# Table of Contents ### Intro to setting.................................................................................1 Race Info...................................................................................2-3 Character Creation, Divinity..................................................5-7 Character Creation, Shards..................................................8-9 Character Creation, Home and Different Regions.......10-17 Race Add ons........................................................................18-21 Calendar.......................................................................................22 Character Choices and Development..............................23-25 The Craglands......................................................................26-28 \pagebreak # Welcome to Kelevar With cataclysmic terrors far behind, the world of Kelevar is left to recover from almost total destruction. Mortal kind is scattered across monster ridden landscapes as small tribes, desperate fortress-hamlets, or bloodthirsty cities. Life is stagnant, with no sign of recovery. **You lot will fix that** **Scattered...** There are no official nations, no memorable countries nor empires. Mortal civilization has been scattered into small and isolated cities, villages clinging on to life, and desperate fortress-hamlets attacking any they meet. Most likely a settlement will be concerned only with itself and not even know many of its own neighbors existence. **...and Afraid** If two settlements find each other they will most likely react with uncertainty or violence, two small hamlets barely getting by may ignore each other, two larger city state like settlements will react with violence to protect what limited resources they have. **Out of Reach** It has been 57 harsh years since the last nation fell and 33 years since the war ended. with nature being the most adaptive power on the planet it has rebounded quicker than mortal kind could ever have. As such, while there may be abundances of natural resources in areas, beasts and monstrosities have most likely claimed it all making it nigh impossible to gather easily. **Salted Wounds** In addition to the resource shortage, with plants adapting and retaking the land there is bound to be some extraplanar influence involved. Places where fiends have fought and bled might produce malign flora and fauna who have tapped into that extra source of power. These hostile creatures are referred to as "malevolents" **The World is Ancient** Very little is remembered about the nations that kept the earth, as even during the great cataclysmic wars they had mostly faded out of notion. The only bits and pieces left to be found are of the ruins of the old cities, fortresses, and metropolises, where some more braver folk carve out a living by selling priceless artifacts that can be found there. Perhaps there may even be some ancient guilds rising out of the dust, albeit their priorities and ideals may be skewed by time. **The Gods are Dead** When demon princes, archdevils, fey lords, and other extra-planar authority and power seeped into the realm it was clear they would tear it in half to get through. To prevent this the gods shattered themselves into different fragments of reality. The energy outburst from this barred a majority of extraplanar creatures from entering the plane, while tearing apart those with enough willpower to not be banished back home. Thusly making planar travel for all quite difficult, but never impossible. Remember, I said creatures were barred from entering, not magic, and with magic all rules can become null and void. **There is Hope here** Mortal kind never fought this war alone. Celestials, dragons, giants, most of the fey, and even sects of rogue fiendish powers stood side by side for once, more unified than they ever had and have been. The influence left behind by these powers too has seeped into the earth and produced the "benevolents". They are caring creatures welcomed into society. \columnbreak **Environment** The world of Kelevar has diverse landscapes as well as magical ones, floating islands along a flat highlands, coral reefs with gemstone coral, waterfalls flowing into the elemental plane of water, a forest which is at the same time a unicorn glade. **Demeanor and Disposition** To try and describe the most prevalent trait people have all around the world in one word, it would be "Loneliness". Even a person within a large and diverse settlement will feel cooped up and disappointed that this is all life has to offer. Perhaps have this reflect in your character, and your desire to find companionship at a minor or major level. Another word might be "Afraid". With monsters hounding travel, malicious and malign creatures tearing families and communities apart, and with xenophobia and paranoia running rampant in the highest of authority, companions and loved ones are all these people have. Choosing a stagnant life with them over dying and leaving them behind to rot. This might not be the same for your characters. **Arcana over Technology** Relished arcane power rules over untested sciences, but there are a few who would desire to mix the two or draw inspiration from the sciences of the world rather than the unpredictable. You would have to focus on finding these people, rather than just walking into town and having a good chance of finding an enchanter or magical salesman. Ask your DM what simple magical luxuries dominate the world if your character is interested in that. Due to the ignorance of the past kingdoms, their belief that they would never fall, they didn't waste their limited time writing down and saving knowledge and technology for further generations. Which whether or not you can argue that was a smart decision one thing is clear, many towns and cities once considered paragons of arcane perfection have been pushed back to the a dark age medieval era, or even a more tribal state. **Planar Influence** Good, evil, and more neutral influences mix with the spirits of both monsters and landscapes turning a twist on people's common knowledge of evil and good creatures. A red dragon could be influenced by the Heavens and turned good, but still hunted by everyday people. A unicorn could be turned destructive through too much contact with the plane of fire, and burn everything in sight. **Tropes** A dishonored soldier finding purpose that doesn't make them feel like a tool at other's dispense, someone coming to terms with making a deal with something they shouldn't have, a member of a feared race trying to break the binds of stereotype and carve a place out for them. These are some of the more simpler tropes some characters might have, but don't let them limit you. Find your motivation on your time. \pagebreakNum ## Character Creation, Know your Place People chose their sides long ago and stigma might still remain from their choices and mistakes **Humans** Its hard to pinpoint exactly where they are on the reputation scale. It's not even easier to go with "Humans do what they need to survive" as there have been cases of humans selflessly giving up everything to save strangers. As well as going out of their way to hurt other people, for reasons of greed, envy, or other indulgences **Dwarves** The Dwarven people have always believed in a just society, one that complimented and provided for all. They have proven to be stubborn and vigilant in this cause and as such gained a good reputation in the world. Yet every generation there are usually multiple people who have grown tired of the constant vigilance and given up on doing good wherever they go, they are called the "loathsome". **Elves** Flighty and cautious, yet never purely evil. Elves of old might have gotten on the bad side of many due to them having been born in high culture and thusly never giving much respect to those they consider lower. The war has humbled most, and shared tribulations have lowered and shamed the rest. **Halflings** These small-folk know the value of hard work and that leisure and happiness are vital in life. Halflings find comfort in home and family, this can be contagious, spreading into other's lives giving life to them once more. As such they are regarded as true friends to mortal kind. Evil ones will abuse this reputation with a glib tongue and a desire to dominate. **Gnomes** Filled with energy and life, they dance through life in their hovels as if the war had never even happened. Yet they were a main driving force of it, inventing automatons and constructs to lessen casualties on the battlefield. Their ingenuity has never been forgotten, but the creations they left behind have harmed many and they are blamed for it. **Dragonborn** Its hard to say who the dragonborn stood for when the wars happened. They were created through rituals by the *Draconic Conglamerate* so as to have smaller and more specialized soldiers on the field. So due to the dragonborn's heroic and militaristic nature they have saved many people whilst fighting, people who might just remember their saviors. Yet Dragonborn hold self determination and self reliance paramount and as such some clans had turned from their draconic creators. Although that still doesn't mean they fought for evil. So overall they are trusted well enough, its just that their form creates quite the fright in other people. **Tieflings** People whose ancestors have been cursed or influenced by fiends, or maybe even someone directly in their own life. Its no wonder they are given the side eye by passersby. How much of the contempt is deserved is up to the individual, perhaps if someone were to rise and make their name known light would be shed on the lies and rumors. **Half-Elf** The failed diplomats, they were the sole people that were petitioned to unite the world nations. To help push back the forces of destruction faster. They let their pride get infront of them and they failed miserably. Nations were bumping heads even more through the diplomat's want of greed or even corruption within their ranks. They failed the world and people will only see that in a half elf..failure. \columnbreak **Half Orc** Strong, stalwart, boisterous, people who have gained the respect of warlords, generals, and kings or emperors. The half orc people may have been splattered around the world in small sects, but they originated in what is known now only as the Kochime Chaparral as samurai, wandering ronin, shugoki, and more. They defined the samurai, and as such will always be remembered as them. **Aarakocra** As born defenders against evil air elementals they made their way into the world to hunt those that have escaped their clutches. They found themselves in a world that awed, feared, and misunderstood them. A more open-minded individual might show great respect though. The aarakocran society fell apart when the elemental threat became too large, so they always have this small innate longing for a home. **Goliath** Strong half giant folk make for great barbarian stories, but they are so much more. They took it upon themselves to rescue the slaves of true giants, good and bad. They tore down their societies and soon an eternal hatred between the two people ignited. Mortal kind will approach a goliath in need of help, or to thank them for their ancestors service to their kind. **Genasi** "Never trust those elemental scum", those are the words of General Talkimor. It is true that genasi had ravaged the countryside of many nations making widows, orphans, and similar, but they had done so as slaves. There are many heroes of freedom that were genasis, trying to shed light on the hatred that is drawn towards their kind. By the words of Hajime Orichiri; "Do not rebuke anger with anger, it only breeds destruction", many a genasi has turned towards a life of a monk to help them forward this wise saying. He is looked upon as a bastion of genasi-kind. **Orc** What is there to say? They plundered, savaged, stole. You name a crime involving murder or gold and they most likely have done it. With their god shattered into multitudes of pieces it is true that he has no influence over orc kind anymore. Over time the less and less they fought, the longer they found themselves living. They became peasants in a way, like how any human or halfling would just want a peaceful life of a playful childhood, a stimulating job, and a comfortable retirement. Although some would rather revert back to their ways of warring, saying that they were weak and the moment their god couldn't babysit them anymore they fell and stopped listening to his will. **Kenku** Strange, curious, and inquisitive raven folk, they have carved their enigmatic personalities into the hearts of many. Of course there are just as many who see them as nothing more than thieves and killers, potential scapegoats too. Their inability to talk from the curse of their former masters prevents them from defending themselves. So they are often adopted by loving families, the good part of their curse it seems. **Aasimar** Usually the creation of an aasimar is when someone's soul has quite literally captured the shard of a god when it was being created or reincarnated. Through this they gain a guide of sorts, whose sentience or will is random. Through powerful and more intact shards the guides are also sentient people longing to gain back their divine power. Through weaker shards it is merely a gut feeling that is not the aasimar's own. They are also formed when one of the Dark Fathers sees potential in someone or pities an individual whom has died in a way that didn't quite satisfy them. These type of aasimars have no guide. \pagebreakNum **Warforged** No race has innately earned as much trust as a the Warforged. Born to protect mortal kind, they either fought until the bitter end, were deactivated, or escorted towns away from the fighting. There was no part of the war untouched by the warforged, there might still be some left in the feywild, hells, or even the abyss. Fighting on for the people they no longer are able to see. They come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, clockwork, steampunk, magical wooden construct, clay golem, iron stalwart knight, etc. **Changelings** "Multi-Skin" "Paleborn" theres literally no end to the names hurled at these people, perhaps this is the reason for their decent into evil. Nevertheless they still had worked as spies on both sides of the war, and as such are still employed by anyone dabbling in espionage. So sometimes that anger can be rightfully earned by a vengeful society. **Tabaxi** While originating in the Verithian Jungle they traditionally don't follow many of the cultural concepts like "death before dishonor". They didn't make their tribes too far away from civilization, yet they seem to have been in a world of their own. So for trust? Its neutral, they are known to be more friendly in their curiosity and have been famous archaeologists in a time when that mattered. **Bugbears and Goblins** These two races seem to go hand in hand with little separating them. They even worked together as spies, scouts, or anyone sneaky for that matter for hire. Their forefather's tendency to do evil and malicious things has given them bad reputations and thats usually because most still do that. Although there can and will always be a few good and determined ones out there, or at least neutral ones. **Hobgoblins** War is in their lifeblood, they can't help it anymore than someone wanting to eat when they are hungry. The bad ones give in and create legacies as terrible warlords, the good ones twist it to create better societies around them. What makes a city prepared for war? Well fed, well educated, well medicated, and happy citizens. They twist their own desires in a way that makes them selfless without end. There will almost always be no in between and no neutrality, unless some shard of forgiveness has cut off their influence to war and sapped their thirst for it. Even then that person is most likely good aligned. **Minotaur** These peoples are odd to many of the common races, one time they appear to be gentle giants others are raging lunatics. Pray you don't run into any of the cult of the Labyrinthine Bull. Minotaur have fought and defended against the forces of destruction, yet not at the behest of good. That doesn't mean all accept the cult, but more than likely a minotaur has kept some of its teachings for use later in life. Minotaur are known to abhor indecisiveness, as they tend to treat life like a maze. Not choosing a path will lead to your death, and a humiliating one at that. Good minotaur will be a beacon of whats next, how to tackle a problem, and could be your friendly (not included) neighborhood oracle or soothsayer. Bad ones will kill indiscriminately, in the name of being that unseen force of nature that comes with life. **Triton** As Aarakocra defend the world from the evil air elementals, the triton are the noble defenders of the sea and coast. Yet more than just elementals, a triton has to endure the sea's horrors like krakens or beings that are not supposed to be comprehended. So while their superiority complex is annoying, they are thanked for their service as stalwart guardians. Evil ones may have sunk too deep in the ocean and heart, thusly becoming mad from what they have seen. \columnbreak **Lizardfolk** Not much is to be said from these tribal people who abhor intelligence. They don't seem to have many emotions or social awareness like the rest of mortal kind. Not in a way like the literally emotionless Yuan-ti, but rather their alien minds can't, *or yet to have*, comprehend the idea of loss, fear, thirst for revenge, and the other time consuming traits the rest of mortal kind has. They are usually left alone because of this, and will never willingly be approached. **Kobold** Commonly called "Wyrmfolk" (to their pride) these draconic smallfolk are cunning as they are frail. To simply survive they have been recorded to dig tunnels at a rate faster than any dwarf, make makeshift traps out of trash, and go on for the record of being master alchemists. They used to carry a grudge with gnomes for some ancient reason, but since the death of the gods they have either dropped it or forgotten it. They have the potential for evil, and are often led to it, but can fit in with society through hard work. **Shifter** Odd folk with a heritage to the dead goddess of the hunt, or "The Precise One" as they call her. They seem to be the only race with a prevalent goal in mind, to restore the goddess of the hunt. Those that don't have that goal usually can trace their bloodline to that of lycanthropes, referred to as "Lie-breeds" by the other shifters. They don't really have a place in society as their goddess's teachings tell them to always stay in tune with their wild side. They tend to take it a bit far and say that society breeds weaklings, or nature defilers. These are usually the evil ones. **Yuan-ti** A race created by the dark curiosity that is augmentation. Snakelike people that have long since purged themselves of their emotions. Coldly calculating the world around them, with logical superiority. Of course lacking emotional stability and sentimentality has long since been the reason for their toppled empire. They reject this truth, saying that the rise of the Emotion Born (later mentioned) poisoned them from the inside. To be Yuan-ti means to be evil, and very few are blessed with the "mistake" of being emotionally intelligent. **Firbolg** Tall, muscular, wise, and in touch with nature. The firbolgs of Kelevar are few and reclusive, so their presence in the world is unknown to even the wisest of monks, the most studied of sages, and the most traveled of adventurers. Despite their isolation, they don't look at the world and wonder "why don't they unify to gain back their gods and kingdoms?" They are understanding of how hard it can be to change, they choose to instead offer a helping hand. For them to expect something in return is the most damnable of crimes. They do it purely out of the goodness of their heart, although some fools distrust this truth and try to push the firbolgs to anger. It never works, in most cases they turn those people around morally. **Kalashtar** Sometimes people in mortal danger throw their hopes, dreams, whims, and hearts out to the ether. Not really expecting much, merely because it gives them hope. Sometimes the hope, force of personality, and will of multitudes of those people forms something. The Kalashtar of Kelevar are the embodiment of the hopes and dreams of doomed individuals. They are the dreams of the unwoven, given life from the combination of their souls. Since their "souls" have passed and thusly gone to the afterlife, their bodies are disconnected from them physically. Yet there will always be a "guide spirit" or what the Kalashtar call *quori*. Spirits that personify what the doomed spirits wanted, and connect the link between the Kalashtar and its "soul". \pagebreakNum ## Character Creation, Divinity and worship ### ## Shards of the Past When the gods died and used the energy that held their physical forms together, they scattered into multitudes of pieces simply called "Shards". It's hard to pin down exactly what a shard is and how they grant power to the faithful. It is known that they embody the different aspects of life, which will be described later. Some shards are powerful and resemble their original deity enough that they form sentient celestial beings, sometimes they are merely that influence of a certain aspect they control and represent. Sometimes that sentience isn't merely someone taking on a humanoid form and talking, but an enigmatic guide that takes the form of different objects to guide a person, like a torn bit of cloth, an oar on a boat, a tool in a forge. It's impossible to really ascertain what a shard can be, as they still contain the original enigmatic aura as the gods long gone. Some shards have been here since the destruction, some form when a wandering strand of power left over from a god (or many gods) meets a place where a strong sense of an aspect resides. A strand finding its way to a cemetery might become an aspect of death, and a sentient one might be a comforting presence among the dying or a whispering voice spreading the seed of death. A non-sentient shard may simply be the a pestilence that can be removed like a curse to take another form. ## Clerical Devotion A cleric's divine power isn't merely an entity granting power to the cleric through devotion to a certain set of rules and teachings, in Kelevar its more dependent on the cleric's potential. A Cleric gains its power because it believes in that certain aspect so *fervently* and so *passionately* that their very soul reaches out to the ether and beseeches the shards of said faith and turns them into power for their own. A cleric of freedom is the very personification of a freedom fighter and a rebel, fighting for what they see as justice and self determination. Their faith is visible in their work, as it will always effect the world around them. Thus clerics in Kelevar are passionate and zealous people, whose emotions can even be influenced by the power and amount of shards in the area. A cleric who is in tune with their power will sometimes feel the shards in the area. Lets say for instance a Life cleric in an area filled with the influence of life will feel strong, powerful, and backed up by allies. A life cleric in an area filled with the influence of death will feel lonely, depressed, feelings of failure, inadequacy, and a drive to do *something*. Not all the aspects of divinity have polar opposites, but the nuance behind the shards, the cleric's disposition, and their faith will still affect them. A Nature cleric who preaches the gentle side of nature and its benefits will feel threatened around clerics of disaster and (elemental) wrath. They could show this by protecting anyone they feel friendly towards like how a mother bear would protect its cubs, or simply giving the other cleric dagger eyes. \columnbreak ## Aasimarhood and Patronship Unlike a cleric whose influence with shards is dependent on a mass of them, that define their aspect, an Aasimar or Warlock whose patron is a shard revolve their power around that one singular shard. To be born an **Aasimar** means to have a shard within you or to have been pitied by them, which of whom guide your actions. Unlike angels whom have guided Aasimars before in different settings, these shards are always listening and are quite literally there for their "hosts" or apprentices every step of the way. Shards that are weak, small, or barely resemble the god they once were part of will have little sentience and merely provide the Aasimar with tugs and gut feelings that aren't the Aasimar's own. Sentient shards are as they seem, sentient beings that guide the Aasimar with words and actions. Although their presence to the Aasimar is skewed, sometimes the sentience does form itself into a talking and walking guide that the person can see. Other times its a reclusive teacher, always there, just thinking and intervening at only the most critical of times. One thing that limits them is that unless in very specific circumstances, they cannot show themselves to anyone other than their Aasimars. **Warlocks** however don't exactly have a shard within them, and its not always a shard they draw power from. It could be from one of the god-born entities left over from the war, an archfey wanting to recount its investments in the material plane, or the fiendish powers that lost their hold over the world. However this is focusing on those that draw power from the shards, so we shall stay focused on them. A warlock has a celestial patron either by using a physical shard as a weapon (Hexblade), or for a metaphysical shard it would be a sentience placed within the sword (although for that to have happened the shard would be cursed). Warlocks of the celestial subclass have implored a sentient shard of some aspect (or even just a generic strand of leftover energy) for power in exchange for whatever the shard wishes or desires from its new apprentice. It has to be sentient for the celestial subclass as there needs to be an active body teaching the spells and magical secrets to the warlock. A weakened shard has no possibility of doing that unless it granted them power through the martial prowess of a weapon. ## Ki and Rage Ki and rage have nothing to do with a shard or entity empowering them, it is through mental discipline and physical aptitude that one can exude these feats at will. A barbarian's body might be far from pure and clean, but they still activate their rage purely because of what they've attained for themselves, not what others have given them. However! This does not mean they can't be further empowered by divinity, like for example the Path of the Zealot or the Sun Soul monks, whom use divine power to strengthen their abilities. \pagebreakNum ## Character Creation, Patrons and Spirits ### ## The Dark Fathers (The Undying) The god of death, Fate, was a very methodical and bureaucratic man. He was managing death after all. To uphold death he created these entities called the "Dark Fathers" who represented and upheld death in a certain region. Although Fate was very collected in his work he was also distrusting, even of his own creations that thought of him like a father. Distant but there. The Dark Fathers themselves were to deal with clerics and warlocks whom wanted to gain power through devotion, when the gods were still alive. Fate didn't talk nor teach these clerics, it was the Dark Fathers. Soon the clerics and warlocks saw their patrons as the ones that had taught them and bonded with them, the Dark Fathers, not Fate. Due to this faith they grew stronger and Fate grew weaker. When Fate had died the regulations and policies on how exactly to deal with the dead left with him, and the Dark Fathers were left...well in the dark. Through their experimentation with death they soon grew mad, some with guilt the rest through loneliness and isolation. They are separated into two factors, the "Merciful" and the "Damners". They embody the physical traits of mortal kind (STR, DEX, CON, WIS, INT, CHA) and represent the death that comes with it. * **Merciful:** Courage (STR), Grace (DEX), Vigilance (CON), Creativity (INT), Comfort (WIS), Beauty (CHA) * **Damners:** War (STR), Shadow (DEX), Survival (CON), Conspiracy (INT), Madness (WIS), Poison/Deceiver (CHA) **Meetings** To meet or implore the Dark Fathers goes two ways, to contact the Merciful is multitudes harder than to contact the Damners. As such there are more agents of the Damners in the world. The ***Damners*** embody terrible, painful, or lonely fates. They are ever present, and as hard as it may be to accept, they are natural deaths. **War** approaches those whom have fought and died (or almost) not in comfort but in anger and fear, his agents are xenophobic and marauders. **Shadow** approaches those whom have died (or almost) by the silent blade, or succumbed to an unsuspected death, his agents are malicious and vengeful to the end. **Survival** approaches those whom have died (or almost) whilst fighting against the harsh realities of nature and proving to be the top, his agents are cunning and remorseless. **Conspiracy** approaches those whom have died by (or got caught up in) a malign plan that turned them into a pawn for someone else's game. His agents are emotionless and calculating. Almost always Yuan-ti. **Madness** approaches those whom have died (or succumbed) to madness in any shape or form, mostly from the loneliness that he has caused them. His agents are mad, and deceptive. Seemingly having no form or function in their work. \columnbreak **Poison/Deceiver** approaches those whom have died (or almost) to treachery, *and* those that have died while deceiving. His agents sow poison and misery with their words, and as such are always devilishly charismatic. ### The ***Merciful*** embody the deaths that are glorious, comforting, and inspiring. They are harder to implore for help as they don't passively look for souls. They mostly only interact with the souls of those whom have actively made their deaths courageous, beautiful, graceful, and similar. **Courage** approaches those whom had shown great courage in their final moments, and grants them another chance, never for vengeance, to regain lost honor, dish out retribution for others, or to exact justice. **Grace** approaches those whom had walked into death with elegance, unwavering confidence, and a smile. He grants those people a chance to teach the world to accept death in this comforting and calm way. So as to not fight against it and embrace undeath. **Vigilance** approaches those whom had spent their final moments in a constant watch against evil to protect the weak. He grants these people to become the ever present watchers in the world, or even to exact vengeance against that whom had caught them unprepared. **Creativity** approaches those whom had spent their final moments bringing color to every aspect of life, and making it worth living. He grants them the chance to do this eternally (or however long they want) and draw inspiration from their death. **Comfort** approaches those whom were selfless in their final moments, easing others into their deaths comfortably, giving to those that were near death, and bringing the spark of life back into other people. He gives these people the chance to find comfort for themselves or to continue doing it for others. **Beauty** approaches those whom had brought light to the world, by song, dance, or just actual innate beauty in their final moments. He gives these people the chance to reap what they had sown. \pagebreakNum ## Ways of Worship With the gods dead, its natural that an entity with links to divine, arcane, or otherworldly power to think of themselves as a god, or as one having the potential to become one. With no reference to go off of anymore, and since no one really understood the full extent of the gods powers, its hard to say how much worship and power qualifies one as a god. Even if an entity doesn't see them self as a god, or doesn't want to be one, they will still demand worship, tribute, and other tests of the warlock's loyalty. Below lists examples of small daily rituals your patron desires you to do, or ways they wish to be worshiped. | d8 | Ways of Worship, or Tribute| |:---:|:-----------:| | 1 | Whenever a creature you have killed dies a cowardly death, you are to burn its heart. | | 2 | Whenever you kill someone, battle or not, you must lay them to rest or give them a respectable funeral lasting 10 minutes for any number of bodies. Doesn't matter if they are burnt to death, thrown off a cliff, or melted in acid their memory must be respected. You magically are given all the materials needed to complete this task. "All are equal in death". | | 3 | You musk wear a mask, that your patron had given you, at all times. You decide what this looks like. | | 4 | Whenever you meet a site of purity/corruption you must graffiti it or desecrate it in some way. With the symbol of your group, or some sort of personal calling card.| | 5 | Your weapons must be reforged with the blood of the most recently slain powerful monster. If this is neglected your weapons rust and break away after 1 month. | | 6 | You must set a troubled soul at ease/ throw a calm soul into despair, at least once a month. | | 7 | You must constantly write a book stating your life's events and story, which is linked with your soul and summon-able at all times. Once a month the book seems to have suggestions and ways to improve/corrupt yourself| | 8 | You simply must do a prayer ritual every day lasting 5 minutes, in a circle of golden or crimson chalk. The ground around you reacts weirdly in this fashion, either the plant life grows around you or decays at an unnatural rate. | Speak with your DM about your daily ritual, or tell him which of these you rolled, and work with him/her on what your character knows about it and why you are asked to do it. Also work with the DM to make it more connected with your specific patron *(An example could wish that a demonic patron would want the funeral to be humiliating and disrespectful to the dead individual)*, if you do not know much about your patron trust your DM to make that decision on how it reflects your patron. If the DM makes a ritual you are uncomfortable with, or something you know you will not have fun with, you have the right to revoke said ritual and make their own. The DM then has to come up with how it connects to the patron. \columnbreak You also need a reason on how you met your patron, as they are not creatures who approach others for help. of course, they are not above asking others for help or to further their influence. Below are examples of how you could have met these enigmatic entities. | d6 | Meetings | |:---:|:-----------:| | 1 | In a near death situation you threw out your pleadings to the ether, and someone listened | | 2 | Your family is secretly a long line of cultists, and you unwillingly now bear your patron. | | 3 | After falling on some hard times you decide to steal a valuable relic from a church. After taking it outside it thanks you, those priests were getting loud. | | 4 | To save yourself from some scavengers who were stealing from a battlefield, you grab a blade off of a random warrior and feel time stop. Then one moment later time continues and you now wield power you do not understand. | | 5 | You were struggling at apprenticeship under a certain wizard, who doesn't tolerate failure well. Then one of his cats approached you, and your understanding of magic swelled ten times. | | 6 | You were born into an abusive and mistreating family, one day you finally let your anger get to you. You shouted a name you read in one of the books you read to escape your daily life, and your family disappears before your eyes | \pagebreakNum ## Character Creation, Shards ### ## Life The shards that make up the aspect of life come from the god of healing, the goddess of the hunt, the goddess of the sun, the goddess of the moon, and the god of freedom. Losing whatever personality and goal their original forms had, they control and influence the facets of healing, the trials of life towards personal growth, and the course of well....life. As much as they promote vitality and wellbeing, they are also known to be firm or borderline cruel with the challenges they influence into the world. So its a random guess if you end up with a comforting shard or a challenging shard when choosing a guide or patron. ## Death The shards that make up the death domain include parts of Fate, the god of relentless rage, the plague doctor, and the Witch of Hudwig. Despite many of the parts coming from purely evil or enigmatically neutral creatures the shards of death are rarely cruel without reason, merely doing what must be done to make room for the living, instill the fear of death in mortals, and keep others from accepting undeath. Fate, while weakened, heavily made up the majority of the shards, and much of his power still floats about in the world. Waiting to become part of an aspect of death or law. ## Law These shards of law come from Fate, the goddess of the sun, the god of healing, the god of war, and the goddess of law. The shards don't make laws neither do they build on them, they merely enforce it. Peoples within an unjust civilization will regard these shards as the progenitor of confinement, slavery, and injustice. Peoples within a society that conforms to the needs of its citizens will regard these shards as a bastion, standing firm against the horrors of savagery and chaos. Its up to the cleric, or shard bearer, to decide how they spread the law. Do they enforce it to the very end, and wait for freedom fighters to do the job of changing them? Or do they not even see unjust laws as laws in the first place? ## Chaos These shards come from the goddess of the moon, the goddess of the hunt, the god of freedom, the god of relentless rage, and the Hudwig Witch. These shards uphold the ever flowing chaos that is the unadulterated world. Whether this manifests as change or destruction is up to the cleric or shard bearers of chaos. Outlanders, hardened war veterans, and barbarians will refer to this aspect as the universal truth. When law inevitably falls they want to know how to live amongst to chaos. \columnbreak ## Freedom These shards come from the two ancient lovers, the goddess of the moon and the god of freedom. As well as small amounts that seem to have been "given" by the goddess of the hunt and goddess of nature as wedding gifts, macabre ones given before death. The why and how are unknown. These shards embody the need for one to take control of their own life, or to free others from the constraints of an unjust society, a grudge, trauma, or anything that seems to be on the verge of taking control of someone else or keeping one from their destiny. ## Nature The shards of the both the goddess of the hunt and the goddess of nature, both close friends, make up this aspect. Nature isn't exactly the vitality of life or healing of others, while it can still influence those things, but rather the course of nature and its the continuation of its flow. So many people see it as a deciding factor of the harvest. Nature is both the beautiful outland of the world and the harsh killer of the unprepared. So there is no in between when dealing with the sentient shards. Some are druids who just simply like to be friendly and social with all, the rest are hardened, gruff mentors who train the frail. ## Disaster This aspect draws on pieces from quite literally *all* the deities. As each can be a disaster in its own way. Life can bring evil, death can claim good, freedom can breed ignorance, law can be unjust, and chaos can be pure destruction. Unlike nature, there is no respite from the unknown. Disaster is as much the wrath of natural disasters as it influences elemental wrath. It's shard bearers and clerics are a mix of evil and good. There are those that prepare those for disaster, and those that just destroy at a level even the Damning Dark Fathers couldn't fill. ## Emotion It's actually unknown whose shards fill this aspect, after all who controls emotions? Rather, scholars suspect these aren't shards of the gods, rather the residual energy left over from the gods that has yet to take on an aspect. Or at least residue that has found a solid form and needs not take the form of an aspect like that of a shard. Emotion can mean many things, unbridled rage, unstoppable anger, serene calmness, excitable happiness. This aspect's clerics are the only one's whom aspect requires them to travel the world, to spread the continuation of emotion. Incredibly, many clerics find a source of feywild energy one way or another at some point in their life, most likely due to the feywild's connection to emotion. \pagebreakNum ## War The shards that make up this aspect are from the god of relentless rage and the god of war. They influence the battlefield, not the emotions that come with war. Not rage, not anger, not sadness, nothing like that. Instead they use the emotional drive of the shard bearers they inhabit, either through aasimarhood or patronship, to further their goals. A sentient shard of war that has no inhabitor or person of influence is a calm, stoic, and coolheaded weapons instructor. A shard that has bonded with a person will act like them in a way that is attached to battle and war. A zealous person would have a zealous crusader, a curious person will have a paranoid inquisitor, a calm person will have a serene monk, and so on. ## Forgiveness The shards of the god of freedom and the saint of forgiveness make up this aspect These shards grant the ability to move on from trauma, forget grudges, and escape the influence of something else In times past oppressed creatures such as orcs, goblinoids, drow, duregar, and other creatures whose oppressive gods have scarred them with their influence made pilgrimages to the saint of forgiveness to try and remove these scars or replace them with something else. When the gods died these creatures lost that crutch, not only that but the oppression has only gotten even harder since the wars. Despite their gods being dead as well. Perhaps you can be a beacon of hope, for those wanting to let go of their past mistakes. ## Magic/Arcana The shards of the goddess of magic make up this aspect. While these shards have considerable raw arcane power within them, and have been used by various liches, archmages, blood cultists, artificers, and more for powerful spells and rituals, they aren't the source of magic. Thats the weave, that has been powering magic eons before the shards were ever in existence. While magic had been studied in multitudes before the destruction of the old nations, it had grown stagnant too. With aspiring mages not being able to get their innovative ideas off the ground because of people succumbing to the idea of "Why would we use that? We have all we need". The shards have reignited the need for magical growth, and as such are a highly valued aspect. \columnbreak ## Knowledge While the untested sciences of the world had been ignored by many in favor of magic, the god of knowledge was enamored by them. As such his shards are what make the aspect up. A tinkerer waking the village up due to a random inspiration gained in the middle of the night, a chemist making the fatal mistake of inventing and igniting gunpowder, an alchemist breathing in the fumes of hundreds of experiments, these driven people may have been inspired by these shards. A shard will not simply give the knowledge, unless they make deals for it, but rather they find people who show potential and help them gain that knowledge. Like throwing random tests at people, somehow "dropping" money by them so they may further their education, allowing them to get that stimulating job they've always wished for. They whisper inspiration into the ears of those who will listen. \pagebreakNum ## Character Creation, Home Some heroes may not have a place to call home, or to tuck away their troubles, but they were all born somewhere and that place has certainly left traces of that culture on that person. The world is separated into different biomes and regions, rather than nations and borders. Speak with your DM on a map and where exactly you were born on it. That will help them decide where the campaign will be starting. However the nations of old are dead and people have decided to forget them so as to move on and try and retake the world they lost, so very little is remembered of the old nations. Either that, or people old enough or able to live long enough to remember have clearly decided to let that part of their lives be something to forget. ### ## The Kochime Flats The home of the samurai, where warriors of the destructive wars upheld their oaths to protect the people to the end. Heavily forested by oak, cherry, bamboo, and jungle the people here work in tune with nature to thrive where others might keel over. Tradition was always, and still is a pride of the people in this nation. A simple dance move might have entire paragraphs written as to how it was made and what it represents. Now a fighting style itself could have an entire novel's worth of history. ## oaths of high An oath is a promise not to the gods, but to the very world. To give up your integrity is to meet a fate worse than death, judgment worse than humiliation, and a feeling worse than disappointment. The feeling is so rooted in the culture that should one become an oathbreaker with no hope of gaining redemption, they will enact themselves on "Sinner's Pilgrimages" where they rage against the evils of the world without care for themselves. Helping at every opportunity. Speak with your DM if your character is on one of these pilgrimages. ## peoples of respect Shrines to honor benevolent fey, appease the malicious, and remember the fallen by. These people see the extraplanar and divine in everything they do, see, and experience. As such they are much more prepared for dealing with them. Even the outcasts take on jobs known as "Spirit Dancers" which are detectives of sorts who investigate crimes of otherworldly origin. \columnbreak ## repentance in due time The fey of the Flats are mutable and thusly change with the celestial and fiendish powers left over. Its hard to say a creature is a "Benevolent" or a "Malevolent" when they had classifications of their own, but its true that some of the fey seem to have been changed. Good fey seek repentance for the crimes of their ancestors, or ones maybe even they themselves have done. They lead away evils from the settlements, act as oracles, healers, and more. An example of a fey whom has turned away are the Oaken Hags, whom are beautiful fey who had descended from vile hags. They act as fortune tellers, and try to spread good luck where they go. The tend to be few and reclusive, but there have been a few people whom have attested to have been given powers by powerful versions of these creatures. Like a warlock and a patron. ## evil at every step The Malevolent fey can exist in many ways. Some are subservient to greater evils, like the dreaded oni or the vile black dragons that seem to constantly make their homes in the mountains and jungles. The bigger and intelligent ones are the ones you need to take heed of. As all fey are, they are tricksters and have been known to infiltrate towns and villages and slowly turn the people there against each other. Like snow hags, lamplings, and the trodden. These fey seem to lash out for no reason other than the evil influencing them, but if an intelligent malevolent was spoken to they would tell you they wish to gain retribution for their ancestors whom have been shackled by the immense restriction on planar magic. \columnbreak ### \pagebreakNum ## The Jotunheim What was once the domain of giants, and the small hardy nations that staked their claim there, has now been almost fully receded to the small folk. As much as it was selfless, the giants didn't have much of a choice. They were cut down to the hundreds from the war, and the humans would have settled whether they gave them the land or not. Some of the giants resent mortal kind for this, after giving so much away the mortals only kept taking when they were weakest. These giants include ones of fire, ice, hill, mountain, void, and some cloud too. The ones that appreciate the small folk continuing their legacy by carving it into the walls of their cities include giants of the storm, most cloud giants, and stone giants. ## hardy, but united The lands up north are treacherous and ice cold, in the winter at least. So the people here have a natural hardiness to them, and a pride that carries with it the confidence that says they could survive anything that life throws at them. They attribute their survival to this as well as their tendency to unify under extreme situations. They either survive with everyone, or not at all. ## friendship to the highest Someone who has stuck with you through thick and thin, someone whom has shown you respect in times of hate, given a laugh in times of grief, that is a friend and to these northern folk friendship is the highest power. A distant friend of a warlord who has been injured by an enemy will find that same warlord sending armies in retribution. To be a blood brother of one is said to carry the same power that an oath of a paladin carries. To kill someone's blood brother is to invoke the right of vengeance, a vow that that person will never stop hunting you until the day you die. ## valkyries and the einherjar There a select few people, whom have gained the respect of both evil and good. They are warriors who aim to prove one could become a *god* if they so desired. They strive to prove the unbreakable souls and hearts of mortal kind, and how they could strive to become something greater. They base this belief on a need to find stability and solidarity in the world. Without the gods who knows what could happen, these shards won't protect them forever. To be specific, they are paladins whose oath belongs to no one but themselves. Perhaps they base their fighting styles and ideals around celestial idols, but in the grander scheme of things they work to be their own power. Their very oaths are words of power that they grow with.. \columnbreak ## enemies of progress There are certain undead, whose formation is currently unknown to this day, that despise the valkyrie and einherjar. They are called the Tveirherjar, and they are restless. Any who take on the oath to become a valkyrie have marked themselves by the ever tracking undead, so the divine apprentices choose to travel to far away lands to train, so as to allow themselves more time to prepare against these horrible creatures. To slay one is to finish ones quest to become a valkyrie, this can be done with friends made along the way as well. \pagebreakNum ## The Lawless Steppe The rolling golden green grasses of The Glistening Steppe hold great chaos, lawlessness, and crime. Yet amidst it all there are honest people trying to simply survive. Two feuding families vie for power constantly, one for a more lawful and conforming society, the other trying to carve out a home they could never get anywhere else. ## the winged The newest family to the fold is called "The Winged Ambassadors". The Winged Ambassadors are a family of aarakocra that stumbled upon the glistening steppe in their pilgrimage to find a new home. Somehow this particular family preferred the treeless plains due to the massive open air it provided them. When they saw the lawlessness and the harm the kenku were bringing upon the people they decided to be the bastion the steppe needed. As such they went from an army fighting a war, to what could be attributed to a gang or a mob fighting small skirmishes against the Raven Riders They favor the use of gnome invented firearms, while the technology is untested the bridfolk use it in the best way possible, as they can fly up and have an automatic high ground. As well as reload in relative peace up in the air. The aarakocra of the plains have the features of vultures, ostriches, secretary birds, other scavengers. Mostly though they carry the features of a falcon, perhaps why they got to be so trusted. Although few of them look like shrikes or butcher birds. ## the clawed The second and oldest family is called the Raven Riders. The Raven Riders are a cunning, resourceful, and methodical crime family in the glistening steppe. They have had their hands in the affairs of the scattered people there, and actually are the only organization in the world that officially keeps tabs and notices all the settlements they have in their domain. When the Winged Ambassadors came into the fold, they were now fighting a war of jealousy. These birdfolk could fly, speak, be freely creative, and didn't have a past of slavery to an unknown being. So the Raven Riders fought with the intent to embarrass the "fly-fucks". Using what they have always used, primitive like tactics, to gain a foot hold against those stuck in the modern tactics. Like using grass tunnels to travel around the steppe unseen for miles upon miles, as well as being skilled in mimicry they could mass produce them constantly. Not only that but kenku were more in tune with magic and druidic like powers that caught the aarakocra unprepared. \columnbreak ## the honest The Steppe's people are a mix of gnomeish, hill dwarf, aarakocran, kenku, and tabaxi. There are still a few humans and tieflings scattered about, but they are the minority. They are crafty folk, with a tendency to use the sciences to make their life easier. They invented the concepts of firearms, the recipe to gunpowder, and more. To travel the immense distance of the Steppe they have tamed the *Burdenbeaks* these bipedal birds with striped zebra legs and a body that of a larger secretary bird. They traverse the grasses faster than any humanoid could, have the endurance of a horse, can keep an eye out for snakes and other grassy predators and feed off them, and when dismounted they can fly away back to their homes. The homes of the Steppe are usually carved into the hills, with stone or brick being the interior rather than the rarer luxury of wood. As the only trees that grow here are near the rivers and basins. While there are some exceptions, the people of Steppe would rather be submissive to the two families than oppose them and get hurt. They could be seen sympathizing with the two of them. The Winged Ambassadors were refugees, just like the kenku, but they didn't conform to their homes. Rather they fought for a more lawful society to be part of. The Raven Riders, while having a bad rep due to them being a crime family, also just wanted a home. They went to the deserts, the jungles, and all over searching for a stable place to raise their young. They found resentment, and when the Steppe tried to show them kindness it was too late, the kenku were too numb to it. They made them fear the kenku so as to quieten the prejudice. \pagebreakNum ## The Waterlogged Delta A land constantly submerged in water, which is frozen over in the winter for a short period of time, with plenty of water still running under the ice. The grass has adapted to be seaweed like, in that it can survive both out of water and in water for long periods of time. This makes the entire place look like a tropical shoreline, except it spans an entire region, with long lengths of grassy like plant-life seeping to the surface covering the abundant life underneath. ## home to the amphibious Races like the Triton and Tortle make their homes here, with water genasi being the rarer but noticeable sight. Lizardfolk with unique features too make their homes here, but only near the mountains where the water doesn't submerge the land. Creatures like large crabs, gargantuan ethereal like jellyfish, fish that normally school around the shorelines of beaches, jade back turtles, and multitudes more make their homes here in the delta. Which is only called that because when people had the idea of draining it, which was quickly scrapped, they theorized thats what would have become of the rivers that pour into the basin like region. ## conflict underneath With the water level dropping major levels in the small season of winter, called the Permafrost, people are worried about if they expand too high their buildings will be crushed and valuable materials will be lost and ruined to the ice. Currently the water level reaches 90 yards above the solid land, and as the months go on before winter it gets to 55 yards above the solid land. With 25 yards of that room being lost to thick ice barriers. Some of the more rich and successful settlements, with much more to lose, have gotten the idea to try and dig deep into the ground to make more space. This exposes a rocky and dangerous ground undisturbed for generations. Perhaps ancient constructions lay underneath the soil, ones not meant to be unearthed. As well as the rocky soil doesn't allow anything to be planted and kills off the natural sea grass keeping the denizens safe from anything above or just the sun's intense heat as well. Since settlements barely keep tabs on each other, the thought of some random cities making this huge terrain changing decision without their input has sparked a conflict which grew into a civil dispute, with violence on the horizon. These smaller settlements can't dig down. As the water level drops, with more room being created for the water, their towns will be crushed eventually by the ice. \columnbreak ## the jelly cities Some of the more clever and independent genasi have tricked lizardfolk into helping construct floating cities that rise and drop with the ebb and flow of the water cycle. They are suspended by these barely moving, ethereal like, jellyfish that are fed their supply of air, water, and fire elemental power. These could have been a great solution to the water level problem, if they weren't tremendously expensive. Plus the people were too stuck in their anger to give it up now. The elemental power fed to the jelly fish isn't for food, they seem to feed off of the sunlight and anything unlucky enough to fly into them. Rather its to give their oddly adaptive structure a hot air balloon like body. The fire energy keeping the city and jellyfish warm, the water creates a giant orb of water around the city, and the air is to replenish oxygen in the water and allow the jellyfish to fly higher when combined with fire energy. In fact, combined with refugees from the Steppe, this is where the idea of an airship came from. It hasn't quite been totally invented, because people are unsure of how to make anything float. It seems the jellyfish's odd ethereal body has just the right form to fit in other sources of power to do odd things. Yet with them being so slow they would make terrible airships. ## cuisine of wonder Despite what sounds like harsh living, the land is quite beautiful and bountiful. With creatures and plants that can provide great ingredients to some of the finest cooking the world has ever known. With this bounty they pull in every year, much more than what other regions get, the denizens of the Delta seem to carry a kindness that comes with the luxury of being able give away your extra scraps. To offer the world your kindness is to fully be a part of it. There was once a chef known as the Glutton King, who said that the fastest way to be a beacon of peace is to create happiness and be happy. If others see you happy, they would want to know whats making you happy and lo and behold you can provide that happiness. For the joyful orc, food was his way of offering the world his kindness. \pagebreakNum ## The Autumnal Thicket Golden rays of warmth peak through the multicolored canopy, the wind rustling the quiet leaves sings a melody of peace, a small stream here and there beside the quiet road lulls many to sleep. This is enchantment of the Autumnal Thicket. Despite its name there is nothing magical about the scenery of the place. Perhaps the only thing magical is how the leaves constantly have these autumn like colors about them. The Thicket is said to be the quietest and most relaxing place in the world, although not many people can make their way there anymore due to the mountains blocking the entrance by land . ## lands unfettered The people here, while still scattered, seem to be at much more peace than any other regions. They live out their lives in quiet content, relishing the simple pleasures in life. A nice bowl of stew, the raindrops on the roof, the companionship of a lover. Conflict is few, monsters are few...sagas are few. One might think, how can someone live in this monotony? This is a boring life too after all. ## breeding naiveté Instead of focusing on what troubles shaped the character to leave this region, focus on the naivety one might have. Surely with no worldly experience people living within the Thicket might wonder how hard can the outside world be? They almost never survive, throwing themselves into harsh situations they could never win, or dealing with dark powers to actually stand a chance against the monsters of the world. Some more lighter hearted situations include being pressured into doing things or not understanding the severity of an oath. \columnbreak So tell me, how did you get from the Thicket to this dangerous new world? | d8 | Reasons for survival | |:---:|:-----------:| | 1 | You and your group were captured by a roving band of barbarians in Jotun Heim, and after seeing them end your group's lives you yourself ascended into a barbarian rage | | 2 | You thought yourself too intelligent to stay home and left for the Green Ring, along the way you met creatures who've led you into trap after trap. Through sheer desperation and doing things you regret you managed to summon arcane power at every chance you had | | 3 | When adventuring beat you down, so did the work life in the Steppe. One thing led to another and you descended into stealing for a living and perpetuating the crime family of Raven Riders | | 4 | You were a guardsman sick of doing night rounds, now your training to be a samurai in the Kochime Flats. With no other choice to escape a dangerous situation you break your given oath. | | 5 | You thought the life of the Delta sounded beautiful, now due to your odd charisma one thing led to another and you were charged with leading freedom fighters to stop the richer settlements from digging. You bluffed the existence of an artifact that would help the cause, but in reality you just escaped. You think you read it in a book somewhere. | | 6 | You set out to travel the world to find out more about your bloodline's odd power. You may have boasted and talked a bit too out loud and now you were pressured into fighting for the Winged Ambassadors by some dwarvish punks. The Ambassadors are convinced that you are sincere about it.| | 7 | After stumbling upon the knowledge of extraplanar portals, you set out wanting to travel through one. Jumping through every pond, hole in a tree, or mushroom circle you could find. You eventually find one and enter through it unprepared. You don't know what year it is now, but your just glad to be out. (possible madness or planar influence)| | 8 | Through your atrocious navigation skills you found yourself going upwards River Respite into the desert, thinking a mountain is the best possible place to be when lost. | \pagebreakNum ## The Green Ring A ring of dense deciduous trees, surrounding the dust basin. Lush, filled with various streams of water that provide the life blood for the forest. They connect to the trees and plants as veins and arteries do to a body, said to be constantly replenished by a figure in the local mythology called "The Pure Patron", "Lady of the Stream", or "Growth Matron". The forest is filled with various creatures spanning forest, moon, and water drakes, owlbears, scyllinquin, water hags, and other creatures that fit in with the lush, verdant, environment. ## the pure patron The alleged source of the refreshing waters comes in many different forms. From what scholars have put together from different people's recounts is that she transforms into a form suitable to what the person needs to see, or what reflects her mood. She has been a unicorn at times when heart broken lovers needed an enigmatic but caring figure to lead them back home safely and with more wisdom gained. She has been a beautiful sea maiden hanging by the shores of the major lakes, where she sings beautiful songs to heal the weak, sick, and injured, or to calm troubled and despairing hearts. Those that don't believe much in the mystifying and unknown of her existence believe her to be a water elemental turned benevolent by the celestial influence, or at least a the influence of good-aligned fey. It would make sense for her supposed control over water, but not the forms and powers she has. ## forest of drakes People who have heard stories of benevolent and malevolent dragons might be bored by the thought of simple drakes inhabiting the forest, but they carry multitudes of interesting factors about them. For example, the shy moon drakes seem to have some sway over the curse of lycanthropy and have been recorded to save people from lycans, or the curse itself. Of course they fly at such unnatural speeds they only show up as a white blur. The forest drakes tend to burn down forests in a controlled way, not as a way to sate some mad pyromania, but to destroy the dead and decaying plant life so as to make room for more. The nutrients left over create lush replacement forests and the creatures don't allow lightning strikes or unfortunate accidents to strike them and cause massive forest fires. A drake raised from birth, while buying an egg is an expensive endeavor, is a loyal ally. However, these are natural drakes, they were born of magical and natural circumstances. They aren't the type of drakes who are given by dragons to loyal servants, they don't bond immediately to a person and will leave due to abuse and mistreatment. \columnbreak ## community of trees The people of the Ring use druidic rituals to bend the trees around them to make tree communities. As a way to not harm the trees, or anger any treants. Inside those thick bark walls are houses and apartment buildings carved into trees, as well as hills with gnome folk and dwarvish citizens that also make up the dominantly human-elven society. The town hall, or baron's house, is usually the biggest and most memorable tree. Windows with small plant pots hanging outside can be seen around the tree. Comfortable libraries and places of meditation are commonly placed in places of importance. ## new forms As well as mortal kind, there are specialized types of warforged that are wooden, and somewhat organic with plants growing out of them. They are called the "sentry-wood", and act as a guard or alarm force for the communities. There is no ritual for making a sentry-wood, but rather they just show up one day, grown into the wooden walls. Some are given the ability to walk, but only being severed from their "pods". As well as the special warforged, the influx of druidic influence in the ring in recent months seem to have affected some of the more mutable races like elves, aarakcora, and even tiefling. The aarakocra seem to only be born with owl, hawk, and finch like features even if their parents have different ones, and the elves seem to have a better chance of being eladrin. It's the tieflings that are intriguing, they seem to take on a more forested appearance. Wooden trunks/branches for horns, possibly with fruits or flowers hanging off that reflect the tieflings personality. Their skin is a verdant green with flower patterns of red, purple, blue, yellow, or pick dotting their flesh here and there. They don't seem to carry any innate power with the druidic influence or have any hold over nature, but their once innate infernal powers seem to carry a nature like undertone. ## warped society While the people in the Ring wish to just live a peaceful existence, like anybody else, their everyday life has been warped by the constant druidic influence. People pray and do rituals as commonly one would go to a church session, or give tribute to a god for blessings in a certain endeavors. Ad well as positions in the Ring are different, the nobles are not the richest in monetary value but druidic power, a solider is usually some sort of tracker or hunter given special training. People wish to prolong the life of a hunter or tracker, as they have been trained specifically on ways to not anger nature while gathering from it. It takes a while to train a new one. \pagebreakNum ## The Dust Basin The dust basin is a place of outcasts, and small stagnant settlements along River Respite. Creatures like gnolls, orcs, or hobgoblins travel here to become monastic students of solidarity. They call themselves the "Runners" as they are outrunning their hunger in a place that will only make it grow. To quell one's thirsts here is to become a master of one's destiny. ## maddened isolation Apart from the more symbolic and poetic side of the Dust Basin, the people along the River Respite seem to be highly religious peoples. Never truly believing in the death of the gods, rather adopting a new take on the divine. They are zealots, raised in an upbringing of harsh teachings and harsher lands. There are two ways a traveler from the Dust Basin could turn out. Either they could give into the harshness and blind belief in the gods to the point where they excuse themselves for every wrongful thing they do, to the point where they think themselves above all. That their conscience is clear, this breeds some sort of xenophobia that roots itself deep in a persons mind. The other way is that one would become understanding, reflecting the kindness the gods once had in everything they do. They have stayed vigilant and never allowed themselves to become blinded by faith, desire, or laziness. They are usually part of these "Runners" or just genuinely kind people who have long since kept their eyes on the horizon, onto the next journey. ## deathly intervention Whether many people know it or not, two of the Dark Fathers have rather large stakes in the Dust Basin. It is a place of harshness and death after all. The two Dark Fathers that have their stakes in it are Survival and Vigilance, opposites. To those that give into the hunger of their desires, or lull themselves into blindness of faith, unwittingly give into Survival. To him, they become paragons of strength and profess the ideal nature of "Survival of the Fittest". Hobgoblins who give into the desire for war make sure only the strongest live, gnolls who become devourers of all things moving teach people to be distrusting and careful, as well as to throw the weak away to appease the hunger of the gnolls. To those that stay vigilant, and never let themselves lull into the comforting madness, gain the blessings of Vigilance. They teach others around them that to truly enjoy life while you have it, you must never become obsessed with something so you can taste all life has to offer. Not only that, but zealotry breeds paranoia, which in some cases can maim and kill others. Not allowing them a chance to prove themselves. \columnbreak ## decrepit cradle It is no question that the Dust Basin was once to cradle of humanity, a thriving jungle in ancient times. A place of archaeological interest for any scholar with temples, pyramids, skeletons of ancient beasts, and more. It is no doubt that if you want to find some sort of treasure, ancient magical artifact, or schematics of untested sciences you would want to search here. But be careful, many an adventurer has lost their life only to rejoin in the undeathly defense of the catacombs and treasure vaults. \pagebreakNum ## The Alkan The Alkan is a combination of the Dread Archipelago and the Shattered Isles, both once uninhabited tropical islands. Now they are home to dangerous pirates and buccaneers, although there isn't much infamy to them anymore. As the only boats that really sail the seas anymore are fishing boats and the like. But should a pirate ever find an actual boat worthy of looting you can bet they will be all over it. The pirate life is demanding, but it provides freedom. Many captains don't really care if you're genasi, orcish, or whatnot but they will care if you can set a rope, or patch a breach. ## withholding from crime An Alkan sailor seeks freedom, thats mainly it. Unless the crew specifically hated authority or desired the life of infamy, they will prioritize treasure, combat, the good life, and anything similar. Ancient ruins, haunted ships still sailing, extraplanar portals within the ocean, while these all sound extremely dangerous, they are the prime targets of these vagabonds. Whenever one does meet a sailor actively committing crimes, they are most likely outcasts, exiles, or maybe not even from the Alkan at all. ## magic biased They don't see the use in gunpowder or other firearm tech, unless they were cannons. To them magic has boundless opportunities, provides endless wonder and entertainment, and can do things science could never hope to achieve. So when a traveling or lost pirate finds some source of scientific tech, it will almost always end in a couple ways. On one side they could react with wonder, never truly had they let themselves think of what science could really do. The other way is that they will be constantly unimpressed or suspicious of the technology, they will scoff and out of spite learn how to do a task better with magic. They may even believe that whatever that technology is doing isn't really mundane, rather someone hiding magical runes of some sort, a sense of paranoia. ## shallow for a reason Since the Alkan islands were barely settled before the wars, and the only reason people are there is because soldiers were stationed there during the war, they don't have much of a sense of culture. So they try to adopt or imitate some other places culture either as a way to fill some identity the never had, they feel left behind, or that they are losing some sort of life experience because they don't have a culture and history to be proud of. \columnbreak ## hedonistic pleasures These pirates are always wanting to live the good life, or an excitable and entertaining one. Usually they mix that up with a life spent in hedonistic pleasure. When they can't get that pleasure they can react violently, these are the dangerous pirates that go so far as to attack towns far inland just to get some semblance of another culture's foods, valuables, and more. \pagebreakNum ## Race Templates Sometimes at birth, planar influence can seep into the soul of a newborn and make itself part of that energy. These people are the "Planar-folk". These are templates you may add onto a race you have picked, careful though, they do not exactly come free. They are huge parts of your back stories, never a minor occurrence, and bring with them their own stigma or problems. They are not your race, nor are they a subrace, rather they are an extra defining factor you have. You could be a human Emotion-born or Hill Dwarf Saint-born. ## Emotion-born Due to fey influence, people have been born with the odd and ever changing powers of the fey. Specifically the emotional and vibrant side of it. Like Eladrin, whose forms are changed by their emotions, the Emotion-born have minor changes in their eyes and hair. Ever shifting colors that show their current emotions. This can be really embarrassing for a person, as having a special give away that can be seen clearly can be awkward to them and funny to anyone observing, usually at the expense of the Emotion-born. Emotion-born might not be able to hide their infatuation for a crush, anger for an enemy, or sadness at a tease that might have just been a joke. Since Emotion-born don't have much of a way to hide their tell, they are just honest about their emotions up front, making them into truthful, and most of the time readable, people. Unlike the fey they are allegedly derived from. These people are hunted down with utmost ruthlessness and efficiency by Yuan-ti. They are terrified by an effect that can topple years of past rituals and dark ceremonies. Although they don't automatically know the location of one, so should they find one they have already marked it for death. Now if one is to be discovered among their own eggs, they shall be killed and turned into broodguard. This is a mistake, the Yuan-ti unknowingly invite even more emotions to come into their own broodguard. They are caring parental figures, whom let Emotion-born Yuan-ti to escape with their bodies in one piece. They themselves don't seek freedom but rather want to sacrifice themselves for a continuing brood. They know if they can stay in that place more Emotion-born will leave safely, so they continue to stay. ***Faerie Tell*** Your hair or eyes, or both if you wish, change color depending on your mood and current emotion. Red for **anger**. Blue for **sadness**. Yellow for **embarrassment**. Green for **sickened**. Purple for **confused** Sky blue for **inspired**. Brown for **bored**. Pink for **flustered or lovestruck**. Devoid of all color for **depressed or nothing at all**. Constantly changing rainbows for **enamored**. You can come up with combinations of your own, as long as they don't contradict each other From the viewpoint of any individual paying attention to your facial features they can tell if you are speaking the truth or not. Additionally if your hair is cut off it will regrow back the next day, and every time you finish a long rest you can choose what style and length your hair is as long as it doesn't reach below your body. \columnbreak An Emotion-born's experiences in life are relatively different from any other person's, below are examples of how the influence can shape a person. Some lives are simpler, with outside influence being the only reason others adventure. | d8 | Memorable Experiences | |:---:|:-----------:| | 1 | I was the last hatchling my broodguard saved, in testament to her sacrifice I shall protect my adoptive family to the end. Entering zealous battle phases to protect all that treat me like an equal. | | 2 | I had no privacy when it came to how I was feeling, people always intruded into my life when I just needed to be left alone. Telling them I did just seemed to be a challenge for them to intrude in my life more. As such I cover my eyes and tie, or cut, my hair to hide my emotions. My monastic training shall help me endure this self imposed blindness. | | 3 | Since I never could lie to get what I want, I needed to rely on my physical skills to sneak around rather than natural charisma. I'm a perfectionist at heart, as my jobs must be done right the first time or not at all. | 6 | I lived a simpler life than most, my openly presented emotions helped me gain my sweetheart, got me a job at an artificer's lab. People could always tell when I'm inspired or plotting my next experiment. Soon though, a lust for knowledge brought that life burning down, my "tell" became my downfall as people berated me when I wanted to try and make new machinations. | | 7 | An urchin's life threw me down a path of crime, I chose the charlatan's route but my "tell" always betrayed me and made the skill I liked useless. I often have feelings of inadequacy. | | 8 | When people saw you were tired or sad while studying the arcane, they tried to help. You pushed everyone away so as to focus only on your studies, as such you have a bad grip on emotions and sometimes they just come out wrong. You might look like your sad, but your eyes show unbridled happiness. | \pagebreakNum ## Horror-born When alien essence of the beyond, or the influence of aberrations, makes its way into the soul of a new born the spawn is called a "Horror-born". These people are not aberrations, but rather a person whom has had the influence of the beyond, or curses like lycanthropy or vampirism, seeped into their minds and bodies, giving them some inhuman, sometimes horrifying, features. Their veins might be visible completely, their eyes may be reptilian, or their hair can be bizarre slimy tendrils. Due to the alien "interference" within their minds they tend to have muddled thoughts, or act in a way that would make you think they are not totally aware of life. Thats not to say they aren't totally situationally aware but they have slight quirks to them that make them unique to say the least. A Horror-born might just not understand sarcasm or have a dry, or nonexistent, sense of humor. The more serious cases include fascination with aspects their respective influences care for, an unhealthy obsession with blood for those influenced by vampirism, an unreasonable craving for flesh by those influenced by lycanthropy, or intensive xenomania for the rare few influenced by beholders are some examples. Through intensive training and help from trusted loved ones a Horror-born can push back these inhuman desires, but it is rare that one even has a single friend. Horror-born are mortifying to be around, if one didn't know better of the facts behind their origins, and as such are feared in society. They appear as the horrible madmen of horror stores, those who embraced their alien side and sated their dark curiosities by contacting those from beyond to learn more about their origin. This is never true, a Horror-born is never in a state where they feel like they're in control. Their life is one of constant fear of what other people will do to them. They are only pushed to evil because its the only life that will give them a sense of comfort, society's fear of them causes them to manifest into this type of villain. ***Reminder of Mortality*** As an action you may use your monstrous appearance or access to alien or psychic powers to put the fear of death into someone, Your target needs to make a WIS saving throw or be frightened by you for 1 minute, making saving throws whenever they take damage or at the end of their turns. Your saving throw DC is 8 + proficiency bonus + CHA modifier. \columnbreak | d8 | Monstrous Feature(s) | |:---:|:-----------:| | 1 | All your veins are visible from your skin. | | 2 | Your teeth are too sharp, sometimes dripping blood not drool. | | 3 | Your eyes have slits instead of circular pupils. | | 4 | Your body constantly drips with precipitation, or has a slimy feel to it. | | 5 | You are grotesquely beautiful, to a point where people know your not normal. | | 6 | Your arms have thorns growing from them, they are almost visible always and unorganized. | | 7 | Your eyes are pale, completely white and sometimes glowing a luminescent yellow. | | 8 | Your skin has different colors throughout it in an odd and inhuman way, your face may be purple but it cuts off like it was stitched on. | \pagebreakNum ## Saint-born Saint-born are the influence of dead angels, or the left over power from the celestials fighting the destruction wars, that has seeped into the soul of a newborn. That or they are the result of a ceremony or ritual to appease the long gone soul of a saint. Saint-born born in that way usually have a prophecy around them and are treated like gods themselves. This tends to make them dishonest greedy, and with a superiority complex, as they have had everything at their disposal. Their appearance is very much angel like, sometimes they are just beautifully angelic, some have halos on their head, the visage of wings, angelic verberations behind their voice, or celestial runes down their skin. They are different from Aasimars as they don't lose their celestial features when they turn evil. The evil ones use this as a blessing, tricking others into trusting them with their looks and backstabbing them when their plans are laid. A good Saint-born is taught to be humble, that they are not inherently great, merely the reaction of childbirth with a celestial influence. They hunt those out who have betrayed others through the use of their celestial features. The Saint-born are a constant reminder of the failures of both the fiends and celestials in the destructive wars. Both celestials and fiends have no opinion, if not just a bad one, of the Saint-born. Fiends quick to anger will mark a Saint-born for death, and can be attracted by their use of powers. ***Healing Aura*** You can use your bonus action to reach out to someone within 30 ft and heal them for an amount equal to their Charisma modifier multiplied by two. You must take a short or long rest before you can use this trait again. \columnbreak | d8 | Hunter | |:---:|:-----------:| | 1 | A brutish and savage demon, who merely wishes for my death and nothing more. They will let nothing stop them in their pursuit of anger. | | 2 | A cunning and charismatic shapechanging fiend, probably a succubus or incubus. I need to be careful of who I trust. | | 3 | An intelligent spellcaster that usually gets minions to do its bidding, anyone and anything could be after me. | | 4 | A malevolent, seeking my destruction after I let celestial influence into part of its domain. I don't quite know what it looks like. | | 5 | A weak and decrepit fiend, that has marked me for petty reasons. I don't worry about if that much.| | 6 | I once angered a noble, little did I know he was a vile fiend taking his/her form. He is after me now, since he lost his place at the court he took so long to infiltrate. | | 7 | My strong war mentor turned out to be training m only to kill me in a fair fight. Their mistake will be letting me run. | | 8 | A fiendish spirit that lost its body after I ruined it's possession ritual. It can't hurt me directly, but can easily take more subtle and arguably dangerous methods to kill me | \pagebreakNum ## Hell-born When the fiendish influence leftover from the wars seeps into the soul of a newborn, out comes either a tiefling or, when its a weaker influence, a Hell-born. They have the appearance of a ruined humanoid form, or someone who has had fiendish parts stitched onto them. Ruined wings, chain or shackle scars on their wrists, broken horns, whip marks on their back, black teeth, and more. They are unjustly mistreated in society, but many choose to not lash out as that would only prove the people correct of their prejudice. Instead they choose to share their suffering with something unjust, unlawful, or simply evil. This can be a goal to destroy or tear a noble down, to hunt a monster ravaging the coast, or to simply destroy the rumors around their kind. They tend to be very lawful people, going for jobs that uphold society. Like being a Crowned Paladin for a hierarchy they deem good and just, or a soldier in an army fighting a good cause. The Hell-born are a constant reminder of the failures of both the fiends and celestials in the destructive wars. Both celestials and fiends have no opinion, if not just a bad one, of the Hell-born. Celestials quick to anger will mark a Hell-born for death, and can be attracted by their use of powers. ***Shared Suffering*** Whenever you take damage, as a reaction, you may share your pain with your assailant and as such they must make a CON saving throw or have disadvantage on attacks and ability checks for 1 minute or until you are unconscious. Your saving throw is 8 + your proficiency bonus + CHA modifier. This requires concentration and taking damage may result in your losing it. \columnbreak | d8 | Hunter | |:---:|:-----------:| | 1 | An Aasimar that sees me only as a pretender to law, they believe I will betray everyone at a moments notice. | | 2 | An ancient celestial tactician that lost a battle to the same fiend I seem to gain influence from. As such they wish to take revenge on me.| | 3 | A benevolent that doesn't understand what a Hell-born is, and sees me as an actual fiend. | | 4 | A celestial spirit within a machine that will fight me without care for its own wounds. | | 5 | I used to have a relationship with a person who I was attracted to, turns out they were only using their looks to get to me and kill me easily. | | 6 | A sentient shard that doesn't like that I have a shard in my possession (Hexblade class or Aasimar Hell-born required) | | 7 | An angelic knight that approaches everything with zealous destruction | | 8 | A celestial that wishes to take vengeance upon me, as I had knocked down one of their agents from a position of power. | \pagebreakNum # Calendar ### The calendar of Kelevar is spread into 4 seasons rather than the real world's twelve months with seasons bleeding into them. Each seasonal interval has a period of 4 months each, of varying days of 30 and 31, to a total of 16 months. ## The Tearful Reunion (Spring) Named for the collective happiness to see the green grass, that had been covered under the snow, once more after a harrowing time without it. A new beginning to all things in the cycle of life. 1. The 1st Month of the Reunion: * Festival of the New Dawn: all cultures * The First Sow 2. The 2nd Month of the Reunion 3. The 3rd Month of the Reunion: * Spirits Day: Kochime, The Green Ring 4. The 4th Month and End to the Reunion: * The Jotun Heim finally starts to thaw completely. ## The Wandering Flame (Summer) Named after the warmth of the sun, the wanderlust afflicting most younger souls during the weather, and the drive to reconnect with friends and family. The "Flame" wanders out to brighten the plants, the animals, and the hearts of many. 1. The 1st Month of the Wander * The Festival of Renewal: all cultures 2. The 2nd Month of the Wander * The Dance of the King's Tithe: Jotun Heim 1. The 3rd Month of the Wander 2. The 4th Month and End of the Wander * The Elemental Feign: Alkan, Kochime, Green Ring, Delta ## The Crow's Call (Autumn) At the end of summer the crow calls the Flame back home to rest, as it leaves the air grows cold, the plants begin to wilt or retreat back into the ground, and as a final parting gift the harvest is collected. 1. The 1st Call * The Beginning of Saint Death's March: all cultures * The Harvest is collected 1. The 2nd Call * The Dance of Death: all cultures * The Festival of Spite: Jotun Heim, Alkan, Delta 1. The 3rd Call * The Feast of Death: all cultures 1. The 4th Call * The Somber Song, The End of the March: all cultures \columnbreak ## The Somber Night (Winter) When the Flame gives its final goodbyes, and it goes to rest, the cold and somber night begins. Where people longingly await the Tearful Reunion of the Flame. 1. The 1st Freeze of the Night * The Retreat of Saint Dazeldos: Steppe * The Silent Wait: Steppe, Alkan 1. The 2nd Freeze of the Night * The Lady's Shiver: Green Ring * The Winter Festival: Kochime, Jotun Heim 1. The 3rd Freeze of the Night * The Permafrost: Delta 1. The 4th and Final Freeze of the Night * The Melt: Delta \pagebreakNum ## Careers and Character development This page is more for newer players to DnD, or players who don't do too well when making characters and lists down professions that might just lead to adventuring. ## Monster Hunter With the number of malicious monsters rising it is only natural a few cunning individuals could carve out a job hunting them. They spend days or even weeks in merciless environments and decrepit conditions to hunt their quarry. All of them know the song and dance of survival, those that didn't met their end in the stomach of some creature. Its also important for a Monster Hunter to be patient, as with the spawning of "Malevolents" and "Benevolents" their job has gotten even more complicated. Morally gray hunters may not care if they kill a Benevolent Chimera, but smarter hunters will know that their job only comes from the evil monsters harming people, their jobs might become too hard if the good monsters are on their tail as well. Proper hunters will actually beseech a Benevolent for help, or lead an evil monster into a Benevolent's lair, to make their job 10x more easier. So there is a good chance that a hunter knows, or even shares a camaraderie with one. ## Mercenary A person that has carved a living doing the odd job or two, never staying in one specialization for too long. Hunting criminals, fetching an odd item or two, slaying a creature, or being a body guard. A mercenary relies the most on cunning and an insightful mind more than any other career, because they need to look for people in need. They always know a person that can give out work, and adventurers may swarm to them for this reason. "The more desperate the better" is what most say. ## Navigator/Cartography You travel the lands, mapping it and labeling the location of Benevolents and Malevolents. As well as important landmarks and other towns and settlements. When someone is sick and needs magical healing from a selfless creature, you know just where to guide them. When a Monster Hunter needs help finding a specific lair, you know just where to look, or at least where to start looking. ## Soldier You are the wall between the chaos and the law, with the nations gone there is no line between a king's solider and the town guard so you probably have trained in both crowd control and warfare. It is common for two settlements near themselves to turn hostile, most likely out of a need or want to conquer and expand. It is inevitable for every able man, woman, and child to be called in defense. \columnbreak ## Traveling Healer You travel the world, both for practicing your skills as a physician and to heal the sick and injured. You either are a magical healer or an artificer healing by physical means. Your skills sometimes can extend to anything other than a healer as well like being a traveling teacher of the medicinal arts using your skills to combat disease and entropy. ## Inventor Traveling the lands looking for exotic materials for their experiments or inspiration for different inventions. Inventors come from all shapes and sizes. bringing different viewpoints on old technologies. Some are content to buy old schematics and build upon those, most desire to make new inventions from scratch. > ##### Group Trope > Rather than having one character have one of these jobs, the group could decide on being an entire group of a certain specialization. This can add motivation on top of their back story. A party of monster hunters, grouping up after recent failures that have left them scarred and vengeful. A party of inventors traveling the land finding old schematics in ancient ruins or solving the mysteries of the construction of the warforged. A party of soldiers from opposing sides, seeing what war has done to their homes, who act as mediums for hostile settlements helping them find peace. > >Whatever it is, characters need motivation. They are about to be heroes of the realm after all, how can you do that without being motivated by morals or a dramatic past? \pagebreakNum ## Character Development This page is simply full of examples of experiences a character might have that shape them as a person. As well as rules for making characters that will help your DM prepare for games. You can also use this to randomize a character if you so wish, the first table might not be useful for that though. | d8 | Experiences | |:---:|:-----------:| | 1 | Your home destroyed itself by attrition when trying to conquer a smaller settlement. Now you travel the world as a selfless diplomat determined to stop conflicts before they happen. | | 2 | You are a Kalashtar, traumatized that your very birth was due to people suffering. You now ferociously fight evil in an attempt to never allow another mortal to feel his feeling.| | 3 | You are a noble, escaping to the life of freedom and adventure. You have *much* to learn. You genuinely don't believe much in the isolation problem of the world. | | 4 | You are an easily inspired and gullible artificer. that went out traveling on a whim to find some sort of ancient paragon of technology, like a city of clockwork, ancient construct, etc. | | 5 | You never leave a job unfinished, and when your work started to shift to magical problems you were the only one who stayed and adapted. | | 6 | You finally escaped the abusive servitude of Malevolent (or Benevolent) but the neighboring settlements have branded you as a dangerous criminal. | | 7 | You were a child with a love for the paranormal, you studied things that you shouldn't of. It took the help of your loved ones to pull you out of the constant studying. You hadn't realized the toll it took on your sanity. | | 8 | You had been enchanted by a dryad and taken away for an unknown amount of years. Too afraid to face your old life you had no other choice but go one an adventure. Should be fun.... | Work with your DM what experience has had a major impact in your characters life, it can include your characters entire back story, an event that had been building up slowly towards a changing revolution. That, or it could be a short but abrupt point in your characters life that changed the course of their lie and pushed them to be an adventurer. \columnbreak These races are the most common of the races, who you may see day to day, or can expect to see around whenever you enter a settlement. This table does not keep in mind cultures that are large but specific, like the Winged Ambassadors and the Raven Riders. These birdfolk might be common in the Steppe, but not much anywhere else. | d8 | Common Races | |:---:|:-----------:| | 1 | Human | | 2 | Elf | | 3 | Dwarf | | 4 | Half-orc | | 5 | Halfling | | 6 | Hobgoblin | | 7 | Tiefling | | 8 | Warforged | These races are more scattered or simply more rarer in the world, some might gain looks of fear, wonder, curiosity, or horror. Depending on the nuances of your race's history. The races are marked with a "U" for Uncommon, "R" for Rarer, or "VR" for Very Rare. This isn't a category for the race in general, rather the race count within society. Orcs might be rare in common society, but their war parties are known all over the world. | d20 | Uncommon or Rarer Races | |:---:|:-----------:| | 1 | Gnome (U) | | 2 | Dragonborn (U) | | 3 | Triton (R) | | 4 | Aarakocra (U) | | 5 | Kenku (U)| | 6 | Goliath (R)| | 7 | Orc (R)| | 8 | Genasi (R) | | 9 | Tortle (R) | 10| Aasimar (R) | 11 | Changeling (R) | 12 | Goblin (VR) | 13 | Bugbear (VR) | 14 | Kalashtar (R) | 15 | Minotaur (VR) | 16 | Yuan-ti (VR) | 17 | Firbolg (VR) | 18 | Lizardfolk (VR) | 19 | Kobold (U) | 20 | Tabaxi (R) \pagebreakNum ## Character Development Continued... This table gives the character a small trinket or keepsake, as just merely being given a small item can reveal a small story or quirk about your character which may lead to something greater, yet a small quirk or side story is always a great thing to make for your character too, don't break or strain your character trying to make something big when smaller is better. These tables are always optional. | d20 | Trinkets or Keepsakes | |:---:|:-----------:| | 1 | A small globe of glass, filled with sand and water. | | 2 | A small shard of weapon | | 3 | A note from a long dead friend | | 4 | A bronze bull | | 5 | A torn piece of cloth, with part of an unknown insignia | | 6 | A lantern that doesn't actually spread light, but is a small bird house. | | 7 | A small kenku doll | | 8 | A journal of unreadable schematics | | 9 | A holy symbol of one of the dead gods | 10 | An empty whiskey bottle that reads "Drazzu's Marvelous Fireball" | 11 | A small resin art piece that depicts fish about to be eaten by a shark | 12 | A wooden art work that depicts a hanged man who is smiling |13| A tarot card deck |14| A small chess piece that is an angel wielding a longbow |15| A ring made of grass blades, it doesn't seem to burn |16| A small picture of a tree that is on one side on fire, and the other side is blooming with flowers |17| A clockwork invention that seemingly has no use nor does it seem to work anymore |18| An arrow, with the words "Don't Forget" on it |19| A purple crystal |20| An hourglass without sand. \pagebreakNum # The Craglands, Drykini Cracked plains of ash, soot, and rubble. Poisonous swamps and bogs harboring insane creatures whom have been around even before the war. An icy desert, with nothing but frost resistant vegetation and other hardier animals here and there. The ruined remains of a once flourishing ecosystem. Once upon a time this very place was the ideal place for dragons to come and depart, Drykini does translate to "Wrym Graveyard" after all. Yet this became this place's downfall, when dragons die they leave behind immense magical and elemental energy. When the energy grew too high the following cataclysm destroyed and tore apart the entire region to its last fibers, leaving behind rocky, elemental, wasteland where chaos reigns true. ## Home of the Dragonborn Two clans, two families, of dragonborn resided here. The Dulymak and the Arcyk, not biologically different by any means, rather they follow different ideals in their deep seeded culture. They have always harbored a distrust of each other, but nothing to the point where friends couldn't be made between the two, or in the rarer event of lovers. Yet when the world collapsed, and the Drykini fell to elemental wrath, their differences became highlighted. They opposed each other openly, when they still had their big cities and lived together they often incited violence between themselves and in some cases killed without regret. ## Newcomers Large tribes of stone orcs, swamp goblins, and gnoll scavengers had harried the dragonborn nation from its borders, but never could stand a chance with the united clans and military. Now that its gone they could walk right in. The orcs and goblins, only wanting homes, never hunted dragonborn and on some occasions helped them. Hunger and brutality, however, are deeply rooted within a gnoll's mind. Sharing is impossible for them to comprehend, so they take and keep on taking without stop. They can even be seen bleeding out into Jotun Heim near the Jotun Lavir or Vanity's Alpine. The gnoll's have grown since then, their tolerance of practically inedible food, their strength and terror in numbers, and their constitution of a vulture has allowed them to survive within the Craglands. Although the orcs and goblins, having been near them for a good couple centuries, harbored grudges against them and their insufferable behavior. So they take it upon themselves, with roguish dragonborn help, to keep them from taking over. Taking some sort of delight in tricking them into lethal traps, taking their anger out on them (orcs mainly do this as a sport and call it "Terikal"), and some of the more studious ones use them for experiments. The gnolls that see the brutality as too much to be endured usually leave, trying to find some sense of society or home, or just reverting to their orignal ways in the rest of the world. \columnbreak ## Home for the Downtrodden To come here and live for more than 20 days means you have passed the right of life. Which has nothing to do with the shards of life, nor is it an official title by any means. It is more akin to an inside joke, that you were tough enough to live for a measly 20 days. This is reflective on the people of Drykini's idea of how life should be lived, "one day at a time". You need to find or grow food, find water or raid it, train with weaponry to some extent, survive your region's natural disaster's, lookout for angry elementals, watch out for bandits and gnolls, maintain your energy levels, and sleep. Then you repeat it the very next day until it is nothing more than habit. People willing to do this will find a home where they are free from most laws and expectations, free to be as vile, or caring, as they wish. Necromancers will hole up in underground columns, rather than usual towers, free to do as many vile experiments as they wish (unless they anger the locals). Royalty or nobility, if they survive, won't be constricted to their family's title and free to make a name. Vagabonds and criminals won't find any bounty hunters, with common sense, after them. Horror born actually have full on clans here, with enough people to be called a small civilization of some sort. ## Hard Life It's hard to say whether grouping together makes it easier to live, sure they can gather more resources and gain more able bodies but they are exposing themselves to disaster. One raiding party could cripple a tribe beyond repair, staying too stagnant will exhaust all resources in the area. If you did come from a tribe here, come up with your daily survival schedule to give your DM an insight into your character's skills. \pagebreakNum ## Dulymak ### The Dulymak is the draconic word for **Brotherhood**. As such the Dulymak are close knit families that interact with each other, rather than simply a political group you could join. They strongly believe in personal freedoms and a desire to be independent. An attribute hard to have when your own home is going against your survival. ## Elite Warriors The Dulymak have always been a militaristic family, their greatest past times are telling stories of hard fought battles, or glorious hunts. They follow the *Corsik Minitorial* a set of commandments that they follow rigorously on the battlefield. 1. **Respect your Enemy**, they throw their lives away for a belief or idea that they have faith in. To disrespect that and show pride in your own culture and faiths is hypocrisy. 2. **Silence Your Pride**, no battle is worth your life, no idea deserves you, only your loved ones should matter. If surrendering means you can extend your own life, or the people around you. Do it. 3. **Life is a Gift**, to punish civilians because they fed their soldiers, sheltered them, and gave them clothing means you have no respect for the lives they hold precious. Throw down your blade, you cannot take what you do not respect. ## Wrym Slayers In a time of when dragons of mythical might roamed the continent looking for followers, creating the dragonborn, and gaining forces to fight for them the Dulymak spat in their faces. To dominate and imprison someone on a lie is the worst crime possible. So naturally they never believed dragons to be good, not even metallic dragons. Many among them would call themselves dragon slayers, training for untold years to be the perfect dragon killing machines. Dragons are among the only beings in existence they don't hesitate to bend the rules of the Corsik Minitorial just to kill or gain the upper hand on them. ## Wanderlust The world is unfamiliar and large to the Dulymak, and they love it that way. During youth many are inspired and encouraged to explore the many regions and biomes of the world. Soon they begin to feel cooped up when staying in one place for more than a year, or longer. Some take this exploration to a whole new level, the most extreme of adventurers become planar travelers, air ship captains, privateers on a pirate ship, spies exploring foreign settlements to the fullest extent, and dungeon delvers. The more calm and easily content explorers are fine with just seeing the natural world, sleeping under the leaves in far away forests, traversing deserts, navigating icy terrain, or hiking up mountains. \columnbreak ## Mage Hunters Because of the elemental chaos that is still tearing apart their home, the magical influences turning others mad, and Odmati furthering the destruction of their home, magic is something that is detestable to the Dulymak. They won't hunt other magic users down like dogs just when meeting them, unless they were evil, but they will be highly distrusting of them until proven otherwise to the point of being ignorant to something or someone being clearly good. Now a dragon using magic, that is something Dulymak despise more than the Arcyk. A Dulymak family hearing word of a magic wielding dragon will enact "Wrym Crusades" where everyone in their family will travel as a pack, even the children and frail, training and destroying everything they deem to be a dragon worshiper on the way. They will throw themselves at this dragon without care for losses, and be on high alert for any transmutation casters on their way. As polymorph has tricked them many a time before. They have respect for artificers and wizard tinkerers though, as they see them attaching the stable and reliable sciences to otherwise unpredictable magic. They themselves have delved deep into the creation of their own clockwork devices and inventions. Specifically ones that can help them learn more about the elemental influence of their home and try and reverse it. In their ingenuity they have created 3 notable inventions that are used or seen in Kelevar: * Warforged that look like dragonborn * Arcanical cannons * Clockwork dragons. ## Clockwork Copies The Dulymak realize that the Arcyk could have dragons with them, and even with all the weapons at their disposal they can't hope to take on dragons on their own. Yet they don't want to be subservient to sentient dragons, so they create weapons of war called "Clyikwrym" which are mechanical dragons, weapons of war that can take on dragons themselves. There aren't many in existence and even fewer that still work, but there are smaller pseudo dragon eseque constructs. They range from just being toys to actually sentient, or semi-sentient, constucts. \pagebreakNum ## Arcyk ### Arcyk is the draconic word for the **faithful.** Whenever they undertake a quest, learn a new skill, speak publicly, or even just for something simple like buying a house or a new tool, they always consult with their god, or whatever idol they praise. They have been praying since birth, learning the complex histories of their idols since childhood, and training to possibly become zealots in the name of their idols. ## Zealots of Scale and Bone Due to their unwavering belief in their idols, they can become blinded by their faith and stray from their paths. Sometimes their idol is a deceitful being and takes advantage of the Arcyk, because that is all they know how to do, to serve the gods above them Some don't believe in an entity or being, but rather a philosophy and a personal code. These tend to be the more free minded individuals due to their lax doctrines. Sometimes this breeds genuinely good willed people with unbreakable oaths. Most of the time it breeds scheming, deceitful, and vile bigots that treat anyone of a different oath or code to a lower standard. ## Well Mannered A cultural greeting, or a certain etiquette that needs to be followed are crucial to an Arcyk's personal code. No matter what idol or philosophy they believe in its always "Manner's First" whether or not they care about the person they are "respecting" is not definite. They do this for one of two reasons. * They believe themselves to be a higher standard and to reinforce that belief they learn all sorts of cultural standards to seem well mannered to the populace. * They do care about the culture, or are fascinated by it to the point where they want to one day live in that nation or partake in its gifts. Some lesser form of xenomania. (not applicable to the bigots for obvious reasons) ## Bastions of Dragonkind When dragons of mythical might and power brought the dragonborn into the world, it was the Arcyk that saw them as perfect, wise, and intelligent beings. They desired to be them, to carry even a fraction of their power. To this day that is why they believe in so many idols, to gain power through their faith. Although with the destructive wars, and the many dragons dying, their beliefs have switched from purely draconic icons to any being with power to share. A good aligned Arcyk might understand killing an evil dragon, sometimes for the sake of getting rid of temptations that sway them from their oaths. Nevertheless they will respect said dragon even if it had gone insane, or its goals completely opposite of their own oaths. \columnbreak ## Practitioners of the Arts As they have been the opposite of the Dulymak constantly, now is no different. They train themselves in the art of the fantastical and divine to find ways to survive in the hell their masters made. With clerics of life and nature being granted the title of Rationer, responsible for dishing out food with use of the *Create food and Water* spell. They tend to be in the higher castes in Arcyk society. <div class='pageNumber'>28</div>