Celtricia, World of Factions-Setting Information V2.0

[LordVreeg]

Celtricia, World Of Factions
V 2.1 for CBG
Setting thread--do not post here. Post here  I really look forward to every question or comment.[note=Wall of Text Spell]
I totally am aware of the Wall of Text effect.  That's one of the reasons that I rebooted the last time. But I am thinking that I will have to set up a seperate thread for the intro alone.  [/note]
There will be a seperate thread for the Guildschool crunch.
In any question, the wikisite is updated regularly, and that is the best place to see anything about Celtricia.
Celtricia, World of Factions PBwiki
Celtrician Primer
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[ic=Opening Montage]The room is large and box shaped,far too large to be lit only by a few thick white candles and a banked fireplace across the room.  The sparce light sources sent crazy shadows racing across the thick, dark beams some fifteen feet over head.  'Upstairs at Bannetti's', the room is called, and during the days it's fifty-one tables and all the places between them are filled with people, talking over each other, messengers with notes being sent, and deals being made.

 

However, at 3rd hour of the new day, hours before the red dawn known as the Sui, the room is cold and the four seated inhabitants are masked by the lack of illumination, though they all know each other.  None of them sit at a table with another, though they are close enough to hear the soft voices each employs.

"My sources inform me that "the Knife" has actually been operating here in Igbar for years, just under the window sill", says a small figure at a central table.  He's the only one at a table between the others, without his back to a wall, and his voice carries a clipped precicision.  The flickering light reveals a dark green, long satin robe, and greying hair.  The robe has muted piping and a black lining, bespeaking a level of quality beyond the reach of many in Igbar.

 

"They've probably been here for decades, Prime" intones the long figure seated at the table behind the hobyt.  The golden-red light of the fireplace comes from behind him, limning and disguising at once.  The silver and ivory lute on the table in front of him speaks more to his identity than any visual representation, and his voice is perfectly modulated, every word hinting at a mastery of tone and timbre.

 

At a table farthest away from the fireplace and close to the kitchen doors, a very tall figure stands up, his darker-than-dark cloak hiding the chain mail the others all know lies beneath it.  His omwo~ face is artistically thin, with large, metallic violet eyes and upward swept eyebows, however, it is now warped in a snarl.  "Years!!? ", he said, spitting the words at the floor, "Decades?!!"  His hand goes to his forhead, and balls to a fist.  "How could none of us have seen this?  Have I been so busy focusing on the Blackstripes that it never occurred to me that there might be another major player hiding out?"

 

"Varkonovich, since they work under the auspice of a Vernidalian Sect," says the small first speaker to the angry Omwo~, "I think they might have been working more in the fashion of the Holders of the Straight Way."

"I...don't...care..., " intones the Omwo~ called Varkonovich harshly, biting off each word.  He looks over at the human in the grey hooded cassock who has not spoken.  "Palimar and I have interests that involve knowing everything that takes place in Igbar."  He shakes his head at the others, his gold and jet straight hair reflecting the fire.  "Kasarack will have my head thanks to these butcher boys of the Green Mother, gentlemen." [/ic]

In Amerer's name, let us take the day in shade
And tell bloody tales of the ruler's ends:
How some have been depos'd, destroy'd in war,
Haunted by those they did to first,
Some poison'd by their wives, or the words of lovers;
Yet dead all the same: There is no crown so blessed
Nor palace of the strong so fair, so mild
As to keep Orcus from his court.

 

Kopobianco, Skald of the Silver'd Note, Father of Amerer's Choice.
In the reign of Paly the Maligned.

The Feel of Celtricia
Imagine living on a continent that was so big no one you had ever met knew the size of it, with huge open spaces between settements.  Imagine struggling in an existence where civilized folks crowd together for safety, where tribes of humanoids range around the wildlands between cities, where ferocious predators stalk herds of giant herbivores, and where the night is often terrorized by walking dead searching out the unprotected living.

At the same time, this is no feudal world.  Temples heal the sick as often as not, and magic replaces the need for some technology, and this magic, while not overly powerful, is present enough to allow time for philosophy and politcs.

The last impression that Celtricia should give is the weight of ancient civilizations over everyone.  The most indifferent farmer has heard legends from the past referenced while at temple, and has passed ruins or seen ancient buildings in a town, while scholars pour over the incomplete and patchwork written works of over eight thousand years of recorded history.

The Setting Overview
 
Celtricia is a large world, created for size and depth.  The world was has room to spare so that it can fit a multitude of cultures and clashing ideologies.  The general feeling of most of the setting is one of open space and resources still abundantly available, but also one of danger in the wild areas.  There is also a major theme of layered histories, with cultures going back over ten thousand years.   Open areas that current inhabitants may look on as open space can hide the ruins of major ancient cities, and every child's tale has roots in the tragedies of elder days.


The world itself is almost two and a half times the square mileage of earth, and is a satellite orbiting the binary start system of Tribin and Gerin (so named by the Omwo~ people).  Neither Tribin or Gerin is as hot as Sol (Earth's sun), but together they produce slightly more heat.  Gerin is a smaller, cooler orange/red star, and orbits the larger Tribin in the same period in which the Celtrician planet rotates upon its axis.  Because of these unique solar and planetary mechanics, the Celtrician day dawns red,  when only Gerin's lesser and reddish light illumines the planet's surface.  As the Celtrician planet rotates through its day, Gerin revolves around Tribin, producing a distinctly reddish light again as evening approaches.    In the final 10 days of the Omwo~ month (see calendars), Gerin appears in front of Tribin throughout the day, during which time Gerin is referred to as "the red eye of Tribin."  On the lithe day between the Omwo~ months, Gerin is eclipsed by Tribin and the day has a more yellow dawn and evening.  The Celtrician planet also has two satellites of its own, and therefore two lunar cycles.


As mentioned, Celtricia is over two and a half times the size of our Earth, with 4 major continental groups.  The history of this world (known to the Westic populace as the Tale of Years) is well over ten thousand years old, though the players have only found choice little bits of this.  The History is divided into the Age of Legends, the Age of Heroes, and the Age of Statehood.  Some will say that the Age of Statehood is coming to an end, and that Celtricia is transitioning into the "Age of Culture," but the people who use the Reckoning of Nebler (RON) to mark the date often just call the current period since the time of the founding of the Theocracy of Nebler "The Common Age."

Celtricia is a 'diverse setting', as opposed to a 'concept setting' or 'thematic setting,' in that the scope of the world and history has been created in such a way as to allow for multiple campaign themes.  Even though there is one great history and creation mythos,  there are multiple overarching 'adventure themes', such as:  the search for the lost god Amerer; and also for the broken god of lost causes, Pablar; the rediscovery of the Magic of the Shade; the release of the Dreadwing; and Y'gorl's Curse.


Thematic Elements

With all of those deep and fantastic storylines, it is vital to grasp that the Celtrician setting is a world where the presence and necessity of magic has slowed the growth of technology to a crawl.  The curious and intellectually superior explore the laws of magic, instead of science, and have dicovered ways to bend physics to their wills.  Artificers are paid to create a town clock that can be seen on top of a temple, Earth and Animist mages create the Marcher cow breed that produces an average 8 gallons of milk a day, and Fire and Air mages dominate a battleground... of what use is science here?  Ships are never becalmed and are pushed along the water by Air magic, and major cities can communicate instantly through guilds that specialize in mentalist magic.  Through the ability to channel power and structure it from the eleven sources, daily jobs are made easier, and even miracles can happen.

The 'necessity of magic' comes from a major component of the Celtrician experience, that of the Migration of the Spirit.   The ancient name for Celricia is the 'Waking Dream', and it is considered the space between life and death.  In broad terms, The Celestial Planars let loose spirit enegy into the Well of Life, and this is what inhabits every new birth.  Continuing this journey after death, the souls migrate to the Well of Death, where their merits are judged before they are free to continue through the Well of Death and reabsorbed by a Planar.  However, the key here is that the journey from death is long and difficult, taking decades or centuries, asuming the spirit is free to leave the 'Waking Dream' at all.  Necromantic magics can greatly aid the spirit in freeing itself and travelling through the void, and can also protect it from other forces.  These are called Shriving Necromancies, and while strange and difficult, such practitioners are seeen as beneficial.  Necromacy is also, however, the vehicle for snaring and enslaving spirits, or for those who are not ready to leave Celtricia.  Those who face death in Celtricia may fear it, but more, they fear dying alone, anshriven, their spirit tied to the 'Waking Dream' and an eventual puppet of some unscrupulous Necromancer.


To call Celtricia merely a 'medieval setting' would be inelegant.  The Countries of Trabler and the Bright Lands might be best compared to the Dutch Republic as it moved towards its zenith, with the strong local governments and the plutocratic emphasis.  Gunpowder has not been created due to the availability of magic.  This availability eventually created a fairly modern approach to trade, fully backed by insurance, speculation, guilds and even corporations recently. The Grey March may feature the public wearing of togas, but their enlightened republic, complete with seperate powers of elected Consuls and the Courts of Reason and freedom of religion and emphasis on the rights and responsibilites of the individual, has nothing to do with medieval Europe. So while technology as we view it on Earth is little advanced in Celtricia, magic has advanced far enough that culture, philosophy, communication, monetary policy and political science would be more analogous to our later Age of Enlightenment.

An outsider may see the setting as the 'World of Factions.' Tybalt the Unquenchable from the Campaign Builder's Guild mentioned that the rules have begotten a setting rife with interwoven guilds, churches, secret organizations, and political entities. The short list of what can be considered 'Sacred' would be God, Guild, and Country in that order.  Many of these guilds and organizations are older than countries and at least as powerful.  Churches and religious groups are often very ancient, and the Collegium Arcana is older, more wealthy and better placed than any mere state.


It could be said that the 'factionalism,' and incredible diversity of the politcal, religious, martial, economic, and political entities is what makes Celtricia so vibrant. One should not, however, get the impression that Celtricia is affected by urban sprawl.  Days and weeks of travel can be done without passing a hint of civilization in every country.  The tribal humanoids and wild creatures generally have no shortage of empty, wide-open areas... places where strong creatures have no law but their own.

There are racial issues alive in Celtricia as well. Small Hobyts and the strong Orcash are the most numerous races in Celtricia, followed by the three original clans of the Humans, the ancient Omwo~ (Elven), the Klaxik (Dwarven), the Gnomic, and the Gartier. These races comprise the primary inhabitants of Celtricia that are within the civilized world.  Understand, however, that it is considered an effect of culture to be able to integrate and work with other races, especially in the North-West Cradle areas where Orcash live side-by-side with Omwo~.  Barabarians are tribal, integrated cultures are civilized. So in hyper-integrated cultures, race is considered much less of a divider than Guild or Country, however you will find many areas that hold to their own.

But this very disintegration of racial identity is another dynamic that needs attention.  The Omwo~, the firstborn servants of the Planars, are a race in remmision.  Many ancient writings point to the advent of humans as a replacement for the Omwo~.  The Stunatu, the Klaxiks, Gnomics, and Hobyts, were created to be workers, servants of others, back in the Age of Legends.  In the last five centuries, the humans, who were created to replace the Omwo~ as the stewards of the 'Waking Dream' in most older religious texts, have watched the Hobyts outpace and supplant them with a cheeful, hard-working smile.  And overshadowing that, the even more recent inclusion of many of the the Ogrillite races, the servants and tools created to defend the Cairnhold in the Age of Legends, and the bloody-handed soldiers of Arbor and the Dreadwing throughout the Age of Heroes and the early Age of Statehood, into the sunlit streets, shops, and even governments of today's Celtricia.


Despite the social and intellectual progress, Celtricia is still a world of violence and gritty conflict.  Life can be very cheap in the under-town of Stenron or the dockside of Igbar, especially for those unfamiliar with the local customs.  The wilderness areas that stretch for unbroken miles between settled areas are even more dangerous, with tribal humanoids and wild beasts protecting their own territories.  But even more dangerous are the areas left by ancient civilizations to protect their secrets.   There is mud in the alley ways of Igbar, and under the bright, dappled domes on the street of the gods in fabled Stenron, there are huge sewers, which bespeaks an often unfortunate realism.  Violence and death are daily realities in for the inhabitants of this world.

Celtricia is a world in motion.  Some people seek to rediscover the artifacts and secrets of the Age of Legends, when the world was young.  At the same time, others are forging forward with clumsy and powerful movements, as nations clash and ideologies contest.  





Map of the Celtrician Cradle area

[LordVreeg]

Celtricia, World Of Factions
Warning!
Raelifinated Post!!
Questions that might need answering.
Taken from here.Q&A page(Funny, First Tybalt now Raelifin are getting a mention....)
This is from the PBwiki here
A little of this is crunch, and will be repeated on the crunch thread.

Celtrician Rulebook
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Celtrician Rulebook

How does GuildSchool differ from most games

What are the major conflicts in Celtricia?

How do characters progress in a classless system?

But aren't their too many skills for a character to really get good at anything?

What stops a character from taking a really powerful skill specializing in it to unbalance the game?

Is the magic system as different as it seems?

Is Magic closer to technology or miracle?

Is Divine Magic separate from other forms of Spellcasting?

So what is the technological level of Celtricia?

Why do characters really adventure in Celtricia?

Remember one fact when thinking of the Celtrician game.  Celtricia is called the World Of Factions for a reason.  God, Guild and Country is a common phrase, first coined by Churnin Tox Hedjikar in Orbi, in 605 R.o.N., and it defines many things.


[ic]How does GuildSchool differ from most games?
Guildschool is more free-form in character development.  Characters only gain experience in skills they use, so their development is based on what they actually do.  No more getting better at picking locks by killing orcs.  You pick locks to get better at picking locks.

At the same time, characters can learn skills from other guilds that might be good at those skills.  So if a priest of the Church of the Karma of the Night (Darkling) wants to learn Multiple Attack, straight sword, he might go to a friend who is a Tristonian Knight, and beg allowance to learn from the Martial tutors there.

It is also a low-hitpoint/equipment-important system, where charcters cannot take too much damage compared to how much a weapon can dish out, and so armor becomes even more important.  In general, one of the biggest reasons for making a 'system that fit the world' was to create a system with a lot of little power gains, but one that maintained a somewhat more realistic power balance.  There are no PC's that fight dragons by themselves, or that go destroy armies.
When Celtricia was in its gestation period, it was already apparent that the game systems of the time were not a good fit for the world we were trying to create.    Almost every rule was redone, but the major changes came in three areas.

Combat changes

Magic changes

Character developement

[/b]
 
Combat changes and development changes are somewhat ties together, as the major goal was to maintain progress and development for characters, while reducing the ridiculous unrealsistic power of many of the systems of the day.  While many systems went to even more immature, epic-level rules to try to give longevity to a badly desgned ruleset, we wanted a more deadly system that gave constant progress without having world beaters in a few months of play.

Weapons can do a lot more damage, and it is of critical importance to have armor between your character and a weapon.  Larger creatures do more damage, and a we got rid of rounds and use a continuous inititiative system.

The Vancian magic system did not allow for the variety in power sources we wanted to take advantage of.  Much like we got rid of the very linear development of combat skills, upper level spells are harder to cast in Guildschool due to the multiple disciplines they draw from.  Leser spells and cantrips take knowledge in one area of magic, journeyman magic needs ability in two or three areas, but more powerful magics will draw from four, five, or even six different types of knowldge.

We also introduces a Spell success/resistance system, so that just because you can cast it does not mean you succeed.  And casting an Earth Spell on a a black Dragon of Earth is asking for failure.

As, for development, a world of guilds and factions would be tremendously limited by having the same skills and powers avaialble in every fighters guild, and prestige classes did little do mitigate this.  Guildschool uses a skill based set of rules that depends on each organization or guild that a player belongs to or is allied with.  Each of these 'factions' has access to almost any skill, but there is a limited amount of skills that they are good at.  So instead of having a 'fighter', the character may belong to the Scarlet Pilums of Igbar.  And later, may become a Brother of Garcelleti Euridios' School of the White Paladin.

Beginning characters have access to only one major faction and one minor faction, but later development is limited only by the players ability to network, though it is important for GM's to limit access to skills.  Social skills become more imprtant is such a setting.

The unique mechanism that Guildschool uses to determine how good a school is at a skill is the experience modifier.  So every skill a character has will have a column for 'raw experience' and 'adjustedexperience'.  A skill's experience modiefier is also adjusted by the attributes of a character.  So a strong warrior from the Defenders of the Land may have an experience modifier of .35 in basic spear, while an average person who tries to learn that skill may have a .1 experience modifier.  The Defender of the Land will gain levels three and a half times as fast.

[/ic]

[ic]What are the major conflicts in Celtricia?
Civilization versus tribal barbarism, Reason versus Dogma, The old landed classes versus the rise of the Guilds, and Faction versus faction are the most obvious that affect players everyday.  Underneath everything, unseen in the bright light of the day, is the underlying struggle between the civilization of today against the Sins of the Past.
Many times in the history of Celtricia, things were not ended.  And the forces of 'Good' did not always win.  Pablar, the Steel General, was destroyed by daemonic coalition.  Amerer, Grey God of Free Will was banished.  The Dreadwing's ancient prison to the north was cracked open centuries before, and his ancient malevolence is leaking out into the world.[/ic]

[ic]How do characters progress in a classless system?
We call Guildschool skill-based because experience goes into skills that are used instead of into a class.  But each skill has an experience modifier based on what group teaches it, and on helpful attributes.  So unlike many skill based systems, characters can be better or worse at a skill based on their proffesion.  
So this determines the experience modifier.  There is one chart for level breaks, on adjusted experience.  For every level break, a range per level is bestowed.  We don't need differfent Hit dice per level, every level breat is 2-5...but a bad school has a bad experience modifier, and goes up levels slower.[/ic]

[ic]But aren't their too many skills for a character to really get good at anything?
No.  Skills are set into groups, so that learning the base skill of a skillset (say basic traps) gives the character a litle bi in the subskills of find trap, remove trap, and set trap.  However, basic skills have a very small amount gained per level, so that a thief will eventually have to learn the subskills to get really good.

This also allows some characters to be very efficient generalists, as basic level skills are set up to give a little ability in a decent amount of subskills. And many subskills have more subskills.  For the deepest arts, there are often 3 or 4 levsl of subskills.[/ic]


[ic]What stops a character from taking a really powerful skill and specializing in it to unbalance the game?
A few things.  First of all, a player would have to use that skill a lot, as the only ways to gain experience in a skill is to use it or spend a ton of money on tutoring (see General Costing of Skill Kits).

Secondly the experience progression gets very difficult after fifth level.

Third, the basic skills 'above' that skill must remain higher level than the ones 'below' it.[/ic]

 

[ic]Magic seems really different here.
 The magic system has been designed to fit the cosmology.  Too many games create a setting and then plug in a generic magic system.

Spells are powered by channeling different energy source, like the House of Air, The House of Death, the Animal Oversoul, and the Perfect Form.  Spells cost a certain amount of each of these, and how many Spell points a character has in these determines how much power they can channell at a time without recharging.

Spells also have a success%, and casting a difficult spell risks spell failure, though a caster can pour extra spell points in to increase the spell success.

And the spell points come back at a rate that means at lower levels, a caster who uses all thier abilities will get them all back in a day, but as they can cast more and more powerful spells, they might take longer.

Finally, a spellbook was written expressly for the game, not merely plugging a D&D spellbook in.[/ic]


[ic]Is Magic closer to technology or miracle?
Most of the current magics are definitely analogous to technology; many of the best minds of the day go to guilds and universities to study magic.  The magic of the 9th century (R.o.N.) is seen with a brassy optimism, with an unhealthy dose of worship involved with the term progress.  Though not yet common in outskirt village, magic has reached a point where the wealthy are commonly making sure their children get a smattering of magical education with their other learning.  Artificer and Restorative spell skills are the most popular to learn, as healing and the creation of magical tools are popular goals.

However, the great magics of the past, such as the raising of Cooom Isle and Y'Gorl's Curse are the stuff of legnds, and many 'educated folk' today doubt these things ever happened.  It makes no sense in 'today's world of modern magic', so it must be exagerated.[/ic]

[ic]Is Divine Magic separate from other forms of Spellcasting?
No.  Though the churches (as combined guilds, universities, and thouses of worship) are a central feature of daily life in Celtricia, both the way gameplay works and in terms of how magic is viewed, Divine casting does not exist in Celtricia.  The Power sources used for spells that clerical characters specialize in are often a little different, as they normally learn Restorative and Necromantic Skills a lot more often than other groups, but often the House of Chaos and the House of Law are learned by priests as well, as well as the House of Life and the House of Death. Priests of Jubilex can learn chaos magic along with restorative and death magic.[/ic]

[ic]So what is the technological level of Celtricia?
In terms of real technology, very backward.

And in the villages and tribal areas, superstition and a vile level of existence are the rule.

However, the level of magical 'technology', the larger population centers and the wealthy use magic and artificed items to create a level of technology that has started to beat back ignorance, and allow a standard of living that promotes philosophy and a self-satisfied drive for improvement. [/ic]

[ic]Why do characters really adventure in Celtricia?
Celtrician civilizations are old, and there are legends piled upon legends of powerful magics and great wealth left for the bold to find and make their own.   And behind the curtain, these legends are also reaching out from the past to scrape at the windows in the dark of night.

In the last few centuries, philosphies of acculturation as a determinant of civilization have dominated the Kaffeehouses and gatherings, and brought the Orkash and Gartier into the melting pots that are the cities of Celtricia.  Yet the battles of the forces of progress versus the tribal groups, such as the Giantclan Silverworth, the Zyjmanese or the  Firehazers is fighting the good fight.

Guilds and factions demand tremendous loyalty, and are by extension ambitious.  The old social ranks of nobility, while not dissapearing, are making room and alliances with these guilds, and the way to power is no longer restricted to birth alone.
[/ic]

[LordVreeg]

Changed, deleted, moved, folded, spindled, and mutilated.

[LordVreeg]

Celtricia, World of Factions
Worship
 

Worship is an essential part of the puzzle of Celtricia.  Worship is not merely motions to go through, the relationship a person has with the church or churches they belong to says much about their personality. People are expected and encouraged to go to different churches, and while there is a lot of competition, the 'Pact Veritus' of High Priestess Manwessa holds true in all most of the Celtrician continent.

For there is no doubt that the gods are real.  Too often have their avatars made plain their opinions, too often do they nudge events, too plainly do they bicker, and sometime, too obvious are their favorites.  So the pedstrian effects of the many Holy Days and how the rituals of faith infect normal life, is profound.  Every person, every PC sees this every day.  In the hinterlands, superstition and religion run hand-in-hand, but in most 'civilized' areas, worship is a cultured, sophisticated part of everyday life.

[spoiler=Song of Creation]
The Song of Creation

 

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]

The 'Pact Veritus' states that a person shall not be be held to a church, and no secular penalty or favor can be levied based on a person's religious affiliation. In practise, there is some nepotism, but the 'Pact Veritus' is strong, and all the churches will rush to enforce it.
 
Though there are diffent viewpoints and opinions, almost all belief and faith in Celtricia starts with the Song Of Creation, the story of the creation.

Gods have different aspects, as they are large, old and complex beings, beyond the ken of the Iesuicua (White Omwo~ for 'Earthbound'). There can be no complete knowledge of a being so complex. Madrak is a Lord of the Earth, and of solidity, He a patron of wrestlers and of Gems. The Klaxik viewpoint sees him as a stern father figure, while another view knows him as Minious Stottar, patron of Clan leaders, and of hard choices. Hewecar is the Demon Lord of Blood, and of liquids. Alchemy and poison are some of his bailiwicks, And he is also a God of Transformations.

As such, different churches will focus on the aspects of the deity they feel are the real ones, and it is the incomplete earthbound understanding of these beings that cause this. The Igbarian Church of Grazzt the Redeemer is has a very different view of their deity, and a very different focus, than Onacon's Church of the Sword of Grazzt.

 

 People see what they want to in their Gods. People have imperfect understandings of these beings, and that is one of the underlying themes of the Celtrician mythos.  Simplified, static Churches have no place in a complex world. Nothing is more satisfying than when the mythos is deep enough so the players actually can understand and extrapolate from it, due to the sense of realism. Drono Bidlebee took a seedling from the Stenron PLatrform of Harvest, where they have a huge, old second generation Asslewood tree in the center of the Platform (Asslewood trees are actually from the House of Earth, and even second generation (slightly debased) Asslewood is extremely rare, wonderful and valuable) to the Miston Platform of the Harvest, but it was his idea. It was not a GM setup, or even on my radar. But he knew that it would be tremendously meaningful to the Amristians of Miston.

Some in Celtricia note a level of Moral ambivalence. There certainly is a lack of moral absoluteness in the mythos, and that what be what it actually is.   Gods are rarely all good, or all bad. Grazzt certainly has a noble side in Celtricia, and Abradaxus has an absoluteness of justice that borders on the cruel.

 

Also important in understanding the cosmology is understanding the different power sources in the void, which is also where the Celestial PLanars all hang out, since the Accords of Presence. Daemons live on the House of Death, Devils on the Ninth House, Demons on the Eight House. Spells that use chaos actually pull actually pull from the Well of Chaos on the Eight house. There is a House of Earth and a House of Water, but the House of Fire is no longer, and the Well of Fire was recreated on the Third Station in the Void, but it is still weaker than the original Well on the House of Fire that is no longer.

 

Basic Cosmology
 

There are dozens of major Deities, and probably close to a hundred minor deities in current worship. It is agreed by every major sect that Oronath created the Prime Existence with his brother Thanatos. And while the planets were still globs of mud circling the twin suns, they created their children, the Major Celestial Planars, which were formed in this order; Madrak the Mighty, Nebler the Defender, Anthraxus the Decayed, Asmodeus the Ruler, Amerer the Balance, Pablar the Steel General, Orcus the Shepherd of the Dead, and then Jubilex of Chaos.

These eight beings, while sometimes in great strife, made much of the foundations of Celtricia and the Prime existence.

The Void, the Houses, the Stations
 
 During the time of the Song of Ceation, when the Celestial Planars created the 'Waking Dream' that is Celtricia, they needed to create a framework within the Void to support it. So in the Void, Oronath and his Children of the Song created first the Well of Life, the fount of same, and made the House of Life around it. Then Thanatos led them to make it's opposite, the Well of Death and the Passage of Souls, and he created around them the sharp Plains of Zevashopal, and made the three levels of the House of Death to complete this second anchor point of the Song. Then Madrak the Mighty, Solid and profound, sounded deep notes and rhythm to contruct the Well of Earth. As Madrak labored he was bouyed by the strngth of Anthraxus, who took the earth and strengthened it with rot and repair, and they worked House of Earth around it, thick and immensely deep. Then did Nebler the Defender create the instrument of purification and retribution, the Well of Fire, and Asmodeus the ruler made the House of Fier around it, a place of heat and passion. Then did Amerer the evenhanded create the Well of Air, open and clear, and Sad Orcus added an emptiness to a House of Air around the Well. Lastly, Pablar of Hope and Lost Causes brought forth the Well of Water, and Ironic Jubilesx to aid him in the Making of the House of Water, complicated by all the mixings and creations of liquid.

The Celestial Planars then made nine more smaller houses in the void, dwelling places for them as they tirelessly made their magic and used this Song as framework to bring to life the 'Waking Dream'.

Got that? That's the Song in it's Second Movement, the creation of the Framework. But after that, during the making of the world of Celtricia, and while populating it, there was a lot of conflict. Through great effort, nine 'stations' were created in the void. A station is defined as a construct in the Void that was made after the Second movement of the Song of Creation. So that is the cosmic difference between the Houses snd the Stations.


As the 'Waking Dream' really took shape, the third movement, the unexpected movement as it is sometimes refered to in the few texts that are deep enough to mention it. This created two other 'anchor points' in the Void, so firm up the parts of creation that kept slipping away. The Wells of Order was created on the Ninth station, and the Well of Chaos on the Eighth House. To complicate matters, Later, in a huge celestial battle, part of the Ninth Station was destroyed near the Well of Order, and the First station was built abbutting the Well of Order there, so the Well of Order is actually in both the Ninth Station and the First station (I'm not going to even get into what theological wars have been fought over this stuff on Celtricia...). A similar thing happenned with the Seventh Station being built close to the Eighth House abutting a large part of the Well of Chaos.

But the Third Movement of the Song, the creation of the energies of Order and entropy allowed the Song to move forward.

Later fighting among the Celestial Planars (and including dsome of their greatest servants among the original Omwo~ and Saroids) destroyed the House of Fire, and forced a relocation of the Well of Fire on the third Station. This also happenned to the House of Air, now on the Seventh House.

Now, sometimes people on Celtricia call these different things. The Church of the Theocracy of Nebler is adamant that Nebler defends the Well of Order on the House of Law. It's not wrong, but that is how they see it.


After Celtricia had been arranged, the Celestial Planars dwelt on it. And many of their children were formed. Ceminiar, father of the Omwo~, Zeldar and Wakikchon, the Makers of the Klaxik, Yeenoghu, who made the goblin and gnoll races, Grazzt, father of the Sauroids, and many more. This was the beginning of the Age of Legend, when the Planars walked the earth. The Omwo~ and the Sauroid, their first servants, created the first Douh'is (White Omwo~ for 'Great House') in the Vale of Silence, and the early Omwo~ and Sauroids learned from them.

The Omwo~ created their first legendary city, The White City in what is the first recorded act of the Iesuicua, in what is 'Dadem An' (Common Omwo~ for 'Cycle First'), or -7150 in the Reckoning of Nebler. Keith and his fourteen followers were the first inhabitants, were the sole inhabitants, until the first birthings of the Omwo~, procreation, the gift that took all the planars to conceive of, as it took so many of their attributes, of life, and death, and balance, and more.

After the initial strife and the Accords of Presence were created, the Age of Legends ended and the Age of Heroes began.

 
A few players have recently asked me some questions that a lot of characters in Celtricia should rightfully have some inkling about.  These questions have dealt with the interactions of some of the churches and religions of Celtricia, and the origin and motivations of certain beings.  

        One of the basic concepts the players must understand is that the characters inside Celtricia have a necessarily incomplete perspective on the extra-dimensional creatures and powers.  Also, the more powerful these beings are, the more multi-dimensional and complicated they are. That is why the Church of Nebler the Defender and the Church of the Lawful Triumvirate can exist side by side.  And this is also the reason that truly evil temples of the Entropic Overlords feed Jubilex, who also has a very respected parish in Igbar.  Jubilex is the God of black humor and capricious fate, as well as the Demon Lord of Slime.  

       
        Another popular question has been the difference between Devils and Demons (as well as other creatures).  Devils come from the 9th Station, and pull all their powers from that place.  They are hierarchal and orderly by nature.  Demons come from the 8th House, and all their might is tied to the Well of Chaos there.  They are individualistic and unpredictable, organized only by brute force and coercion.   However, spellcasters can use enchantments sympathetic to the power sources of those places to summon and control both demons and devils.

        Daemons actually are centered in the House of Death, which is also where the undead draw their power from.  Necromancers and Death magics both draw from the House of Death, but Necromancy deals more with Undead side of the coin.

        The Venolvian Empire and the current Empire of Argus both have a history of the Churches of various demons holding some of the reins of power.  The old Orbic aristocracy had patron devils for each house.  And in Current Celtricia, The Argussian Empire and it's holdings worship the Daemons of Zevashopal on the House of Death.


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[LordVreeg]

Celtricia, World of Factions


Igbar, Capital of Trabler

One of the primary areas of play is in Igbar, the capital of the Border country of Trabler.
Igbar, Capital of Trabler
The most updated data on the city is in this link.

[LordVreeg]

Celtricia, World of Factions
Racial Information
character creation, under construction

Primary Integrated races of Celtricia
In the current philisophical mindset of Celtricia, the ability to integrate into a multi-racial culture is seen as one of the determinents of a cultured person.  Though for millenia relationships between the races were the norm, there had been a good amount of racism and discrimination practised, even among allies.  For the enemies of the various city-states and countries, it was often outright ugly.
But a little less than 2 centuries ago, perhaps borne out by the bold, equalizing independence the Guilds were giving the air, the Bright lands plutocrats in Hobyt Inn started trading heavily with the Blacknote Ocash Tribe a few days north of that city.  It is also helpful to note that in Hobyt Inn, Hobyts, Humans, and Omwo~ have had anti discrimination laws for centuries.  Though there was great debate, a philospohical movement began that was predicated on the idea that one of the primary determinants of a civilized society is the ability to become integrated in a multiracial society.
So the Bright Lands were the first to open up citizenship to the Orcash and Gartier.  Technically it includes Ograk, Goblin and Gnolls as well, though this is incredibly rare.  However, in a world where Hobyts and Orcash are the most populous races, almost 10% of the orcash of the world, and almost 25% of the orcash in the Northern Celtricial 'cradle' area, are 'civilized' and integrated.
In the time since then, most of the Northern (cradle) countries have been fired by this theory, and have adopted it, and it has spread to the Lands of Om in the Far South and most of the west, as well.  The Ambrellian and Argussian Empires are also combatting the idea as well.
So though race has a lot to do with cultural identity, it is considered gauche to put race above God, Guild, or Country.

Historical notes on the Races-
Please note that this information is not known in it's entiriety by anyone, sage, scholar, PC or NPC (Excepting Bahamut, Tiamat, and Verkonen Vreeg.  And he's Nuts).  To the players, there are vague legends and tales, many of which are colored by the the sources they came from.  For example, many stories of the origins of the Orcash that came from the Church of Piscos of the Axe and of the Devilkin Churches have them being born of mud, and irredeemable cretinous.  These tales are consdiered foolish  in the salons of the civilized, but are still often held as gospel in the farmlands.  

The Omwo~ were the first servants of the Celestial Planars, and they existed for almost a millenia as the sole 'race' of intelligent creatures on Celtricia.  These first Omwo~ were beings of great lifespan and power, and Keith's great White City was founded and the Douhis' all laid down before another intelligent race was spawned.  The Original Omwo~ had a very strict life, beinig so close to the Celestial Planars at first.  A slight dispassion exists even today in their temprament.

The Sauroids came next, and thoguh they are not a player race, they did found an civilization to the Far North, that Flourished into the Age of Heroes, until the madness of The BArd and Arbor leaked into their settlements, pitting one against the other.

Just over two millenia after the Omwo~ were created, Early in the Age of Heroes, Pablar, the Patron of Lost Causes and the Spirit of Rebellion made the Humans, short lived, and passionate.  Three families of twenty-four he made, House Telman, House Wastri, and House Kalil.  Within a few centuries, Telman went North and became pale, and dwelt near the OMwo~.  Kalil went south, and becasme dark, and vital in their conquering of Desert and swamp.  Wastri went east, and became self-relaint, introspective.

Almost two centuries latyer, still early in the Age of Heroes, Madrak the Mighty, EarthLord and Maker went to his Brother, Nebler the Defender, and they created the Stunatu, the Working Folk.  These were shorter, hardier and built for hard labor and craft.  These were the Klaxik, the Hobyt, and the Gnomic folks.

Eight Centuries later, After the Birth of Verkonen Vreeg but before The Bard Numansongs and Asol Arbor are born, Anthraxus the Decayed, Lord of the Cycle brought forth the Ogrillite peoples.  The Fierce Orcash, the strong Ograk, the organized Goblins, the Giantclan and and the clear-sighted Gartier all were brought forth when Anthraxus was freed on parole from his prison.

Current races.


[ic=Humans]

Humans, known to the Omwo~ as Pablar's toys.  Created originally by the Celestial Planar of Rebellion and Hopeless causes, it is little wonder that humans were the first short-lived race, and their willfullness is legendary still.

 

"The Omwo~ Grow things,

The Klaxik Build them.

The Hobyt's use things,

and the gnomes find how they work.

The Men start things,

leave them, and start something else."

Tel Jas Klaxik, Bard of the Copper Bell, Sembina, 405 RON

 

The original human tribes from the depths of the Age of Heroes were House Telman (northern), House Kalil (southern), and House Wastri (Middle), named by Pablar himself.  They are short lived, normally living up to sixty years, and impatient.  They are also almost as fertile as Orcs, and almost as violent.

Humans organize people.  They do well with governments, and armies.  Most humans are between five and six and a half feet, and have a seventy year lifespan, if allowed to live in peace.  There are as many Humans as Klaxik, and about half as many humans as Orcash and Hobyts.

Human PC variations
01-40 Mixed human
42-52 Southern Human
53-59 Gwynellian Human
60-76 Omnian Human
77-85 Delvan Human
86-96 Grey march Human
97-00 Gesana Human
[/ic]

 

[ic=Gartier]

Gartier is what the Bugbears call themselves, Bugbear being a slang term the Gartier find derisive.  They are the most recently 'inductee' into the cultured world.  It was only fifty years ago that the Gartier started living in settlements with other races, and there is still a great amount of racial tension in some areas. Gartier are quite often the brains of the various humanoid bands, as they are brighter than any other type on there average (brighter than humans, Klaxik, and Hobyts, as well, on the average).

Gartier are large and strong, averaging almost seven feet in height, and have a base HP of 5 instead of the normal 3.  they also have a decent detect scent ability and 30' of darksight.  Their weaknesses lie in their low birthrate, short lifespan (averaging under 50 years), and their incredible sarcasm.  Gartier suffer a large social skill penalty, partially due to their new acceptance into the cultures of the northern Celtrician area, but also due to practised gartier ability to use irony like a club.

Gartier PC Racial Variations
01-55 Mixed Bugbear
56-87 Dexter Bugbear
88-00 New Bugbear
[/ic]


[ic=Orcash]

The Orcash, or orcs in the Common Westic vernacular, are shorter than humans but taller then dwarves, with wide bodies and flatter faces.  They are a descendent of the ancient Ogrillite tribes, from the early Age of Heroes, and were in those ancient times the foot soldiers of the Arch-Lich Arbor.  Orcs have only been part of the 'civilised world' since 740 RON, when the BrightLands began recognizing them based on their behavior, instead of their race.  Most orcs are particularly fond of Hobyts because of this.

Orcs are normally four and a half to five and a half feet in height, and are gregarious and clannish, but often crude and money hungry.   The Orcash and the Hobylatia are tied for the most populous of races.

Orcash PC Racial Variations
01-70 Mixed Orc  
71-00 Zyjman Orc
[/ic]


[ic=Omwo~]

The Omwo~ were the first servants of the Celestial Planars, more ancient than the sauroids, and perhaps almost as arrogant.  Though given to art and culture, the Omwo~ bear the knowledge thet theirs is a race in remission, a shadow of the Xoui Omwo~, the first born that lived a thousand of in splendour.  Elves still take naturally to music and culture, but often are melencholy.

Elves are thin, with piercing eyes.  The more rare elves have hair that is given to metallic tints and eyes that match.  They average six to seven feet in height, and normally live between two and three centuries.  Due to their low birthrates, the Omwo~ and trhe Gartier are tied for the lowest population density of the norther celtrician area.

Omwo~ PC Racial Variations
01-35 Meadow Elf
36-55 Seafaring Elf (Cmao)
56-58 Vale elf (Vanir)
59-83 Wood Elf (Wolden)
84-90 Noble Elf (Huet)
91-00 High Elf(Imo)
[/ic]

[ic=Klaxik]

The tough Klaxik, the short, stout dwarves, dwell in clannish groups.   They are the warriors of the Stunatu, the Celestial Planars workers.  As in legends, these strong beings are miners and earth lovers.  Klaxik are fertile, crossbreeding easily with Gnomes, Orcs, Humans, and Hobyts, and a female Klaxik is almost never satisfied.  Just don't call her fat, that is probably solid muscle, and the woman fight as well as the men.  Klaxik's are normally between three and a half and four and a half feet tall, and live up to a century and a half.

Though they are excellent miners, some black klaxik are also excellent sailors and explorers, and almost all klaxik have a drive to explore and discover.  Klaxik make excellent merchants and earth mages as well.  Klaxik's get along woth almost everyone

Klaxik PC Racial Variations
01-30 Hill Dwarf +
31-50 Hybern Dwarf
51-70 Black Dwarf
71-80 Gastax Dwarf
81-00 Deep (Kann) Dwarf
[/ic]
 

[ic=Hobytalia]

The Hobytalia are the organizers of the Stunatu, created by Madrak and Pablar to keep the houses and the records of the Omwo~ back in the Age of Legends.  The Hobyt's are the laughing folk, and can make any creature feel at home.  They are born socialites and build freindships and relationships easily.  

Hobyt's are also loyal and creative, on the whole.  They average about 3 feet tall, as often shorter as taller.  So they don't really use pole weapons...

Hobyt's are prominent in almost every country, being tied with the Orcash for the largest population on Celtricia.  The Brightlands Plutocracy, while open to all, is dominated by the Hobytalia.  Hobyt's get along with the Orcash extrememly well, as long as they have joined passed the test of civilization.  Hobyt's normally pass back into the void as often after eighty as before it.  Hobyt's have to worry about their weight if they live a sedentary lifestyle.  Fat Hobuyt's are often called 'dumplings' or 'stuffies' by their more athletic fellows.

Hobyt PC racial Variation
01-40 Burrowed Hobyt
41-53 Gastax Hobyt
54-66 Red Hobyt
67-89 Shrum Hobyt
90-00 Underearth Hobyt
[/ic]

 

[ic=Gnomic]

The Gnomes are the faithful of the Stunatu, created by Madrak and Nebler back in the Age of Legend.  The gnomic race have great faith and are the heads of many religions, and are excellent healers.  Hardy by nature, they are almost as good natured as the Hobytalia, with whom they share a great bond, though they get tired of patching up the Klaxik.

Gnomes are short, rarely topping four feet, and are extremely hardy.  The males have beards like the klaxik, and the woen are more slender, looking almost like the Hobyts they are distantly related to, albiet slightly larger.  They are shorter lived than the other Stunatu, being called back to the Void by the end of their sixth decade on average.  Gnomes also tend to put on weight very quickly in a sedentary lifestyle.

Gnomic PC Racial Variation
01-50 Grey Gnome
51-70 Deep Gnome
71-90 Half Orcash Gnome
91-00 Brotherhood Gnome
[/ic]

[LordVreeg]

Celtricia, World of Factions
V2.0 for CBG
Major Factions of Igbar.

"Can you countenance that?  Sure, them Hobbies in the Bright Lands are bankrolling this war, but the rest of them just expect us to house their useless soldiers...and then do most of their fighting for them!!!  Blackhearts from Orbi with thier noses in the air come here to work our honest wages away from us, while we do all their bleeding!  TradeGod take Argus on the back end of his scales!!"
-Overheard in Hostem's House of Hospitality
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The Game
Igbar is one of the oldest playing centers of the Celtrician Game.  Almost twenty five years ago, the first group stopped in that port when fleeing from Neblerian Justicars.  When they took ship to Devens, on Coom Isle, some of them even made it back.

The bustle and vibrant energy of this small city makes it a lively advanture location.  Trading clans and powerful families vie with Guilds and churches. Large portions of Trabler are totally uninhabited, and even older civilizations that dwelt in the area or passed through were small.  In Igbar,  a player can make a mark.

Since then, Igbar has been the most regularly played milieu in the campaign, and the Igbarian Area (link to map) is the setting for the Grey/New Legion campaign, the Ocodig game and the Tani Group.  The Legion group is currently the most active group playing in the setting, only in existence since 2002, but having already inclusive of 11 players and 10 characters (there has been one shared character).


The current state of this center of the Unicorn State is one of fear and turmoil.  The war with the Empire of Argus to the south has been cooling, and the Trablerians were looking forward to a time without war.  Then, without warning, a plague of Undeath has hit Igbar.  Sanctified and protected boneyards explode with the ancestors of the old families of Igbar, crypts under the churches are crawling with skeletal intruders, and the walled city seems infested with horrifying intruders.

IGBAR, the Capital of Trabler

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History and Information
 

Igbar is the capital of the country of Trabler. Trabler is a coastal country, currently a border state of the Stenronian Alliance in its six-year struggle with the Empire of Argus and it's allies.  Trabler was called the 'Northern Argusian March' until Trabler Aptor, Trader Prime of the Winfire Trading Guild, declared it independent a just over a quarter-century ago in a popular uprising.  Before that, the Empire of Argus to the South ruled the Northern Argussian Marches as a fiefdom, under it's laws and Sovereignty.  Igbartown fell to Argus with barely a whimper in 397 R.O.N., and ruled it until Trabler Aptor declared the Unicorn State of Trabler in 870.

The City of Igbar became walled around 610 R.O.N., and is one of the busiest port cities in the northern part of the Celtrician Continent.  Igbar sprung out of an old fortress placed next to a fishing village, and has grown ever since. It's current size is just over twenty thousand inhabitants, mostly still crammed inside the walled area. Since it the southern gate to the war, up to two thousand inhabitants of the town may be '˜at the border' at any given time. But these numbers are made up for in the amount of displaced families from the war-torn southern part of the country.  Igbar is full of the energy of thousands of people going places and having things to do.
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'And so you think this wattle collection is civilized, that you've found culture, because the houses have two stories and the main street has a sewer?   Child, this is culture like that dull excuse for a dagger you carry is a weapon!  Once you've seen the crowded lines of merchant ships at dock in Hobyt Inn, once you've seen the Arcanic Towers of Hagenos in Orbi, or the Street of Worship at the center of gigantic and ancient Stenron, then you can tell me about the finer things, but please, don't call Igbar civilized.'

Raphael Tungstolen, Wolden Omwo~ skald of The Frigid Song, and Priest of Verbren the Hunter.
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As in the whole world, the theme of the Igbarian experience is the 'Factionalism' that ties the city together.  The road to survivial and success is paved through allegiance with the organizations that run everything.  The Bardic guilds spread news and gossip about the wealthy trading guilds and churches, while the knighthoods and martial orders try to create order in the town.  Thieving guilds pay for aid amongst the competing schools of magic, and politcal allies cobble together money to pay off the shadowy assassin's guilds to winnow out their enemies in the moneyed upper class.
The architecture is somewhat mixed, between older stone temples, that shoot up fifty or sixty feet into the sky, and newer wooden buildings, well built, that are normally only two stories high.  The streets are paved, excepting the Royal way and the Dockside area.  The Docks are still dirt, and during the rainy season wagoneers curse making dock pick ups.  The Royal way was white-bricked some fifty years before by the Warden of Northern Argus, before Trabler gained independance.  There are some notable buildings.  Along the Royal Way, there is a building on the opposite side of the Unicorn Keep.  This building has 8 small trees with fire-red leaves (Gwynellian Winter Oak), and the building is of red brick.  Long, white stairs sweep to the double-door entrance, which is a square building topped with 3 levels of circular brick covered with a bronze dome fifty feet wide.  This is the Steel Libram, home of the sage school.

Many of the south-east Harou section of town are built with wooden latticework as extra walls and roofs and porches.  Ivy and Vneersberry grows well in the latticework.

The houses and businesses along the large Royal Way are often bricked or stonework on the bottom level, then topped with a top floor of wood.   The most affluent have small courtyards and lawns, even in the middle of this crowded space.  Many still bear heraldry from the recent regimes of the Northern Argussian Marches, before Trabler wrested the area away.  Both the north and south entrances are now castellated with twelve foot tall black marble Unicorns, where once the double headed eagle of Argus was stationed.

 

Westic is spoken as common language, though mixed with some Argussian words, and a few Harou words as well, as there is a whole section of town where wastrian cultures are represented.  There is also some Orcash and Marcher slang mixed in, as those languages are branches of Westic and have similar makeups and verbage.

 

The Laws will be discussed in detail later, but one curiosity is worth mentioning.  The Grey March, Sembina and the Bright Lands are all matrilineal countries, meaning that descent and family names are generally kept through the mother.  This is due to the fact the tribal clans and the clans of families that have become acculturated are all matrilineal.  However, Argussian Empiric law has always been patrilineal, and Igbar has kept laws of descent, legitimacy and inheritance that way since it has been done that way since the 300's.  However, it often causes a 'clan-vs 'law' dynamic.  Often, two set of records are kept.

 

Igbar is the closest major population center to the fabled Herb Lands of old Astrikon , within a three-day ride. Though a deathtrap for the unwary, the chaotic Herb Lands continuously draw in Druids and others, trying to fill the orders of the wealthy for poultices and reagents. Despite the Herb lands and the size of Igbar, the lands to the West, in Central Trabler, are nearly empty, dotted only by ruins of once-proud Astrikon Traders.

The plains to the east of Igbar are remarkably fertile, and a days travel (about 18 miles) in that direction brings players to the town of Igtiche, primarily the farming center that feeds the capital.  The Zyjmanese tribe of humanoids lives north of Igtiche, crawling through old Astrikon ruins and in the huge forest to the North.

Hobyts take up, as in the world at large, the largest population density, followed by Northern humans, Klaxiks, Acculterated Orkash, Omwo~, and southern humans.  A full quarter of the population is Hobyt.

The weather is softened by a coastal influence, and though it is somewhat wet, Igbar does not get as cold or hot as Igtiche or the Tiche plains to the east of it.  It normally gets to freezing a few Hawaaks into Dumoktis, but rarely drops under 20 degrees.  Snow falls maybe as late as midway through Dumotux,  and by the first of Tokush, all the snow is gone and the buds start coming.
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'Remember, when you are with your friends and colleagues, take Woerter's role every chance you get.  The small hammer that taps quietly wastes little and gains the most.  Smile, remember everyone's name, and be the very incarnation of the Hosting God on Celtricia.'

Jessup Greenlaw, Hobyt Mastergreeter of the Church of of the Host and Magistrate of the Horn Ministry
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 Trabler is a constitutional monarchy, but until 3 years previously, was still ruled by Trabler Aptor, the man who carved this kingdom out of the old Argussian Marches. So it recently came to a bit of a standstill, and was almost retaken by the Argussians, when Trabler Aptor went missing. The old king was nearly replaced with the Minister of Governance, until other members of the House of the Unicorn discovered that minister was actually in the pay of Heliopolis, Assassin king of Coom Isle, an ally of the Empire of Argus. A coup was attempted, but a counter insurgency, led by Julian Sempre Lerianolies of the Order of Stenron, recaptured the governance of Igbar and thus Trabler. Julian was then rewarded by the House of the Unicorn with the title of '˜Steward to the King'. So currently, Julian is acting constitutional Monarch, until the unlikely appearance of Trabler Aptor.

Politically, there are a few different movements afoot.

There is a sentiment afoot that the rest of the Stenronian Alliance has used Trabler poorly, rather as a shield, and while this group is not against the war, they are looking for some reparation if the war ends.  This faction is refered to as the 'Castellots', and many of the working class guilds adhere to this group.

There are 2 opposed groups that argue the legitimacy of the ascension of Julian to the 'Steward' position by the combined House of the Unicorn.  Those that support it go by the name 'Defenders', and those who are against it term themselves the 'Monarchists'.

There is also an underground movement called 'Marchers' that ascribe to the belief that Trabler's break from the Empire of Argus should never have happenned.  Some few old families lean this way, though none admit it openly.  This is called 'Marchism'.

The country is in pretty sound economic shape right now, due to the way power has been shared with the trading guilds.  Like most of the North-western celtrician cradle, the range between poor and wealthy, and between wealthy and rich is gigantic.  Property, deeded property, is still the coveted goal for 90% of the population.  Igbar, again similar to most of the area, is on the Electrum standard. A day's unskilled labor is normally worth an electrum goodwife, though what money can buy (and the conversion rate) runs from copper strips to gold horn.
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'By your countenance, you seem to think that there are more important things than wealth.  According to some philosophers, my stubborn friend, you could be right.  Life, love, and freedom might be seen as more important.  Of course, I can buy freedom.  Anyday.  Love?  Please... I'm sure enough horn and your sister would come begging.  Though looking at you, it might not take horn, some goodwives might do it.  And life?

Fool.  I buy and sell lives everyday.  Every day, every hawwaak.  Wealth, Boy.  If you are going to work with His Eye, understand that life is so, so cheap.'

Varkonvich Von Zap, Omwo~ Seeing Eye of Igbar
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Igbar generally uses the Westic Common calender (The Calenders), though some of the Harou sections in the south east section of town use the Wastrian 12 month variation.

 

There are many groups that vie for power in Igbar; many are Major Factions of Igbar.  Most of them, you will find, are interconnected in some way. The wealth and the old families have power, but all are allied with others as well.   The Populace gains much of their news and opinion through the Free Bards and the bards of the local guilds, writing songs, twisting songs, reporting news and opinion in the bars and hostlries of the town.  The Power of the Bards can be heard nightly in bars like the Silvered Note, Sweet Retreat, Golden Words, The Upper Crust and Hostem's Hospitality, to name some of the most popular.  With all the choices of strong drink, it is a wonder anyone is ever sober in Igbar (What to Drink in Igbar).It is worth mentioning again that much news and political workings are expected to be heard this way, and that though the common folk and the working class know that bards can be bought off (and you can hear the accusation pretty much every night), still the whole mood of the city can be found in these places.

 

The Assassin's guild of Heliopolis, the Blackstripes, are still in town. The Eye, a rival guild from the north, was instrumental in the coup that brought Julian to power.  The Bully boys have been around for decades near the docks, and the old Collegium Tortoris has recently showed signs of life.  Violence from the shadows is a feature of all cities, but is more apparent in this border city than in more civilized climes.  It worth noting again that violence is a daily feature in Igbar, that the wealthy employ bodyguards (often off-duty Scarlet Pilums).  Whereas in Stenron or Hobyt Inn, violence is relegated to the night, in the corners, One never knows when blood might flow in Igbar.

 

The Collegium Arcana is an old, multi-country law unto itself for those who study magic.  In Igbar, the Collegium Arcana bought it's own walled keep 60 years ago, where it takes in the money of young spell casters, and teaches them and protects them in turn.  The Alternative school of magic, run by Samria and Palimar, has opposed them recently.  Still, the Collegium is ancient, rich, and powerful.  Many say it is only a matter of time before it finds the way to extinguish the upstart.   The Steel Library Sages' recent alliance with the Alternative School of Magic has, however, breathed a new life into that group.  The Steel Libram is venerable and unused to the perils of politcking.

 

The knighthoods and fighting schools have flourished in this near-war zone.  The Order of Stenron has a full barracks here.  The Blue Turtles also have a large chapter.  The Bowyers of Ceminiar, and the Order of the White Paladin both show decent sized followings.  There are dozens of fighting schools attached to the various churches in town to boot.  Most knighthoods are not mutually exclusive, so a well-known knight may be a member of three or even more orders.  The local Scarlet Pilums are an order of knighthood who also act as the security force of Igbar.  They were hired some fifteen years earlier as a temporary solution to Igbar's need of a City Watch; they are still there.  Though nearly defunct a decade before, the The Armor of Trade who are the Knights of Ogleic the Lord of the Scales, is rebuilding as a fashionable knighthood.
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'There is only you and your armor, once you take the field against the Zyjmanese or the Firehazers.  Do not believe the Stories of children that these are weak or barbaric people; they are as good with a blade as you are.  Your armor is your first  protection, and your honor is the other.  Make sure both are in perfect order, every day.  Those that are alive in a decade will thank me for my words.  Those that are not did not listen anyways.'

Garcellenti Euridios, Hobyt master Knight of the Order of the White Paladin
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Which brings us to the religious powers in Igbar.  Igbar is a prefect example of the interwoven nature of religion into everyday life, as most guilds and other organizations have a patron or ally in a church or two.  The average Igbarian sticks his head into at least one shrine or Church every day; it never hurts being friends with the flock or the priests, and there is no such thing as having too much divine aid.

To view the current schedule of Holy Days, click here.


Many of the major churches have their central temples on the 'Street of Worship', also known as 'Godstrat' (Godstreet) in debased Westic.  It is the mark of a religion on the rise or ina position of power to be able to buy and maintain an edifice on this street.  This is the first left as one enters the North Gate, a wide road whith white-bricking on the ground.  There are three rounded arches all 25' high made of white FidikMarple and blacksteel.  One bears an image of gavel, a scimitar, and a shield, which are the sigils of the Lawful Triumverate.  The second arch has had the carving wiped off it, the third arch has a large scythe carved in it, the sigil of Darkling of Vengeance and Redemption.

 

There are nine major churches in the town, and many more minor ones.  As in most Northwestern lands, it is typical of the folk to honor all gods to some extent, but each person will have a special patron or two.  The now-taken country of the Theocracy of Nebler lies to the east of Trabler, and most of the priesthood escaped into Igbar; but there is also a large church of the Lawful Triumvirate (which includes Nebler, along with Rakastra and Abradaxus the harsh), so those two groups are at odds. The Church of Earth stands next to the Church of the Green Mother, Jubilex of Chaos and Change gathers worshippers next to Belial the True and Clear.  Arlieng the Guide has many shrines in Igbar, as does Ishma the Lucky.  Ogleic, Patron of Trade is worshipped to some extent by all, and Verbren the Tracker needs to be appeased to keep the beasts of the Herb Lands at Bay. The Church of Geryon, Master of the Wild Hunt, opposes the Church of Verbren at all turns.

More recently, the shrine of Woerter, of the Meeting and the Host, has gained a full church Status, and the Shrine of Kiminus the Whole have been gathering a flock.  The Kiminus group is also attracting all the itinerant Inkmisa worshippers.

This is just the tip of the religious iceberg in Igbar

The trading syndicates and old families are another power-center. Almost all of the trade in the area is controlled by one of these groups, and they gather at the 'Grounds of Dismissal', Bannetti's Kaffee emporium in the middle of the city. As in almost any population, the Trading Families and consortiums are not separate from the other political forces; rather they are intertwined with them. A visitor to the '˜Grounds' can barely see the old coffee shop in what has become, in three human generations, almost a city block of mercantile activity. The Vissipee Family, the Winfire Consortium, and the Sceding Tree Associates are the three major speculators, and most of the lesser families fall in line behind them.   The Cowel Family Traders, who specialize in herbs and Medicines, Keluman Associates, who specialize in Leather goods, and the Fennarian Specialties, who traffic in rare reagents, are all examples of lesser trading guilds that owe fealty to one of the 'Big Three'.  There are over two-dozen Trading Guilds of every size in Igbar, and their allegiance is only to the gold horn.

 

In the most current weeks, military action in the southern front has waned. There are soldiers from all over the Stenronian Alliance and the Verkonian Duties taking leave, which leads to a certain amount of confusion and tension between them and the natives. Many merchants are taking advantage of their freedoms and a shortened supply by moving prices up on almost anything.

 

The supply shortage that has been prevalent in the last 10 Hawaaks was due to a band of humanoids, the Firehazer tribe, that were preying on some of the caravans from the North. Recently, The Sceding Tree Trading Consortium and the Scarlet Pilums proclaimed simultaneously that the threat had been eliminated by a collaboration supported by those two groups. Both groups take credit for supporting the Grey Legion, an adventuring band that has been smashing the Firehazer tribes of the Wibble hills.

 

This does not mean there has been a shortage of humanoid activity. The Church of Vernidale has been blocking most pilgrims and merchants from traveling to the Herb lands in the last few months, but they have been coming under heavy attack from the Zyjmanese Tribe, an orkash and Ogre band led by one of the zealots of the original Zyjman . Sir Garcellenti Euridios of the Order of the White Paladin has recently returned from a journey, and lost no time in denouncing both the church of the Green Mother and those that assail it.

 

The Neighborhoods and Wards
Like all cities that have grown organically, Igbar's roads and street wind somewhat confusingly.  Couple that with the small pond and the stream (the Vdalek) in the middle of the west side, and the growth of the city has just 'happened around it', and has not been organized.

The Dockside area is not just the coastal side, it includes mainly the center coastal area where the oldest Docks are, which leads down 'the Keep Way', one of the oldest streets in the city.  The Dockside area has no paving, and most of the buildings are made of wood, many of which are sinking into the ground.  There are a few old captain's houses, mostly Inns now, that show there was some money in this area at one point.  However, the area is mainly bars, inns, taverns, a few businesses, lots of older warehouses, and poverty.

The Royal way is the opposite.  It stretches from the Northern City gates do the Southern Gates, and was conceived by Artic Husamin IV, the sixth Duke of the Northern Argussian Marches.  This whole, wide street is paved in white, and in the center, on the waterside, is the Royal Keep, built by Artic in 680-689 RON.  There is a small park that abutts the Vdalek Pond.  Many of the most wealthy families have their bricked, in-town residences along that road.

The South-Eastern corner of the city is the Harou section of town, where the quaint, introspective social graces of the Harou cultures is observed.  Tea service, outdoor porches, and piinut incense in the air are the staples of the area.

The North Eastern corner of the city is dominated by the 'Street of the Gods', as it is called commonly, though it's proper name is the 'Avenue of Worship'.  Though not all the temples and Churches are their, the Lawful Triumverate, the Church of the Green Mother, The Church of Chaos, and the Platform of Trade.  Also, one of the oldest Boneyards within the city limits, now full to bursting with old headstones, is there.  That boneyard dates back to the early dates of Igbar.  The oldest dates are from ~320 R.O.N.  Around 470 R.O.N., the Igbarians uncovered a long sunken garden to north of the Street of Worship, and that Northern Boneyard is where many of the family Crypts were moved to.

Basic Knowledge of the Area.  This is information that every inhabitant has.

Igbar is a war zone.  Troops from the Stenronian Alliance to the North come through all the time, and since the Theocracy of Nebler and eastern Trabler were taken some 6 years ago, Igbar is the major population area of a salient.

The recent perils of the night, the undead that are wandering in numbers, are a major, major worry.  Even the war has taken something of a back seat.  The Church of Geryon and also the Green Mother have both claimed that the dead from the days when Igbar was part of the Northern Argussian Marches are rebelling against the recent war.

The normal 5.5 day work-hawaak is predominate in the city intself (Dunsak through Monak, with the financial intitutions, including upstairs at Banettis, closing right after noon hour on Monak.  Most priests do fast on Fastak at the end of the Hawaak.  Priests of the Patform of Trade (Ogleic) fast on Monak.

The Blackstripe thieve's guild of Heliopolis is pretty much an underground element of the Blue/White (Argussian) alliance.

The "Pact Veritus' is very strong in Igbar, so no secular penalties or prejudice will be allowed based on the religious afiliation or membership or wanderings of anyone.

Most moneychangers will stay open until fourth hour, and most other businesses until sixth hour.

The herb trade, formerlay great due to the proximity to the Herb Lands, is being strangled by the Vernidalian church.

The Church of Woerter, the God of Hosting is gaining converts quickly.

The Collegium Arcana has recently stepped up their attempts to eliminate the Alternative School of Magic.

Public drunkenness has recently become a crime, passing through both houses of the Unicorn.

The Scarlet

Pilums started as mercanaries, scabs to replace the striking town guard, back almost eighty years before.  Now they are the town militia despite claiming to be independant still.

The armies of the Blue White Alliance (Argussian) to the south are under the Archevault of the Axe, Piscos the War Daemon of the waves.  If complaints are made about the 'Axe-man', or 'Axe-men', this is what is meant.

The music in Igbar, and most of North Western Celtricia, is very important for judging the mood of an area.  People are very interested in music for the story and content, as well as the music.  So the veracity and truth of a bardic creation is critical to how it is received. The bardic guilds control much of the disbursment of information.

The 'Rule of Reach' states that bows and two handed weapons cannot be carried within the city walls without a Scarlet Pilum escort or a letter of examption from the Lower House of the Unicorn.

The Orcash and Klaxik fashion of men shaving their heads which started in the North has reached here recently.

The Gates are open from Sunup to Sundown.  The Scarlet Pilums judge this from the bronze dome of the Steel Libram, and most others people in town do as well, though there are 3 artificed public clocks in town as well.   After Dark, there are bells outside each gate, but only those with official paperwork or who are known to the Scarlet Pilums on duty will be let in.  Most knights and bards from Igbar are known and have paperwork...

Current fashion in the city is running towards 'shiny' fabrics, and women's fashions tend toward gowns that go to mid calf, with a half corset on the outside.  Headgear is a must for the fashionable Igbarian lady, often in a fan shape.  Men's fashion is very martial, with fitted leather armor being normal wear, and a tabard (again in those shiny fabrics for the fashionable Igbarian male) being cinched by a belt.   Please note that female combatants often combine the two to some level, and that this is considered respectable, but not very attractive.  

Notes on the Law of Igbar
The Scarlet Pilums, once a mercenary band hired to fill in for striking town guards, have been the enforcers of the Law in Igbar for over a hundred and fifty years.  When Trabler Aptor's Merchant princes rebelled and wrested the city from the Argussian Empire, it was with the help of the Scarlet Pilums.  Joachim Sheering is the power, of the ancient and honorable Sheering family, in the Scarlet Pilums.

The law itself is based partially on the old monarchal laws of the Empire of Argus, and mixed with newer ideas from the Grey March (hence the upper and lower house of the Unicorn) and the Bright Lands plutocracy.

The North and South gates are open from Sunup to Sundown.

The laws of inheritance and decent are based on the patriarchal rules followed by the Empire of Argus.  This is of interest as most clan laws and the laws of other countries in the Stenronian Alliance (The Grey March, The Bright Lands, Orbi, and Sembina) have matriarchal lines of descent.

The lower courts for most folk arrested is the north or south court, where justicars from the Lower House of the Unicorn and their minions work.  Any case can be retried by the Upper House of the Unicorn if a petition is granted by them (so someone must know someone...only members of the Upper or lower house can bring a petition to the House).  While the Lower Courts is somewhat anonymous due to the volume and preponderance of pettiness, when the Upper House judges a case on Lawsak, it is always newsworthy.

The 'Rule of Reach' in Trabler states than no weapons longer than a person's arm can be carried.  So a bow or a spear carried in a usable (non sheathed or strung) position can send a person to the lockup, or to a fine of up to 5 electrum goodwives.  Note that some organizations can create exemptions for these...




This is a partial list of factions in the City of Igbar.  There are countless smaller factions and more mercantile versions (there are almost thirty merchant factions alone) and about twenty major specialty construction guilds (Cobblers guuild, weavers guild, etc).  Alliances to church and guild and the daily interaction would be dizzying to the uninitiated, but it is taken in stride by the inhabitants.
This is the list of currently player-available guilds for PC;s to use.


I'm currently redoing the entries in the wikisite, but I have included the ones that are current as spoilers, and will update this page as I update the wikipage. page link
CELTRICIAN FACTIONS


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Alchemical
The Green Flame--- Fire mages, and the eye's alchemical branch
[spoiler=The Green Flame]
Guildschool Faction:
 
Area:Igbar
Name:The Green Flame
Affiliation with Larger: The Eye of Igbar is the parent guild.  The Eye members are treated as seniors members.
 
Membership style: Hidden membership.  When pressed, members say they are part of the Alternative school of magic.  They are allied with that group
 
% of starting membership: 40% Attrib bonus: IN (12/2) CD (10/.5)
Mission: To Support the Eye of Igbar and provide magical and alchemical backing for them.
 
Size: 28
History: The Green flame is currently the alchemic branch of the Eye, the local branch of the Thieve's guild centered in far-away Stenron. They Green Flame was actually an independent group of alchemists some 40 years before, squashed by Maf's Dark Brotherhood, and then reincarnated nine years ago by the Eye. They are partially thieves, but skilled makers, able to create poisons and potions and decent scrolls, as well as some minor magical item enchantments. They cannot teach all the spell types well, but have a decent assortment. The do well in Artificer, Fire and Water spell points.

 
 
Current leader: Hoorian Hagr Ventan, Male Gnomic
Current situation: Not known.  Freinds with the alternative school, and some friends in the Steel Libram[/spoiler]
Vasko's Brew--- The blackstripe's poison makers

Archer
Bowyers of Ceminiar--- Martial order of the Ceminiarians

Calling Shot--- Quasi Military group, Official Martial order

Assassin
Collegium Tortoris--- old and tiny (and weird)
[spoiler=The Collegium Tortoris]
Guildschool Faction:
 
Area:Igbar
Name:The Collegium Tortoris
Affiliation with Larger: The mother branch was thought destroyed, and Heliosa was waiting to die.  A recent missive from the Miston Mother Branch has the old men trying to find their feet again.
 
Membership style: Fraternal, and only mixes with the Steel libram or a church
 
% of starting membership: 10% Attrib bonus: IN (12/1) CD (15/3)
Mission: Seemling to be coming to an end, a messenger from the re-awakend north has sent the old men looking for new blood
 
Size: 5
History: The Collegium Tortoris has been a favorite lately. The Guild of Torturers and Executioners started around 188 Reckoning of Nebler, in Winterloo (Later to become Stenron). UNknown to all, they were in possession of The School of Shade Spell. in 221 RON Winterloo had a backlash, and invaded their fortress on trhe Corpusmount, on the edge of the Necropolis. By 225 RON, Venolisia, the sole surviving Master of Pain gathered a few suporters, and in the eaves of the Miston wood, between the evolving State of Winter and the new coastal settlements of the expanding Venolvian empire. He imparted the ramparts with the power of Shade, so the fortress was not seen unless looked for. Being a full Hawaak's ride from the edge of the State of Winter, it was well secluded.
Over the next century, the trade road grew up to pass the Collegium, and a small community of inns and settlemets grew ther, which would become Miston. Due to the magic of Shade, only a few leaders were even aware of the Collegium existing on the edge of their growing forest settlement. At this same time, enough old patrons had been contacted so that many nobles had started to hire one of the masked, felt-cloaked Torturers for their court, as they were trained in diplomacy and strategy, as well as Poisons and the Arts of Truth and Pain.

The local group was started almost two centuries before.  Only 1 omwo~ and four human old men are left.  Yet they are still fell and dangerous.  Hard to qualify for, they have some of the best pure assassination skills in the world.
It Should be Noticed that Heliosa and Gerol both look like aging men, in their late fifties.  Due to a certain effect of the guild, they are both actually well past their first century.
 
 
Current leader: Heliosa, Master of Pain
Current situation: unknown in town, except for the Frigid Song and the Steel Libram.[/spoiler]
Holders of the Straight Way--- Belial's Assassins, Ritualistic

Jocien's Knives--- The blackstripes warrior arm,

Karin Machinations--- The strong arm of the Eye.
[spoiler=The Karin Machination]
Guildschool Faction:
 
Area:Igbar
Name:The Karin Machination
Affiliation with Larger: A part of the Eye of Igbar.
 
Membership style: Private, secret membership only.
 
% of starting membership: 40% Attrib bonus: IN (12/1%) CD (13/2%)
Mission: Three-fold
a)     To protect the members of the Eye and to be their strong, slaying arm.
b)     To destroy the Blackstripe guild of Heliopolis.
c) To maintain the secrecy of all members of the machination.
 
Size: 29
History: The Karin Machination take their name from Karin Beechhurst, (female Hybern Klaxik). She was the leader of a small guild of slayers that allied with the Eye when Kasarak first came to Igbar. She went to the Void back in 890, but her guild has become the strong arm of the Eye of Igbar, part muscle, part knife.
Like most of the Eyes, the 'enforcement' arm is called the 'Searing Eye' within, but the knowledgable of Igbar still call it the Karin Machination.

The machination is especially strong in the Harou districts of Igbar, the Omnian/gwynellian sections populated by expatriated Wastris. Varkovich Von Zap, Vanir Omwo~ Head of the Eye, is partial to the eastern hospitality and afternoon tea services.


Most of the population of Igbar thinks of the Karin Machination as primarily strongarm, but that is a carefully crafted facade. They actually compete with the Holders of the Straight Way and Jocien's Knives in the secret world of political and paid death.

 
 
Current leader: Greta Hodgekin
Current situation: Believed by most to be merely a blunt instrument. They Eye itself is under some political scrutiny.[/spoiler]
 
Bard
Bertrand's Bard School--- drummer warriors. Very Loud and annoying to others, Proud

The Frigid Song--- Warrior Bards from the frozen north
[spoiler=The Frigid Song]
Guildschool Faction:
 
Area:Igbar
Name:The Frigid Song
Affiliation with Larger:Some northern versions, loose affiliation
 
Membership style: Full Skalds only, cannot join other baric
 
% of starting membership: 50% Attrib bonus: IN (12/1) CH (13/1.2)
Mission: To create the present in bardic terms that will become history
 
Size: 41
History: Formerly from the Grey March, came to Igbar from Hobyt Inn in 840 RON.  Has been very politically active, and is in friendly competition with the other barci guilds.  Much news and social commentary is done by bards, so that is taken very seriously.  
 
 
Current leader: Hosta Hab Needleswine
Current situation:Very Popular, friends with other bard guilds.The Frigid Song has been mixed with the Grey Legion and New legion, and as such, is more in the public eye than ever.[/spoiler]
 
Religious-churches
Church of Weaves--- Bamik, weaver god, many Hobbits
[spoiler=Chuch of the Weaves]
Guildschool Faction:
 
Area:Igbar
Name:Church of the Weaves
Affiliation with Larger: This is the mother Church for the worship of the Weaver-God, Bamik.
 
Membership style: full priests or worshippers.
 
% of starting membership: 45% Attrib bonus: WI (9/1)
Mission: To peacefully support all the worshippers of the weave.  To educate the children and to directly Aid the weavers guild
 
Size: 18 priests, some 2000+ full worshippers.
History: The Church of Weaves has been in Igbar for almost 200 years, and is centered near the Weaver's Quarter.  The Church of the Weaves worships Bamik in his incarnation as Weaver of fate, Patron of tradesmen, and of Fine detail work.  The Church of the Weaves also has a cross-over shrine to Minious Stottar (Madrak the mighty, in his guise as the Patron of Hobyt Clan Leaders) and Obliment, Devilkin of Travels.
 It was a very small church in the poor Weavers Quarter back in 701 RON.  The small church was converted into a pretty large on in 757 RON, when Hagji Renteria (male hum) convinced some wealthy benefactors to purchase all their families rugs from the weaver's quarter.
Gerol Sheering made the worship of Bamik more popular, when he was the minsister of finance for the Northern Argussion Marches, in 815 RON.  Since then, the weavers and many of the gemsmiths  and silversmiths have come over to this Church.  The Priests here are generally healers, but are very politcally active.  They are close allies with the Church of the Lawful Triumverate.
Currently they have been speaking out against the protection fees that every merchant pays.  
 Also, the recent topic in many bars is 'The Rights of the Free', by Kalisandros Ogreslayer is also a current topic in the Church of the Weaves.
 
Current leader: Gartiosa Kar Lokkar (female Klaxik Priestess of Bamik)
Current situation: Very well thought of, popular with the working class Igbarians, and the artisan members.[/spoiler]
Church of Belial the True and Clear--- Belialist believee in Order, and in getting what

Church of Change (Jubilex of Chaos)--- Very social, and Chaotic

Church of Direction--- Arlieng the guide,many sages worship here.

Platform Of Trade (Ogleic)--- The Trade God, the scasles,Mercantile church

Church of Fortune (Ishma)--- Goddess of thieves and the hopeful, lucky Ishma

Church of The Living Earth (Madrak the Mighty)--- Huge, solid and Popular

Church of the Green Mother, Igbar  (Vernidale)--- Vernidale, the Green Mother Druidic and neutral
[spoiler=The Church of the Green Mother]
Guildschool Faction:
 
Area:Igbar
Name:The Church of the Green Mother (Vernidale)
Affiliation with Larger: The Mother Church is in Hobyt Inn, in The Bright Lands.  This is the largest branch in Trabler.
 
Membership style: Very closed for a church, but not totally.
 
% of starting membership: 50% Attrib bonus: WI (10/1.5)
Mission: To protect the wilderness and the cultivate the urbal.wilderness interface.
 
Size: 32 members, 650 regular worshippers, not counting the thousands who giver her due.
History: Vernidale's Churches, whether the Serpent Queen or the Green Mother, are thousnads of years old.  The Church of the Green mother came to Igbar in Force almost 3 centuries ago, in 705 RON.  Many of the older families of the Northern Argussian Marches that had already held her in reverence immediately formed major alliances.
 
 
Current leader: Green Mother Palmieri Hestle, Hobyt Female
Current situation: One of the larger churches, probably the third after The Lawful Triumverate and the Chruch of Chaos.  Lately, the interdiction this church has placed on the Herb lands has strained their popularity.[/spoiler]
Church of the Autumn Harvest (Amrist)--- very small, Seasons, harvest,From the North

Church of The Hunt (Verbren)--- The warrior arm of nature

Church of the Lawful Triumverate--- Nebler the Defender, Rakastra the judge, Abradaxus the Harsh--very popular

Messianic Church of the Theocracy of Nebler--- Nebler the Shield Many transplants worship here

Church of the Wild Hunt (Geryon)--- Chaotic and wild, The mighty lawlessness of The woods and fields

Church of Hosting (Woerter)--- Host, and hospitality. The Meeting god

Shrine of Amerer--- very small, neutral mages and beurocrats

The Shrine of the Whole (Kiminus)--- Very small, God of Heroes and fools, of the whole person,

Cooking
Tolmar's Bakery--- 3rd generation, amazing cakes

Bamik's Soups---Children of the Weave eat here often

Cooking, service
Hostem's Hospitality--- The huge and famous restaraunt,

 

 

Druid/ranger
Defenders of the Land--- of Madrak/Vernidale.

Fighter
Terrors of the Knife--- Assassin/Fighters of Vernidale


GovernamentalMinistry of the Unicorn--- School of government
[spoiler=Ministry of the Unicorn]
Guildschool Faction:
 
Area:Igbar
Name:The Unicorn Ministry
Affiliation with Larger: Most career politicians have come from this literal school. Adult education is the norm, though they start classes as young as 12 yrs old. Most merchant families and noble hosues send their boys and girls ehre, and here they build relationships for life. Many appointments and agreements are made due to this brotherhood.
 
Membership style: Collegiate, with more emphasis placed on adult learning.
 
% of starting membership: 30% Attrib bonus: IN (12/1) CH (13/2) soc (20/1)
Mission: To Educate future governmental figures in Igbar.
 
Size: 77 active, 101 including faculty, ot including alumni.
History: The Ministry was actually created by the gentry of the Northern Argussian March Wardens in 799 RON. In 870, when Trabler Aptor, Trader Prime of the Winfire Traders declared the new country Trabler, the ministry, which had become a thoroughly Igbarian entity, just kept on educating.
 
 
Current leader: Beglar Aptor
Current situation: Very well thought of, at worst tolerated. [/spoiler]
 
Kensai/Bard
Martial School of Song--- the "Archers are pansy's" guild
 

Mage
Alternative school of magic ---Independent, Irreverent, and in money trouble
[spoiler=The Alternatie School of Magic]
Guildschool Faction:
 
Area:Igbar
Name:The Alternative School of Magic
Affiliation with Larger: none
 
Membership style: Very Open Membership
 
% of starting membership: 50% Attrib bonus: IN (12/1) WI(10/1.5)
Mission: To create a cooperative magic school that is not under the heel of the huge Collegiom Arcana.
 
Size: 90 active, 9 instructors, 29 students
History: In Igbar, the Alternative School of Magic was begun in 2-31-889, where Palimar, Air mage of Devens and Priest of Madrak and his wife, Samria, sage of the Steel Libram, decided to rebel against the Collegium Arcana in this small, border city.
During the troubles, when the Unicorn King, Trabler Aptor dissapeared, Palimar was already on the Lower House of the Unicorn, Palimar and his friends were instrumental in guiding the city during that dark time, and Palimar was one of the group that discovered HighHand Coomi, ranking member of the Great House of the Unicorn and Venerate of Nebler, was actually a spy for the Argussian Confederation.

 

Note :
Palimar is actually a PC still remotely playing his old character. These sessions were played 1986-1990.
Palimar was voted by the lower House of trhe Unicorn into the Great House, and at that time, to spite the Collegium Arcan that had always impeded his work, used his popularity to create the Alternative school of Magic. Currently, 9 instructors and 29 students study in their halls, and an astonishing 52 other people have memberships and do their spell learning there.

 

 
 
Current leader: Palimar
Current situation: Very low on cash, and very polarizing.[/spoiler]
Collegium Arcana--- The huge, multi national consortium

Red Witches --- Just Outside of Town, blood magic

Shell of defense--- Igbar militia mages.

The Tower-- The Water-mages
 

Martial Artist
Brightblue Limbs--- martial artist from Xamdu hold

Green Dragon Clan-- Draconian and sly

Mysteriarchs of Lathe--- warrior Commando-monks from Gwynell
 

Painting
Goodeval Art school--- From the Stenron branch

Mosaics by Rentan---frescoes, mosaics,and other lifestyle artworks.
 

Ranger
The Hunters of the Shade--- Verbren's Hunters, tracker's non-pariel

Cobranic School---Snake Rangers of the Serpent Queen

Sage
Greta's Words--- sages who specialize in scrolls

Steel Library--- strange old sages' guild.
[spoiler=The Steel Libram]
Guildschool Faction:
 
Area:Igbar
Name:The Steel Libram (Steel Library)
Affiliation with Larger: none
 
Membership style: Fraternal order, not exclusive.
 
% of starting membership: 30% Attrib bonus: IN (12/1.5) WI (13/1)
Mission: To store knowledge and teach the love of lore for the sake of lore.
 
Size: 24
History: The Built in 488 RON, the Steel Library originally came as a branch of the Library of the Orb. The first keeper was Aslow Ostombar. The second keeper was secretly from the Collegium Arcana, Og Antit Antioper, but the son of the first Keeper and a few of the younger members found him out and imprisoned him in the lowest level. This was Alim Vic Ostombar. He and his group took the name Seeker of the Unknown, and many books of knowledge of that time period bear that name. He died in 525RON.  It should be noted that the main building has 3 large levels, and the shallow brass dome on the roof holds a fourth.  The whole place is crammed with books and scrolls, though the rare and magical stuff is on the top two floors.  Therfe are often a dozen or more people studying here, as this is the best collection of books ion Trabler.
 

The current Keeper is Pacae Letsos, a Klaxik Sage. He feels beleagured on all sides. His school currently has 24 members, with a healthy 13 being students. His head of scrolls is Vesaart ol Emptos, a gnomic sage.

 

The teach Mentalist and Artificer well, and have some passing ability in Order magic as well as chaos magic. They teach the scholar skill set better than any in Igbar.  Their members are normallly titleds 'Lettermen', or 'Scriven Letterman'.

 
 
Current leader: Pacae Letsos
Current situation: Hard to miss them, as they are situated on the royal way, just north of the palace.[/spoiler]
 
Sailing
Igbar sails!--- sailing school. Young navy ensigns

Sheering Family Yaght Club---upper crust wealthy yachters.
 

Samurai
Blue turtles--- The honorable enemy of the Red circle
[spoiler=The Blue Turtles]
Guildschool Faction:
 
Area:Igbar
Name:Blue Turtle Honorables
Affiliation with Larger: The Blue Turtles have branches in Most major cities in the Cradle area of the North east.
 
Membership style: Collegiate, with more emphasis placed on adult learning.
 
% of starting membership: 20% Attrib bonus: ST (13/2) HE (10/1) soc (20/1)
Mission: The Blue Turtles were founded to combat knighthoods that threaten the weak and poor.
 
Size: 49
History: The Blue Turtles are the name of an order of knighthood founded to combat the Daemonically sponsored Order of the Red Circle. The originated in the Omwo~ kingdome of the Silverwood, almost 400 years before. They have never gone inactive, but during the War between the Blue/white confederation and the Stenronian Alliance recently, the Blue Turtle Shell has been barely able to keep up with the applications.
They have a strong belief in very heavy armor, and a tremendous practicality. They are allied strongly with the Order of Stenron right now.

Hatchlings, lower level brothers, are never sent out on their own, but always in pairs. Shell swords, shellwatchers, and shell wardens are ranks that the Blue Turtles Aspire to. The Horn Misister of local Ocodig, the town to the North of Igabr, is also a Grand Tortoise.

 
The Bright BLue circular, stylized shell is their sigil.
 
 
Current leader:  Great Tortoise Charn Vor Bekin
Current situation: Very well thought of, a great, well-known knighthood.[/spoiler]
Unicorn Swords--- female -heavy school of spear users

Smith
Collishaw's Ironmongery--- Great place to learn how to mend armor

Social
House of Twazinia--- Harou hospitality school, old orbic version

Parshan House of Chance--- learn how to lose money like a pro

The Grounds of Dismissal--- Banneti's Coffee House
[spoiler=The Grounds of Dismissal]
Guildschool Faction:
 
Area:Igbar
Name:The Grounds of Dismissal (Bannetti's Kaffee House)
Affiliation with Larger: none
 
Membership style: Paid membership
 
% of starting membership:   Attrib bonus: I
Mission: To build the business community og Igbar
 
Size: 6 family members, 29 employees, 71 incorporated groups
History: Igbar has grown by fits and starts, drven heavily by economics and helped rarely by any entity but itself. As such, it is no surprise that the most unique of Igbarian intitutions is a mercantile one.
Bannetti's Kaffee House Openned in 849 R.O.N., in the warehousing section of town. To be precise, in the intersection of Seaward Road and Mungery Way, where the two opposite corners

Though the Kaffee was excellent, it basically held its own for a few years, and bought a pawn shop next door that was not doing so well. 7 black round tables were added. This proved to bee a boon, for though Borg Banneti's wife murmured dire imrecations into his ears about wasting the money, it soon became the meeting place for the warehouse managers, and by the second year, even upper management stopped by to get some of the excellent coffee and talk business.

By 855, 'meeting at Bannetti's' became synonomous with doing some kind of business, and the 7 tables were getting cramped. Borg bought out the clerk's office upstairs from the Old pawn shop, as well. The upstairs area, where light snacks as well as Kaffee and 'gentlemans' wines were served, opened as the 'Grounds of Dismissal' in 856 R.O.N.

And from the first, the upstairs became the daily office for the Wavesong Family traders and the Winfire Trading groups. They were both there the 'Grounds' part of Bannetti's opened, and that first day, the heads of those consortiums set up shop upstairs. They signed more deals their that year for their guilds than anywhere else, and it became the habit, even that year, for Joachim Kar Klaxik, Trader-prime of the Winfire trading group to get there at second hour, to be followed a few minutes later by the Sreiana Voninimis, Captain of the Wavesong Family. More and more of the tables were taken for hours at a time.

in 860, Bannetti's and the 'Grounds was in the forfront of a major change. The Mungery way had become peppered with office buildings for nearly a block on both sides of the Kaffee haunt, and the upstairs hummed with business until the evening hour, and often even after the l;anterns came out. That year, The Vissippee Trading clan, which was specializing in the speculation of herbland caravans, actually bought a table upstairs for the year, one that no one else could use, and they were the first of the trading groups to become 'incorporated' at Bannetti's, to have their charter written there and stored ther, to have their table with their sigil.

Well, this caught on with the burgeoning trade-lords of Igbar quickly. The Argussian Blue-White laws were subject to the court of Argus opnly, so any trade or contract disputes needed to be refered to the Earl of the Northern Marches, a hawaak's ride to the south even in summer. The heads of the Vissippee, the Winfire, The Rissa family, the Kletthen Klaxiks, the Hojijar sealordsfrom Northern Ocodig, and Borg Banneti all signed off on 'The Precepts of Dismissal', rules for incorporating and adjudicating trade issues. They based it on the Trade Laws of the Bright Lands, and though they did not know it, they had cut a major cord of the authority of the Empire of Argus away.

 
 
Current leader: Borg Bannetti
Current situation: The center of all civilized trade in the city[/spoiler]
 

Thieve's guild
Blackstripes--- Helipolian

Padisha of Pilfering--- independent, real thieves, not political

The Bully Boys--- The dock's underside.

The Eye--- Kasarack's boys.
 

Trade
Wello House of Adornment--- learn the value of everything!

Winfire Trading Consortium--- trading guild

Sceding Tree--- Traders of commodities, one of the largest

Teque Guild of Travelers--- Guild Clan specializing in inns, wagons, land travel
 

warrior
Caleb's Tactical--- Specialized vs humanoids

Lance and Slay--- How to kill on the open plains, great horseman

Order of Stenron--- The largest military order in the North

Order of the White Paladin--- Wear white and like it!

The Armor of Trade--- The Knights of the Church of Trade
[spoiler=the Armor of Trade]
Guildschool Faction:
 
Area:Igbar
Name: The Armor of Trade
Affiliation with Larger: each is attatched to the local PLatform of Trade and under the Authority of the Local Church
 
Membership style: Brotherhood/priesthood
 
% of starting membership: 20% Attrib bonus: ST (11/1) CH (9/1)
Mission: To protect the balance of trade and justice
 
Size: 21
History: The Platform of Trade is the name for the Church of the TradeGod Ogleic, He of the fair deal and of the balance. The Platform of Trade is three quarters Church and a quarter moneylender, a strange aglomeration of worship, prayers, homliy, and sweet dealings.
The Armor of Trade began as caravan guards for the church-sponsored wain-rides that drove from Stenron down to the Argussian Empire, stopping in the Bright Lands, Orbi, aand in the Theocracy of Nebler in between. As these guards became more of a formalized part of the mercantile events, Joran Parle, human ex-knight of the Crying Sun rose to the top of the guards. That was back in 798 R.O.N., and he established the Armor of Trade as the name of the guards of the Church of Trade.

Over the next decades, the guards moved slowly to being more of a Knighthood, but in 841, Gerod Kax Colishaw, Klaxik priest of Ogleic, went from the priesthood into the guards, but with the express idea of making them more like some of more pious knighthoods, Like the Tristonian Brotherhood of the Neblerians. So it came to pass that the Armor of Trade training included philosophy and Restoration, economics and Necromancy, social grace and the nature of Order.

Today's Armor of Trade wear the grey tabard emblazoned with the gold scales proudly, embodying the values of fairness, prosperity, cooperation, and getting what you deserve.

'Chell, Amigal', is the battlecry and all around aoth-word for the knights.  It is Klaxik, meaning "The Scales, my Friends!"  

 

 
 
Current leader: Jom Tersian, Human Male
Current situation: though overly concerned with rules, they are well thoguht of.[/spoiler]
Toffler's Defenders--- Marines for the Navy

Trabler Scarlet Pilums--- Military School of Trabler, heavy into cavalry

Tristonian knights --- The knights of John of Triston, Neblerian

Bone Knights of Orcus--Recently invited to town
[spoiler=The Bone Knights]
Guildschool Faction:
 
Area:Igbar
Name:Bone KNights of Orcus
Affiliation with Larger: Recum is the closest national level headquarters.
 
Membership style: Fraternal, with only Churches being out of bounds
 
% of starting membership: 40% Attrib bonus: ST (10/1) WI (12/1)
Mission: Large-scale, to maintain the sanctity of the resting places of the dead, currently, to beat back the undead in Igbar.
 
Size: 10
History: Death is an inevitable horror in all times and places, and the cheapness of life in Celtricia makes it worse here than most. All religions aere that the sould of the dead, if uncaptured by some necromancer, fly through the void and make a hawaak journey to the House of Death, to Zevashopal, and into the Well of Death. From their, if they make it , they are disbursed to the House or Station of their Patron, assuming he comes to claim them.
Orcus is the Patron of the soul's travel through the Void, and of boneyards and ancestors. In this incarnation, he presides over the Churc of Bone, though the devilkin Duke Oblimet is also a patron of this journey. Prayers and offerings are made to Orcus and the Church of Bone.


The Bone Knights began in 810 R.O.N., In the Orbic city of Billinsonit. They came into being to replicate the Corpusmunt Gardians in Stenron. Originlly priests martially trained to guard the Old Boneyards of Billinsonit and ancient Hagenos, they became the order of knights for the Church of Bone. Their primary mission is still set to guard the boneyards and necropilis, but they have also become almost a necromantic guard, seeking out undead to start their souls back on the proper journey.


Today, they are still a very small order, but their bleached-white armor and grey skull tabard is regularly seen at wealthy funerals, and visiting the tombs of the well-to-do and well born.


The Bone Knights are extremely weak in traditional restorative spell points, but have strong necromantic, Death, and Animist spell ability. They wear heavier armors laquered white. They are a somehwat somber and older, as most join this order later in life as a result of tragedy, though some small amount join when younger, often recomended by the Priests of Bone to their more adventurous and brave members.


They have no church in Igbar, but some 15 members are in town at the recent request of the Church of Chaos (Jubilex), where they are staying.



--the Bone Knights have been called by Patriarch Timlin Hurler of the Church of Chaos, but this is a result of a corsortium of high level priests (Kiminus, the Chuch of the Lawful Triumverate, The Church of the Staright Way) getting together. The undead have been getting into the city, and they need all the help they can get.

 
 
Current leader: Jaxom Har Anteraster, Klaxik captain of the Bone Knights,
Current situation: No one has yet formed a view[/spoiler]

[LordVreeg]

Igbar, the major campaign setting for two of my groups. Added a ton to it recently.
Igbar
Still a work in progress, but what questions does it bring up that are not answered?  I am too close and involved, and would like some guidance (other than to finish the damn map, which is taking FOREVER).  What strikes you as worth keeping and what needs to be answered?

[LordVreeg]

recent additions include...

Newer map of Igbar, Additonal info on newer guilds in Igbar, and more data on pupular politcal thought in the city. igbar page

New data on what money is worth and the 'electrum standard', as well as data on various common coinage.what is money worth?

WHAT IS MONEY WORTH?

Introduction.
The Electrum Standard & Coinage in Use
 

The Igbarian New Legion recently found 945 Argussian Silver Feng, 805 Silver Brightlands Silver hands, 630 Brightland Electrum Hands, 170 Argussian Gold Erat. There was a silver braided belt with a wolf's head belt buckle (we 5, wo 95GP, Argussian Fenris Traders circa 755RON, +10%lorecheck), Blacksteel francisca (masterwork, +1 damage before divider, we 75, wo 650GP), arrayed around the tattered black velvet in the Klaxik Wight's tomb.

OK. Great. What does this mean in terms of the world at large?  What will it allow the players to do?  Why do players plunder?  What is it for?

One of the ultimate signs of a deeper game is when the adventuring of a group has an economic effect.  Looking to our ancient Greece,  Xenophon lay the foundation for a division of labor and economies of scale.  In Celtricia the precepts of Hugon Zwentiee (Omwo~, -1755 RON) of Silverwood are still read.  They contain in that bookdefence and child-rearing are crucial monetarty priorites for a civilized ruler, and the morality of money.

The Electrum Standard
The northern celtrican cradle is based on the Electrum standard, in that an unskilled villein's work is worth an electrum coin per day. In a city like Igbar, the electrum standard still holds true. Igbarian Drafted soldiers are recompensed an electrum goodwife a day, as well.  Coins are, of course, worth approximately the same amount as the metal would be if that weight of metal was melted down.

So, in terms of the electrum standard,

100 Copper Strips=

10 Silver Children=

1 Electrum Goodwife=

1/2 Gold Horn=

1/10 Platinum Unicorn.

Now, the Scarlet Pilum's Militia pay their beginning recruits 13 silver children a day, and a buck seargent makes 5 Goodwives a day. There is no tax on income in my world, so I always use a rule of thumb for income only think of an electrum as being 50 bucks. It's 6.25 per hour in todays world (literally..50 dollars a day, *5 days, *52 weeks is 13k per year. 250 for a week/40 hours is 6.25).  It is alos very important that the normal Celtrician Work week is 5.5 days in town of the 8 day hawaak, though that is for the upper working class.  Business owners and blue collar workers put in 7 out of 8 days (reserving Fastak only), and the truly poor of course work everyday.

So the most common coin in the Northern Celtrician are is the electrum goodwife, followed by the silver Child, followed by the Gold Horn, followed by the copper Strip. Bars, restaurants, and most normal businesses use Electrum Goodwives and Silver Children almost exclusively. Though I still price things in my head automatically in gold, I have gotten better at responding to all price inquiries in terms of Goodwives, when they are speaking to a merchant. After once glass of wine too many, it gets hard, but answering that 'a new suit of Studded Leather will cost a hundred Goodwives, less 19 goodwives for the ripped-up old suit you are trading in' is the way to go.

It also important to take a medieval/gilded age approach to money, in that there is a tremendous range of incomes, a tremendous range of prices, and a lot of people trying to make money.

Their are flophouses in Igbar, places where a bed is paid for by the night, where they pack 6-10 beds in a room and charge between 5 copper strips and a silver child per bed per night. A crappy room rented for a hawwak (the eight day week) near the docks will be a 10-15 Silver children for the week (1-1.5 electrum goodwives).

A decent Teque Guild Inn rents rooms (with 2 beds) for 5-10 silver Children per night, Hostem's House of Hospitality has rooms from one to seven Goodwives a night, and the Upper Crust's room rates are between ten and forty goodwives a night.

Renting a small apartment for the 60 day month in a poor section of town will be 30-40 Goodwives.  A middle level apartment would be 50-75 goodwives for the same period.  Renting a $2500-$5000 a month luxury apartment would be 100-200 goodwives per 60 day month.

How much does a backpack cost? A decent one runs 1-2 goodwives.
A Tunic? A basic homespun cloth one is 2 silver children, a nice one in a shop maybe 4-7 silver children. Nicer cloth or embroidery will be 5-12 silver children. Silk or Samite? Now we are talking the same range, but in Goodwives. Sharma's Dresssmakers, part of the Vissippe Trading guild, can get 40+ Goodwives for a dress.

Property is huge. Owning (deeded) property is gigantic. Buying an acre of farmland in Igtiche (the farming community just outside of Igbar) runs about 1000 Goodwives, though property is normally done in Gold Horn, so it would be 500 horn. A 2 story house in Igbar would run between 4000 and 10000 gold horn.  That would be the equivalent of buying a brownstone today.

Adventuring costs a ton. Magic and artificed items cost a fortune, since they are rare, and are normally handles in Gold Horn. It is all based on the cost of the spell. Buying a casting only scroll costs normally 25 gold horn(50 electrum Goodwives) a spell point, and a learning scroll will cost approximately 35 gold horn (70 electrum Goodwives per point). Cantrips have 5-10 total spell points, so that should give some idea why magic is where the cast is at. Brother's cure (cures 2-7, can be used once per hawaak) has a total cost of 15 spell points, which means 400 gold horn for a casting scroll, or 525 gold horn for a learning scroll.

Potions have the same effect as scrolls, only since anyone can use them, they cost 50 gold horn per spellpoint cost. A potion of Brother's Cure would cost 750 gold Horn, if there is anyplace selling.


 

[LordVreeg]

Notes on the daily life and calenders used in the Cradle area of Celtricia
calender page

Also,
Stenronian Alliance,
Winfire Trading Guild
Herb Lands
Steel Libram
The Church of The Green Mother

[LordVreeg]

'Tale of Years' Reformatted, and updated to include more later history of Igbar and more history of the Dreadwing.

For those who hate reading a list of events, run away.

If you've been reading bits and pices of this setting, this page may give a clearer idea of the growing history of a 25 year old setting that is still being played.  
Played tonight, if the damn Snow and sleet will stop!
 :censored:

Tale of Years Page

[Tybalt]

I have what may seem like an odd question, based on all the stuff you've posted so far.

How much do the people of Igbar enjoy factionalism? I mean--do they LIKE it, identify with it? It seems that they take great pride in the opportunities that exist in their city, and indeed there are many, and most of them one way or another are about gathering influence and wealth, which seem synonymous in Igbar.

This may seem like a strange thing to say but I sometimes like to compare one campaign to another. For instance Dark Sun is a more bleak and gritty setting than Greyhawk; it is only the evil of monsters and cruel cults and evil regimes that keeps the world from being a paradise. Ordinary people seem ready enough to identify with good heroes or to cower beneath overlords in Greyhawk. Dark Sun seems to taint everyone with cynicism and desperation.

In the Republic of New Edom itself factionalism doesn't exist to the same extent at all as in Igbar. I think a New Edomite merchant would be shocked at how many guilds there are that are not merely trade guilds but also mercenary guilds, thieves guilds, magical guilds and so on. I think his question would be "How do you RUN this place?"

Of course based on what I know of your campaign alliances are sometimes swiftly made or are invoked by old debts and so on in the face of danger or difficulty. But here is my second question really: is there any chance that any one power block is likely to achieve greater power than the others? Even temporarily?

Er...btw sorry i forgot not to post here--maybe you could move or delete this reply...thanks.

[LordVreeg]

Celtricia, World Of Factions
V 2.0 for CBG
Setting thread--do not post here. Post here
There will be a seperate thread for the Guildschool crunch.
Celtricia, World of Factions PBwiki

Finally started the page on the beers and wines of the Cradle area, and especially in Igbar.
Much like the thread on calendars, having consistent beverages and items to purchase, as well as the places themselves, helps immerse the players further into the game.
booze of Igbar

[LordVreeg]

Mistonians!

I talk about my Igbarian group quite a bit, since they play more often and are more boisterous.  But I have another group that adventures in Celtricia, about once a month.  They have played longer, about 12 years real time.  They have started to load their old histories onto the Celtricia site, but I thought I'd print the beginning of it here.
mistonian page
This is still the bare bones, but it makes for an interesting read for a GM, perhaps.  I am promised that they will continue and fill in some of the blanks, but we will see...
This is the players perceptions, so some of is is a little different than my own, but it makes it more interesting in some ways.



The Occupation of Miston


   At the time of the telling of this tale, 894 Reckoning of Nebler, the town of Miston has been under the control of the giants and gnolls for almost five years, since the war with Argus was barely months old. The GiantClan Silverworth struck from the west and surprised the lightly defended border towns.  There are typically 500 gnolls in the town at any given time to keep order. The gnolls keep strict control of the movement of people and the carrying of weapons within town. Citizens are not allowed to carry weapons or wear armor while they are in town. Even when leaving town, a citizen may wear nothing heavier than leather armor. In order to further ensure the populace does not become too bold in resisting the occupation, they will often kill outright 20 villagers if a gnoll turns up dead. Dreaded Giants also occasionally come through town to further ensure the subjugation of the townfolk. The Gnolls also take half of the food that is grown by the town as taxes. Cedric the Turniper of the Turniper's Guild is the liason with the gnolls and giants and delivers the levies the town owes.

 

   Even the best efforts of the gnolls and giants could not quell the seeds of resistance. The town levies funds for the liberation of Miston. The Local Eye, the local branch of thieves guild, brings money back to Stenron to help hire a mercenary army. They also smuggle people between Miston and Stenron and provides a little guerrilla warfare. John of Miston, the last surviving member of the Miston Militia, runs a bar in town. He is an old weapons master, a human in his late forties, and he secretly teaches students the finer arts of fighting with straight swords, curved swords, or mashing weapons. John works with the Local Eye, Recici (the town's metalsmith who runs an underground mages guild), and Harald (the town's bowyer and a fine archer who trains others in town) in the running of covert operations from the town while raising funds to support the war to the south and to hire a group of mercenary soldiers from Stenron. Harald's Bowery helps to run the covert operations by obtaining hunting passes for town members who can then leave town.

 

Hunting passes are often given to the citizens of the town to help keep in check the kobold and orc populations. The gnolls, ogres, and their larger masters find the lesser humanoid tribes amusing, but those tribes steal crops and lives on the outskirts constantly.  To ensure that the food keeps rolling into the coffers of the Silverworths, The town will pay for every orc head or kobold the hunter can bring in, authorized by the Giants. An orc head is worth one silver piece and a kobold pelt is worth 5 silver pieces.

 

  The town recruited pupils from various guilds in the town to form a new hunting party. The group of recruits consisted of Joseph, a priest from The Church of the Lawful Triumverate , Orris Odmurrin and Tojo Lee, archers from Harald's Bowyery, Xia du Ping, a thief from the Local Eye, Hectum Arris, a fighter trained by John, Amber Sweetwater and Tumble Sod, mages trained by Recici, and Grak Dung, an apprentice of the strange Collegium Torturis. Ricici was glad to be rid of Amber and Tumble since they were notorious trouble makers within his school. They were often caught trying to summon imps.

 

  The Church of the Lawful Triumverate provided a pack horse and supplies for the hunting expedition. Some members of the party were upset that they were not also provided with mounts of their own and would have to walk. It was thought that the Church offered to provide the provisions since the Church of the Lawful Triumverate was being of accused of being lazy in the sponsorship of the liberation of Miston. Harald writes up eight hunting passes for the party because of the likelihood of running into gnoll patrols. He tells the party to plan on leaving the following morning. Hectum offers to stop by John's to get some beer for the expedition.

 

It should be notated that most of the group members had not even heard of the Collegium Tortoris.  The resistance leaders had found that this strange old organization had existed in secret for yeas in the Miston, but was willing to aid the resistance.

 

  The party first left town late in the spring of 894 RON. The party headed north out of town and had a rough time of it during the first days since it was rainy and the Church did not provide them with any tents. Tojo found the remains of an old road two days out of town. The group follows the road north through hilly terrain.

 

  While following the road to the north the area becomes more hilly and the forest becomes thicker. The group also has several encounters with groups of kobolds, goblins, and hobgoblins who are members of the Quickson tribe to the north and east. The old road that Tojo discovered splits, and the group notes most of the kobold tracks follow the stone road that splits east.  In each of the battles with the Quickson tribe the party was able to obtain valuable information about the two camps of the tribe and of the strange lights seen at the '˜Ryn', a haunted hill with the stonework to the east. At this section of the trail the group has also noticed ruins of very old watchtowers, hundreds of years old. The group decides to investigate the haunted hills with the strange lights.


  Near the crest of the strange hill, there are remains of an arch made of red marble and there are also a number of bones sticking out of the ground. At the crest of the hill the group sees remnants of an old tower made out of a black stone and skeletal remains all over the place. There are also many rusted medieval shields spiked into the ground. Most of them have a crest with the Anvil of Nebler on them. The shields look over a hundred years old, if not older, and probably mark the graves of about 70 knights. Some of the burial mounds appear to have been opened since the earth is fresher than the normal burial mounds. It appears that about ¾ of the burial mounds have been disturbed. There is also the remains of about 100 bodies around the black stone tower which is now only 10 feet tall. The remains of either a fort or manor house also reveals the site of a huge battle fought in front of it. 200 to 300 skeletal bodies of a garrison are seen around the area. A stairway leads down inside the fort remains. There are skeletal footprints on the stairs as well as footprints of gnolls and an ogre that are over a week old.


  The group descends,and spends several days investigating a complex underneath the hill. They find several interesting artifacts including mapping crystals. They also found documents that were written in a very old language, Venolvian. Several nights during their stay they see the sickly lights that are mainly red and green. They find that the name of the Hill, Ryn et Jubilex,  means the Hill of Jubilex in old Venolvian.  They find notes pertaining to '˜Wizern's Underthrone' and '˜Entropism'.  Almost everything they find pertains to some Venolvian cult of Chaos.  The group notates everything that might need future research, as many things are beyond their experience.

 

The group was finally forced to head back to Miston when their healer, Joseph, was slain during a fight with a couple of ghouls. The group carried Joseph's body back to Miston where he is consecrated by the Church of the Lawful Triumverate so that he does not become a ghoul.  Joseph's death, the many injuries taken, and the huge undead presence in the '˜Ryn Et Jubilex', brings it home to the group the perils of what they are doing.


 

  The party returns to Miston, and through the spring and early summer they recruit new members into the group: Kafka, a pupil of John's who gets along well with Hectum, Susanna, healer of Amrist, and Vintas, a healer of Darkling. The group takes several trips to the complex. They learn that the name of the complex is Wizern's Overthrone and the worshippers were destroyed by Jon Axehand Suprosian back in 502 RON. This complex was part of the Venolvian empire and this complex was a place of worship to the Entropic Overlords. The group finds many symbols of two of the Overlords in the complex: Jubilex and Hewecar, Demon Lord of the Blood Ritual.  The other Major Entropic Overlords are Pazuzu and Orcus.  

 

  In the groups trips to Wizern's they often see a white dragon and luckily are able to escape detection by hiding. They learn from Harald that there used to be a lot of Sauroid activity in the area and there was a dragon settlement to the north. He thinks that some of the dragons eggs may have hatched.  The group has 2 more quick trips in the summer, finding more artifacts and coin, and still slowly uncovering mysteries.  Much of the wealth that the group uncovers goes back to secret accounts in Miston, trying to raise aid to remove the Giantclan Silverworth, and they make sure to bring back pelts and tribal orc heads to keep their status as hunters.

 

  In early days of Summerwane, Harald introduces the group to a simple peasant red hobbit, Drono Bittleby, who is from the Turniper's Guild. Harald wants the group to disrupt the giant/gnoll line of communication. The number of gnolls in the town has recently decreased. They are sending more of the giants and gnolls to the battlefront south of Miston by a few days. There are also a number of Greymarch forces heading towards this area, according to Harald's information.  It is more than the group can hope to defeat the giants and their allies in the Giantclan Silverworth, but they have to try.  So they break off their exploration of the Ryn et Jubilex and Wizern's underthrone to help the town more directly against the invaders.

 

  The group is able to destroy several gnoll/ogre patrols and they are also able to capture several gnolls. Grak and Xia interrogate the gnolls to find out more about there numbers and movements. Most of them are coming from a western encampment and heading to the eastern encampment near Miston. In a major blow to the group, Hectum is killed during one of the battles with a gnolls and ogre patrol. The group does not cover their tracks well and they encounter forest giants one night who are tracking them. Orris is able to lead them off and catch up with the group the following day. Though the group has gotten stronger and been supplied with better arms and armors, they are not ready to mix it up with giants!!!  The group decides to start to head back to Miston. They encounter another gnoll patrol and find them carrying coins of Old Venolvian mintage. Grak and Xia interrogate the gnolls that surrendered and find out that one of their priests sent them to a hill that was actually near Miston to check out some strange green lights that appear at night. The hill is on an old path in the woods, not even a day's walk to the west of the town.  The group decides to investigate the hill and find pillars that have red tridents on them, symbols of Hewecar. The group feels themselves being pulled by something between the pillars, and then find themselves in a very dark area. Vintas and Susannah feel ill from the teleportation. The group finds more symbols of the Entropic Overlords and signs of a Knight of the Red Circle named Anginar. The group goes up a staircase and find themselves in a familiar place'¦they are back in Wizern's Underthrone!! They leave the Ryun et Jubilex and head back to the hill where their pack horses and Hectum's body are. They are able to recover most of their items and Hectum's ripe body.

 

  The group heads back to Stenron to return Hectum's body and give reports on their patrols. They learn that part of the Greymarch army has returned and that a battle with the gnolls is approaching. Amber and Tumble decide to study with Vicol the artificer and Tumble is going to stay a while with Vicol to study House of Air. They get t-shirts that say property of Vicol's, which enrages Amber and Tumbe's former master, Recici.  After they study,The group decides to head right back out.

 

The town would like us to go out and attack more gnolls patrols. A new member, Moroki, an alchemist of Vicol's, joins the group. They head back out on the gnoll road but do not encounter any patrols. They go back to the hill and are transported back to Wizern's Underthrone. The group ends up encountering Anginar's mummy and Susannah is killed in the fight.  The group also finds a book about Meganna, the Faerie Queen. The hobbit figurines that we have are guided toward the book. A couple of days later while investigating a tapestry Moroki was killed by a glyph of lightning that was on the tapesty.  (that didn't last too long'¦)The group sees the sickly lights occur every odd night. The lights are also now arcing towards our nighttime encampment. We separate items to determine what the lights are moving towards. They seem to be bending towards the book about Meganna.

 

  A few days later, back in the underthrone we find a room that has three small tridents on the wall. All three tridents are trapped. Drono disarmed the trap on the first trident. He's turingin into a useful peasant.  We've gotten rid of his pitchfork and gotten him a trident to fight with.No one could disarm the trap on the second trident and Grak activated the trap on the third trident and had to avoid pieces of ceiling that were falling. Kafka picks up the second trident and it adheres to his left arm. The weapon is sentient and is named Harbinger of Joy. The weapon appears to be from the House of Fire and has an extreme hatred of demonic creatures. It is also not happy with Kafka. There is a picture in the room of Angenar and the eyes in the painting are now following Kafka.

[LordVreeg]

It comes to my attention through the attentions of some of the folk here that the threads on the site are WAY behind the wikisite, so I'm trying to update the threads a it.  
Igbar