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Meinberg
Oct 9, 2011

inspired by but legally distinct from CATS (2019)
An age of exploration and trade have begun. Ships laden with foreign goods travel the vast inland sea and the outer ocean, and caravans drag those goods to inland cities. War remains ever on the horizon as expansion clashes with burgeoning nationalism. The many nations of the continent vie for new markets. And a ship has finally managed to sail over the edge of the map, revealing the possibilities of an even wider world.

All that is needed is women and men of courage to travel into the great unknown, and bring back word of what they've seen.


This thread is going to be used to organize a D&D Fourth Edition game, which will be run mainly on Roll d20. This thread will be used for three primary purposes: organizing the play sessions, posting session summaries for the players and those following along, and posting informative posts about the setting to provide background detail to interested parties.

Since play won't be happening in this thread, I will allow observers to post, though if the banter proves distracting, I might ask people to keep it to a minimum.

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Meinberg
Oct 9, 2011

inspired by but legally distinct from CATS (2019)
Reserved for indexing

Meinberg
Oct 9, 2011

inspired by but legally distinct from CATS (2019)
Codex Entry: Kingdom of Ferik

The Kingdom of Ferik occupies an important geographic location, having both a coast on the inner sea and the outer ocean, and entirely controlling one of two land bridges connecting the northern and southern halves of the continent. Ferik also boasts rich natural resources, with iron rich mountains, verdant forests, and productive farmland, allowing it to become an economic powerhouse, with its influence felt throughout the land.

In its early history, the land where Ferik would once be was controlled by itinerant tribes of pastoral nomads, who divided themselves according to bloodlines. Over time, they settled into the pattern of feudal lords. The first King of Ferik gained his title by bloodily conquering his fellow Dukes, but maintained the feudal pattern. The dukes and king continued to clash until a century ago, when the dukes rose up in civil war.

The king of the time was assassinated early, and soon it was just the dukes fighting each other for control of the kingdom. Eventually, a successor to the throne emerged and rallied the loyalist elements of the army to defeat the battered armies of the dukes. King Siris III eliminated the feudal positions, establishing an absolute monarchy. To aid in the governance of the nation, he also created an elaborate bureaucracy, for which all citizens could apply for memberships, if they passed requisite aptitude tests.

Now, King Iliat II rules Ferik, with a soft but wise touch. He allows the Committees to handle the day to day affairs of ruling the nation, though he does regularly attend meetings of the Committee of the Treasury, in order to keep a close eye on the expenditures and taxation of the land. Ferik remains stable and prosperous, though worries rise with the tension between Ferik and the increasingly aggressive and expansionistic Federated Imperial States to the north.

Dr. Hurt
Oct 23, 2010

Karoline Getafix, Elven Druid, checking in. This space is reserved for a future character post.

Dr. Hurt fucked around with this message at 21:00 on Aug 8, 2014

Asiina
Apr 26, 2011

No going back
Grimey Drawer
I am Leslie Fortenberry a suave ladies man who will totally get more character information in here later.

Snooze Cruise
Feb 16, 2013

hey look,
a post
Forcent "Rip" Tyde, Kobold Privateer Warlord checking in also.

GulagDolls
Jun 4, 2011

The Bug, Bug, checking in

Propaganda Machine
Jan 2, 2005

Truthiness!
Naht Mills is a mischievous halfling who likes hitting people with pointy things. Her family loves her very much but told her she should probably take the pointy things elsewhere on account of too much dead livestock destroying their petite shire economy. She doesn't feel as guilty about that as she probably should.

More later? :iiam:

IcePhoenix
Sep 18, 2005

Take me to your Shida

The Vengeful Maiden arrives! Her sworn duty, to protect the pure of heart, to cleanse the lands of sinners, to right the injustices that have befallen our lands! Her name is Faelwen, and beware, all those that oppose her, for you shall be PUNISHED!

Propaganda Machine
Jan 2, 2005

Truthiness!
Ice rolled Sailor Moon?

Asiina
Apr 26, 2011

No going back
Grimey Drawer
Basically.

Asiina
Apr 26, 2011

No going back
Grimey Drawer
My guy is like part Kenneth Branagh as Hamlet and part Westley from Princess Bride.

Dr. Hurt
Oct 23, 2010

If I remember it is religious zealot Sailor Moon.

IcePhoenix
Sep 18, 2005

Take me to your Shida

Dr. Hurt posted:

If I remember it is religious zealot Sailor Moon.

With a hammer!

Dr. Hurt
Oct 23, 2010

The hammer is a very important part. This is true.

Propaganda Machine
Jan 2, 2005

Truthiness!

Asiina posted:

My guy is like part Kenneth Branagh as Hamlet and part Westley from Princess Bride.



His name is Cary Elwes, and he was basically the same character in Men in Tights as well.

Meinberg
Oct 9, 2011

inspired by but legally distinct from CATS (2019)
Keyword recognized: new codex entry unlocked.

Codex Entry: Religion

The first faiths on the continent were largely animist, a belief fostered by the tangible nature of the spirits and their willingness to cooperate with those gave proper offerings.

The kobolds of Draconia developed the oldest extant organized church, the Church of the High Holy Scale. Little of their practices and theology is known, as most kobolds to emigrate have been lax practitioners. The only widely known tenant of the church is the belief that one day the Great Dragons will return to purge the land of all mammalian life and create a living paradise for the faithful.

During the First Empire, the elvish overlords allowed their subjects to maintain their religions, but turned from their own faiths to explore a variety of cults. These cults served some combination of spiritual enlightenment, philosophical debate, arcane and scientific discovery, and hedonistic revels. After the Great Dying, these cults fell out of favor and a new religion, eventually known as the Church of Renewal emerged.

The Church of Renewal stresses as its primary doctrine the importance of charity, justice, and personal excellence. The religion spread rapidly after the fall of the First Empire, soon incorporating animist practices and becoming intertwined with the newly formed states. In sharp contrast to earlier faiths, the Church of Renewal practices a strict hierarchy, through which one ascends through a strict meritocracy. One's position in the hierarchy determines both one's influence in the church as well as the quality of paradise to be reached after death.

Approximately two centuries ago, the High Pontifex issued the Declaration of Wealth, in which personal wealth would be recognized as a sign of excellence and accordingly afford one a place in the hierarchy. It is believed that this measure was originally designed to generate capital for the church's charitable activities, but it has eventually led to dissatisfaction and growing sentiment of unrest amongst those who believe that the church has turned from its original role and now encourages greed and excess.

Meinberg
Oct 9, 2011

inspired by but legally distinct from CATS (2019)
Codex Entry: The Kreen

The southern half of the continent is hotter and drier than the north, and thus less suited to the peoples that populate the north. The exception are the coasts, which are crowded with the familiar races of the north. The inland, meanwhile, is controlled by the Kreen people.

The Kreen are an insectoid species, that tower over most other intelligent, and possess four arms and two legs. They are divided into patchwork of nations, with a wide variety of cultural practices, ranging from nomadic hunter-gatherers to erudite, city-dwelling scholars. They are a highly organized species, though, and universally divide the world into nested categories.

Their most intimate category is "pack" which consists of their blood relations and any honorary pack members, who have proven themselves worthy of the Kreen's attention. Most Kreen who leave their nations do so in the company of surrogate packs of non-Kreen, who keep the Kreen from misbehaving in foreign cultures.

The next category is "nation." All Kreen belong to a nation, and long term residency in a given nation leads to mild cosmetic alterations through the generations, leading to Kreen sub-species who are more adapt at the environments that they find themselves in, from the sandy colored desert warriors with superior jumping abilities to the purple-chitined jungle dwellers with advanced senses of smell to better identify plants and track prey.

Next is "Kreen." The Kreen recognize all other Kreen as intelligent beings who are to be treated with honorably. Those societies that interact more intensively with other species tend to expand the Kreen category to include other thinking species that are not Kreen.

The final category that an outsider might find themselves in is "prey." The Kreen are willing to hunt and eat anything they do not consider Kree, and their warriors are highly adept at the task, using an array of specialized weapons and paralytic venom combined with coordinated pack tactics to take down beings that might otherwise be considered unkillable. Indeed, the kobolds and the Kreen share a legend, in which one of the Great Old Dragons assaulted a Kreen nation, but was torn to pieces by the Kreen warriors, who swarmed over the great beast like ants, until their venom and spears snuffed the life from it.

Dr. Hurt
Oct 23, 2010

This whole mess is entirely worth it for forcing Meinberg to make a codex about bugs.

Asiina
Apr 26, 2011

No going back
Grimey Drawer
Oh god get it off me!

Asiina
Apr 26, 2011

No going back
Grimey Drawer
Also I changed my character so we don't all die horribly in the first session.

I'm playing a Goliath Warden now named Malile. I'll write more about her later.

Propaganda Machine
Jan 2, 2005

Truthiness!

Dr. Hurt posted:

This whole mess is entirely worth it for forcing Meinberg to make a codex about bugs.

IcePhoenix
Sep 18, 2005

Take me to your Shida

Where is our codex entry for Finger Guns

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Propaganda Machine
Jan 2, 2005

Truthiness!
Codex Entry: Finger Guns

Pew pew!

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