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View Full Version : need help with filling out a community. (4E but just imagination needed)



Kol Korran
2009-06-12, 12:58 PM
first of all, if your character is either Vip, Andrea, Grey, Matt or Riardis, then stop reading right here! (few chances they'll step into this forum, but still, a warning can do no wrong)

i apologize for the post is quite long, read the following paragraph and see if you're at all interested. all help is appreciated

my players have almsot reached the major destination of their first "adventure" (i use the term lossley since events were sort of thrust on them). they sought a mysterious oracle on top of a mountain in a far away island to explain the strange marks on their bodies (heavily refluffed dragon marks, their bearers usually marked for greatness). however, at the top there isn't just the oracle (who happens to be an intelligent religious hydra speaking with the collected memories of previous marked ones, but we'll get to that), but a small settlement of dragonborn (and a few other people). the place is importent to the campaign, and the characters will most likely return to it quite a few times in the future. i have it's basics, but it feels quite thin.

so in short, i would like your help with creative ideas to help fill it out, make it more interesting, more alive. i'm usually fairly good with this, but for some reason my brain had gone into "um, id on't know!" mode. looking for:
- personalities. don't have to be complex or especially outstanding. just believable and moderatly engaging.
- naming conventions. i'm kind of stuck here, especially for the dragonborn. all i come up with are that thye may have 2 names- one of their purpose/ role in the society, and a secret name that they reveal only to those they trust.
- any kind of buildings, enterprises, themes and so on.

not much to go on so far. so, i'll detail a bit. just skip to any section you think might spark ideas (or read it all) sorry for the length...

party (all level 2)
- Dragonborn male paladin, quite religious, knightly type. experienced player. so far functioned as leader of the party. not easely trusting.
- Drow female bard. new player, still a bit lost. likes social interactions, tries to play something between sagacious, and flirtations seductress... a bit confused about her.
- Drow male rogue. experienced player. somewhat sadistic character, very colorfull, think Belkar without being realy evil, and still being a (mostly) team player. has a dark edge.
- Eladrin male wizard. another newby. the player is... frustrating- he is constantly confused, and chose to have an amnesia in order not to write background (opened up interesting opportuinites for me though). he is the joker of the party, very inventive, sometimes illogically so.
- Human male fighter. a silent type, takes to the background, happy to assit the party and not take the spotlight. quite perceptive, story focused.

short history/ background- basically from the "6 elements" campaign
a few centuries ago the world was occupied by powervfull fiends that enalsved, fed, and experimented on the common races. legend tells that the old gods sent great dragons to help and free the people. (both great dragons and demons are epic creatures, legendery). the dragons led the races to rebellion, in the process also creating the drgaonborn as elite soldiers and inspiration of courage. they were also used as "bridges" between the races to the dragons, since the dragons were terrfying and somewhat alien.

as legend goes, the rebellion finally succeeded, but as a "last strike" effort the fiends evoked a great magic that shattered the continent (the world is all islands). most great dragons disappeared soon after. the races were left to fend for themselves in this new world, many areas disconnected from previous ones.

what legend doesn't tell, and that is kept as a hidden secret, is that the elites of the great fiend protected themselves from the cataclysm, creating sort of self prisons in which they will sleep until the time to rise shall come again. the great dragons found this out and invested their own essence and deviances in order to seal this places even more, but most importently keep them secret, so no one might think of opening them or worshiping them. a few more minor demons were "granted" smilar luxsuries as well by the great fiends.

as centuries passed, a religion was foremed around the ideas of the old gods. the worship of dragons, trying to rebuild the world, and trying to bring back the alliance of the races as once was (the starfall faith). as all major organizations, this one had secrets as well. one of these was the truth about the demons (which was known to only a few), and another was dealt with the starmarks.

the starmarks are magicla tattoos that appear appearently randomly all over the islands and races. they usually mark only special individuals, who usually do great good, or great evil. the choice is theirs. these marks were called starmarks, and various legends and beliefs have been tied around them to hide the truth- the stramarks, in one of their uses, are also the keys to the old prisons, if their user is profiicent enough. howeve,r the old dragons, once finding this truth, have mingled their own magic into the fold, so the marks and their owners act... unexpectedly. this is a cause of great secret research and concern by the church.

the starmarked are urged by starfall priest to take the long journey to a distand island where an oracle would test them and train them in the use of their marks. this is partly a ruse- this is actualyl a mean to examine and check each starmarked, also gauging their intentions, character, and possible destiny. more over, the starmarked arriving at the oracle usually spend quite some time there, doctrined in the faith and somewhat brainwashed (to a great degree) so they won't posses a danger if somehow drawn by fate to one of the prisons (not all are known)

the island and community
the island itself, unknown to the players is the prison of the fiend called "the beast" (corresponding to one of the starmarks). the prison lies deep in the earth, under a mountain that was fused with the essence of a long dead great dragon called Palamious. some other features of the island:
- small tropical island, with one big mountain in the middle, and a small swamp in the west. on the mountain reside the oracle and the small community. the dragonborn are descencdendt of the great dragon Palamiou, and follow the strictures of religions seriously. they run their settlement as a religious outpost/ fort, but i'll get to that in a minute.

- on the island are some human villagers who worship the oracle and the dragonborn, and 3 melitaristic clans of shifters (humans influenced by the cneturies by the magic of "the beast"). the shifters are called "the guardians" sicne they guard old ruins of the fiends in the swamp, where one of the underlings ofthe demons is also imprisoned. the dragonborn have mixed feelings towards the shifters- to those in the know they sometime represent abominations, tainted by the demons, but to most of the dragonborn (even for some in the know), they are something akin to honorable savages, to be taught and educated, despite their strangely savage nature. some shifters regularily train with the dragonborn.

the community and people: (as far as i've gotten)
the community is spread over the mountain top and its sides. around 300 dragonborn (a third or so are youngsters) and a few other people of other races. some of these are starmarked that have stayed, or returned after years of service to the church, a few others, non starmarked may have also been recruited for exceptional skills. in all cases "outsiders" have been checked for loyalty and discretion.

the leaders of the dragonborn know the truth of the prison, and the demons, and train some of their people constantly to be a first line of defence, they sometime get some "actual battle time" against some of the minor horrors/ fiends that get the prison attracts/ manifests... (won't get into that). most of the dragonborn however are told they are training as part of tradition, and due to the various minor fiends spread over the islands (they sometime go on discreete hunting missions). only a handfull know the actual truth however.

in a crater lake by the community lies a true mythical creature- the orcale. it is actually a 6 headed intellignet hydra (based very loosley on the mordant hydra in the MM) that through a special ritual absorbs a small essence of each starmarked (there is a ruse to get the blood needed for the ritual as well) so it can locate it's whereabouts around the islands further on by other rituals. the hydra posseses through this fragments of memories and experiences of most starmeakred before. it is also a powerfull ritual caster, having high ranks in religion, history and arcana. the church supplies the place handily with material componenets for the various divination magic the creature casts.
personality wise: a bit hard to describe- somewhat schizophrenic as it keeps having flashes of memories and conversations. (some of present time, some of past, some of future?), but it is reasonably coherent to make a conversation in the present, at least with one of it's heads. it likes to makes several conversations at once. the oracle is partly "mysterious old sage", but also quite pragmatic, and straightforward. it does not speak in riddles or vague terms. in fact it's directness can be quite shocking or even hurtfull. it is quite amiable, and is constantly hungry for exotic food (it gets bored with the sacrifices brought to it by the villagers and shifters).

leaders of the dragon born: i would like to have 3 of those- one that handles the martial training and the "outpost" aspect of the place. i think s/he would be untrusting of strangers, full of self importance, somewhat impatient, but also very quick to respond to threats. the second one should handle the religious training and aspects, including gathering knoweldge and the research. s/he is sort of the "wise person" but i got nothing on the personality other than that.
and the third? someone who just runs the daily life of the comminuty and the island, and actually is the most busy and practical of them all. again- i have no idea as to personality.

blacksmith/ magic item creator: a minotaur or a tiefling.(why a tiefling? to add a bit of tension- the tieflings were creation of the fiends, as dragonborn were creations of the dragons. s/he could be disliked, but indespensible due to some skills) this gay/ gal also knows the secrets of blood magic, that enables creating special items bonded to the characters (and some of the blood used for the ritual is used for the "scry starmarked" rituals by the oracle). a very close friend to the oracle, sharing most, if not all secrets.


facilities and buildings as far as i've thought:
- a fairly big temple, open to the sky, with a huge floor map of the entire world. it is also used for special scrying rituals, finding starmarked who might have "gone astray". it also lists all known teleportation portals in the islands (the exact runes for each are however guarded somewhere else)

- a teleportation circle located in a very vulnerable location, with dragonborn defending around it, in far more defensible locations.

- the stone tablets: various knowledge upon great stone tablets. this can include stuff gained by knowledge skills, languages, even rituals are written here. (perhaps even stores of prophecies?) the characters get certain access to the place. the immense store of knowledge can be notoriously hard to navigate though. i'm wondering as to it's care taker, and whether to split it up between places.

- stores for most supplies, magical or otherwise from the various strange islands. the idea is to have most things level 10 or less accesible. they get a certain discount, depending on how much they proved themselves.

- training grounds for the dragonborn burdened with warrior fate. about 70-80 of the dragonborn.

- magical training grounds perhaps?

- ??

boy, this has been long! i hope not toooooo long. i can ealborate on some things, if needed. any ideas would be welcomed. thanks a lot people
Kol