Damon_Tor
2022-06-18, 02:26 PM
I'm building a setting where good and evil take a backseat to order and chaos. Good and evil still exist, but while while in most settings a chaotic good individual is seen as preferable company to someone who is lawful evil, the opposite would be true here. I'm interested in an exploration of what that might mean for a society.
The world is inspired in part by the Judge Dredd setting: the world is divided into a few teeming urban metropolises and expansive lawless wastes: I'll post what I've written so far:
The Burning Blade
Ages ago, Trevane the primordial God of Order battled Azagog, the primordial God of Chaos. Their battle lasted millennia, stretching across uncountable planes, but ended on the world of Enseya when Trevane plunged his fiery sword through Azagog's heart even as he himself succumbed to Azagog's venom. Azagog's serpentine body became a mountain range, indistinguishable from the surrounding continent, but inside a crater on the tallest peak, Trevane's burning sword remains, a monument the the battle, rising forty feet from a pool of molten earth. The sword is itself sentient, called Urtac by the Dwarves who first found it and Torgoth by the humans who would follow. Three thousand years ago, the two peoples would go to war for control of the caldera, until the sword reached out to the leaders of both tribes, sending them dreams and visions, urging them to come together to form a compact. And come together they did, forging an alliance that would become the Order of the Burning Blade.
Pyria, the City of Fire
The blade had to be protected: if it were to be removed from the corpse of Azagog, the serpent would rise again. As it was, Azagog's venom had been seeping into the world, corrupting it, birthing monsters and driving men to madness, madmen and monsters who would become compelled to remove the blade and set the dark god free. And so the men and dwarves of the Order of the Burning Blade erected a citadel around the caldera, a fortress to protect it against these assaults, and they forged weapons and armor so they could defend it. It would be called Pyria, the first of the Pyrian City-States, and it would withstand assault after assault by monsters and mad kings, and as the world around Pyria fell to chaos and war, the people of Enseya sought refuge at the fortress. The city grew and expanded, the role of the Order shifted from defenders to peacekeepers, from a military force to a governing body.
The Order of the Burning Blade
Today the Order of the Burning Blade is divided into several suborders:
The Knights Justicar are the peacekeepers within the cities themselves. Vengeance (ie "Justice") Paladins form the leadership of this force as Adjudicators, empowered to apprehend criminals, pass sentence, and if possible, to execute the sentence themselves. The order also includes a large number of fighters, as well as warlocks: the Burning Blade itself is a valid warlock patron: use the hexblade patron, but replace the spells "Wrathful Smite" and "Cone of Cold" with "Searing Smite" and "Steel Wind Strike" respectively. Clerics, often of the Law or Forge domains, round out the Justicars in the support role.
The Knights Exemplar patrol the outer city and farmlands, and have the most direct contact with the forces of chaos and creations of Azagog as a result. This branch of the order is more likely to include Rangers in addition to the standard group dynamics. Exemplar Paladins may take the Oath of the Ancients or Oath of the Watcher in place of the Oath of Vengeance, as the threats they face are more likely to come from outside their society than from a criminal element within. Clerics embedded with Exemplars may worship a god of the "Agriculture" domain: use the "Nature Domain" to represent these clerics.
The Knights Superator are formed when a Knight Commander (usually an Exemplar) attempts to found a new City State in the chaotic wastes (see below). Knights Superator are likely to take the Oath of Conquest: The Order of the Burning Blade allows paladins to change their oath for this purpose. This is a right that is earned by great and noble deeds, under a proven leader devoted to the Order, and is not to be taken lightly. Similarly, clerics who work with Superators may devote themselves to a God of War.
The Pyrean City States
327 years After the Compact, the Order had seized an enemy stronghold seven leagues from Pyria itself, the fortress of Vaeloran, an elven king driven to chaotic ambitions by the Venom. Brogdan Dom, the Knight Commander who led the assault on Vaeloran's keep, named himself Knight Regent of a new City State, Dein, arguing that the Order could not exercise control over the elves from Pyria. The Order was split on the issue. No law allowed or prohibited such an action, and so a Gathering was called, each side arguing their case atop the burning blade, but no consensus could be reached until Brogdan and his chief critic Jasco Rex met in a ritual trial by combat. When Jasco was forced into the caldera, the Blade had spoken, and so the practice of founding new City States under the rule of the Order was established by precedent then by law. Brogdan returned to Dein, took Vaeloran's daughter as his wife, and forged the second Pyrean State. When a Knight Exemplar had earned the right to attempt to found a new City State, he took a new vow, a Vow of Conquest, and would become a Knight Superator until such time as he had conquered or built a stronghold from which he could rule as Knight Regent.
More would follow over the millennia; countless Knights Superator would ride into the wastes and perish attempting to bring order to chaos. Seventeen times a Knight Superator would claim for himself regency, but more often than not those regencies would quickly fall to the forces of disorder. Today six Pyrean states remain: Pyrea, Dein, Starhold, Torlund, Banebridge, and Stormvale. Each consists of a Citadel, a walled inner city, an outer city, and vast farmlands which feeds the teeming populace. Each is ruled by a Knight Regent, who is bound by the Pyrean Codex, the book of laws which governs the conduct of their order. The Codex is massive: in truth no single book can hold it, nor can one mind know it all, and in each Citadel a scriptorum houses a copy of the codex, three hundred and sixteen volumes of it, tended to by the Lexodians, or Law Keepers, an order of monks trained to navigate the Codex and advise the Knights on its commandments.
The Codex
Every aspect of the Order's operation is strictly regulated by volumes upon volumes of edicts and rules collectively called The Codex. The Order meets annually at the caldera in Pyria, which has been transformed over the centuries into a massive assembly hall, with a speaker taking a position atop the Burning Blade itself. Every Knight has a place in this assembly, and while in theory every Knight has his own vote, the vote of each Knight is cast on his behalf by his Regent. A change to the Codex requires a consensus, which in practice means each of the six Regents agrees to the change. When a law is unclear, if two or more Regents disagree in its meaning, a consensus must be reached to change it. If consensus cannot be reached, trial by combat is used to settle the matter. Tomes containing the old texts are cast into the caldera, while the Law Keepers create new tomes, a process hastened by ritual magic.
Enseyans, Humans, and Elves
The Order of the Burning Blade and the city-states they control are made up chiefly of Enseyans, accounting for around 60% of the general population and 90% of the Order itself. Enseyans would have been called "Half-Elves" millennia ago, but the human and elvish populations have blended together to the point where there are no more pureblooded humans or elves remaining anywhere inside the cities themselves. The combination of mannish and elfin traits contribute to the rapid and ceaseless growth of the Pyrean states; inheriting long lifespans from their elvish ancestors and high fertility from the humans, the densely populated inner cities of the Pyrean states are difficult to govern. Outside the cities some scattered tribes of pure-blooded elves and men remain, but they are few in number.
Dwarves
20% of the population and 10% of the Order, Dwarves along with Men were its founders, and the first to discover Trevane's sword. Because of the influence of the Dwarves, the Pyrean states are built as deep as they are tall, with catacombs stretching into the earth just as far at the towers reach into the sky. A tiny fraction of the population are Muls, a cross between Enseyans and Dwarves, but difficulties with childbirth make them a rarity.
Halflings
A minority within the walls of the inner cities, Halflings become more common in the outer cities and then even moreso in the rural farmlands surrounding them, making up about 10% of the population in total. There are no explicit rules against a Halfling joining the Order, but the bylaws governing recruitment include physical demands which, in effect, ban their participation in the Order and thus their participation in politics. In the cities, Halflings are over-represented in crime statistics, a fact which hardliners within the Order use to justify their defacto exclusion. Others argue their disenfranchisement from the governing process leads to their elevated crime rate, but so far there's no significant momentum for any change to the requirements that exclude them.
Orcs and Goblins
Beyond the control of the Order, Orcs and Goblins control most of Enseya's chaotic wilds. Some Pyrean historians believe that Orcs are Enseyans, or perhaps ancestral Humans, tainted by the venom of Azagog over many generations, and that Goblins are Halflings corrupted in the same way. Orcs and Goblins, in their oral traditions, teach that the opposite is true, that Enseyans and Halflings are Orcs and Goblins who were enslaved by the Sword. Perhaps the truth is somewhere in between.
Others
Scattered across Enseya are peoples of all shapes and sizes. Some, like the Yuan-Ti and Gorgons, may be deliberate creations of whatever deific malevolence lies within the husk of Azagog. Other beast-folk the result of the corruption of its venom seeping into the world, spreading change and chaos, pressing forward the natural progression of life. Others may have nothing to do with the ancient war between the two primal Gods, but all will eventually have to choose a side.
Warlocks are common in the Pyrean states: pacts with lawful entities, including Devils, are not frowned upon. As a consequence, an industry of legal scholars exists to help draft contracts between individuals seeking to become a warlock and their would-be patrons, and to settle disputes between patrons and their warlocks. As a consequence, warlocks from the Pyrean states tend to have much less lopsided pacts, with fair terms and clear duties and rights. As noted above, the Burning Blade is itself a valid Warlock Patron. Pacts with chaotic entities are usually illegal (See "Neutralization" below)
Agrimagi are practitioners of druidic magic who long ago bent the knee to the Order, using their magic to help grow food for the teeming cities. Conflict between the Agrimagi and the inherently chaotic origins of their discipline and the Order of the Burning blade is always simmering, but the agrimagi require the protection of the Exemplars from the aberrant horrors of the wastes, while the States desperately need the Agrimagi magic to allow the farms to produce enough food for the densely populated cities. A peace has developed from this mutual need, and the farms remain as the blurry green line of nature separating order and chaos. Woodswitch is a derogatory term for a user of druidic magic who is not an agrimagi. (See "Neutralization" below)
Most forms of Sorcery, especially Wild Magic sorcery, are believed to be the result of Azagog's corruption, and face intense persecution by the Order. By contrast, sorcerers with magic stemming from orderly sources of power (such as Clockwork Soul sorcerers, or Dragon Sorcerers descended from a typically Lawful species of dragon) face little stigma, and instead enjoy a great deal of privilege within Pyrean society. In any case, Sorcerers are required to register with the Order. Those who will not, or cannot, operate their magic lawfully are neutralized (See "Neutralization" below) or must accept exile. This includes children.
Wizards and Artificers thrive in the States, as the long devotion to learning their trades melds well with the ordered culture. Their magic is still highly regulated, but unlike sorcerers, a wizard or artificer has time to learn how to use magic within the limits of the law as they learn the trade, and all accredited schools for wizardry or artifice include learning the legal restrictions on their magic as a core part of the curriculum.
Corpse Handlers are wizards or sometimes clerics who are licensed and regulated to practice necromancy by the States. Necromancy is a common solution when a citizen dies in debt: along with their other possessions, their body is considered a valuable asset which can be sold by their estate to settle such issues. Corpse handlers will buy these bodies and employ them as manual labor within the cities. Whether or not necromancy is "evil" isn't considered relevant. Unlicensed necromancy and corpse-theft are still crimes, however. (See "Neutralization" below)
Clerics of lawful Gods are well treated, Clerics neutral to law/order are tolerated, while the worship of chaotic gods is banned (See "Neutralization" below). The Order of the Burning Blade includes among its ranks clerics of the Gods Yur and Jorman, the Gods of Forge and Law respectively. Long ago the two Gods had been the godheads of the Dwarven and Human pantheons, but since the pact between the two people was formed they were both recognized as the "twin" Sons of Trevane, born simultaneously to different wives. Yur brings order from the chaos of the natural world, forming stone and ore and wood and other raw goods into buildings, tools, and weapons, while Jorman brings order from the chaos of the mind, forming a disparate mass of individuals into a thriving civilization with the power of the law. Both are theoretically of equal status, though Jorman remains the more popular God among the Enseyan majority. (TODO: Fill out the rest of the pantheon)
Neutralization is a sentence passed down to criminal spellcasters (at least those who are not otherwise subject to execution). The Adjudicator will remove a section of the spellcaster's tongue and several tendons in their wrists and cauterize them using a Neutralization Kit, preventing them from casting spells which have either a verbal or somatic component. Neutralization takes about one minute to perform with a DC 10 Medicine check on a willing or restrained individual. Failure in this test causes the neutralized person extreme pain and the loss of 1d4 hitpoints, and the adjudicator must make the attempt again to complete the procedure. Adjudicators are disciplined for repeated botched neutralizations resulting in death. Neutralized persons speak with a recognizable defect and lack grip strength and manual dexterity. Because the tissue is removed and cauterized, only magic which can regrow limbs (such as the spell Regenerate) can restore spellcasting ability to neutralized persons, and only high-level law clerics within the Order are allowed to perform this procedure pending appeal. Potions of Regeneration are tightly regulated for this reason.
The world is inspired in part by the Judge Dredd setting: the world is divided into a few teeming urban metropolises and expansive lawless wastes: I'll post what I've written so far:
The Burning Blade
Ages ago, Trevane the primordial God of Order battled Azagog, the primordial God of Chaos. Their battle lasted millennia, stretching across uncountable planes, but ended on the world of Enseya when Trevane plunged his fiery sword through Azagog's heart even as he himself succumbed to Azagog's venom. Azagog's serpentine body became a mountain range, indistinguishable from the surrounding continent, but inside a crater on the tallest peak, Trevane's burning sword remains, a monument the the battle, rising forty feet from a pool of molten earth. The sword is itself sentient, called Urtac by the Dwarves who first found it and Torgoth by the humans who would follow. Three thousand years ago, the two peoples would go to war for control of the caldera, until the sword reached out to the leaders of both tribes, sending them dreams and visions, urging them to come together to form a compact. And come together they did, forging an alliance that would become the Order of the Burning Blade.
Pyria, the City of Fire
The blade had to be protected: if it were to be removed from the corpse of Azagog, the serpent would rise again. As it was, Azagog's venom had been seeping into the world, corrupting it, birthing monsters and driving men to madness, madmen and monsters who would become compelled to remove the blade and set the dark god free. And so the men and dwarves of the Order of the Burning Blade erected a citadel around the caldera, a fortress to protect it against these assaults, and they forged weapons and armor so they could defend it. It would be called Pyria, the first of the Pyrian City-States, and it would withstand assault after assault by monsters and mad kings, and as the world around Pyria fell to chaos and war, the people of Enseya sought refuge at the fortress. The city grew and expanded, the role of the Order shifted from defenders to peacekeepers, from a military force to a governing body.
The Order of the Burning Blade
Today the Order of the Burning Blade is divided into several suborders:
The Knights Justicar are the peacekeepers within the cities themselves. Vengeance (ie "Justice") Paladins form the leadership of this force as Adjudicators, empowered to apprehend criminals, pass sentence, and if possible, to execute the sentence themselves. The order also includes a large number of fighters, as well as warlocks: the Burning Blade itself is a valid warlock patron: use the hexblade patron, but replace the spells "Wrathful Smite" and "Cone of Cold" with "Searing Smite" and "Steel Wind Strike" respectively. Clerics, often of the Law or Forge domains, round out the Justicars in the support role.
The Knights Exemplar patrol the outer city and farmlands, and have the most direct contact with the forces of chaos and creations of Azagog as a result. This branch of the order is more likely to include Rangers in addition to the standard group dynamics. Exemplar Paladins may take the Oath of the Ancients or Oath of the Watcher in place of the Oath of Vengeance, as the threats they face are more likely to come from outside their society than from a criminal element within. Clerics embedded with Exemplars may worship a god of the "Agriculture" domain: use the "Nature Domain" to represent these clerics.
The Knights Superator are formed when a Knight Commander (usually an Exemplar) attempts to found a new City State in the chaotic wastes (see below). Knights Superator are likely to take the Oath of Conquest: The Order of the Burning Blade allows paladins to change their oath for this purpose. This is a right that is earned by great and noble deeds, under a proven leader devoted to the Order, and is not to be taken lightly. Similarly, clerics who work with Superators may devote themselves to a God of War.
The Pyrean City States
327 years After the Compact, the Order had seized an enemy stronghold seven leagues from Pyria itself, the fortress of Vaeloran, an elven king driven to chaotic ambitions by the Venom. Brogdan Dom, the Knight Commander who led the assault on Vaeloran's keep, named himself Knight Regent of a new City State, Dein, arguing that the Order could not exercise control over the elves from Pyria. The Order was split on the issue. No law allowed or prohibited such an action, and so a Gathering was called, each side arguing their case atop the burning blade, but no consensus could be reached until Brogdan and his chief critic Jasco Rex met in a ritual trial by combat. When Jasco was forced into the caldera, the Blade had spoken, and so the practice of founding new City States under the rule of the Order was established by precedent then by law. Brogdan returned to Dein, took Vaeloran's daughter as his wife, and forged the second Pyrean State. When a Knight Exemplar had earned the right to attempt to found a new City State, he took a new vow, a Vow of Conquest, and would become a Knight Superator until such time as he had conquered or built a stronghold from which he could rule as Knight Regent.
More would follow over the millennia; countless Knights Superator would ride into the wastes and perish attempting to bring order to chaos. Seventeen times a Knight Superator would claim for himself regency, but more often than not those regencies would quickly fall to the forces of disorder. Today six Pyrean states remain: Pyrea, Dein, Starhold, Torlund, Banebridge, and Stormvale. Each consists of a Citadel, a walled inner city, an outer city, and vast farmlands which feeds the teeming populace. Each is ruled by a Knight Regent, who is bound by the Pyrean Codex, the book of laws which governs the conduct of their order. The Codex is massive: in truth no single book can hold it, nor can one mind know it all, and in each Citadel a scriptorum houses a copy of the codex, three hundred and sixteen volumes of it, tended to by the Lexodians, or Law Keepers, an order of monks trained to navigate the Codex and advise the Knights on its commandments.
The Codex
Every aspect of the Order's operation is strictly regulated by volumes upon volumes of edicts and rules collectively called The Codex. The Order meets annually at the caldera in Pyria, which has been transformed over the centuries into a massive assembly hall, with a speaker taking a position atop the Burning Blade itself. Every Knight has a place in this assembly, and while in theory every Knight has his own vote, the vote of each Knight is cast on his behalf by his Regent. A change to the Codex requires a consensus, which in practice means each of the six Regents agrees to the change. When a law is unclear, if two or more Regents disagree in its meaning, a consensus must be reached to change it. If consensus cannot be reached, trial by combat is used to settle the matter. Tomes containing the old texts are cast into the caldera, while the Law Keepers create new tomes, a process hastened by ritual magic.
Enseyans, Humans, and Elves
The Order of the Burning Blade and the city-states they control are made up chiefly of Enseyans, accounting for around 60% of the general population and 90% of the Order itself. Enseyans would have been called "Half-Elves" millennia ago, but the human and elvish populations have blended together to the point where there are no more pureblooded humans or elves remaining anywhere inside the cities themselves. The combination of mannish and elfin traits contribute to the rapid and ceaseless growth of the Pyrean states; inheriting long lifespans from their elvish ancestors and high fertility from the humans, the densely populated inner cities of the Pyrean states are difficult to govern. Outside the cities some scattered tribes of pure-blooded elves and men remain, but they are few in number.
Dwarves
20% of the population and 10% of the Order, Dwarves along with Men were its founders, and the first to discover Trevane's sword. Because of the influence of the Dwarves, the Pyrean states are built as deep as they are tall, with catacombs stretching into the earth just as far at the towers reach into the sky. A tiny fraction of the population are Muls, a cross between Enseyans and Dwarves, but difficulties with childbirth make them a rarity.
Halflings
A minority within the walls of the inner cities, Halflings become more common in the outer cities and then even moreso in the rural farmlands surrounding them, making up about 10% of the population in total. There are no explicit rules against a Halfling joining the Order, but the bylaws governing recruitment include physical demands which, in effect, ban their participation in the Order and thus their participation in politics. In the cities, Halflings are over-represented in crime statistics, a fact which hardliners within the Order use to justify their defacto exclusion. Others argue their disenfranchisement from the governing process leads to their elevated crime rate, but so far there's no significant momentum for any change to the requirements that exclude them.
Orcs and Goblins
Beyond the control of the Order, Orcs and Goblins control most of Enseya's chaotic wilds. Some Pyrean historians believe that Orcs are Enseyans, or perhaps ancestral Humans, tainted by the venom of Azagog over many generations, and that Goblins are Halflings corrupted in the same way. Orcs and Goblins, in their oral traditions, teach that the opposite is true, that Enseyans and Halflings are Orcs and Goblins who were enslaved by the Sword. Perhaps the truth is somewhere in between.
Others
Scattered across Enseya are peoples of all shapes and sizes. Some, like the Yuan-Ti and Gorgons, may be deliberate creations of whatever deific malevolence lies within the husk of Azagog. Other beast-folk the result of the corruption of its venom seeping into the world, spreading change and chaos, pressing forward the natural progression of life. Others may have nothing to do with the ancient war between the two primal Gods, but all will eventually have to choose a side.
Warlocks are common in the Pyrean states: pacts with lawful entities, including Devils, are not frowned upon. As a consequence, an industry of legal scholars exists to help draft contracts between individuals seeking to become a warlock and their would-be patrons, and to settle disputes between patrons and their warlocks. As a consequence, warlocks from the Pyrean states tend to have much less lopsided pacts, with fair terms and clear duties and rights. As noted above, the Burning Blade is itself a valid Warlock Patron. Pacts with chaotic entities are usually illegal (See "Neutralization" below)
Agrimagi are practitioners of druidic magic who long ago bent the knee to the Order, using their magic to help grow food for the teeming cities. Conflict between the Agrimagi and the inherently chaotic origins of their discipline and the Order of the Burning blade is always simmering, but the agrimagi require the protection of the Exemplars from the aberrant horrors of the wastes, while the States desperately need the Agrimagi magic to allow the farms to produce enough food for the densely populated cities. A peace has developed from this mutual need, and the farms remain as the blurry green line of nature separating order and chaos. Woodswitch is a derogatory term for a user of druidic magic who is not an agrimagi. (See "Neutralization" below)
Most forms of Sorcery, especially Wild Magic sorcery, are believed to be the result of Azagog's corruption, and face intense persecution by the Order. By contrast, sorcerers with magic stemming from orderly sources of power (such as Clockwork Soul sorcerers, or Dragon Sorcerers descended from a typically Lawful species of dragon) face little stigma, and instead enjoy a great deal of privilege within Pyrean society. In any case, Sorcerers are required to register with the Order. Those who will not, or cannot, operate their magic lawfully are neutralized (See "Neutralization" below) or must accept exile. This includes children.
Wizards and Artificers thrive in the States, as the long devotion to learning their trades melds well with the ordered culture. Their magic is still highly regulated, but unlike sorcerers, a wizard or artificer has time to learn how to use magic within the limits of the law as they learn the trade, and all accredited schools for wizardry or artifice include learning the legal restrictions on their magic as a core part of the curriculum.
Corpse Handlers are wizards or sometimes clerics who are licensed and regulated to practice necromancy by the States. Necromancy is a common solution when a citizen dies in debt: along with their other possessions, their body is considered a valuable asset which can be sold by their estate to settle such issues. Corpse handlers will buy these bodies and employ them as manual labor within the cities. Whether or not necromancy is "evil" isn't considered relevant. Unlicensed necromancy and corpse-theft are still crimes, however. (See "Neutralization" below)
Clerics of lawful Gods are well treated, Clerics neutral to law/order are tolerated, while the worship of chaotic gods is banned (See "Neutralization" below). The Order of the Burning Blade includes among its ranks clerics of the Gods Yur and Jorman, the Gods of Forge and Law respectively. Long ago the two Gods had been the godheads of the Dwarven and Human pantheons, but since the pact between the two people was formed they were both recognized as the "twin" Sons of Trevane, born simultaneously to different wives. Yur brings order from the chaos of the natural world, forming stone and ore and wood and other raw goods into buildings, tools, and weapons, while Jorman brings order from the chaos of the mind, forming a disparate mass of individuals into a thriving civilization with the power of the law. Both are theoretically of equal status, though Jorman remains the more popular God among the Enseyan majority. (TODO: Fill out the rest of the pantheon)
Neutralization is a sentence passed down to criminal spellcasters (at least those who are not otherwise subject to execution). The Adjudicator will remove a section of the spellcaster's tongue and several tendons in their wrists and cauterize them using a Neutralization Kit, preventing them from casting spells which have either a verbal or somatic component. Neutralization takes about one minute to perform with a DC 10 Medicine check on a willing or restrained individual. Failure in this test causes the neutralized person extreme pain and the loss of 1d4 hitpoints, and the adjudicator must make the attempt again to complete the procedure. Adjudicators are disciplined for repeated botched neutralizations resulting in death. Neutralized persons speak with a recognizable defect and lack grip strength and manual dexterity. Because the tissue is removed and cauterized, only magic which can regrow limbs (such as the spell Regenerate) can restore spellcasting ability to neutralized persons, and only high-level law clerics within the Order are allowed to perform this procedure pending appeal. Potions of Regeneration are tightly regulated for this reason.