a hawk that was in the service of one of the sorcerer priests of the Anwa and he loves them not for that.
I feel like I need to make this clear, Varley is really not in a crusading mood, his faith in God, not just in the church has been shaken by what he has seen on campaign. That could of course change, he is your character, but 'A Broken Faith' up there is not for show.
I'm mostly interested to see if we can find a niche. Building a realm is not really in the realm of options with a century, so the question is what else to do?
Become mercenaries, try to take some land and settle down in peace as good Roman soldiers should do after having fought their battle, or something entirely else?
Maybe even get into some less-legal work, be it thug-work in towns or real banditry, it's rather common for soldiers without country or paymaster to go into questionable businesses after all.
I'm mostly interested to see if we can find a niche. Building a realm is not really in the realm of options with a century, so the question is what else to do?
Become mercenaries, try to take some land and settle down in peace as good Roman soldiers should do after having fought their battle, or something entirely else?
Maybe even get into some less-legal work, be it thug-work in towns or real banditry, it's rather common for soldiers without country or paymaster to go into questionable businesses after all.
I should probably note here that the Tenth Legion are uncommonly prideful in some ways, they were the first legion Cesar raised. Yes they suffered for being on the wrong side of the civil war, but they still have a certain sense of their own greatness that will make for some really tough conversations
Oh and one more thing, the vote on the character sheet and such will be next update as we look into what the Transition was like for whoever ends up winning, but if you guys have character-building suggestions now would not be a bad time to put them up. That way we have more time to discuss and who knows a good suggestion for a build may push your favored vote ahead.
The quest, as DP has specified on the ASWAH thread, is character-centric.
It is not empire-building, it is not commanding the whole legion to build the base of operation in this strange new world.
In this context, I feel like having funds, and at least some smarts to learn about the setting surrounding them now, is the best option for the MC.
Retraining into a proper 'adventurer' is always an option down the line, after all.
Well first you would have to find someone willing and able to teach you how to be a paladin. Given that you are in another world finding someone to teach you how to be the paladin of any sort of familiar god seems unlikely.
Just to be clear: these people all come from our world, none of them have magic right now and you cannot just choose it in character creation.