Celtricia

[Tybalt]

Is the Green Mother associated with yuan ti?

And is 'chell' kind of like say a buddhist muttering "karma" as per your explanation?

You have done a very good job I see of making the deities important in the smallest actions. It's quite cool, in most rpgs only clerics and suchlike tend to do that if at all.

[LordVreeg]

no yuan-ti in my world, so that would be a negative.
The aspect of Vernidale that is the Green mother is the earth-spirit side of her, the nurturing side, that represents growing things, nurturing, and the Family.
The aspect that is the Queen of the Serpents is a malevolent, manipulative-female side, like a snake interested not in consequences, but the purity of personal comfort at any cost.  

The local Church of Vernidale, the Green Mother, is actually presided over by a few clerics who see both sides and do not find them at odds, but who tend towards the Serpent Queen side.  This  schism has actually been going on in the church for almost a century, though few outsiders know it.  The Sheering family is a big supporter of the Church of Vernidale, but more on the Serpent Queen side.  The local worshippers know none of this, and the services and the iconography of the church are purely 'Green Mother-esque'

As to the term 'Chell', and it's big brother, 'Chell, Amigal', these are examples of setting-specific comments and idiosyncrasies that, thankfully, litter my campaign.  Literally, one of my online NPC's would always use that as his battlecry, and would use 'Chell' (the scales) as his comment of digust, as if to say, the 'scales of the tradelord are not measureing my way today', but my PC's picked it up, and Ogleic's worshippers all actuallybsay things like that during game time.
My wife is running Kiko. and she has quite a few characters who worship Lucky Ishma, and she has taken to asking Ishma's help when she rolls.  It's pretty funny, but also gratifying when they get into the cosmology and their characters that much.  

[LordVreeg]

"It does seem strange, Pharren", said Tusnus.  
George Snorted.  "Maybe they're all like this.  Wonder how the BoneKnights are faring tonight?," he said.
"I'm sure the brave knights will fare well, friend George",Said Squire Tusnus.  He looked the picture of confidence, despite their bleak surroundings.  The old tomb was dreary.

George shook his head and went to the iron door.  Kiko stopped him and reminded him that the outside door had protection, or as she put it, modern protection.  She got out a few long metal probes, and went to work.  Tusnus got behind her and concentrated.  "I don't feel any undead here", he said.
Kiko looked up at the Omwo~ knight from her low position.  "An' I don't see another trap either", she said.

Tusnus glanced over at Pharren and Eodl.  The Haggard bard and the healer from the Lawful Triumverate were speaking in low tones as they poured over  the mosaic.  George and Cucino both went over to the door, as if to open it.  
"Perhaps, good friends, I should open the door", said Tusnus.  The other's looked at him.  "The Tradegod, and my chainmail, make me a better shield than either of you." [note] Cucino's Martial School of Song, aside from finding missle weapons dishonorable, also disdain the use of armor, prefering to concentrate all their skills and faith into their blades, and their songs about it later.  George just chose to wear no armor.  [/note]

Tusnus strode to the door, and George and Cucino got to the two side of the door, blades and claws at the ready.  Eodl and Pharren were behind the Squire Tusnus, as he pulled tht iron ring.  It caught for a second, then came open...
and then everything happened at once.  A loud metalic hiss, a clang and a thud and Tusnus knees went slack.  he turned around slowly, and stumbled. [note=behind the curtain] Reflex CC-10%, missed by Tusnus.  Assegai (d8+12/d8) damage, +1 for the force of the spring.  Tusnus wears padded silk under average chain mail( + his basic defence skill) AV43/PR31.  damage for the assegai (15/1)+1=16 (ugg, close to maximum), protection (31-3.4)/3.5=8 protection.  Tusnus has 16 HP, and takes 16-8 prot for 8 damage, leaving 8hp.  He gains 24 exp in basic defence and 80 exp in HP.[/note]"Good...good thing for my armor",he managed to say with a half smile.  A huge score in his chain mail near his shoulder and wickedly jagged assegai on the ground gave testimony that Kiko had missed one.

Tusnus moved back, as Eodl pulled a scroll out of his ready satchel, already unwrapping it.  
"There's more coming down a corridor!", bellowed George.  
Cucino moved from behind the door.  "Make a Murder zone, People!  Let them get to the end, but drop them there", he said.

Eodl started intoning the words of the 'Brother's Heal', as the others braced themselves.  Bones scraping, weapons jingling, the dead moved down the corridor towards them.

[Tybalt]

You know, this reminds me a lot of a 'Rhapsody of Fire" song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etM-ogRYO-Y&mode=related&search=

I actually find it cool when pcs do stuff for pure character reasons than trying to max/min everything they do. George sounds cool. They all do really, I quite like this party. I like my own too but mine seem so naive by comparison. Keep up the narrative, I'm enjoying it.

[LordVreeg]

this post has gotten mangled twice.  I'll try again.

Mechanics Post[ic=Note : behind the curtain]Reflex CC-10%, missed by Tusnus. Assegai (d8+12/d8) damage, +1 for the force of the spring. Tusnus wears padded silk under average chain mail( + his basic defence skill) AV43/PR31. damage for the assegai (15/1)+1=16 (ugg, close to maximum), protection (31-3.4)/3.5=8 protection. Tusnus has 16 HP, and takes 16-8 prot for 8 damage, leaving 8hp. He gains 24 exp in basic defence and 80 exp in HP.[/ic]

This was posted on the last story thread.
What is the Guildschool Translation of this gobbldeegook?  

[ic]Reflex CC-15%[/ic]
Guildschool has 4 major CC rolls.  Will, Fortitude, Reflex, and Social.  Reflex is based on IN+(CD*3)+ dodge/surprise skill.

[ic]Assegai (d8+12/d8)+1 for the force of the spring.[/ic]
GuildSchool damage is almost always done with an amount and a dividing die, to control the probability curve.  The Assegai is a small weapon, so it has an 8 sided die divider.  So the weapon does 12-20 before adjustments, but the dividing die means that there is a 12.5% chance of doing 12-20.  Daggers normally have d10 or d8 dividers, larger weapons have lower dividing dice.  A broadsword does (d10+16/d6), having a 16.7% of doing 17-26 base damage, a demilune does (d12+17/d5) base damage, having a 20% chance of doing 18-29 base.
The +1 bonus is for the forsce of the spring.  Minor construction adjustments and minor spells add damage before the dividing dice, great strength and better magic adds damage after the divider.
A critical hit reduces the divider of any weapon to a d4 and sometimes has a subtractor to that divider.

Now, how does a low HP world like mine deal with this much damage being thrown around?  Other than rolling up new characters, that is?

[ic]Tusnus wears padded silk under average chain mail( + his basic defence skill) AV43/PR31.[/ic]
Protection, that's how, or Damage reduction, in some folk's new-fangled vocabulary.  The above notation means that Tusnus has a 43 avoidance (he's pretty easy to hit), but has 31 max protection.  This explanation deals with protection.  All protections have a d10 roll and a (2d6/2) divider.  The 2d6 average divide is created to give more of a bellcurve, so that protection has more of a traditional bell-curve, vs the larger-tailed probablity curve of the weapons.   Tusnus's protection will be between 5.7 and 10.4 points 77.5% of the time, though it can be as low as 3.6, and as much as 31.

We've used this system for over 2 decades of playtesting now, and despite many tweaks, it accomplishes what I wanted.  Charaters who go into combat wear a lot of armor, since they are going to get his a lot.  Weapons do a lot of damage and HP are low in GuildSchool.  Protection is all fighters have.

[ic] Tusnus has 16 HP, and takes 16-8 prot for 8 damage, leaving 8hp. He gains 24 exp in basic defence and 80 exp in HP.[/ic]
Guildschool is also skillbased, not classbased.  We keep experience seperately in each skill.  Character's that leasrned the skill from a good school and have advantageous Attributes have a better EXPmodifier, so they go up levels faster.  No one gets better hitpoints from picking a lock, but no one becomes a better lockpick by killing a skeleton.
In the example above, Squire Tusnus got nailed.  He protected 8 points, and gained 24 exp in basic defence skill (he's not advanced enough to have to worry about what subskills to put it in, if he wanted to), and his 8 HP taken in a real battle netted him 80 EXP in hit points.  He also gasin a share of exp for creature he has a part in killing which must be spent based on his contribution to the combat.

[Tybalt]

Innnnnnteresting. There are a couple of other game systems that use this as well. I think if I'd gone through as many players as you in the last while I might very well have adapted, as it stands I am going to review your character gen ideas and just for fun see if you and I can come up with a character just to test the system. If you'd agree that is.

[LordVreeg]

I think I'm good with it.
Sorry I have been off-line, but I was in Mass, NJ, and Denver, in the last few days for work.
I've been re writing (we are all always rewriting...) the character Gen stuff.  But I'll start a thread for the character creation tonght or tomorrow.  We can create a few and run through a few scenarios to give you a feel.
The area a character is started in has a lot to do with what schools and guilds are available.  But Igbar is a good place to start.

[Tybalt]

Cool, that sounds fun indeed.

[LordVreeg]

In the Blackness of the tomb, with the 2 hooded lanterns throwing huge and crazy shadows about the low-ceilinged space, at least there was time to be spent wondering if the place was haunted.
Since their were animated skeletal figures slowly marching up the ten foot wide corridor at the party, the haunted part was a surety.  A whole squad were shuffling down the corridor at them.

"Something funny about that bugger in the back", said Cucino in conversational tone, as the party spread out around the bricked entrance to the inner tomb.

Kiko had her bow out, moving around behind Cucino and George.  "I can't see him!", said the exasperated hobyt.  She was shorter than average even for the Hobyts.  Behind her, Pharren's damaged hand fit around his lyre, and Eodl read a cure of a scroll...a scroll bought by the old Grey Legion, before all the deaths.  Eodl struggled through the scroll.  Nebler would shield them or he would not.

A bow sang out.  Kiko was on the job, or at least trying to be.
"Way to terrorize the ceiling", said George.  "Were you trying for a ricochet shot, since you can't see the guy in the back?"
"Shut up, you lobster", she shot back.

A crash of arms, metal on metal on bone, erupted from behind Eodl, and he felt tall Tusnus tense, even through the Squire's chain mail.

"Don't let them through!", yelled Cucino as he tried to bottle the near-dozen up with his twin swords.  
"Fine", said George in a light tone, then he ripped into a skeleton legionaire with both claws, severing the thing's spine and leaving it twitching on the floor.  He grinned through the bone barrage, but instread of waiting for another one to reach him, he bent and took out the knee of one of the two legionaires that were trying to go through Cucino.  "I won't let them through."

The gentle notes of Pharren's lyre started to be heard.  Bardic skills were the thing of legends, but it was hard to know if they were really helping the fight, or accompanying a slaughter.  
"Courage Friends!!", came Tusnus' clear voice from behind the fighting ranks, "I come to lend a hand!"
"Like we need it", said George, ripping through another set of old Studded leather armor.  He and Cucino both struck down their foes at the front of the passage simultaneously.  
"Shag, there are more in the back with that binged-out mail", Cucino remarked between breaths.
"Where?" said Kiko.  She'd managed to clip off the clavicle of a legionaire before George separated it from it's skull.

The mail-clad skeletons came on, faster than the ones from the earlier ranks.  The bore long spears, well-made, not like rusty weapons the group had been facing.  And behind them, the last skeleton that lurked was somehow hazy, and indistinct.

"Chell, Chell Amigal!!", intoned Tusnus as he marshalled the power of the Tradegod.  It had not worked for him lately, but Squire Tusnus walked forward to join the others, mantling himelf in his faith of the Lord of Scales.
And he was answered, rewarded even, as the four skeletons before the last one burst into green flames even as they tried to turn and run.  Leaving the one in the back hissing as it raised it's falchion.  It wore a different type of armor, some kind of banded mail, but with an insectoid overtone to it.
"Not bad, Squire", said George as he bounded down the corridor, trying to catch the shadowy skeleton by surprise.  However, as he reached the grinning shade, the skelrton surprised him by lashing out before George could set himself.  George managed to splay himslef backward and somersault into a standing position.  Cucino and Tusnus were charging down the corridor, to aid him.
[note=drain hp]
Anginarian Shades have a lesser 'drain hp' ability whenever they hit a creature.  If the victim misses their fortitude CC-20%, the damage is permanent, needing great magic to gain back.[/note]
George poked twice at the well-mailed skeleton, and got down low to make himself a smaller target.  As he did , the shade's falchion whipped out at his head.  He managed to spin , but the blade still bit deeply into his unarmored shoulder, ripping up the deltoid, and worse, leaving an awful cold feeling that drove him to his knees.
 Then, as the shade skeleton brought his sword back to press his attack on George, Tusnus' silvered heavy flail head perfectly contacted the front ot the creatures skull, right in the face.  The squire took the thing down with a single blow.

Tusnus stood over it, while Cucino helped george to his feet.  The Omwo~ knight looked down, then turned his head to back to the others.  "Chell, my friends.  He is with me, and with us all"  

[Tybalt]

That's one of those moments where people feel most vindicated, I'm sure.

(Mereka FINALLY got to turn something AND use dismissal effectively last game)

BTW--what's with the lobster comment?

Out of curiousity this encounter seemed unpleasant for them but not horribly so--so was this a typical encounter for them?

[LordVreeg]

Most of them are a new group, so the storeyline I have written so far here deals with 2 older characters and 4 brand new ones and every combat is difficult for them.  Their skills are pretty lowly, even against the lesser undead they are fighting.  
[note=lesser undead in Celtricia]Groaning skeletons are the least form of skeleton, very slow, and with only one hp.  They are only animated by exposure to an Anginarian Undead creation ability.  Skeleton Legionaire's are the same, but a little faster amd with 1-6 hp.  Tradtional Animated skeletons can be created by necromancy and this creation skill is also a given ability of most medium and upper level undead.  [/note]
Also, the system I use and have described (ad nauseum, I am sure) is built to exterminate bad players, and frankly.  George has decided to wear no armor, when his skillset and faction philosophy allow for it.  He's a lot of fun,  a big hobyt running around with the Hobtaskulis  (2.5' claws-which is why Kiko calls him lobster), but any character that wants to live in combat had best wear armor.  The odds are that you will get hit.

[Kalos Mer]

LordVreeg,

I've been reading your setting for the past couple weeks(!).  It's very interesting the amount of depth that a couple of decades can give a setting.

I'm particularly interested because, as you know, I too am trying to design a skill-based RPG to replace D&D as the system for my game setting - though my game won't have people quite as dependent on guilds to gain their skills as I understand people are in yours.

I have a couple of particular questions, and please pardon me if these have already been answered - I've read the entire thread twice over now, and I still feel a little at a loss.  Stream of consciousness is a pretty good way to describe this. ;)

1. is a matter of pronunciation.  What is the meaning of the ~ symbol in 'Omwo~'?  For that matter, what's the linguistic structure of your setting?  You've given words from several different branches of the Omwo~ language tree, so I'm just wondering how much thought you've given to language over all.  (Excuse this question, as I am a philology geek.)

2.  I was wondering if you could go into a little more detail on religion as far as mythology/beliefs are concerned.  In the first post on the subject, back on page 2, we got some glimpses of difference in approach to the gods between different races (the Klaxik view on Madrak, for instance.)  I'm a big myth/religion buff, and I would love to see what else you have on the gods.

[LordVreeg]

Here are the languages listed on the skill charts currently
Langage Sauroid 0.2 IN15-.013 5 1-6 1          
Langage Makerspeak 0.5 IN12-.02 5 2-7 1          
Langage Klaxik 0.5 IN13-.011 10 2-9 1   Underearth, Red Hobbit, Gastax      
Langage Omwo~ 0.5 IN11-.02 10 1-10 1   Marcher, Silverwood, XI~U Omwo~, Delvan      
Langage Odop (law) 0.6 In12-01/Wi12-.011 2 1-6 1   Neblerian, Hendac, Modron, Devilkin, harnic      
Langage Vox (Southern Common) 0.6 In11-.01 10 2-11 1   Ambrellian, Omnian      
Langage Hobyt 0.6 IN12-.015/ 10 2-9 1   Brightish      
Langage Anarch (Chaos) 0.7 In12-.01/WI12-.011 0 2-7 1   Jubilexian, Grazztian, Venolvian      
Langage Westic (north common) 0.7 IN10-.01 15 2-12 1   Horse trader, Violic, Orcash      
Langage Omnian 0.4 IN12-.011 5 2-9 2 Vox   0.5    
Langage Venolvian (coom) 0.4 IN9-.003/WI13-.015 2 2-9 2 Anarch Ancient Venolvian,  0.1    
Langage Silverwood 0.5 IN10-.01/WI5-.005 5 2-11 2 Omwo~   0.75    
Langage Harnic 0.55 INt12-.01 5 2-7 2 Odop Arcanic 0.25    
Langage Marcher (grey March) 0.6 In11-.012 5 2-9 2 Westic Suprosian 0.25    
Langage Orcash 0.7 WI6-.012 5 2-11 2 Westic Red Pass orcash, Zjymanese 0.8    
Langage Suprosian 0.67 IN15-.016 0 3-12 3 Marcher   0.3    
Language Zyjmese 0.25 int 12-.012   2-12 3

The ones at the end are the sub-skills, which would be sub languages in this case.  Etymology is a subset/contributing force of history, in my view.  So this is a REALLY hard question to answer without overlapping the 14k symbol limit.
The tilde symbol (~) in the Omwo~ tongue is a symbol I normally avoid using, as it actually appears often in the Omwo~tongue.  It symbolizes a triple letter sound, so Omwo~ really means Omwooo, rhymes with 'go blue'.  Sort of.

and though Xi~u Omwo~ (White Elf) is listed as a sub of Omwo~ above, it actually preceded the 'current, common' Omwo~ tongue.  SIlverwood is the language of the Omwo~ of the Silverwood confederacy.  Marcher is the language of the Grey March, but is a derivation of the Omwo~ tongue, as it came from the House Teliman humans who joined Verkonnen Vreeg in the early Age of Heroes in the founding of Ambrettus (in -4855 RON, to be exact).  Delvan is the sub splinter of the Cmao~ Omwo~ (sea elves) that left the celtrician continent to wander the seas with the exiles of Ragnos, and that founnded the Delvan Island back in -2105 RON, that is now a few destroyed islands.

The funniest is Suprosian, As that is just a clan of really, really ambitious Omwo~ that take huge pride in that they have run various parts of the Grey March over the last three thousands years, but their language is a debased form of a human variation of old Omwo~.


The mythology thing needs at least 2 glasses of wine for me to broach.  As you might have seen in my little thread Tybalt and I are working on for a character creation, even just the religioius groups of Igbar is a big subject.  However, I am aware if I do a good job answering you, I can use it on my Wiki, so I will try to get that done in the next few nights.

And 'Stream-of-consiousness' is a nice way of describing this absolute disaster of a thread...It's kind of like watching a huge, burning truck careening down the road at 60 miles an hour, after the driver has had a heart attack....you can't take your eyes of it, even though you know it is a disaster... :explode:

[LordVreeg]

On Religion....

1-Celtrician Mythos is looked on as Truth by all, though the details are up for debate, to put it nicely.  Another way to look at is that mythology began (and begat) history.  Though most of it is clouded in the 10,000 year history of the Celtrician world, none doubt the existence of the Planars.

2-There are dozens of deities, though it is important to mention that many of them came into being during the Age of Legends, and a few in the Age of Heroes that followed it.  The age of Legends is actually deternmined by the millenias that the Celestial Planars actually walked the earth, creating and contesting in the same arean that the Omwo~ and Sauroids, and later the men, the ogrillites, and the Stunatu did.  The Age of Heroes is characterized after they aquiessed and appplied the Accords of Presence (basically the hands off rules of engagement), when the Celestial Planars actually acted through their agents, often speaking directly to their chosen few.  There is a serious rationale for this; one of the primary sources of CP/DP (Celestial Points/Demon Points) comes directly from True worship, worship of an actual aspect of a diety.  So they compete heavily...

3-One of the overarching themes of the Celtrician mythos, as it related to the current playing setting, is the limited understanding that mortals have of the Celestial Planars.  They are powerful and complex being the range of any mortal's understanding.

I am going to reprint the creation myth/origin from my first posting first, for anyone who is reading this response.
[spoiler]Before there was land, before there was water, before there was Air or Flame, before even there was the strife of Order and Entropy, there was Oronath, the "Song That is Creation'.
Oronath came from the strife of a place and time that was old and burnt out, the last survivor and damaged from his exit from that failing song. His entrance into the void was without plan, and without hope. Yet there was in his damaged greatness still the Song of Creation, the Music of Life.
And it was some time in this void that the fits and starts of the Song pulsed and faded.
And alone Oronath knew despair, for in his powerful self the keys of the Song were set, yet as he forced the strains out, with more and more force, they fell upon the void and died.
And time and again, he rallied from the disappointment, steeled himself, and forced the Myriad harmony onto the void. And there, it died again and again, and then a thousand times again. In airless silence, the Song of Creations that dwelt in him, and only in him, pulsed out into the void and was swallowed.
And after so many attempts, Oronath of the Music turned from the void and from his trials of the Song. And there he found a reflection of himself, a darker brother formed from his despair, peering back at him. This dark reflection had all the size and much of his determination, yet was cold and empty inside. And when he reached out to this coldness, he felt the Cacophony of discordance rise to his music, pulling down the harmonies of life from the earlier times. And the discord drowned the harmony; dismaying Oronath further and the Music began to die.
And the Shadow creature came forward, gaining in power, and the Discord grew.
Then Great Oronath steeled himself, and thought for the first time in this new version of himself with clear purpose. The song is threatened; the song must be defended.
And the Harmony of life grew in volume, and Oronath stretched forth his strength, and it grew again, and the dark creature drew back. And though the discord still moved around the Song of Creation, the center of the Harmony held strong, and Oronath was pleased.
But the dark copy was a deeper creature than Great Oronath perceived, and the Cacophony changed to notes of minor key that added doubt and trepidation to the Music Oronath had cast into this void with. And yet even as Oronath rose up to create purity in the his Song, the harmony subtly changed around him to something deeper. The sadness of death and the resilience of Life became the great movements of the Music. And Oronath recognized himself in the other orchestrator, in reverse. And thus did Oronath meet the twin he created in his efforts to force the music onto the void, the twin Thanatos, the ender of the old, and the bringer of the new. This dark copy of himself bore a music of somberness and pain, yet that brought the triumph in his own into greater height.
And for time without end, the musics turned and moved. And in the order of the music and meter came the slight idea of creativity, of chaos, and thus did Entropy enter the Song of Creation, and thus did Oronath and Thanatos realize it for what it was.
And this also went on for time immemorial, the movement of Entropy and Order and the Cycle of Life and Death. They circled and moved and grew.
But there was more to come.

The Planars Brought Forth

After much time was spent on this, Smaller themes and musics began to grow out of the song, created by the twin forces. And thus was created full grown Madrak the Mighty, from the thought of Oronath, creature of solidity and dependability, Creator and Earth lord.
And Oronath and Thanatos were amazed, as Madrak picked up his part of the music and wove strands of Earth into it. And as those three began to weave the harmonies, The Valiance of Nebler the Defender sprang forth from the thoughts of Oronath, and there were songs of protection in the Music. A beauty of sacrifice danced into the notes, of a nobility of defending unknowing fragile hope with blood, and of satisfaction of this job well done.
And the Emptiness of Thanatos was sparked, and he brought forth Anthraxus, the decayed, the Oinodaemon. Anthraxus brought a dark pathos that made more beautiful the other strains and harmonies. And Thanatos saw this and brought forth Asmodeus, the dark and violent law.
And all of them kept the music building, introducing interludes and melodies of greater power and complexity.
And so Oronath Brought forward Amerer, the balance and the inward facing. And then Pablar, the Steel General, the Patron of Lost Causes. And their music brought forth a power and majesty into the song.
And lastly, Thanatos brought forth Orcus the lord of the Dead, and Jubilex of Black Comedy.
And together, these beings strove to bring the great Music into fruition.
At their heart, despite a conflict of millennia, these great beings understand that the beauty of the whole is lessened without the contribution of the rest, as they heard echo in the void before creation, so that crushing totality of song reverberates in their souls from the beginning.     [/spoiler]  

What this means is that the mortal translation of an aspect of these beings is small and imperfect, especially since they speak directly less and less.  Jubilex is the patron of Black Irony and Capricious Fate, and the Church of Chaos in Igbar that has him as their primary patron teaches a self reliance and a humorous view on the world.
Jubilex is also one of the Patrons of the Entropic Overlord Religion of Old Venolvia, a cruel demon prince of slimes and dark alchemy that presides over the sacrifice of lives by poison.  The Northern Zyjmanese orcash tribes (uncivilized versions, led By Zyjman XII) have a large contingent who worship at the Altar of Jubilex the Chaos-Bringer, the leader of the wave that will allow them to wash over the Grey MArch and Silverwood.

My players are older also, and they really delve into the religions of the world.  The Church of the Autumn Harvest (Amrist, who was begotten of Ceminiar, who was Begotten of Madrak) is ridiculously developed, with the holy books, The Chaff of Live, Seeds in the Wind, the Reluctant Harvest, and the Seasons of Belief, all fleshed out.  The Platform of Earth is what the churches are called (always pillared and mainly open, even in the northern climes, and with a sacred tree in the center), and their quiet, accepting philosphy has been taken by some of the PC's and worked out even further.

Now, if you are asking me to talk precise cosmology from here, with the events and the legends these events created, like shadows seen on a wall, imperfect and grotesque, I will need months and to probably destroy the wine cellar.  

[Kalos Mer]

Please, by all means don't destroy your whole wine cellar on my account.  But I'd love to see, for instance, some of the fleshed-out church of Amrist stuff.