Varerose: The Rosewater Kingdoms

[deadone]

posting here is fine.

[Tybalt]

First of all, I love the Magistrate's quote. Very cool. I also find the whole setting interesting.

The wolfeaters are one of the better homebrew monsters I've seen, I quite like the social dynamic as well as their general attributes.

I also like the kingdom of Zix. It has a genuinely supernatural origin and sense to it, it is rather unique compared with most human type kingdoms in gaming.

[deadone]

Of Nightmares and Dreams
To the east and west of Varerose, where the Rose River meets the Still Seas lie the Crystal Isles.  These great forests of glowing crystal are home to the ancient and powerful beings known as the Nightmares and the Dreams.  Woken when the Rose River first flowed, the Nightmares and Dreams had slept in the timeless Still Seas for an ageless aeon.  Their ancient minds are alien and mysterious, and little is known of the nature of their existence.
What is known is that each night, as the tides of the Rose River recede, they come to Varerose, the Dreams alighting in the fields of Dashar and the Nightmares alighting on the slopes of the Crimson Spine before traveling out into the world.  Once in Varerose, they must find and inhabit the mind of a sleeping mortal until daybreak, when they return to the Isle that they call home.
Both races posses great power, and those that deal with them stand to gain much.  However, be advised that Dreams and Nightmares are ageless creatures that predate even the Rose Heaven, and those that deal with them invite madness into their hearts.
- Dakamit Marxon Hindamit, High Artificer

Sleep.  And Dream.
- Placid-are-the-Rivers-at-Nightfall, Dream of the 2nd Spire kin

All the pieces are less than the whole.  The mind makes them complete.  Let us examine the pieces of the mind this night.  This is the cerebral cortex.  It is squishy.  It purpose is...
- The Nightmare of Zix

Notes of Interest:
Day, Night and Tides
The Rose River has a regular tidal cycle of approximately 26 hours, with high tide corresponding with noon and low tide corresponding with midnight.
Most scholars in Varerose have observed this relationship, and surmised that high tide is caused by noon and low tide is caused by midnight.  They have, in fact, mistaken cause for effect and effect for cause.
At high tide, the Rose River pushes the Still Seas back, releasing the spires of the Crystal Isle from the timeless stasis of the Still Seas.  When freed, the spires of the Crystal Isles release a blinding light, which is enough to illuminate the whole of Varerose.
At low tide, the Rose River recedes, and the light of the Crystal Isles is quenched by the Still Seas.

Shadows and Light
The Crystal Isles provide light for Varerose.  In the west, the Crystal Isle of Gold releases golden light, similar to the light of the sun with a heavy yellow tint.  In the east, the Crystal Isle of Crimson releases deeply crimson light, tinting everything with the color of freshly drawn blood.
However, the Crimson Spine and the Hyjalew mountain ranges both block the light of the Crimson Isle.  As a result, in the west only the light of the Isle of Gold shine, the Hyjalew seem to glow a hellish crimson, and shadows always point east.  In the east, nestled as it is between the Crimson Spine and the Hyjalew, what little light there is is the crimson light of the Crimson Isle, the Hyjalew seem to glow gold, and shadows always point west.
It is only the dwarves who appreciate the light of both Isles, nestled as they are in the peaks of the Hyjalew.  In dwarven cities, everything has two shadows: a shadow of gold stretching west and a shadow of crimson stretching east.
Because the primary source of light in Varerose never rise above the horizons, shadows are as long at midday as they are at dusk, and valleys are almost constantly in shade.

Of Plants and Fate
In Varerose, plants do not rely on photosynthesis to survive.  Instead, their roots feed on the ancient blood of all those that died on the day of genesis and their leaves draw energy from the weaves of Fate that criss cross Varerose.
For this reason, skill prophets can get a pretty good idea about which weave of Fate is dominant by observing the natural growth patterns of local foliage.  Regions where plants natural grow in spider web patterns are shunned, for they are tainted by the will of Viirisha.