The Campaign Builder's Guild

Quote from: Cataclysmic CrowAnd in their current incarnation they are mostly anti-religious, but that could certainly be changed if you have any ideas? I will write something on their organization, but I'll probably put it in a separate thread with history and  organizations.  

I have a couple of ideas. I'll avoid posting them in this thread if you want; I've derailed it enough already, I think. Or I can just keep piling on the semirelevant tangents right here, if you prefer.
:yumm:

I'm not sure if this should be in another thread, but thought I'd post here for now.
This is not done since history is something I have trouble fleshing out in my mind but this should give a nice overview and something for you to comment on/complain about.

EDIT: I'm retracting the history below as I'm attempting to make it less linear. I'll leave it up, though.  

[spoiler=outdated history]
Indeterminate Age
As you go back in time, the details of history start becoming vague. Documents turn to dust, stories are forever silenced, and witnesses of history in the making perish. Eventually next to nothing is left and history becomes myth.

This speculative period of the human past is known to historians and sages as the Indeterminate Age.

 The stories told of this period are mostly just that; stories. Truth and fiction are seamlessly interweaved, and historians are at a loss.

Indeed, there seems to be a tacit agreement amongst historians to leave this darkened period alone and not speak of it. It will probably remain a period of obscurity forever.

The Old Age
The Old Age consisted mainly of feudal kingdoms, existing in a near-endless state of grudge-and-alcohol-fueled war. Often seen as the darkest period in human history, the Old Age was allegedly full of torture, betrayal, blood debts, human sacrifice and plain generic violence.

The snow of the north turned red with the blood of both friend and foe, and civilization was at a standstill. Only in the south was there any sign of progress. Many stories have been told of this period, romanticized to allow for their larger-than-life heroes and cunning heroines. But the truth was far from glamorous. For many centuries this continued, but then came the advent of the empire.

The Rise of a Monolith - year 0
Like all great events, it all began with a single person. He gave up his name to serve a greater purpose, and he is thus only known to mankind as the Conqueror.

He was, as his name suggested, a warlord, but he was more than just that. He forged an army out of savages, tricked and influenced hostile warlords to join him, and instigated new and innovative reforms that'd eventually form the foundation of the modern empire.

When his empire stretched almostfrom sea to sea, he named himself Sovereign of the Great Empire of the Hidden Throne. And thus began the Imperial Age.

The Imperial Age
A time of general stability and peace (at least in the empire itself), the Imperial Age brought great advances in both science and art, as well as the spread of the major religions of the Cycle and Jananism to all corners of the empire.

Most Sovereigns were content with this, while others attempted to follow in the footsteps of the Conqueror, expanding the nation. This led to many wars with Setch, the Whisperlands, and Khiere, and under the leadership of the Glutton it almost came to war with Ieshyn at one point.

The Schism
In 443 the empire was coming to an end. A series of escalating insurrections, the Wildfire Rebellions, were spreading throughout the countryside as people defied the ancient and rigid system of the empire and the religions that continued to support it fervently.

When Jesrem Reven, later to become known as the Godkiller, assassinated the High Hierophant of Janan on the 4th day of Waiting, it all took a turn for the worse.

In the east, an uprising amongst the miners was put down violently by the military in the Torchlight Massacre, while in the west it came to outright civil war, as the nation now called Visille tried to free itself from the empire. With the army occupied with the miners and keeping peace at the Khierian border, there was little the Sovereign could do but watch his empire tear itself in half. The empire was left  smaller and decidedly weakened.  

In 497 the miners tried again, this time succeeding as they worked in unison in the first incarnation of what'd later become the Union. Thus the empire was reduced to Kolyaev and a few loyal cities scattered along the coast and down the border separating east and west.

During all this, the churches were left helpless. They had always sided with the Sovereign, and this had not been forgotten by the public. Only the few faithful remained, while most abandoned their gods in the search for new meanings in life. The faiths were left to slowly decay, and when no new priests could be found, the older clergymen took the ancient secrets of the faith to the grave.

The Pale Thirst
Not three days into the year 513, the first body was found in Tidescale. Dessicated. Pale. Horrible. The Pale Thirst had claimed its first victim. Soon, more felt the Thirst and the disease spread at an alarming pace crippling the east in the span of a few months. The new nations were not prepared for this catastrophe, and panic erupted in the streets.

Cities were abandoned as the streets became thronged with the dried husks of the dead, and those showing the first symptoms were forced to gather in camps were they faced an uncertain fate at the hands of both the genuinely diseased and the doctors trying to help them or, if they were unlucky, examine them.

The plague was only barely kept in check by the camps, strict quarantines, and the dreaded Grinning Knights. Touched by disease themselves at some point, these warriors and executors were sworn to the church of the Lady of the Sweetest Breath, and were sent to battle death itself; with blade and torch they put down the sick with cold-blooded zeal.

Kolyaev went through the crisis relatively unharmed as they fenced off the small peninsula on which the city and the Remnant subsisted, and set the Grinning Knights to burn every single person showing signs of disease. They cut off contact to the outside world, and their few allied cities were either abandoned or fended for themselves.  
No cure was found, but after four years of terror the disease mysteriously died out and humanity emerged again to a world in ruins.

The Reflorissance
After the Pale Thirst died out, and rebuilding had commenced, the world came to look very much like it does in present times. Visille flourished as it set to rebuilt a nation in its own image, becoming something unto itself rather than just another break-away state.

South of Visille the fertile lands became the Harvest Commonwealth. They had suffered greatly from the Thirst, and the Remnant had sent little help their way.

Further to the east, what had been a powerful city-state became a monument to human folly as Ramshackle grew around it and proclaimed its independence. And in the far north Kolyaev opened its gates once again, and found that visitors were rare.

With values put to the test and death faced head-on for four year, religion reemerged from its slumber. A myriad of cults and sects had developed during the plague, and, in what is known as the Second Coming of Faith, people flocked around the churches and prophets.

This also became a period where the limits of knowledge and human skill was put to the test. The electricity developed by Voltari during the plague became more commonplace in the world, and the skies were conquered by ungainly balloons and blimps. And with the development of the first artificial souls, Thymic science emerged from the obscure and into the mainstream.
[/spoiler]

The day has come! An actual update for Broken Verge! This nation has been underway for quite some time, but it was only today that I had a moment of inspiration of sufficient size to put all my ideas together in a way that I was content with. Basically, this started with the premise "theocratic democracy" and I think it turned out quite well. Nationally, I'd say it has some weak greek-scottish kinship, but nothing major and mostly incidental.    
And now I should probably get back to studying for my exams... Enjoy.

 Why you should read this: Saints, paraphernalia, the bone market, theocratic democracy, the green city  
[note=On references] There are a few words that appear in the following which are not otherwise explained so I will do you the favor of explaining it beforehand: Besmakia is the new name for my main continent. Therennial refers to the Therennial Cycle, a major religion with a base in pagan-ish fertility/harvest cults. Arch is the capital city of faraway Ieshyn.    
[/note]

 Berend - land of Saints and Rain
In the north-west of Besmakia the mountains turn to broken highlands of stone and grass and the swamps become thick labyrinthine woods with trees far older than any living nation. In amongst these ancient primeval landscapes, farmers toil in weathered fields and pray to the many saints of Berend, as this is the nation that lays claim to this part of the world. Known for its odd views on religion, skilled mapmakers, near-incessant rain, and the invention of the writing press, Berend is a nation on the rise, where old and new ideas come together and become something altogether different.

 Saints and Paraphernalia
Practitioners of a syncretic pagan-Therennial cult, religion pervades much of life in Berend. The Berendians observe a much closer link between humanity and divinity than most, and they believe that some people do cross this border; the saints. Over the centuries, the apostle-chroniclers of the church have recorded the lives and doings of no less than 501 mortals who have been raised to sainthood, each bestowed with a title of his own, and his name listed in the Codex Sanctus.    

The gods themselves fade into the background in Berend, as each saint has his own domain and prayers are directed at them, not the gods. Depending on interpretation, some see them as messengers between man and the divine while some see them as gods unto themselves.

Only two of the 501 saints remain alive; Saint Dominicus, saint of Coins and Rivers and Saint Havelholm, saint of Mazes and Clockmakers. The dead saints rest in cathedrals, barrows and unmarked graves across Besmakia (Saint Lae Ahk Aman even rests outside Besmakia, in the city of Arch), while bones and relics taken from their resting places change hands in "the bone market"; a religious black market dealing in saintly relics.

More legal and less morbid religious paraphernalia, such as small engraved plaques and amulets, are sold on streetcorners and in markets in most cities where they are attributed with everything from healing powers to auspicious blessings.

 The Rule of the Benevolent Parliament
Even the government is not outside the religious sphere of influence. In many ways, it's actually in the center of it as church and state are one, but while Berend still observes this antiquated tradition, their way of government is in fact one of the more radical ones in the world as it contains elements of democracy.

The 501 saints constitute the candidates for the Benevolent Parliament, the primary governing body, and are elected by vote once every 7 years by the people of Berend. Since most of the saints are long dead, priests known as Anointed serve in their place and can be voted into parliament to speak on behalf of the saint they represent. Since saints can have more than one Anointed, some priesthoods form political parties to further their goals. Only the most popular saints can count on getting one or more of the 233 seats, so the priesthoods take great steps to please the people in whatever way possible, bordering on sycophancy.    

Some saints have never been part of parliament. The unpopular saints, the forgotten saints, such as Saint Castille of the Mold, and Saint Abar, saint of fevers and birds, are reserved for the scholarly and rarely surface into common usage. But it has happened that a forgotten saint has resurfaced and claimed a seat. The two living saints always have two honorary seats available in the Parliament whenever they should wish for it.

 Visille, the Green City
Visille itself is a hospitable city, sequestered behind solid walls and with broad tree-lined boulevards spanning its width. While a center of civilization, it is marked by nature like everything else built around the ancient woodlands: crawlers have spread across the city walls and the city itself, the many parks seem largely untamable, and the roots of the ancient oaks built along the road have broken through cobbles and stone. Visille is known for its many parks, and the Berendians are famous for their botanical knowledge and predilection, so you can hardly turn a corner in the summertime without being faced with something that hints at what lies behinds the houses and the cobblestones.
 
The trees are also used as a place to spread and gather news and stories. Even before the advent of the writing press, the trees often served as posts where posters and decrees could be nailed to. Since the press, especially due to it being a Berendian invention, posters and notes and messages are spread across the city, nailed to trees and doors and walls. Half of it does happen to be largely illegible, as the frequent rain often makes the ink of unsheltered posters run while turning the paper itself soggy. Writing and drawing in general is a common craft, and Berend is known to make some of the finest illustrated maps in the world and the Cartographer's Guild possesses some power in the city.
     
Aside from this, the cityscape of Visille is of course dominated by hundreds of church towers and streetside shrines, while prophets of forgotten saints preach on street corners. Towering over all of this is the austere Council Cathedral which houses hierophants of the church, the original Codex Sanctus, and the Benevolent Parliament. The facade of the great building is built from sleek crenellated white stone, but as most other buildings creeper plants have long since taken hold of the building. On the front are carved images of each of the 501 recognized saints.

There are 501 streets and parks in the city when added together; each of them is named after an appropriate saint. It goes without saying that the streets belonging to the greater saints are very popular with the more prosperous members of Visille's population.        

Not surprisingly, quite a few holidays are observed in Visille and Berend in general. Most of them have to do with the birth or death of a few select saints, although a few of their accomplishments are celebrated as well. The people of the city often also decorate their street when the birthday of the saint comes along, so if you walk around long enough you'll usually stumble into a minor celebration somewhere in the city.

The politics of this city could be absolutely fascinating... I love the idea that different saints might have different dogmatic positions, and that realpolitick and power struggles would get cloaked in an aura of sacredness.  Very cool.

You also do a great job of giving the city a very unique and evocative look... I picture a ton of ivy and ancient stone, beneath a dark sky.

Are any of the relics functionally magic, or is it all charlatanism?

That is more or less exactly what I went for! I'm glad to hear that it worked out.

Mostly, the relics are magical in the same way that real relics are magical; people believe in them. So no, they do not possess any inherent abilities as of yet. That said, if I ever make a game system I might implement a placebo mechanism to reward the players who observe local superstition in their country.

A few of the relics might be Inspired Objects, a little thing I have in the works where "ordinary" items suddenly find themselves infused with a strange magical ability, often contrary to the original purpose of the item. (this would be in the vein of the Lost Room tv series, although with no real origin).  

Depending on how it all turns out, I might consider giving relics powers on a more regular basis, since magic bones are cool in many ways. But it would detract a bit from the charm of the bone market as they'd no longer deal in religious curiosities but in magic items.

EDIT: Some questions for you. Do you have any good examples of political debates where the populism of the government might become readily apparent? And if any of you have any interesting ideas for saints, feel free to contribute.

a mi me gusta. mucha.