The Campaign Builder's Guild

The End of the the Age of Legends

After the Accords of Presence were agreed to, the Dissenter, Athraxus was bound in chains of Fire and Adamant, and his refuge, the Cairnhold, was thrown open and torn asunder.  The other Celestial Planars secured his bonds to the Well of Death, on Zevashopal, on the bottomm of the House of Death.
Then, honoring the Accords, the Planars quit the Waking World and made their ways into the void.  The grand Douh'is built by the Omwo~ for them to dwell in, were silent and empty.  The firstborn children, even Keith the firstborn, at and wept, and and Sauroids roared.
But one Douh'is was still inhabited.  Amerer the Grey, the Qyuie Balance, still sat on the Steel and Silver throne made for him.  And Bahamut, greatest of the Sauroids, went to Keith, and the two of them rallied their fledgeling peoples to the soft grey glow, these powerful, primordial firstborn like lonely, cold children drawn to a fire in the deathly quiet of a winter night.
And the Grey One, though smaller than any of the assembled, radiated a strength beyond size or space.  

And Keith fell to his knees, and shook.  Amerer was silent, seemingly lost in thought.
And Keith Spoke, loudly, in a voice that was not his.

"Listen to My Voice,
We are gathered here today
To speak of things we have to do,
and friends that had to fall,
From the Middleground,
From the Darkness.

It's been many years,
Many years,
Since you have faced a danger such as this.
No safety in old glories,
No sanctuary.

I've see the same nightmares have crept
into all your dreams.
And it will come to the Earth in search of us.
And through treachery, we were found.
So let us Pray to the Maker of all things
And wait for the Storm to come.

Maker,
We are disciples to your desire.
Maker,
We are the voices that sing your praises.
Maker,
We are the rage that feeds your devotion.
Maker,
Rise from the ground and be our salvation."

And Keith fell to the ground, twitching.  Vastel the White went to him and cradled their leader's head.
Then, from the rear of the Douh'is, a dragon's roar.  Strangly modulated, a quiet voice moving through and within the Roar of Bahamut, most ancient of sauroids  

 
I'll crawl for you
Hurt if you want to
I'll be the thing that you feed

I'm not asking
For love or redemtion
I'll sell my guilt to your need

I'll breathe for you
Die if you want to
I'll mourn with you by my grave

I dare you to judge me
My God has disowned me
I've come to you to be saved

They say I
Sold my soul
And we all reap
What we sow

I'll shine for you
Burn if you want to
You'll be the prize for my pain

I'll carry rour rod,
And pray for salvation
Your presence made me sane

I'll lie for you
Be your conscience in you
Sacrifice reason for shame

I won't ask for
Faith or forgiveness
You are the blood in my veins

They say I
lost my way
I'll wait for
Judgement day

Don't pray for my soul
Don't pray for my soul
Don't pray for my soul
Don't pray for my soul

They'll be a blacker darkness
In the night
An ancient, wild vampyre calling
In the dead of night

They'll be be a demon
Shadowman
a cold, lonely confession

And if I can
I'll be your nightmare
And scream for you
I'll be your one possession
If you want me to

I'll be your secret
Memory
I'll be your exhibition of atrocity

They say I
Sold my soul
And we all reap
What we sow

They say I
Lost my way
I'll wait for
Judgement day

Don't pray for my soul
Don't pray for my soul
Don't pray for my soul
Don't pray for my soul

We kneel down, praise You
Shout Exultation
Lift up our eyes while We pray

When children kill children
Won't it make them wonder?
Won't it make them question their faith?[/i]

And all gathered around the giant, golden dragon as he splayed his legs, tryiong to keep his footing as he shook his head.

And then, a chill in the Douh'is, an emptiness that all felt as one.  All eyes tirned back to the throne, knowing but hoping against hope...

Amerer had not spoken a word, had not made a noise, had just looked at them with those huge soulfull eyes.  And now he was gone.

And though they knew it not, the Age of Legends had come to an end, and what would be called the Age of Heroes had begun.  The time of the Celestial Planars directly touching the lifes of Celtricia was over, the day of the self-determination had dawned.
 

Magic in Celtricia, behind the curtain.

One of the primary issues I see come up in threads is the magic level question.  How prevelant is magic in the mileau? Is it a 'high-magic' world, or a 'low magic' world.

But there is more to it than that.  Many games have similar ratios of high, mid, and lower level magic.  Another question is what is the frequnecy distribution of ability?  

When I created the spell point system for Celtricia, I set it up to be as flexible as possible, so that casters can blow all their points in one spell, or cast lots of little spells, or use rituals to cast tougher spells.  I also do not differentiate between divine spells and others, as they actually all come from the same sources of power.


But I also set things up so that I could have a magic rich world, but where even middle level magic is rare, and high level magic is a thing of legend.  Igbar, as an example is a small walled city of thirty thousand souls.  Bards, mages, sages, priests, alchemsits and other people who can manipulate the void-bound sources of spell power abound.  However, There are no priests capable of casting a Full Ressurection.  Raise Dead is possible at 5 of the churches.  

Higher level spells obviosuly cost more spell point.  But they also have unfovorable spell successes, and pull from more spell sources.  All spells need spirit points, which is the trigger, the part of the spell that comes fropm the caster.  Beginner spells and cantrip pull from Spirit and one or 2 other spell point sources.  Tougher spells will pull from 3, 4, or even 5 sources, so a caster must be 'fluent' in many disciplines to cast any medium or higher power spells.
[spoiler=Types of spell sources]
Amnimist SP
Artificer SP
House of Air SP
House of Chaos SP
House of Death SP
House of Earth SP
House of Fire SP
House of Life SP
House of Order SP
House of Water SP
Mentalist SP
Necromantic SP
Restorative SP
Shade Sp
Spirit SP[/spoiler]
So, as I have stated before, we keep a level of experience in every skill for a character, and being better at a skill means have a more favorable experience modifier. So only real casters even have the capacity to cast more difficult spells.   As a very, very rough rule of thumb, we can assume a caster gains 4 spell points per level in a spell skill.  
Cantrips may cost 2-5 spirit points, and 1-3 points from another source.  
[blockquote=Air Cantrip, Chilling]
Spell Name Chilling
Major Sphere Air
Spell Source
Initiative 3
Range touch
Duration 20 sec
Save none
Save effect none
Spell Success 27
Area of effect 1' cube
Counter
Spirit cost 3
Earth cost 0
Water cost 0
Fire cost 0
Air cost 1
Life cost 0
Death cost 0
Law cost 0
Chaos cost 0
Restorative cost 0
Necromantic cost 0
Mentalist cost 0
Artificer cost 0
Animist cost 0
Total cost 4
Description
This cantrip decreases the tempurature of an object by 10 degrees or reduces the
tempurature to 35 degrees farenheit, whichever is lower. After the duration, the
object returns to tempurature at normal speed.[/blockquote]
So a caster who is first level in Spirit and first level in Air can cast this, maybe even twice.

Now, let's go to a common spell everyone know in every system.  This is an air variation of Magic Missle.

[blockquote=Air Spell, Minor Kinetic Blast]
Spell Name Minor Kinetic Blast
Major Sphere Air
Spell Source
Initiative 2
Range 60
Duration inst
Save reflex-15%
Save effect neg
Spell Success 0
Area of effect
Counter
Spirit cost 10
Earth cost 0
Water cost 0
Fire cost 0
Air cost 5
Life cost 0
Death cost 0
Law cost 0
Chaos cost 0
Restorative cost 0
Necromantic cost 0
Mentalist cost 1
Artificer cost 0
Animist cost 0
Total cost 16
Description
This is one of the basic offensive spells learned by those versed in Air. It creates balls
of invisible air that smack unerringly to their target. A caster can create 1 ball per 3
levels of experience (i.e., 1 ball at levels 1-3, 2 balls at levels 4-6, etc). Each of the balls
does 5-10/d4 damage (d6+4). Armor protects 1/2.
Please note that these are totally invisible[/blockquote]
A perfect example, as it pulls 10 Spirit points, 5 Air and 1 Mentalist.  A beginning caster, just created, would probably be second or third level Spirit, and first level in 2 other disciplines, so this spell, and maybe a cantrip, would be within casting before needing to recoup points.
Now we move to the lowest of the Raise Dead variations, one used by the Churches of Madrak, Ceminiar, and Amrist.
 [blockquote=Earth Spell, Raise the Earthen Dead]
Spell Name Raise the Earthen Dead
Major Sphere Restorative
Spell Source
Initiative 24
Range touch
Duration perm
Save health+caster's level
Save effect live
Spell Success -18
Area of effect touch
Counter
Spirit cost 42
Earth cost 16
Water cost 0
Fire cost 0
Air cost 0
Life cost 8
Death cost 0
Law cost 0
Chaos cost 0
Restorative cost 20
Necromantic cost 0
Mentalist cost 0
Artificer cost 0
Animist cost 0
Total cost 86
Description
This powerful spell takes a creature that has sunk beyond life and infuses them with
the many spirits of life, bringing them back from beyond the pale.
The person cannot have been dead more than 1 day per 2 levels of the caster, and all
body parts must be accounted for.
The newly raised will be very weak, and will have only one hp. They will take 8
days+2 days per hp to recover their strength. And the character must make a health
CC+ the caster's level, or remain dead, and be unraisable without a ressurection spell.
The caster must use holy water, and at least 3 holy candles tpo cast this spell, and
must know the target's full, real name.[/blockquote]
The spell successs is lower, and with 42 Spirit points needed, 16 Earth, 8 Life, 20 Restorative, we are talking 9-12th level in Spirit, 3rd to 5th in Earth, second in Life, and 4th to 6th in Restorative.  

So what you have in Celtricia is a land where magic is not unusual at all, where Head Chef's and master Stonemasons use lesser magics on their important jobs, and where minor casters of all stripes are seen regularly.  However, greater spell use is extrememly rare and wonderful.

Most interesting--I rather like this as you've created a balance between the 'magic magic everywhere' and the 'must stop all the MAGIC' tendencies. My only concern is this: how do pc spell lists look on a character sheet? Are they all required to be written out like that? Or do you have a kind of chart for it?

Darn it nearly forgot-

Quote-I'll be your secret
Memory
I'll be your exhibition of atrocity

They say I
Sold my soul
And we all reap
What we sow

That is not only some good verse but also a good dramatic description of a change from one era to another.

[blockquote=Tybalt Encourager]Most interesting--I rather like this as you've created a balance between the 'magic magic everywhere' and the 'must stop all the MAGIC' tendencies. My only concern is this: how do pc spell lists look on a character sheet? Are they all required to be written out like that? Or do you have a kind of chart for it?[/blockquote]

Well, you've seen the same posts and have read many of the same articles I have.  Most GM's tend to go one way or the other, magic rich or poor.  I've done both.  For both magic and artifaced items, bith can be characterized as 'uncommon', or 'special'.  However, higher powered magic is much, much more rare.  Almost every mage/caster of ability has some version of a Staff Ordinaire, which reduces the spirit cost by one for every spell cost (almost none of this type stack), but getting a version (called a Staff Incantus, though it can be a globe, etc..) that takes off more than that is very rare.  Lots of blue collar, service-tech level casters, but few rocket scientists.
[note]Levy, an Artifier of Igbar's Green Flame, found a Torc of the Arcanic Table, that reduced the spell cost by one of every discipline the spell took.  A caster needs to be Spirit L8 to use, but he just reached that ability level after almost 4 years of play. [/note]

PLayers in Celtricia actually create their own spellbooks.  It's pretty cool, actually.  They are required to cut and paste the spells into a book of their own.  So everyone has their own spellbook documwent, and are not allowed to cast a spell not in the document unless gained that session.

Very interesting little sidenote there--I think players (I know I used to) really enjoy it when milestones are reached in-game. Also I like the idea of being able to craft your own spellbook, that's cool. Again interesting difference in my game, where New Edomite wizards must submit all unusual magics they've learned to see if the College can make use of them. In turn all New Edomite wizards have access to almost all available spells, except for a few that are considered too dangerous or evil to be used.

[blockquote=tYBALT]Very interesting little sidenote there--I think players (I know I used to) really enjoy it when milestones are reached in-game[/blockquote]

I designed the skill based system we use to focus on this.  The agregate power gain is a lot less, but due to the fact that characters are gaining experience in 2 dozen separate skills on average, so most players break a skill level or two every session...this kind of constant progress always feeds that satisfaction you mention.

[blockquote=Tybalt]Again interesting difference in my game, where New Edomite wizards must submit all unusual magics they've learned to see if the College can make use of them. In turn all New Edomite wizards have access to almost all available spells, except for a few that are considered too dangerous or evil to be used.[/blockquote].  
Spells drive my players nuts.  Purposely.  Spells are hard to come by, and cost a small fortune, even with the 30% guild discount.  Finding a teach scroll (75% of scrolls are the cheaper 'cast only' variation) is a huge deal.

The Grounds of Dismissal
Bannetti's Coffee House
Igbar has grown by fits and starts, drven heavily by economics and helped rarely by any entity but itself.  As such, it is no surprise that the most unique of Igbarian intitutions is a mercantile one.
Bannetti's Kaffee House Openned in 849 R.O.N., in the warehousing section of town.  To be precise, in the intersection of Seaward Road and Mungery Way, where the two opposite corners
Though the Kaffee was excellent, it basically held its own for a few years, and bought a pawn shop next door that was not doing so well.  7 black round tables were added.  This proved to bee a boon, for though Borg Banneti's wife murmured dire imrecations into his ears about wasting the money, it soon became the meeting place for the warehouse managers, and by the second year, even upper management stopped by to get some of the excellent coffee and talk business.
By 855, 'meeting at Bannetti's' became synonomous with doing some kind of business, and the 7 tables were getting cramped.  Borg bought out the clerk's office upstairs from the Old pawn shop, as well.  The upstairs area, where light snacks as well as Kaffee and 'gentlemans' wines were served, opened as the 'Grounds of Dismissal' in 856 R.O.N.    
And from the first, the upstairs became the daily office for the Wavesong Family traders and the Winfire Trading groups.  They were both there the 'Grounds' part of Bannetti's opened, and that first day, the heads of those consortiums set up shop upstairs.  They signed more deals their that year for their guilds than anywhere else, and it became the habit, even that year, for Joachim Kar Klaxik, Trader-prime of the Winfire trading group to get there at second hour, to be followed a few minutes later by the Sreiana Voninimis, Captain of the Wavesong Family.  More and more of the tables were taken for hours at a time.
in 860, Bannetti's and the 'Grounds was in the forfront of a major change.  The Mungery way had become peppered with office buildings for nearly a block on both sides of the Kaffee haunt, and the upstairs hummed with business until the evening hour, and often even after the l;anterns came out.  That year, The Vissippee Trading clan, which was specializing in the speculation of herbland caravans, actually bought a table upstairs for the year, one that no one else could use, and they were the first of the trading groups to become 'incorporated' at Bannetti's, to have their charter written there and stored ther, to have their table with their sigil.
Well, this caught on with the burgeoning trade-lords of Igbar quickly.  The Argussian Blue-White laws were subject to the court of Argus opnly, so any trade or contract disputes needed to be refered to the Earl of the Northern Marches, a hawaak's ride to the south even in summer.  The heads of the Vissippee, the Winfire, The Rissa family, the Kletthen Klaxiks, the Hojijar sealordsfrom Northern Ocodig, and Borg Banneti all signed off on 'The Precepts of Dismissal', rules for incorporating and adjudicating trade issues.  They based it on the Trade Laws of the Bright Lands, and though they did not know it, they had cut a major cord of the authority of the Empire of Argus away.  

More coming still.

This vaguely reminds me of the coffee shop in the most recent "Dawn of the Dead" remake which is not necessarily bad.

What is so unique about it btw? Is coffee rare?

got busy.  am adding to post above.  crap...too much work.

This is a good example of the uniqueness of your world--after all it's a freaking coffee house. Nevertheless it has proven pivotal in developing areas of commerce. So I take it it has become fashionable as well? Are there imitators of the actual business, or branches of it in other cities?

Vinivixias Foxfolloed-male Underearth Hobyt-TraderPrime of the Sceding Tree Trading Consortium, Portioner of the Green Flame, Cavelier of the GentleGryphons.
Viniviaxias was born in 836 Reckoning of Nebler, in Hobyt Inn, the capitol of the Bright Lands Plutocracy, the fourth child of five.  His name at Birth was Carl Heathertoes. In that meritocritous and mercantile society, The Heathertoes family performed logistics for the Crate and Cog Victuals Family, helping them move their fresh foods from the outlying farms into the cities every day.  Vinivixias' whole family was involved with this, but his position of fourth son chafed at the young hobyt.

At the same time, his sharp mind was noticed by the Tricilnice family, one of the sixty six ruling families of the plutocracy.  But not just for trading.  The Tricilnice's were hobyt traders, but were also the guiding force behind the Gushiog ('goathead'-Anarch) thieves guild.  So after his days of planning out the paths the carts would take bringing in produce into Hobyt Inn, Vinivixias would spend part of his evenings with Sam Ablex, the hard nosed Omnian human teacher for teh Gushiog guild, learning the arts of the poisoned blade and of the quick escape.

But he did not learn the last lessons well enough.  in  the fall of 866, Young Carl ended up hiding out in Hobyt Inn for two hawaak after a botched job that was being secretly protected by the Holders of the Straight Way, the knives of Belial.  He took ship on a Hojijar family vessel going south to the Northern Argussian Marches and on to Argus herself.  The ship stopped in Ocodig after 5 days, the small town that was and is the home port to the Hojijar Trading fleet, and a waterlogged young Carl disembarked, went to the Roaring Lion inn, and tried to take stock.  there, he listenned in on the Captains of the Hajijar speaking over the merits of various routes and ports, and the burgeoning port of Igbar, just to the south, kept on coming up.  Apparently it had two huge advantages.  It was growing quickly economically, and it was a fawr distace to the Argussian Marches that was supposed to be ruling it, so the chance of being spotted were pretty small.
So the next afternoon, young Carl disembarked into the hotbed of growth that was Igbar, and it was Vinivixias who actually touched down.
This was they hurly-burly early days of the Trading Guilds of Igbar, only six years after these groups were under their own rule, and meeting at the "Grounds of Dismissal', the Kaffee house-turned-mercantile trading house.  Vinivixias made quick contact with the Winfire Traders and the Padisha od Pilfering Thieves group.  He did little real thieving, but became an ear for them in Bannetti's.  
But this his training in the rougher arts served him well, and his willingness to fight for the cargos and people under his control were noticed.  And in 879, the Sceding Tree group made Vinivixias an offer to run their whole stable of wagons and transports, including their 2 lesser hipogryphs.  He left the Winfire group (with some small animosity--this would grow in the coming years) and joined the Sceding Tree Guild.  He kept his contacts in the Padisha and actually expanded them to include many members of the Scarlet Pilums, which was becoming the city militia for Igbar as it grew, and by these he began to know every coming and going in Igbar.  He set up his office above the stables of the Sceding Tree, as his father had doen decades before for the Crate and Cog Victuals.  And from the first, the Sceding Tree management looked to him to be at Bannetti's almost daily, to help make the logistical decisions for the transport of their wares, but also as to the movement of their competitiors.
By this time, Igbar had become the capitol of the new country of Trabler, the Unicorn Sate, and King Trabler Aptor was doing everything in his power to build his economy, and the already burgeoning trading guilds took full advantage.
In 880, Viniviaxias was able to catch the Hallier company of Value trying to play both the Sceding tree and the Grayse family (a small Ocodigian group) off for the same cache of ancient Venolvian artifacts, and this moved him to the position of Trader Prime of the Guild.

Today, in 895, Vinivixias still goes between his 2 offices, running one of the three biggest Trading Consortiums in the city.  he is a somewhat honorary member of the Green Flame, the Alchmical branch of the Eye of Igbar, Kasarak's guild, and works closely with Varkonovivh Van Zap, the Searing Eye who runs the Dock underworld for Kasarak.  the Scarlet Pilums are still well paid off with trips to the Wello House and the Upper Crust, so he still can move shipments in and out of town at will.  He is truly a merchant prince (Basic Trader L14-88%, Basic Social L8-22%).

Now in his 60th year, he is just entering middle age.  His once black curly hair is shot with grey, though he is still whip-thin and fast.  Vinivixias has a no-nonsense, businesslike tone, and coften carries on 2 concversations at once.  He wears the Green and Brown of the Sceding tree, either in a great coat in winter, or on a silk doublet in the warnmer months.  He recently took on the patronage of the popular Grey Legion adventuring group, which gained fame in forcing the Firehazer Tribes into retreat, allowing the Recum Road caravans to get through from the north.  
Vinivixias obviously has one of the prime tables in the upstars of Bannetti's, the 'Grounds of Dismissal'.  This area has a gate at the top of the staircase, where only members can get in.  If the players have particularly important news, they will find themselves brought right to the Trader-Prime, and he will pay them well for it.

well, these things ahve to start somewhere.
[blockquote-Tybalt]This is a good example of the uniqueness of your world--after all it's a freaking coffee house. Nevertheless it has proven pivotal in developing areas of commerce. So I take it it has become fashionable as well?[/blockquote]

[spoiler=History of stock exchanges]
In 12th century France the courratiers de change were concerned with managing and regulating the debts of agricultural communities on behalf of the banks. As these men also traded in debts, they could be called the first brokers.

Some stories suggest that the origins of the term "bourse" come from the Latin bursa meaning a bag because, in 13th century Bruges, the sign of a purse (or perhaps three purses), hung on the front of the house where merchants met.

However, it is more likely that in the late 13th century commodity traders in Bruges gathered inside the house of a man called Van der Burse, and in 1309 they institutionalized this until now informal meeting and became the "Bruges Bourse". The idea spread quickly around Flanders and neighbouring counties and "Bourses" soon opened in Ghent and Amsterdam.

In the middle of the 13th century, Venetian bankers began to trade in government securities. In 1351, the Venetian Government outlawed spreading rumors intended to lower the price of government funds. There were people in Pisa, Verona, Genoa and Florence who also began trading in government securities during the 14th century. This was only possible because these were independent city states ruled by a council of influential citizens, not by a duke.

The Dutch later started joint stock companies, which let shareholders invest in business ventures and get a share of their profits - or losses. In 1602, the Dutch East India Company issued the first shares on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange. It was the first company to issue stocks and bonds. In 1688, the trading of stocks began on a stock exchange in London.[/spoiler]

The Igabrian version is actually  a smaller copy of the BRight Lands Trading Exchange, to the north, which is the governing body of the Trarding for the Bright Lands Plutocracy.  It is very, very fashionable, being partially an exclusive social club, partially a place of Uber-business, and still, partially a restaraunt and Kaffee house.

Jor Yarman Hejiavat-male Brotherhood gnome Priest of the Church of Chaos and Change, Jubilex.
Brother Jor is a 35 year old brotherhood gnome, head shaved after the current gnomic and Orcash fashion.  He's 42" tall, but almost 170 lbs.  He is clean shaven, with a bulbous nose.He wears a masterwork suit of Astrikon scale armor, with stylized sheaves of wheat on the vambraces and spiderwebs on the pauldrons.  The pauldrons are very high and intricate, laced with bright electrum, making this suit worth more than normal masterwork (padded under, AV 53/PR 43, suit value 1800 horn).  He wears a red tabard with the small white jester's face of the Church of Change.  Jor carries a blacksteel Mitre (-1 spd), and has a nicely carved Trelliwood wand ordinaire (-1 spirit) with waves and ships on it.  He has a religious exemption to carry a bow in Igbar, but does not use it.
Jor has been a member of the Church of Change for almost 10 years, and prefers the martial side of things, though he is a competent caster (Spirit L5-24, Chaos L5-24, Water-L3-13, Animist L3-17, Restorative L2-10, Necromancy-L1-3).  He is a brother, a senior member, underneath Father Keswick and the Patriarch, Timlin Hurler.  
Jor works closely with Patriarch Hurler, and is privy to the Igbar churches secret attempts to summon the hezrou Schiraldi.
Jor smiles a lot and seems easy going, but is internally very judgemental, and secretly scorns those who enforce limiting, artificial boundaries on their relationships (read that as lawfuls).

The Hejiavat clan is from the Bright Lands, and most gnomes will know of his clan relationships.  Jor has a sister who is a priestess Amerer up in Recum, in northern Trabler.  he is often found in Tippler's Aim, the bar in eastern Igbar that specializes in dart players (Jor has a 13 Coordination...he's barely average after years of practise Thrown missle skill L3-11%).  He is always on the lookout for books dealing with Chaosian summoning, to help Patriarch Hurler.  He amd father Keswick are always on the lookout to make the Church of the Lawful Triumverate (a freindly rival) look bad, and will sometimes give a break on a spell cost to appear less stingy.

Quote from: TybaltDarn it nearly forgot-

Quote-I'll be your secret
Memory
I'll be your exhibition of atrocity

They say I
Sold my soul
And we all reap
What we sow

That is not only some good verse but also a good dramatic description of a change from one era to another.

Not my prose.
Much of the Age of Heroes deals with the Warlock/Bard known as Numansongs, and of his Omwo~ family, his brushes and later love of the human folk,  His growing up and travels in Vicoria, his battles with the Daemonic New Police (Oix Quoimodi) and with his Brother, the Great Lich Arbor.

Even today, the Miston Group deals with an ancient evil from the north, the Dreadwing.  No one yet has any inkling that this is Pino Palladino, former compatriot of the Bard who was turned evil by Arbor, and who betrayed him.  

But all of this, and the weavings of the lyrics, etc, actually comes from the musixcal talents of one Gary Numan, who all my players in the early 80's were listening to and continued to.  I have just always mixed it in with the history of the Age of Legends.