Pirates
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Overview
At this point, the name says it all. The setting will focus on the XXXXX Isles, (name needed), home to all manner of people, including pirates.
Races
[note=Elves, Dwarves, and Orcs, Oh My]Iâ,¬,,¢m still wavering if I am going to include them. If I do, Elves will be an oppressive culture that runs trading companies like the Dutch East Indies, the Dwarves will be hardy expansionists, always seeking the next frontier, and Orcs will be a shamanistic people ripped from their homeland and used for slave labor. Gnomes will not be present in Pirates, and Halflings, if they do exist, will probably be cannibalistic natives of some of the Isles.[/note][spoiler=Humans] The most varied of the races of Pirates, humans were scattered across the globe by some force early in their history, meaning there is no unified human nation or culture. The Church teaches this scattering was punishment for humanities hubris, but this is only one theory. [/spoiler]
[spoiler=Cephaliths] Sometimes called Children of the Kraken, the cephaliths have the upper bodies of humans with blue skin and tentacles for hair, and a lower body with four long, strong tentacles. Two distinct cephalith cultures exist: The Wave Riders, who live on great ships and mostly interact peacefully with other races, and the dugarâ,¬,,¢shog or Deep Ones, who live deep beneath the waves and server the terrible god of the Krakens, father Dagon. [/spoiler]
[spoiler=Sea Devils][note=Sahuagin as PCs]The sahuagin are going to have their stats reworked somewhat, to make them better PCs.[/note] In their own tongue the sahuagin, Sea Devils are raiders and pirates that take great pleasure in sinking ships and plundering the vessels for goods. A recent war against the dugarâ,¬,,¢shog cephaliths depleted the Sea Devilsâ,¬,,¢ numbers, which makes expansion a safer prospect, but by no means totally safe.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Totem Folk] The totem folk border the line between spirit and mortal. Residents of the isles and the New World, the totem folk struggle to hold on to their anchient traditions in the face of humanoid incursion. All totem folk have an animal totem they are bound to, and gain powers and can change forms based on that totem. The Totems are: [list is incomplete]Wolf, Raven, Bear, Fox, Rabbit, Horse, Sparrow, Hawk, Snake, Dolphin, Shark, and Bat.[/spoiler]
MORE TO COME!
Magic
Standard arcane magic and psionics are not present in Pirates
[spoiler=Voodoo][note=Fetish]A fetish is any item that contains a bound spirit. Fetishes are often used by some cultures in place of most standard magic items.[/note] Practiced by the humanoid races brought over as slaves to the New World and many of the islanders, Voodoo is a magic that uses fetishes, dolls, and other objects to affect its targets at great distances.[/spoiler]
Isles
The isles are home to all manners of peoples from all walks of life.
[spoiler=Lokos] One of the largest isles, Lokos is notable for housing a very large population of former slaves that freed themselves in a bloody war that overthrew their masters. Lokos is located about midway through the isles, and has declared itself a free Isle, meaning all of its five major ports are house to all manner of thieves, ruffians, scoundrels and pirates. The interior of the continent is a thick, lush jungle home to a unique breed of carnivorous, magical apes that prey of humanoid races whenever they venture too far from the shore.[/spoiler]
Mainland
The Mainland, is a collection of nations who compete with each other constantly. Due to limited available land space, these nations are becoming increasingly expansionist as space and natural resources become more and more limited. Some particular nations are listed below.
[spoiler=nations]brief overview of what I have so far:
Leshan â,¬' Insular nation of the elves. Ruled by an aristocracy that is very firmly entrenched. They got into the colonial game late, but have proven to be exceedingly good at it. Elves tend to distain the use of guns, though many still carry them for defense.
Rochtag â,¬' Highly militaristic nation that in recent times almost conqured the Mainland in a great war that ended just forty years ago. The focus most of their colonial efforts in the Savage Lands, and have come to dominate the slave trade. They are one of the few nations to use slaves in their factories, and on the Continent no less.
MORE COMING SOON![/spoiler]
New World
[ooc]The New World will combine elements of native American mythology, and is inhabited by Totem Folk, some humans, and perhaps gnolls and a couple other races.[/ooc]
The Savage Lands
Located to the south of the main continent, the Savage Lands is home to Giants, Orcs, Goblinoids, and other such races â,¬' many of which are being pressed into slavery in the New World and on the Isles by the mainlanders, who possess superior technological advancement, and are aided by the very nature of the politics of the Savage Lands. Slavery was common there before mainlanders arrived.
The heart of the Savage Lands is home to a variety of deadly and mysterious creatures and races.
Monsters
[spoiler=Monsters of the Deep]Kraken: perhaps the most feared of the oceanic monsters, krakens are powerful magical creatures that prey on ships. Servants of the dread entity known only as Father Dagon, most kraken stick to the deepest trenches, only rising to the shallower waters to feed. The exception to this rule are the Sisters Three, a trio of Kraken that rule an undersea empire to the East of the new world and the West of the mainland, meaning that route between the two is fraught with perils.
Sea Serpents: Of the very few creatures that compete with the kraken, none are as implacable foes as the sea serpents. Great serpentine dragons that live beneath the waves, sea serpents are the natural enemies of the kraken, and battles between the two creatures can reach epic proportions. Most sea serpents stick to relatively shallower waters, meaning the two creatures interact rarely. However, only the foolish believe the serpentâ,¬,,¢s animosity with the kraken make the serpents friendly to mankind, and these fell creatures actually sink more vessels each year than the kraken.
[ooc]One problem Iâ,¬,,¢m having with monsters is making the ecology believable. How many kraken and sea serpents and other massive magical creatures can the ocean support? Discuss.[/ooc][/spoiler]
Religion:
[spoiler=The Universal Church]
1400 years ago, the Universal Church has its roots in early elvish beliefs, which revolved around a single deity known as Elohimae. During the era of rule by the twin Empires of Lomur and Semir, an elf calling himself Elindiharim, which literally means â,¬Å"First Chosen of Elohimae,â,¬Â began preaching a new religion to elves, humans, dwarves, and any race that would listen. When the Great War caused Lomur and Semir to shatter, the disciples of Elindiharim arose and carved a niche for themselves, founding a church that whose tenants governed all races â,¬' the Universal Church. The early Church did everything it could to preserve knowledge, culture, and civilization, and while they managed in the first two, the failed somewhat in the third, and a period of warring city states emerged.
Since that time, the Church has been a political and economic powerhouse, as well as a religious one. Many nations still are subject to the Church, and their kings only rule with the Churchâ,¬,,¢s consent. While the Church is mostly benevolent on the mainland, seeking to help the people, or at least speak of doing so, they are seen by natives of the New World and the Lost World as being oppressive, often giving taking the maxim of Elindiharim â,¬Å"bring my Word to those who will listenâ,¬Â to mean that those who will not listen must be purged.
Classes:
Three character classes exist under the church, which also denote different ranks within the Church.
Priest Priests are the clergy of the church. Not particularly magical powerful, they have some extraordinary healing abilities. The Priest class is best suited for NPC use.
Paladin Paladins are the holy warriors of the church, bringing the Truth and the Word to those who must hear it, at any costs. Paladins typically stick to the mainland to defend church strongholds, though Paladins on missions for the Church or those that serve missionaries can be found around the world.
MissionaryThe missionary is a warrior-priest, skilled in combat, the sciences, and interaction, and imbued with the power of Elohimae. While missionaries tend to have varying methods, ranging from peaceful talks to outright forced conversion, they all have the same goal â,¬' the spread of the teachings of Elindiharim.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Animism]Everything has a spirit, and spirits reside in everything. The great oak tree, she has a spirit. And the wolf that howls in the night, he has a spirit. The man who walks the streets has one, as does the ship that sails the sea and the sword that pierces the flesh. Such are the tenants of Animists, who draw their powers from these spirits. Many animists pay homage to a particular spirit, called a totem.[/spoiler]