Winter's Wings: A Tremian Tale (Original ttrpg-Inspired Quest)

CoatRackRanger · Jan 28, 2023

Winter has settled early over the Malgravian Wingtip. Bitter cold has frozen harbors all across the northern Bay of Treste and heavy snows have rendered roads impassable. The settlements of the Commonwealth of Orskeath, such as the sleepy shipbuilding town of Hessen, find themselves cut off from the outside world, each one an island in a cold, crystalline sea. Yet, there are far worse places than Hessen to wile away the winter. The town is well prepared for the long, lonely nights that come to visit it each and every year. Plentiful food, firewood, and other essentials stockpiled across three seasons make the darkest months of the year a time of celebration in Hessen, rather than one of privation.

Still, even the best preparations cannot account for all dangers that may arise. For all Hessen's comforts and prosperity, the Wingtip is still a wild place, only recently settled in the grand scheme of history. The woods belong to bandits, lycanthropes, fey, and things stranger still, especially when winter drives mortalkind to cluster around their hearths. It's fortunate then, that people like you are around.

You are an adventurer that finds themselves stuck in Hessen for the season. Until the roads clear, only the foolish or desperate would attempt travel. As an adventurer, you're skilled relative to your experience but are, in truth, just beginning your career. With light pockets and no companions, the first order of business is finding work and allies to share it with. Fortunately for you, you've heard a rumor that the Cloudberry Inn is the place people go when they need a problem connected to a solution, or vice versa in your case. With any luck, that's where you'll be able to both find a job and likeminded individuals looking for the same.

So, like all the greats before you, you head towards a tavern to begin your adventure.

Welcome to Winter's Wings: A Tremian Tale!

Winter's Wings is my first attempt at running a Quest, so I've decided to do something that I'm familiar with. Specifically, Winter's Wings is based off of a ttrpg campaign that I ran a handful of years ago, albeit significantly altered and updated to suit a new medium.

Winter's Wings is intended to be a taken on a classic ttrpg experience, you will be creating and controlling an adventurer as they gather a party, do quests, gather loot, and, maybe, save the world. You will get the opportunity to determine your own fortune and experience a world that I hope you will find interesting. At the beginning, the story of Winter's Wings will be a humble one, but it can grow into anything you decide it should be.

Winter's Wings takes place in an original setting that I designed to be used for ttrpgs. The setting is called Tremia and, if you'd like, you can read more about it in the posts below. However, for anyone familiar with the high fantasy ttrpg genre, Tremia should feel very familiar. It is designed to be accommodating to a wide array of character concepts within its genre and joyously trades on the common tropes found there in. Other tropes, Tremia discards just as joyously. In 2023, we can have a fantasy world where people broadly agree that racism, sexism, transphobia, homophobia, and laissez-faire capitalism all have an Evil alignment.

The mechanics of this Quest will be based on the Pathfinder 1e system, heavily utilizing the 3rd party Spheres content by Drop Dead Studios and the Gestalt character variant. Wait! Don't run away, please. Winter's Wings is still a Quest and the mechanics of the system will take a back seat to the narrative. Extensive knowledge of the system is not required to participate in the slightest. Rolls will be used sparingly, generally only in simplified fashion to resolve combat or other dire situations. For the most part, a character's mechanics will exist to inform their narrative capabilities, rather than the other way around.

Despite taking a back seat, mechanics can give satisfying insight into a character's capabilities and their growth. Since Pathfinder character creation can be very complicated, we will be approaching it in steps. The outline of those steps is as follows:

character creation outline

1) Broad Concept: In which you will decide, roughly, on what kind of character you will be. The broad concept will serve to narrow down the options presented at later stages and start to form an idea of who you might become. No true mechanical decisions will be made at this stage. Instead, you will generally be selecting the kinds of classes and kinds of species that your character might be.

2) Classes and Species: The mechanical core of a character is their subspecies and their classes. It is also the kernel around which their identity is built. Options presented here will be determined by the decisions made at the broad concept stage. In terms of storytelling, deciding a character's classes informs their experience and education while a subspecies tells us what is likely for their childhood and upbringing.

3) Biography and Personality: Having filled in the conceptual and mechanical underpinnings of your character, you will decide on the specifics of their actual characteristics. As before, options presented here will be informed by those chosen before. Elements such as age, gender, and background will be decided in this stage. Backgrounds, in particular, will be construed to tell the story of how they came about their particular skillset and how they might differ from the norm for their subspecies.

4) Ability Scores and Class Features: With the main aspects of the character settled, we move into more detail. At this stage, you will decide on the precise methods with which your character executes their capabilities. You will decide on their inherent strengths and weaknesses, as well as other factors determined by their classes, such as preferred weapons and spells.

5) Feats, Skills, and Traits: In the final stage, you will put the finishing touches on the character. Generally, these touches will be related to selecting options from the broad pool of options available to all characters. These represent quirks of their personality and training, as well as areas in which they have invested time and effort to master. In

That seems like a lot, huh?

So, to keep the Quest from stagnating during character creation, we will also be deciding on possible party members during this time! Alongside each step of character creation, you can also vote for one of four companion options. The selected option will receive a sidestory during the next update and will be encountered early on once the story begins. Remember, for better or for worse, just because a companion receives a side story doesn't guarantee them a spot in your eventual party. Along the same lines, companions that do not receive a sidestory may still be encountered and recruited, although they may not be in as willing a state of mind as they would have been if they'd seen a little love during this stage. Finally, after each sidestory, the four companion options to select from will change. You will see two returning options but the options with the most votes (the one that got the sidestory) and the least votes will be replaced by new contenders!

As may be clear, companions are intended to be integral part of the story of Winter's Wings. Rest assured though, they will not supplant the primacy of your character. Each companion will have their own motivations, preferences, and goals. Finding out these traits and making choices that support them is integral to keeping your companions loyal! A loyal companion will have your back through thick and thin. A fair-weather friend may disappear as soon as things get choppy.

That's enough prattling about what we're going to do, let's start doing it!

Character Creation, Part I: Broad Concept

Three categories of elements of your character will be decided upon in the Broad Concept stage: Species, Skillset, and Personality (1 of 3). These three elements are only the first of the ingredients that go into a character but will certainly go on to flavor the whole dish. The options selected here will determine what options are presented later. Specifically, the species selection will inform sub-species selection and sub-species is analogous to a character's race. Skillset selection will determine what class options will be presented in the following phase. If you are uncertain of what species or skillset a particular option that you'd like to see made available would fall under, please ask!

Species Selection

In Tremia, the term mortalkind is used among scholars to refer to the most common collection of sentient, society-building species. "Folk" is used by less pretentious individuals to refer to the same, as is "humanity" although that term is least accurate as it uses the most common example of the group to refer to the group as a whole. There are four recognized species of the folk of Tremia: Elder, Goblinoid, Humanoid, and Hybrid. The distinctions between these species are mostly drawn along the lines of life span and life cycle, while the distinctions between subspecies within a species is a matter of morphology and ability to produce viable offspring. For example, both Elves and Dwarves are Elder due to their long lives, however they are vastly dissimilar in body shape. In addition, as members of different subspecies of Elder, Elves and Dwarves cannot produce biological children together. Of course, there are exceptions, as with all things in nature.

Please vote for any number of the following options. The option that receives the most votes will be the species that your character belongs to. In the next stage, a vote will be held on their specific subspecies.

[] Elder
Long lives are both the blessing of the Elder and their curse. The Elders can live for hundreds of years but have few children and those that they do sire mature with glacial slowness. Elders are few in number compared to other species of mortalkind but those that do make it to adulthood can accumulate exceptional power. The Elder often seclude themselves from the humanoid-dominated world, for safety and for sanity. Attachments in world of the Fleeting, as the Elder refer to the other species, always leads to heartbreak. If selected, you will be a young Elder, less than two centuries old, and just coming into your own.

Elder subspecies include Elves, Halflings, Dwarves, Gnomes, and Merfolk.

[] Goblinoid
The opposite of Elder in many ways, Goblinoids live fast and die young. Goblinoids have many advantages over other races. They are resilient, fecund, and mature at an incredible pace. However, as fast as they rise, they fall. At the end of their second decade, Goblinoids begin to deteriorate rapidly and most die before the beginning of their third. With such shorts lives, Goblinoids rarely achieve the mastery of particular skills that other races can and struggle to build social institutions that last. Tragically, brief lives of nihilism and violence is the fate that awaits most born of Goblinkind.

Goblinoid subspecies include Goblin, Hobgoblin, and Orc.

[] Humanoid
There is no denying that Humanoids rule Tremia. Elder populations face constant extinctions and Goblinoids societies never last. With longer lives than Goblinoids and higher birthrates than Elders, Humanoids have won the evolutionary arms race and account for 60-70% of mortalkind currently alive on Tremia. With a few notable exceptions, the states and nations that exist in Tremia are made by humans and primarily run by them, as well. Perhaps Humanoids greatest advantage is their uniquely flexible genome. Humanoids are able to produce viable offspring with beings outside their specific subspecies, with members of other species or even outsiders assuming humanoid form.

Humanoid subspecies include Half-Elf, Half-Orc, Human, Aasimar, Tiefling, and many, many more.

[] Hybrid
Hybrids are the second most diverse species on Tremia, behind only Humanoids. They come in a riotous variety of morphologies but have a tendency to resemble animals given a humanoid body shape. Hybrids have life spans and life cycles very close to those of Humanoids but cannot viably interbreed outside their subspecies. Without this trait, Hybrids tend to be more insular than Humanoids and simply cannot match them for sheer numbers.

Hybrid subspecies include Catfolk, Kobold, Ratfolk, Tengu, Kitsune, Gnoll, Lizardfolk, and many, many more.

Skillset Selection

An adventurer lives and dies by the extraordinary things that they've can do. Some wield incredible magic, while others rely purely on strength of arms. Whatever the case, adventurers always become extraordinary in their chosen fields, provided that they live long enough. Your skillset is an abstraction of the aforementioned chosen fields. The skillset presented below are intentionally broad and could be accessed through a wide variety of methods. Determining those methods will be the job of subsequent steps of character creation. For now, we will focus on the "what" of your character's capabilities, rather than the "how." That being said, the choice of skillsets will determine what classes are available for your to pick from in the following stage of character creation.

The use of the word "classes" is intentional. Winter's Wings is based off of the Gestalt character creation variant. This means that your character, and also other exceptional characters in the world, will gain the features of two classes simultaneously. With that in mind, please vote for any number of the following options, but preferably, at least two. The two skillsets that receive the most votes will be the ones drawn from to determine the pool of classes from which you may select in the next character creation stage.

[] Battle Magic
You specialize in magic intended to cause harm.
Classes that utilize this skillset include Armorist, Elementalist, Incanter, Mageknight, Bloodrager, Magus, Wizard, Sorcerer, and many more.

[] Control Magic
You specialize in magic that manipulates reality and others.
Classes that utilize this skillset include Eliciter, Fey Adept, Incanter, Wizard, Sorcerer, Druid, Shaman, Witch, and many more.

[] Exploration
You specialize in mastery of your environment, physically and/or conceptually.
Classes that utilize this skillset include Hedgewitch, Scholar, Wraith, Druid, Ranger, Rogue, Hunter, Shaman, and many more.

[] Heavy Arms
You specialize in the use of large weapons and heavy armor.
Classes that utilize this skillset include Armorist, Armiger, Blacksmith, Conscript, Sentinel, Warden, Barbarian, Fighter, Paladin, and many more.

[] Innovation
Knowledge is your weapon. Well, maybe guns, gadgets, and mad science too... but knowledge, mostly.
Classes that utilize this skillset include Alchemist, Gunslinger, Investigator, Armiger, Blacksmith, Hedgewitch, Scholar, and Technician.

[] Light Weapons
You specialize in light weapons, light armor, and mobility.
Classes that utilize this skillset include Armiger, Conscript, Crimson Dancer, Fighter, Ranger, Rogue, Slayer, Swashbuckler, and many more.

[] Social Skills
You specialize in motivating and/or manipulating others.
Classes that utilize this skillset include Eliciter, Commander, Troubadour, Bard, Rogue, Inquisitor, Skald, and more.

[] Support Magic
You specialize in magic that changes or enhances yourself and others.
Classes that utilize this skillset include Incanter, Soul Weaver, Symbiat, Warden, Bard, Cleric, Sorcerer, Wizard, Oracle, Shaman, Warpriest, and many more.

[] Trickery
You specialize in using subtlety, stealth, and guile.
Classes that utilize this skillset include Hedgewitch, Wraith, Scholar, Bard, Ranger, Rogue, Alchemist, Vigilante, Hunter, Slayer, and many more.

[] Unarmed Combat
You specialize in fighting without using weapons at all.
Classes that utilize this skillset include Conscript, Shifter, Striker, Sage, Monk, Brawler, and more.

[] Versatility
You dabble in a bit of everything, able to fill in where others who are more specialized fall short.
Classes that utilize this skillset include Hedgewitch, Shifter, Thaumaturge, Savant, Prodigy, Troubadour, Bard, Investigator, and more.

[] Write-in

Personality Trait (1 of 3) Selection

The general shape of your character's actions will be chosen by vote. However, in between the large scale decisions, your character still needs to speak, think, and make decisions. Their chosen personality traits will serve as a guideline for resolving what actions they should take. We're building your character relatively slowly, so personality traits will not be selected all at once. During each of the next three stages of character creation, one personality trait will be selected for your character. These three traits together will form the basis of the way that they see and interact with the world. Given time and trauma, personality traits may change but what is decided here will never cease to be important to who your character is.

Vote for as many of the following Personality traits as you'd like. The trait that receives the most votes will be selected as the first of your character's personality traits.

[] Affable
[] Cruel
[] Extroverted
[] Generous
[] Honest
[] Hopeful
[] Insecure
[] Introverted
[] Jaded
[] Kind
[] Lighthearted
[] Manipulative
[] Materialistic
[] Naïve:
[] Patient
[] Peaceful
[] Pessimistic
[] Puns
[] Proud
[] Reckless
[] Confident
[] Serious
[] Violent
[] Write-in

Sidestory Selection

Presented below are the first four options for companion sidestories. The mechanics and importance of companion sidestories is explained above but, to briefly reiterate, the option selected here will receive a sidestory during character creation and priority placement within the story of Winter's Wings. Just because a companion has priority placement, however, doesn't mean that they are automatically in your party. It simply means that they will be encountered early on and will be broadly willing to group up. Similarly, companions not selected will not disappear from the world. Instead, they may be encountered later on and in circumstances not necessarily conducive to making allies.

Please choose the character you are most interested in from the four options below! The character who wins the most votes will be the focus of the piece to accompany the next phase of character creation! You may vote for any number of characters, or even suggest one of your own, if you're feeling spicy. Remember however, the character that receives the fewest votes will not appear as an option for future sidestory selections and will be harder to recruit! Choose wisely!

-[] Aenen Urui: The Grifter
Half-elf Troubador // Prodigy
Unwelcome in the Spearsgrave, hunted in the Dominion, Aenen heads west to find friendlier faces, but trouble seems to be keeping pace.
Party Role: Skill Monkey, Utility/Versatility

-[] Cinderella Oakgold: The Cannoneer
Dwarf Armorist (blaster) // Incanter
After travelling the world with her merchant father, Cinderella's realized she hasn't seen much of it aside from his shadow. High time to blast her own path.
Party Role: Ranged DPS, Battlefield Controller

-[] Ganymede Fritz: The Mercenary
Human Conscript // Scholar
Fritz had his "one last job" about a decade ago. Turns out "set up for the rest of your life" doesn't mean much if you don't die young. Retirement was growing stale, anyways.
Party Role: Skirmisher, Debuffer

-[] Rufus Iverovich: The Peasant-Mage
Human Sphere Wizard // Sphere Druid
Humble origins were only the first of the obstacles Rufus Iverovich has had to overcome. Now that he has magic at his side, surely, he's ready to take on the rest.
Party Role: Healer, Battlefield Controller

To everyone who has made it this far, I'd like to offer my profound thanks and sincerest hopes that you'll take even a little time out of your life to tell a story together with me!

CoatRackRanger · Jan 28, 2023

Solvaron

Elven Mesmerist // Slayer

Species: Elder
Skillset: Trickery, Light Weapons
Classes: Slayer // Mesmerist
Personality: Honest, Proud, Kind
Appearance: Striking, ???, ???
Homeland: The Mirror Marches
Childhood: An Elven Enclave

CoatRackRanger · Jan 28, 2023

To be added.

CoatRackRanger · Jan 28, 2023

Currently, we're still in character creation!

Your character's race and classes have been decided and we're working on their biography at the moment.

In addition, two NPCs who could become companions have received sidestories.

Rufus Iverovich, The Peasant-Mage, witnessed magic for the first time as a young orphan working on a farm. He is caught for shirking work and punished by the owner. The witch who was visiting the farm takes an interest in Rufus and takes him away from the farm to be her apprentice.

Yskla Anakvei, The Chosen One, has just been made a Sister of the Arkyrian Convent of the Final Dawn but she struggles with doubts. Yskla's doubts are assuaged by the Brother Superior and she assumes care of a pair of new initiates, Eudon and Garve. Many years later, Eudon and Garve stage a break out, burning a large portion of the Convent and killing the Brother Superior in the process. Yskla lets them escape but, when she learns of their continued heinous deeds down the line, vows to bring them back to the righteous path.

CoatRackRanger · Jan 28, 2023

Overview

Welcome to the Tremia, a high fantasy world designed to be used as a playground for roleplaying games! Tremia is a high fantasy world full of powerful magics, fallen civilizations and strange creatures. It is home to a wide array of people and ideas, some of which come into disastrous conflict with one another. There is a place for almost any character concept within Tremia or in the wider world beyond her shores or past the boundaries of her Reality! In the pages below, you will find descriptions of the things that make Tremia unique and interesting. However, these things are not the sum total of what exists, nor are the ways they are presented the absolute truth. There are plenty of secrets still to discover!

What sets Tremi apart?

The high fantasy roleplaying genre trades in a number of common tropes, some of them hold true in Tremia and others do not. The following section is intended to give readers an idea about what to expect from Tremia that makes it unique.

1) Uncertain Divinity: The people of Tremia believe in Gods but do not have empirical evidence of their existence. There is no known way to contact a God, even for those who can travel to other planes of existence. The only way that Gods make their presence known on Tremia is by granting or retracting powers to their followers. Instead of Gods, Tremia has religions which are detailed later in this guide. If you wish to play a Cleric in Tremia, you are likely a follower of a particular religion rather than a devotee of a particular god.

2) Species vs Races: Instead of the wide bevy of races presented in most ttrpg settings, Tremia only has four species, into which the traditional concepts of races are fitted. These species are as follows: Elder, Goblinoid, Humanoid and Hybrid. Each of these species, except humanoid, is broken down further into subspecies which can represent any "race" as they are often conventionally known. Refer to The Folk of Tremia post for more information on the specifics of each species and what subspecies can be found within.

3) The Mirror Worlds: Tremia does not have Heaven, Hell, or any other commonly interpreted Plane. It's planar cosmology is unique. Tremia's cosmology consists of specific Mirror Worlds which are selective, distorted reflections of Reality that exist in parallel to it. The specifics of Tremia's planar cosmology is detailed in the Beyond Tremia section.

4) Uncertain Afterlife: Those who die in Tremia cannot be resurrected beyond a small time window. Once a body has died, generally a healer capable of reattaching souls must do so within one minute or the soul will vanish. Souls that resist through will or magic may become undead, however this transition degrades the soul beyond the hope of ever returning to true life. Where souls come from and where they go is one of Tremia's greatest mysteries.

5) Soul Contracts: There is an exception to the above rule: the souls of witches. While Gods are only hypothesized to exist, Patrons are real, physical entities either on Tremia, within Reality, or in one of the Mirror Worlds. Patrons tend to be ancient, powerful beings that can be spoken to and bargained with, usually exchanging power for service. Such a bargain is called a soul contract. When a person with a soul contract dies, their soul appears near the contract's holder and, for as long as the soul remains, it is the property of the Patron. Many find the idea of power in life and certainty in what comes after to be very appealing.

A map of the regions of Tremia

Malgravia

The northwestern portion of Tremia is known as Malgravia. Malgravia is a deeply forested land either close to or within the worlds arctic circle. It is roughly divided along the middle by a range of treacherous mountains known as the Keening Range. South of the Range, Malgravia is by-and-large civilized, although deeply embroiled in civil war. North of the Keening Range, Malgravia is far more wild, overrun with barbarians, lycanthropes and fey.

In the past, seafaring Malgravians terrorized the early civilizations of Therexia's northern coast, while the cultural influence of that time is strong, raiding is mostly a thing of the past. Modern Malgravian mostly use their seafaring roots to export their lands vast natural resources around Tremia.

Skeigolth

Occupying the north of Tremia, perched above the inland Sea of Tombs, Skeigolth is a land defined by harsh cold and scarce resources. Being both far north and away from prevailing winds, Skeigolth is possessed of a bitter, dry cold which chokes out all but the hardiest of life. In the north, its landscape is dominated by vast stretches of tundra and barren snowfields for as far as the eyes can see. Southern Skeigolth is only slightly more habitable, with half-frozen fens and marshes stretching out like arthritic fingers into the Sea of Tombs. Malgravia's Keening Range stretches into Skeigolth and thins but, as it does so, it takes on a different name: The Winterbone Mountains.

The people of Skeigolth, in many ways, mirror the land that they claim. Goblinoids rule southern Skeigolth, organized into vast, violent hordes that regularly batter themselves against the more fertile nations surrounding Skeigolth. Past the northern snowfields and across the Channel of Ytsehk, is the island of Tzeketlep, home to a strange witch-theocracy which venerates deep-sea patrons known as the Leviathan Chorus.

Lek

The largest of Tremia's regions, the eastern subcontinent of Lek is an arid land of vast plains, waving grain and scattered scrubland. While much of the rest of the civilized world has embraced nation-state identities, Lek's people have doggedly continued to adhere to city-state organization. Rivalries run deep and bitter between the ancient metropolises of Lek but, while feuds are often and bloody, large-scale wars rarely ravage the fields of Lek.

Lek is known to the world at large as the land of the Hybrids. Fieldfolk farm the Cornocopia, lizardfolk ply the waterways of Cape Abandonment, birdfolk dominate the skies from their high mountain aeries, and more and stranger folk can be found all across the land. In the great cities and in the vast wild, life flourishes in the greatest variety found anywhere on Tremia.

Therexia

The southern of the twin prongs of western Tremia is known as Therexia. Many Therexians consider their home to be the center of Tremia. With its commanding harbors in the Sea of Sails and access to the material wealth of Malgravia, they may not be wrong. Therexia is a cosmopolitan land of large cities and powerful nations rising from a backdrop of fertile farmland and mild climate. Therexians enjoy a level of technological and magical sophistication unmatched throughout the rest of the world. Yet, for all the small comforts steam and clockwork might bring, perhaps it does not balance the horror of wars fought with war magic, arquebus and cannon.

Therexia's northern coast is referred to as The Mirror Marches, a land with a long history of magic which still clings to traditionalist ways. Below the Tors of Cervantes, Therexia's Clockwork Coast embraces the future faster than anywhere else in the world with the Artificial Revolution bringing enchanted items, steam engines and clockwork further and further into everyday life.

Transista

Transista is the connective tissue that links Lek and Therexia, two of Tremia's great centers of civilization. The large isthmus is bordered on the north by the Sea of Tombs and on the south by the Sea of Sails. While the Sea of Sails receives its name from the sheer volume of traders that ply its waters, the Sea of Tombs is mostly travelled by the Mausoleum Ships of Cerul or goblinoid raiders from Skeigolth.

Transista is a land of nomads, caravanners and traders. Although advances in shipbuilding have put an end to the times of the all-powerful merchant princes in Transista, the people of the isthmus are by no means poor. However, dark times may be on the horizon as the expansionist tendencies of Therexia's Mallan Empire may eventually shift eastward and disorganized Goblinoids may no longer be the greatest threat to an independent Transista.

Vaakish

Although not geographically a part of the Tremian Continent, the continent of Vaakish is close enough to the landmass that it is often referred to with the same word. Aside from thin coastal regions, Vaakish landscape is mostly sandy desert. At its latitude, prevailing winds blow east to west and all the moisture that would rise from the Sea of Sails and Azay is trapped by the towering Mornosmog Range, the tallest mountain chain in the world. Where the Mornosmog Range curls around the base of Vaakish lies the Shattered Heart, a massive region of intense, irregular volcanism and tainted magic caused by some ancient calamity.

Despite all the challenges, civilization flourishes in Vaakish. In fact, the Miffari River is believed to be the oldest continuously settled region in all of Tremia. All of Vaakish's northern coast, referred to as the Golden Arch, is inhabited and closely linked to cosmopolitan Therexia just across the Narrow Way. Even the Great Desiccation, Vaakish's central desert, is home to wandering tribesmen and Elders are rumored to make remote villages in the thin air of the Mornosmog Range.

Azay

Distant and mysterious, the interior of the jungle continent of Azay has long been impenetrable to foreign settlers. Powerful magic of a long-dead civilization permeates Azay, both sustaining its lush vegetation and making it a home to strange, mutated creatures and diseases. Separating the interior of Azay from its coast is the Tzaq Highland, a region less magically volatile but no less inaccessible or treacherous due to its extreme terrain and unpredictable weather.

It is a testament to the allure of Azay's natural and archeological wonders that people call it home. The coastal regions of Azay are mostly home to native Humanoid and Hybrid tribespeople, many of whom are none too welcoming of outsiders. However, the northwestern edge of Azay, called the Mercenary Coast, has been colonized by Therexians and serves as a morally dubious gateway for the rest of the world into the secrets and riches of Azay.

The Song Islands

South of Lek, south of Vaakish and south even of Azay are the Song Islands. The black sand beaches of this
volcanic island chain open into lush jungle interiors which teem with strange fauna and flora. The interiors of the Song Islands quickly become hot and mountainous with the occasional open pool of bubbling lava. However the Song Islands are far from a tropical paradise as frequent violent storms scour the islands of permanent structures and force the natives to retreat to underground villages within the mountains' labyrinthine magma tubes.

Below the surface of the Song Ocean, there is almost as much life as there is above. The presence of aquatic Elders near and around the Song Islands is an ill-kept secret. Ancient cities carved of coral and seastone can be found below the waves. Although they mostly keep to themselves, history remembers story of both great war and great love that cross the Song Ocean's surface.

CoatRackRanger · Jan 28, 2023

Overview of Malgravia

Aelvesh Dominion: For as long as anyone can remember, the forests at the joint of Therexia and Malgravia have been the domain of elves. The Dominion maintains a neutral stance towards its neighbors but also enforces strict exclusion of foreigners from its heartland. The elvish embargo on traders passing through its interior and the harsh tariffs imposes on its border markets have forced trade between Malgravia and Therexia to utilize the Bay of Treste. Although ostensibly peaceful, the Dominion has responded with extreme prejudice to invasion attempts, displaying a level of magical and military prowess centuries ahead of what the rest of Tremia is able to produce.

Bay of Treste: The stretch of water that separates Malgravia from Therexia. In decades past, raiders from Malgravia raided the northern coast of Therexia but in modern times it is not warriors from the Spearsgrave bearing weapons but merchants of the Wingtip leaden with lumber, furs and other raw materials that make their way south. In the winter, parts of the bay to the north freeze, making many of the more exposed Malgravian ports seasonal. Many traders lose their lives trying to make their fortunes as the last ship of the fall or the first ship of the spring.

Geduldigerwald: North of the Keening Range and deep into the Tzeket Sea, the Geduldigerwald is cut off from almost all of Malgravia. Most consider this no tragedy as the Geduldigerwald is known to be the dominion of strange and capricious fey. The Geduldigerwald is covered by deep forests and bathed in the prismatic light of the Great Aura. It lies above the Artic Circle and, on some winter days, the Great Aura is the only light that touches the sky. It is rumored that, just on the other side of those diaphanous skeins of light, are the castles of the fey courts.

Malgravian Wingtip: Exposed to the harsh seas of the northern Aquialic Ocean, the Wingtip was, for a long time, an area of sparse population and hard lives. However, with the fall of the interior Malgravian states, the Wingtip has become a bastion of stability and prosperity in the subcontinent. The weather is still harsh and the seas still capricious but advances in magic and shipbuilding have allowed both trade and civilization to flourish in this area. Despite its modern reformation, there are still places in the Wingtip where old magics and older faiths congregate.

Palekislev Valelands: The Palekislev Valelands are named for the three great river valleys that cut between the tallest peaks of the Keening Range and the Sea of Tombs. The rivers, collectively called the Siostra, are the heart of Palek culture. Aforementioned culture is something of an isolate as Palekislev is cut off from most of Malgravia and distant from the centers of Therexia. In fact, Palekislev's strongest neighboring influence is the Geduldigerwald, whose strange fey creatures have a history of crossing the mountains and settling in the wild places of the Valelands.

Sea of Tombs: An ill-travelled body of water at the very heart of Tremia. Some small boats from from Palekislev and Transista ply the waters but they must content with raiders from Skeigolth and the massive crypt-barges from ancient Cerulea.

Spearsgrave: The Spearsgrave is comprised of a collection of warring feudal states, each of which lays claims to the lands of the others. In ages past, most Malgravians were seafaring pillagers from the Spearsgrave who raked the burgeoning societies of the Therexian Mirror Marches. However, an ambitious tribal leader appeared to unite the area under her rule. This figure, known as The Queen of Spears, reformed the area under feudalism. She conquered all of the Malgravian Heartland but then turned her attention to the Aelvesh Dominion. At the first stirrings of war, the elves assassinated the Queen and her entire family. With no clear successor, her dominion fell into in-fighting, which has continued to this day.

Tzeket Sea: Named for Tzeketlep, a distant island above Skeigolth, whose seafarers were the first to chart the seas. The Tzeket sea is choked with ice much of the year and largely impassible to any except those using cutting-edge technology or powerful magic. In those few summer months that the channel is easily navigable, Verbrachterwald raiders often use the opportunity to circumvent Sigisvulta and sail directly to less protected ports.

Verbrachterwald: Much like the neighboring region of Geduldigerwald, Verbrachterwald is a vast taiga with little in the way of civilization. The Verbrachterwald, however, shares a land border with the Wingtip and the Keening Range contains more navigable passes along this stretch. Rather than encourage cultural exchange, the Verbrachterwald is instead a place where criminals flee to or are exiled. In addition, lycanthropy is believed to have originated among the druids who once called the Verbrachterwald home and the man-beasts are common in the woods to this day.

CoatRackRanger · Jan 28, 2023

To be added.

CoatRackRanger · Jan 28, 2023

Tremian Religions

Faith and Divine Magic in Tremia

Tremia's gods do not reside in Reality nor do they reside in the known Mirror Worlds. in all of Tremia's history, there has never been a widely accepted account of a person encountering a deity. Yet, something grants power to the faithful. It is undeniable those who adhere to the tenets of a god receive power from somewhere while priests who pay only lip-service inevitably find themselves bereft of grace.

Perhaps it is because of this indirect communication that Tremia has the bizarre profusion of religions that it does. On Tremia, the role of the priest is often to interpret the will of their deity, no easy thing when the deity is silent. As the de-facto mouthpieces of divine will and their instruments within Reality, priests, the temporal institutions of churches, sects and cults are often much more impactful to the everyday life of Tremians than the actual gods that the faithful claim to follow.

This section presents the major religious families upon Tremia. It is not an exploration of individual religions but rather presents the category of religion that one might find in a particular corner of the continent.

Arravite

The Arravite religious family dominates western Malgravia. Arravite religions have pantheistic structures featuring personified deities, often appearing as one or more competing families of gods. Most, although not all, Arravite religions believe that their gods employ outsiders called Valkyries to identify individuals who have adhered to the virtues that a particular god values. Once selected, the Valkyries offer them the chance to reside with and serve them in the afterlife. While Arravite Gods are not observable entities, the Valkyries are, being Outsiders of Apogee.

Arravite gods are opposed by the Blind Titans, entities which some Arravite sects say lay claim to those souls not chosen by the gods and their Valkyries. Common belief holds that the day will come when the Blind Titans and the gods will do battle and their war will spill over into Reality, spelling the end of Existence and, possibly, the creation of something new.

Attilogan

Perhaps the most widespread religious family, the Attilogan faith began in Therexia but has spread into southern Vaakish and north western Azay through Therexian colonists, creating separate and distinct branches. Attilogan faiths are monotheistic, revering a deity of knowledge and/or magic who is often styled as "The All-Knowing." Sharp, bitter divides exist within the Attilogan faith, mostly related to the existence of saints, the acceptance of other deities or Attilog's nature as either a real being or a parable of some sort. The Malla Empire, in particular, fervently insists upon the heresy of other religions and treats those who will not convert as second-class citizens.

Zadam Attilogan arose in southern Vaakish around the establishment of Lev Calamitas in Zadahmec. Zadam Attilogan has taken on traits of the native Mornos religions and displays ascetic elements not commonly found in other Attilogan branches. Sallas Attilogan, on the other hand, comes from the Mercenary Coast and is generally marked by a disbelief or uncertainty in the divinity of Attilog, instead holding that Attilog is the embodiment of the virtues of a life spent seeking knowledge.

Isigian

The Isigian faiths of the Song Islands generally share a belief in familial reincarnation, that the spirits of
ancestors are reborn into their descendants. Tribal identity is a powerful force among the Isigians. Children are often named for honored ancestors, either indicating that they have inherited a revered soul or inviting one to inhabit their descendant. Living a life that gives honor to one's name or soul is often held to be of great importance.

In addition, Isigian faiths also generally acknowledge the existences of gods, although they play less a role in everyday life than the ancestors. Eastern Isigians, living in the most turbulent part of the Song Islands, generally believe that their gods are tribe-specific advocates which bargain with nature spirits on behalf of their people for calm weather and bountiful harvests. In the west, Isigian gods are generally not differentiated from these nature spirits, inhabiting a cultural role very similar to the nearby Yatlac religions.

Izgrokian

An Izgroky is a festival which spontaneously occurs within the Goblinoid cultures of Skeigolth. These festivals are not tied to particular dates but rather occurs when a critical mass of Goblinoids have declared themselves to be prophets of new gods or desire to start a cult. During an Izgroky, Goblinoid prophets, champions and shamans compete in often-violent contests to earn favor and followers for their particular god.

Every so often, when religious tensions come to a head in Skeigolth, a Great Izgroky is called. While individual Izgroka can be held anywhere, the Great Izgroky is always held at a particular site high in the Winterbone Mountains. While the Great Izgroky is little different in function and form than its lesser variety, it attracts Goblinoids from every corner of the dominion. Often time, the most impressive religions displayed at the Great Izgroky may dominate Skeigolthi culture for decades to come. However, very few have lasted longer than one or two lifetimes. The Izgrokian canon holds innumerable gods who have fallen in and out of favor and memory, some who inspired thousands for
generations and others who only ever had one follower.

Kaatifite

Practiced in the Miffari River Delta and the Golden Arch, Kaatifite religions are defined by a pantheon of similar gods and the belief that their gods once walked Tremia but have since been either killed or sealed away. Many royal families of this area claim physical descent from their gods as the foundation of their right to rule. While most of the rest of the world scoffs at claims of physically manifested gods, none can deny the incredibly potent sorcerous blood that flows in the veins of many of the noble families of the Golden Arch.

The exact nature of the death or sealing of the gods is a matter of deep contention between the various Kaatifite religions. In Miffara, it is said that the gods became jealous of the powers of the first Pharaoh and successfully overthrew her but destroyed themselves in the attempt. Elsewhere, it is believed that the gods retreated into the depths of the collective mortal unconscious to shield themselves from a world which was poisonously unworthy of them.

Leken

Leken religion mirrors, in many ways, Leken society. Lek is home to a large pantheon of gods, usually resembling idealized versions of the Hybrid races which venerate them. Religion is a very personal thing to most Leken people and they will choose one or perhaps two of the many gods to be their personal deity. Until very recently, Leken religion was almost universally administered to the people by the Hierarchy, an organization which existed to match individuals with the god best suited for them and advise them on how best to serve or honor that deity.

A century ago, the Hierarchy was challenged for corrupt and self-serving practices. The mishandling of the challenge created a martyr of a fieldfolk named Asclepia Morta which inspired a mass denunciation of the Hierarchy in Northern and Eastern Lek. This event has come to be called the Leken Schism and created the Orthodox and Heterodox Leken faith families. Leken Orthodox is still dominated by the Hierarchy while Heterodox regions systematically resist the organization's influence.

Mornos

The ascetic faith of the Mornosmog Mountains and the Great Desiccation, the Mornos faiths generally lack recognizable divinities and, instead, enshrines the worship of ancestors. Most Mornos religions hold sacrifice and the enduring of hardship as sanctifying acts. Ritual tattoo and scarification is also common among Mornos faiths, especially to represent the injuries of honored ancestors.

The Mornos faiths of the Great Desiccation have a distinctly practical bent. The simple act of continuing to live in their inhospitable environment is a holy thing. Some Desiccant Mornos hold that sharing what one has with outsiders in need is the most blessed of acts while others teach that it is the divine right of those who suffered more to take from those who have suffered less. Mornos faiths of the high mountains are much less commonly encountered but they are commonly reported to be more inward focused in nature, emphasizing the perfection of the self to overcome external circumstances. It is said that only those who have mastered the ability to go without breath can visit the most sacred places of the mountain Mornos traditions.

Sallasite

Also called The Sailor's Faith, the Sallasite religions are a series of informal faiths which developed within the cosmopolitan ships and ports of the Sea of Sails. Sallasite faiths are pantheistic, worshipping a collection of sailing, sea and storm gods pulled from other religions around Tremia. The Sallasite faith is mostly one of necessity. Just as sailors may make any port in a storm, in times of desperation Sallasites believe in calling out to as many gods as possible in the hopes that one will answer. Figuring out which deity responded after the fact and determining the manner of praise or sacrifice that should be given is the standard role of Sallasite priests.

While adherents of the Sailor's Faith may call upon many gods originating from other pantheons, there is a single wholly Sallasite god who is never to be called by name. This god is the embodiment of the destructive power of the sea, an ever-changing being who is at once vengeful and dispassionate, brutal and artistic. Sallasites believe to name the god is to attract their attention and instead use only nicknames to refer to them.

Tarasid

With roots in ancient Cerul, the Tarasid faiths flourish along the Transista Isthmus and the Cerulean Sound. It is a religion of traders and voyagers, which is reflected in the central myth of the Tarasid faith. Tarasids believe that there are multiple versions of Existence that exist alongside each other, almost as the Mirror Worlds within Existence lay alongside Reality. They tell of a trio of brother gods who travelled these alternate Existences for eternities before their youngest tricked his brothers into settling in this one.

The First Brother was a being of knowledge who sought to see all that is. The Second Brother was a being a destruction who sought to destroy all that is. The Third Brother came along later and did not immediately know their purpose. As they travelled, the First would see all that an Existence was and then the Second would destroy it so that it could not become other than the First had seen. The Third grew tired of this cycle and tricked the others by creating sentient life which was ever changing. As the First could never fully grasp a changing thing, he never unleashed the Second to destroy it and the Third became a trickster who plays for eternity among his creation.

Tarczian

Endemic to the Palekislev Valelands and a small part of north-eastern Therexia, the Tarczian religions believe in a creator deity who resided within the otherworldly City of Light. Tarczian teachings hold once it was possible to travel to the City but the way has been lost to mortals them through fey trickery or societal corruption. Most Tarczian sects diverge on the proper path to rediscovering the path to the City for or within oneself.

Many Tarczian sects are monastic in nature, focusing on living a life of isolation, contemplation and purity to earn passage into the City of Light. The Valelands countryside is dotted with such monasteries and they often form the basis for surrounding villages . There are darker sides to Tarczian faith, as well. Many sects blame society for the loss of paradise and violently or cruelly attempt to correct what they see as wickedness or imbalance. The religious branding, tarring or burning at the stake of those who break moral standards or consort with Outsiders is not an unknown thing in areas dominated by Tarczian religion.

Tzeket

Synonymous with its people and with the island they call home, the Tzeket belief system is not truly a religion as it does not, in any measure, rely on the faith of its followers. The entities worshiped in Tzeketlep definitely exist and make their will known directly to their followers. Conventionally, there are no Tzeket priests, only witches. Other than the origin of their powers, Tzeket acts much like any other religion, albeit a grim, secretive one whose tenets seem antithetical to the continued existence of sentient, mammalian life on Tremia.

The Tzeket worship a collection of deep-sea creatures of immense power who have slumbered at the bottom of Serevas's oceans since before the beginning of recorded history. Although most lay Tzeket worship these entities as a pantheons, the priesthood is organized into cults of specific Leviathans whose leadership receive messages from the psychically-resonant dreams of their lord. The Tzeket Cults all work to achieve the aims of their society at large but are, by no means, allies of each other. Tzeket alarmists believe that their constant squabble for supremacy is the only thing that keeps the rest of the world out of the jaws of their terrible Leviathan Chorus.

Yatlac

The Yatlac faiths ascribe to an animist philosophy, holding that all things possess within them a spirit or perhaps even a god. Many will revere the spirits of significant natural features such as mountains, coastal cliffs, or storms. Particular methods of veneration vary significantly, although the most bloodthirsty, and consequentially sensationalized, hold that their gods are sustained by the souls of sacrifices and savor the blood of unwilling captives.

Yatlac religions are practiced throughout coastal Azay but also in the Tzaq Highlands. In the Tzaq Highlands, it is more common to worship Azan ruins rather than natural features, believing that the ancient places are, in some way, alive. Although this theory is not widely accepted, there definitive is something which modern magic does not understand which has kept Azan weather magic active for thousands of years, long past the disappearance of the people who must have wove the spells.

CoatRackRanger · Jan 28, 2023

Magic on Tremia

Magic has been utilized and studied on Tremia since before the beginning of recorded history. While magic is not common, and the prohibitive time and expense of learning formal magic makes it almost solely the purview of nobles and successful merchants, there a few things that are commonly known about it.

Magic arises spontaneously from the fabric of Existence, extruded in some manner whose nature and origin is unclear. In its natural state, magic is inert and virtually undetectable. However, magic can be excited into patterns by exposure to matter or observation by a sentient mind. Most patterns of magic are functionless and break apart without effect but specific patterns can produce changes in the structure of Existence. These patterns are called spells and the act of creating them is called spellcasting.

While this may seem simple, the actual act of spellcasting is incredibly complex, usually requiring years of study to accomplish even at the most basic level. Still, there are innumerable ways of going about spellcasting, further complicated by the unique effect that the specific matter which makes up each person has on all magic that interacts with them. Presented in this section are examples of disciplines of magical thought and school of magical learning that can be found across Tremia.

Arkyrian Convents

In 5:147, Augdunna Tryggvisdottr, The Queen of Spears, was magically assassinated before her assembled troops on the eve of their invasion of the Aelvesh Dominion. As her young empire swiftly crumbled, anti-elven and anti-arcane sentiment swept across the region. In the face of an increasingly violent power vacuum, the Arkyrian sect of the Arravite faith used this as an opportunity to consolidate power and secure their influence against the oncoming chaos. Old religious divides were set aside as a mass proclamation was made that arcane magic was a curse from the Blind Titans and those who would practice it required the proper religious education for the good of others and their own souls.

In all nations in modern Spearsgrave, Arkyrian Convents are the only institutions legally allowed to teach arcane magic. Not only do they educate and indoctrinate promising children, there are also policies in place which require those who display sorcerous potential to be remanded to the convents as wards of the church. As befits the grim, militaristic dogma of the Arkyrian faith and the persistent civil wars of the Spearsgrave, most who receive their education from a convent are war wizards, specializing in the most destructive applications of magic.

As was perhaps intended, religious control of war magic has kept the Arkyrians relevant and powerful throughout the Spearsgrave's history of turmoil, forcing nobles to court the church for the ability to compete with each other on the fields of battle.

Chkaljj Tlan

Tzeketlep possesses many instruments designed to create witches from its own populace which are closed to outsiders. The Chkaljj Tlan is unique in that it is open to all those who would apply. Located on an island off the far eastern tip of Tzeketlep, the Chkaljj Tlan is more accessible than the rest of the island nation but only barely so. Those who find themselves upon the shores of the Chkaljj Tlan are welcomed inside but few ever leave.

In addition to being a school to teach arcane powers, the Chkaljj Tlan is a reeducation center where Tzeket dissidents and foreign visitors are twisted to serve the nation and its dark patrons. Students whose talent or faith are found lacking generally end up under the sacrificial knives of their more apt peers. From the raw materials fed into it, the Chkaljj Tlan produces witches who wield dark power over stone, sea and sky and serve Tzeketlep without question.

Dosenval

Dosenval is a city-state located in the Southern Leken Cornocopia near Cape Abandonment which endeavors to educate all its citizens with a curriculum including some degree of spellcasting. Former High Prince Obadiah Clearrose is credited with the idea of the public education system, although he claims inspiration from the Longwinter Associations of the Malgravian Wingtip. In 5:241, shortly after the death of his mother, the High Queen, Obadiah Clearrose abdicated power to a group of likeminded scholars, philosophers and mages who he had assembled during his youth spent travelling Tremia.

Under the Learned Council, every resident of Dosenval under a certain age may attend classes held on a wide range of subjects, some of them arcane in nature. Although the vast majority of Dosenvali only learn one or two cantrips, those with true aptitude are encouraged to pursue a higher education. Dosenval's system is new, barely a generation old, and, while it has improved the lives of the Dosenvali, it is steadily bankrupting the city-state. A wide variety of topics are studied in Dosenval, including extensive study of the magical essence of Humanoids and Hybrids.

Frogsmoth Institute

Ancient Azay has been a subject of fascination for the civilizations surrounding the Sea of Sails for as long as they have been aware of it. The towering temple-city ruins and deeply magical jungles have attracted adventurers, explorers and profiteers like no other place on Tremia. And the Frogsmoth Institute is where many of the fruits of their expeditions have found their resting place.

Part museum, part university, part research center, the Institute is funded and administered by a handful of exceptionally wealthy Therexian and Transista families. In exchange for the option to purchase all items discovered, the Institute funds and facilitates expeditions into Azay. Sponsorship by the Institute is closely coveted within adventuring circles, especially since it is almost always given only to those allied with the founding families of the Institute.

In addition to sponsoring adventurers, the Institute also trains them, however, this is a privilege almost exclusive to the children of the founders or their friends. A few persuasive outsiders have managed to acquire it, however. Not only does studying at The Institute give one access to some of the finest libraries and scholars in the world, students are also placed with expeditions in groups of 1-4 to learn firsthand before venturing out on their own.

Garden of Dreamers

Built around a lush oasis at the edge of the Great Desiccation, the Garden of Dreamers is an eight-story leisure palace overflowing with lush greenery, sparkling pools, baths and waterfalls and studded with beautiful mosaics of glazed tile. Combining advanced hydroponics, powerful enchantment and masterful engineering, the Garden is a true testament to the beauty that mortals can create. Walking along its marble pathways and amid its blooming orchards, most would not guess that The Garden is not the private retreat of some unimaginably wealthy Vaakish ruler but rather a school for the study of a fringe branch of magic.

This is forgivable in that the Garden does not resemble other schools in the least. There are no classrooms, no spellchambers, no trappings of the magical education system of any kind. Instead, The Garden is full of quiet nooks and comfortable benches where one will often catch groups of people napping. Education in The Garden does not occur in the waking world but rather in shared dreams created and hosted by experienced dream-magi.

The students of the Garden are mainly second and third children of noble families of the Golden Arch, studying magic while the primary heirs study matters of politics and state. At the Garden, they learn a magic which is unlike that practiced anywhere else in the world and draws on a sources that most scholars debate the very existence of. The Dreamers learn to pull material from The Dreaming, manifesting dreams and nightmares bourn of the collective
unconscious into physical space.

Gyur'Balkka

Goblinoid hordes do not often display any measure of arcane might but, when they do, it is usually the result of Gyur'Balkka. Gyur'Balkka is the repository of most of the formal magical knowledge possessed by the Skeigolthi Goblinoids. Goblinoid caretakers have seen after Gyur'Balkka for hundreds of generations, devoting all of their short lives to keeping that complex safe.

For all the sacrifice that has gone into preserving it, the Gyur'Balkka is truly little more than a series of caves piled high with stolen, moldering spellbooks few can read and packed with kidnapped scholars with little hope of escape. Still, for the exceptional goblinoid, there is knowledge to be gained here and much power to be obtained.

High Heresy

High Heresy begun its existence as a humble Birdfolk colony in a remote mountain valley in central Lek. Several hundred years ago, during the mage pogroms of the Thessel Imperium, High Heresy was the final destination in the underground railway smuggling mages and magical knowledge out of the Imperium. As more and more magic was concentrated in the colony, what started out as merely a secure hideaway became a massive magical community. Many of the mages who ended up at High Heresy became part of the resistance themselves, either assisting them directly or teaching others magic useful for subterfuge, such as illusion and enchantment.

The Thessel Imperium fell long ago, due in no small part to the actions of the mages of High Heresy. In modern times, High Heresy has fully become an institute of higher arcane learning unaffiliated with any of the city-states of Lek. With or without talent, all are welcome in the hall of High Heresy. The organization takes great pride in its disestablishmentarian origins , encouraging its students to use their powers to make positive, subversive change in the world. Consequently, many attempts have been made to destroy High Heresy but its remote location and powerful magic have so far kept the sprawling mountain complex standing.

Calamatism

There are places in Tremia which bear the scars of magical catastrophe so potent that they confound the minds of modern magicians. Calamatism is the study of these places in the hopes of being able to reverse engineer the forgotten arcane principles which allowed such forces of devastation to be unleashed. Calamatism is a widespread ideology that has many informal adherent but there are two great schools of Calamatism: Ild Calamitas and Lev Calamitas.

Ild Calamitas is a floating structure high in the Tors of Cervantes of central Therexia. Ild hovers directly above a half-mile high spike of iron driven into the center of the mountain range. Not only was immense magic used to propel this spike deep into Serevas, all of the metallic ores from the surrounding mountains in a several mile radius has been extracted, leaving the peaks pitted and shattered to this day.

The sister school to Ild Calamitas, Lev Calamitas exists to study the events which occurred in Shattered Heart. The endless volcanism and necrotic aura of the infamous badlands makes it a much more dangerous site than the Tor of Cervantes and Lev is built across a mountain range rather than hovering directly above the center of its study. Due to its incredible danger, Lev Calamitas has a reputation as being home to arcane practitioners of dubious sanity.

Labyrinth Isle

The vanished Cerul civilization left its mark on the Sea of Tombs in many ways, most notably the massive
mausoleums ships from which the Sea derives its name. Very few of their terrestrial edifices have been discovered but by far the largest is the complex on Labyrinth Isle. While it remained a haunted curiosity for thousands of years, it was eventually cleared and claimed by the fieldfolk wizard Ottogus Toran three hundred years ago.

After decades of study, Toran turned Labyrinth Island into the school for wizardry that it remains to this day. Although he is long passed, Toran's whimsical nature lives on in the school's approach to magic. Toran long espoused the belief that the only path to new knowledge was to become completely lost and, perhaps as a sort of living parable, he designed his school in the shape of a vast maze. Legend holds that Archmagus Toran, as he felt his end approaching, disappeared into his maze and his body was never found.

Longwinter Association

Most cities and some towns in the Malgravian Wingtip boast a Longwinter Association. Eirick Longwinter is a quasi-mythical figure in Arravite tradition. Legend holds that Eirick was a peasant who taught himself magic by visiting ancient druidic ruins. The tale tells that Eirick spent the greater part of his life travelling between villages and teaching elders and children cantrips useful in farming so that they could survive the Long Winter. In Arravite doctrine, it is held that Eirick was escorted to the afterlife by the Valkyrie Seldurr that the end of his days.

Modern Longwinter Associations carry on in the spirit of their mythological predecessor, if not the direct form. The Longwinter Association is an affiliation of local, small-time hedgewitches and hedgewizards. The Association is defined more by its cooperative spirit than its power, as most strongly exemplified by the practice of spellbook sharing between Association branches. Spells explicitly designed to hurt or kill others are almost universally banned by the Association's leadership. Most members of the Association view spellcasting as a hobby or a part-time job, something to fill the time during the long winters, as the name suggests.

Ocronota

Palekislev's premier military magical academy, The Ocronota produces not only abjurers and war wizards but also tacticians and commanders, all instrumental in turning away the ever-present twin threats to the Valelands. Military commanders are always required to garrison the forts on the border with Skeigolth as, every five years or so, a new goblinoid horde bears down on the Valelands from the cold swamps to the east. More subtly, but no less power, is required in the north of the Valelands as hostile fey from Geduldigerwald seep into Palekislev. The chaos and curses they bring with them require constant remediation.

The Ocronota is a fundamentally military institution and recruits only soldiers who display either innate magic or a keen, flexible intellect. While the acceptance criteria is supposedly solely merit-based, the increased visibility and opportunity afforded to noble scions mean they disproportionally compose the student body. The Ocronota's central campus is located at Princehold in Dzeiska. All students spend two to four years there before being transferred to smaller, more specialized institutions around the Valelands.

Rosewater League

The Rosewater League is the term given to several roughly similar institutions of higher arcane learning that dot the various nations of the Mirror Marches. The Rosewater League has a reputation for pretention and elitism that is largely deserved. Attendance to a Rosewater college is barred both behind arcane aptitude and monetary contribution, a combination few aside from old wizarding families can achieve. Still, lowborn individuals with either exceptional talent or community backing have been known to win attendance, although their reception by their peers is usually quite frosty.

The Mirror Marches are steeped in magical tradition perhaps more than any other place on Tremia. Many of the schools which compose the Rosewater League have secret, or not-so-secret, societies dedicated to reviving the glory and dominion of the Summoning Kingdoms of old. Or, if nothing else, to simply be the first among the League. Competition between schools is fierce, if often rather petty. The practice of Dueling was introduced in antiquity as a method of reducing lethal violence between the schools but has evolved into a major spectator sport in Therexia.
Professional Duelists can find themselves catapulted into the status of near nobility if they manage to win enough tournaments.

Micanismatos

Micanismatos is the word used for the study and creation of items combining enchantment and engineering in the native language of Therexia's Clockwork Coast, where this idea originated. Micanismatos has existed for a very, very long time as a subset of wizardry but, only in recent years, has it evolved into a distinct discipline, with world-changing results for the residents of the Coast. Micanismatos is the driving principle behind the Artificial Revolution which has remade nearly every aspect of life for Southern Therexia. Roads have been replaced with rail ways, dirigibles cross the skies and factories produce finished goods at a rate never before seen or considered.

This great change in Micanismatos is credited to an inventor named Theogracias Musica and their treatise "Principles of Formulaic Storage in Non-Sentient Materials." Principle, as the text would come to be called, vastly streamlined the process of the creation of magical items, especially those of minor power and temporary nature. Theogracias is hailed as the Parent of Modern Artificing.

Sessengras

A decidedly odd magical academy, Sessengras teaches an unusual blend of arcane and druidic magic. Sessengrasi teachings regard magic as another wholly natural force, similar to air or water which should be used with the same respect that other druids take with the natural world. Conversely, it is also taught that the natural world should be studied with the same zeal that other wizards use with the principles of magic.

Sessengras is a self-sufficient institution, almost a small city-state onto itself, using innovative magical methods to produce enough food to sustain its population. It is built upon a beautiful, sandy bay in north-eastern Lek with clear waters and coral reefs teeming with life. Despite the intensity of their doctrine, the laid-back, beach lifestyle of Sessengras is famous, or perhaps infamous, in much of Lek and has come to be synonymous with a waste of time.

Unattainable Way

The ancient Miffari civilization of the Golden Arch is one of the oldest, if not the oldest, civilization in Tremia. To the Miffari, those who pursue knowledge of magic "walk the unattainable way." The Miffari believe that magic is so vast and ever-changing that it cannot be understood, certainly not in a single mortal lifetime. The Miffari embrace the idea of mastery of magic not as a thing that can be achieved but as a goal that should be endlessly strived for.

Consequently, many Miffari spellcasters turn to necromancy to extend their ability to study magic and accrue knowledge into a lengthy unlife. Unlike most of the world, the Miffari hold little stigma against necromancy, especially when used on the self. Most sages of the Unattainable Way are themselves ghosts, liches or other forms of undead who may feed on students' life force in exchange for knowledge and power.

Windwhisper Academy

Located at the tip of the Maysden Peninsula in Transista, the Windwhisper Academy exists to provide diviners and weather mages for the trade conglomerates who run the shipping routes along the Sea of Sails. However, the Windwhisper Academy is not of the companies but rather exists to profit off of them. Many ranking members are becoming increasing dissatisfied with the rising costs of the services of Windwhisper-affiliated mages.

Becoming a Windwhisperer is a very lucrative and attractive idea for poor, talented individuals. Those with the proper aptitude may waive the entrance fee for a number of years of indentured servitude to the board of the institution during which they are placed aboard ships and their wages are garnished to pay back debt and interest.

CoatRackRanger · Jan 28, 2023

Beyond Tremia

For all its size and variety, Tremia is really little more than a single continent on a much larger world. That world too is just one among many floating in the vast, emptiness of space. Even space, and all things within it, exist wholly within one plane of existence that lies parallel to several others of equal or perhaps even greater size.

Although Tremia is the focus of this document, this section takes a moment to look beyond the Lazlet and Aquialic Oceans into the wider world beyond. When that is done, we leave Reality altogether and explore the other, stranger realms of Existence.

Reality

The term "Reality" refers to conventional space-time, a familiar continuum with recognizable laws of physics in which mortals are born, grow old and die. Tremia is part of Reality and Reality is where almost all stories told within it start. Although Reality is the core of Existence, it is mostly empty. As incomprehensibly vast as Reality is, most of it is devoid of matter, nothing but cold, airless void. Floating far, far apart from each other in this void are celestial bodies such as planets, usually spherical clumps of rock and gas upon which life occasionally flourishes. Other celestial bodies include asteroids, gas clouds and suns. Although the void between all this is empty, it is not free of life. Corrupt things from before creation are said to linger in the dark spaces between the stars.

The features of Reality immediately adjacent to Tremia are listed below:

Arashia, Barstov and Kelex: In addition to Tremia, Arashia, Barstov and Kelex are the continents which can be found on the planet of Serevas. Barstov and Kelex lie in close proximity to one another across the Aquialic Ocean from Tremia while Arashia is clear on the other side of the planet across the Lazlet.

Serevas: The planet that Tremia is located on. Serevas is the fifth planet in orbit around Castar. It features breathable atmosphere, liquid water, and a powerful magnetic field, all elements crucial to the support of living
creatures.

Havelmorn: The moon which orbits Serevas. Havelmorn is tidally-locked to Serevas, always showing the same face to the planet below. For as long as memory serves, people have gazed up at Havelmorn and wondered at the
geometric patterns scoring its surface, colloquially referred to as the "Rune on the Moon."

Castar: Usually simply refered to as "The Sun," Castar is the star which provides light to Serevas and several other planets in its immediate orbit. From Serevas, those other planets are visible only as particularly bright pinpoints of light in the night sky. Attempts have been made to visit or scry upon the other planets within the Castar System but have been met with dubious success at best and horrific disaster at worst.

The Tenebrous Deep: The Tenebrous Deep is the term commonly used to refer to a swathe of
starless sky visible during the night on Serevas. It is also generally used to refer to the dark spaces between the stars where Reality is thin and influences of Elsewhere may seep through.

The Mirror Worlds, Generally

As their name suggests, The Mirror Worlds are reflections of Reality. Collectively, they exist alongside Reality but separate from both it and each other, only reachable through powerful magic. The Mirror World are distinct from in regards to what parts of Reality they Reflect and how their Reflection distorts the source.

Most Mirror Worlds reflect places and events based on emotional reactions of sentient creatures who experience them. Usually, it takes a powerful emotion to create a Reflection but there is no methodology comprehensible to mortal minds to determine what will or not become Reflected. However, it is always true that the sentient experiencing the emotion that creates the Reflection will not be a part of it. Observing others, however, can Reflect them and when sentients are Reflected into The Mirror Worlds, it is as effigies, not as thinking, free-willed
beings.

Two kinds of creatures are native to The Mirror Worlds: Outsiders and Effigies. As mentioned above, Effigies are Reflections of sentient creatures. Usually an effigy is a simplistic interpretation of a being, existing to fulfil the function it was perceived as working towards at the time of Reflection. Effigies are more extensions of a Mirror World than creatures in-of-themselves.

Outsiders, conversely, are true scions of the Mirror Worlds. Supposedly arising spontaneously from the fabric of their Mirror World of origin, Outsiders are complex, often powerful, immortals who inhabit and rule over sections of The Mirror Worlds. While Outsiders pursue their own agendas, they are often known to make deals with mortals for their souls, granting power in life and certainty in death in exchange for service. Both good and evil Outsiders engage in this practice, although the good tend to be much pickier with the souls with whom they truck. The exact purpose for which Outsiders collect souls is not widely known, although many assume that the more souls an Outsider possesses, the greater its power. Certainly, when Outsiders fight amongst themselves or invade other Mirror Worlds, they seem to be doing battle at least partially to steal the souls possessed by their rivals.

The Gods do not live in the Mirror World but that does not mean it is a place without religion. Many visitors from Reality are surprised to find that Outsiders tend to be just as faithful to the Gods, if not more so, than mortals. Outsider religions often take on a less literal form than those found in Reality, with the immortals believing themselves to be servants drawing power from the personifications of fundamental concepts such as Good or Evil rather than the more structured, ritualistic faiths found within Reality. Yet some Outsiders adhere to the same Gods and follow the same religious practices found on Tremia and it is their voices that answer when a powerful cleric beseeches their deity for knowledge. It is contentiously debated in circles of religious scholarship whether religion originated in the Mirror Worlds and migrated to Reality or the other way around.

Not all Outsiders are religious. Far from it. Some Outsiders scoff at the idea of powers greater than themselves and consider the idea of life after death for mortals to be pure fantasy. These Outsiders often trade on mortals' fear of the great unknowable to become great and powerful collectors of soul bargains.

The Mirror Worlds, Specifically

Apogee

Apogee is an aggregate of places and events which inspire great joy in mortalkind. It appears as an idyllic paradise whose Reflections are organized according to some ineffable artistic sensibility. The landscapes often juxtaposes sweeping natural vistas with beautiful temples and cities to awe-inspiring effect. Even the clouds of Apogee's rosy skies may have sprawling palaces built atop them.

Outsiders from Apogee are referred to as Celestials, Archons or Angels. Angels tend strongly towards religious affiliations and often take it upon themselves to act as emissaries of divine justice in the Mirror Worlds and Reality. Angels are known to offer soul pacts to particularly righteous individuals towards the end of their lives so that they might continue to fight evil at the Outsider's side in the Mirror Worlds.

Axiomata

Axiomata reflects places and events which are the culmination of complex ideas or intricate laws. Axiomata appears as an endless city populated primarily by robotic simulacra. Since Therexia's Artificial Revolution, the city in Axiomata immediately accessible from Tremia has expanded exponentially.

Outsiders from Axiomata are referred to as Axioms or Inevitables. The Effigies of Axiomata supposedly engage in enormous, arcane calculations directed by the World's Outsiders. The purpose of these calculations is unknown but travelers to Axiomata must take great care to avoid disrupting them and incurring an Outsider's ire.

Dust

Dust reflects things lost, destroyed, or almost entirely forgotten and buries what it Reflection beneath an endless sea of grey grit. Eons of secrets lie beneath Dust's placid surface, although the World seems loathed to let loose any piece of itself unless the seeker leaves something of them in return.

Outsiders from Dust are referred to as Reapers, Shinigami or Psychopomps. Psychopomps tend not to interfere in the lives of mortals except, occasionally, to hunt those who have lived beyond the course of their natural lives. Psychopomps often assume masked guises or appear similar to carrion-feeding animals.

Primordia

Primordia reflects the perceptions of simple minds, especially animals. Appearing mostly as a vast wilderness, what artifice there is, is warped and incomprehensible, as a mouse might perceive human city. Primordia is a place of great beauty but relentless danger, as it draws its shape from minds forever possessed by the cycle of predator and prey.

Outsiders from Primordia are referred to as Faeries, Sprites or Fey. The Fey are the most mortal-like of all Outsiders, organizing themselves into seasonal courts with a hierarchy akin to the mortal concept of nobility. Whether this is emulation or mockery is a matter of great speculation.

Purity

Purity reflects great acts of nature without regard for the perceptions of mortals. It is a place of raw elemental motion, vast seas, mountains and forests, raging fires, quakes and storms. Purity seems actively hostile to mortal intrusion, interdimensional travelers often find themselves thrown off-course into inhospitable areas.

Outsiders from Purity are referred to as Elementals. Purity does not create Effigies, instead it spawns Outsiders in greater profusion and in a wider range of sapience than other Worlds. The greatest of the Elementals are called Genie. Genie have been known to have broad powers to reshape Existence itself.

Umbra

Umbra reflects places and events which inspire great fear or pain. It is a horrific hellscape organized in such a way as to maximize its gruesomeness and hostility. Rivers of darkness score Umbra's surface, separating an eternity of biomes of elemental suffering from one another, creating a patchwork of nightmares.

Outsiders from Umbra are referred to as Demons, Devils or Fiends. Fiends are considered to be the direct counterparts of Angels. Both have a strong religious tendency; however, Fiends seek to spread wickedness and
corruption within Reality by encouraging selfishness and cruelty within mortals.

Other Planes of Existence

While conventual knowledge only accepts Reality and the six Mirror Worlds, there are likely other things out there. Many of the places detailed below are merely hypothetical or very ill-understood, at the least.

The Dreaming: In the Garden of Dreamers in northern Vaakish, students learn to access a plane of shared dreams that seems to touch the unconscious of all dreaming beings. Those who become proficient in the magic taught at the Garden can materialize dreams and nightmares, their own or those of others, into physical space. Some hypothesize that this is merely an as-of-yet undiscovered Mirror World but others suspect it may be more than that or a different category of thing altogether that has not been discovered.

Immateria: Supposedly, Immateria is framework within which Reality and the Mirror Worlds are held. Some mages claim to have visited Immateria either with powerful magic or when translocation spells have gone awry. Others claim that it is the semi-physical space that ghosts and other incorporeal beings occupy which allows them to selectively interact with Reality.

Demi-Planes and Pocket Dimensions: The ability of mages to make spaces bigger on the inside than the out is relatively well documented, yet where exactly that larger space is located is up for debate. While conventional knowledge holds that it is simple a warping of the laws of Reality, others believe that pocket planes exist in a shared space of their own. If one were to figure out how to access it, who knows what immense riches one could find in the private, abandoned worlds of long-dead archmagi?

The Afterlife: The mostly commonly believed-in hypothetical plane of Existence is some form of Afterlife. Religions across Tremia often hold that there is a place where souls go to when the body that houses them dies, although few if any agree on what that place is. Despite the prevalence of this belief, there has never been any proof of an afterlife, one way or the other.

The Tower: The idea is a simple one. Somewhere out there, there is a Tower which contains something special and those who find it are rewarded. Simple at it is, the idea is a pervasive one. Variations on it can be found in almost every culture around Tremia. Popular folklore holds that perhaps The Tower is the home of the Gods or that those who enter may return their loved ones from the dead.

Elsewhere: It is said that there are places in Reality where its fabric runs thin and the laws of space and time can be stretched and warped. Most of these spaces are believed to be in the lightless void between stars and it is known that strange creatures call that region home. Yet some believe that it is not simply the twisting of Reality that spawns monsters but rather that they are beings that have slipped into our plane of Existence from somewhere else entirely: a dimension of corruption and madness simply referred to as Elsewhere.

Alternate Realities or Existences: Certain magical, religious and scientific theories postulate that there is more than one version of Reality or even more than one version of Existence. The most widespread of these theories is the Tarasid religious family whose central gods supposedly travelled to this version of Existence from several separate ones. Some theories of alternate timelines suggest that magic which predicts the future is, in fact, actually showing a glimpse of a highly similar alternate Reality where the events in question have already happened.

Nigerian Duck · Jan 28, 2023

Huh…I see. Well then, I'll start.

[X] Humanoid
[X] Unarmed Combat
[X] Honest
[X] Patient
[X] Focused
[X] Rufus Iverovich: The Peasant-Mage.

Some may call it boring, but I want to see the honest and unafraid laid bare. That's all.

sportoner · Jan 28, 2023

[X] Elder

[X] Control Magic

[X] Honest
[X] Jaded
[X] Kind

Black.Horus · Jan 28, 2023

Hmm... let's see.

[X] Elder
[X] Light Weapons
[X] Trickery
[X] Extroverted
[X] Proud
[X] Insecure

I think these combination would be pretty fun to play around with.

CoatRackRanger · Jan 29, 2023

Probably going to leave voting open for another 24 hours or so to see if I can drum up any more interest.

To those who have already responded, 1) thank you! 2) any preference on companions?

Black.Horus · Jan 29, 2023

Very well.

[X] Elder
[X] Light Weapons
[X] Trickery
[X] Extroverted
[X] Proud
[X] Insecure
-[x] Rufus Iverovich: The Peasant-Mage

Nigerian Duck · Jan 29, 2023

CoatRackRanger said:
To those who have already responded, 1) thank you! 2) any preference on companions?

Rufus for sure. He started from the bottom and now he's hRe, so you know he's a hard worker. And having someone who fulfills the role of 'Healer' on your team is invaluable, because man oh man do HP bars drop quick.

Bylba · Jan 29, 2023

[X] Goblinoid
[X] Trickery
[X] Social Skills
[X] Materialistic
[X] Extroverted
[X] Reckless
-[X] Rufus Iverovich: The Peasant-Mage

Do I understand correctly that this word "
Reckless" means that we can, in response to an insult, hit a person with his head on the table, even if he has a support group of 4 people?

Bylba · Jan 29, 2023

Let me try myself as an advertising manager and try to sell you the Reckless trait.

What kind of person would embark on an adventurous adventure to recover an ancient artifact? Only those who do not save their lives. Reckless.

What kind of person would have an affair with the daughter of the head of the Assassin's Guild? Reckless.

What kind of person will fight against the whole city/country/world, realizing that he cannot win, but despite this understanding, he continues to do so? Reckless.

Vote for Reckless - the main sponsor of the interesting and absurd stories of this world.

Eternal_0bserver · Jan 29, 2023

[X] Elder
[X] Hybrid
[X] Control Magic
[X] Unarmed Combat
[X] Honest
[X] Reckless
[X] Kind
[X] Aenen Urui: The Grifter

SeQuester · Jan 29, 2023

[X] Hybrid
[X] Trickery
[X] Light Weapons
[X] Lighthearted
[X] Manipulative
[X] Materialistic
[X] Puns
-[X] Rufus Iverovich: The Peasant-Mage

Bylba · Jan 29, 2023

I have read all the additional materials on this world and now I want to get the title of Professor.

CoatRackRanger · Jan 29, 2023

Bylba said:
Do I understand correctly that this word "Reckless" means that we can, in response to an insult, hit a person with his head on the table, even if he has a support group of 4 people?

Haha, that is a plausible, if extreme, interpretation of this character trait! I think you'd also need "Proud" and "Violent" to make that kind of reaction a regular one but it's certainly on the table!

Bylba said:
I have read all the additional materials on this world and now I want to get the title of Professor.

That warms my heart, Professor! Also, there's more to post today...

CoatRackRanger · Jan 29, 2023

A Closer Look at the Commonwealth of Orskeath

The story of Winter's Wings begins in the village of Hessen in the Commonwealth of Orskeath. As such, the Commonwealth and some of neighbors merit a closer look.

Orskeath is young as a political entity, but the folk of Tremia have lived in this part of the world for thousands of years. Up until a century ago, the area was simply considered unorganized territory broadly under the control of Fratigern. During that time, Orskeath was populated incredibly sparsely. At that time, civilization consisted of small logging communities or lone trappers in the southern forests, caribourne Hybrid clans roaming the Expanse and Tundra, and isolated Elder enclaves, usually halfling fisherfolk. Remnants of a much older civilization could then, and still can be now, found all across the territory but who or what had built them has faded from even the long memories of the Elder.

The reason for the birth of modern Orskeath, like much of the political landscape of Malgravia, can be laid at the feet of Augdunna Trygvisdottr, The Queen of Spears. During her brief life, Augdunna unified much of the Malgravian lands south of the Keening Range, naming it The Spearswood. However, her ambitions were brought to a sudden stop when she began to posture to move against the Aelvesh Dominion. With a single spell, Augdunna and all of her blood kin were slain. Riotous conflict between her generals erupted immediately and, on that day, the Spearswood became the Spearsgrave. The fighting continues to this day and what was once a unified empire is now a facture patchwork of squabbling nations, ravaged by a century of war.

Yet, from the ashes of the Spearswood, a new center for Malgravian civilization arose. Those fleeing conflicts in the Spearsgrave headed west to the unorganized territories of the Malgravian Wingtip. It is these settlers that would found the cities whose mutual defensive treaties form the basis of modern Orskeath. Most of these settlers were humans, however, the highly public assassination of line of Augdunna by an Elf enflamed anti-Elder sentiments in the the populace of the Spearsgrave, forcing many ancient enclaves to be abandoned. Although they by no means make up a majority, a larger-than-normal proportion of the folk living in Orskeath are Elder or half-Elder and individual Elder integrated into humanoid settlements is not terribly uncommon.

Malgravia is known across Tremia for its bounty of natural resources. Its vast forests and deep ore veins drive the industries of Therexia, from which high quality finished goods are exported around the known world. The greatest obstacle to life in Malgravia was the weather. Malgravia is largely within the arctic circle of Serevas and protrudes into an open lateral of the Aquialic Ocean. It is frequently lashed by storms and endures a long, bitter winter each year. The Wingtip, especially, is unprotected from the wrath of the elements. In fact, it serves as a shield for the lands further east, breaking the worst of the winds and snow. It is for this reason, mostly, that civilization flourished in the relatively milder climes of the Spearsgrave. However, man has supplanted nature as the greatest threat to life on the subcontinent. Generations of scorched-earth war in the Spearsgrave have the land scoured and the inhabitants decimated. So, despite harsh conditions, the Wingtip in general has become Malgravia's greatest region.

Fratigern and Conacht are the most prosperous and population nations of the new Wingtip. Fratigern's eastern coast has the only harbors within the Wingtip that do not freeze over in the winter and, as such, is the primary shipping vector for the Wingtip. Conacht is built upon the formerly untapped western edge of the Keening Range and dominates the production of metal and stone. Orskeath, while the largest of the polities of the Wingtip, is still something of a frontier. Its vast woods and sprawling tundra are home to exponentially more people than a century ago but are still mostly empty. Even its sovereign identity is in the most basic state. Orskeath has no centralized government. Each of the cities of the region are instead bound together by trade compacts and a treaty of mutual protection which states that they will provide support to each other against foreign aggressors.

If nothing else, know this, Orskeath is a dangerous, untamed land but one that burgeons with opportunity.

Below, you will find three maps that show the features of Orskeath and the surrounding nations in different ways. The first shows the major regions of Orskeath and names of the nations that surround it. The second shows the cities of Orskeath, its major roads, and the capitols of its three largest neighbors. The final map, perhaps the most interesting to adventurers, shows places of interested in and around Orskeath.

Regions in Orskeath

Orskean Tundra: A harsh, arctic scrubland. Miles of open, treeless terrain stretch towards the ice-strewn northern reaches of the Aquialic Ocean.

Sea of Seals: The Sea of Seals must have once had another name but the cheeky play on the much larger Sea of Sails is the one that has endured for long enough to become the only one anyone uses anymore. The Sea of Seals does, in fact, have a large population of freshwater seals.

Expanse of Ildenskyrr: Small groves interrupt this wide lowland tundra. The Expanse is the historic home of the Caribourne Hybrids which came to live in the area now called Orskeath some time after the fall of the druids that first inhabited the land.

The Chattering Coast: Battered by the full fury of the Aquialic Ocean, there are few reasons to live on the Chattering Coast. Frequent storms and perpetually freezing temperatures keep the land ill-populated. Even the hardy fishing villages that sprung up in the wake of the initial flight from the Spearsgrave are fading, with populations shrinking each year.

Mount Eirik: see below, in the Locations of Interest section.

Longshadow Basin: Surrounded on all sides by the high peaks of the Keening Range, the Rimewild Woodlands, and lonely Mount Eirik, the Longshadow Basin is a swath of cold, marshy lowlands, crossed by many rivers and dotted with countless small lakes.

Caribourne Bay: Quizically, the Caribourne Bay was never home to any of the Caribourne Hybrids that inhabit Orskeath. Their preferred terrain is the open tundra of the northern half of the Commonwealth. The Bay combines the boundless resources of the wild Aquialic and the relative peacefulness of a natural harbor. Most who leave the Chattering Coast but wish to continue an oceanic lifestyle settle in the villages that dot the Caribourne.

Rimewild Woodlands: Interchangeable called the Rimewild, Rimewoods, and the Woodlands, this section of Orskeath is rich in lumber, wildlife, and danger. Seemingly, it was the center of the ancient druids that lived in Orskeath and their works can still be found in the woods to this day. In addition, it is the home of a great deal of fey, elementals, magical beasts, and other dangers. Settlements have sprung up all around the rim of the Rimewild Woodlands but the only one that was founded at its heart has since been abandoned. The road that rings the Rimewilds (and heads into the Valkyrean Peninsula) is called the Valkyrean Byway.

Valkyrean Peninsula: This landmass which defines the southern edge of the Caribourne Bay is also the gateway into the Bay of Treste. When settlers first came to Orskeath before the mass migration after the fall of the Spearsgrave, it was usually in this area where they settled. Although most of the settlements here have become part of the Commonwealth, there is a lingering resentment simmering just under the surface.

Nearby Nations

Brume: The distant, cold land of Brume is covered almost entirely by glacial ice. Brume is considered by most to be uninhabitable. The people who inhabit Brume, generally, are very happy that most people think of it that way.

Witigaut: Like Brume, Witigaut is a harsh place even in the unforgiving landscape of the Malgravian Wingtip. However, it is not for this reason that it goes unpopulated. Those who settle in Witigaut have a habit of disappearing and leaving nary a trace.

Sigisvulta: Sigisvulta stands sentry at the border between the Malgravian Wingtip and the Verbrachterwald. With the expanding the civilization into the Wingtip, the lycanthropic clans of the hungry wood no longer needed to cross the Keening Range to prey and plunder. Sigisvulta exists as a bulwark between these foes and the Wingtip and receives generous contributions for its service.

Conacht: Concacht is the center of mineral wealth in the Wingtip. The mountains of the Keening Range drop off abruptly at their terminus in Conacht, meaning the nation is almost entirely composed of towering, frozen peaks. Dwarves driven from the Spearsgrave make up significant fraction of Conacht's people and many of its cities are subterranean, in the Dwarven style, despite being majority Humanoid.

Fratigern: Geography is both Fratigern's greatest enemy and greatest ally. On her eastern coast, Fratigern possesses a handful of deep water harbors that do not freeze over in the winter. With the ability to navigate the Bay of Treste year-round, they are the gateway through which the material wealth of the Wingtip flows into the wider world. However, this position and their border with the Spearsgrave makes them a constant target for territorial aggression, piracy, and sabotage.

Athalgard: Athalgard is the not of the Wingtip but is, in fact, the nearest nation of the Spearsgrave. Athalgard was once a naval powerhouse but now its coastline is littered with moldering, abandoned shipyards. Still, enough infrastructure remains that its nobility constantly seeks expansion into Fratigern, desperate to acquire any edge in the constant struggle against their own neighbors.

Cities in Orskeath

Scurspunt: Scurspunt is a tiny settlement nestled against the Sea of Seals, that is also far and away the biggest in the Expanse. It serves as a trading post for the scattered population of the Expanse and as a jumping-off point for those wishing to venture further north, for some gods-forsaken reason.

Bruut: Bruut is a fading place. Originally, it was settled by those refugees who fled as far as they could from the conflicts of the Spearsgrave, only stopping when they met with the Aquialic. As the original settlers and their immediately families age and pass, few see a reason to remain in this deeply inhospitable place.

Finnu: A very small village upon the northern extremity of the Caribourne Bay. Finnu is known for its nearby ruins, built by ancient druids. Finnu is home to a small but dedicated cadre of researchers hoping to unlock of magical heritage of Orskeath.

Lestabjorn: Built on the edge of the Rimewilds and the Expanse, Lestabjorn is the connection point between the two regions. Many Caribourne Hybrids live alongside the Humanoid and Elder settlers within Lestabjorn.

Gadasdt: Gadasdt is built in the shadow of Mount Eirik and is a very important location in both the Arravite religion and in the Longwinter Association. Supposedly, it was upon this mountain that the founder of the Longwinter Association taught himself magic and where he would return at the end of his life to be claimed by the Valkyrie Seldurr. Gadast is both the spiritual and magical center of Orskeath, containing both the headquarters of the Longwinter Association and the First Stave of Winter's End.

Darhollem: Darhollem has been transformed from a quiet fishing village into something the Wingtip has never seen before. In recent years, an expatriat from the Clockwork Coast has settled in Darhollem and begun a one-person Artificial Revolution within the town. Darhollem now boasts Malgravia's first factory, which primarily produces paint of a striking red pigment.

Kurczek: Also called The Iron City, Kurczek is the manufacturing hub of Orskeath. The city is built around a great promontory of rock and beside a swift-flowing river. In the shadow of the promontory, Kurczek overflows with smelters, foundries, and ironworks which take raw ores from Conacht and convert them into the nails, fastening, and other materials necessary to drive shipbuilding along the coast of Orskeath, especially Hessen. Kurczek is also home to a peculiar sect of Druids, called the Circle of Gilded Laurels. The Laurels are oddly cosmopolitan and have, in fact, become quite wealthy maintaining contracts with the city to purifying the land and water tainted by Kurczek's industry.

Ranauknessa: Ranauknessa is the Valkyrean Peninsula's chief settlement, which is not saying much. While most of Orskeath follows an unreformed Arravite tradition, Ranauknessa cleaves to the Arkyrian sect which dominates the Spearsgrave. Although its institutions claim not to be tied to the political implications that the faith has taken on in the Spearsgrave, the rest of Orskeath looks at Ranauknessa with suspicion and, in turn, Ranauknessa is not a place that outsiders easily find themselves welcome.

Truud: Charming little Truud is not much more than a stopping point on the Valkyrean Byway when heading between the cities of southern Orskeath. When in town, stop at the Meathorse Inn and Kennel to pick up one of their "world renowned" meathorse specials, you've never tasted anything quite like it!

Hessen: Hessen's shipyards are the finest in Orskeath. The fiercely independent town sits only a few miles from the border with Fratigern and prides itself on choosing self-reliance. Among Orskean cities, Hessen is second in size only to Kurczek. Nearby to the town is the Halfling settlement of Sweetwing Village, a quaint enclave that has inhabited the area thousands of years, and the two share close ties.

Locations of Interest

Bride-of-the-Treste: The ruins known as the Bride-of-the-Treste stand atop a promontory that overlooks the entrance to the Bay of Treste, from which they derive most of their name. The exact origins of the term "bride" are not remembered. Theories include a former haunting by a beautiful spirit or a precious statue that has since been looted from the complex.

Crag-at-Sea: Where the Valkyrean Byway passes near the Caribourne Bay on the road between Truud and Darhollem, there is a protrusion of rock that juts up from the surf. Three quarters of the way up its length, is a rough opening, three times as wide and as tall as a man. Those who look inside report seeing a cavern overflowing with some kind of odd growth. Those who venture in do not venture out.

Devil's Breath Spring: Queer hot springs in southern Witigaut. A nexus of elemental power of unknown origin. Brimming with wild magic, hostile elementals, and strange mineral formations. The flora and fauna of Devil's Breath Springs make for powerful reagents in the creation of potions and magical items.

Frozen City of Atsuluk: The inhuman city of Atsuluk lies mostly buried with Brume's Great Glacier. In particularly clear faces of the glacier, one can make out the arches and spire of Atsuluk although none know if the distortion of its architecture is a remnant of its inhuman creators or merely the warping of light through the ice.

Geirevor's Folly: The abandoned village now known as Geirevor's Folly lies deep in the Rimewild Woodlands and has been largely reclaimed by nature. All the roads leading in have long been obliviated by the cycle of seasons. The village is rumored to be the site of the murder of the Valkyrie Geirevor. If this is true, then weapons and armor of Apogean origin lie somewhere within the ruins.

The Granite Orrery: Standing at the far end of Orskeath, these ancient basalt monoliths are shrouded by constant storms. Supposedly, walking the correct path between the standing stones will allow one entrance into an otherworldly edifice of ancient and profound magic.

Icewatcher Ruins: These ruins on the shore of the Sea of Seals have been mostly eroded by time. All that remains is a featureless humanoid statue which rises to forty feet and stands with arms outstretched towards the inland sea. The site has become a nesting ground for the area's freshwater seal population.

Lost Arndraig: Arndraig was an ordinary village on The Chattering Coast until last summer when a freak snowstorm blanketed the town. When the weather cleared, all the inhabitants had disappeared. The cause of this event is still unknown.

Mount Eirick: Eirick Longwinter, an important Chosen in Orskean Arravite tradition and founder of the Longwinter Association, is supposed to have learned magic on the slopes of this mountain at the extreme edge of the Keening Range. Not only is the mountain a renowned holy site but the ancient ruins in its upper reaches supposedly hold treasures of a lost civilization that once flourished in Orskeath.

Njiskar's Fissure: Discovered by Gegol Njiskar, the Fissure is a relatively stable entrance to the Upper Vaults.

Painted Hill: The Painted Hill of the Ildenskyrr Expanse is a large mound in the otherwise relatively flat arctic scrubland. Taking its name from the extraordinary profusion of wildflowers in the area, the Painted Hill's beauty belies its danger. Wildlife in the area of the Painted Hill tends to become corrupted and savage, leading most travelers to give it a wide berth.

Pools of Seeming: These series of shallow lakes in the Rimewilds are dotted with crumbling architecture both on their shores and protruding from their surfaces. An ancient site of unknown purposes, the vestiges of obscure spellwork crackle in the area as eddies of wild magic. Those who have ventured into the area report that their reflections in the pools wear different clothing, have unfamiliar scars, and display other odd variations from themselves.

Sojourner Peak: Sojourner Peak has a long history as a proving ground for ambitious mountaineers across Malgravia. It has been a proving ground for explorers even before the rise of the modern Wingtip. The remote peak in Sigisvulta features treacherous terrain, inclement weather, and ancient ruins.

Titan's Stave: While no maps exist to the Titan's Stave, many who have become lost in the Rimewild Woodlands claim to have visited it. Rumor has it that the Titan's Stave draws to itself those who find themselves lost in the woods and tempts them with the soul-flaying power of the Blind Titans. Regardless, the Stave may, in truth, be no more than a folk tale.

CoatRackRanger · Jan 29, 2023

Voting for this stage will end in 6 hours.

Currently, our winning results are as followings:

Species: Elder
Skillset: Trickery, (1 of Unarmed Combat, Control Magic, or Light Weapons, chosen at random)
Personality: Kind, ???, ???
Companion Sidestory: Rufus Iverovich: The Peasant-Mage
Eliminated Companion Sidestory: (1 of Cinderella Oakgold or Ganymede Fritz, chosen randomly)

CoatRackRanger · Jan 30, 2023

Voting for Stage 1 is closed!
The winning votes are as follows:

Species: Elder
Skillset: Trickery, ???
Personality: Honest
Companion Sidestory: Rufus Iverovich: The Peasant-Mage

In Skillets, there was a three way tie for second and in Sidestories, there was a two-way tie for last. Given that, I'm going to roll to determine the selected and eliminated results respectively.

Skillset Roll-off
1. Control Magic
2. Light Weapons
3. Unarmed Combat

Companion Roll-off
1. Cinderella Oakgold
2. Ganymede Fritz

Edit: The dice have spoken!

Your character's skillset is Trickery and Light Weapons and Cinderella Oakgold is eliminated from the possible companion sidestories!

Winter's Wings: A Tremian Tale (Original ttrpg-Inspired Quest)

Vote off between tied classes or let rolls stand?

Vote off

Rolls stand

Welcome to Winter's Wings: A Tremian Tale!

Character Creation, Part I: Broad Concept

Species Selection

Skillset Selection

Personality Trait (1 of 3) Selection

Sidestory Selection

Solvaron​

Elven Mesmerist // Slayer​

Overview​

What sets Tremi apart?

A map of the regions of Tremia​

Malgravia​

Skeigolth​

Lek​

Therexia​

Transista​

Vaakish​

Azay​

The Song Islands​

Overview of Malgravia​

Tremian Religions​

Faith and Divine Magic in Tremia​

Arravite​

Attilogan​

Isigian​

Izgrokian​

Kaatifite​

Leken​

Mornos​

Sallasite​

Tarasid​

Tarczian​

Tzeket​

Yatlac​

Magic on Tremia​

Arkyrian Convents​

Chkaljj Tlan​

Dosenval​

Frogsmoth Institute​

Garden of Dreamers​

Gyur'Balkka​

High Heresy​

Calamatism​

Labyrinth Isle​

Longwinter Association​

Ocronota​

Rosewater League​

Micanismatos​

Sessengras​

Unattainable Way​

Windwhisper Academy​

Beyond Tremia​

Reality​

The Mirror Worlds, Generally​

The Mirror Worlds, Specifically​

Apogee​

Axiomata​

Dust​

Primordia​

Purity​

Umbra​

Other Planes of Existence​

(Unverified Bookworm)

Novice explorer

A Closer Look at the Commonwealth of Orskeath​