Please post all opinions and comments in the discussion thread here (http://www.thecbg.org/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?22207.last).
"Let us observe, children, through the eyes of the eagle. Focus, focus... focus... do we all see? Good... now let us swoop downward... good... and we home in on our continent of Do-Ze-Rahl - you see the storms locking us inward? We are in a permanent eye of the storm. That is, of course, due to the influence of the Netherheart on the weather... or so many would have you believe... now... see the mountain range of the Urda Nation, and to the East, the Vashaan Desert of the orcs... now, we move downwards toward the inner sea and the boiling island, around which are the Zamir Princes... and now, my children, breathe deeply... for today... we shall enter the Labyrinth on the wings of a bat..."
Do-Ze-Rahl, a continent locked in an ever-spinning storm. Known by travellers from afar as the Jaws of the Snake, it is shaped alike to a pair of pincers, nearly closed. On the inside of the Pincers is the Inner Sea, around which lie several nations, the most famous being Verda, to the East - often considered the heart of culture in Do-Ze-Rahl - the Urda Nation - eclipsing the Urda and Valdahi mountain chains - and the Debelzi Empire, which dominates most of the more southerly 'pincer'. To the east, beyond the two great mountain chains, lies the unconquerable Vashaan Desert, ancestral home of both orcs and dwarves. Then... beneath the ground...
A Labyrinth of unmeasurable size, magical and ever-shifting, twists through the ground below. Spawned from the acidic blood of the daemon Nether, it still holds his pulsing heart, the source of all magical power running through the world. Although due to its magical nature it often offers a faster route than above-ground transport, it is the home of the Aelves and Duerg, suspicious, paranoid, and sometimes hateful of the surface races. It also contains horrific monsters of a type never seen in the world above...
[spoiler=Races]There are five common player races in Do-Ze-Rahl - the Aelves, Duerg, Dwarves, Humans and Orcs. Aelves are a dark and secretive race of the underground, cast down into the Labyrinth as a final act of vengeance by the daemon Nether, as are Duerg. Dwarves are a stout and hardy people of the East, famous for quick tempers and quicker blades. Humans are generally found in the West, among the westernmost areas of the pincers. Orcs are also mainly found in the deserts, where they wander in their thousands.
More information can be found under the RACES post.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Classes]I would suggest use of the Warblade, Crusader, and Swordsage from Tome of Battle as the melee classes (instead of fighter, barbarian, monk and paladin) in a Do-Ze-Rahl game, but apart from that, I have created classes to replace the Sorcerer, Wizard and Cleric - namely the Sorceror and Divine Channel.
More information can be found under the CLASSES post.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Languages]
[table=Languages]
[tr][th]Name[/th][th]Alphabet[/th][th]Spoken By[/th][/tr]
[tr][td]Urda[/td][td]Urd[/td][td]Inhabitants of the Urda Nation[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Delbez[/td][td]Delbez[/td][td]Inhabitants of the Delbezi Empire[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Delbezja[/td][td]Delbez[/td][td]Inhabitants of the Delbezi Empire[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Athurdis[/td][td]Delbez[/td][td]Inhabitants of the Southern Pincer[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Verda-In[/td][td]None (Delbez when written)[/td][td]Inhabitants of the Vashaani Desert[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Ordava[/td][td]Orda[/td][td]Inhabitants of Verda[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Mulhor Ordava[/td][td]Orda[/td][td]Inhabitants of Muldor[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Xahin[/td][td]Xahi[/td][td]Most Aelf and Duerg tribes[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Bastardised Xahin[/td][td]Delbez[/td][td]Traders to and from the Labyrinth[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Onthi[/td][td]Xahin[/td][td]Inhabitants of the Boiling Isle[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Vass[/td][td]Vassi[/td][td]Daemons and their creations[/td][/tr]
[/table]
[/spoiler]
Races [spoiler=Aelves]
It is said that the Aelves and their allies the Duerg were the first races to resist the Daemon Nether, and the reason that the other races allied against the creature... and that with his dying breath he cast them down into the darkness together. Whether this is true or not, the Aelves believe it, and for hundreds of years they have held their heads high, keeping up the reputation and task their ancestors granted them. Now, however, they have a problem. Younger Aelves have become tired of the talk of their ancestors, and see the surface races as weak cowards who should have fought better. This, they say, is the reason why the Aelves are cast down - because they stood up for weaklings. Encountering them on a journey can be dangerous...
A normal male Aelf stands around six feet tall, with the females only slightly shorter. The species as a whole tends to have golden-yellow skin and albino eyes, although there are many different pigments. Their hair, too, tends to be shockingly white. Males over the age of twenty (culturally considered by most tribes the adult age for an Aelf) usually wear their hair in topknots, whilst females over the age of sixteen wear it long to show they are not yet partnered. When married, they (although this does of course change between tribes) tend to tie it back. The Aelves live in a tribal, mostly patriarchal society.
Stats* Medium size.
* Base Land Speed 30ft.
* Fleet of Foot: Aelves recieve the Run feat for free at first level.
* Darkvision: Aelves have Darkvision out to 60ft. Darkvision requires at least a little light - it will not penetrate magical darkness, for instance.
* +3 Racial Bonus on Climb, Jump and Spot checks.
* Automatic Weapon Proficiency with the dagger, spear, quarterstaff and scimitar.
* Light Sensitivity.
* +2 Racial Bonus on Hide and Move Silently checks.
* Automatic Languages: An Aelf may pick one of the following languages as his automatic language: Xahin, Bastardised Xahin, or Onthi.
* Bonus Languages: Those automatic languages he did not choose.
* Favoured Class: Ranger.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Duerg]Duerg are small but powerfully built. An average Duerg, although only around 4 feet tall, weighs as much as a human and is as strong as one too. Most Duerg are totally albino and bald all over, and are extremely muscly and well-built for their height.
In Labyrinth Cities, Duerg serve as guards, engineers, workers and farmers. They share the fate of the Aelves, but they have long got over it. They no longer care about the Daemon Nether, except using his blood as magic. They are naturally adept magicians as well as being strong, and to round it all off they have a reputation for being excellent bargainers... Duerg will buy ANYTHING. Of course, surfacers find magic intensely sinister... and Duerg suffer a certain stigma because of this.
Stats * +2 Wis, -2 Cha.
* Small Size.
* Base Land Speed 20ft.
* Powerful Build.
* Darkvision out to 60ft. Darkvision requires at least a little light - it will not penetrate magical darkness, for instance.
* +2 racial bonus on attack and damage rolls against Daemons and their creations.
* +3 racial bonus on craft, diplomacy and appraise checks.
* Light Sensitivity.
* Automatic Languages: Duerg can learn one of the following as their automatic language: Xahin, Bastardised Xahin, or Onthi.
* Bonus Languages: Those of the above not chosen.
* Favoured Class: Sorceror.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Dwarves]Originally hailing from the deserts and, to a lesser extent, the mountains of the East, the dwarves are now spread throughout the continent. An average dwarf from the Urda Nation and many of the more western nations is stocky, well built and wears several braids in his or her hair - a sign of adulthood in the Urdish Religion (a combination of older and younger practices from around the deserts and mountains). Dwarves from the desert tend not to follow this practice - most will be heavily tanned and wear strange clothes of their homeland.
At present, dwarfish society is made up of two main groups - the Misr (direct translation something like 'people', a word from the religious language of Urdish) being the dwarves converted to Urdish, and the Vadd (Old, Elder, Follower of the Old Ways in Verda-In) being the dwarves still living the old ways in the desert. Both are mainly friendly towards each other, but there are extremists on both sides.
Stats* +2 Con, -2 Dex.
* Medium Size.
* Base Land Speed 20ft.
* Stability.
* Automatic Weapon Proficiency with the Scimitar (Misr) or the Spear and Javelin (Vadd).
* +3 Racial Bonus on any Speak Language checks in a language in which the Dwarf is already proficient (has one rank in).
* Automatic Languages: A dwarf may choose any of the following as his automatic language: Delbez, Delbezja, Ordava, Mulhor Ordava, Athurdis, Bastardised Xahin, Urda, Verda-In.
* Bonus Languages: Any of the above not chosen.
* Favoured Class: Warblade.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Humans]Humans, as the single native race of the warm, fertile pincers for about two-hundred years (ever since the Aelves were cast down) have had it extremely well. Although beforehand they were mostly primitive and tribal, after the downfall of the Aelves they spread out quickly and formed new kingdoms across their homeland. The first nations skirmished and attacked one another for a long time up until Debelz, greatest of the human kings, built a city named for himself and built up an army so strong that they destroyed all enemies in their path. The Debelzi Empire is still expanding, bringing its strict laws and great benefits wherever it goes.
Culturally, humans are split into two main groups within the southern pincer and the empire - the Zhia and the Vardi. These two are religious groups within the Dhuz religion - and they hate one another. Most religious violence is suppressed within the empire, but outside, clashes are frequent. In the northern pincer, there are still tribes - urbanised tribes, admittedly, but tribes. These tribes fall under one of three major tribal alliances - Zodeeb, Vathta, or Mohaz. Each have their own language, and they all dislike one another. Although in most civilised areas the violence is low-level and uncommon, the hate always smoulders away, ready to burst into flames...
Stats * Medium Size.
* Base Land Speed 30ft.
* +1 feat at first level.
* +4 skill points at first level and one additional skill point at each additional level.
* Southern Pincer: +1 attack bonus against enemies of the Zhia faith (if Vardi) or the Vardi faith (if Zhia).
* Northern Pincer: +1 attack bonus against enemies of another tribe from your own (choose which you are at character creation).
* Automatic Languages (Northern Pincer): You gain one tribal language (Zodeeb, Vathta or Mohazi) automatically (which you learn corresponds to your tribe). You can also choose one of the following as a second automatic language: Mulhor Ordava, Ordava, Urda.
* Automatic Languages (Southern Pincer): You may choose two of the following to be your automatic languages: Delbez, Delbezja, Athurdis, Urd.
* Bonus Languages (Both): Any of the automatic languages for your pincer that you did not choose.
* Favoured Class: Any.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Orcs]Orcs are a strong and hardy people of the East. Wandering mountains and desert easily, they are solid, dependable and slow to anger.
A typical orc stands 8ft high, totally bald and with dark, tanned skin. Their eyes tend to be brown or green, although they have the same variation humans' do. They are heavily built, muscly and have slightly pointed ears. It is said that orcs can rip men in two. They are also totally carnivorous, seemingly having not yet caught up with the other human races. Of course, the killing of humans and dwarves is, at least among civilised orcs, unacceptable... just an old tradition...
The largest concentrations of orcs are in the Urda Nation and the Vashaan Desert, the latter being home to nearly 200,000,000 orcs. Unlike the dwarves, the orcs have not changed much in the transfer - they're still tribal and proud of it. Most follow the old beliefs even within the Urda nation, and those that don't are not considered different in any way.
Stats* +2 Strength, +2 Constitution, -2 Dexterity, -2 Charisma.
* Medium size.
* Base Land Speed 30ft.
* Powerful Build.
* +2 Racial Bonus on fortitude saves to avoid environmental effects.
* +2 Racial Bonus on survival checks.
* Automatic Languages: An orc may choose any one of the following as his automatic language: Verda-In, Urda, Urddish, Athurdis, Ordava.
* Bonus Languages: Any of the above not chosen.
* Favoured Class: Warblade.
[/spoiler]
Legends and Places of the World
Of The Daemon Nether
It is said that once, the world was naught but sea, and then the Creator God Debelz spoke. He spoke the night, the day, the earth and the plants and the animals. But one thing he did not mean to speak was hatred, but somehow it slipped out, and grew.
For a long time the world lived in peace. The land was great - but Hatred grew. It grew into a creature - the first of the Daemons, Nether - and learnt the foul acts of magic. Nether was the first sorceror and the first evil. In the ancient tongue of Zaphos, now long forgotten but for a few words in our modern tongue, 'Nether' means Hatred.
The Daemon Nether waged war upon the sentient races and all they had the potential to be. Fire grew in his heart and magic lashed down upon the world. But the races banded together and fought off the Daemon, cutting out his black heart. As Nether lay dying, they cast the newly-christened Netherheart into a great crack in the ground. But Nether had one last burst of magic in him, and with his last breath sent the Aelves and Duerg, his most hated opponents, into the rift. The Daemon's body burnt to ash, but his heart remained, and it pumped out blood, melting through the earth and forming a writhing, magical, ever-changing mass of tunnels called the Labyrinth (in which the Aelves and Duerg make their home). As the Daemon's body broke into ash, the land around crumbled and the other survivors of the battle watched in horror as a great section of the continent collapsed into the rising water, forming the Inner Sea. But around the earth-gash into which the Netherheart had been thrown, no water would go - though it was at the bottom of the sea, water stopped within a mile of the point and boiled instantly into steam, leaving a beach of salt across the space. This became the Boiling Isle.
-The Debelzi Empire's Creation Myth
Of The Labyrinth
After the Daemon Nether's death, his blood began to seep through the ground. It formed what is to this day a shifting, twisting, magical and ever-changing world of the underground. It is mostly hidden, and although filled with thousands of magical and valuable minerals, rocks and other such treasures, it has remained nearly inaccessible for two reasons.
First of all, the Labyrinth is topped with an enormous, thick crust of rock that, logically, cannot actually exist - but does. It is immensely hard to drill through, and although there are many small entrances to the Labyrinth, only two are publicised and easily locatable - the Greengate and Z'hanthi, the Boiling Isle. This crust has been romanticised as a scab formed by the Daemon Nether's congealing blood, and is named, even by nonbelievers, the Scab.
Secondly, the Labyrinth is intensely magical and filled with magical creatures. Nether's blood infests the walls, and the tunnels change daily if not held down by powerful rituals which come at great cost. As if that were not bad enough, the conditions are horribly unpredictable and can change in a day, pure water from a spring becoming impure for no apparent reason, or cavern walls suddenly becoming extremely hot or extremely cold. On top of this, the areas closer to the Netherheart spawn random, horrific creations that have no end, often living for only a few hours before dying. Woe to those they encounter before then. The only permanently stable sites are those that the entrances from the upper world enter into.
The Labyrinth has been estimated to be around four miles high - a physical impossibility, of course. However, nothing much else in the Labyrinth obeys the rules of physical possibility, so this is considered about correct. The other widely accepted theory is that the Labyrinth is totally infinite, which might also be true. It is generally agreed by all that the Netherheart is in the deepest bottom of the Labyrinth.
Of the Greengate
The Greengate is the largest entryway to the Labyrinth yet discovered - or built, is probably more correct. Named after the Green River which pours down into its bottomless depths, it began as a small, cave-size hole, but Aelfin and Duergi traders quickly discovered it and began digging, diverting the once great river down into the Labyrinth and turning its old passage into a road. Now, in this city-sized area of 'neutral' territory (neutral, that is, to the surface nations), a large trading colony has been built. It takes the form of what is, essentially, a cap over the large hole into the Labyrinth below - a sprawling mass of trading-houses, residences, inns, warehouses and everything else a city needs. Best, it is on the coast, allowing it easy access to many rich trading nations throughout the Inner Sea. Beneath the trading town - where only a few Aelves and Duerg live permanently - crawls down a huge ramp, spiralling around the fall of the huge, diverted river, past small but seemingly endless levels of houses and bazaars and what is the REAL city. In fact, the Greengate is possibly the only true great city of the Labyrinth races.
Of the Boiling Isle
The Boiling Island, as it has been named by some, is supposedly the area of sea far beneath which the Netherheart still pumps. Although not actually an island as such, it is instead an area of the inner sea in which water, as soon as it enters a rough, mile-radius circle, becomes steam instantly. The steam swiflty disperses back into the water around, so very little water is actually lost... but of course, the water around the Boiling Isle is nearly totally pure of salt.
Where does the salt go? It ends up forming a thick, crystalline sheet across the floor of the Boiling Isle, which slopes gradually inwards...
Here, at the heart of the circle, is the largest gateway to the Labyrinth yet discovered outside of the Greengate. A small town of Duerg and Aelves has been founded here, and features that many guests find amusing are the tall towers and complicated arrangements of hoists which are built next to the wall of water surrounding the island - what for? Their purpose is, in fact, to serve as piers and launching-ramps for ships.
In recent years, small waves of immigrating Aelves and Duerg have been setting out from the Boiling Isle across to the Empire to seek their fortunes - in return for which, miners and explorers have been setting out for this nigh-legendary destination. Of course, there are easier ways to reach the Labyrinth - but they are often hidden or mythical, apart from the Greengate (of course). The Greengate, however, is guarded well and jealously by the Aelves and Duerg there, and visitors are given strict guidelines and face severe punishments if they do not keep to them. In the Boiling Isle, they face no such difficulties.
Of the Great Storm
A few years after the Daemon Nether died, strange weather patterns began circling the continent. Great winds sprung up where none should have been, rains unlike any natural ones had ever been before fell nearly constantly. Over time, sailors were driven back towards their harbours... and eventually, the Great Storm encircled all. It certainly seems magical - the winds can shatter a boat in seconds, and appear seemingly from nowhere - a great wall of falling water, mist, steam and cloud. The inhabitants of the continent are, effectively, trapped.
Classes
There are two new classes in Do-Ze-Rahl - the Sorceror and Divine Channel. Whilst the sorceror is a powerful mage, his magical energy comes from the heart of the first and greatest evil - the Daemon Nether, and is thus corrupted and painful. The Divine Channel takes her power from the gods, be they beneficient or not, and is thus exempt from the pain, but she is weaker because of it.
[spoiler=The Sorceror]
HD: D6.
Class Skills: The Sorceror's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Profession (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex) and Weavecraft (Int).
Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int Modifier.
[class The Sorceror]
[levels=15]
[bab=wizard]
[will=good]
[special][1]Magesight, Aura[/1][13]Timeless Body[/13][/special]
[special=MP][1]8[/1][2]10[/2][3]12[/3][4]32[/4][5]40[/5][6]72[/6][7]84[/7][8]128[/8][9]148[/9][10]200[/10][11]220[/11][12]288[/12][13]312[/13][14]392[/14][15]440[/15][/special]
[special=Weaves Prepared][1]2[/1][2]4[/2][3]5[/3][4]7[/4][5]9[/5][6]10[/6][7]12[/7][8]14[/8][9]15[/9][10]17[/10][11]19[/11][12]20[/12][13]22[/13][14]24[/14][15]25[/15][/special]
[special=Max. Talent Level Known][1]1[/1][2]1[/2][3]2[/3][4]2[/4][5]2[/5][6]3[/6][7]3[/7][8]3[/8][9]4[/9][10]4[/10][11]4[/11][12]5[/12][13]5[/13][14]5[/14][15]6[/15][/special]
[special=Talents Known][1]2[/1][2]3[/2][3]4[/3][4]5[/4][5]6[/5][6]7[/6][7]8[/7][8]9[/8][9]10[/9][10]11[/10][11]12[/11][12]13[/12][13]14[/13][14]15[/14][15]16[/15][/special]
[/class]
Class Features: All the following are class features of the Sorceror.
Weapon and Armour Proficiencies: The Sorceror gains proficiency with the staff, the dagger and the longsword. He gains proficiency with light armour. He cannot wear armour with any iron component, as spellcasting becomes impossible for him.
Aura: From first level onwards, the Sorceror gains an aura of sickly power which varies as an aura of evil by level (see the Detect Evil spell description in the player's handbook). Normal characters may feel a slight feeling of repulsion towards a sorceror, but won't notice anything else, but other sorcerors and divine channels can see the aura automatically through their Magesight ability.
Pain in Power (Ex): Whenever she casts a weave, the Sorceror is wracked with pain. She takes 1 point of damage per talent level used in the weave unless she makes a will save against 15+the highest talent level used in the weave.
Magesight (Su): A Sorceror gains the ability to see magic at level 1. This manifests itself as a constant Detect Magic effect, as the DnD spell. A Sorceror may repress or activate this ability at will. She must concentrate to gain the greater effects of the spell, as if she had cast it herself.
Timeless Body (Ex): Using the flows of the Netherheart for long enough slows the process of aging greatly. A Sorceror reaching 13th level no longer takes physical aging penalties, and is essentially immortal for the purposes of a natural death (of age). She continues to accumulate mental bonuses because of age, but even if she reaches the maximum age for her race she does not die.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Divine Channel]
HD: D8.
Class Skills:
Skill points per level: 6 + Int Modifier.
[class=The Divine Channel]
[levels=15]
[bab=cleric]
[ref=good]
[will=good]
[special][1]Magesight, Divine Grace[/1][2]Lay on Hands[/2][15]Blessing[/13][/special]
[special=MP[1]8[/1][2]10[/2][3]12[/3][4]32[/4][5]40[/5][6]72[/6][7]84[/7][8]128[/8][9]148[/9][10]200[/10][11]220[/11][12]288[/12][13]312[/13][14]392[/14][15]440[/15][/special]
[special=Weaves Prepared][1]2[/1][2]3[/2][3]4[/3][4]5[/4][5]6[/5][6]7[/6][7]8[/7][8]10[/8][9]12[/9][10]14[/10][11]16[/11][12]18[/12][13]20[/13][14]22[/14][15]24[/15][/special]
[special=Max. Talent Level Known][1]1[/1][2]1[/2][3]2[/3][4]2[/4][5]2[/5][6]3[/6][7]3[/7][8]3[/8][9]4[/9][10]4[/10][11]4[/11][12]5[/12][13]5[/13][14]5[/14][15]6[/15][/special]
[special=Talents Known][1]2[/1][2]2[/2][3]3[/3][4]3[/4][5]4[/5][6]4[/6][7]5[/7][8]5[/8][9]6[/9][10]6[/10][11]7[/11][12]7[/12][13]8[/13][14]8[/14][15]9[/15][/special]
[/class]
Class Features
Weapon and Armour Proficiency: Divine Channels gain proficiency with all simple and martial weapons and no armour.
Magesight (Su): A Divine Channel gains the ability to see magic at level 1. This manifests itself as a constant Detect Magic effect, as the DnD spell. A Divine Channel may repress or activate this ability at will. He must concentrate to gain the greater effects of the spell, as if he had cast it herself. The Divine Channel can see a Sorceror's aura using this ability.
Divine Grace (Su): A Divine Channel gains half his wisdom bonus as a bonus to her AC.
Lay on Hands: A Divine Channel can heal a number of hit points per day equal to his class level x5. Using this ability requires a standard action and for the Divine Channel to touch his target. He may spread out these hit points through several or one target.
Blessing: Depending on a Divine Channel's god, he gains a special blessing at level 15. A Divine Channel of Debelzism gains a fly speed of 40ft as his belief in his god raises him from the very ground. A Channel of the Urdish Faith or of one of the desert religions gains the once-a-year supernatural ability to reincarnate instantly on death (as the reincarnation spell).[/spoiler]
Religions
[spoiler=Debelzism]The Inhabitants of the Debelzi Empire believe in the all-powerful Creator God Debelz. He is believed to have created the entire world and bestowed a series of prophets - beginning with Ishamayl and ending with Azzahad - with the mantle and powers of his Son on Earth. Ishamayl led a great migration of the Vuhuz - renamed by themselves the Debelzi - across the Terez Gap (the wide stretch of water between the ends of each pincer) and into the beautiful lands of the Southern Pincer, where he conquered the natives by Debelz' might and formed the Temple of Debelz. Azzahad, the last true prophet, formed the Debelzi Empire from the many conquered and tribute-paying nations and crowned himself emperor shortly before dying of old age. Vizih, the first real emperor, formed the Debelzi Empire into an actual empire rather than a conglomerate of small nations. Nowadays, the Temple of Delbez remains as the centre of Imperial life.
There are three main types of priests within Delbezism: Lay Priests, Vaaha and Sonyanti. Lay Priests are normal men (and some women) who are, to be crude, part-time priests. They assist with the running of the temple in exchange for a small fee, and most live outside the temple (although they are welcome to take lodging there). Most full priests spend time as Lay Priests before being fully ordained. Vaaha are male priests who live within the temple and are full members, spending all their time there, praying, healing, and selling small spells for a fee in the case of the Channelers. Vaaha must remain celibate. Sonyanti - literally meaning 'woman-blessed' - are female priestesses with the gift of divine channeling. Only females who can channel are accepted into the priesthood, those without the gift are turned away.
A normal service consists of giving meat or drink to Delbez, set in silver cups and on a silver platter. The silver is enchanted using Channeling to resist heat, and thus the lay people see it as a miracle when the food burns away and the silver is unharmed. Lay Priests chant in different languages and grant blessings using holy water on the hand whilst one or more Vaaha lead the service. Sonyanti stay within the temple and worship and pray, only being seen on holy festivals or by those so sick they require magical healing - a lucky few.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Urdish Faith]Urdism, or the Urdish Faith, is a complex religion which relies on the concept of four worlds, as one but separate. AÃ'¸Ø´h (Azuh, in Urdish 'Holy') is the gods' domain, InnÃ'¸Ø´ (Innuh, Urdish: We, us) is this world, VuÃ'¸Ø´h (Vuzuh, Urdish: Unawake, Asleep) is the world of the Travelling Dead and LuùÃ'¸Ø´a (Luaua, Urdish: Spirit, Soul) is the world of spirits and magical creatures.
First of all, all creatures have a potential in each world. Your shape might be different - for instance, in Innuh you might be a human, but in Azuh you will probably be a formless servant, in Luaua you might be a spirit and in Vuzuh you have no form at all, just a wisp of smoke or rippling air. As you die, your forms change - your human form might become an elephant or a tiger, and you will lose control of it, another personality taking over. You will then circle to the world of the Travelling Dead, where you will wander until your bad luck and bad deeds have been paid for in time. Eventually, your death on that world will come and you will be reincarnated as some form of spirit in Luaua. Finally, you will taste paradise on the realm of the gods. Then you return to Innuh... reincarnated as whatever your luck and deeds have gained. This process is called 'VÃ'¸Ø´nu' - pronounced Vaunu, and meaning something akin to reincarnation. All creatures and objects go through this process. The only way to achieve heaven permanently is to become a demigod - earn so much prestige and luck in life through good and holy deeds that you become permanently affixed in the realm of the gods, Azuh.
There are few priests in the Urdish religion - there are spiritual guides and holy men, but mostly the religion is conducted by the people themselves. Urdish (the language) originally began as a sparse collection of holy words with its own writing system only using letters not used in Urda, impossible to speak in constantly, but the works of many holy men and monks on the subject has reformed it into a beautiful, full language in which constant speech is easy and useful. Holy men, scribes and the educated elite use it as their language of choice. It uses three extra letters.
[table=letters]
[tr][th]Urdish[/th][td]ùÃ'¸Ø´[/td][td]Ã'¸Ø´[/td][td]ΰ[/td][/tr]
[tr][th]Debelzi[/th][td]Au, 'ow'[/td][td]zuh[/td][td]vhe, vay[/td][/tr]
[/table]
[/spoiler]
The Terez Gap and Dov'hura Gates
As the inner sea tapers toward the ends of the pincers and culiminates in the wide stretch of ocean known as the Terez Gap, a strange thing can be observed on the furthest points of the gateway to the open sea. Two huge stone towers, burnt and shattered at the tops but still standing, probe high into the mountain sky, and two huge, shattered moving walls lie scattered across the land between and in the sea below. These walls once hinged upward into the towers - believed to be a relic from the Za'had Empire or some other long-forgotten institution. Ruined fortifications lie all around. It has been found that Labyrinth entryways fill the bottoms of the towers, although many of them are clogged or open only into pits impossible to scale or descend. It is thought that the Daemon Nether's blood shattered the gates and collapsed the foundations.
DO-ZE-RAHL
(//../../e107_files/public/1165439144_112_FT22206_dozerahl_.jpg) (//../../e107_files/public/1165439144_112_FT22206_dozerahl.jpg)
The Urda Nation
The Urda Nation stretches across two huge mountain ranges and the beautiful, rich plateaus and plains in between. The area that it now covers was sparsely populated until the great dwarf migrations from the Vashaan Desert - a lot of orcs and dwarves stayed with their brethren in the mountains. However, even after the migrations the tiny tribal kingdoms were divided - warring on one another over matters of religion, land, or language. And then, the Shah (Prophet) Ovahad arrived.
Ovahad was an orc and an intelligent one, wise in the ways of the world. He and his followers composed the Nine Books of Urdd - the holy texts of the Urdish faith. He created the Hundred Urdish Words - starting a language in itself for use between holy men in secret. He was not a warmaker, but he did spread his words to most of the mountains and brought them all under one generic faith, converting hundreds of thousands. He died after naming his heir. The new Shah was similarly wise - Ojadi the Fair-Minded - but he was also militaristic. Within twenty years the Mountains of Urd had been renamed the Urda Nation, and he was head of it. Six Shahs later there is a dwarf on the High Seat, and a weak one at that. Most of the outer regions beyond the Viddis Valley do what they feel like and have their own local rulers. It can only be hoped that Shah Vahis' son is stronger than he is. The Urda Kingdom is a difficult place to live for humans, simply because of its height - Bazaar-U-Ijaaz-Liss, the Market of the Prophecy-Voice, is the lowest heavily-populated area in the mountains at only 3000 feet above sea level - the average living height is 6000-13000 feet above sea level, with the highest mountains reaching around 25000-29000 feet ASL.
The Viddis Valley is the site of the political capitol of the Urda Nation, but the religious and economic capitols are elsewhere. The first, the Tijai Cathedral, is an amazing stepped pyramid-temple built upon the heights of the 18000ft Reddarim Mountain. The second is beyond the Viddis Valley - as the valley slopes upward, it culminates in a wide plateau, flat as a seabed, surrounded by mountains and the source of several holy rivers. Here rests the wide and rich city of Velavez, Population 200,000 - a huge city indeed, and the largest in the nation. The plateau rests near to the furthest peaks of the mountains and is, if not directly on the route through the mountains to the Delbezi Empire, near enough. Through the closest mountain has been cut an enormous tunnel-gate sloping down to 3000ft above sea level and opening out onto the snowless slopes of the Vashaan Plains which swiftly in their own way open out into the Vashaan Desert.
[spoiler=Important Settlements]
Viddis: (pop. 50,000) Set in a lush and beautiful valley (by Urda standards), Viddis is the political capitol of the Urda Nation. The site of the Amar Palace, a wide and expensive building constructed by the vain Shah Hadd, Viddis is small and rarely-visited except by nobles and dignitaries. The current Shah spends most of his time here.
Tijai: (pop. 75,000) A highly-religious and monastic town, Tijai is sometimes called the 'second capitol' of the Urda Nation. Although its population is small for a town of its size, Tijai is rich and filled with constant waves of pilgrims. The town itself consists mostly of stairs and caves, with snow-packed streets at the higher levels. It is an impressive sight - rope bridges stretching across gaps 6,000 feet up from the valley below between streets and buildings carved directly into the mountainside. Farmers live in the low valleys, feeding the higher reaches. In the central mountain of Reddarim live most of the monks of the valley, meditating or humming and chanting constantly through the day in the well-heated caves. Tijai is famous for its hot springs, and in the monastery these are utilised for heating. The top of the mountain is carved exquisitely to form six stepped plazas, around which have been built pillars and balconies to form a beautiful, palace-like construction. The top plaza of the Moon is open to the stars and restricted to the monks only.
Velavez: (Pop. 200,000) 'The Gateway to the Empire' - Velavez is a merchant and trading city situated on the very edge of the mountains, within the Vela wall (mountains which separate the Vashaan plains from the Urda Nation. It's the one large and easy entryway into the Debelzi Empire and also the Urda Nation itself, and is a stopping-point for hundreds of migrants from Vashaan. A huge tunnel was cut through the rock of the Vela wall, ending on the Vashaan plains, allowing easy access for carts and other means of transport. Even for those rich enough, magical or air-travel is not an option - for the former, there are few magi powerful enough, and for the latter, airship pilots refuse to travel across the Urda Nation - the mountain peaks are much too high and the altitude sickness can be immense. The Velavez road crosses nearly half of the Urda Nation, heading towards Delbez.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Stats: Urda Sherpa]
Medium Humanoid (Orc)
HD: 1D8+3 (7HP)
Initiative: +3
Speed: 30 ft. (5 squares)
Armor Class: 11 (+1 Shield (Buckler)) Touch 10, Flat-Footed 11
Attack/Grapple: +1/+4
Space/Reach: 5ft/5ft
Attack: Spear +4 (1D8+3/x3)
Full Attack: Spear +4 (1D8+3/x3)
Special Abilities: -
Special Qualities: Powerful Build
Saves: Fort +5, Ref +0, Will +1
Abilities: Str 16, Dex 10, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 8
Skills: Climb +10, Jump +7, Survival +2
Feats: Skill Focus: Climb
Challenge Rating: 1/2
Possessions: 3D6 GP, Cold Weather Outfit, Spear, Buckler.
Fluent Languages: Urda
Special Abilities
Saves: An orc has a +2 racial bonus on saves against environmental effects.
Skills: An orc has a +2 racial bonus on survival checks.
Powerful Build: The physical stature of orcs lets them function in many ways as if they were one size category larger.
Whenever a orc is subject to a size modifier or special size modifier for an opposed check (such as during grapple checks, bull rush attempts, and trip attempts), the orc is treated as one size larger if doing so is advantageous to him.
A orc is also considered to be one size larger when determining whether a creatureâ,¬,,¢s special attacks based on size (such as improved grab or swallow whole) can affect him. A orc can use weapons designed for a creature one size larger without penalty. However, his space and reach remain those of a creature of his actual size. The benefits of this racial trait stack with the effects of powers, abilities, and spells that change the subjectâ,¬,,¢s size category.
[/spoiler]
The Debelzi Empire
Formed by religion, shaped by religion, and still to an extent ruled by religion, the Debelzi Empire was once an equivalent of the Urda Nation. However, it is much older, much richer, and much more powerful.
The story of the Debelzi Empire begins with the Prophet Ishamayl. He led the people of Debelz in a mass migration from Debelz-Jahal (Debelz' Temple) in the Northern Pincer and across the Terez Gap long after the war of the Netherheart. He formed a kingdom there, and his successor formed it into an empire through conquest. His successor truely formatted the empire, making it what it still is today.
The Empire is, in all ways, a melting pot of civilisation. A hundred different languages, a hundred different skin shades and examples of all the races of the world can be seen here. It has conquered so many lands that the original language has changed so much it is considered a different tongue - Delbezja, or New Godspeech. The original tongue, Delbezi, is still spoken by a large amount of people in the western areas and also in the outposts and reservations of Debelz-Jahal. The other language commonly spoken in the area is Athurdis, an unwritten speech which has borrowed many lendwords from Delbezi and adopted its alphabet, as well as words and grammar from the hundreds of languages native to the lands around. Most inhabitants of the empire speak one or the other, with translators readily available for hire. Other languages from all around the world can also be heard here, courtesy of the transport available in the form of airships and boats. Large craft of both kinds travel to everywhere in the world bearing and recieving goods, currency and people.
The Debelzi Empire covers most of the Southern Pincer and also holds a strong presence in Debelz-Jahal, a 'colony' which was the original homeland of the Debelzi people. The primitives who remain there are herded into reservation land or join the empire, whilst Debelzi forts, outposts and mines spring up all over the country supposedly separate from the empire.
The Vahaad Assassins and Guards are two supposedly mythical organisations within the Empire - both famed for officialy dressing in red, the first Njadha - Spies and Assassins - and the second the bodyguards of the Emperor. They are said to be fanatic warriors and capable of taking on six men at a time. Whether any of these facts are true or not is unknown.
Acting as the military arm of the empire are the Red Guards, named for their distinctive red tunics and capes. Vast and sprawling, they are known for their conscription rates and harsh training regime as much as for their military might.
[spoiler Important Settlements]
Muhmad: (Pop. 2,000,000) The largest city in the world, Muhmad is huge and sprawling, built within a beautiful, lush valley in the centre of the Empire. It replaced the old capitol, Vuhz, three-hundred years ago and has now completely taken over as religious and political centre of the kingdom. Emperor Vuhudd rules in splendour from his palace here, which resides in an artificial paradise, built upon a hill, fed via aqueduct by two rivers from outside the city. The very same rivers come all the way down from the Urda Mountains, and are one of the reasons that the Eastern Debelzi Empire is so fertile and muddy. The Great Temple of Debelz is here, its eight domed spires rising from the eastern end of the Palace's garden - larger, in fact, than the palace, and much more full. A majestic flight of stairs extends downward from the main end of the temple and sweeps into the Square of the Sunlit Mountains, where congregations await before entering the temple itself. Although the temple is connected to the Palace by underground and overground passageways (in fact, a great cellar extends beneath both of them) only high-up clergy are allowed to enter the Paradise and all but the highest are disallowed from entering the palace through the underground routes.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler Stats: Debelzi Translator]
Medium Humanoid (Human)
HD: 1D6+0 (3hp)
Initiative: +3
Speed: 30 ft. (5 squares)
Armor Class: 12 (+1 Dex, +1 Shield (Buckler)) Touch 11, Flat-Footed 11
Attack/Grapple: +0/+0
Space/Reach: 5ft/5ft
Attack: Quarterstaff +0 (1D6+0)
Full Attack: Quarterstaff -2/-2 (1D6+0/1D6+0)
Special Abilities: -
Special Qualities: -
Saves: Fort +0, Ref +0, Will +0
Abilities: Str 10, Dex 13, Con 10, Int 16, Wis 12, Cha 12
Skills: Speak Language (Bastardised Xahin) +12, Speak Language (Xahin) +7, Speak Language (Ordava) +7, Speak Language (Mulhor Ordava) +7, Speak Language (Verda-In) +12, Speak Language (Onthi) +7.
Feats: Linguist (+5 on SL checks with Bastardised Xahin), Linguist (+5 on SL checks with Verda-In)
Challenge Rating: 1/2
Possessions: Quarterstaff, Buckler, Traveller's Outfit, 2D6 GP.
Fluent Languages: Debelzi, Debelzja, Urda, Athurdis
This man is fluent in the common languages of the Empire and is well-versed in common conversational topics in the two most common immigrant and trading languages, Bastardised Xahin and Verda-In. He is also relatively skilled in other immigrant languages. He charges 1SP per hour.
[/spoiler]
Debelz-Jahal
The homeland and ancestral nation of the modern Debelzi people, those from this land are considered primitives by most of the empire (ironically, though, those among the empire who can trace their family tree back to the original pilgrimage away from here are held in high standing). Debelz-Jahal translates as something like Debelz' Temple, and the people here follow a more primitive version of Debelzism. However, in modern times the Debelzi Empire has been crossing the Terez Gap and reoccupying its homeland - those travelling there now will find it a very different location than they would have found twenty years ago. The Debelzi have 'granted' the natives large tracts of land, and taken the rest for themselves - large mines, woodcutting industries and outposts not officially affiliated with the empire have sprung up there. As there is no major political grouping or ruling system in Debelz-Jahal, the natives have shown little resistance to this fact. Other nations, however, are becoming uneasy, and it's possible that for the first time in hundreds of years the Empire might be challenged by another land.
An airship and shipping service have been set up connecting Azhur, a town on the Debelzi coast, and Vahr, the major 'unaffiliated' town in Debelz-Jahal. Small contingents of Debelzi troops have been posted in the area, and although nothing more than minor skirmishes with disillusioned natives have ever occurred in the nation there seem to be increasing numbers of Red Guards moving across the Terez Gap. There are many theories surrounding the subject, but the most likely one is that the Empire is moving to officially declare its ownership of the nation and make it part of their lands.
[spoiler=Major Organisations]
Vahisi Durnan: The Vahisi Durnan are a group of profiteering merchants with a vision for Debelz-Jahal - a vision which doesn't involve the Empire getting an official grip on the land's resources. The Vahisi want to dominate supplies of silver and adamantine, rare in the Empire but common in Debelz-Jahal, but if the Empire officially occupies the province they'll have freedom to close down all the mines, logging companies and other business enterprises in the area and take them over. They are wielding all their political and economic strength in a bid to prevent official control of the province - but it seems like their efforts are going to waste.
The Zahaddi: A loosely affiliated mercenary guild which grants training, supplies and lodging at lower costs to its members whilst viciously striking out at competitors, the Zahaddi are now mostly working for the Vahisi Durnan. Their role in the conflict between state and merchants is to act as assassins and grunts - they kill or maim officers, threaten soldiers, and carry out the dirty work. The Zahaddi's leader, Vohar al-Arrim, was recently threatened by the Red Guards officially that if he didn't leave the country he would be executed. He left, but all this has done to him is give him an opportunity to set up an illicit smuggling ring via airship which also carries messages and orders from him. He's also set up a branch in Inner Talanti, from which he runs the entire organisation. He has sadly had to shut down the Zahaddi's operations in the Empire - or at least make them more subtle.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Important Settlements]
Vahr: (Pop. 8,000) A small town on the Terez Gap, Vahr is many things - gate to the Temple, as it is sometimes known, for one. For another, it is of course the staging point for the military operations into Debelz-Jahal.
[/spoiler]
Talanti
Talanti was formed through war and riches equally. Gold is amazingly common in the eastern areas, but the Vidda tribes living here, as in Debelz-Jahal, did not develop any mining industry. After thousands of them left with the Debelzi or moved into the old Debelzi lands, the now overpopulated Northern Pincer poured into the Vidda lands. Those whose ancestors had occupied what was now the inner sea needed land, and found it here. They were skilled miners, and this frontier nation was lawless for a long time, unconquered despite four warlords' attempts to do so. Then the Talanti Horsemen, a huge Orc people once living in the Urda Mountains and now fleeing to search for lands of their own, arrived - and shattered the defences. Talanti was formed as a new nation. It became extremely rich and powerful, exporting gold and importing everything else... until the split. The last King of Talanti had two twin sons who hated one another absolutely - both wanted to be ruler. One, Vahtar, killed the other, Baelthazar, but then fell into a war with Baelthazar's wife, a cousin of the twins named Aerwha. Aerwha eventually took a large section of the north for herself and Vahtar took the south. They renamed the lands Inner and Outer Talanti, and remain so to this day.
The northern people will spit on the name of Vahtar, cursing him in their tongue, as the southerners will for Aerwha. Both put one anothers' people through a lot of suffering for what the people see as a petty family feud - but this seems all they CAN agree on. Both sides hate one another intensely, despite sharing the same religion - a mix of what seems like some Urda traditions and Debelzism.
Nowadays, the North is ruled by Queen Thindri, a direct line descendant from Aerwha, whilst the south is ruled by Prince Varaan, a merchant who won the kingdom in a fierce skirmish. The southerners hate Varaan nearly as much as they did the old king, but civil war has not yet begun - although it smoulders, and small-scale rebellions occur everywhere. Despite this, both nations still vie for the title of largest exporter of gold in the world, and although they surpass all others with ease, they can't seem to beat one another.
[spoiler=Major Organisations]
The Zahaddi: As in Debelz-Jahal, this group of mercenaries wields considerable influence in both halves of Talanti, especially in the South. The leader, Vohal al-Arrim, controls the organisation from Inner Talanti (where he also runs a profitable smuggling organisation via his own private fleet of airships). The Zahaddi fight for both rebels and crown indiscriminately - war is profitable, after all.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Important Settlements]
Adhal: (Pop. 300,000) The capitol of both Inner and Outer Talanti, Adhal is an infamous trouble spot, split down the middle by a wall for a long time. Few people are allowed through the wall, and the Two Palaces, once the Winter and Summer homes of the crown and now the homes of each ruler, stare at one another over the high parapet, patrolled by Zahaddi mercenaries from other nations alone, securely in the pay of each side equally. Occasionally attempts are made by stirred-up mobs to scale the wall, but these tend to end on the spearpoints of the Zahaddi.
[/spoiler]
Vunda
Vunda exports fruit - its largest produce next to rice - and rice - its largest produce. Vunda hasn't really changed very much since the end of the Netherwar so long ago. It still has its tribal beliefs and tribal culture, with the Zodeeb, Vathta and Mohaz still fighting one another and hating one another with prejudice. The one other thing it exports, of course, are mercenaries. Vundan warriors are famous for their skill with a spear and dagger, no matter what tribe they come from - they are deadly knife-fighters.
Vunda isn't really ruled - it's mostly split up into small unnamed territories controlled by princes, warlords or tribe leaders. A colossal merchant network keeps the tribes and princedoms connected, so that trade and communication can continue even during war - the Merchant Princedom, at the centre of Vunda, is often considered the capitol. However, Vundans may hate one another, but they hate invaders even more. Vunda is known to be extremely difficult to conquer - they even fought off the orcish Talanti people, who fled into what is now their nation.
Vunda isn't very up-to-date - they can make steel, and that's the cutting edge of their technology. They have one airship dock, in the merchant city of Alafar, and very few airships travel there unless carrying goods which Vundan merchants might be interested in.
[spoiler=Important Cities]
Alafar: (Pop. 105,000) A town to any other nation, Alafar is the largest city in Vunda. It mostly consists of storehouses, markets, merchants' houses and caravanserai. It makes up most of the Merchant Princedom. Battles are not permitted here.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Major Organisations]
The Zahaddi: The Zahaddi don't sell much here - they're here to buy. They recruit many high-quality mercenaries from Vunda, who they can then sell on as bodyguards and horsemen, or, of course, thugs.
The Merchants: Although not an official organisation, the merchants wield immense political and, indeed, economical power in Vunda. Merchants might hate one another, but if one of their number is spurned by a prince, that prince might find himself without goods or trade until he repents and apologises. Also, although there is no official hierarchy, merchants defer to more powerful, richer, or more intelligent merchants in many cases. This network has its heart in the city of Alafar, from which it controls banking, trade, and military power throughout the nation.
[/spoiler]
The Sword Marches
A long-contested nation, the Sword Marches used to be a colony of Muldor. Then the Talanti came. six-hundred thousand of them stayed here and set up their own lands here.
Of course, the Muldori weren't happy. As the rest of the Talanti Horde rode on, the Muldorians brought their large army back to bear. The result was a conflict that continued for several decades, on and off. Eventually the Sword Marches was partitioned by an immense frontier line built by the Muldori, giving the Talanti a small section of land whilst Muldor kept the rest. The Talanti still have a deep-rooted distrust and hatred of their neighbours, and small skirmishes occur frequently. Most recently, Drai To-Chen, an extremely agressive Talanti chief, has risen to the position of Warlord Ultimate. Much of the Talanti community fears another full-scale war and thus hundreds of refugees are beginning to migrate into the west - to Vunda and Talanti.
The great wall splitting the country might be an impressive, unscalable wall of rock in some places, but in others it's little more than hills and fences sparsely manned - it is likely that the Talanti could break through in some points and the Muldori troops wouldn't know until hours later - a reason for fear in the more competent of the Muldori upper ranks. Sadly, many of the Muldori chiefs hate one another, or are incompetent drunkards. Due to the lack of men in this section of the nation, the chiefs have been hiring mercenaries from the Dahalvh Gomph, a vicious group of veteran warriors from around the world. Attempts by the Dahalvh contemporaries, the Zahaddi, to enter the country are failing miserably. The high chief on the Muldori side is Atari Vohansson, a hasha-smoking noble completely incompetent at all things military.
There are very few large settlements on either side of the border.
[spoiler=Major Groups]
Dahalvh Gomph: This violent mercenary group have their own code of morality, sufficiently altered from everyone else's, of course. They will not kill women, unless the woman is armed, they will not kill children, they will not kill pregnant women at all. They do not betray their employers unless said employer is threatening the safety of the Dahalvh as a whole, and they look after their own. The leader of the group is named, enigmatically, Ahalza, which literally means 'old killer' or 'veteran'. They operate almost exclusively in the Sword Marches, Muldor and Verda, and have an ancient, unexplained rivalry with the Zahaddi.
Tribe Vishaad: A clan within the Sword March Talanti, Tribe Vashaad are powerful and famous. Drai To-Chen, a famously violent and patriotic orc, has risen to the mantle of Chief of both Vishaad and the Sword March Talanti as a whole.
[/spoiler]
Verda and Muldor
Once two separate nations, Verda and Muldor were forced to merge after a rebellion in both coincided with the Talanti Horde's arrival. The nations have always been friendly, and have a common history - originally they were both one land anyway. They split over land disputes, but fifty years later they had become as friendly as before. They were peaceful, and nearly as one on a peasant level - very few people saw themselves as of one land, but instead saw themselves as of both. Strange, then, that they remained distant.
The reason for the distance revealed itself, eventually. The royal families of both were horribly inbred (with one another) and hated one another. So, no matter what the peasants thought, the royal families held themselves distinct.
Then came the war. As the Talanti Horde poured out of the jungles of the Princes, a group of violent and patriotic young people saw this as their chance. They had the entirity of both royal families executed, from the oldest to the youngest. A bloody sacrifice, but necessary for the rebellion. As the Talanti left, a combined nation rose up, with the new city of Verda-Mul as its capitol. It had been struck badly by the war, but Lord Kush, the newly appointed leader, rebuilt the country and stabilised its treasury. In the past hundred years since the invasion, Verda and Muldor has only become stronger. Only the colony in the Sword Marches remains separate - it still thinks of itself as Muldori only. Its financing isn't great any more, partially due to this fact.
The nation is currently ruled by Lord Ddaddhi, a human as all the lords have been. It has a national flag - a white cloth with the horse's head of Muldor in the upper right hand corner and the lion of Verda in the lower left hand corner, split by a double line of red. It has a small population of orcs and dwarves, as well as a negligible group of Aelves and Duerg only usually seen at night.
[spoiler=Important Settlements]
Verda-Mul: (Population 800,000) A large city by all accounts, Verda-Mul is built across a wide lagoon. Huge platforms have been constructed on islands, atop which houses, markets and other buildings stand precariously, whilst boats travel swiftly through the network of tunnels and waterways beneath the city itself. Houses are actually built on bridges - although originally the platforms were supposed to be the only place to build, the beautifully made official bridges are now squeezed in between classic stone affairs with quickly-built slums constructed atop them. Of course, the waterways in the poorer districts smell awful... boats travel along them still, though - boating is a lucrative trade somewhere where reaching work every day would involve crossing through packed and often blocked roads across misty and smoky islands which look mostly alike to one another. The under-roads, as they are nicknamed, are a useful transport service for those willing to pay.
[/spoiler]
Zamir Princes
As Verda and Muldor teper away, you enter another nation - a nation of war and peace both. The Zamir Princes are a group of native orcs, humans and dwarves who carve out their territory from this band of jungle and marshes. This wide land is mostly rainforest - it recieves the same amount of heat that the Vashaan Desert does, but its sheltered position and many rivers have meant that instead of a desert, it has become a jungle of rivers, swamps, and of course trees.
Nobody is quite sure when the Zamir forests were first inhabited - it is thought that clans of orcs and dwarves from the Urda Mountains were driven down into the treeline by rivals and took this new land for their own. Whenever it happened, soon the clans began fighting one another. After what was, seemingly, a long war of stops and starts, the clans proclaimed a meeting they call 'Greymount'. Here they agreed on certain territories to be theirs, and although not all were happy, they were, for now, at peace. Although for a long while the self-proclaimed princes have been in a tenuous ceasefire, recently mountain and desert dwarves and orcs emigrating from their old homelands have stirred up old rivalries and the whole jungle is beginning to look distinctly dangerous again.
Due to the conditions in the heated rainforest, the Princes have remained mostly untouched by outside influences from other nations. However, Verda and Muldor and the Debelzi Empire in particular are always looking for new sources of income, and it seems only a matter of time before they turn towards the jungles...
[spoiler=Major Organisations]
The Varda-Miqa: A particularly violent Princeling family, the Varda-Miqa control a large section of Zamir. Led at present by Prince-Chief Agaadi Mtaad, they are extremely rich (by Zamir standards) and a large contender for absolute ruler of Zamir if war breaks out. They are mainly orcs, with a few dwarves.
The Adra-Miqa: Solemnly and heavily tattooed, the Adra-Miqa have mastered the art of the Killing Blow - to behead an enemy with a single blow of a sword. This is the most pure form of killing - to them, death must be swift and pure. They are an equal split between orcs and dwarves, with a few humans.
[/spoiler]
The Vashaan Desert
Vast and punishing, mystical and beautiful, the Vashaan Desert seems like a spartan heaven to many holy men who cross or come from the heights of the Urda Nation to wander in its expanses. However, it would appear that the desert's inhabitants don't think the same way. The desert is the largest area in the entire world, but it has the smallest, and most swiftly dwindling, population - sparse tribes of orc and dwarf nomads. A constant stream of migrating tribes and individual orcs and dwarves passes over the mountains into more civilised lands. The time of the tribe, they say, is over. The time of life in happier, less harsh climes, has begun.
Vashaan is hit by very little rainfall, and its name means 'empty' or 'dry' in Debelzja. Its few oases are near to its coastline, which is known for the large amounts of salt on the beaches. These are great stopping points for nomadic tribes and small villages spring up around many of them. Water is a valuable resource here, and dwarves and orcs train to live without it - they are slightly like camels in some respects. They favour camels and Zharrash, sand-lizards, as their mounts.
Monsters of Do-Ze-Rahl
Zharrash
Large Animal
HD: 3D8
Initiative: +3
Speed: 40ft (8 squares)
AC: 15 (+3 Dex, +2 Natural), Flat-Footed 12, Touch 13
Base Attack/Grapple: +2/+2
Attack: Bite +2 (1D6+0)
Full Attack: Bite +5 (1D6+0)
Space/Reach: 10ft/10ft
Special Attacks:
Special Qualities: Sunlight Sensitivity
Saves: +3, +6, +1
Abilities: Str 10, Dex 16, Con 12, Wis 10, Int 2, Cha 2.
Feats: Alertness, Weapon Finesse
Skills: Climb +7
Environment: Vashaan Desert
Organisation: Solitary, Pair
CR: 2
Advancement: 4-5HD (Large)
Level Adjustment: -
COMBAT
Sunlight Sensitivity: In areas of darkness, a Zharrash takes a -1 penalty to intelligence and a 10ft penalty to movement speed.
Skills: A Zharrash has a +1 racial bonus on Climb checks.
The Labyrinth
Formed from the boiling blood of the first daemon, the Labyrinth has no explanation - it is chaos incarnate, becoming unbearably hot or freezing cold, corrupting water and cleansing air in a moment. It is larger than the world it is supposed to be beneath, and rumours persist of the far-off land of Punt, and other islands, being accessible beyond the Great Storm if you travel through the Labyrinth. Its civilised inhabitants are few - nomadic Aelves and Duerg communicating in Xahin, are all that wanders this unpredictable corkscrew of magic without fear.
Of course, we do not mention the OTHER inhabitants of Xahin, which means in its namesake language 'Twisting'. The Daemons, spawned from the rock and water, fire and ice of the Labyrinth itself, are imbued with some little part of Nether's power. Although they may last only for a few hours, tortured bodies shifting constantly, their blood remains - and if collected before soaking back up into the suddenly-porous floors, it reaches a massive price on the market. Daemon blood is both a heavy hallucinogen and a potent spell component, and so is favoured by many people despite its rarity. It is known, however, to slowly kill off the drinker and destroy any magical ability they may have - but small colonies around the Greengate are known to have heavy addicts, once sorcerors, now completely incapable.
Aelves and Duerg are known to live in small tribes, sometimes family groups, in the darkness, and many of them make a living from daemon-hunting and, of course, the culling and capturing of other dangerous Labyrinth beasts.
Talents
[spoiler=Weaves]
Weaves
Weaves are the equivalents of spells. Weavecasters use weaves for good, bad, or any purpose at all, a Weavecaster is as capable of spontaneously combusting an enemy as she is drawing water from a well, all without touching. Weaves are made up of components, called 'Talents'. Talents are, in turn, split up into categories - damage, travel, improvement and object. Talents can be mixed together to form powerful, and dangerous, combinations. Read on!
Using Weaves
Below is a step by step guide to using weaves.
Step 1: Can you cast it?
Brutus the sorcerer is only level 1, and thus he has access to level 1 talents only. He has chosen to learn Fire and Water as his castable talents, and can cast those and none other.
Step 2: In the morning...
There are two ways of casting weaves: Spontaneously and with Preparation. The weave costs in the post below assume that you have prepared the weaves - that is, you have taken time in the morning (1 min/weave) to ready some magical patterns - as a Harpist may practice a few tunes to help him play them later on in the day. Using this method, your weaves will be prepared and ready to cast later on in the day (see Casting the Weave), and cost their normal amount of MP.
The amount of weaves you can prepare in a day depends on your class and level. When you prepare a weave, you must declare the Talents you are using (you can use more than one of the same category - for instance damage weaves, but it costs +1/talent level for every extra) and the augmentations you are applying (and to which talents, if applicable). Augmentations must be applied to all talents combined as a weave - that is, you pay double, and the effects are applied to all of them.
For example: Brutus, at level 5, decides that today, he's going to cast his self-styled Brutus' Icy Pyre. Therefore, he prepares a weave of two Talents - Water and Fire. They are both damage weaves, so this is perfectly all right. Damage Talents are, as default, touch attacks dealing 1D4 damage. Brutus doesn't like close combat, so he pays 2MP (1MP for each talent) to increase it to a ranged touch attack (30ft). He decides that this is enough, and prepares it. It will cost 5MP - 2 for the base weave, +2 for the augmentations, +1 because he has two talents there instead of one. He can now cast this for 5MP any time he wants today, as many times as he wants whilst he still has enough MP.
Alternatively...
You can cast Weaves spontaneously. This requires a standard action to create the potential for the weave inside your head - during this time, you must declare what talents and augmentations you're using. The Weave costs +2 MP/level of the talents involved. You can then cast it at any time within the next 24 hours - after that, the Weave fades slowly from your mind.
Example: Brutus finds himself trapped in a cell. All he has left today are a few utility weaves - being able to detect magic is nice, certainly, but not particularly useful to him in his prison. He quickly prepares a weave of water to swiftly rust the bars - Water is a level 1 weave, and thus it costs him 1MP for a base +2 MP for preparing it spontaneously. He also has to use 2MP to make the water real, allowing him to rust the bars. He touches them, and they collapse, allowing him to escape - for 5MP.
Step 3: Casting the Weave
So, let's say Brutus has prepared his Freezing Pyre spell this morning. All that remains for him to do is fling it - and fling it he does. Casting a weave is a move action that provokes Attacks of Opportunity, but you can't do it more than once in a round. Brutus could also have spontaneously created a spell and used it in the same round, if he had so wished.
Augmenting Weaves
Weaves can be augmented for extra mana points; that is, a basic fire weave, for extra cost, can have the same effect as a regular DnD fireball, a flame strike, or even a meteorite swarm. For instance, Brutus, at a higher level, comes up against a group of changelings. He wants to damage all of them in one strike, so he spontaneously readies a regular fire weave, but augments it as follows:
1. He spends 1 MP to increase the die used from a D4 to a D6.
2. He spends 1 MP to add an extra die of damage.
3. He spends 4 MP to make the spell affect a 3x3 area.
4. He adds +2 points for readying it spontaneously.
So, the spell does 2D6 +2 (because of fire) points of damage to everyone in a 3x3 radius, and costs 9MP!
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=A Simplified Version of the Above...]
How Weaves Work
So... a short version of the rules, perhaps?
Well, without the slightly confusing mass above, I present to you a summary.
Talents are parts of a weave. They are split up into three groups: Damage, Object, Improvement. Two or more of the same group can be combined into one weave.
Weaves are made of one or more Talents. They can be cast in one of two ways, and the more talents you use in a weave, the more it costs. They are cast as a move action (provoking attacks of opportunity), and are almost unlimited in their options. Unless you use certain feats, you can never cast more than one weave in a round.
Augmentations are effects applied to Weaves to improve them. There are two types: standard, and special. Standard augmentations can be applied to all talents of a category - Damage and Improvement have the most of these. Special augmentations are unique to different talents - or at least, can only be applied to certain talents. Although it varies from class to class, Weavecasters all have a limit to the amount of MP they can apply to an augmentation.
Spontaneously Cast Weaves cost +2 MP/talent level included within them. However, they can be created as a standard action, as an alternative to preparatory casting, and thus you can create and cast a weave in a single round with this method.
Weaves cast with Preparation cost the normal MP amounts, but take 1 min/talent level included within them to practice and ready. Once prepared, they can be cast spontaneously for the rest of the day - but they must be cast exactly as prepared, without any augmentations except those added during preparation. Of course, multiple variations on the same weave can be prepared.
Talent Levels are gained as you gain Weavecaster levels. Most classes gain access to either five or six different talent levels. These scale in power, and a talent costs 2x its level -1 in MP to cast in its most basic form. You can learn talents from more powerful talent levels as you gain more Weavecaster levels.
[/spoiler]
The Weaves
[spoiler=Talent List]
Level 1: Damage: Fire, Air, Water, Earth Improvement: Seeing Object: Creation (Minor).
Level 2: Improvement: Protect, Emotion, Light, Hide Object: Plants, Weather (Lesser).
Level 3: Damage: Acid, Poison Object: Shape (Lesser) Improvement: Metabolism, Farsight.
Level 4: Object: Weather, Magic, Mind (Lesser), Control.
Level 5: Improvement: Movement, Direction, Life Object: Objects.
Level 6: Damage: Force, Light (Greater) Improvement: Knowledge, Hatred Object: Communication.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Augmentations] These augmentations can be applied to any weave, although some of them may be useless for some weaves (such as increasing the dice size for a creation weave).
+ Dice Size: Increases the die size used by 1, for instance, D4 to D6. 2 points per die size.
+ Dice: Adds another dice roll of the chosen size. For instance, 1D4 to 2D4. 2 points per die added.
Shape: This augmentation changes the shape of the weave, for instance, from a cone to a cylinder. You can change shapes freely within the following groups:
Group 1: 15ft cone OR 10ft radius cylinder, 40ft high OR 30ft line OR 5, 10, or 15ft radius sphere.
Group 2: 30ft cone OR 20ft radius cylinder, 40ft high OR 60ft line OR 20 or 30ft radius sphere.
Group 3: 60ft cone OR 40ft radius cylinder, 40ft high OR 120ft line OR 40 or 80ft radius sphere.
You can change between groups for +4 MP/group number. You can't skip groups, meaning you have to first pay for group one and group two before group three, and to apply this augmentation to the weave it must first have had at least one range augmentation applied.
You can increase line length, cylinder radius and height, sphere radius and cone length by paying +2MP per 5ft.
Range: This increases the range of the weave from touch upwards. It costs 1 point to increase the range to short, 2 to increase it to medium, 3 to increase it to long and so on.
Split: With the basic use of this augmentation, you can hit two enemies, or two areas, with the same weave. This reduces the range of the weave by one category, and the areas or enemies must be within 30ft of one another. This costs 5 MP. For an extra 2 per 10ft, you can increase the maximum distance apart that the areas can be. You can also use the 'Range' augmentation to reincrease the range of a Split Weave, but it costs +1 extra per category increased to. The Split augmentation cannot be applied to touch weaves.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Level 1 Talents]
Fire
Type: Damage
Level: 1
Saving Throw: Reflex
Unaugmented, fire is a touch attack dealing 1D4 points of fire damage and costing 1 MP. Fire deals an extra +1 point of damage per die.
It has the following special augmentations:
Magical: Changes the 'heat' damage to fire damage, making it magical and able to bypass heat immunity. +3 MP.
True: Allows the weave to become true flames, igniting flammable objects. +1 MP.
Maintain: This can only be applied to a weave with both the Magical and True augmentations also applied. It allows the mage to maintain magical fire, even on non-flammable objects. This could work in many ways. A mage could coat a weapon with magical fire and maintain it using it to do extra damage, or he could keep burning a person after the flames should have gone out. Either way, it costs 1MP per 1D4 rounds of the flames continuing.
Object: Fire can be channeled into an object, heating it up. This has the same effect as a heat metal spell on that which is affected. +2 MP.
Water
Type: Damage
Level: 1
Saving Throw: Fortitude
Unaugmented, Water is a touch attack dealing 1D4 points of damage and costing one MP. Water deals an extra +1 point of damage per die. It has the following special augmentations:
Magical: Transforms the cold damage to water damage, allowing it to bypass cold immunity. +3 MP.
True: Allows the weave to become true water, quenching flames and soaking opponents. +1 MP.
Object: Water can be channeled into an object, cooling it and affecting various things. It has the effect of a chill metal spell on all objects that it enters, and as both chill metal and rusting grasp on all metal objects that it enters. +2 MP.
Air
Type: Damage
Level: 1
Saving Throw: Reflex
Unaugmented, air is a touch attack dealing 1D4 points of electricity damage. Air has a +2 bonus to attack rolls against opponents wearing metal armour.
It has the following special augmentations:
Magical: Transforms the electrical damage to air damage, allowing it to bypass electrical immunity. +3 MP.
True: Allows the weave to become true electricity, making opponents' hair stand on end and small objects float. This can have one of two effects:
1. If applied to an enemy, they take -1 to AB with metal throwing weapons.
2. If applied to a shield, weapon, or other object of your own, it grants +2 AC against metal throwing or ranged weapons (as they veer towards the object woven). Either way, +2 MP.
Maintain: This can only be applied to a weave with both the Magical and True augmentations applied. It allows the mage to maintain magical electricity, even on non-conducive objects. This could work in many ways. A mage could coat a weapon with magical electricity and maintain it using it to do extra damage, or he could keep harming a person after the electricity should have dissipated. Either way, it costs 1MP per 1D4 rounds of the electricity continuing.
Object: Air can be channeled into an object, causing electricity to discharge into the first person to touch it. The damage that the weave deals stays in the object for 1D6 rounds + any from the Maintain augmentation. Anyone touching the object during that time takes the damage stored within. +4 MP.
Earth
Type: Damage
Level: 1
Saving Throw: Fortitude
Unaugmented, earth is a touch attack dealing 1D4 sonic damage. Earth deals -1 points of damage per die, but deals double damage to crystalline objects and ignores hardness.
It has the following special augmentations:
Magical: Transforms the sonic damage to earth damage, allowing it to bypass sonic immunity. +3 MP.
True: Allows the weave to become true sonic damage, harming the ears. After 8 points of sonic damage within 3 rounds of one another, an enemy must take a DC10 + druid level fortitude save or be deafened for 10 rounds. +1 MP.
Maintain: This can only be applied to a weave with both the Magical and True augmentations also applied. It allows the mage to maintain magical sonic energy, even on non-crystalline objects. This could work in many ways. A mage could coat a weapon with sonic energy and maintain it, using it to do extra damage, or he could keep harming a person after the vibrations should have dissipated. Either way, it costs 1MP per 1D4 rounds of the sonic vibrations continuing.
Seeing
Type: Improvement
Level: 1
Saving Throw: ---
Unaugmented, Seeing allows you to see one material or creature type within 30ft. You can see all objects of this kind within a 30ft cone radiating from you that are not blocked to your sight - they glow with a golden light to your eyes, but you can't see through walls or other nontransparent objects to them. For instance, you could detect gold, steel, stone, dragons, outsiders, or plants. This costs 1MP/type detected and lasts for 1D4 rounds. You can use the standard augmentations to allow others within an area to use this effect.
Magic: This allows you to detect weaves or bound magic. This costs +2MP for either, or +4 MP to detect both. You can guess the average strength of a weave or binding from its glow - blazing is extremely powerful, whilst dim is weak. A weave that uses at least 10 MP more than your full total or a caster that is at least 5 levels above you immediately ends the weave and stuns you for 1D6 rounds.
Detection: This augmentation doesn't just make you see the objects, it allows you to detect them, meaning you can sense them through solid objects. For instance, you could sense water through 8ft of stone. This makes the weave a 5ft radius sphere around the user, which can be increased as normal by use of the shape augmentation. You cannot detect objects through steel or lead. +3 MP.
Creation, Minor
Type: Object
Level: 1
Saving Throw: ---
Minor Creation allows you to create lesser objects and materials by magic. You can use augmentations on it to increase the range (so you can create pots from far away, or drop a pound of iron onto somebody's head after creating it in midair) but not to increase size. Minor Creation can perform the following effects:
Create Substance: You can weave 1 pound of any substance into being that does not require special forging (i.e. steel requires binding of different metals together). The substance is extremely unstable, unless you pay +3MP to stabilise it. Unstable materials collapse into themselves after 1D10 rounds, however, they may be manipulated. You may, for instance, create 1 pound of iron and form it into a brooch by hand before stabilising it. You can create more of the substance by paying +2 MP per pound. This weave does not allow you to manipulate the substance via magic.
Shape Substance: You can shape 1 pound of clay, liquid metal or any other malleable substance in basic ways. You can't, for instance, form an intricate brooch, but you can make a brick or basic pot. You can shape +1 extra lb per +3 MP spent.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Level 2 Talents]
Protection
Type: Improvement
Level: 2
Saving Throw: ---
Unaugmented, Protection allows you to add a +1 deflection bonus to your AC for 1D4 rounds. This deflection bonus works against ranged and melee attacks (but not area attacks). It has the following special augmentations:
Shield Increase: You can improve the deflection bonus by +1. 4MP.
Time: You can increase the duration by 1D4 rounds. 2MP.
Emotion
Type: Improvement
Level: 2
Saving Throw: Will
Unaugmented, Emotion allows you to calm or anger, upset or terrify a single being as a touch attack. It has four main functions:
Calm: This function of Emotion allows you to remove any other emotional effect - raged, feared, shaken - from a willing target. An unwilling target is entitled to a will save and gains a +2 bonus on the roll.
Rage: This function of Emotion puts somebody into a rage so great that they gain the effects of a barbarian's rage (1st level). After the rage they are fatigued, and cannot rage again during the encounter. An unwilling target is entitled to a will save and gains a +2 bonus on the roll. The rage lasts for 1D4 rounds.
Upset: This function of Emotion puts somebody into a state of such upset that they are Shaken for 1D4 rounds.
Terrify: This function of emotion puts somebody into a state of terror, and they are feared for 1D4 rounds. For an extra 4MP, the victim is petrified for the duration.
All functions possess the following special augmentations:
Time: You can increase the duration of an effect by 1D4 rounds. +2MP.
Light, Lesser
Type: Improvement
Level: 2
Saving Throw: --
Unaugmented, Lesser Light allows you to make an object, a person, or a small sphere above your hand glow with light. You can choose bright or low light, and change the density each round. The light does no damage unless it is used against a creature with light sensitivity or another light-based quality. You can cause yourself or an inanimate object or friendly creature to glow with light, or an unfriendly creature if you hit on a touch attack. The light lasts for 1D4 rounds. Lesser Light has the following special augmentations:
Flash: This allows you to forgo the 1D4 rounds of constant light for a single blinding flash. This stuns anyone within 30ft who does not succeed on a fortitude save, and acts as bright light for the purposes of light-sensitive creatures. The effect lasts 1D4 rounds. +3MP.
Time: You can increase the duration of the effect by 1D4 rounds. +2MP.
Hide
Type: Improvement
Level: 2
Saving Throw: --
Unaugmented, Hide increases your hide skill by +1 for 1D4 rounds.
Bonus: You can increase the bonus granted by +1. +1MP.
Time: You can increase the duration of the effect by 1D4 rounds. +2MP.
Plant (Lesser)
Type: Object
Level: 2
Saving Throw: --
Unaugmented, Lesser Plant allows you to either grow, control or shrink unintelligent plants for 1D4 rounds.
Grow: This allows you to make plants undergo a period of extremely fast growth, forming a barrier of plant matter five feet high and ten feet long. You can increase the width or height by 5ft for +2MP a foot. The barrier is impassable on foot and must be hacked down. It has the normal hardness and HP for a plant of its type.
Shrink: This allows you to shrink plants to an easily passable floor covering. Poisonous thorns etc still have the same effect, but you can walk across the plant matter as if it was flat terrain. This only affects the height of the plants, not the width. You can pay an extra +2MP each time to reduce the area by one 5ft x 5ft square.
Control: This allows you to take control of vines or thorns for 1D4 rounds, allowing you to command them. You can tie knots in vines as if they were ropes using the Use Rope skill, gaining a +2 bonus on the check (the knot stays tied even after the duration has expired). You can also cause vines to entangle the feet of a victim, giving the same effect as a 'web' spell, although the vines can be broken and loosen at the end of the duration. Finally, you can cause a single branch of a tree to rot and fall off, costing +1MP per extra branch. These branches make perfect firewood.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Level 3 Talents]Coming soon![/spoiler]
[spoiler=Level 4 Talents]Coming soon![/spoiler]
[spoiler=Level 5 Talents]Coming soon![/spoiler]
[spoiler=Level 6 Talents]Coming soon![/spoiler]
Items Pure Magecrystals Pure Magecrystals are a rare form of jewel found in the upper reaches of the Labyrinth, supposedly crystalised and ancient Daemon blood. They come in nine levels, and hold 10MP per level. A sorceror can draw upon a magecrystal partially or fully to fuel a weave, allowing him to avoid being harmed during the casting and avoiding MP loss.
Once gone, the Mana Points cannot be replenished except by a sorceror feeding raw magical energy into the gem. The gem can never hold more than the amount of MP it held originally. Feeding more magical energy into the gem costs twice as many mana points as actually ends up in the gem - for instance, a sorceror attempting to feed five MP into a magecrystal would actually pay out 10. It deals 1 point of nonlethal damage per MP that the sorceror loses.
A Magecrystal costs 1000GP per level.
Elemental MagecrystalsMuch more common than their pure counterparts, Elemental Magecrystals work identically apart from the fact that they can only be used to fuel the type of weave they are attuned to - fire, water, air or earth.
Elemental Magecrystals cost 250GP per level, and must be attuned to either fire, earth, water or air.
Belief BandAlthough the existence of higher beings is debatable, the power of belief certainly isn't. Belief Bands focus this power, and act as a Magecrystal equivalent for Divine Channels. Belief bands usually look like some form of tiara, crown, or band of metal, generally marked with a religion's symbol. A high or superior quality headband, bracelet or phylactery of some sort, made of gold or adamantine, is required for all levels of Belief Band. It must be blessed by a Divine Channel of that religion, and have an amount of diamonds or other equally valuable jewels equal to the desired level (one to nine) broken over it. Finally, the magical energy must be stored within it. As an Arcane Jewel, Belief Bands waste half of the Mana Points fed into them, but feeding a Belief Band does not harm the Channel in any way.
Belief Bands cost 1000GP per level.
Prayer BandThe divine equivalent of an Elemental Magecrystal, Prayer Bands are identical to Belief Bands except for that they are attuned to one first level Talent (any, not just an element). Prayer bands do not require the diamond component, and so are quite a bit cheaper, but they are essentially conduits for one aspect of a deity's power.
Prayer Bands cost 750GP per level.
Whirring Sixblade| Name | Cost | Dmg (S) | Dmg (M) | Crit | Range Increment | Weight | Type |
| Sixblade | 100GP | 1D6 | 1D8 | 19-20 x2 | - | 6lb | Slashing |
The Whirring Sixblade is a dangerous tool for both user and opponent, and requires intense training before it can be used. Developed in the Labyrinth, it essentially appears as a long chain ending in a pair of spinning disks. Attached in between these two disks are a set of long, wicked blades, spaced evenly around the wheel. When using the weapon, the chain is spun around the wielder's body, lashing in at angles impossible with any other weapon. A skilled user can change the Sixblade's direction with a flick of the wrist, or make the blades spin with a single well placed swing. A user with the feat Weapon Focus: Sixblade can make one extra attack with it per round at his full base attack bonus.
Artifacts
Do'Enkid's Armour
Do'Enkid was an Aelfin warrior, one of the first to fight the Daemon Nether, but he was not one of the party who eventually slew him. Although Do'Enkid was the most adept of his kind, alone he could not defeat the Evil - embedding his blade deep into the Daemon's chest, he found its foul blood locking him in a deadly embrace. As Do'Enkid's life energy slipped slowly away, his armour was coated in the disgusting liquid, which soon crystallised. Do'Enkid was gone, but his empty, emerald-shining armour remained deep in the labyrinth, holding a broken sword dripping with now-crystallised blood.
Do'Enkid's armour gives an AC bonus of +8, can be worn by mages, and has a -2 Dex and Skill Check penalty. It acts as a Magecrystal, but it holds 5000 Mana Points. However, as the direct blood of the Daemon Nether, it not only harms the user as normal, but doubles the damage taken from Weaving. The armour also grants DR 10/Magic.
Feats
[spoiler=Expert Linguist]
Expert Linguist
General Feat
Prerequisites:
At least one rank in any Speak Language skill.
Benefit:
This feat grants you a +5 bonus on all Speak Language checks, and you count as Trained in all language skills.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Linguist]
Linguist
General Feat
Benefit:
This feat grants you a +10 bonus on Speak Language checks with a language of your choice. If you have no ranks in the chosen language, you are still treated as Trained for the purposes of that language.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Overchannel]
Overchannel
Casting Feat
Prerequisites: Knowledge (Arcana) 4 ranks, at least one level in a casting class.
Benefit: You can overchannel yourself once per day. You can take Constitution Drain to gain MP, with an exchange rate of 5MP per Constitution Point. You can exchange as many constitution points as you wish, but it must be all at the same time.[/spoiler]
Skills
[spoiler=Speak Language]
In Do-Ze-Rahl, you gain full proficiency with only a few languages - those you gain through your race and intelligence bonus. For these, you automatically understand the language - passing all speak language checks required of you. You can also use the Speak Language skill to gain extra languages - but Speak Language does have DCs, and you need ranks for decent proficiency.
Speak Language (Int, Trained Only)
Like the Knowledge, Craft and Profession skills, Speak Language encompasses several different 'semiskills', in this case different languages. You can gain as many ranks as you want in any language. Example scenarios and DCs are below.
[table Scenarios and DCs]
[tr][th]Scenario[/th][th]DC [/th][/tr]
[tr][td]Understand/speak a few words[/td][td]12[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Understand/Speak Sentence[/td][td] 15 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Understand Native Sentence[/td][td] 18 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Understand/Hold Conversation[/td] [td]26[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Understand Native Conversation [/td] [td]28[/td][/tr]
[/table]
[/spoiler]
Labyrinth Culture
[spoiler=Aelfs]
The Aelfin have many odd quirks in their culture - having few centralised points in which to mingle, they have split into many thousands of tribes with little contact. There is no Aelfin society, as a whole. There are some traits, however, that they all share.
The Order of the Blackened Blood
The Order of the Blackened Blood have a terrible and horrific history, although they can hardly be called an Order any more - there is a different Sect for each tribe, and due to the lack of cohesiveness within the Aelves, things are done differently among different groups. There is no longer a High Archmage of the Order, the last one dying shortly after the Aelves were cast into the Labyrinth.
The Order began as a group of Aelves dedicated to destroying the Daemon Nether. They fought with his creatures in every concievable place, but he always eluded them. Then some of them found that they had the Gift... the Gift of Talent. They could transport themselves and their warriors through gateways in the air, rip holes in the ranks of the Daemons with a word... but the magic began to consume them.
Slowly, the warriors were disbanded - one by one they either left by choice or were forced out through mind-twisting Weaves. The newly named Order of the Blood became determined to destroy the Daemon once and for all, through his own powers. They came to face him, finally, on the Fields of Dahran, among the party that would slay the creature - but they fell. All their powers were useless, ripped out of them as if the Daemon was drinking his own lifeblood from the air. Only one survived, and he swore as he lay dying that he would ensure Weaving was never used again...
He was the Last Archmage of the Order. Although he refounded it in the Lost Age, as many Aelfmages no longer wished for their powers, his task was ultimately futile. The Order lives on now - made up totally of mages who refuse to use their powers unless forced to in the most dire of circumstances. Of course, the rules for each Sect are different - some will use it to heal and protect, others only to protect themselves, some never at all.
Most sects are restricted to Aelves only.
Daemon Hunters
An infamous and famous part of Aelf culture are the Daemon Hunters. Although they are not exactly of one group - indeed, each group, even each individual, often chooses a different name - they are stereotyped as a whole as macho, tall, muscly and heavily armed Aelves with an arrogant attitude that comes from slaying the most infamous beasts in the whole of the Surface and Labyrinthine worlds. This is usually not true - in fact, most daemon hunters are Duerg. However, the arrogance and heavily armed parts tend to be correct - you don't fight daemons without at least three extra weapons.
Ancestor Reverence
A practice which is now dying out among the Aelves is that of ancestor reverence. Older Aelves are no longer interested in the surface races, but they do believe that their own actions on the surface were extremely important, and worthy of extreme admiration bordering on a kind of worship. Aelves attempt to be like those ancestors if they can, and this is probably part of their drive to destroy daemons. They believe their role is one of protection and defence, that they are the first and last line of defence against the darkness of Daemonkind. Younger Aelves are beginning to split away from this role, however...[/spoiler]
Debelzi Culture
[spoiler]The Debelzi Empire is the largest single nation in Do-Ze-Rahl, and the richest. It has a higher immigration rate than any other nation, and the most diverse population. In fact, the Empire is the most mixed and complicated nation in the world.
Languages: There are three languages spoken widely within the Empire - Delbezja, Delbezi, and Athurdis. The first is used mainly to the far west of the Empire, and also as the cultured language of scholars and priests, used to recite prayers to Delbez - many words are recognisable to Delbezi speakers, but Delbezja is the old form of the language, mostly unchanged from that spoken by the Prophet Ishmael and his people. Delbezi is spoken by traders, and as the common language in the central empire - a less formal form of Delbezja which took on a new pronunciation form, various new words and odd quirks of grammar from Athurdis and other native languages of the Southern Pincer. Athurdis is a conglomeration of several tribal tongues once spoken across the south, mostly dead in the western empire but still commonly spoken in the East. As well as these tongues, Xahin and Verda-In are commonly heard in the cities of the Empire from immigrant mouths, along with various other human speeches.
Everyday Life: A normal Delbezi citizen sees little difference between one day and the next. Most go to work, eat, sleep and have small periods of rest, filling in the time between feast weeks. On a feast week, all work is suspended, money is given out freely by nobles, and there is drinking and wild dancing on the streets. Food is laid out for beggars and nobles alike, and all rub shoulders together. During a feast week, a pauper may dance with a princess, but afterward he must behave like he never met her or face possible execution.
Delbezi phrases tend to be religious in nature - 'By Delbez' blood!' 'In the name of Ishmael!' and so on. They are used whenever possible by most people, on the grounds that invoking the name of a god, be it for luck, a curse, or for any other reason, can only help their cause.
Most Eastern Delbezi cities are laid out on the same kind of plan, as they tend to be built on the lush ground surrounding rivers rather than the dry, infertile hills that are scattered more and more densely as you get closer to the Urda Nation. Mostly, nobles will live in rich estates near to the water, surrounded by their privately owned farms (which, of course, pay a tithe to the emperor) and backed with a merchant district and private homes. Beyond that, mining camps and Red Guard billeting villages line the horizon. Beyond that... nothing.
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Desert Culture
[spoiler=Orcs]
Orcs are often considered primitive by others, or not quite 'real'. Their slightly feral appearance, bizarre worldview, and ancient traditions, along with their carnivorous and sometimes cannibalistic eating habits, make them feared and distrusted by many of the other races of Do-Ze-Rahl. However, one thing must be understood about the orcs before one makes judgement against them is that they do not think of life as true life.
The Great Circle
As do many cultures, the orcs believe that the world... rotates. Life becomes death, death becomes life, and the flesh, or mortal part, of a being is sacred and holds their essence. Thus, those dying of great age - considered wise, or strong, or some other worthy attribute - are often consumed by their kin in a ritual act. Who eats the body is decided normally by the favour of the deceased, but if there is a dispute, ritual battles may ensue. These battles prevent outside forces - magic, for instance, which the orcs see as a part of the Great Circle and not something to be used lightly - and are fought between orc and orc, with no weapons but themselves, no protection, and no time limits. The fight must be fought honourably - no kicking in the fork of the legs, for example - but otherwise, everything is allowed.
This is all based around the orc version of 'reincarnation'. They do not believe the spirit is reincarnated - but more that it lives on through its descendants. Orcs believe that once, they were all one spirit, but slowly the race is constantly splitting into smaller and smaller shards. Consuming the shard of another strengthens you, especially if the spirit is strong in said shard.[/spoiler]