HoopyFrood
2008-04-10, 07:01 PM
As the title of the thread suggests, I'm going to be DMing for the first time very shortly. Rather than saying, hey, this is my first game, I'll just take whatever WotC gives me, I decided to create my own world. I've found the process to be quite enjoyable and interesting with the variety of problems and things I need to decide. I've had some guidance here from some trusted friends, but I'd like to hear what anyone here has to say about my creation, Topos Seviae, thus far.
To avoid ginormous posts, I've compiled a couple of .doc at the links below. The first one is on the Cosmology (http://www.nd.edu/~bdrda/Cosmology.doc) of Topos Seviae. I'd recommend reading it first.
The second some general notes about various Cities (http://www.nd.edu/~bdrda/Cities.doc) in Topos Seviae.
EDIT:
The third is a general outline of the Plot (http://www.nd.edu/~bdrda/Plot.doc).
There are also two maps.
Political/Influence (http://www.nd.edu/~bdrda/ToposSeviae.png) and Political/Climatic (http://www.nd.edu/~bdrda/cities and climates.png).
I hope you enjoy your reading!
For those who avoid links
Cosmology:
This is more of a logistics thing, but here goes anyway:
We’ll be using 4e.
I’m going to have 7 players starting at first level.
We’ll be starting in the fall.
Creation:
There was no beginning.
There were people, a sort of people. There were 6 of them, intelligent, curious, naive, serene, and old, older than the stars of our world. For eons, they lived in the world, named at that time simply Topos. It wasn't large... it took up the space of a large room. In Topos, these people, call them protomen, studied. Over these eons, their studies encompassed a working knowledge of almost all things. One day, they made a discovery. They discovered other places, other topa. In their long lives, having no experiences of danger, they immediately and unanimously decided to open gates to six of these topa. Over the course of another millennium, they toiled in creating these gates. Each gate's construction was exquisite, as big as a common doorway, but marvelously crafted. They were clever, too, for each gate design caused it to draw its power from the other gates as soon as they were all opened. Having finished their work, the protomen eagerly opened the gates, expecting to find six mirror topa that closely resembled their own. They were wrong.
Through each gate came roaring matter and energy in a violent maelstrom. Through one gate, Light, another Dark, and Heat, Cold, Earth, and Air each from their own gates. Unable to face the worlds rushing in, the protomen died.
Today:
Thus, Topos Seviae, place of six ways, was born. In the day of our campaign, the world has grown substantially, maybe the size of the continental US. The gates are still open, pouring in matter and energy world. Each has grown distant from its brothers, forming a gigantic hexagon surrounding the world. The people in the world pay no heed to the gates, perhaps even ignorant of their existence. In any case, no one really knows anything about them; no one tries to go near them. You see, in the center of Topos Seviae, the elements are so mixed as to rob each one of its raw strength. Life and civilization may flourish. Near the boundaries, however, these elements are too strong to allow for the proliferation of life.
The world is still relatively young. Technology is as far as the Romans and Greeks.
Physics:
There are a couple of interesting phenomena that may seem unfamiliar to us that are commonplace in Topos Seviae. First of all, Dark has its own energy. It functions like light. Mechanically, I'm going to have to retool what exactly "darkvision" means. Does it mean you can see in low light or that you are able to see dark? Can one be blinded by darkness as one can be blinded by light? Will there be a "dancing darks" spell?
Secondly, Cold is no longer the absence of heat. This shouldn't have any impact on gameplay. In fact, this understanding is kind of implicit in D&D.
The sun, moon, and stars don’t exist in Topos Seviae. Day and night are caused by variances in the output from the Light and Dark gates.
Finally, to account for the existence of water, air and earth, when combined correctly, create water. Cool, huh?
Planes:
A topos is a place or location. A plane consists of one or more topa connected together in some fashion. The difference between travelling between planes and topa are that to travel between planes, one simply has to go beyond your topos to a different plane. Empty spaces can make this rather difficult, so portals become necessary to carry you across the material plane.
To travel between planes is slightly more difficult. One can die and become a ghost, become a god, or has to use some magical ability or spell in order to travel between planes.
One might think of a plane as a checkerboard, and each topos to be a square on the board. If you were to lay another board on top, it would behave in much the same way as another plane.
Gods:
There are two distinct classes of gods. There are three, Knowledge, Power, and Luck, that are outsiders to this plane. They are practically infinitely powerful, but visibly interfere little with the day to day functioning of the world. They are more abstract, but are able to project a host of forms that may directly interact with the world the way we do. They have no dwelling nor set form, were not created, and cannot be killed.
The other are more like gods in the way that ancients understood them. These gods were elevated to their current status by the Three. They lived extraordinary lives here in this topos and were rewarded with godhood. Each god has his/her dwelling in some other plane. They are restricted to a physical form, but are not always in the material plane.
Their powers are great on the material plane, but not infinite. Each one has her portfolio, an ideal of life that she specialized in while mortal. Now that portion of life is her domain, e.g., freedom, truth, wealth, love, etc.
The world is still plenty young and thus there are many spots left open. One need simply impress any of the inscrutable Three…
Cities:
Men:
Ethrika
not well developed
Location: Deutera river
Demographic: exclusively human
Governance: warlord, chosen somewhat by lot.
Economics: Serve as mercenaries
Warlord: declares war and raises taxes
Chosen each year by lot: current warlord chooses two other candidates and gets a double chance.
Current warlord, Xapates, has ruled for 8 years.
Very pushy foreign policy, try to instigate wars to fuel their economy, gain slaves.
Has three castes, ruler, warrior, and slave. (casters?)
Rulers act as generals, have started using warriors to avoid danger.
Gregora
There were men. These men came from the planes between the Potoma and Deutera rivers. It was a good place for a city: plenty of room for crops while controlling trade to and from the lands of the Eladrin and Dwarves to the lands of Humans and Halflings. Early in its history, one man had brought together some of the neighboring tribes under his singular rule. He was the first king of The City, Kordos king of Korda. Since then, the name of the city took its name from that of its king. Through several generations, The City was highly successful. It became wealthy and powerful. Recently a man named Gregoros rose to become ruler of The City, Gregora. Gregoros is was, and still is, a man of general, but most significantly military genius. A brilliant strategist, tactician, and organizer, he reorganized, reengineered, and retrained the Gregoran military. During this time, he also strengthened the Gregoran Navy to ease transportation. After five years, he was ready to strike. In two lightning campaigns spanning two years, he took Argila and Sita, major producers of clay and of grain. Over the next five years, he strengthened his hold on the cities, improved the cities’ defenses, and again tried to expand the navy and military. As Gregora continued to add to its navy, Dendra, a major producer of lumber, started slowly raising its prices. Rather than pay for overpriced lumber, Gregoros marched overland and captured Dendra. Here he encountered more resistance than before. Over the last ten years, Gregoros has been trying to solidify its rule of Dendra as well as work on several other projects. Dendra has been somewhat difficult to keep; during the third year of Dendra’s capture, Gregoros was forced to extend citizenship to all of the citizens of the cities under his direct rule. This move was not without its merits, however. It fully satisfied the populace of both Sita and Argila and staved off open rebellion in Dendra. It also allowed Gregoros to declare himself an emperor. In keeping with The City’s tradition, Gregoros extended his name over his empire and permanently named The City after himself, Magna, the Great. Gregoros, still only thirty seven years old, is approaching the completion of his navy as well as entering the sixth year of construction of a canal extending to Dendra to both solidify his rule there and make transportation of lumber that much easier.
Magna
not well developed
Location: Potoma and Deutera rivers
Demographic: mostly human
Governance: Capital of Gregora, ruled by emperor.
Economics: Exports wheat, gateway between humans, Halflings, dragonborn, and three river city.
Argila
Not well developed
Clay center – Gregoran Empire
Dendra
semi developed
Location: Edge of Forest
Demographic: Humans, Elves, Half-Elves
Governance: conquered by Gregoran Empire
Economics: export lumber
Humans(.5), Elves(.25), Half Elves (.25)
Elves feel affronted by foreign human rule Gregora chose mostly human officials, slighted elves
Not near river, transportation difficult
Ecomony has gone up since capture, some are happier.
Gregora building canal solidify rule, increase economy.
Extra large garrison due to both transportation issues and resentful population
Avoided open rebellion because of citizenship rights
Rebellion still immanent
led by Boureguarde:
Half Elf, hates human half
Believes forest is sacred and property of elves
has found support after Gregoran rule
followers are mainly interested in ousting Gregoran, plan on returning to selling lumber afterwards
Sita
Not well developed
Crop center – Gregoran Empire
Eladrin
Not well developed
Thaumopolis
semi developed
Location: Elder Hill
Demographic: Eladrin
Governance: Elder Council? Philosopher King?
Economics: Specialize in magic
Thaumopolis has somewhat recently gone to war with some neighboring Eladrin Supremist states. They are currently trying to keep trade lines open while fending off Eladrin terrorists committed to the extermination of all other races and Eladrin “Dupes”. So, other actual cities are mostly normal… terrorists live in wilderness, attack trade ships.
Dwarves:
There were dwarves, solid, hard-working, and independent creatures. Their independence and stubbornness led to the dwarves having by far the bloodiest internal wars in their early history. These wars were not picked wisely; battles were waged over small plots of land, semi-precious stones, and leadership positions. Finally, mindful of how much their possessions were destroying them, Nihilos, today god of freedom, renounced all of his possessions and declared them to be possessions of all his fellow dwarves and urged his brother dwarves to do the same. As the movement spread, some leaders of the dwarves grew afraid that a loss of their possessions would lead to a loss of their power. They tried to mobilize an army against him, but found no one willing to fight. They even hired foreign assassins, who were foiled countless times by the loyalty of Nihilos’s disciples. Unable to cope with this liberated society, those dwarves to whom the chains of possessions held too tightly were forced to flee. Most were able to find places in other societies, most notably Three River City. Others may have travelled outward, deeper into the mountains…
Today, the majority of dwarves renounce any claim to possessions (the dwarven language lacks singular possessive pronouns), but they’re shrewd. Being born outside of this system, it’d extremely difficult to get in; the dwarves have difficulty trusting individuals from other societies. However, they are steadfast trading partners and hard workers. Their propensity for work allows their society to function. Few dwarves simply ride off of the work done by others.
While this may sound communist, the dwarves are actually anarchists. While the mindset is “for the community,” no Dwarf may tell another Dwarf what to do. Each Dwarf is free to do as she pleases. As such, travel between cities is almost commonplace, work is considered enjoyable, society is classless, and the families are practically non-existent.
The cities are fairly uniform throughout dwarven lands. They typically center around exporting of metals, minerals, and anything else that you can mine for other supplies. A few dwarves have made their work raising goats aboveground. Cities typically include a mess hall, a temple or two, housing units, workplace buildings, and “shops”. Non-Dwarf visitors are expected to pay for their services in lieu of working.
Outsiders find dwarves to be forward, direct, headstrong, and devoid of societal scruples. Beggars and salesmen often try to take advantage of those dwarves unfamiliar with monetary systems. Sometimes dwarves may seem clueless while at other times particularly insightful. Dwarves make popular adventuring partners because of their loyalty and especially to those who seek a greater share of party loot.
Argent
Location: Silver Mountain
Demographic: Dwarf
Governance: Anarchy
Economics: Metals
Halfing
There were Halflings, shrewd, competent, and proud. Their earliest history is full of sophisticated political maneuvers rather than outright aggression found in less crafty races. Assassination, diplomacy, and bribery were their weapons. Lacking outright bloodshed, the Halfling population grew rather quickly. Thanks to their excess population, cultured ways, and the availability of marsh lumber, a class of Halflings became intrepid explorers, traveling up and down the various rivers of Topos Seviae. They were the first to make interracial contact, and quickly made the benefits of trade plain. The companies in charge of shipping and manufacturing ships soon became very wealthy. As they grew wealthier, their power in their home cities grew. As their power grew, they were able to challenge the political power of their home cities. Soon, many city governments were overtaken by corporate powers. The typical Halfling city went this route; the difference between commercial and political power is non existent. Alternatively, the city instead gained control of the companies. The effect is pretty much the same as above. The one exception known is Fortune.
Fortune
Location: Lakes
Demographic: Halfling
Governance: Elected Mayor
Economics: Home of two major trading companies that compete with each other fiercely.
Fortune was by far the largest Halfling city, and as a result, was able to support two separate trading companies. Both companies were successful, and both grew into formidable powers in Fortune. However, both companies were also successful in keeping the other out of political power. Thus, Fortune is unique in having separate political and commercial power structures.
Tiefling
Not well developed
Iglet
not well developed
Location: The Dunes
Demographic: Tiefling
Governance: pure democracy
Economics:
Mostly exist in other cultures? Act as advisors. Actually manipulating for greater purpose?
Elves: wilder society. Individual families fend for themselves, get sustenance from nature. Very loose connection among extended families… more loose with different families. May be summoned to Meeting Tree by any head of extended family. (Think Ents)
Dragonborn: tribal?
Nash wants to work out. More tribal: king is elected from Dragon Lords from Lords. Hold dragons to be sacred.
Dragonborn:
Not well developed
Elves:
Not well developed
Other:
Doikoc
not well developed
Location: Wilds
Demographic: Kobolds?
Governance: autocratic, defeat in combat transfers powers
Economics: hunting, picking off adventurers.
Mixed:
Aert
semi developed
Location: Lake Gnose
Demographic: all, esp. human, eladrin (gnomes?)
Governance: like a university
Economics: R&D
This is where most of the worlds technology and magic development come in. Their secluded and relatively unwanted location makes it unlikely for other to try and conquer them, conquering them would rob them of much progress anyway. There are three types of citizens, scholars, theorists who develop new knowledge, librarians who archive and accumulate knowledge and directors who guide the theorists as well as develop ways to integrate knowledge into applications; engines or master crafstman (gnomes? dwarves?) who develop prototypes of new technologies; and caretakers, the menial workers.
The whole university is governed by the Gnosist, to whom report various Deans of different offices made of different directors. Together, they determine policy, and their power is theoretically absolute.
Three River City
semi developed
Location: Prasina, Potoma, and Laspa rivers.
Demographic: all races, wealthy
Governance: 12 executives elected by restricted citizenry
Economics: service and supplies for traveling merchants.
Began as Halfling trading post, too far away to hold onto, really convenient location.
Massive tax on foreigners buying goods or services.
8 executives from wards
1 president (policing)
1 financial minister (taxes)
1 foreign minister (appoints ambassadors)
1 vice president
Plot:
Plot
I recommend that you read Cosmology first.
There was a father, a man named Kridzos. This father had two sons, the elder named Mauros, the younger Asperos. Kridzos lived his life in an acceptable manner, keeping everything in moderation, everything in balance. One question, however, drove him nearly mad, “Which is stronger? Dark or Light?”
Finally, one day, he conceived a way to answer this question. His too sons, who were so alike as to be twins, he sent away to school. Mauros he sent to a school in darkward lands that taught the lessons of aggression, fear, and control. Asperos he sent to a school in lightward lands that taught the lessons of companionship, , and control.
Years past, and the boys grew in strength. Each one dominated his class and came to be known as talented, apt, and powerful. But quickly, their scholarship was ended and they were summoned home to attend to their father’s death bed.
When they were with their father, they spoke gently, but as soon as their father was out of sight, they quarreled and argued. Both sons realized that either one could easily heal their father, but which one would it be? Thoughts turned into words, and words turned into action; they battled in their father’s house.
Unknown to them, their father who had faked his illness for this purpose stole in secret into the dangerous room. Spells flew across the room, back and forth with murderous intent, but when one spell went astray…
Kridzos would not be resurrected. Mauros did not attend the funeral of his father, the man he killed. He left speaking not a word, his spirit torn by the same spell that struck his father. He traveled darkward, ever darkward wishing to forget his actions. For months he walked, alone, ignorant of the terrible condition of his body. Soon he could travel no further and collapsed just in front of the Dark Gate.
He almost died. He half died. The forces on the other side of the gate could sense something about this broken man. They fixed him and gave him a purpose, to blow open the Dark gate, a gift, the art of necromancy, and an assistant. You see, Mauros wishes to reverse his mistake and bring his father back to life. As resurrection did not work, he must go about it in more of a reanimate dead way, but reanimating does not bring back the soul. By blowing the Dark Gate, there will be enough dark power in Topos Seviae for Mauros to force his father’s soul back into its body.
A few years later, hordes of undead descend upon Three River City. *Our heroes, ignorant of each other’s presence, sleep in their beds, in inns and taverns across town. Hearing the sound of pitched battle and immediately awake. As the people of the town pack their things for quickest travel, our heroes are different. They don armor and wield sword, staff, and wand and head out into the city streets each looking to protect his or her interests. A group of skeletons come up to meet them…
This is where the adventure begins! During the fight in Three River City, they meet up with Asperos who transports them to safety (if the heroes try to take on BBEG right away) or offers advice on how to get out of city, and he invites them to participate in a tournament he’s holding to select a group of adventurers. After winning the tournament, our heroes will be advised by Asperos to travel to each of the other five gates in turn to disrupt the flow of power from that gate to the Dark Gate and at some point free Three River City from whomever Mauros left in charge. After this, the Dark gate will close, allowing Asperos to later reopen it with some heavy warding. Meanwhile, Asperos will be going directly after his brother, trying to stop him from getting further components for the ritual for blowing open the Dark Gate.
After the heroes succeed, they find that the Dark Gate is still open; Mauros had constructed an independent power source to hold open the gate that is stored in the Dark Topos. The heroes will attempt to travel into the Dark Topos, destroy the power source, wait for its reopening, and get back out without dying.
Then… I’ll have to think of another plot, maybe.
Map 1:
http://www.nd.edu/~bdrda/ToposSeviae.png
Map 2:
http://www.nd.edu/~bdrda/cities%20and%20climates.png
I welcome any critiques and suggestions. I'll be around often to answer any questions you might have.
To avoid ginormous posts, I've compiled a couple of .doc at the links below. The first one is on the Cosmology (http://www.nd.edu/~bdrda/Cosmology.doc) of Topos Seviae. I'd recommend reading it first.
The second some general notes about various Cities (http://www.nd.edu/~bdrda/Cities.doc) in Topos Seviae.
EDIT:
The third is a general outline of the Plot (http://www.nd.edu/~bdrda/Plot.doc).
There are also two maps.
Political/Influence (http://www.nd.edu/~bdrda/ToposSeviae.png) and Political/Climatic (http://www.nd.edu/~bdrda/cities and climates.png).
I hope you enjoy your reading!
For those who avoid links
Cosmology:
This is more of a logistics thing, but here goes anyway:
We’ll be using 4e.
I’m going to have 7 players starting at first level.
We’ll be starting in the fall.
Creation:
There was no beginning.
There were people, a sort of people. There were 6 of them, intelligent, curious, naive, serene, and old, older than the stars of our world. For eons, they lived in the world, named at that time simply Topos. It wasn't large... it took up the space of a large room. In Topos, these people, call them protomen, studied. Over these eons, their studies encompassed a working knowledge of almost all things. One day, they made a discovery. They discovered other places, other topa. In their long lives, having no experiences of danger, they immediately and unanimously decided to open gates to six of these topa. Over the course of another millennium, they toiled in creating these gates. Each gate's construction was exquisite, as big as a common doorway, but marvelously crafted. They were clever, too, for each gate design caused it to draw its power from the other gates as soon as they were all opened. Having finished their work, the protomen eagerly opened the gates, expecting to find six mirror topa that closely resembled their own. They were wrong.
Through each gate came roaring matter and energy in a violent maelstrom. Through one gate, Light, another Dark, and Heat, Cold, Earth, and Air each from their own gates. Unable to face the worlds rushing in, the protomen died.
Today:
Thus, Topos Seviae, place of six ways, was born. In the day of our campaign, the world has grown substantially, maybe the size of the continental US. The gates are still open, pouring in matter and energy world. Each has grown distant from its brothers, forming a gigantic hexagon surrounding the world. The people in the world pay no heed to the gates, perhaps even ignorant of their existence. In any case, no one really knows anything about them; no one tries to go near them. You see, in the center of Topos Seviae, the elements are so mixed as to rob each one of its raw strength. Life and civilization may flourish. Near the boundaries, however, these elements are too strong to allow for the proliferation of life.
The world is still relatively young. Technology is as far as the Romans and Greeks.
Physics:
There are a couple of interesting phenomena that may seem unfamiliar to us that are commonplace in Topos Seviae. First of all, Dark has its own energy. It functions like light. Mechanically, I'm going to have to retool what exactly "darkvision" means. Does it mean you can see in low light or that you are able to see dark? Can one be blinded by darkness as one can be blinded by light? Will there be a "dancing darks" spell?
Secondly, Cold is no longer the absence of heat. This shouldn't have any impact on gameplay. In fact, this understanding is kind of implicit in D&D.
The sun, moon, and stars don’t exist in Topos Seviae. Day and night are caused by variances in the output from the Light and Dark gates.
Finally, to account for the existence of water, air and earth, when combined correctly, create water. Cool, huh?
Planes:
A topos is a place or location. A plane consists of one or more topa connected together in some fashion. The difference between travelling between planes and topa are that to travel between planes, one simply has to go beyond your topos to a different plane. Empty spaces can make this rather difficult, so portals become necessary to carry you across the material plane.
To travel between planes is slightly more difficult. One can die and become a ghost, become a god, or has to use some magical ability or spell in order to travel between planes.
One might think of a plane as a checkerboard, and each topos to be a square on the board. If you were to lay another board on top, it would behave in much the same way as another plane.
Gods:
There are two distinct classes of gods. There are three, Knowledge, Power, and Luck, that are outsiders to this plane. They are practically infinitely powerful, but visibly interfere little with the day to day functioning of the world. They are more abstract, but are able to project a host of forms that may directly interact with the world the way we do. They have no dwelling nor set form, were not created, and cannot be killed.
The other are more like gods in the way that ancients understood them. These gods were elevated to their current status by the Three. They lived extraordinary lives here in this topos and were rewarded with godhood. Each god has his/her dwelling in some other plane. They are restricted to a physical form, but are not always in the material plane.
Their powers are great on the material plane, but not infinite. Each one has her portfolio, an ideal of life that she specialized in while mortal. Now that portion of life is her domain, e.g., freedom, truth, wealth, love, etc.
The world is still plenty young and thus there are many spots left open. One need simply impress any of the inscrutable Three…
Cities:
Men:
Ethrika
not well developed
Location: Deutera river
Demographic: exclusively human
Governance: warlord, chosen somewhat by lot.
Economics: Serve as mercenaries
Warlord: declares war and raises taxes
Chosen each year by lot: current warlord chooses two other candidates and gets a double chance.
Current warlord, Xapates, has ruled for 8 years.
Very pushy foreign policy, try to instigate wars to fuel their economy, gain slaves.
Has three castes, ruler, warrior, and slave. (casters?)
Rulers act as generals, have started using warriors to avoid danger.
Gregora
There were men. These men came from the planes between the Potoma and Deutera rivers. It was a good place for a city: plenty of room for crops while controlling trade to and from the lands of the Eladrin and Dwarves to the lands of Humans and Halflings. Early in its history, one man had brought together some of the neighboring tribes under his singular rule. He was the first king of The City, Kordos king of Korda. Since then, the name of the city took its name from that of its king. Through several generations, The City was highly successful. It became wealthy and powerful. Recently a man named Gregoros rose to become ruler of The City, Gregora. Gregoros is was, and still is, a man of general, but most significantly military genius. A brilliant strategist, tactician, and organizer, he reorganized, reengineered, and retrained the Gregoran military. During this time, he also strengthened the Gregoran Navy to ease transportation. After five years, he was ready to strike. In two lightning campaigns spanning two years, he took Argila and Sita, major producers of clay and of grain. Over the next five years, he strengthened his hold on the cities, improved the cities’ defenses, and again tried to expand the navy and military. As Gregora continued to add to its navy, Dendra, a major producer of lumber, started slowly raising its prices. Rather than pay for overpriced lumber, Gregoros marched overland and captured Dendra. Here he encountered more resistance than before. Over the last ten years, Gregoros has been trying to solidify its rule of Dendra as well as work on several other projects. Dendra has been somewhat difficult to keep; during the third year of Dendra’s capture, Gregoros was forced to extend citizenship to all of the citizens of the cities under his direct rule. This move was not without its merits, however. It fully satisfied the populace of both Sita and Argila and staved off open rebellion in Dendra. It also allowed Gregoros to declare himself an emperor. In keeping with The City’s tradition, Gregoros extended his name over his empire and permanently named The City after himself, Magna, the Great. Gregoros, still only thirty seven years old, is approaching the completion of his navy as well as entering the sixth year of construction of a canal extending to Dendra to both solidify his rule there and make transportation of lumber that much easier.
Magna
not well developed
Location: Potoma and Deutera rivers
Demographic: mostly human
Governance: Capital of Gregora, ruled by emperor.
Economics: Exports wheat, gateway between humans, Halflings, dragonborn, and three river city.
Argila
Not well developed
Clay center – Gregoran Empire
Dendra
semi developed
Location: Edge of Forest
Demographic: Humans, Elves, Half-Elves
Governance: conquered by Gregoran Empire
Economics: export lumber
Humans(.5), Elves(.25), Half Elves (.25)
Elves feel affronted by foreign human rule Gregora chose mostly human officials, slighted elves
Not near river, transportation difficult
Ecomony has gone up since capture, some are happier.
Gregora building canal solidify rule, increase economy.
Extra large garrison due to both transportation issues and resentful population
Avoided open rebellion because of citizenship rights
Rebellion still immanent
led by Boureguarde:
Half Elf, hates human half
Believes forest is sacred and property of elves
has found support after Gregoran rule
followers are mainly interested in ousting Gregoran, plan on returning to selling lumber afterwards
Sita
Not well developed
Crop center – Gregoran Empire
Eladrin
Not well developed
Thaumopolis
semi developed
Location: Elder Hill
Demographic: Eladrin
Governance: Elder Council? Philosopher King?
Economics: Specialize in magic
Thaumopolis has somewhat recently gone to war with some neighboring Eladrin Supremist states. They are currently trying to keep trade lines open while fending off Eladrin terrorists committed to the extermination of all other races and Eladrin “Dupes”. So, other actual cities are mostly normal… terrorists live in wilderness, attack trade ships.
Dwarves:
There were dwarves, solid, hard-working, and independent creatures. Their independence and stubbornness led to the dwarves having by far the bloodiest internal wars in their early history. These wars were not picked wisely; battles were waged over small plots of land, semi-precious stones, and leadership positions. Finally, mindful of how much their possessions were destroying them, Nihilos, today god of freedom, renounced all of his possessions and declared them to be possessions of all his fellow dwarves and urged his brother dwarves to do the same. As the movement spread, some leaders of the dwarves grew afraid that a loss of their possessions would lead to a loss of their power. They tried to mobilize an army against him, but found no one willing to fight. They even hired foreign assassins, who were foiled countless times by the loyalty of Nihilos’s disciples. Unable to cope with this liberated society, those dwarves to whom the chains of possessions held too tightly were forced to flee. Most were able to find places in other societies, most notably Three River City. Others may have travelled outward, deeper into the mountains…
Today, the majority of dwarves renounce any claim to possessions (the dwarven language lacks singular possessive pronouns), but they’re shrewd. Being born outside of this system, it’d extremely difficult to get in; the dwarves have difficulty trusting individuals from other societies. However, they are steadfast trading partners and hard workers. Their propensity for work allows their society to function. Few dwarves simply ride off of the work done by others.
While this may sound communist, the dwarves are actually anarchists. While the mindset is “for the community,” no Dwarf may tell another Dwarf what to do. Each Dwarf is free to do as she pleases. As such, travel between cities is almost commonplace, work is considered enjoyable, society is classless, and the families are practically non-existent.
The cities are fairly uniform throughout dwarven lands. They typically center around exporting of metals, minerals, and anything else that you can mine for other supplies. A few dwarves have made their work raising goats aboveground. Cities typically include a mess hall, a temple or two, housing units, workplace buildings, and “shops”. Non-Dwarf visitors are expected to pay for their services in lieu of working.
Outsiders find dwarves to be forward, direct, headstrong, and devoid of societal scruples. Beggars and salesmen often try to take advantage of those dwarves unfamiliar with monetary systems. Sometimes dwarves may seem clueless while at other times particularly insightful. Dwarves make popular adventuring partners because of their loyalty and especially to those who seek a greater share of party loot.
Argent
Location: Silver Mountain
Demographic: Dwarf
Governance: Anarchy
Economics: Metals
Halfing
There were Halflings, shrewd, competent, and proud. Their earliest history is full of sophisticated political maneuvers rather than outright aggression found in less crafty races. Assassination, diplomacy, and bribery were their weapons. Lacking outright bloodshed, the Halfling population grew rather quickly. Thanks to their excess population, cultured ways, and the availability of marsh lumber, a class of Halflings became intrepid explorers, traveling up and down the various rivers of Topos Seviae. They were the first to make interracial contact, and quickly made the benefits of trade plain. The companies in charge of shipping and manufacturing ships soon became very wealthy. As they grew wealthier, their power in their home cities grew. As their power grew, they were able to challenge the political power of their home cities. Soon, many city governments were overtaken by corporate powers. The typical Halfling city went this route; the difference between commercial and political power is non existent. Alternatively, the city instead gained control of the companies. The effect is pretty much the same as above. The one exception known is Fortune.
Fortune
Location: Lakes
Demographic: Halfling
Governance: Elected Mayor
Economics: Home of two major trading companies that compete with each other fiercely.
Fortune was by far the largest Halfling city, and as a result, was able to support two separate trading companies. Both companies were successful, and both grew into formidable powers in Fortune. However, both companies were also successful in keeping the other out of political power. Thus, Fortune is unique in having separate political and commercial power structures.
Tiefling
Not well developed
Iglet
not well developed
Location: The Dunes
Demographic: Tiefling
Governance: pure democracy
Economics:
Mostly exist in other cultures? Act as advisors. Actually manipulating for greater purpose?
Elves: wilder society. Individual families fend for themselves, get sustenance from nature. Very loose connection among extended families… more loose with different families. May be summoned to Meeting Tree by any head of extended family. (Think Ents)
Dragonborn: tribal?
Nash wants to work out. More tribal: king is elected from Dragon Lords from Lords. Hold dragons to be sacred.
Dragonborn:
Not well developed
Elves:
Not well developed
Other:
Doikoc
not well developed
Location: Wilds
Demographic: Kobolds?
Governance: autocratic, defeat in combat transfers powers
Economics: hunting, picking off adventurers.
Mixed:
Aert
semi developed
Location: Lake Gnose
Demographic: all, esp. human, eladrin (gnomes?)
Governance: like a university
Economics: R&D
This is where most of the worlds technology and magic development come in. Their secluded and relatively unwanted location makes it unlikely for other to try and conquer them, conquering them would rob them of much progress anyway. There are three types of citizens, scholars, theorists who develop new knowledge, librarians who archive and accumulate knowledge and directors who guide the theorists as well as develop ways to integrate knowledge into applications; engines or master crafstman (gnomes? dwarves?) who develop prototypes of new technologies; and caretakers, the menial workers.
The whole university is governed by the Gnosist, to whom report various Deans of different offices made of different directors. Together, they determine policy, and their power is theoretically absolute.
Three River City
semi developed
Location: Prasina, Potoma, and Laspa rivers.
Demographic: all races, wealthy
Governance: 12 executives elected by restricted citizenry
Economics: service and supplies for traveling merchants.
Began as Halfling trading post, too far away to hold onto, really convenient location.
Massive tax on foreigners buying goods or services.
8 executives from wards
1 president (policing)
1 financial minister (taxes)
1 foreign minister (appoints ambassadors)
1 vice president
Plot:
Plot
I recommend that you read Cosmology first.
There was a father, a man named Kridzos. This father had two sons, the elder named Mauros, the younger Asperos. Kridzos lived his life in an acceptable manner, keeping everything in moderation, everything in balance. One question, however, drove him nearly mad, “Which is stronger? Dark or Light?”
Finally, one day, he conceived a way to answer this question. His too sons, who were so alike as to be twins, he sent away to school. Mauros he sent to a school in darkward lands that taught the lessons of aggression, fear, and control. Asperos he sent to a school in lightward lands that taught the lessons of companionship, , and control.
Years past, and the boys grew in strength. Each one dominated his class and came to be known as talented, apt, and powerful. But quickly, their scholarship was ended and they were summoned home to attend to their father’s death bed.
When they were with their father, they spoke gently, but as soon as their father was out of sight, they quarreled and argued. Both sons realized that either one could easily heal their father, but which one would it be? Thoughts turned into words, and words turned into action; they battled in their father’s house.
Unknown to them, their father who had faked his illness for this purpose stole in secret into the dangerous room. Spells flew across the room, back and forth with murderous intent, but when one spell went astray…
Kridzos would not be resurrected. Mauros did not attend the funeral of his father, the man he killed. He left speaking not a word, his spirit torn by the same spell that struck his father. He traveled darkward, ever darkward wishing to forget his actions. For months he walked, alone, ignorant of the terrible condition of his body. Soon he could travel no further and collapsed just in front of the Dark Gate.
He almost died. He half died. The forces on the other side of the gate could sense something about this broken man. They fixed him and gave him a purpose, to blow open the Dark gate, a gift, the art of necromancy, and an assistant. You see, Mauros wishes to reverse his mistake and bring his father back to life. As resurrection did not work, he must go about it in more of a reanimate dead way, but reanimating does not bring back the soul. By blowing the Dark Gate, there will be enough dark power in Topos Seviae for Mauros to force his father’s soul back into its body.
A few years later, hordes of undead descend upon Three River City. *Our heroes, ignorant of each other’s presence, sleep in their beds, in inns and taverns across town. Hearing the sound of pitched battle and immediately awake. As the people of the town pack their things for quickest travel, our heroes are different. They don armor and wield sword, staff, and wand and head out into the city streets each looking to protect his or her interests. A group of skeletons come up to meet them…
This is where the adventure begins! During the fight in Three River City, they meet up with Asperos who transports them to safety (if the heroes try to take on BBEG right away) or offers advice on how to get out of city, and he invites them to participate in a tournament he’s holding to select a group of adventurers. After winning the tournament, our heroes will be advised by Asperos to travel to each of the other five gates in turn to disrupt the flow of power from that gate to the Dark Gate and at some point free Three River City from whomever Mauros left in charge. After this, the Dark gate will close, allowing Asperos to later reopen it with some heavy warding. Meanwhile, Asperos will be going directly after his brother, trying to stop him from getting further components for the ritual for blowing open the Dark Gate.
After the heroes succeed, they find that the Dark Gate is still open; Mauros had constructed an independent power source to hold open the gate that is stored in the Dark Topos. The heroes will attempt to travel into the Dark Topos, destroy the power source, wait for its reopening, and get back out without dying.
Then… I’ll have to think of another plot, maybe.
Map 1:
http://www.nd.edu/~bdrda/ToposSeviae.png
Map 2:
http://www.nd.edu/~bdrda/cities%20and%20climates.png
I welcome any critiques and suggestions. I'll be around often to answer any questions you might have.