The Zephyr Song wrote:
{ Maybe I'm just tired but 'Blue Orc Group' made me giggle for about five minutes on end.. XD }
Acedia had wrapped herself in a cloak borrowed from Taryn (don't ask how it got there) so as to be less conspicuous. Her dress was red; red was the traditional color of a "working girl," and Acedia was no such thing. She just likes planning ahead even if her fears are completely unfounded.
Anyway. "It's times like these that make me glad that I'm female," murmured Taryn. "I may go join the fray anyway though, just for fun." She requested a bottle of sake from a passing barmaid and then expressed disappointment upon finding that they neither had any nor knew what it was. No matter - she remembered that she happened to have a bottle on her person, and proceeded to enjoy it.
{ Nevermind that this RP is set in what could be equated with /western Europe./ XD How Taryn obtained sake is probably the last thing anyone should be concerned about, if they're really going to analyze her. In-character or otherwise. }
<GM's Note: METAGAMEING INFORMATION WARNING: Your character does NOT know any of this, but you players may read it if you want. It's mostly to do with a set of alternitive campaign settings, but we mayt take a trip to onw of them at some point, or we might not. Depends how things play out.
This world does have a "Orient", so to speak, but it is only a very few (the high mages of Skare Brae and Suldeneselar, for two) in this continent that are aware of it's existence. The "Orient" in this world is a very long way away over the trackless Eastern Ocean, and is part of a separate land mass than the continent that Skare Brea, Suldeneselar, the Dwarven Lands and the Lizzardmen's Domain is on. (The continent this game is currently playing out on is properly named "Eithine" in Old Elvish, but each ethnic & racial group has their own variation of that name. Most NPCs do not think in terms of the concept of a Continent since it does not impact their daily lives). The Orient includes elements common to Japan, China, Korea, and South-east Asia. People from those lands look very differnt from those from the Eithine lands: They are generaly shorter by between half a meter, up to two meters; their skin has a slightly darker hue; their eyes have an epithial fold which gives it a "slanted" appearance; and their manner of dress is radically different from their Eithine cousins. Elves, Dwarves, Humans, Lizzardmen, Orcs, and other races (but not Gnomes) are represented in the native population of the Oriental continent. Also, their languages are completely different, and their writing is based on a completely different logic. On rare occasions a dezien of those lands will become shipwrecked and wash up on the shores of this continent. And sometimes an envoy from those lands may arrive via magical means to complete some sort of important quest. Also, the more daring of the Gnomish Airship pilots can sometimes be convinced to fly their ships to search for the fabled Far East, but those that make the attempt rarely return.
There is also a continent known as Chult, which is connected to the Orient by a sparse chain of islands, reefs, atolls, and sargassos. Chult is a land of jungle and savagery, and has recently become the new surface-world base of operation for the Drow. The land of Chult mixes elements of central Africa and South America, and it's native inhabitants are very dark-skined, several inches taller (on average) than the native inhabitants of Eithine, and the population is predominately Human or Orcish (no Elves, no Gnomes, only scatered tribes of Lizzardmen). The native human inhabitants of Eithine are the decendents of one of the most advanced of all the human civilizations on the earth, but a great catyclism threw them into a savagry that they never fully recovered from. The elves once inhabited these lands as well, but after the great catyclism, they all fled to Suldeneselar or The Orient. Great ruins from the lost civilizations are scattered all over Chult, many of them still harboring artifacts of awesome power. This may be why the Drow chose to make thir new base there.
To the north of Eithine are the large twin islands known as Regdholm and Scandeisuvde. These islands are dominated by a great glacial mass that covers the center of both island and extends for a long distance over the frozen ocean north of the islands. Two clans of barely civilized humans make these islands their home: The Regemen claim Regdholm while Voultenhulm tribe claims Scandeisuvde. The two clans have has a rocky history, united under a single king several times in their history, but never under two successive kings. A few years back, the Regemen sailed their longboats to Skare Brae and attempted an invasion, but they were driven back and had to abandon their ambitious plans of conquest. This gave the Voultenhulm tribe the upper hand, and they are now in the process of pressing the Regemen into once again uniting under a single King (a Voultenhulm king, of course). The two tribes do not regularly make contact with either Skarae Brae nor Suldeneselar, though they are aware of the existence of both. The Gnomish Airship operators also know of these two islands, but most of them refuse to have anything to do with either the Regemen of the Voultenhulm, calling them both a bunch of uncivilized barbarians not worthy of their time and effort. Suldeneselar maintains an embassy with the Voultenhulm court, but not with the Regemen: After the Regemen invaded Skarae Brae the Emperor recalled his ambasador and has not sent an new envoy since then.
I should make mention of the Pirate Isles. This cluster of islands lies about 140 kilometers off the westernmost coast of Skare Brae. These islands are volcanic, some of them sporting active volcanoes. Though nominaly under the dominion of Skarae Brae, in reality it is Pirate Kings of various nationalities that hold sway here. Leadership and loyalties among the pirates change so rapidly in this region that it doesn't bear mentioning who holds what island at the moment. All that matters in these islands is that the only law is whatever law your sword arm and the winds and the tides can give you. Pirates from these islands raid all up and down the Western Seas; As far north as Regdholm & Scandeisuvde, and south to the edges of the Lizzardmen's domain. The Royal Navy of Skarae Brae defends against the pirates as best they can, after the war with the Regemen thir forces were severely strained and have yet to recover enough to take the fight to the Pirate Isles. For now, they guard the ports from pirate raiders, but merchant vessels between ports are on their own.
The Ocean deeps are the home of the Mermen (Females known as Mermaids), a race of (supposedly) bipedial humanoids who breath underwater and swim far faster then any huiman could ever hope to do on his own. Of all the civilized intelegent races on this planet, the least is known about the Mermen. The most that is know is that the Elves of Suldeneselar have holy texts going back untold ages that say that the Elven race and the Mermen race were once one, but that they grew apart and eventually parted company entirely. Even the most powerfull Oracles are silent on the subjext of the Mermen. Nobody on the surface has seen or heard from Mermen in living memory, but some sailors who have been at sea have recently begun to make frequent claims of having seen a Mermaid aid them during a storm. The veracity of these sailors tales has not been confirmed, but the sheer number of these claims has given the Emperor pause enough that he has asked his Seers to investigate.
Log in
Wiki
FAQ
Search
]
I prefer this to tabletop/console RPGs...I'm not much a fan of systems. X3; Long live writing. }
