The Middle Lands of Keltor

[Fortunato]

Hello everyone, I'm new to CBG and happy to have found you all.

Part I
The Setting

Here's a direct link to the setting's pdf The Middle Lands of Keltor which has a great deal more than what is posted here.

A couple of years ago I had both the inspiration and the free time needed to do some world building.  After a few furious weeks of fun the free time dried up and the project was shelved.  I recently dusted it off and decided to post it for public use.  Of course, I could not resist adding a few things over the past few months.  

The latest version (#997893:33:34) is 110 pages (geography, rulers, social structures, history, deities, etc...) including 4 color maps, 17''x22''.  In addition, and for no extra charge, there are many typo's for your enjoyment which are included as part of the joy of being my own proofreader  :D

Major features for this fantasy setting:

• A recovering society built on the ruins of its past
• A low level of magic and magic knowledge
• Racial relations in need of repair
• Room to grow and change the world

While I had Pathfinder/D&D 3.5 in mind while building it, I think it's neutral enough to accommodate any version of D&D or AD&D with only minor adjustments.

I like feedback so if you have some for me please let me know and thank you!

[Fortunato]

[note]What follows is not currently part of the main pdf.  It is a high level view for new players, to give them a feel for the World and the Middle Lands.[/note]

Part II
An Introduction for Players

In the distant past the mortals of this World did something awful.  Just what, is not known but it had something to do with magic and it was something that angered the Old Gods so much that they struck down the mortals.  Fire rained on all the lands of humans, elves, and all the others races of mortals.  Elemental beast were set lose upon the world.  Ancient horrors from dark dimensions were allowed to roam the land again, bring more death and madness in their wake.  This was the Savage Time in which Death took its fill and, for once, did not want more!

All the old stories agree that magic and its use are the cause but only a few have survived that also show magic as the reason it all stopped before every mortal life was ended.  The Old Gods had no intention of ending the carnage they released.  The Savage Time was to be the end of time.  Those mortals that survived the initial onslaught came together.  Their strongest magic wielders put their minds to the problem and saw only one way to stop the madness.  They sealed the gap between worlds.  This cut off the mortal world from the land of the gods.  It also stopped the flow of magic into the land.  Everything that depended on magic to exist or live could no longer do so.  All the beings of magic died, all the practitioners of magic died, devices created of magic crumbled to dust.  Entire cities, whole kingdoms were destroyed.  The death of magic did almost as much damage as the Old Gods had done.  In the end the moral world was sealed and the gods could not touch it.  Darkness settled on the land and what remained of the mortals was left to chaos.  So much was lost, knowledge, memories, culture, everything that made the great golden age what it was is now forgotten.

Uncountable generations later the seal weaken enough to allow magic back into the World.  This unleashed a new wave of panic and destruction for mortals.  There was fear that the Old Gods would return and continue their punishment of the people.  There was fear that people would again seek to learn magic and repeat the mistakes of their ancestors.  In response, wars raged and the Second Fall gripped the land.  It was the into this time that the New Gods made their mark on the world.  They reached out and touched their followers in ways that restored faith in the divine. They granted magic to their most devout followers.  These acts had a settling effect on some and just the opposite effect on others.  In the end magic returned to the World as it was reborn in the fire of the Second Fall.

Over the next thousand years the knowledge base of magic had to be rebuilt.  Many believe it is not as extensive as it was before magic died.  Some areas of magic have been declared "dark" and are largely unexplored.  Chief among them the area of breaching other worlds or dimensions.  There is still a great deal of fear regarding the Old Gods and no one sane wants anyone to have the ability to open the way to their lands.  Within the magical community, research in this area is frowned upon and use of magic that breaches dimensions is avoided.  Many of the common folk still see magic as something to fear.  In the more remote areas some of them are even hostile about it.  The wise wielder of magic keeps a low profile.

Within the Middle Lands, the human population has recovered well but the other races have not done as well.  Due to the lower birthrate inherent in elves, dwarves, halflings and gnomes their populations remain low.  As a result they are rare and lack central organization.  Most exist in a clan or tribe societies on the fringes of human civilization.  While humans have done well it should be noted that as one moves away from the coast and the rivers, the lands of human civilization rapidly gives way to wilderness.  Orc hoards and trolls and dire wolves and all manner of goblinoids rule the wild lands.

All across the Middle Lands one can find adventure of any type!  See spectacular cities full of nobles and thieves, traveling caravans of trade and entertainment, pirates vying with the imperial navy for survival in the Inner Sea, tribal societies hanging on in the face of encroaching civilization, bestial hoards flowing from ruined cities found in the wilderness, and fantastic creatures of legend who haven't been seen by mortal eyes in centuries!  See all that and do even more!  Uncover secrets and knowledge of ages long past.  Become the next burglar of legend.  Find temples to lost gods.  Explore cities swallowed by desert sands.  Hunt pirates for the favor of nobles.  Seek powerful magic in the deepest wilderness guarded by the most foul beasts that a mad wizard's dark magic can create!  Or experience the deceit and intrigue of the silent war between noble houses as they struggle for power and wealth. The possibilities are vast!  Almost anything is in reach within the Middle Lands.

More to come...

[Fortunato]

[note]What follows is not currently part of the main pdf.  It is a high level view for GMs, to give them a feel for what kind of setting the Middle Lands are.  And what they might do with it.[/note]
Part III
An Introduction for Game Masters

Well, that PDF  has a great deal of information.  So, what kind of game can I run with it?  Short answer, anything you like.  

When I started building this world I wanted it to be flexible enough to accommodate a range of themes.  Some of the ones I had in mind included:

• Archeologists - The history of the World has a few hooks that may inspire the players to explore the past.  What caused the Savage Time?  Where are the Old Gods now?  Are they coming back?  I leave all these things intentionally vague.  That way a GM can flesh it out as they like.
• Delvers - The dungeon crawls for loot.  I couldn't leave out that old standby that so many of us have a love-hate relationship with.  With all the ruins of past civilizations, both large and small, the possibilities for exploration are significant.
• Environmental - Both the frozen waste of the north and the great desert of the south can provide extreme environments for extreme adventures.  The added element of surviving the environment will be stimulating but it's the foreign cultures calling these places home that really get things going.  A good example being "Lawrence of Arabia" or "Dune".  
• Machinations - Stepping into the realm of nobles can offer challenges that would make the strongest of warriors pause.  Such games rely more on intellect, guile, and social skills.  And they are embodied in the struggle for power the nobles engage in daily.  Alternately, the same sort of game can be had within one of the many organizations that are detailed.
• Pirates - The Inner Sea is made for a pirate campaign.  There are many small islands, only a few square miles in area, that are too small to show up on the big map.  This allows a GM to put them anywhere they like.  These islands are the key to the pirate economy and pirate longevity.  I also include a section that talks about the pirate culture.  Players could be the pirates or pirate hunters or a bit of both.
• Settlers - The growing empire is perfect for a settler campaign.  Can the players successfully tame the wilderness?  Maybe they are part of a borderland settlement.  Maybe they are trying to make a new settlement.  Whatever the case, the surrounding lands have to be pacified and that could take years in game.
• Urbanites - The wilderness is not the only place adventure can be found in.  The great cities are full of possibilities.  Explore the experience of being in a thieves guild.  Or be a beat cop of the mean streets.  City life offers a variety of possibilities.  

There are also elements of horror to be found in the Elder Beings and those that would worship such creatures.  The gnomish areas can allow a Steampunkish vibe if you like that.  As in most worlds, the Underdark always beckons.  Then, of course, the standard fantasy campaign is easily accommodated.

There are also possibilities for adventure in the past.  Roll the clock back to the Savage Time and find a world of death and destruction harsher than that of Dark Sun.  Find out what happened in the era of the Flayer Prince.  Adventure during the Second Fall for a chance to shape the future.  Return to the time of the Twelve Kingdoms and work for, or against, Tazral Kalistic as he fights for revenge and founds an empire.  Take part in the historic rebellion that leads to the Republic of Celyd being formed.  There are a number of other events to explore as well.

Again, these are just some of the things that have come to mind.  More to come...

[Fortunato]

[note]This materiel has been added to the main pdf as of version #997474:25:29[/note]
Part IV
More about Magic

The Death and Rebirth of Magic
During the Savage Time magic died.  It was not an accident or at least it is believed that it was not an accident.  When the gap between worlds was sealed the flow of magic energy into the World was stopped.  The world of mortals was closed off and the Old Gods could no longer touch it.  Their shock troops, powerful creatures native to the lands of the gods, were trapped in the the mortal realm and hence cutoff from their home and the source of their power.  Many died of the shock.  The remainder were crippled and likely easier to kill.  But the damage was not confined there.  The mortal spell casters also had a link to magic that mirrored their strength with it.  When that link was severed they experienced a shock to the system.  The stronger the link the greater the shock and the more likely they were to die.  However, all did not succumb immediately, some took days to die.  But die they did, all but the neophytes.  From this point on no one could use magic and the knowledge of magic was lost to the chaos and war that followed.

Luckily, the seal was not permanent and over time it broke down.  At that point, magic was born into the World again.  Historians commonly count the time between when the gap was sealed and the seal broke to be about one thousand years.  However, no one knows for sure.  Regardless, the time was great enough that nearly every scrap of knowledge dealing with how to use magic was lost to the ravages of time.  

The Magic Road Back
The rebirth of magic was not immediately apparent because no one knew how to use it.  The first to notice would have been the most faithful among worshipers of deities.  The New Gods would make their power known, first to their devout followers and then, more slowly, to the rest of the world.  It would take years for most of the remaining mortals to realize magic was back.  During that time some scholars, seeing divine magic return, would start down the path to rediscover arcane magic.  The path is long, very difficult and is still being trod to the current day.

When the Savage Time ended some of the surviving neophytes of magic recorded the little they did know about magic.  Some would even attempt to preserve the more advanced tombs of their mentors.  The vast majority of these efforts failed to save much information.  The scraps that do make it are pitiful shadows of the massive library of magical knowledge that once existed.  A surprising source for rebuilding the knowledge base of magic were the old folktales.  Many held clues and bits of knowledge about magic and how it worked.  Still others would become inspiration for new spells.

Not everyone wanted magic back.  The Second Fall was caused by the war between those that wanted magic and those that preferred magic remain dead.  There was much fear that magic would again lead to cataclysm.  Wars between these factions ravaged the fragile emerging civilizations of the World for many years.  In spite of all this, magic was back and people were relearning how to use it.

Magic Theory 101
Presented here are the basics of magic theory in the World.  To begin with, all magic involves the manipulation of magical energy.  Just what that energy is is a question scholars have struggled with for as long as there has been magic.  There are many competing schools of thought on the subject.  None are fully correct and all have their followers.

Some have tried to call it the essence of creation.  While this is a fantastic idea, it is ultimately incorrect.  Magic creates and magic destroys, this is undeniable.  So by its neutral nature it can not be simply named the essence of creation.

Others name magic an elemental force.  This is a little more useful but is still not correct.  To call it elemental implies it must exist and is part of the World.  Sealing the gap was proof that magic is not an innate part of the World, it flows in from elsewhere.  The World can exist without it, at least for a time.  So it is not elemental in the sense that it is not of the World nor is it required by the World.  

Still others try to define it as the manifestation of will.  While it is true that willpower is needed to focus and control magical energies it can not be said that magic is solely a force of one's will.  Again, the sealing of the gap proves that magic is not created within the boundaries of the World.  So it is not simply the manifestation of will.

Finally, there is the idea that magic is the energy of chaos and hence the instigator of change.  This is not the most popular of ideas for most and it shares the same faults as the essence of creation idea.  There is, however, an allure to this school of thought.  It attracts many people that feel like misfits.  It also attracts the insane and the worshipers of Elder Beings, the dark gods of chaos.

In the end, there is no one concept that explains what the energies that make magic happen are.  The debate continues and shows no sign of ending soon.  Two things can be agreed upon.  First, magic is the ultimate tool of mortals.  Using it a mortal can alter any aspect of themselves or the environment in which they exist for a limited time.  Second, magic is.  Even if what it is and where it comes from are not fully understood.

The Nature of Magic
Magic is an illogical blend of all things, a finite expression of the infinite, and the ultimate contradiction.  The energies of magic do not have a single source.  They flow through the World in unseen torrents.  Waiting, needing, to be tapped and become an act of magic.  These energies are a blend of energies from several different planes.  They are mixed together while passing through the Veil.  It is this blending that makes magic so versatile and makes it greater than the sum of its parts.  

The Veil is the curtain between worlds.  It prevents all the worlds from bleeding together.  Without the Veil anyone would be able to see what was happening in any world and walk between worlds with a simple step.  Fortunately for the sanity of all sentience beings, the Veil does exist.  It must be actively pierced when one passes from one world, or plane, to another.  The one thing it does not stop is the vital energies that each plane exudes.  These essential energies flow out from all planes and into all other planes.  The Veil blends them altogether and they become what is called magic.  Oddly enough, magic is the only thing that can pierce the Veil allowing physical entities to cross from between planes or worlds.

So, in summation, every plane of existence has an outbound flow of its essential energy and an inbound flow of every other planes' essential energy.  The Veil, which separates every plane from every other plane, combines these inbound flows.  This folding and melding of all types of energies creates magic energy within a given plane or world.  Hence, magic exists everywhere.

As a side note, it was the portion of the Veil surrounding the mortal world that was changed during the event known as "sealing the gap."  That event interrupted the flow of energies which create magic in the mortal realm.  Because only a small section of the Veil was changed, that being the section surrounding the mortal world, the change could not last.  The unaltered majority of the Veil resisted this disharmony in itself and the altered section was eventually returned to a consistency that matched the whole.  This took time, but as the Veil repaired itself and the altered section got closer to normal, magic begin to slowly flow back into the World.  

How Magic Works
While magic is magic there are variant forms of it.  To begin with, there is arcane magic and divine magic.  Divine magic is a gift from ones deity based on faith and devotion to that deity.  Arcane magic relies on intellect and focus to tap directly into the flow of magical energies that course through the World.  Both types can be divided into subclasses: abjuration, conjuration, divination, enchantment, evocation, illusion, necromancy, and transmutation.  These are often called schools or realms or spheres of magic.

A wielder of magic uses a spell to preform an act of magic.  Arcane magic spells use mystic symbols, words, gestures and other items in a variety of combinations to seize, channel and focus magical energies thereby generating the desired effect.  For divine magic, the spell takes the form of a prayer in which the power of a deity is called upon and the caster is a conduit for the magical energies sent.  Often, a holy symbol is used as a focus for the prayer.  

On very rare occasions, a divine spell will not produce the effect requested.  In such cases the deity, or an agent of the deity, sends a different effect or none at all.  This happens for one of two reasons.  First, when the caster is being punished for a major transgression of some kind, in which case a lesser effect (or no effect) is sent.  Second, to reward a truly faithful worshiper with an effect above and beyond what was requested.  This is very rare but it can happen when casting spells using divine magic.

Unexpected things can also happen with arcane magic.  Spell failure is the most common source of these events.  While 95% of all spell failures result in nothing happening, the remaining 5% can get very interesting.  Just what happens depends on the spell that was attempted.  As example, a failure casting an invisibility spell may cause one's clothing to become invisible, or a random object/person to become invisible instead, or the caster glows florescent green for a while.  Different spells would have different failure effects.  As such it is recommended that the GM take each occurrence as it comes and flip a coin to decide if the overall outcome of the failure will be good or not.  

[Ghostman]

Hello and welcome to the CBG Fortunato. To get comments on your setting, it might be wise to focus on what makes it different from plain old generic D&D. Also, posting questions and comments on other users' works is a good way to become familiar with the community here and to gain more attention for your own stuff.

It was the into this time that the New Gods made their mark on the world.  They reached out and touched their followers in ways that restored faith in the divine. They granted magic to their most devout followers.  These acts had a settling effect on some and just the opposite effect on others.

What are these new deities that have risen in the world? Where'd they come from? Are they any different from the older ones, save that they're not trying to kill everyone?

[Fortunato]

Hello and welcome to the CBG Fortunato. To get comments on your setting, it might be wise to focus on what makes it different from plain old generic D&D. Also, posting questions and comments on other users' works is a good way to become familiar with the community here and to gain more attention for your own stuff.

Hello Ghostman and thank you.  I plan for future posts to focus on things that are unique to Keltor, creatures, cultures, spells and so on that I haven't made a part of the main pdf yet.  I have made a couple of other post and will make more, my free time comes in spurts.  There is a great deal to read here and I've been enjoying the process of making my way through it all.  I'll get to know folks, it takes time and I'm in no rush.

It was the into this time that the New Gods made their mark on the world.  They reached out and touched their followers in ways that restored faith in the divine. They granted magic to their most devout followers.  These acts had a settling effect on some and just the opposite effect on others.

What are these new deities that have risen in the world? Where'd they come from? Are they any different from the older ones, save that they're not trying to kill everyone?

The New Gods are not really "new".  They are a collection of deities that became popular in that space of time after the gap was sealed and before the seal broke.  When humans turned their backs on the Old Gods many of them found that they still needed something to inspire and give faith and hope.  So other deities were embraced to fill that spiritual void.  What mattered most was these New Gods have nothing to do with what happened during the Savage Time.  Ironically, some of the New Gods would come from older pantheons that were no longer worshipped. Others would come from tribal cultures.  A few would be co-opted from other races.  In the end, humans of the Middle Lands were very flexible when it came to deities.  Faith and belief were what mattered to them and finding something to believe in again was very important to surviving those dark times.  Some of this is in the pdf already but it is an area I could write a great deal about.

So, the New Gods are kind of a hodgepodge and until the seal broke they were worshiped without being able to interact with their followers.  When the seal did break they reached out to their followers and gave the most devout the gift of magic.  Without that it would have taken longer for people to see magic was back in the World.

[LordVreeg]

i will take a more detailed look later.  i enjoy the fact that you've given some thought into many areas, though i recommend more detail in the discussion of what magic is; it looks more like a sad explanation for lack of detail in the rule system.   Man up and dive deep.  get specific; it is what will set your stuff apart.

[Humabout]

i will take a more detailed look later.  i enjoy the fact that you've given some thought into many areas, though i recommend more detail in the discussion of what magic is; it looks more like a sad explanation for lack of detail in the rule system.   Man up and dive deep.  get specific; it is what will set your stuff apart.

i cant help but second and third this.  I've said it a hundred times on this and other forums: You,
as the Worldbuilder/gm must know what is actually going on regardless of what is known in-setting, or you will lose your internal consistency. That one thing will set your setting apart.  In short, listen to vreeg. He knows his stuff.

[Fortunato]

i will take a more detailed look later.  i enjoy the fact that you've given some thought into many areas, though i recommend more detail in the discussion of what magic is; it looks more like a sad explanation for lack of detail in the rule system.   Man up and dive deep.  get specific; it is what will set your stuff apart.

Ok, I've altered Part IV.   Retitled the section "What is Magic", it is now called "Magic Theory 101" because that's a clearer description of what it is.  I also added the section "The Nature of Magic" which spells out where magic comes from. 

i cant help but second and third this.  I've said it a hundred times on this and other forums: You,
as the Worldbuilder/gm must know what is actually going on regardless of what is known in-setting, or you will lose your internal consistency. That one thing will set your setting apart.  In short, listen to vreeg. He knows his stuff.

I agree, while I know what is happening I do need to more clearly communicate those ideas for the sake of someone, not me, that wants to run a game in this world.  It occurs to me that while I have created several full blown fantasy worlds over the years, this is the first time I've made one public.  Thinking back on those other worlds, there were many fundamental things I never wrote down because I didn't need to.  It will take some effort to change that. 

Thank you both for the feedback :)

[Fortunato]

[note]This materiel has been added to the main pdf as of version #997474:25:29[/note]
Part V
Ritual Magic

Spells are specialized and quick forms of magic.  But magic is more complex, more powerful, and more dangerous than standard spells allow.  They are only the tip of the iceberg.  Ritual magic is the next level, more advanced and open, yet substantially more difficult and dangerous.  It is believed that anything is possible with ritual magic.  As example, while no details have survived, it is believed that some intricate and potent ritual was used to seal the gap.

Just about anything is possible with ritual magic so long as the price is paid.  That price can be very steep.  Special items are gathered, exotic equipment is used, and tremendous amounts of effort are expended in preforming a ritual.  On top of it all the knowledge of how rituals work and how to make them is highly restricted due to fear.  Fear of what has happened, fear of what people will do, fear of the Old Gods, fear of...the unknown.

So, as closely as some spells are guarded, all rituals are guarded even more closely.  While spell casters, in general, may know the possibility of using ritual magic the details are very nearly impossible to get.  For most, the research must be done independently.  True, there are legends of tomes containing lost knowledge.  But if such sources are out there they are so tightly controlled that their very existence is no more than a myth.

All spell casters do get the most basic training in rituals without realizing it; magic item creation.  While it has been heavily formalized and somewhat disguised as standard spell casting, the creation of magic items shares more with ritual magic than most people realize.  Making this connection is not something that everyone does but it is generally the first step one takes on the road to learning ritual magic.

Designing a Ritual

But before a ritual can be performed, one must have a ritual to follow.  For most, that means they have to research and design it themselves.  Once designed, it is often the case that no one knows if the ritual will work because it has never been tried before.  A vast majority of these first attempts fail, a few fail spectacularly.  It is not easy to design a ritual that works.  This is mostly a factor of there being no "how to" guides for creating a ritual and everyone has to start from almost zero.  Designing a ritual is a process that requires gathering clues of how things may work, based on what is known of magic theory, without knowing if it will work that way.  Sometimes clues can be found in the strangest of places, folktales, history, genealogy, bestiaries, metallurgy, and any number of other texts that are unrelated to magic or magic theory.  It's a huge puzzle and all the pieces are hidden.

Designing a ritual requires the researcher have the following:

• Ten levels in a pure spell caster class (mage classes or priest classes)
• Skill in spellcraft, minimum of 5
• Knowledge of magic (arcane or divine), minimum of 3
• The ability to create magic items of some kind other than potions or scrolls
• An extensive library, such a one found at a university or in a large city.  Most personal libraries are not adequate for this task.
• A research assistant is optional but they can give aid.  No more than one assistant is useful.

The parts that make up a ritual are very similar to the parts that make up a standard spell.  There are vocalizations, gestures, materials, and tools (focus devices) that work together to tap into, direct, and focus the magical energies called up by the ritual.  Another important component is time.  It takes time to perform a ritual.  This is mostly because of the amount of power being drawn.  If a caster tried to draw the same amount of power in a standard spell they would risk literally bursting into flame.  The minimum amount of time required is six hours but rituals can last for days.  During a ritual the performer is not able to eat, drink, or sleep due to the near constant activities they must perform.

Three of these factors, time, cost of materials, and special tools, can affect the research DC and the performance DC of a ritual.  Each of the three generating as much as a 1 point increase or decrease to the DC.  For both material cost and tool rarity the research and performance DC's are affected in the same way, i.e. the more expensive/rare materials and tools make both design and execution of the ritual easier.  However, for performance time the relation is that increasing the research DC will decrease the performance DC and vice versa.  

The cost of materials will run at least 500 gp for the simplest of rituals, with more complex rituals easily costing 10,000 gp or more.  What matters most is that these items have some relationship to the ritual's effect and they are consumed by performing the ritual.  It is often possible to use alternate materials that are more or less expensive.  The cost of tools (or focus items) can be high as well.  They are often masterwork items made from exotic materials.  Tools can be substituted with more or less expensive/rare alternatives just as materials can.  Sometimes questing is required to get the best tools.  For both materials and tools, if an alternative is selected it is done during the research phase.  From then on it is locked in and the ritual must be performed just as it was researched.

Additionally, the time taken to research the design of a ritual will affect the research DC.  Taking more time to thoroughly research the design can decrease the DC by up to 2 points.  Likewise, failing to put enough time into research can increase the DC by as much as 5 points.  

It may take several weeks to research the design of a relatively simple ritual, the really complex ones can take years of research.  Research time need not be contiguous so long as notes are taken.  In these cases, the loss of the notes means the research has to start over.  Research cost a minimum of 500 gp a week.

The DC required to create a ritual is judged by the GM on a case by case basis.  The absolute minimum DC for a ritual is 30 and that would be for a very simple one.   It could quickly reach 40 or more.  This depends largely on the ritual's end effect.  As the effect's complexity, scope, and power increases the DC goes up in accordance.  Then all the other factors are added in, tools, materials, time, research effort, and aid.  Taking 10 or 20 is never an option when designing a ritual.  Failing the DC roll by 5 or less means that the researcher will not know the ritual's design is faulty.  They will think everything is OK but, when performed, the ritual will automatically fail.

In summation the design DC is set by:

• Looking at the end effect of the ritual.  This gives the base DC.  The minimum is 30 and values should go up in proportion to the end effect's power, scope, and complexity.
• Adjust for research resources.  In most cases, an adequate library will generate no adjustment.  A poor one increases the DC by 1 to 5 points.  An excellent library may reduce the DC by 1 point.
• Adjust for design parameters.  By opting to use more expensive materials, rarer tools, or extend the casting time of the ritual, its design DC can be reduced by as much as three points.  The opposite is also true.  These changes will also effect the performance DC of the ritual, materials and tools having the same adjustment and time having the opposite adjustment.
• Adjust for the amount of time taken for researching the design.  Rushing the research increases the DC by between 1 and 5 points.  Taking extra time decreases the DC by 1 or 2 points.

Once the DC has been established, a spellcraft roll is made against it.  Bonuses can be applied for synergy  and if the optional research assistant was successful with their aid check.  On rare occasions, there may be other bonuses (or penalties) to apply.  If the roll successes the design is sound.  If it fails the design is faulty in some way.  Sometimes that flaw is obvious, sometimes it is not.  Failing by five or less means the flaw is so minor that it maybe unnoticed.  Failing by more than five means the faults are so obvious that the designer is immediately aware.  Regardless, such faulty rituals will always fail if they are performed.

Anyone, other than the original researcher, with 10 levels as a pure caster can review a ritual and thereby make a spellcraft check to notice any flaws, the DC is 30.  This review takes at least one week of uninterrupted time to study the ritual and an adequate library for "fact checking".

Executing a Ritual

The first thing about any ritual is that it is a test of both mental and physical endurance.  Rituals are basically long and drawn out spells.  During a ritual the performer (or caster) is not able to eat, drink, or sleep due to the near constant activities they must perform.  The base DC is set by the amount of time it takes to cast the ritual.  The minimum DC is 29.  For each six hours, or fraction, of casting time up to 24 hours add 1 to the DC.  Beyond that add 1 point to the DC for each 4 hour interval, or fraction, up to a total of 48 hours.  Rituals with casting times beyond 48 hours add 1 point to the DC for each hour, or fraction, beyond the 48th hour.  That reflects only the mental strain of the ritual.  

Any effects from lack of food, drink and/or sleep are another matter.  Chances are that someone with the resources to design and perform a ritual will have the resources needed to mitigate simple lack of food, drink, and sleep (such as a ring of sustenance).  If such resources are not available the GM may impose addition penalties to the later concentration checks in order to reflect hardship caused by lack of food, water, and/or sleep during the ritual.  As a guideline, it is suggested that the first check be made normally and each check after that have an increasing penalty to reflect the lack of one or more of these.  Naturally, someone lacking just sleep would have an easier time than someone lacking food, drink, and sleep so the penalty should reflect that.  Additionally, it would be possible to die from lack of water in just a few days and a complex ritual could take that long to cast.  This is yet another of the many reasons that those who take part in rituals must plan things out.

In addition to the effort required, the cost in coin can be very high as well.  When the ritual is designed it can be designed around more (or less) expensive materials and tools.  While that decision cannot be changed later, it still affects the performance DC accordingly.  More expensive components decrease the DC while cheaper ones increase it.  Additionally, the casting time can be altered during the design phase and that will also affect the performance DC.  While this may seem to duplicated changes to the DC for casting time it does not.  This change reflects that the effort of the casting is more (or less) stressful than it would be normally.

Assistants can also help lower the performance DC.  Up to six assistants can be utilized and each one will lower the DC by one point.  Note that this is not the same as giving aid, which is not possible for a ritual.  An assistant must have 5 levels as a pure spell caster and a spellcraft skill of at least 3.  These assistants have important, but minor roles in the ritual.  They lend their voices to the chants, they bring materials or tools the caster at the correct time, they clear things away as needed, they facilitate the ritual by seeing that things move forward in an orderly fashion.  As their roles are minor they are afforded the opportunity to eat, drink and even nap so long as it does not interfere with the ritual.

When executing a ritual two other key things must be addressed, "when" and "where".  Both the location and time the ritual is performed can affect the DC of success in a positive or negative fashion but in most casts they will have no effect at all.  In general, a one point adjustment to the DC for "when" and another for "where" are possible.  A favorable place may be a place attuned to magic or to the type of magic being preformed, as example, a necromantic ritual may find a recent battlefield a favorable "where".  Likewise, a ritual to promote growth may find the spring equinox an ideal "when" and the winter solstice the worst "when".  Finally, if the location is prepared with a Prepare Ground spell the DC can be lowered by 1 point.

In summation the performance DC is set by:

• Looking at the ritual's casting time.  The base DC is 29.   +1 for each 6 hours of casting time, up to 24.  +1 for each 4 hour interval between hour 24 and 48.  +1 for each hour beyond the 48th.
• Adjust for design parameters from the research phase.  This adjustment can be up to three points.
• Adjust for any assistants.  -1 for each assistant, maximum of six.
• Adjust for time and location.  Can adjust the DC by 1 point for both time and location, but it is most often zero for each.
• Adjust for casting a Prepare Ground spell.  This is optional.

In order to cast the ritual a concentration check is made against the ritual's performance DC once for each 12 hours, or fraction of 12 hours, of casting time.  If all the checks are successful then the ritual was successfully completed and the willing target gets the effect.  It should be noted that an unwilling target may get a saving throw and any spell resistance must be overcome first.  Spell resistance is reduced by the ritual's power, 10% of the performance DC rounded down.  Regardless, of success the material components are used and the caster burns one spell slot from each available spell level.  As example, a 10th level wizard would burn one of each of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th level spells.

Ritual Failure

There are two main causes of failure.  First, missing one or more concentration checks during the normal casting of the ritual.  The second is having the ritual interrupted.  Additionally, if the performer stops the ritual for more than one combat round it is considered automatically interrupted.

Any action by, attack on, or interruption to the performer that would require a concentration check for general spell casting provokes a concentration check in this case as well.  Calculate the DC of the interruption as if it was on a 10th level spell and compare it to the performance DC of the ritual, use the higher of the two as the DC of this concentration check.  Failing the concentration check means the ritual has been interrupted and fails.  It should be noted that taking out assistants will not necessarily interrupt the ritual, unless the performer is in some way directly affected, but it will increase the DC of any remaining concentration check as the bonus for that assistant is no longer available.

The backlash from a failure can be deadly.  In essence a great deal of magical energies are bound up in the ritual and if it fails those energies are released in an uncontrolled fashion.  They strike out in random ways with unpredictable results.  But just as with spell failure, the details of a ritual's failure depend on what effect the magic is trying to achieve.  The GM should roll d100 on the following table to get an idea of the severity of the failure's backlash, add 10 to the roll if the failure was due to interruption.  In the end, the exact effect is determined by the GM.

01-10	Minor, beneficial	The ritual didn't work anywhere near full power but something along the lines of the desired effect happens.
11-60	Minor, detrimental	The negative effect is localized to the target and is not immediately life threatening.  No save is possible.
61-90	Major	Anyone within 100 feet is affected by a nasty backlash.  If the effect is damage, no more than 15d6 is done.
91-00	Catastrophic	Anyone within 1000 feet is affected by an explosive backlash.  A minimum of 15d6 damage.

For minor detrimental failures only the target is harmed and no save is possible because they were open to the ritual affecting them in the first place.  Both "Major" and "Catastrophic" effects may have a saving throw.  It depends on the effect and is up to the GM.

Example, Ritual of Immortality

One of the most commonly sought after enhancements is an end to aging.  This is, relativity speaking, a simple ritual with a simple effect; stop the aging process in one creature.  So, successfully completing this ritual means the subject will not age another day in their life.

Design Phase
The primary factor in the research DC is the end effect.  This one is simple and straight forward but its duration is effectively infinite.  That is the main reason the base DC is set at 35.  Now to adjust it for all the other factors.  The researcher opts not to adjust the cost of materials or tools or change the casting time so no DC change is incurred.  The library used is adequate but no better, no DC change there.  It is decided that extra time will be taken to research the ritual.  Looking for the two point bump, the research time is doubled.  Working together, the player and GM have negotiated that the research DC for this immortality ritual is 33, it will cost 1,000 gp for the materials, another 1,000 gp for the tools, the casting time will be 18 hours, and the research time will be 10 weeks (but that is doubled to 20 in this case).  The cost for research is 10,000 gp (500gp x 20 weeks).  With the details worked out a spellcraft check can be made.  In order to maintain secrecy, the researcher does not seek the aid of an assistant.  The roll is made and it is successful.  The researcher has created a ritual.

Performance Phase
As the researcher is confidant of the newly created ritual, they proceed with performing it.  All the materials are located and procured.  The tools are created or procured.  Four assistants will be used, only four because that's all that can be found who can be trusted with knowledge of this ritual.  The location and time of the ritual's performance are set.  The GM has determined that a favorable celestial alignment occurs every four years and the next one is in three months.  The ritual will be performed to coincide with that alignment.  Just before the ritual begins a Prepare Ground spell is used on the location.  So, the DC begins at 29, +3 for the casting time (18 hours is less than 24 hours so the casting time adjustment is 18 / 6 = 3).  For a base of 32.  Now add in the other adjustments.  With four assistants, subtract 4 from the DC, so now it is 28.  Timing the ritual to coincide with a favorable celestial alignment subtracts 1 from the DC reducing it to 27.  Prepared Ground grants another reduction of 1 point to the DC, now at 26.  With an 18 hour casting time, two concentration checks are required by the performer to successfully complete this ritual.  Both are at a DC of 26.  It's close, but both rolls succeed.  The target of the ritual, in this case the performer, will no longer age.

Failure Phase
While no failure occurred this time the GM did jot down some ideas for failure, just incase.  For minor beneficial failure, age at half speed for ten years.  For minor detrimental failure, target immediately adds 50% to their physical age.  A major failure would double the physical age of everyone within 100 feet, save for half the aging.  A catastrophic failure would increase the physical age of everyone within 1000 feet to within one year of their maximum age, save to not die immediately from shock.

[Fortunato]

[note]Some materiel is new, some is updated.  It will be added to the main pdf post version #997474:25:29[/note]
Part VI
Custom Spells and Magic Items, Volume 1

Custom Magic Items
The following magical items are unique to the World.

[spoiler=Bow of Arrows]
Bow of Arrows
Aura: moderate conjuration; CL: 9th Slot: none; Price: 90,600 gp; Weight: 3 lb;

Description
This appears to be a normal composite longbow, with a minimum strength modifier of +2.  It has no enchantments that alter to hit or damage rolls.  However, should the bow string be fully drawn without an arrow nocked, one will magically appear, nocked and ready to fire.  Such arrows are silver tipped but otherwise normal.  An arrow created by the Bow of Arrows last only 5 minutes after being fired.  If not fired it vanishes when the bow's string slackens.  There is no known limit to how many arrows can be created. 

Construction
Requirements: Craft Magic Arms and Armor, major creation; Cost: 45,300 gp;
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Mirror of Wellness]
Mirror of Wellness
Aura: strong conjuration; CL: 12th Slot: none; Price: 42,000 gp; Weight: 25 lb;

Description
This item resembles a normal mirror in an ornate metal frame.  It measures about 3 feet long and 2 feet wide. The mirror can be hung or placed on a surface and then activated by speaking one of two command words.  Once activated, the next creature reflected in the mirror's surface has that command word's effect discharged upon them.  The first command word's effect cures 3d8+12 points of damage (as cure serious wounds) and can be called upon twice each day.  The second command word cures almost any abnormal condition and 120 points of damage (as heal) but can only be used once each week.  The mirror is fragile, has a hardness 1, and 5 hit points.

Construction
Requirements: Craft Wonderous Item, heal, cure serious wounds; Cost: 21,000 gp;
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Tablecloth of Heroes]
Tablecloth of Heroes
Aura: strong conjuration; CL: 12th / 20th Slot: none; Price: 26,000 gp / 43,000 gp; Weight: 2.5 lb / 15 lb;

Description
This item appears to be a very finely crafted tablecloth.  Once each day, when the tablecloth's command word is spoken, it will spread itself on the nearest suitable surface, worst case being the ground.  If a table is not there, a great table will materialize beneath the cloth.  A number of fine banquet chairs will form around the table, assuming none are already there.  A number of place settings will appear on the cloth, how many depends on the tablecloth's type.  Finally, a magnificent feast will appear, enough to feed one person / place setting.  This meal has the same benefits and limitations as the one created by a Heroes' Feast spell.  When the meal is over, be that completed or interrupted, all the place settings and feast remains vanish.  When the cloth is removed from the table, it reverts to its original condition and any conjured furnishings vanish.

The command word is often stitched on the underside of the cloth.  There are two varieties of tablecloth, a lesser and a greater.  The lesser measures 7 ft by 15 ft and is made for a table 4 ft by 10 ft which seats twelve people.  The greater tablecloth is more ornate, measures 25 ft in diameter, and is made for a round table 20 ft in diameter which seats twenty people.

Construction
Requirements: Craft Wonderous Item, heroes' feast; Cost: 13,000 gp / 21,500 gp;
[/spoiler]

Custom Spells
The following spells are unique to the World.

[spoiler=Chaos Blessing]
Chaos Blessing
School: transmutation
Level: sorcerer/wizard 1
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Components: V, S
Range: touch
Area: one creature
Duration: 1d3 rounds + 1 round / level
Saving Throw: Will negates
Spell Resistance: yes

The affect creature is momentarily surrounded by a mild distortion, like a heat mirage.  For 1d3 rounds, starting with the round it was cast and there after at the beginning of each round before anyone has an action, one random effect from the following table will affect the target creature. 

d%	Effect	d%	Effect	d%	Effect
01-08	+1 to Strength	33-40	+1 to Wisdom	63-76	+1 to Willpower Saves
09-16	+1 to Dexterity	41-48	+1 to Charisma	77-84	+1 to Fortitude Saves
17-24	+1 to Constitution	49-55	+1 to Attack Rolls	85-92	+1 to Reflex Saves
25-32	+1 to Intelligence	56-62	+1 to Damage Rolls	93-00	+1 to Initiative

All effects will expire at once when the spell ends.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chaos Curse]
Chaos Curse
School: transmutation
Level: sorcerer/wizard 1
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Components: V, S
Range: touch
Area: one creature
Duration: 1d3 rounds + 1 round / level
Saving Throw: Will negates
Spell Resistance: yes

The affect creature is momentarily surrounded by a mild distortion, like a heat mirage.  For 1d3 rounds, starting with the round it was cast and there after at the beginning of each round before anyone has an action, one random effect from the following table will affect the target creature.

d%	Effect	d%	Effect	d%	Effect
01-08	-1 to Strength	33-40	-1 to Wisdom	63-76	-1 to Willpower Saves
09-16	-1 to Dexterity	41-48	-1 to Charisma	77-84	-1 to Fortitude Saves
17-24	-1 to Constitution	49-55	-1 to Attack Rolls	85-92	-1 to Reflex Saves
25-32	-1 to Intelligence	56-62	-1 to Damage Rolls	93-00	-1 to Initiative

All effects will expire at once when the spell ends.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Prepare Ground]
Prepare Ground
School: transmutation
Level: cleric 5, druid 5, sorcerer/wizard 5
Casting Time: 1 hour
Components: V, S, M (herbs, oils, and incense worth at least 1,000 gp)
Range: touch
Area: 100-ft. radius emanating from the touched point
Duration: 3 hours/level
Saving Throw: none
Spell Resistance: no

This spell aligns the magical energies of an area so the flow is more beneficial for performing rituals.  Within the affected area, the performance DC of the ritual is lowered by 1 point.  Should the spell's duration end before the ritual is completed then any remaining concentration checks are made without the adjustment to the DC that this spell affords.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Straw Man]
Straw Man
School: transmutation
Level: bard 1, cleric 1, druid 1, sorcerer/wizard 1
Casting Time: 1 round
Components: V, S, M (twine and 1 cubic yard of straw or the like)
Range: touch
Effect: one animated construct
Duration: 3 round/level
Saving Throw: none
Spell Resistance: no

A bale of straw or hay or similar grass is animated.  The resulting construct is a small, dimwitted, humanoid servant that can be commanded to perform simple tasks or attack adversaries.  When the spell duration ends the magic holding the construct together slips away and it reverts to a plain pile of straw.

   Straw Construct I
   N Small construct, created from 1 cubic yard of straw
   Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +0
   Defense      AC 12, touch 12, flat-footed 12 (+2 Dex)
         hp 15 (1d10+10)
         Fort +0, Ref +2, Will +0
         Immune construct traits, magic
         Weaknesses vulnerable to fire
   Offense      Speed 30 ft.
         Melee 2 fists +1 (1d4+1)
   Statistics   Str 13, Dex 15, Con —, Int —, Wis 10, Cha 1
         Base Atk +1; CMB +1; CMD 13
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Straw Men]
Straw Men
School: transmutation
Level: druid 4, sorcerer/wizard 4
Casting Time: 1 round
Components: V, S, M (twine and 1 cubic yard of straw or the like per construct)
Range: touch
Effect: two animated construct + 1 additional / 2 levels (max 7)
Duration: 3 rounds/level
Saving Throw: none
Spell Resistance: no

One or more bales of straw or hay or similar grass is animated.  The resulting constructs are small, dimwitted, humanoid servant that can be commanded to perform simple tasks or attack adversaries.  When the spell duration ends the magic holding the constructs together slips away and they revert to plain piles of straw.

   Straw Construct II
   N Small construct, created from 1 cubic yard of straw
   Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +0
   Defense      AC 16, touch 14, flat-footed 12 (+4 Dex, +2 Natural)
         hp 27 (3d10+10)
         Fort +1, Ref +5, Will +1
         DR 2/magic; Immune construct traits, magic
         Weaknesses vulnerable to fire
   Offense      Speed 30 ft.
         Melee 2 fists +6 (1d6+3)
   Statistics   Str 16, Dex 18, Con —, Int —, Wis 10, Cha 1
         Base Atk +3; CMB +5; CMD 19
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Straw Horde]
Straw Horde
School: transmutation
Level: druid 6, sorcerer/wizard 6
Casting Time: 1 round
Components: V, S, M (twine and up to 3 cubic yards of straw or the like per caster level)
Range:  100-ft.
Effect: see text
Duration: see text
Saving Throw: none
Spell Resistance: no

One or more bales of straw or hay or similar grass within 100 ft of the caster is animated.  The resulting constructs are dimwitted, humanoid servant that can be commanded to perform simple tasks or attack adversaries.  When the spell duration ends the magic holding the constructs together slips away and they revert to plain piles of straw. 

The horde works a little differently form the rest of the line.  To start, multiply the caster's level by three.  This is the pool that is used to "purchase" constructs for the horde.  The cost is one point for each hit die of the construct created.  The base duration is 1 round/level but that can be altered using points.  Add up to two points for each construct to increase the duration to as much as 3 rounds/level.  Any of the Straw Constructs (I to IV) can be created as part of the horde.  Example, a 12th level wizard uses Straw Horde.  The pool is therefore 36 (12 x 3=36).  The wizard could call 36 Straw Construct I's for 12 rounds.  Or 18 Straw Construct I's for 24 rounds.  Or 2 Straw Construct IV's and 3 Straw Construct II's for 36 rounds (wasting 1 point because it's not enough to buy another construct for that duration).  Or any combination of hit dice + duration modifiers that is equal to or less than the pool.  Unused pool points are lost.

   Straw Construct III
   N Medium construct, created from 2 cubic yards of straw
   Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +0
   Defense      AC 17, touch 13, flat-footed 14 (+3 Dex, +4 Natural)
         hp 42 (4d10+20)
         Fort +1, Ref +4, Will +1
         DR 3/magic; Immune construct traits, magic
         Weaknesses vulnerable to fire
   Offense      Speed 30 ft.
         Melee 2 fists +8 (1d8+4)
   Statistics   Str 18, Dex 16, Con —, Int —, Wis 10, Cha 1
         Base Atk +4; CMB +8; CMD 21

   Straw Construct IV
   N Large construct, created from 3 cubic yards of straw
   Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +0
   Defense      AC 19, touch 13, flat-footed 16 (+3 Dex, +6 Natural)
         hp 74 (8d10+30)
         Fort +2, Ref +5, Will +2
         DR 5/magic; Immune construct traits, magic
         Weaknesses vulnerable to fire
   Offense      Speed 30 ft.
         Melee 2 fists +13 (1d10+5)
   Statistics   Str 20, Dex 16, Con —, Int —, Wis 10, Cha 1
         Base Atk +8; CMB +14; CMD 27
[/spoiler]

[Fortunato]

[note]This materiel has been added to the main pdf as of version #997893:33:34[/note]
Part VII
Extended Creature Details, Volume 1

What follows is information about various creatures found in the Middle Lands.  It supplements and expands upon the base information found for each such creature.

Boggards
Boggards stand 5 feet tall and weigh close to 200 pounds, however they tend to look shorter due to a hunched posture. While they are often found in swampy areas, the boggard also inhabit rain forests, damp caves, and any other places that are wet and shady as they need to dampen their skin often. Another key factor will be spawning pools which boggards will want to protect.

In the Middle Lands, boggards are a bit smarter than the normal variety, gaining a +1 to intelligence. This translates to better tactics. In particular, their use of "the chorus". This strategy is used to maximize the usefulness of their Terrifying Croak ability. The first three rounds of any combat one third of the boggards use their Terrifying Croak. In this way they ensure maximum fear. Additionally, when their numbers are great enough, they will employ their Sticky Tongue to pacify an opponent, by making grapple attacks with a minimum of three boggards using their tongues on a single opponent and working together in the grapple. Coupled with ambush tactics, this makes boggards a more feared opponent.

Boggards form organized bands and are always led by a large and powerful individual. On average, these groups number 30 to 40 boggards. They will make small settlements of mud huts. While they are aggressive, they do not often seek raiding with the fervor or goblins or orcs. The exception being when their shaman motivate them with religious rantings of star alignments and the like.

The boggards have their own, rather primitive language, but about a 1 in 8 can converse haltingly in the common tongue, though their vocabulary is rather limited. They are held in disdain by sahuagin, who will occasionally raid a boggard settlement for sport and out of sheer malice, eating any captive alive. Lizardfolk will rarely associate with boggards, though there is no open hostility towards them.

Bugbears
Standing about 7 feet tall and weighing, on average, 400 pounds, the bugbear is the largest of the goblinoid races. It could be argued that they are the most vicious, mean, vile, and cruel of the goblinoids as well. Their sadistic streak is often used by the hobgoblins who employee bugbears as executioners, torturers, and elite shock troops.

Bugbears do not build large settlements, their nature is too volatile for that. When they do settle, it is in ruins that are in some way significant to their shaman, meaning it's an evil place aligned to dark powers. Even then the bugbears will have goblins or kobolds to do the grunt work. Outside of these rare cases, bugbears are known take temporary shelter in caves that are convenient to them, meaning close to settlements they want to attack. Hobgoblins settlements will often have space put aside for the bugbears they hire. The bugbears will stay as long as it is "fun" and profitable. That works for the hobgoblins and the goblins, after all no one wants to be around bored bugbears, least of all goblins.

Centaurs
Centaurs average 7 feet tall and about 2,000 pounds. They live in semi-nomadic tribes on the plains and in the forests of the Middle Lands. These tribes average around 20 to 30 mated pairs and another 20 to 30 young centaurs and another 10 or so elders. For the most part, centaur tribes have peaceful interactions with their brethren. They are natural storytellers with a rich oral history. While they do keep written records, it is considered a backup for the oral tradition. The legends of centaur prowess with the bow are not without base. While bow hunting feeds most centaur they do grow some crops as well. Their herb gardens are almost as legendary as their abilities with a bow.

Centaurs are not generally friendly with dwarves. They tolerate gnomes and halflings. They are friendly with elves and like wood elves. Humans have a special place in the hearts of most centaurs, a place filled with deep hatred. Centaur history says humans are the cause of the Savage Time and the centaur nation suffered greatly during that era. The great old cities were destroyed and the centaurs were scattered. Additionally, the centaur bloodline was cursed. They call this curse the Sorrow. According to the old tales the curse demands that any city they seek to build will fall until "no stone stands upon another". All centaur believe this to be true as there are many stories of centaur since that time trying to start cities and having them destroyed at every turn. So, this leaves the centaur, as a people, feeling bereft and vagabond like. They still blame humans and as a result the hatred of them is widespread. While they do not go so far as to attack humans on sight, they are unpleasant toward them and will use the slightest of provocations to justify an escalation of hostility.

Both strength and wisdom are valued by the tribe so leaders tend to have both. Centaur have no settlements larger than a village and under centaur law no settlement may have more than three-hundred occupants and nothing is built from stone. In this way they try to avoid the Sorrow using methods that seem to have worked in the past. Still, even with these measures, they abandon their settlements every ten to twenty years and go start another. There is no set time frame for this, it just happens when tribe's elders see the omens.

Lone centaur do roam the land and from time to time they will enter the settlements of other races. This is more common in elven settlements and very rare in human settlements. The ones that venture into human lands have managed to let go of their anger, or at least they control it well. If they have not then they don't stay long. The exception being the Forlorn, centaurs that have been exiled for one reason or another. Most often this is done to centaurs that are too progressive of mind.

Doppelgangers
Sick, twisted, depraved, these are words commonly used to describe the demeanor of doppelgangers. Lusting for power and influence, doppelgangers infiltrate the societies of other creatures using their shape shifting ability. They will collect wealth and enjoy the power their assumed position affords them for as long as possible. Most often, this is not a long term endeavor and the doppelganger will stay only as long as it feels secure and is of benefit to the doppelganger. When they do leave they will take as much with them as possible.

Not all doppelgangers are depraved and debaucherous freaks. Many are content to spend some time impersonating a political figure, using that position to rob the community blind, and then quietly slip away to the next opportunity. But it's the sensational stories that are the ones to spread and be remembered.

Gnolls
Typically, a gnoll is 6.5 feet tall and weighs 225 pounds. While they are lazy and tend not to build their own settlements they do take over abandoned villages or warrens and use them until they are no longer suitable. Gnolls love to have slaves. Slaves are used for every imaginable labor around the gnoll lair. The ones that underperform are eaten. Eventually, they always underperform.

Gnoll bands are relatively small, typically no more than one-hundred gnolls. Tribes are more like breeds, the dominate breed of a band determines what tribe they identify as. The most well known tribes are the Black Backs, Blue Tails, Red Snouts, Sand Manes, and White Ears. There are no leaders at the tribe level but sometimes a very strong or very savvy gnoll will come along and unite many bands to wreak havoc.

The one thing that gets gnolls off their lazy backsides, most of the time, is a good hunt. They love to run down prey, so long as it doesn't involve too much running. What's more their game, is using pack hunting tactics to take down wounded prey. It's not sporting but they like it. The best moment of the hunt for any gnoll is when they start to eat the innards of their still living prey.

More to come...

[Fortunato]

[note]This materiel has been added to the main pdf as of version #997893:33:34[/note]
Part VIII
Extended Creature Details, Volume 2

What follows is information about various creatures found in the Middle Lands.  It supplements and expands upon the base information found for each such creature.

Goblins
The smallest of the goblinoids, a goblin stands on average 3.75 feet tall and weighs 50 pounds. Called "tunnel rats" by their larger brethren they are also the most numerous of goblinoids. Other races often use goblin proclivity for mating as some form of insult.

While goblins will dig warrens, something they do well, they will also take over abandoned places. In the mountains, on the plains, by the sea, deep in the forest, it is all the same to the goblin. They breed and spread and then breed some more. War is the only thing that really keeps goblin populations in check.

As individuals, goblins are generally weak, frightened, and stupid creatures. In groups they are belligerent, rambunctious, and stupid creatures. Goblins follow strength out of both fear and awe. They want to win so following the strong is a step in the right direction for any goblin. The strongest leaders can gather a substantial horde of goblins. While most tribes number only a few hundred the largest are currently about eight-thousand. The largest known tribe ever was under the goblin king Utty Face Chewer who gathered nearly twenty-five-thousand goblins to his banner. Many fell before the Face Chewer tribe.

Every tribe of goblins has a "goblin king" that rules them and from whom the tribe's name is taken. Some of the currently famous kings are Mumbro the Fish Eater, Torek Eye Biter, and Zippy the Paw Taker. Their tribes are large and well known in the Middle Lands. These large tribes launch raids on other settlements at every turn. They even get bold enough to engage the armies of the Empire from time to time.

Goblins at war are a terrible sight. The large tribes will flood the battlefield with a few thousand screaming goblins that just wash over whatever is in the way. They often use a multi-prong attack strategy in which the main force slams the enemy's front line with utter abandon while worg riders sweep wide right and left then turn to hit the enemy's flank and/or rear as they can. The smaller tribes like to force an enemy into a defensive position and firebomb them. Goblins love to use fire in war. Goblins love to use fire anytime at all. Some of the essentials of cooking may escape them, but they still build the cook fire, even if they just use it to lite the slaughtering ground. "Fun glowy glowy!"

Hobgoblins
An average hobgoblin stands 5 feet tall and weighs 160 pounds. They are the builders and visionaries of the goblinoid races. That is not to say that they themselves build things, they direct slaves to build things for the most part. The exception being that they are fantastic weapon and armor smiths and war engine designers. They are also marvelous tacticians and clerks. Hobgoblins have the ambition to build empires, fortunately for the rest of the World, they never seem to get enough slaves to realize that ambition.

Hobgoblins are the most orderly of the goblinoid races. They are organized by tribe, which they call a "kindom". Other races commonly and incorrectly use the term kingdom rather than kindom. When members of different kindoms encounter each other, it often ends in bloodshed and death. There are six well known kindoms of hobgoblins, Ahthrogs, Ganron, Hahvrin, Murlashdu, Sulthgoth, Yovvan and another score not so well known. A kindom is made up of clans that are related by bloodline. Clans are a little more volatile than kindoms and seem to come and go, sometimes with alarming speed.

The largest kindoms have 20,000 to 30,000 hobgoblins in them. They are not all in one settlement, in fact, it is rare that settlement has more than three-thousand hobgoblins in it. A typical hobgoblin settlement is a war camp with up to a thousand warriors, a few hundred slaves, up to a hundred bugbears, and maybe two-hundred goblins who are kept out of the main camp and away from sources of fire. More than one camp has been put to the torch by goblins playing with "The fun glowy glowy!"

Kobolds
The average kobold is about 3 feet tall and weighs about 35 pounds. They are cowards alone and bold in groups, the larger the group the braver they get. They are some of the best miners around and master trap builders. Their warrens are full of traps as are any caves surrounding their lair. Kobold traps are not always deadly. In fact, many are designed to trap and hold interlopers so the kobolds can take them prisoner. While kobolds do sometimes kill and eat prisoners they often sell them to hobgoblins or gnolls or sometimes even orcs. Some tribes give away slaves taken to keep themselves from becoming slaves to other, more powerful, creatures.

Some of the more well known kobold tribes include the Acid Flingers, Fire Scales, Iron Teeth, Scar Snouts, and Smoke Eaters. There are dozens of lesser known, smaller tribes as well. A typical tribe is about two-hundred kobolds with the largest having up to three-thousand kobolds. Such large tribes are very rare.

Kobolds will pull up stakes and leave everything behind for the opportunity to serve a dragon. If they hear of a dragon in the area they quickly organize a welcoming party and seek a meeting. If the dragon will have them the whole tribe will quickly relocate to a spot closer to their new master/mistress.

Many years ago a great kobold shaman and seer recorded a foretelling. She saw that the long sleeping dragon blood would awaken and her people would take strength from it. The Dragon Scion would walk the world. Kobolds would have their place beside the dragons and rule under the masters. Since that time many a kobold has stepped up to say they are the Scion and promptly been eaten by a passing ogre or troll or the like. But every time it happens the other kobolds rush to follow the Scion and months of chaos follows. The foretelling is something that every kobold knows of, they hear it from the egg on.

Lizardfolk
Lizardfolk vary but most stand between 6 and 7 feet tall and weighs between 180 to 250 pounds. They are a simple, private, and peaceful people. The last two centuries have been very hard on the lizardfolk living along the Danchu and Yahsur rivers. Both rivers have seen explosive growth of human populations. The humans use the rivers for trade and travel. In addition they have diverted massive amounts of water via a myriad of canals used to irrigate distant farmland. This has causes many marshlands to slowly vanish. Drying up as the river's overflow is greatly reduced.

While largely peaceful, the lizardfolk have been taking action. They have not made the connection that the canals are to blame but they have tired to fight off the humans that settle in land that was once marshlands. Along the Yahsur they have had a little success but the Danchu is lost to them. In addition to the marshlands along the rivers drying up, both the Lesmah Swamp and the great Grey Marsh have been slowly shrinking. The lizardfolk are worried and they are becoming more desperate to save their homes as time progresses.

More lizardfolk are venturing outside of their marshy homes. Some have been exiled and others are seeking answers to save their people. Sadly, many die as a result of misunderstandings. These arise as a result of cultural differences which make it hard for lizardfolk to function in the foreign settlements. If they are not killed out right when guards try to subdue them, they are often imprisoned for violating laws they don't understand.

Minotaurs
On average, a minotaur is 8 feet tall and weighs 900 pounds. There are many stories surrounding minotaurs and their lairs but the most famous is that of their origin. The common legend is that during the Savage Time the Old Gods cursed one bloodline above all others. They were cursed to live and to kill. Their savage killing and eating of other mortals warped them and this corruption manifested itself by changing them, giving them the head of a bull and massive hooves in place of feet.

As much as the minotaur loves to hunt and kill and eat humans and other such races they love to do it in ways that terrorize their prey even more. They commonly say, "Fear makes the meat sweet!" Harrying their quarry through a labyrinth has become their favorite method. It is the minotaurs natural cunning that makes this so appealing to them. A maze is child's play to the mind of minotaur. And at the same time they often confound the prey. This also appeals to the minotaur's sadistic side.

Minotaurs are solitary creatures until it is time to mate. A strong bull will try to attract as many cows as he can. It is not uncommon to have two or three cows for a single bull. A single minotaur is usually born to a cow. Twins are rare and regarded as holy. By its second year, a young minotaur has fully developed horns and can fight an orc on equal footing. By its fifth year, a minotaur is larger than a man, and by its tenth year, it has attained adult size and mannerisms. At this point a young bull will leave the lair, or if the dominate bull is old, he can be challenged by the younger bull. Only the winner will live. The young cows leave to seek a strong, unrelated, bull.

The young that leave will wander until they find a suitable lair or a mate. It is not uncommon for that to take some years. By their fifteenth year they have usually found both a lair and a mate. Caves or ruins or even city sewer systems can become lairs to a wandering minotaur. Some are even enlisted by other monsters or evil folk to be mercenaries or guardians. Some gold and the chance to kill humans are generally all it takes to hire a minotaur.

More to come...

[Fortunato]

[note]This materiel has been added to the main pdf as of version #997893:33:34[/note]
Part IX
Extended Creature Details, Volume 3

What follows is information about various creatures found in the Middle Lands.  It supplements and expands upon the base information found for each such creature.

Morlocks
A typical morlock stands just over 5 feet tall and weighs roughly 150 pounds. They live in the ruins of long forgotten civilizations deep underground. On the longest and darkest of nights they return to the surface and hunt. Tales of morlocks stealing children from their cribs are common fireside stories in the Empire. These tales have their base in fact and the children taken do not last long among the morlocks. In recent years morlock activities have increased sharply and they can come above ground just about anywhere there are caves. Due to this, even the most heavily patrolled lands can be raided.

According to legend, during the Savage Time humans fled the terrors wrought by the Old Gods. They fled to every conceivable location, including deep into the Underdark. It did not go well for those people. The darkness would rob them of much. Some say they found a baneful artifact, the Bone Obelisk, deep under the ground. Some say it was carved from the bones of a long forgotten and insane deity. The people worshiped it and it changed them, corrupted them. They began to feed indiscriminately, so long as it was meat. Soon they would be both cannibals and necrophages. With their humanity lost they continued to devolve until they became what is now known as morlocks.

The stories go on to say that deep in the Underdark is a ruined city, swarming with morlocks, where the Bone Obelisk rests.  It is said the Obelisk exudes a softly glowing mist that blankets the city in a dim light, just enough to make one wish for darkness.  For thousands of humanoids, this city of blind horrors is the last thing they will ever see.  Its halls echo with the near constant screams of captives being consumed alive.  The last person who reported seeing this city and lived, was over six centuries ago.  All accounts say she was never the same.  Some even say, she went back there, to that city of blood, and faced the nightmare that would never leave her in peace.  Face it and be devoured by it.

Other morlock settlements are not really worth the name.  Small bands tend to take up residence in caves close to prey.  On average such a band is no more than twenty morlocks.  They tend to hunt in packs, ambushing the unlucky and swarming them with rending claws and clicking teeth.

Ogres
Standing 10 feet tall and weighing close to 700 pounds, ogre are the "littlest giant". They spend a great deal of time working for others. Even with their relatively low intelligence, there is enough they can do to earn the rates they want. Make no mistake, they are well compensated and in high demand. Orcs love to employee ogres as mercenaries, each one is worth a dozen orcs on the line. When orcs go to war they take as many ogres as they can find.

Most problems begin when the orges have downtime. The only thing worse than a bored bugbear is a bored ogre. They will make their own fun and that fun is always pain for something smaller and weaker, which most things are. Games like "How many thumps can it take?" and "How many sticks can I stick in it?" and "How does it taste?" and the all time favorite "Will my club fit in it?", while being time honored classics loved by generations of ogre are, for everyone around the ogre, not so much fun. Well, orcs like it until the kobolds run out.

Home life for the ogre is not much different from work. They live in caves or abandoned structures with small groups of ogres related by blood. At most a dozen members make up these family units. Fighting is common. Mating is totally indiscriminate. Anything that doesn't fight back hard enough is food. This sums up the average ogre household.

Ogres keep slaves but end up eating them within a few days. The idea of slave labor, while good in the minds of most ogres, does not stand up to a rumbling stomach for long. The only chance a slave has is to keep the food coming as fast as possible. That and avoid the ogres looking for a place to put their club.

Orcs
Savage and strong, the average orc is roughly 6 feet tall and 210 pounds. They are, without a doubt, the most problematic marauders in the Middle Lands. The combination of a high level of hostility and high reproductive rates and environmental flexibility makes the orc a constant obstacle. While they favor mountainous or hilly regions they are also fairly common in the forest, on the plains, and in coastal regions. Caves, ruins, or freshly abandoned structures are often taken over by orcs and used as a base. No settlement within two days of an orc encampment will have to wait long for an attack or raid.

Orcs are quick to paint their faces and attack. With a weaker adversary they ride in on dire wolves, making a great show of it, and roll over any resistance before taking what they want, which is everything. But strong enemies are harried, supply lines are attacked, patrols are ambushed, snipers are used, and terror is encouraged. Orcs do not play fair and, while not the smartest of creatures, they are cunning enough to use complex strategies. Sadly, for the orcs, they are often a victim of their own success. The better they do the more orcs come to "get a piece of the action" and the more chaotic things become. It gets harder and harder for the orcs to carry out indirect warfare like that for long. Soon, different bands are stepping on each others feet and they start fighting one another. At this point a smart orc war chief switches to the direct assault so all the orcs can focus on attacking the same thing at the same time. Often, that change in strategy will allow the orcs to excel again.

It is at this point that orcs are at their most threatening. A screaming horde of hundreds of orcs is something that has ended more than one borderland town. Such hordes are common. Every year scores of small borderland villages are erased by such attacks. The larger hordes can number in the thousands and threaten much larger settlements. Fortunately, those large hordes are less common and will quickly draw the attention of any and all nearby armies loyal to the Empire.

But, as horrifying as these attacks are it is not death that frightens most people, it's being taken and living in captivity. Orcs take slaves, often they go out of their way to take slaves, and life as a slave to orcs is something most would not wish on their most hated enemy. A slave can only expect to be branded, used as their orc masters desire, then to die horribly for the sport of orcs, and end it all by being eaten by those same orcs. Few escape, the ones that do are never the same.

Female slaves can expect additional horrors for they are often used as breeding stock. It is not at all unknown for female orcs to pick a male slave and couple with them. Most orcs think of this as foul because the male slaves are rarely strong enough to make good breeding stock. In the end, orcs value half-orcs. The half-orc can often be as cruel as any orc and are very often more intelligent. If they are of the right temperament, the half-orc can do very well among orcs, even becoming a leader. Those that lack such a temperament often die young or slip away in search of a better, less brutal, place.

Orcs are tribal creatures. Every band of orcs is part of a tribe. Tribes are based on bloodline. The largest and most well known tribes in the Middle Lands are the Bloody Blade, Bone Breakers, Death Eye, Ear Takers, Rotting Hand, Rune Tooth, Sly Tongue, and Vile Blood. There are dozens of other, smaller, tribes and new ones form all the time as others vanish. Every tribe has its sign, used as a battle standard, honor tattoo, and an ownership brand. Tribe status is measured by the power of its warriors, the number of its slaves, the cruelty of its leader, and the gold they take.

Rakshasa
When the gap was sealed and the Savage Time ended, not every last beast the Old Gods sent to the moral world died. Some adapted. One foul spirit of the void began to take the shape of humanoids, and by consuming their souls, it found a new energy supply to replaced what it lost when the gap was sealed. This new source of power would sustain it. And it evolved into something never seen before, the creature now known as rakshasa. The consumption of souls continues.

Centuries later they still seek to carryout the will of the Old Gods, tearing at the mortals in every way they can. They do this for themselves not for the Old Gods, they believe they are all that remains of the the divine glory that was the Old Gods. And hence, they believe they should inherit the legacy of the Old Gods. Fortunately, their numbers are small and not likely to grow quickly as reproduction is difficult.

To reproduce a rakshasa must fully corrupt a mortal and merge with them. Years later they split, becoming two independent rakshasa. Due to the time required and the difficulty of corrupting a mortal to the level necessary for merging, the rakshasa can barely maintain their numbers. As a result they are very careful and avoid direct confrontation unless no other option is available. They will flee if possible, and physical assault is only used when success is absolute. Subterfuge and stealth are their tools.

Rakshasa must eat one mortal, there by consuming their soul, every lunar cycle or they start to degrade, losing one hit dice for each cycle they don't eat. If they lose all their hit dice they fade into nothingness. Eating returns them to full strength. Rakshasa like to make a production of the feeding. It becomes an event, one they savor.

More to come...

[Fortunato]

[note]This materiel has been added to the main pdf as of version #997893:33:34[/note]
Part X
Extended Creature Details, Volume 4

What follows is information about various creatures found in the Middle Lands.  It supplements and expands upon the base information found for each such creature.

Sahuagins
A sahuagin stands 7 feet tall and weighs about 250 pounds. In the Middle Lands about one fifth of all sahuagins have the amphibious mutation. Commonly called "sea devils", sahuagins kill for sport as much as out of need. Next to pirates, sahuagins are the bane of both shipping lanes and coastal settlements. They come in the night, sliding silently over the sand from the sea, into small fishing villages to whisk people away. There are tales of entire villages being emptied over the course of a single night. Many seaside villages keep nightly vigils, most especially during moonless nights & the highest tides of the year.

Ships anchored in harbor are vulnerable to these nightly incursions as well. Vessels carrying large amounts of dried meat and/or sweet peanut cream are most likely to draw sahuagin attention. Their amphibious raiding parties will often sneak onto such a ship, kill the crew and investigate its stores. They will take any valuables and/or foodstuff they like. This often includes the crew's bodies.

Even at sea and under full sail ships can be attacked. Sahuagin are strong swimmers and can keep pace with all but the fastest of ships. They will often latch on to the ships underside with their powerful claws and climb the hull in the dark of night. Once on board they kill any watchers and stall the ship, allowing more of their brethren to join them. If they can kill the crew they will strip the ship bare.

The average sahuagin raiding party is up to eight warriors, if they are targeting a village or ship at least half will have the amphibious mutation and it's not uncommon for all them to have it. Larger parties may even have a sahuagin shaman who could cast Air Breathing (a variant of the Water Breathing spell) which would allow any non-amphibious sahuagin to safely venture out of the water for a while.

Sahuagin outposts and raiding party camps are often in water at least a few hundred feet deep while actual settlements are in much deeper water, often a thousand feet or more. These undersea cities are both magnificent and terrifying to behold. They can house several thousand sahuagin and their slaves, often merfolk or aqua-elves. Each settlement is ruled by a sahuagin baron. It is rumored that somewhere in the deep ocean is a city of unparallelled size and wonder which is ruled over by the sahuagin king.

Troglodytes
A typical troglodyte stands about 5 feet tall and weighs 140 pounds. While numerous, infighting has kept troglodytes in check for centuries. Prior to the last decade, encounters with them were rare. But something is changing and more troglodytes are coming to the surface to hunt. There are even reports of the mythic dark elves of the Underdark being seen commanding troglodytes. While the lore is sparse, what is known of dark elves says this is very unlikely. Yet something is happening below.

Raiding parties often number between 12 and 20 troglodytes. In the borderlands they are more common but any ground can have a cave leading to troglodyte lairs. It is this increase in the "civilized" lands that has generated more worry. Southern Mostor is one of the latest hotbeds of activity.

Troglodytes do not get along with those outside their tribe. A typical tribe being 50 to 60 mated pairs, with at least as many young and half again as many eggs. Tribes settle in cave systems or ruins. They are ruled by the chief troglodyte who is often also a priest as well.

Religion has a major role in troglodyte life.  There is no one entity universally worshiped by all troglodytes, it is on a tribe by tribe basis.  That adds to the tension between tribes which has historically driven the different tribes to fight one another.  While powerful denizens of the Abyssal domains are often worshiped, Elder Beings are also worshiped.  Some even follow the Old Gods, in a perverted fashion.

Trolls
Trolls stand about 14 feet tall and weigh around 1,000 pounds. Their hunched posture makes them look shorter. Males are solitary and females live in small groups with their young and up to three other females who are often siblings or older offspring. Males come around looking for a mate from time to time and if one of the females is inclined she will accept him. He stays from a short time and moves on once the mating is successful.  Trolls defending a spawning lair, one with young, have a +2 bonus to all melee attack and damage rolls.

Trolls are almost always hungry. This leads to a never ending search for food. It also means that hiring a troll can be easier than one may think, so long as you have food to offer. The best food is some form of fresh humanoid but trolls are not picky so just about any meat will work. Gold is not a huge motivator, they like it just find but food is more valuable to them. The treasure a troll tends to amass generally comes from the belongings of its prey. Which is why it is often found among the bones of past meals which litter the floor of a troll's lair.

A troll's lair is almost always underground. It could be a cave or sewer or a tomb or some other ruins. What matters is that it is isolated and safe.  Other than that, trolls can hardly be called picky when it comes to where they sleep.  The solitary males are more transient, while females establish spawning lairs in which young are raised.  These spawning lairs will often see generations of trolls grow to adulthood.

It takes about twelve years for a new born troll to reach full adulthood.  By the age of four they can fight as well an orc.  They can get by on their own from the age of six.  By their tenth year they are ready to leave the spawning lair.  Males go off on their own while females will seek a spawning lair with room to accommodate them.   If one is not found they will establish a new one in a neighboring territory, often many miles from the nearest spawning lair.  It is unknown how long a troll can naturally live but some subjects have been found to be over seventy years old.

Anyone seeking to employ a troll should be content to approach males.  They would not be well received at a spawning lair.  The females have no time to leave due to the young they care for.  On top of that, they would see the interloper as a threat to their young.  Even when dealing with a solitary male, the process of retaining a troll is tricky and dangerous.  Most don't make it past introductions before it gets violent.  It is best to open with food, the amount of food being in proportion to the length of time one wants to talk.

Worgs
Measuring 3 feet tall at the shoulder and weighing close to 300 pounds, worgs are feared for their strength and viciousness. However, the intellect of worgs is often underestimated. In truth, it is the factor that really puts them on another level.  They remember past foes and tactics.  As trackers, worgs are far superior to dogs or normal wolves.  They are determined and never forget a scent they track, most especially the scent of any prey that escaped.

Worgs will, if it suits them, attach their pack to some other group of creatures, so long as it is beneficial. They like goblins because goblins are easy to control and happy to have a pack of worgs.  Other creatures they will ally with include orcs, hobgoblins, and various giants.  Additionally, they will join with humans if fed and treated well.  Being intelligent, one thing all worgs dislike is being treated as pets.  In their minds they are any alliance is just that, an alliance.  They will not long tolerate being looked at as pets.  Worgs hate goblin dogs and will kill them unless they are allied with the goblins the goblin dogs in question are serving.  Nothing stops worgs from attacking owlbears for whom they have an unrelenting hatred.  The source of this is a mystery, but something about the scent of an owlbear sets worgs off.  Finally, worgs love the taste of halfling and will seek it out when possible.  One enterprising goblin took to making "Worg Yummys!", the only worg treat made with real halfling jerky.  It did very well and he amassed the largest most aggressive worg rider brigade in goblin history.  Then his halfling supply dried up and half the worgs ate their riders in anger over the inferior gnome jerky substitute.

Sometimes a worg is taken as a pup and raised to be a companion of some sort.  These worg are not welcomed by any existing pack.  Not even their original pack will recognize them.  That is not to say the pack will not know them, they will be known by their scent, just not accepted.  

A typical worg pack is about ten strong.  But, in rare cases, they have been know to have as many as thirty beasts.  The pack with be commanded by the most powerful bitch.  She controls them and decides with whom the pack will ally themselves.  Any pack female can challenge the alpha bitch for leadership.  Most fights for dominance are to the death.

More to come...