Seasons of Heroes: A D&D-inspired Adventure!
The continent of Vikalean is divided: between...
The continent of Vikalean is divided: between...
Seasons of Heroes: A D&D-inspired Adventure!
- Thread starter The Laurent
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Statistics (6 threadmarks, 8.1k words)
User Total The Laurent 4 NemoMarx 2
Mechanics, Heroes, and Parties
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Levels, Traits, Classes, and Races, Oh My!
Seasons of Heroes has a very simple system. There are classes, races, and levels, and all three interact with narratively but mechanically gained things called Traits. Put simply, a fireball spell (if it exists and would be available to your protagonist) doesn't do 1d57.9 damage, it instead is narratively a fireball, with all that means, represented by a Trait. Traits can be broad, or can be incredibly narrow, and Traits come in several different kinds. First, there are Common Traits, that anyone can take. Second, there are Race--Physical and Race--Cultural traits. As that implies, a human raised in an Orime village is, culturally at least, an Orime, and there are Traits out there that allow you to simulate someone born in and living in two separate cultures. Even humans actually have a wide variety of different Cultural traits, or at least that's the idea. Finally, there are Class Traits. Classes sometimes exist in-universe, and sometimes don't. On the one hand, Knights (none of the characters is one) are both a class and a social group in certain areas. But other classes, such as Bowmen, might be recognized but hardly can be said to be 'of a kind.' There are many classes out there, and because everything's narrative, they're at least reasonably balanced against each other.
You gain Traits at Level 0, 1, 2, 3... on and on until Level 20, but few people go beyond Level 10, at least typically. It takes a certain sort of drive to reach something like 'basic mastery' in a field and then keep on going. Adventurers, though, are going to adventure.
For Leveling, the costs are as follows:
Costs per level 10XP Base, with 4XP per level until 10, and then 6XP per level thereafter.
You gain XP not merely by fighting, but by facing tough challenges and triumphing.
Rewards per Adventure (difficulty scale)
Failing the goal of an adventure: -1 to -3 XP
Successfully completing an Adventure: 1 to 3 XP
Completing an Adventure with Style, or doing better than was expected: +1XP
Generic XP Questions (At end of an Adventure)
Facing, and overcoming, an easy challenge: .5 XP
Facing, and overcoming, a peer foe or solid challenge: 1 XP
Facing, and overcoming, a difficult challenge: 2 XP
Facing, and overcoming, a seemingly impossible challenge: 3 XP
Unnecessary Fights Or Challenges, especially when they harm the bottom line: -1 to -2 XP
Certain classes and races and characters have their own 'Questions' to ask at the end of a particular adventure. As can be seen, there's no such thing as grinding, not really. If you aren't facing peer foes or better, you're not going to get better. That, especially, is why leveling beyond ten is comparatively rarer (not that levels exist except as an abstraction.) You can't settle down to be the Royal Guard, or the academic magic-user in the tower, you have to keep on pushing, have to basically win and then keep on betting double or nothing hoping that you survive one adventure after another, each harder than the last.
I'll outline the Traits gained per each level later, since it really isn't important, but that's the long and short of it? There's no mechanical restrictions on party, just the practical ones you might imagine. Once you really get to know someone, you unlock their character sheet to peruse. All five of the characters you have to vote on already have completed character sheets, so don't worry about that.
Finally: weapon choice has no mechanical effect, because what does, but obviously a person with a bow fights differently than one with a sword. Part of what Traits will hopefully do for voters is give them ideas of how to, more or less, stunt or think up clever plans or etc. If you know that your character can talk their way out of anything with a torrent of lies, then when you get caught by the enemy, perhaps you try to do that. That's the point, narratively outlining what one can do, while having a mechanical component for voters to argue about and use to improve their Quest experience and the overall outcome.
Seasons of Heroes has a very simple system. There are classes, races, and levels, and all three interact with narratively but mechanically gained things called Traits. Put simply, a fireball spell (if it exists and would be available to your protagonist) doesn't do 1d57.9 damage, it instead is narratively a fireball, with all that means, represented by a Trait. Traits can be broad, or can be incredibly narrow, and Traits come in several different kinds. First, there are Common Traits, that anyone can take. Second, there are Race--Physical and Race--Cultural traits. As that implies, a human raised in an Orime village is, culturally at least, an Orime, and there are Traits out there that allow you to simulate someone born in and living in two separate cultures. Even humans actually have a wide variety of different Cultural traits, or at least that's the idea. Finally, there are Class Traits. Classes sometimes exist in-universe, and sometimes don't. On the one hand, Knights (none of the characters is one) are both a class and a social group in certain areas. But other classes, such as Bowmen, might be recognized but hardly can be said to be 'of a kind.' There are many classes out there, and because everything's narrative, they're at least reasonably balanced against each other.
You gain Traits at Level 0, 1, 2, 3... on and on until Level 20, but few people go beyond Level 10, at least typically. It takes a certain sort of drive to reach something like 'basic mastery' in a field and then keep on going. Adventurers, though, are going to adventure.
For Leveling, the costs are as follows:
Costs per level 10XP Base, with 4XP per level until 10, and then 6XP per level thereafter.
You gain XP not merely by fighting, but by facing tough challenges and triumphing.
Rewards per Adventure (difficulty scale)
Failing the goal of an adventure: -1 to -3 XP
Successfully completing an Adventure: 1 to 3 XP
Completing an Adventure with Style, or doing better than was expected: +1XP
Generic XP Questions (At end of an Adventure)
Facing, and overcoming, an easy challenge: .5 XP
Facing, and overcoming, a peer foe or solid challenge: 1 XP
Facing, and overcoming, a difficult challenge: 2 XP
Facing, and overcoming, a seemingly impossible challenge: 3 XP
Unnecessary Fights Or Challenges, especially when they harm the bottom line: -1 to -2 XP
Certain classes and races and characters have their own 'Questions' to ask at the end of a particular adventure. As can be seen, there's no such thing as grinding, not really. If you aren't facing peer foes or better, you're not going to get better. That, especially, is why leveling beyond ten is comparatively rarer (not that levels exist except as an abstraction.) You can't settle down to be the Royal Guard, or the academic magic-user in the tower, you have to keep on pushing, have to basically win and then keep on betting double or nothing hoping that you survive one adventure after another, each harder than the last.
I'll outline the Traits gained per each level later, since it really isn't important, but that's the long and short of it? There's no mechanical restrictions on party, just the practical ones you might imagine. Once you really get to know someone, you unlock their character sheet to peruse. All five of the characters you have to vote on already have completed character sheets, so don't worry about that.
Finally: weapon choice has no mechanical effect, because what does, but obviously a person with a bow fights differently than one with a sword. Part of what Traits will hopefully do for voters is give them ideas of how to, more or less, stunt or think up clever plans or etc. If you know that your character can talk their way out of anything with a torrent of lies, then when you get caught by the enemy, perhaps you try to do that. That's the point, narratively outlining what one can do, while having a mechanical component for voters to argue about and use to improve their Quest experience and the overall outcome.
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People: The Nelkaelands
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Since they're not one of the protagonist's origins, I'll share this bit of worldbuilding with you.
The Nelkaelands
Description: North of the Central Lands, as they are called, but connected by a somewhat thin land bridge, the Nelkaelands and its people, often known as the Nelk, have had a complicated relationship both with each other and with the larger world. They are a hardy people, of varying heights but with a habit of cultivating impressive beards. Their warriors once raided all across the known world, and traded equally broadly. They were once one people, who resisted, almost to the last, the Sepult-Edelian Empire with the help of their own Sepult rebels, radicals who stood behind their own Empire.
Then, when the Empire broke, they raided up and down the entire known world, wealthy and powerful. But they fractured, internally and externally, and one Empire became an Empire and a Kingdom, that of Neckland. Then at last, as the Kingdoms and groups of the region became better able to resist them, they were forced to deal with the fact that they couldn't survive purely on raiding, or on trading. The latter had dried up some too, as internal networks improved and other traders competed. So they turned away from raiding, and traded more broadly, and remade themselves.
Nelkaelanders are people who differ wildly, though they are divided into various Kingdoms, clans, and castes. The Undermountain Sepult still exist, reduced and decaying, and yet protected by treaties and the usefulness of their own crafts. Orime have their own 'Kingdom' ruled by a symbolic ruler whose only purpose was to negotiate on an equal level with the Kings of Eswae and Ketlar, and does fealty to these competing Kings in turn, to maintain their independence. Then, among the human Nelkaelanders, there are divisions between the dark-skinned Frozen, who believe they come from the center, that is to say the top, of the world, and the Snowborn, whose skin is bright, and whose hair tends towards the blond. All of these divisions make it a world balanced at the edge of a spear.
But if that's how the Gods have made it, then what is there to do?
Society: Each of the three Kingdoms, and all of the other peoples, have their own customs, but they do share a few things.
Local decisions are made by Things, usually of nobles, warriors, and reputable and honest (and often rich) traders and the like. The Royal Thing, on the other hand, is made up only of nobles and prominent warriors, and they are the ones who gather only once or twice a reign, to elect one of their own to be King. The exact specifics of it vary by place. The Necklands has had a dynasty of sorts, with the old King making his intentions towards a cousin, or nephew, or even son, quite clear. Recently the Thing has entertained the possibility of women rulers, as it once reluctantly embraced women warriors and traders. So Neckland, that land of crossings and trade between Center and north, has a Queen now, fierce and proud and quite ambitious.
The other two Things tend towards a little less ceremony, and a little less certainty.
Clans are important, and indeed they've only grown in importance as certain paths of upward mobility, via raiding and plunder, have been closed off. All clans enter the Thing together now, and stay together elsewise, which has helped increase divisions between the Snowborn and the Frozen, each of whom have very similar customs, but with some differences. The Snowborn were often thought of as better Blood Shamans, while the Frozen were better Shifters, though there are both sorts of magic among both people.
The average village is governed according to its whims, and pays the price to those above them and gets on with its life. The Nelks are a quite law-abiding people, as much as that might surprise those who assume rather too much. Their laws are very specific about crime and punishment, about who gets to do so (not the clans) and how, and for the most part, people follow them.
Culture/Life: There is so much variety that nothing concrete can be said that's true of everyone. But most people are farmers and fishers, all the same, and village life isn't the same everywhere, but at least everyone has to eat, however they can. People are given a name, and the name of their father or mother, and trained within the Clan, among the humans. They usually take the same profession, and while you can switch, after a few generations, it's hard to step outside the mold your ancestors have made. It's hard to want to, either.
Funeral services involve burning, and weddings involving kissing an axe. People tend to eat a lot of fish, and grow as much winter grain as they can. Even so, winters are tough for anyone, anytime, and the villages stand together to survive them. It's a harsh world, and thus the Nelks are known for their hospitality, since to refuse it could be to leave someone to freeze to death outside.
The Sepult are a dark echo of the Undermountain Sepult, decaying even faster, but clinging even tighter to their traditions.
The Orime have been changing. Once, all the Orime gathered, more or less, or at least all the Councils and as many others as could, to elect the 'King'. But increasingly it's become more like a Thing, and that has created fears that their 'King' will become more like a real King. Certainly, divisions have been increasing, and the lifeways of the Orime are highly influenced by their human neighbors, in this case.
Mythology:
The Nelks believe in Gods who were once humans, in the ancient past at the start of the world, and by their deeds were inducted into the Halls of the Gods, where all drink and make merry and encourage and send aid to warriors and those in need, on the wings of dark birds and strange dreams, and blood, too.
They burn bodies, and believe that the honorable dead, especially the warriors, might yet become minor Gods. Their priests keep track of their ancient stories, and keep to ways that have stood them in good stead for many, many years, and look unlikely to change.
Religion is often seen as stability in an confused and muddled world.
History: In the beginning, people came to the Nelkeleands. Other than the rumors of trolls or other such monsters, monsters that are rumored still to exist, in fact, it was said to be empty of humans, or Orime, though not Sepult, who had always been everywhere, or so it was thought.
They only gained power and prominence as the Edelian-Sepult Empire began to spread, and then the Sepult of their lands came to them, offering them power in exchange for unity, and uniting the tribes and clans under one banner, which strove against the Edelian-Sepult Empire, contesting its control over the Center, and the islands. When the Edelian-Sepult collapsed, many thought it was the start of a golden age for the Nelk. Instead, within a few centuries, they too collapsed, and had rather less ability to govern an Empire beyond their borders than their rivals.
The divisions increased, and so did the war, and it was only three and a half centuries ago that something like peace was established. The striving Kingdoms still war sometimes, with each other and those outside, even, but the days in which violence was endemic and blood was all that mattered have passed, and many are glad that it has. There's enough trouble in the world as it is, with ambitious monarchs, with the Orime still standing apart, with Sepult who lust for the glories of a world that they haven't lived long enough to have known either. Much has changed, but far too much, truly, has stayed the same.
Classes: The Nelk Bearsarkers are rather different than the Orime ones. Instead of controlling themselves, they mimic their understanding of animals and go entirely out of control. They used to be useful, but as peace settled, the price for keeping their order together grew higher and higher, and the benefits lessened. It's one thing to keep on a Nelk Bearsarker in an age of war, even if he slaughters a peasant family in a fit of rage, one whose patriarch had offered insult. It's even possible to ignore or sweep under the river this massacre of that of villages… when they're villages far from where you rule. But eventually the foot was put down, and those Bearsarkers who remain are chained mad dogs, and those who do not submit to virtual slavery are hunted down and killed. They are not people, and unlike Shifters, they aren't *truly* animals either. A wolf doesn't slaughter for rage and joy. A horse bears burdens, a bear protects its cubs. A Bearsarker is like no animal. No, they're lower than that.
The Blood Shaman are most known for their power over the weather, but they do more than that, but always for a price. Their blood, and the blood of others, mingling. It has power, a lesson some suspect they learned from the Orime and advanced to the level of actual magic. Others think it might have been the other way around. Either way, you see plenty of old Shamans, but few who have both of their eyes, ears, all of their teeth, fingers, toes, limbs in general. The world asks much sacrifice, and yet to act right and proper means an eternal lifetime of feasting and drinking after, so Blood Shamans, who are usually quite religious, are quite dutiful in learning how to control the outside world. Blood Magic is not very good at controlling minds, except to whip them into a frenzy. It is quite potent, and very respected, though those abroad often view it as in some way suspect, for indeed Blood Shamans during the Empire once used less than willing captives. In this time of peace, Blood Shamans mostly use the blood of allies, fallen enemies, and always their own, and their pain as well.
The Shifters are a group that embodies many animals at once. While most well-known are those who take a single animal and take on its aspects, and eventually forms that combine it and humanity, there are those who pick multiple totems. What matters is that a wolf can hunt, a bird can fly, a bear can do all manner of things, a horse can run, and a Shifter is never without resources, even in the starving times, resources that human legs and human skills can rarely achieve. They learn from a young age, and often keep to themselves, half-outcast and half-deity, deeply respected and yet sometimes less than understood. There's a lot of honor in becoming so different, but it can be lonely. That is why Shifters often stick together. Even when they travel, they do so most often.
Traveling: There are plenty of reasons to leave the Nelkaelands. The Bearsarkers are barely wanted anymore, and traders and mercenaries slip out, looking to seek their fortune. Even Shifters and Blood Shamans can leave, though less often.
The Nelkaelands
Description: North of the Central Lands, as they are called, but connected by a somewhat thin land bridge, the Nelkaelands and its people, often known as the Nelk, have had a complicated relationship both with each other and with the larger world. They are a hardy people, of varying heights but with a habit of cultivating impressive beards. Their warriors once raided all across the known world, and traded equally broadly. They were once one people, who resisted, almost to the last, the Sepult-Edelian Empire with the help of their own Sepult rebels, radicals who stood behind their own Empire.
Then, when the Empire broke, they raided up and down the entire known world, wealthy and powerful. But they fractured, internally and externally, and one Empire became an Empire and a Kingdom, that of Neckland. Then at last, as the Kingdoms and groups of the region became better able to resist them, they were forced to deal with the fact that they couldn't survive purely on raiding, or on trading. The latter had dried up some too, as internal networks improved and other traders competed. So they turned away from raiding, and traded more broadly, and remade themselves.
Nelkaelanders are people who differ wildly, though they are divided into various Kingdoms, clans, and castes. The Undermountain Sepult still exist, reduced and decaying, and yet protected by treaties and the usefulness of their own crafts. Orime have their own 'Kingdom' ruled by a symbolic ruler whose only purpose was to negotiate on an equal level with the Kings of Eswae and Ketlar, and does fealty to these competing Kings in turn, to maintain their independence. Then, among the human Nelkaelanders, there are divisions between the dark-skinned Frozen, who believe they come from the center, that is to say the top, of the world, and the Snowborn, whose skin is bright, and whose hair tends towards the blond. All of these divisions make it a world balanced at the edge of a spear.
But if that's how the Gods have made it, then what is there to do?
Society: Each of the three Kingdoms, and all of the other peoples, have their own customs, but they do share a few things.
Local decisions are made by Things, usually of nobles, warriors, and reputable and honest (and often rich) traders and the like. The Royal Thing, on the other hand, is made up only of nobles and prominent warriors, and they are the ones who gather only once or twice a reign, to elect one of their own to be King. The exact specifics of it vary by place. The Necklands has had a dynasty of sorts, with the old King making his intentions towards a cousin, or nephew, or even son, quite clear. Recently the Thing has entertained the possibility of women rulers, as it once reluctantly embraced women warriors and traders. So Neckland, that land of crossings and trade between Center and north, has a Queen now, fierce and proud and quite ambitious.
The other two Things tend towards a little less ceremony, and a little less certainty.
Clans are important, and indeed they've only grown in importance as certain paths of upward mobility, via raiding and plunder, have been closed off. All clans enter the Thing together now, and stay together elsewise, which has helped increase divisions between the Snowborn and the Frozen, each of whom have very similar customs, but with some differences. The Snowborn were often thought of as better Blood Shamans, while the Frozen were better Shifters, though there are both sorts of magic among both people.
The average village is governed according to its whims, and pays the price to those above them and gets on with its life. The Nelks are a quite law-abiding people, as much as that might surprise those who assume rather too much. Their laws are very specific about crime and punishment, about who gets to do so (not the clans) and how, and for the most part, people follow them.
Culture/Life: There is so much variety that nothing concrete can be said that's true of everyone. But most people are farmers and fishers, all the same, and village life isn't the same everywhere, but at least everyone has to eat, however they can. People are given a name, and the name of their father or mother, and trained within the Clan, among the humans. They usually take the same profession, and while you can switch, after a few generations, it's hard to step outside the mold your ancestors have made. It's hard to want to, either.
Funeral services involve burning, and weddings involving kissing an axe. People tend to eat a lot of fish, and grow as much winter grain as they can. Even so, winters are tough for anyone, anytime, and the villages stand together to survive them. It's a harsh world, and thus the Nelks are known for their hospitality, since to refuse it could be to leave someone to freeze to death outside.
The Sepult are a dark echo of the Undermountain Sepult, decaying even faster, but clinging even tighter to their traditions.
The Orime have been changing. Once, all the Orime gathered, more or less, or at least all the Councils and as many others as could, to elect the 'King'. But increasingly it's become more like a Thing, and that has created fears that their 'King' will become more like a real King. Certainly, divisions have been increasing, and the lifeways of the Orime are highly influenced by their human neighbors, in this case.
Mythology:
The Nelks believe in Gods who were once humans, in the ancient past at the start of the world, and by their deeds were inducted into the Halls of the Gods, where all drink and make merry and encourage and send aid to warriors and those in need, on the wings of dark birds and strange dreams, and blood, too.
They burn bodies, and believe that the honorable dead, especially the warriors, might yet become minor Gods. Their priests keep track of their ancient stories, and keep to ways that have stood them in good stead for many, many years, and look unlikely to change.
Religion is often seen as stability in an confused and muddled world.
History: In the beginning, people came to the Nelkeleands. Other than the rumors of trolls or other such monsters, monsters that are rumored still to exist, in fact, it was said to be empty of humans, or Orime, though not Sepult, who had always been everywhere, or so it was thought.
They only gained power and prominence as the Edelian-Sepult Empire began to spread, and then the Sepult of their lands came to them, offering them power in exchange for unity, and uniting the tribes and clans under one banner, which strove against the Edelian-Sepult Empire, contesting its control over the Center, and the islands. When the Edelian-Sepult collapsed, many thought it was the start of a golden age for the Nelk. Instead, within a few centuries, they too collapsed, and had rather less ability to govern an Empire beyond their borders than their rivals.
The divisions increased, and so did the war, and it was only three and a half centuries ago that something like peace was established. The striving Kingdoms still war sometimes, with each other and those outside, even, but the days in which violence was endemic and blood was all that mattered have passed, and many are glad that it has. There's enough trouble in the world as it is, with ambitious monarchs, with the Orime still standing apart, with Sepult who lust for the glories of a world that they haven't lived long enough to have known either. Much has changed, but far too much, truly, has stayed the same.
Classes: The Nelk Bearsarkers are rather different than the Orime ones. Instead of controlling themselves, they mimic their understanding of animals and go entirely out of control. They used to be useful, but as peace settled, the price for keeping their order together grew higher and higher, and the benefits lessened. It's one thing to keep on a Nelk Bearsarker in an age of war, even if he slaughters a peasant family in a fit of rage, one whose patriarch had offered insult. It's even possible to ignore or sweep under the river this massacre of that of villages… when they're villages far from where you rule. But eventually the foot was put down, and those Bearsarkers who remain are chained mad dogs, and those who do not submit to virtual slavery are hunted down and killed. They are not people, and unlike Shifters, they aren't *truly* animals either. A wolf doesn't slaughter for rage and joy. A horse bears burdens, a bear protects its cubs. A Bearsarker is like no animal. No, they're lower than that.
The Blood Shaman are most known for their power over the weather, but they do more than that, but always for a price. Their blood, and the blood of others, mingling. It has power, a lesson some suspect they learned from the Orime and advanced to the level of actual magic. Others think it might have been the other way around. Either way, you see plenty of old Shamans, but few who have both of their eyes, ears, all of their teeth, fingers, toes, limbs in general. The world asks much sacrifice, and yet to act right and proper means an eternal lifetime of feasting and drinking after, so Blood Shamans, who are usually quite religious, are quite dutiful in learning how to control the outside world. Blood Magic is not very good at controlling minds, except to whip them into a frenzy. It is quite potent, and very respected, though those abroad often view it as in some way suspect, for indeed Blood Shamans during the Empire once used less than willing captives. In this time of peace, Blood Shamans mostly use the blood of allies, fallen enemies, and always their own, and their pain as well.
The Shifters are a group that embodies many animals at once. While most well-known are those who take a single animal and take on its aspects, and eventually forms that combine it and humanity, there are those who pick multiple totems. What matters is that a wolf can hunt, a bird can fly, a bear can do all manner of things, a horse can run, and a Shifter is never without resources, even in the starving times, resources that human legs and human skills can rarely achieve. They learn from a young age, and often keep to themselves, half-outcast and half-deity, deeply respected and yet sometimes less than understood. There's a lot of honor in becoming so different, but it can be lonely. That is why Shifters often stick together. Even when they travel, they do so most often.
Traveling: There are plenty of reasons to leave the Nelkaelands. The Bearsarkers are barely wanted anymore, and traders and mercenaries slip out, looking to seek their fortune. Even Shifters and Blood Shamans can leave, though less often.
Character Sheet
- Pronouns
- They/Them
The Mysterious Orphan
Name: Lotte, daughter of Henrik and Anelie
Sexuality: Pansexual
Age: 18
Species: Lamia, Central Lands Human Culture
Level: 3
Class: Hunter
Weapons: Bow, Knife
XP: 2/18
Description: A tall lamia, with short blond hair, and blue eyes, dressed in a protective vest and a noble's hunting shirt. They are muscular, well-formed and handsome, and have slightly yellowish eyes and a forked tongue. Their snake-half is in a forest pattern that helps for blending in, except for the occasional splash of Tyrian purple.
Traits:
Just Devotions (Racial--Human, Central, Cultural)(Level 0): Humans in some parts of the world worship the Gods, vast and sometimes unknowable beings that do grant blessings to those that believe in them, magical blessings. But even the lowliest of the pious knows how to pray to them, how to do the right supplications, how to act in the proper ways. This knowledge can sometimes be put to good use, though the Gods rarely turn their eyes to every little prayer.
Wholesome Farm Looks (Human, Central, Physical, Level 1): Though most of the people of the Central lands, that mass of Kingdoms, Princedoms, Dukedoms, Duchess States, and more, are of course quite poor, they are a hardy, hard-working people, and sometimes this life less beats a person down and more hones them. They have reasonably good looks, and even more importantly, look trustworthy, clean-cut, and otherwise like the kind of person who'd never lied a day in their life or slacked off a single hour, either. This remains even after becoming a lamia, though it is... tempered, obviously.
Snake Eyes (Level 1, Physical, Lamia): You can see in the dark pretty well. It isn't perfect, but the night is not nearly so dark and full of dangers as you expected it would be, for whatever reason.
Forest Wanderer (0, Pre-Class): The forest is a fascinating place for a child, as long as they don't go too far. As one gets used to it, one learns more about its ins and outs, and while some of it only applies to the forest that such a child lived in at first, much of it is quite helpful later.
Forest Eyes (Level 1. Class): As one could have eyes that pick out every tiny detail of the tundra, so can one be used to seeing in the dark forest tracks, possibilities, old growth, traps, and anything else, especially when one knows how to use your ears and nose to aid it. It is remarkable how much you can see, when you see what is actually there.
Hunter's Mettle (Level 1, Class): To hunt, one needs a bow, an arrow, and perhaps a knife for self-defense. Having some skill at them is inevitable, having solid skill at them is admirable, and quite useful.
Steady Arm (Level 2, Class): You have a strong, consistent aim. You're not a superlative archer, at least by the standards of adventurers, but you don't have off moments, and you don't waver from being able to hit your target, even if you're not doing the fancier tricks.
Leave Few Traces (Level 2, Class): The experience of being on one side of the hunt makes you wonder how you'd hide your tracks if you were being hunted, or tracked by hostile enemies, as sometimes does happen in adventures. You've begun to practice how not to be followed in the woods, and perhaps elsewhere.
Mending Knowledge, Basic (Level 0, Pre-Class, Healing Priest): You know how to apply poultrices, and you know the basic ingredients of a number of potions that cure headaches, deal with common pains, put someone into a gentle sleep, and other minor things. You can also bandage someone properly. You are not very good at this, merely adequate... but that's more than what most people are.
Whitlin' Ways (Level 1, Common): A man or woman who knows how to whittle will never want for whistles, or spoons, or any number of goods. It's a useful, solid sort of skill, and one that could be made into a trade. It also makes a pretty decent way to pass the time, and the person who whittles never lacks for a knife in sticky situations.
Penny Pincher (Level 1, General): You know the value of a Pfin, and how to keep from wasting all of your money, even if you're far from a merchant. Money is something you're familiar with.
Steel Nerves (General, Level 3): You've seen enough strange places and done enough fantastic things that you are less likely to panic in terrible situations, and more likely to think things through, however difficult. This doesn't mean you can't panic at all, but you have a grip on those nerves. In battle and danger only, this unfortunately doesn't help at all with social anxiety.
Divine Sense (Level 0, Divine): You can sense when someone is a Demigod, and there's at least the potential ability--though you have not figured it out yet--to try to track people through their divine 'scent.' A person's 'scent' gets stronger as they get more magically and divinely powerful... but on the other hand, you now have a 'scent' of your own, that will allow other demigods to know you for what you are, increasingly as you grow more powerful yourself.
Captivating Eyes (Level 2, Divine): You can sometimes 'catch' people with your eyes. If you're concentrating, they'll find it slightly more difficult to look away, though any sense of threat or danger breaks it immediately, and they'll hear your words clearly, actually listening… or at least hearing them. There's no requirement to listen to them, nor does it seem as if anyone's mind is being altered in any way, but it's an interesting, if bizarre, power, and certainly is a new take on 'lost in their eyes.'
Slithering Shadows (Level 3, Divine): You can blend into the shadows better than you should be able to. At night, and in darker areas, you can seem to shift away from sight. It doesn't work well in a wide-open space, but that little bit of extra secrecy can be very useful as a hunter, and as someone who might need to sneak through various areas.
Name: Lotte, daughter of Henrik and Anelie
Sexuality: Pansexual
Age: 18
Species: Lamia, Central Lands Human Culture
Level: 3
Class: Hunter
Weapons: Bow, Knife
XP: 2/18
Description: A tall lamia, with short blond hair, and blue eyes, dressed in a protective vest and a noble's hunting shirt. They are muscular, well-formed and handsome, and have slightly yellowish eyes and a forked tongue. Their snake-half is in a forest pattern that helps for blending in, except for the occasional splash of Tyrian purple.
Traits:
Just Devotions (Racial--Human, Central, Cultural)(Level 0): Humans in some parts of the world worship the Gods, vast and sometimes unknowable beings that do grant blessings to those that believe in them, magical blessings. But even the lowliest of the pious knows how to pray to them, how to do the right supplications, how to act in the proper ways. This knowledge can sometimes be put to good use, though the Gods rarely turn their eyes to every little prayer.
Wholesome Farm Looks (Human, Central, Physical, Level 1): Though most of the people of the Central lands, that mass of Kingdoms, Princedoms, Dukedoms, Duchess States, and more, are of course quite poor, they are a hardy, hard-working people, and sometimes this life less beats a person down and more hones them. They have reasonably good looks, and even more importantly, look trustworthy, clean-cut, and otherwise like the kind of person who'd never lied a day in their life or slacked off a single hour, either. This remains even after becoming a lamia, though it is... tempered, obviously.
Snake Eyes (Level 1, Physical, Lamia): You can see in the dark pretty well. It isn't perfect, but the night is not nearly so dark and full of dangers as you expected it would be, for whatever reason.
Forest Wanderer (0, Pre-Class): The forest is a fascinating place for a child, as long as they don't go too far. As one gets used to it, one learns more about its ins and outs, and while some of it only applies to the forest that such a child lived in at first, much of it is quite helpful later.
Forest Eyes (Level 1. Class): As one could have eyes that pick out every tiny detail of the tundra, so can one be used to seeing in the dark forest tracks, possibilities, old growth, traps, and anything else, especially when one knows how to use your ears and nose to aid it. It is remarkable how much you can see, when you see what is actually there.
Hunter's Mettle (Level 1, Class): To hunt, one needs a bow, an arrow, and perhaps a knife for self-defense. Having some skill at them is inevitable, having solid skill at them is admirable, and quite useful.
Steady Arm (Level 2, Class): You have a strong, consistent aim. You're not a superlative archer, at least by the standards of adventurers, but you don't have off moments, and you don't waver from being able to hit your target, even if you're not doing the fancier tricks.
Leave Few Traces (Level 2, Class): The experience of being on one side of the hunt makes you wonder how you'd hide your tracks if you were being hunted, or tracked by hostile enemies, as sometimes does happen in adventures. You've begun to practice how not to be followed in the woods, and perhaps elsewhere.
Mending Knowledge, Basic (Level 0, Pre-Class, Healing Priest): You know how to apply poultrices, and you know the basic ingredients of a number of potions that cure headaches, deal with common pains, put someone into a gentle sleep, and other minor things. You can also bandage someone properly. You are not very good at this, merely adequate... but that's more than what most people are.
Whitlin' Ways (Level 1, Common): A man or woman who knows how to whittle will never want for whistles, or spoons, or any number of goods. It's a useful, solid sort of skill, and one that could be made into a trade. It also makes a pretty decent way to pass the time, and the person who whittles never lacks for a knife in sticky situations.
Penny Pincher (Level 1, General): You know the value of a Pfin, and how to keep from wasting all of your money, even if you're far from a merchant. Money is something you're familiar with.
Steel Nerves (General, Level 3): You've seen enough strange places and done enough fantastic things that you are less likely to panic in terrible situations, and more likely to think things through, however difficult. This doesn't mean you can't panic at all, but you have a grip on those nerves. In battle and danger only, this unfortunately doesn't help at all with social anxiety.
Divine Sense (Level 0, Divine): You can sense when someone is a Demigod, and there's at least the potential ability--though you have not figured it out yet--to try to track people through their divine 'scent.' A person's 'scent' gets stronger as they get more magically and divinely powerful... but on the other hand, you now have a 'scent' of your own, that will allow other demigods to know you for what you are, increasingly as you grow more powerful yourself.
Captivating Eyes (Level 2, Divine): You can sometimes 'catch' people with your eyes. If you're concentrating, they'll find it slightly more difficult to look away, though any sense of threat or danger breaks it immediately, and they'll hear your words clearly, actually listening… or at least hearing them. There's no requirement to listen to them, nor does it seem as if anyone's mind is being altered in any way, but it's an interesting, if bizarre, power, and certainly is a new take on 'lost in their eyes.'
Slithering Shadows (Level 3, Divine): You can blend into the shadows better than you should be able to. At night, and in darker areas, you can seem to shift away from sight. It doesn't work well in a wide-open space, but that little bit of extra secrecy can be very useful as a hunter, and as someone who might need to sneak through various areas.
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Peoples: Edelians
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Peoples: Edelians, and Edelia
Description: Once the seat of the longest lasting and most powerful Empire in popular memory, they are now a band of squabbling, though not always warring, city-states. They are rich, they have affluence, sea-power, and they are divided and fractious. Dozens and dozens of city-states compete with each other, and with the various petty kingdoms, dukedoms, and baronies stretching up and upward until they, at their farthest north, were little distinguishable in character and kind from those of the Central Lands, except in their self-conception.
For the Edelians were proud. They had, it was said, the blood of Sepult ,which would certainly explain their smaller height. They were not astoundingly short, but they were known to be a short and slight people, by human standards, given to darker skins at time, for they traded far and wide. The city-states have a wide variety of governments, including the only Republics on the continent, pale shadows of the government that Edele was rumored once to have before the Sepult came and uplifted them with their artifacts and expertise.
While they all speak one language, there are many variations on it, and a traveler should be wary, for while mercenary wars have not happened in generations, there are still bandits, and hidden by magic and strange prophecies and Gods, plenty of dark holes to hide in. It is a land of ruins and lost glory, and yet it is also a land of the quick coin and the cutpurse, the sailing ship and the humble supplication to the Gods.
It is a land of crossroads, and one steeped in both tradition and radical change.
Society, Culture, Life: Their traditions include a very traditional relationship with society, in which individual families were the center of a lot of aristocratic and peasant life, and yet even this is changing. People travel far and wide, and bring their viewpoints with them, and enough centuries have passed that their Empire has become not even a memory, but more like a dream. The average peasant, and the average city-dweller, lives in a world where the Edelian Empire might as well not have happened.
Yet its marks are everywhere. In the countryside there are ruins, some hidden by magic, which often drive adventurers wild with ambition. In fact, in this chaotic and sometimes violent land, there is plenty of work, and adventurers are often cheaper than calling up a militia, or employing an army to deal with many problems. While more people were in the countryside than city, it is the cities, and especially the coastal cities, that come to mind when people think of Edelian culture. Bookbinding, primitive proto-factories, conflict between guilds, strange innovations in terms of sexuality and behavior, all can be found in an Edelian city, often in very different combinations.
Edelian women, the poor, the peoples of a dozen countries cast ashore… old men complain that once all knew their place in the world. But if that world ever did exist, it doesn't any longer, and Edele is a dynamic place to live, albeit a dangerous one. The cities are crowded and riddled with disease and crime, but also vibrant centers of trade, wealth, and culture, and the peasants have their own traditions and ways, ones which can change just as much in the city.
To live in Edele is to accept change and to be ready for anything, including the hot weather and the storms.
Religion: They worship their old Gods, a pantheon that predates their contact with the Sepult. They being traditionalists, but in no other country are there so many that do not on a daily basis engage with the Gods, or with any sort of deity or belief-system at all. But for those who do, they find the Gods vengeful upholders, or so the stories go, of sacred oaths and sacred hospitality. The gods are stern, figures to obey, not to love, as the traditional conception of Edelian parenthood mimicked. But even this sort of culture can be twisted and turned to support change, as can be seen in…
Adventuring/Class: The Edelian countryside is full of ruins, and just as importantly, there are many buried in the last days of the Empire, and many that are hidden by strange magical keys, or other means of concealing them. This, combined with the many potential employers and the wealth concentrated in a relatively small area means that adventurers flock to this place, and Edelians become adventurers in great numbers, driven in part by the power of their oaths. For an Edelian woman who makes an oath to achieve some goal, or to find some treasure, can have the ability to step outside of her expected roles for a time and became an Adventurer as much as a woman in their eyes. The opportunities all mean that there are many ways to live, and they have their own secrets. Thieves are thick in Edelian city-states, and it is rumored that they are more organized than they are in some lands. Certainly, they're more famous, and there is a God of Thieves, something that few other cultures can boast.
Witches are common as well, a broad category of people whose magic is based on sleight of hand, strange traditions, odd brews, and dark rituals. They are not well understood, and yet their abilities are little in doubt.
Less doubtful are the skills of the sailor, the privateer, and others whose nautical adventurers are the stuff of legends and tavern tales. Either way, as a place to start (and as a place to end) one's adventure, there are few as thrilling, as novel… and yet also as dangerous. It is a place of old secrets, and old secrets can, at times, be rotten to the core.
Description: Once the seat of the longest lasting and most powerful Empire in popular memory, they are now a band of squabbling, though not always warring, city-states. They are rich, they have affluence, sea-power, and they are divided and fractious. Dozens and dozens of city-states compete with each other, and with the various petty kingdoms, dukedoms, and baronies stretching up and upward until they, at their farthest north, were little distinguishable in character and kind from those of the Central Lands, except in their self-conception.
For the Edelians were proud. They had, it was said, the blood of Sepult ,which would certainly explain their smaller height. They were not astoundingly short, but they were known to be a short and slight people, by human standards, given to darker skins at time, for they traded far and wide. The city-states have a wide variety of governments, including the only Republics on the continent, pale shadows of the government that Edele was rumored once to have before the Sepult came and uplifted them with their artifacts and expertise.
While they all speak one language, there are many variations on it, and a traveler should be wary, for while mercenary wars have not happened in generations, there are still bandits, and hidden by magic and strange prophecies and Gods, plenty of dark holes to hide in. It is a land of ruins and lost glory, and yet it is also a land of the quick coin and the cutpurse, the sailing ship and the humble supplication to the Gods.
It is a land of crossroads, and one steeped in both tradition and radical change.
Society, Culture, Life: Their traditions include a very traditional relationship with society, in which individual families were the center of a lot of aristocratic and peasant life, and yet even this is changing. People travel far and wide, and bring their viewpoints with them, and enough centuries have passed that their Empire has become not even a memory, but more like a dream. The average peasant, and the average city-dweller, lives in a world where the Edelian Empire might as well not have happened.
Yet its marks are everywhere. In the countryside there are ruins, some hidden by magic, which often drive adventurers wild with ambition. In fact, in this chaotic and sometimes violent land, there is plenty of work, and adventurers are often cheaper than calling up a militia, or employing an army to deal with many problems. While more people were in the countryside than city, it is the cities, and especially the coastal cities, that come to mind when people think of Edelian culture. Bookbinding, primitive proto-factories, conflict between guilds, strange innovations in terms of sexuality and behavior, all can be found in an Edelian city, often in very different combinations.
Edelian women, the poor, the peoples of a dozen countries cast ashore… old men complain that once all knew their place in the world. But if that world ever did exist, it doesn't any longer, and Edele is a dynamic place to live, albeit a dangerous one. The cities are crowded and riddled with disease and crime, but also vibrant centers of trade, wealth, and culture, and the peasants have their own traditions and ways, ones which can change just as much in the city.
To live in Edele is to accept change and to be ready for anything, including the hot weather and the storms.
Religion: They worship their old Gods, a pantheon that predates their contact with the Sepult. They being traditionalists, but in no other country are there so many that do not on a daily basis engage with the Gods, or with any sort of deity or belief-system at all. But for those who do, they find the Gods vengeful upholders, or so the stories go, of sacred oaths and sacred hospitality. The gods are stern, figures to obey, not to love, as the traditional conception of Edelian parenthood mimicked. But even this sort of culture can be twisted and turned to support change, as can be seen in…
Adventuring/Class: The Edelian countryside is full of ruins, and just as importantly, there are many buried in the last days of the Empire, and many that are hidden by strange magical keys, or other means of concealing them. This, combined with the many potential employers and the wealth concentrated in a relatively small area means that adventurers flock to this place, and Edelians become adventurers in great numbers, driven in part by the power of their oaths. For an Edelian woman who makes an oath to achieve some goal, or to find some treasure, can have the ability to step outside of her expected roles for a time and became an Adventurer as much as a woman in their eyes. The opportunities all mean that there are many ways to live, and they have their own secrets. Thieves are thick in Edelian city-states, and it is rumored that they are more organized than they are in some lands. Certainly, they're more famous, and there is a God of Thieves, something that few other cultures can boast.
Witches are common as well, a broad category of people whose magic is based on sleight of hand, strange traditions, odd brews, and dark rituals. They are not well understood, and yet their abilities are little in doubt.
Less doubtful are the skills of the sailor, the privateer, and others whose nautical adventurers are the stuff of legends and tavern tales. Either way, as a place to start (and as a place to end) one's adventure, there are few as thrilling, as novel… and yet also as dangerous. It is a place of old secrets, and old secrets can, at times, be rotten to the core.
Peoples: The Orime
- Location
- Somewhere!
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Peoples: The Orime
Description: The Orime are a strong race, known as much for their appearance as their way of life, and indeed they are subject to legends, lies, and rumors as to their nature. The Orime are a tall people, with builds that tend towards the broad and thick, often with both muscles and fat aplenty, to survive the cold climates and provide them with the strength and energy for living as they do. The average male Orime was 6'8 feet tall, the average female 6'7 ½, and an Orime was thought dreadfully short if they were under six feet, and there were healthy Orime whose heights surpassed eight feet, though too far beyond it and health problems began to be evident. The skin of Orimes varies, with different tribes and lineages having different tones, which grey being the most common. But one variety is known for their grey-blue skin, and another for their dark green skin.
Either way, they have strong teeth, with several teeth that seemed to be made for tearing, rather than grinding. Their eyes varied as much as their skin did, but red was not uncommon, and neither were gold or silver eyes.
Their size came with considerable strength, and the kind of endurance that allowed them to work longer and harder than most humans, and survive more, though they, like humans, had their limits. This strength and stamina are usually considered in the context of war, but Orime farmers had little trouble breaking even the frozen ground of their native lands, and the blacksmiths found the simpler than it might be, though also rather too warm.
Orime men and women are physically closer than human, with a more similar bone structure and facial structure, and only minimal height differences. This can make it somewhat difficult for humans to tell them apart, especially since Orime tend towards egalitarianism, and thus merely being a warrior doesn't necessarily demonstrate that they are a male Orime.
Orime tend to live longer than humans by some years, due in part to their physiology, and in part to their culture.
Society: As a people, they are divided into 'tribes' of sorts, among which there are different villages, each of which has alliances within and without their 'tribe', which often describes impossibly extended kin-groups with shared history. Where Confederations have come into being, they tend to be the local governments and systems writ-large, and the ever-shifting alliances, feuds, and disagreements conceal a unity that is only sometimes broken.
Villages and tribes are run by councils that consist of different groups. A representative of the warriors, of the Skalds, of the farmers, and so on, each of whom is equal, and has an equal voice. Only in times of war is there a single leader, and then only briefly, and this council itself makes the day to day decisions, rather than all decisions. Within the various professions (such as warrior, or farmer) more than a few decisions are entirely individual, or chosen by vote, and for the truly contentious decisions, the entire village might gather to argue it out and vote.
The Orime do not have slaves, nor even bound servants, and any captive taken into the village, or any who lives in an Orime village, is by definition an Orime, whatever their origin. While some tribes have, at times, tried to get around the religious prohibitions that lead to this, such as by temporary locations outside of the village, or by selling off captives of war to other humans, these are highly disreputable acts, and are liable to be punished by other tribes when they are found out.
Orime warriors have a code of honor and a sense of their own importance, but are also taught that their needs and desires should be subordinated to the good of the village, and that they shouldn't think themselves better for their prowess. This is reasonably effective, though many young fools, men and women alike, tend towards reckless behavior to try to prove themselves.
The Orime do not have priests, as well be discussed below, instead they have Leritel, or teachers, of religious doctrine.
Culture/Life:
An Orime's trade and life are certainly partially determined by those of their parents. But tradition and religious law requires children to be exposed to other trades, often in short 'apprenticeships' of a few days or a week, and thus there is a good deal of mobility between careers, as well as a greater willingness to marry outside of a trade.
Orime tend to raise people partially communally, with every child having many aunts and uncles, as it were. Everyone was responsible for everyone else's child, should the need arise, and while this sometimes led to debates, and disagreements, it was habit and custom.
Should two Orime disagree, or one Orime be accused of misdeeds, they would be put before a collection of other Orime, guided by the Leritel in outlining any necessary laws or precedents to them, but no more, before they made a decision, which had to be conclusion.
When an Orime reached sixteen years, they had a ceremony in which they were lightly bled, and in which the whole village turned out for a celebration, along with any who reached the same age in that season. From then on, they were an adult, with the responsibilities of an adult, though many were still in training, and would be for some time.
Training was less a matter of Master and Apprentice, and instead a wide variety of teachers, to diffuse both responsibility and power.
Orime plant huge farms held and worked in common, with a large variety of crops which have been, sometimes with a purpose, selected for hardiness in the cold conditions of their land. It makes their diet, which often consisted of stews, bread, and and great deal of meat, relatively diverse in other ingredients as well. Some areas of Orime lands have extensive fruit trees, especially Winter Apples, able to survive into the early winter. Orime have come to notice that without such apples in their winter diets, they tend to get sick towards the coming of Spring, in what they call Apple Sickness, cured only by apples, and thus the Orime in those regions do a brisk trade with both human and Orime neighbors, often quite distant, who use the cider (which is drank regularly and medicinally), dried apples, and even preserves to supplement a diet that, no matter how they try, tends to still be lean by winter's end. But Orime are survivors.
Besides cider, which is viewed less as alcohol and more as necessity, Orime drink a good deal of ale, and drink what they call Gorzakle as for special occasions, and as a sort of pain medication. Certainly, humans from the south who have tried it have said that it distracts rather well from the bodily pains, burning as it does on the way down.
Orime tend towards raucous, celebratory drinking, but they have many other pastimes. Many love hunting, and there are traditional games, many of which come from pranks done in the mythic past, and they sing and dance at all times, even those who aren't Skalds. Music is central to the life of an Orime, and the Orime who is tone deaf is thought the most unfortunate creature in the village. They place much stock in being personable, and in getting along with others.
Orime may challenge each other to fights over disagreements, but the fights can be only with bare firsts, and to first fall, and are more common in some villages than in others.
When an Orime marries, they mingle their blood with the man and woman of their choice, and recite the vows as have been recited for beyond Orimeish memory, and often follow it up with poems or songs of their own composition, or the composition of a friendly Skald, in order to mkae it sacral. The Leritel and at least two or three other Orime usually are required to watch, so that all can know it was done well. Once married, an Orime might move into their spouse's house, or their spouse into theirs, or they might build a new home together, the customs there vary quite widely.
When Orime get sick, they call upon both Skalds, some of which can do quiet miracles with their magic, and traditional herb-husbands and herb-wives, who are sometimes also Skalds.
When they die, it is a Skald who ensures that they do not come back as a ghost, and their body is either burned, if they are thought wicked or full of regrets, in order to give their souls more time to consider things before they go beneath the earth (for the Orime have a vague but present understanding of what we'd call the Water Cycle), or buried if they have lead a life with few regrets.
Mythology/Religion:
The Orime believe in a multitude of Gods, all formed by a single Goddess, Orima, whom they were named after in memorial. These Gods no longer get involved directly in the world, out of compassion and understanding, but they taught the Songs of the Skalds, and they maintain the world even still, so worship is a matter of thanking them. Sacrifices aren't made, as they were in the days of the Priests. Instead, songs are sung, for what tribute is greater than the very thing which created the universe, Orima, and from her singing all the other Gods?
The Orime have a complex and expansive mythological cycle, which is both poetry and song at the same time, and which can be categorized in certain ways, as can all their songs.
First, the Tworzhist, the History of Creation. This tells of Orima, born of the sound of silence, and her lonely singing, which gave birth to the first Gods, who sang along with their mother, and on and on, as more were created and sang the world into being. It is filled with stories of hjinx and games, as well as their wonder at their creations, and ends with the creation of laws for the Orime, the naming of the Orime, and other matters.
Second, the Kreovak-Gesh, the Story of Blood, the greatest sung epic in Orime culture, which tells the story of Orime failing to live up to their promises and covenant, and of one such Orime raising an army of ghosts and nearly conquering the world, before being narrowly stopped, leading to the Gods creating new laws, but also agreeing to step back from rulership of the world, so that it may control itself. It is an incredibly popular epic, even to this day.
Third, the Gesha-Lyud, the People's Stories, are really several different categories. First, there are a number of stories of great heroes and adventures, stretching to this day, including that of Kataival, the Skald who climbed the world, and Bogumah, the first Bearsarker of the Orime. These thrill people even to this day. Second, there are the histories, which often specifically refuse to name names, instead speaking of entire tribes, clans, or villages, and which are unique to each village, or so it seems.
The final category is everything else. The drinking songs, the occasional songs for funerals, weddings, and every other occasion, the comic songs of no particular origin, the songs made purely to dance to, the songs you sing a child to lull them into sleep… they have no specific ritual attached to them, and yet the Orime view them as sacred in their own ways.
The Orime live their life with their religion, their songs of thanks, their traditions, and the Leritel, who traditionally take three apprentices at once, so that they do not favor any one, are merely those who help remember the traditions, recite them and the songs and stories, and who provide wisdom but not rulership. Even the Gods do not rule over the world, merely guide it and protect it, as the warriors must protect but not rule a village.
History: The Orime are a broad group, more widespread than their sizeable traditional locations might indicate. But there are certain trends, such as their conflicts with the Kingdoms and other governments which they often neighbor or are even a part of. They have their own ways, and their own lives, and they don't always mix well with humans, at least in the sense that their belief that those in an Oremish village are Orime can create confused loyalties and cultural misunderstandings. At times, Orime have warred with human Kingdoms, raiding them or even bringing them to the ground, but they have in some ways been safe from many of the trends that have affected so many. The Sepult-Edelian Empire reached almost to their borders before it began to fall apart, and so while influenced by them indirectly, they never warred with them except very briefly towards the end, and were certainly never conquered in large numbers by them.
But they are not without history, despite that. And they are not outside of history, as they might yet learn.
Unique Classes:
The Orime, like any beings, can boast of many talents, and plenty become adventurers, either in the local sense, or in the traveling sense, as the villages can hardly, nor would they hardly, forbid Orime from leaving them to travel as the song of their hearts so desire. But among those who leave, two particular groups stand out even more than others, for any Orime in the land of humans will tend to stand out.
The Oremish Bearsarker is very different than that said, increasingly embattled, category in the Nelkaelands. Instead of unleashing their anger, they stoke it into a great fury… and then with all their iron will, hold it under control and use it with a cold, even calm in its own way, mind. It is a fury that might lead to chanting and shouting, but that was as much an artifact of the Skaldic arts and the intimidation tactics of warriors than anything else. Instead, this leashed, controlled fury makes them the hounds, or the sleep wolves, to the rabid dogs of Nelkeaish Bearsarkers. The most famed Bearsarkers are capable of super-Orimeish feats, though it is well remembered that the most famed warriors were not Bearsarkers.
The Skald, on the other hand, is a figure who flits between entertainer, religious figure, warrior, poet, healer, worker, necromancer and more. They are the chief magic-users of the Orime, and in fact all the other types of magic combined still don't have the hold that Skaldic magic does, and Skalds, being entertainers, often travel to learn more about the world for their songs, and for their art, for their magic is an art like any other, one which requires intelligence, skill, and even a sort of daring. They, like Bearsarkers and the Leritel, are highly respected in Orimeish society.
Other Locations/Misc: While there are traditional lands that are called Oremish, Oremish settlers have rather large settlements or groups in many of the lands to their immediate south, sometimes independent of the various sovereigns and nobles, at other times trading military service for independence otherwise. In somewhat lesser numbers, Oremish outcasts, mercenaries, and inquisitive Skald could find themselves in the Central Lands or the Golden Road, but very few find themselves in Edelish lands, let alone even farther to the west, though few are not none. As well, there are several prominent tribes that live in the Nelkaelands, whose history and culture are quite different at times than those of their kin.
Note: I'm posting this because we hit the third page, and to encourage discussion there'll be more lore dumps if we hit the 4th, let's say?
And the vote closes tomorrow!
Description: The Orime are a strong race, known as much for their appearance as their way of life, and indeed they are subject to legends, lies, and rumors as to their nature. The Orime are a tall people, with builds that tend towards the broad and thick, often with both muscles and fat aplenty, to survive the cold climates and provide them with the strength and energy for living as they do. The average male Orime was 6'8 feet tall, the average female 6'7 ½, and an Orime was thought dreadfully short if they were under six feet, and there were healthy Orime whose heights surpassed eight feet, though too far beyond it and health problems began to be evident. The skin of Orimes varies, with different tribes and lineages having different tones, which grey being the most common. But one variety is known for their grey-blue skin, and another for their dark green skin.
Either way, they have strong teeth, with several teeth that seemed to be made for tearing, rather than grinding. Their eyes varied as much as their skin did, but red was not uncommon, and neither were gold or silver eyes.
Their size came with considerable strength, and the kind of endurance that allowed them to work longer and harder than most humans, and survive more, though they, like humans, had their limits. This strength and stamina are usually considered in the context of war, but Orime farmers had little trouble breaking even the frozen ground of their native lands, and the blacksmiths found the simpler than it might be, though also rather too warm.
Orime men and women are physically closer than human, with a more similar bone structure and facial structure, and only minimal height differences. This can make it somewhat difficult for humans to tell them apart, especially since Orime tend towards egalitarianism, and thus merely being a warrior doesn't necessarily demonstrate that they are a male Orime.
Orime tend to live longer than humans by some years, due in part to their physiology, and in part to their culture.
Society: As a people, they are divided into 'tribes' of sorts, among which there are different villages, each of which has alliances within and without their 'tribe', which often describes impossibly extended kin-groups with shared history. Where Confederations have come into being, they tend to be the local governments and systems writ-large, and the ever-shifting alliances, feuds, and disagreements conceal a unity that is only sometimes broken.
Villages and tribes are run by councils that consist of different groups. A representative of the warriors, of the Skalds, of the farmers, and so on, each of whom is equal, and has an equal voice. Only in times of war is there a single leader, and then only briefly, and this council itself makes the day to day decisions, rather than all decisions. Within the various professions (such as warrior, or farmer) more than a few decisions are entirely individual, or chosen by vote, and for the truly contentious decisions, the entire village might gather to argue it out and vote.
The Orime do not have slaves, nor even bound servants, and any captive taken into the village, or any who lives in an Orime village, is by definition an Orime, whatever their origin. While some tribes have, at times, tried to get around the religious prohibitions that lead to this, such as by temporary locations outside of the village, or by selling off captives of war to other humans, these are highly disreputable acts, and are liable to be punished by other tribes when they are found out.
Orime warriors have a code of honor and a sense of their own importance, but are also taught that their needs and desires should be subordinated to the good of the village, and that they shouldn't think themselves better for their prowess. This is reasonably effective, though many young fools, men and women alike, tend towards reckless behavior to try to prove themselves.
The Orime do not have priests, as well be discussed below, instead they have Leritel, or teachers, of religious doctrine.
Culture/Life:
An Orime's trade and life are certainly partially determined by those of their parents. But tradition and religious law requires children to be exposed to other trades, often in short 'apprenticeships' of a few days or a week, and thus there is a good deal of mobility between careers, as well as a greater willingness to marry outside of a trade.
Orime tend to raise people partially communally, with every child having many aunts and uncles, as it were. Everyone was responsible for everyone else's child, should the need arise, and while this sometimes led to debates, and disagreements, it was habit and custom.
Should two Orime disagree, or one Orime be accused of misdeeds, they would be put before a collection of other Orime, guided by the Leritel in outlining any necessary laws or precedents to them, but no more, before they made a decision, which had to be conclusion.
When an Orime reached sixteen years, they had a ceremony in which they were lightly bled, and in which the whole village turned out for a celebration, along with any who reached the same age in that season. From then on, they were an adult, with the responsibilities of an adult, though many were still in training, and would be for some time.
Training was less a matter of Master and Apprentice, and instead a wide variety of teachers, to diffuse both responsibility and power.
Orime plant huge farms held and worked in common, with a large variety of crops which have been, sometimes with a purpose, selected for hardiness in the cold conditions of their land. It makes their diet, which often consisted of stews, bread, and and great deal of meat, relatively diverse in other ingredients as well. Some areas of Orime lands have extensive fruit trees, especially Winter Apples, able to survive into the early winter. Orime have come to notice that without such apples in their winter diets, they tend to get sick towards the coming of Spring, in what they call Apple Sickness, cured only by apples, and thus the Orime in those regions do a brisk trade with both human and Orime neighbors, often quite distant, who use the cider (which is drank regularly and medicinally), dried apples, and even preserves to supplement a diet that, no matter how they try, tends to still be lean by winter's end. But Orime are survivors.
Besides cider, which is viewed less as alcohol and more as necessity, Orime drink a good deal of ale, and drink what they call Gorzakle as for special occasions, and as a sort of pain medication. Certainly, humans from the south who have tried it have said that it distracts rather well from the bodily pains, burning as it does on the way down.
Orime tend towards raucous, celebratory drinking, but they have many other pastimes. Many love hunting, and there are traditional games, many of which come from pranks done in the mythic past, and they sing and dance at all times, even those who aren't Skalds. Music is central to the life of an Orime, and the Orime who is tone deaf is thought the most unfortunate creature in the village. They place much stock in being personable, and in getting along with others.
Orime may challenge each other to fights over disagreements, but the fights can be only with bare firsts, and to first fall, and are more common in some villages than in others.
When an Orime marries, they mingle their blood with the man and woman of their choice, and recite the vows as have been recited for beyond Orimeish memory, and often follow it up with poems or songs of their own composition, or the composition of a friendly Skald, in order to mkae it sacral. The Leritel and at least two or three other Orime usually are required to watch, so that all can know it was done well. Once married, an Orime might move into their spouse's house, or their spouse into theirs, or they might build a new home together, the customs there vary quite widely.
When Orime get sick, they call upon both Skalds, some of which can do quiet miracles with their magic, and traditional herb-husbands and herb-wives, who are sometimes also Skalds.
When they die, it is a Skald who ensures that they do not come back as a ghost, and their body is either burned, if they are thought wicked or full of regrets, in order to give their souls more time to consider things before they go beneath the earth (for the Orime have a vague but present understanding of what we'd call the Water Cycle), or buried if they have lead a life with few regrets.
Mythology/Religion:
The Orime believe in a multitude of Gods, all formed by a single Goddess, Orima, whom they were named after in memorial. These Gods no longer get involved directly in the world, out of compassion and understanding, but they taught the Songs of the Skalds, and they maintain the world even still, so worship is a matter of thanking them. Sacrifices aren't made, as they were in the days of the Priests. Instead, songs are sung, for what tribute is greater than the very thing which created the universe, Orima, and from her singing all the other Gods?
The Orime have a complex and expansive mythological cycle, which is both poetry and song at the same time, and which can be categorized in certain ways, as can all their songs.
First, the Tworzhist, the History of Creation. This tells of Orima, born of the sound of silence, and her lonely singing, which gave birth to the first Gods, who sang along with their mother, and on and on, as more were created and sang the world into being. It is filled with stories of hjinx and games, as well as their wonder at their creations, and ends with the creation of laws for the Orime, the naming of the Orime, and other matters.
Second, the Kreovak-Gesh, the Story of Blood, the greatest sung epic in Orime culture, which tells the story of Orime failing to live up to their promises and covenant, and of one such Orime raising an army of ghosts and nearly conquering the world, before being narrowly stopped, leading to the Gods creating new laws, but also agreeing to step back from rulership of the world, so that it may control itself. It is an incredibly popular epic, even to this day.
Third, the Gesha-Lyud, the People's Stories, are really several different categories. First, there are a number of stories of great heroes and adventures, stretching to this day, including that of Kataival, the Skald who climbed the world, and Bogumah, the first Bearsarker of the Orime. These thrill people even to this day. Second, there are the histories, which often specifically refuse to name names, instead speaking of entire tribes, clans, or villages, and which are unique to each village, or so it seems.
The final category is everything else. The drinking songs, the occasional songs for funerals, weddings, and every other occasion, the comic songs of no particular origin, the songs made purely to dance to, the songs you sing a child to lull them into sleep… they have no specific ritual attached to them, and yet the Orime view them as sacred in their own ways.
The Orime live their life with their religion, their songs of thanks, their traditions, and the Leritel, who traditionally take three apprentices at once, so that they do not favor any one, are merely those who help remember the traditions, recite them and the songs and stories, and who provide wisdom but not rulership. Even the Gods do not rule over the world, merely guide it and protect it, as the warriors must protect but not rule a village.
History: The Orime are a broad group, more widespread than their sizeable traditional locations might indicate. But there are certain trends, such as their conflicts with the Kingdoms and other governments which they often neighbor or are even a part of. They have their own ways, and their own lives, and they don't always mix well with humans, at least in the sense that their belief that those in an Oremish village are Orime can create confused loyalties and cultural misunderstandings. At times, Orime have warred with human Kingdoms, raiding them or even bringing them to the ground, but they have in some ways been safe from many of the trends that have affected so many. The Sepult-Edelian Empire reached almost to their borders before it began to fall apart, and so while influenced by them indirectly, they never warred with them except very briefly towards the end, and were certainly never conquered in large numbers by them.
But they are not without history, despite that. And they are not outside of history, as they might yet learn.
Unique Classes:
The Orime, like any beings, can boast of many talents, and plenty become adventurers, either in the local sense, or in the traveling sense, as the villages can hardly, nor would they hardly, forbid Orime from leaving them to travel as the song of their hearts so desire. But among those who leave, two particular groups stand out even more than others, for any Orime in the land of humans will tend to stand out.
The Oremish Bearsarker is very different than that said, increasingly embattled, category in the Nelkaelands. Instead of unleashing their anger, they stoke it into a great fury… and then with all their iron will, hold it under control and use it with a cold, even calm in its own way, mind. It is a fury that might lead to chanting and shouting, but that was as much an artifact of the Skaldic arts and the intimidation tactics of warriors than anything else. Instead, this leashed, controlled fury makes them the hounds, or the sleep wolves, to the rabid dogs of Nelkeaish Bearsarkers. The most famed Bearsarkers are capable of super-Orimeish feats, though it is well remembered that the most famed warriors were not Bearsarkers.
The Skald, on the other hand, is a figure who flits between entertainer, religious figure, warrior, poet, healer, worker, necromancer and more. They are the chief magic-users of the Orime, and in fact all the other types of magic combined still don't have the hold that Skaldic magic does, and Skalds, being entertainers, often travel to learn more about the world for their songs, and for their art, for their magic is an art like any other, one which requires intelligence, skill, and even a sort of daring. They, like Bearsarkers and the Leritel, are highly respected in Orimeish society.
Other Locations/Misc: While there are traditional lands that are called Oremish, Oremish settlers have rather large settlements or groups in many of the lands to their immediate south, sometimes independent of the various sovereigns and nobles, at other times trading military service for independence otherwise. In somewhat lesser numbers, Oremish outcasts, mercenaries, and inquisitive Skald could find themselves in the Central Lands or the Golden Road, but very few find themselves in Edelish lands, let alone even farther to the west, though few are not none. As well, there are several prominent tribes that live in the Nelkaelands, whose history and culture are quite different at times than those of their kin.
Note: I'm posting this because we hit the third page, and to encourage discussion there'll be more lore dumps if we hit the 4th, let's say?
And the vote closes tomorrow!
Some Central Land Gods
- Location
- Somewhere!
- Pronouns
- She/Her
So, I'm going to be keeping this to Lotte's understanding, which is decent? Not everyone in the village would know as much. But definitely not what a priest in training would know, or anything.
You have Wilfhuld, who you've already heard mentioned. His domain covers teamwork in a general sense, the sense of community that people see envisioned in the pack that hunts together but also raises wolf pups together. Prayers to Wilfhuld are simple and generally done while doing whatever you want his blessing for, so starting a project, going out to hunt together, or so on? It's not quite to the Orime's level of having a worksong, but it's an invocation more than offering, a lot of the time. If you do offer something, it could be a sacrifice of blood shed together, or part of some work done together? A scrap of cloth from a quilt that the women of a village were working on, or if many blacksmiths were turning out weapons for an army, one sword might be set aside for his pack.
There's the Nachtmater, a goddess of the night, who's animal icon is the moth. She has less of the folk hero qualities that some other gods have, and you wouldn't meet her, but you might see or feel her presence, or see one of her many children on a dark night, and know that your faith is rewarded, in some sense. If you're guided by a convenient star at night, or happen across a clear path, or the moon suddenly breaks out behind clouds, this could all be her favor? But she's a fickle goddess, transient just like her children are, and so no one Lotte knows is particularly faithful about the offerings. But it is traditional to leave lanterns lit in the woods, and burn offerings of fragrant smoke near houses, and so guide her children and in return receive guidance. When you wake at midnight, especially, it's important to leave something for her. And there are certain rumors of people who venture further out into the woods at that hour to do things that her mother refuses to explain to Lotte.
The Waldherz is a very important one for Lotte! It's said that once, long ago, a traveller planted a little bit of themselves in a tree in every forest across the continent. There are many variations, and sometimes the traveller is a woman, sometimes a couple on a long trip doing this together, and probably other variations besides, if you travel to the west. But Lotte certainly knows that you can see movement, deep in the woods, and although she's never met the Waldherz herself, many people have come across a walking tree, or heard it's voice, a deep rumbling that almost penetrates down to the bone. The traditional offering is to make a figure from sticks and branches and twine and leave them out in the forest, and try to make it resemble yourself or someone you're worried for. The idea is that this way the forest might see you as something closer to an adopted child, and that you're leaving something for everything you take from it's home.
Lastly, a foreign god, a somewhat new one to the people of this area, who didn't spread stories so much as come south on the backs of bogeyman stories and percolate through harsh winters and the wind that carried them. (To wax poetic, a bit.) Everyone has felt the bite of an unseasonable blizzard, occasionally, and it's said that these are the dying screams of Snefriid, the beautiful snows. She is not really worshiped, not down in the central lands, but more warded off or spoken about. If you travelled further away, you might hear rumors that Lotte hasn't, about people who walk too long in the cold, entranced by the beauty and pain of her voice, and what happens to them. The Kurzk speak better of those stories than the Nelklands do, generally.
The theme with all of these is that their domains are stuff Lotte deals with day to day. Certainly they're all practical gods, in some sense, and not necessarily as idealized or far off as other religions might be. There are others that priests in villages nearby would know, and ones that Lotte's Ma has tried to explain to her in litanies and stories that have simply slipped her mind. But these are four prominent ones that Lotte could be said to be pious about, or more aware of.
You have Wilfhuld, who you've already heard mentioned. His domain covers teamwork in a general sense, the sense of community that people see envisioned in the pack that hunts together but also raises wolf pups together. Prayers to Wilfhuld are simple and generally done while doing whatever you want his blessing for, so starting a project, going out to hunt together, or so on? It's not quite to the Orime's level of having a worksong, but it's an invocation more than offering, a lot of the time. If you do offer something, it could be a sacrifice of blood shed together, or part of some work done together? A scrap of cloth from a quilt that the women of a village were working on, or if many blacksmiths were turning out weapons for an army, one sword might be set aside for his pack.
There's the Nachtmater, a goddess of the night, who's animal icon is the moth. She has less of the folk hero qualities that some other gods have, and you wouldn't meet her, but you might see or feel her presence, or see one of her many children on a dark night, and know that your faith is rewarded, in some sense. If you're guided by a convenient star at night, or happen across a clear path, or the moon suddenly breaks out behind clouds, this could all be her favor? But she's a fickle goddess, transient just like her children are, and so no one Lotte knows is particularly faithful about the offerings. But it is traditional to leave lanterns lit in the woods, and burn offerings of fragrant smoke near houses, and so guide her children and in return receive guidance. When you wake at midnight, especially, it's important to leave something for her. And there are certain rumors of people who venture further out into the woods at that hour to do things that her mother refuses to explain to Lotte.
The Waldherz is a very important one for Lotte! It's said that once, long ago, a traveller planted a little bit of themselves in a tree in every forest across the continent. There are many variations, and sometimes the traveller is a woman, sometimes a couple on a long trip doing this together, and probably other variations besides, if you travel to the west. But Lotte certainly knows that you can see movement, deep in the woods, and although she's never met the Waldherz herself, many people have come across a walking tree, or heard it's voice, a deep rumbling that almost penetrates down to the bone. The traditional offering is to make a figure from sticks and branches and twine and leave them out in the forest, and try to make it resemble yourself or someone you're worried for. The idea is that this way the forest might see you as something closer to an adopted child, and that you're leaving something for everything you take from it's home.
Lastly, a foreign god, a somewhat new one to the people of this area, who didn't spread stories so much as come south on the backs of bogeyman stories and percolate through harsh winters and the wind that carried them. (To wax poetic, a bit.) Everyone has felt the bite of an unseasonable blizzard, occasionally, and it's said that these are the dying screams of Snefriid, the beautiful snows. She is not really worshiped, not down in the central lands, but more warded off or spoken about. If you travelled further away, you might hear rumors that Lotte hasn't, about people who walk too long in the cold, entranced by the beauty and pain of her voice, and what happens to them. The Kurzk speak better of those stories than the Nelklands do, generally.
The theme with all of these is that their domains are stuff Lotte deals with day to day. Certainly they're all practical gods, in some sense, and not necessarily as idealized or far off as other religions might be. There are others that priests in villages nearby would know, and ones that Lotte's Ma has tried to explain to her in litanies and stories that have simply slipped her mind. But these are four prominent ones that Lotte could be said to be pious about, or more aware of.
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