The Viridian Mere, Home of Old Black

A massive swamp to the south of the forest that houses the last elven city-states, the Viridian Mere was central in the founding of modern elven society. Today it is home to countless tribes of lizardfolk and hundreds of human villages. The Viridian Mere’s entire history is in the shadow of a great wyrm black dragon named Bastovexigarriv.

Aelma, Lady of Light

"Your heart weeps for your brother, but do not despair. Though he has given to temptation, do not give into fear. Bonds of blood are stronger than many realize.”
  - Aelma to Yacob, the protagonist and title character of the play King of Dawn

Alternate Names: Apria (orc), Brelauhines (elf), Kirapeny (dwarf), Scimeria (halfling), Solnys (gnome)

Expanded Domains: Charm, Family, Good, Knowledge, Light, Love, Lust, Magic, Protection, Sun

Portfolio: diplomacy, family, guardians, light, lore, magic, purity, sex, the sun, wizards

Recommended Music: Into Sunlight

Knowledge (religion) DC 10:

Known as the White Archmage, Mother of the Gods, and Lady of Light, Aelma is the god of light magic and all that it entails. Aelma taught the mortal races all forms of magic that protect, guard, and enchant.

     Aelma is the estranged wife of Erb. When her husband’s cruelty grew too great for her to bear, she cast him away. She teaches her followers to bring light to the dark regions of the world in the hopes that one of her followers may find her estranged husband. Her exact reasons for such are a matter of lively and enthusiastic debate.

     Temples dedicated to Aelma only accept women as acolytes and priestesses. Second only to the churches of Maidanna, the priesthood of Aelma is the most sought after for performing marriages. In art, Aelma is typically depicted as a beautiful woman in a simple white dress with the sun behind her head.

Korrin, the Iconic Psychic

Playing Korrin

     While more intelligent than nearly everyone around you, you don’t rub it into their faces. A life on the streets showed you that people like that didn’t live for very long. Allies are a requirement for survival, but you know that today’s ally could become tomorrow’s enemy.

A Psychic in Argoport

Dark laughter echoed in Korrin’s head as he awoke. Another dream, another nightmare. The least that Nirrok could do was let him have a peaceful sleep every now and then. Still, it was early morning, and a rumbling stomach told him that it was time to scrounge up some breakfast.

     Aethrin should be setting up his market stall, and he had just enough silver pieces to buy a piece of beef that he could trade for some oysters from Paakiga. After he finished breakfast he needed to find some more work, all while avoiding Karn and Varto.

Wainryn, the Elven Port

Wainryn

CN large city

Corruption +4, Crime +1, Economy +4, Law +4, Lore +3, Society +0

Qualities prosperous, racially intolerant (half-elves), strategic location,

Danger 10

Demographics

Government overlord (King Andullyn)

Population 12,504 (6,126 elves; 3,126 humans; 2,501 half-elves; 751 other)

Notable NPCs

Captain Jadryll Wainyll (LN half-elf fighter 4)

Mage-Acolyte Tarn (LE human sorcerer 2/cleric of Erb 2)

Tanlyn of House Taradlym (NG elf swashbuckler 3)

Marketplace

Base Value 11,200 gp; Purchase Limit 75,000 gp; Spellcasting 6th

Minor Items 4d4; Medium Items 3d4; Major Items 2d4

One of the two ancient elven city-states remaining, Wainryn has accepted outside influence far more readily than their trade partner at the opposing end of the river that links them. Serving as one of the major trading ports of the Green Coast, Wainryn sees goods and wealth from all over the known world and beyond.

Slavery in the Green Coast

Most were probably expecting this to be in last week’s post, but its deserving on a post of its own.

The hobgoblins are infamous for their practice of keeping members of other races as slaves. The only races that are not kept as slaves are gnomes and halflings. The noble families amongst the northern gnomes have an agreement with the hobgoblins: the gnomes remain free to conduct their archaeological digs while the hobgoblins get any magical items found after they have been cataloged. Halflings on the other hand are not seen as being worth the expense and are simply killed or fed to the warbeasts.

Dreams of Empire: Hobgoblins in the Green Coast

We’ve danced around them up to this point, but now we’re biting the crossbow bolt and talking about the hobgoblins and boy is it a big one.

Hobgoblins have resided in the northern plains and north-eastern mountains for longer than any can remember. Raiding, pillaging, and worse in their nomadic warbands, every so often a leader would arise that had the potential to unify the disparate tribes. In the past, these leaders suffered the fate of all hobgoblin leaders: assassination.

     The traditional means of promotion amongst hobgoblin warbands was to kill and replace their superior. As a result, most attempts to unify into a group larger than a warband have collapsed upon themselves due to infighting. This changed with the rise of Imbatur Thraz.

     A charismatic youth, Imbatur Thraz left his warband seeking out answers to questions of faith that plagued his mind. Where he went no one knows, what is known is that upon his return he was covered in ritual scars and carrying a spear with a charred, blackened haft and a head made from a black stone that glowed with an inner crimson light.

    His and other warbands listened as he told them of the trials he endured, weeks without food and water, slaying beasts with nothing but a sharp stone as a knife, before he found a cave. Within this cave was a boulder, upon which his spear was imbedded. Silver light from Zrukal, the elder and larger of the twin moons, shined through a hole in the ceiling, illuminating the spear. As he approached the spear, a voice whispered to him.

     Take the spear, unite all the land under my light. Be my Herald, and none shall stand against your will.

     The voice could be none other than Zrukal himself, guiding the young hobgoblin. How could any refuse the orders of a god? Thus, he pulled the spear from the stone and returned, to forge the bickering warbands into an empire that would cover the world. Beginning with the Green Coast.

The Free Counties

North of the Black Ash River, lie the remnants of the Aetherion Kingdom. The largest kingdom in the history of the Green Coast before the rise of the hobgoblins collapsed more than one hundred fifty years ago, and the twelve southernmost counts managed to maintain control over their lands. The twelve noble families continually scheme and plot against one another, only to join forces the second an outside force threatens one of them.

Race: Koup'ira

Here’s the first of our setting’s custom races, in addition to everything you’d expect to find in a Core Rulebook write up there will also be a sample PC at the very end. Art for this post was done by the talented Russell Tuller; check out his other material on DeviantArt.

Koup’ira

A Brief Preliminary Treatise on the Koup'ira

A Brief Preliminary Treatise on the Koup’ira

Written by Tiberius Clodius Faustinianus

While I was in Argoport preparing to travel to Sylvanor to study the otherworldly creatures that call it home, I witnessed a most curious sight. A group of four creatures that looked like nothing less than human-sized, upright shellfish dragging nets of fish up onto the docks. One of the dockhands was kind enough to inform me that these giant crustaceans are a race called koup’ira. They trade fish and pearls for red meat and copper-rich alloys, and will swiftly correct anyone that confuses them for beasts.

My transport wasn’t due to leave for several days, so I decided to take the opportunity to learn about these strange entities. As the sun began to set, I drank a potion to ensure that I could understand them and set about questioning the koup’ira.