Dreams of Hope - User contributions [en]

Category:Plants

2026-05-04T02:52:51Z

Admiralbenbo: Created page with "Category:Quartus"

[[Category:Quartus]]

Luminous starbloom

2026-05-04T02:52:32Z

Admiralbenbo: Created page with "A rare flower native to the northern Jungle of Fangs. Does not grow in captivity. Extremely valued for its fertility/life-sustaining powers. Physically, it's a large, lotus-flower-like white bloom that glows in the dark and sheds small "sparks" (not hot). Category:Plants"

A rare flower native to the northern [[Jungle of Fangs]]. Does not grow in captivity. Extremely valued for its fertility/life-sustaining powers.

Physically, it's a large, lotus-flower-like white bloom that glows in the dark and sheds small "sparks" (not hot).
[[Category:Plants]]

Argentones

2026-05-04T02:50:45Z

Admiralbenbo:

An adventuring group adventuring in the [[Jungle of Fangs]] during the [[Time of Troubles]]. In-universe, started late spring 260 AC.

== People ==

* Lark
* Hiroh Megasaki
* Ren Tashiro (retired as of the end of High Summer 260 AC)
* Alfred Madgwick (retired as of 16 High Summer 260 AC)
* Kazado "Wordcarver" Uguna
* Jin Kanagi

== Adventures ==

=== Sraasa Saat Adventures ===

* Gathered to discover who was behind a series of bizarre thefts from the local distillery.
* Thwarted attempts by a rival distillery to steal the real recipe, but the ''real'' culprits were [[Mope and Private Eyeguana]], stealing bits of things to make a nest for a little girl (Ma'li) that they had rescued. Mope is near death due to several decades of hard living in the wild.
* Assisted them.
* Did a job for an alchemist to gather [[luminous starbloom]].
* Hired to explore a [[Fanged Kingdom]] ruin. Were in competition with Aiko and Apsalar, who turned out to be [[Coiled Ones]] agents. The ruin collapsed, nearly killing them.
* Hired to scout a bandit camp that had captured a large contingent of local soldiers sent to root it out.
** Made a deal with the local cannibal [[Halflings|halfling]] tribe for safe passage
** Rescued a number of slaves working in a iron mine on the Kaelthian border.
** With some of the slaves, they raided the camp and defeated them, suffering heavy losses from among the slaves.
** One of the slaves was Ma-li's mom (Katelyn), a "barbarian" from the western mountains who had slept with a fang-kin noble. Ma-li's mom has it going on.
* Reunion of Ma-li with her mom.
* Discovering that Ma-li's dad is the son of Lord [[Kato]]. Happy reunions and turns out G'pa is a softie for kids.

=== Sha'slar Family ===

* Roh's family is from [[Sha'slar]], and Ren's sister (and daughter) have moved there to escape scrutiny.
* Songs and concerts go well.
* Meet an exemplary dancer and her dwarven priest attendant.
* Dude from before (Aiko) shows up on his own business, looking for Ren's daughter.
* Managed to evade him and get family safe to Kato, where she's hired as a servant.

=== Asai'ka & Golems ===

* Standing song stone teaches Lark a bit of a song
* Dealing with sex cult/demon cult. Violently.
* Reach Asai'ka.
* Investigating some murders, thefts, and other stuff.
* Hired by Sapori family under false pretenses to help with a party (Lark and Roh singing)
* ...still more to write.

[[Category:Adventuring Parties]]
[[Category:Time of Troubles]]

Aerielara

2026-02-23T04:16:44Z

Admiralbenbo:

[[File:Aerielara.png|frameless]]

==== Pronunciation ====
air-EE-uh-LAH-rah

==== Other names ====
The Jeweled Lady, Lady of Beauty

====Usual depiction====
A [[gwerin]] woman of unsurpassed beauty, wearing little except strategically placed gemstones. Her hair color is iridescent and her pose is scandalous. Usually white marble or alabaster skin.

====Companions/Demigods====
[[Lyre-plucker T’a]], [[Mad Martigan]], The [[Dancer in the Dark]]

====Worship in Western Noefra====
Commonly worshiped by artists, musicians, bards, and prostitutes. Her clergy, both men and women, are always beautiful and charismatic. Her temples (which are many, especially among the [[gwerin]] and the rich) are beautifully decorated in rich materials. Youths are often tutored in sexual arts at these temples before they marry. For humans and [[gwerin]] there is very little stigma to patronizing one of her acolytes. The second-most worshiped deity in the [[Jungle of Fangs]], especially among the Isal classes. There the primary focus is dance and rhythmic music. In beauty hides thorns—her clergy often are also trained in poisons and unarmed self-defense.

=====Religious Precepts=====
Truth is found in beauty; ugliness is evil. Give in to passion—do what makes you happy without regard for the judgement of others. Spread beauty and pleasure, destroy ugliness and misery.

====Worship in Other Areas====
* [[Ikela]]: A minor part of the [[Ikelan Religion|CCU]]. Mainly worshiped in her role as patron of the arts rather than her more sensual aspects.
* [[Phoenix Empire]]: Worship of Aerielara is forbidden (yet very common in secret); other supposed ascendants such as the Eternal Emperor are worshiped in her place (openly anyway).

====Domain====
Lust. Sexuality. Beauty. Art/Music. Life, Trickery

====Personality====
Vain. The musician of the Gods. Beautiful and sensual. Deceptively intelligent.

====Home====
Estate on [[Mara]]. Part museum, exhibition area, theater, and brothel all in one.

====[[Divine Rank]]====
Congregant.

====Political affiliation====
Peace Faction

====Pre-Divine Status====
A [[gwerin]] noble from the [[Phoenix Empire]]. A bard of no uncommon skill as well as a dancer, she was notorious for breaking every taboo of that hidebound empire. It wasn't until the last days before the [[Cataclysm]], when she refused the wrong noble and fell from grace, leading to her assassination. As her soul departed, the [[Cataclysm]] took hold and the [[Great Mechanism]] chose her as one of the new Divine Congregation.

[[Category: Gods]]
[[Category: Religion]]

File:Aerielara.png

2026-02-23T04:16:27Z

Admiralbenbo:

Holy Symbol for Aerielara

Selesurala

2026-02-23T04:15:43Z

Admiralbenbo:

[[File:Selesurala-holy.png|frameless]]

====Other Names====
Mistress of Storms, Storm Serpent, Pitiless One.
====Domain====
Oceans. Cold. Storms. ''Nature, Tempest''
====Personality====
Changeable, with a temper. No pity for the weak. Not particularly subtle.

====Usual Depiction====
A serpentine dragon/sea serpent, scales glitter metallic blue-grey. When painted, she is usually depicted rising from the sea in the middle of a storm.

====Companions/Demigods====
[[Perkunos]] and [[Tatsuryuu]]

====Worship in Western Noefra====
Not worshiped, only propitiated. Propitiated during storm season in the Stone Throne. Feared and hated in [[Wyrmhold]], where they talk of “a serpent up the back” for a bad feeling or curse with “Sele’s shed scales.” This causes much friction with Stone Throne dwellers. Propitiated with blood sacrifice, and not token. Always an animal, preferably a predator.

=====Religious Precepts=====
The ocean is inscrutable. Do not advertise your plans. The chill of the ice is implacable. Keep pressing forward until you have ground your enemies underfoot. All men are equal before the storm. No inherent respect for tradition or authority.

==== Worship in Other Areas====

* [[Ikela]]: Considered the pre-eminent deity by the [[Ikelan Religion|Stormqueen's Wake]] cult. Worshiped heavily throughout the area. Oddly, she's seen as much more approachable there, where she's known as the "World-serpent" or the "Storm Queen", worshiped mainly as a goddess governing ''weather'', including the seasonal rains on which the agriculture depends.
* [[Ship Folk]]: She is the Divine One, seen as THE goddess for the ship folk. But it is not a relationship of love--rather it's one of fear and emulation. They seek to be just as cold and merciless and strong as she is. The Wave Priests of the Fleets wield her wrath (or so they say) on all that oppose the Fleets. 

====Pre-Divine Status====
Selesurala was [[Tatsuryuu]]'s child and regent of the Plane of Water before the [[Cataclysm]]. Neutral during the [[Titan-Wyrm War|Titan-Wyrm Wars]], she apotheosized relatively early. She did ''not'' appreciate being "promoted" to divine rank.
[[Category: Gods]]

File:Selesurala-holy.png

2026-02-23T04:14:20Z

Admiralbenbo:

Holy symbol for selesurala

Korokonolkom

2026-02-23T04:13:24Z

Admiralbenbo:

;[[File:Korokonolkolm-holy.png|none|thumb|Holy Symbol]]
;Other Names: The King Below, Lord of Silence
;Domain: Mountains. The earth. Patron of the Dwarves. Knowledge, War
;Personality: Mostly quiet with volcanic temper if angered. Does not forget or forgive easily. Strong sense of honor.
;Usual depiction: A larger-than-life hairless, muscled humanoid ([[jazuu]]? Giant?), head bowed and fists pressed together. Usually covered in painted “runes” (usually nonsense) and wearing a loincloth. Usually made out of a dark stone.

;Companions/Demigods: The Lovers (a pair of dwarves),

;Worship: Korokonolkom is dominantly worshiped among the dwarves of the Council. His worship is especially strong in and around Fuar Uulan.

;Traditional dwarves: A deep hole is bored at the base of the statue. Worshipers arrive, write their prayers on pieces of flat slate and silently hand their written prayers to the officiant, who holds them up to the statue and then drops them down the hole. When the hole is filled (which can take decades), a new hole is bored. No words are ever spoken in the shrine. To do so is sacrilege.

;Heretics: There are heretic groups (mostly dwarven but this is spreading to the local human communities as well) that practice tests of endurance including self-flagellation. A worshiper’s status is determined by how long they can go without making a noise or flinching while being subjected to discomfort or pain.

;Religious Precepts: Endure whatever comes. Face it head-on and refuse to bend. Be slow to trust new people or ideas. Remember offenses against self and clan and repay them with interest. Sacrifice self for clan and honor. Honor your written word—lying in writing is a cardinal sin.

;Pre-Divine Stories: Korokonolkom was once one of the ruling [[titans]] and ruler of the Plane of Earth. He dissented from the construction of the [[Orb of All Might]] and the destruction attendant there-to.

[[Category: Gods]]

File:Korokonolkolm-holy.png

2026-02-23T04:11:56Z

Admiralbenbo:

Holy Symbol for Koro

Primal Sea

2026-02-20T20:36:55Z

Admiralbenbo:

The equatorial sea that separates [[Noefra]] from [[Soefra]]. Littered with islands, mostly belonging to the [[Ship People]]. Prone to hurricanes during the summer and fall.

== Map ==
[[File:Primal-sea.v2.webp|border|800x800px]]

'''Legend:'''

* Black symbols are [[Ship Folk]] dominated, while white belong to other nations.
* Stars are national capitals
* Circles with dots in the center are major port cities.
* Plain circles are smaller port cities.
* Red arrows represent warm currents, blue cold currents.
* white-bordered regions represent changes in average depth of at least 500 ft.

== Major Regions (water) ==

* [[Gap-tooth Bay]]
* [[Serpent Sea]]
* [[Moon Sea]]
* [[Ikela|Gulf of Ikela]]
* Benthic Trench: This region is home to [[Kalasaa]] who particularly dislike surfacers.
* Leviathan Deep: This region is home to sea-folk particularly devoted to the [[Leviathan]]. The solitary island here is a volcano caldera home to a single gigantic statue dating back to the [[aelvar]] of the second age that acts as a colossal lighthouse. Its beacon stands nearly 5 thousand feet and is visible for 100 miles, burning with an everlasting magical flame.

== Major Islands ==

* [[Sentinel Island]]
* Ei Ala
* Sai'ath
* Halfway Isles
* Vrol'ath
* [[Barrier-Tooth|Barrier-Tooth Islands]]

[[Category:Geography]]

Ship Folk

2026-02-20T19:59:06Z

Admiralbenbo: /* Ship Hierarchy */

*marine-heavy culture (live most of their lives on ships where possible), ship-dwellers have higher status
*Slave owners
*Rule by strength, but respect intellectual strength and deviousness.
*Little institutional loyalty--every person for themselves. Generally cold-bloodedly honest--they rarely blatantly break their promises. But when they do, they'll let you know in advance. Unless the other path is safer and more advantageous. Prefer to reinterpret terms and conditions more favorably to themselves instead of actually violating the agreement. Work by the letter of the law/agreements, not the spirit.
*Organized into a Grand Fleet made of smaller Fleets, each led by an Admiral. 7 total fleets
**2x Advance Fleets (raiders and explorers)
**2x Supply Fleets (merchants and civilian supply, also handle much of the land-dwelling)
**1x Home Fleet (guards of the settled islands, also primary invasion forces)
**1x Creche Guardians (protect and maintain the creche where new [[sena'ka]] are born)
**1x Reserve Fleet (penal fleet, does scut work)
* Cruelty, arrogance, infighting.
* Mental discipline (because showing weakness in front of others is a risk for death).
* Rational--will surrender rather than die. Inter-fleet squabbles usually end with ransomed losers & payments.
* Don't breed fast (breed only in a few creches, artificially), so are loath to lose their own people. Reckless with the lives of slaves, however.
* Mostly have raided local settlements in the [[Great Rift]] area. Recently (~205 AC) established a foothold on [[Sentinel Island]]. Admiral I'kor'lai (admiral of the First Advance Fleet) has set out from there and very recently established a beach-head on the Noefran continent. Founded the city of [[Tarad'am]] at the southern tip of the [[Jungle of Fangs]].
* Racial dance is twerking

==Hierarchy==
* Grand Admiral [[Ath'l'Poarl'la]] (mediates disputes, decides inter-fleet promotions).
** Admiralty Board (oversees Fleet operations, designates hunting grounds, sets taxes on captures and sales)
*** Advance Fleet 1
**** Currently (250+ AC) led by Admiral Saris Ath'l. In 257, it enters open rebellion against the Admiralty Board and declares itself (and Sentinel Island) a new nation called the Free Fleet.
*** Advance Fleet 2
*** Home Fleet
** Land Council (sets policy for landborne operations, slave auctions, new births of [[sena'ka]], fleet assignments & food allocations)
*** Reserve Fleet (lowest status, construction/penal fleet)
*** Creche Guardians (tiny elite force who handle births, chosen for life)
*** Landsmen (including land-slaves, the very lowest status possible)
*Each fleet has a Fleet Admiral, who oversees divisions of 3-5 ships (or a city and its surrounding for the Landsmen, or a creche for the guardians). Each division has a Division Head who works with the captains of the ships or local heads as appropriate.
Technically, all non-[[sena'ka]] are slaves--they don't acknowledge any other status (and sena'ka cannot be made slave). However, there are slaves and then slaves. And meritorious slaves can be made honorary sena'ka, gaining freed status. There are even honorary sena'ka captains (but not admirals or fleet commanders).

Skilled slaves can own other slaves (who themselves can own other slaves). Damaging someone else's slave is an offense, considered equal to stealing from the one harmed. This is generally enforced by the offended slave's ultimate master, as it's considered an attack against them. However, slaves have very few protections against their own (free) masters. By custom, ship-borne slaves have much the same allowances as any sena'ka of their equivalent station/role. The only difference in practice is that slaves can be killed without ''massive'' retribution, and tend to be sent in as front-line fodder while the sena'ka hang back, as sena'ka rarely kill each other and killing a sena'ka is the worst offense a slave can commit.

==Ship Hierarchy==
Most ships only have a handful of sena'ka aboard. The captain and his key officers (the ship's mage and the sub-captains, of which there is always at least one, but the large ships have one per watch) are almost always sena'ka; the senior armsman is usually sena'ka. The ship's master (who handles the sailors) is much more mixed.
* Captain -- sena'ka
** Ship's Mage -- sena'ka, although many are honorary
** Sub-Captain(s) -- usually sena'ka, although many are honorary
*** Master -- mixed. Sometimes slave, sometimes sena'ka (especially on major ships)
**** Ratings (1st and 2nd) -- mostly slaves
*** Senior Armsman -- usually sena'ka, often honorary
**** Armsmen (1st and 2nd) -- if present, sena'ka
**** Armed Slaves

[[Category:Cultures]]

Ship Folk

2026-02-20T19:52:46Z

Admiralbenbo: /* Hierarchy */

*marine-heavy culture (live most of their lives on ships where possible), ship-dwellers have higher status
*Slave owners
*Rule by strength, but respect intellectual strength and deviousness.
*Little institutional loyalty--every person for themselves. Generally cold-bloodedly honest--they rarely blatantly break their promises. But when they do, they'll let you know in advance. Unless the other path is safer and more advantageous. Prefer to reinterpret terms and conditions more favorably to themselves instead of actually violating the agreement. Work by the letter of the law/agreements, not the spirit.
*Organized into a Grand Fleet made of smaller Fleets, each led by an Admiral. 7 total fleets
**2x Advance Fleets (raiders and explorers)
**2x Supply Fleets (merchants and civilian supply, also handle much of the land-dwelling)
**1x Home Fleet (guards of the settled islands, also primary invasion forces)
**1x Creche Guardians (protect and maintain the creche where new [[sena'ka]] are born)
**1x Reserve Fleet (penal fleet, does scut work)
* Cruelty, arrogance, infighting.
* Mental discipline (because showing weakness in front of others is a risk for death).
* Rational--will surrender rather than die. Inter-fleet squabbles usually end with ransomed losers & payments.
* Don't breed fast (breed only in a few creches, artificially), so are loath to lose their own people. Reckless with the lives of slaves, however.
* Mostly have raided local settlements in the [[Great Rift]] area. Recently (~205 AC) established a foothold on [[Sentinel Island]]. Admiral I'kor'lai (admiral of the First Advance Fleet) has set out from there and very recently established a beach-head on the Noefran continent. Founded the city of [[Tarad'am]] at the southern tip of the [[Jungle of Fangs]].
* Racial dance is twerking

==Hierarchy==
* Grand Admiral [[Ath'l'Poarl'la]] (mediates disputes, decides inter-fleet promotions).
** Admiralty Board (oversees Fleet operations, designates hunting grounds, sets taxes on captures and sales)
*** Advance Fleet 1
**** Currently (250+ AC) led by Admiral Saris Ath'l. In 257, it enters open rebellion against the Admiralty Board and declares itself (and Sentinel Island) a new nation called the Free Fleet.
*** Advance Fleet 2
*** Home Fleet
** Land Council (sets policy for landborne operations, slave auctions, new births of [[sena'ka]], fleet assignments & food allocations)
*** Reserve Fleet (lowest status, construction/penal fleet)
*** Creche Guardians (tiny elite force who handle births, chosen for life)
*** Landsmen (including land-slaves, the very lowest status possible)
*Each fleet has a Fleet Admiral, who oversees divisions of 3-5 ships (or a city and its surrounding for the Landsmen, or a creche for the guardians). Each division has a Division Head who works with the captains of the ships or local heads as appropriate.
Technically, all non-[[sena'ka]] are slaves--they don't acknowledge any other status (and sena'ka cannot be made slave). However, there are slaves and then slaves. And meritorious slaves can be made honorary sena'ka, gaining freed status. There are even honorary sena'ka captains (but not admirals or fleet commanders).

Skilled slaves can own other slaves (who themselves can own other slaves). Damaging someone else's slave is an offense, considered equal to stealing from the one harmed. This is generally enforced by the offended slave's ultimate master, as it's considered an attack against them. However, slaves have very few protections against their own (free) masters. By custom, ship-borne slaves have much the same allowances as any sena'ka of their equivalent station/role. The only difference in practice is that slaves can be killed without ''massive'' retribution, and tend to be sent in as front-line fodder while the sena'ka hang back, as sena'ka rarely kill each other and killing a sena'ka is the worst offense a slave can commit.

==Ship Hierarchy==
* Captain
** Ship's Mage
** Sub-Captain(s)
*** Master
**** Ratings (1st and 2nd)
*** Senior Armsman
**** Armsmen (1st and 2nd)
**** Armed Slaves

[[Category:Cultures]]

Ship Folk

2026-02-20T19:47:58Z

Admiralbenbo:

*marine-heavy culture (live most of their lives on ships where possible), ship-dwellers have higher status
*Slave owners
*Rule by strength, but respect intellectual strength and deviousness.
*Little institutional loyalty--every person for themselves. Generally cold-bloodedly honest--they rarely blatantly break their promises. But when they do, they'll let you know in advance. Unless the other path is safer and more advantageous. Prefer to reinterpret terms and conditions more favorably to themselves instead of actually violating the agreement. Work by the letter of the law/agreements, not the spirit.
*Organized into a Grand Fleet made of smaller Fleets, each led by an Admiral. 7 total fleets
**2x Advance Fleets (raiders and explorers)
**2x Supply Fleets (merchants and civilian supply, also handle much of the land-dwelling)
**1x Home Fleet (guards of the settled islands, also primary invasion forces)
**1x Creche Guardians (protect and maintain the creche where new [[sena'ka]] are born)
**1x Reserve Fleet (penal fleet, does scut work)
* Cruelty, arrogance, infighting.
* Mental discipline (because showing weakness in front of others is a risk for death).
* Rational--will surrender rather than die. Inter-fleet squabbles usually end with ransomed losers & payments.
* Don't breed fast (breed only in a few creches, artificially), so are loath to lose their own people. Reckless with the lives of slaves, however.
* Mostly have raided local settlements in the [[Great Rift]] area. Recently (~205 AC) established a foothold on [[Sentinel Island]]. Admiral I'kor'lai (admiral of the First Advance Fleet) has set out from there and very recently established a beach-head on the Noefran continent. Founded the city of [[Tarad'am]] at the southern tip of the [[Jungle of Fangs]].
* Racial dance is twerking

==Hierarchy==
* Grand Admiral [[Ath'l'Poarl'la]] (mediates disputes, decides inter-fleet promotions).
** Admiralty Board (oversees Fleet operations, designates hunting grounds, sets taxes on captures and sales)
*** Advance Fleet 1
**** Currently (250+ AC) led by Admiral Saris Ath'l.
*** Advance Fleet 2
*** Home Fleet
** Land Council (sets policy for landborne operations, slave auctions, new births of [[sena'ka]], fleet assignments & food allocations)
*** Reserve Fleet (lowest status, construction/penal fleet)
*** Creche Guardians (tiny elite force who handle births, chosen for life)
*** Landsmen (including land-slaves, the very lowest status possible)
Technically, all non-[[sena'ka]] are slaves--they don't acknowledge any other status (and sena'ka cannot be made slave). However, there are slaves and then slaves. And meritorious slaves can be made honorary sena'ka, gaining freed status. There are even honorary sena'ka captains (but not admirals or fleet commanders).

Skilled slaves can own other slaves (who themselves can own other slaves). Damaging someone else's slave is an offense, considered equal to stealing from the one harmed. This is generally enforced by the offended slave's ultimate master, as it's considered an attack against them. However, slaves have very few protections against their own (free) masters. By custom, ship-borne slaves have much the same allowances as any sena'ka of their equivalent station/role. The only difference in practice is that slaves can be killed without ''massive'' retribution, and tend to be sent in as front-line fodder while the sena'ka hang back, as sena'ka rarely kill each other and killing a sena'ka is the worst offense a slave can commit.

==Ship Hierarchy==
* Captain
** Ship's Mage
** Sub-Captain(s)
*** Master
**** Ratings (1st and 2nd)
*** Senior Armsman
**** Armsmen (1st and 2nd)
**** Armed Slaves

[[Category:Cultures]]

Ship Folk

2026-02-20T19:36:22Z

Admiralbenbo:

*marine-heavy culture (live most of their lives on ships where possible), ship-dwellers have higher status
*Slave owners
*Rule by strength
*Little institutional loyalty--every person for themselves
*Organized into a Grand Fleet made of smaller Fleets, each led by an Admiral. 7 total fleets
**2x Advance Fleets (raiders and explorers)
**2x Supply Fleets (merchants and civilian supply, also handle much of the land-dwelling)
**1x Home Fleet (guards of the settled islands, also primary invasion forces)
**1x Creche Guardians (protect and maintain the creche where new [[sena'ka]] are born)
**1x Reserve Fleet (penal fleet, does scut work)
* Cruelty, arrogance, infighting.
* Mental discipline (because showing weakness in front of others is a risk for death).
* Rational--will surrender rather than die. Inter-fleet squabbles usually end with ransomed losers & payments.
* Don't breed fast (breed only in a few creches, artificially), so are loath to lose their own people. Reckless with the lives of slaves, however.
* Mostly have raided local settlements in the [[Great Rift]] area. Recently (~205 AC) established a foothold on [[Sentinel Island]]. Admiral I'kor'lai (admiral of the First Advance Fleet) has set out from there and very recently established a beach-head on the Noefran continent. Founded the city of [[Tarad'am]] at the southern tip of the [[Jungle of Fangs]].
* Racial dance is twerking

==Hierarchy==
* Grand Admiral [[Ath'l'Poarl'la]] (mediates disputes, decides inter-fleet promotions).
** Admiralty Board (oversees Fleet operations, designates hunting grounds, sets taxes on captures and sales)
*** Advance Fleet 1
**** Currently (250+ AC) led by Admiral Saris Ath'l.
*** Advance Fleet 2
*** Home Fleet
** Land Council (sets policy for landborne operations, slave auctions, new births of [[sena'ka]], fleet assignments & food allocations)
*** Reserve Fleet (lowest status, construction/penal fleet)
*** Creche Guardians (tiny elite force who handle births, chosen for life)
*** Landsmen (including land-slaves, the very lowest status possible)

==Ship Hierarchy==
* Captain
** Ship's Mage
** Sub-Captain(s)
*** Master
**** Ratings (1st and 2nd)
*** Senior Armsman
**** Armsmen (1st and 2nd)
**** Armed Slaves

[[Category:Cultures]]

Player's Guide--Character Creation

2026-02-19T23:56:34Z

Admiralbenbo:

==== Races ====
The playable races of the setting are (sub-races are included unless specifically excluded):

;[[Humans]]4: Most common race by far. Major populations exist in all nations except [[Wyrmhold]].

;[[Dwarves]]: Common in the [[Holy Kaelthian Republic]], [[Shinevog]], and [[Zhapai Karmap]]. Uncommon but not unknown in the [[Serpent Dominion]]. Rare otherwise.

;Elves : [[Puun Ihmisia]] (pronounced poohn ih-ME-si-a, commonly shortened to imisi, aka wood elves) are common in [[Byssia]], the [[Duarchy]], and [[Zhapai Karmap]]. [[Gwerin]] (GOOER-in), aka high elves are only common in the [[Crisial Kingdom]]. As of mid-summer 250 AC, [[goroesi]] (gor-o-ES-i, dark elves) are available for play. All goroesi come through the [[Serpent Dominion]] and must use the statistics noted in that article. Second note: Metsae (wood elven) and [[Yonwach]] (high elven) are different languages. Choose one if you choose Elven as a language.

;[[Halflings]] : Only common in the [[Holy Kaelthian Republic]], but present in the [[Crisial Kingdom]] and the [[Sha'slar Autonomous Zone]] as well, especially in agricultural areas. Rare. Strongly matriarchal society--men are comparatively rare.

;[[Half-elves]]4 : Common in [[Byssia]] and all 3 of the nations of the former [[Stone Throne]]. Present in all 5 of the [[Council Lands]] [[Successor States]] but not common.

;[[Orcs|Half-orcs]]4: Full-blooded orcs use these stats; half-orcs ''per se'' don't exist. Very common in [[Wyrmhold]] and the [[Duarchy]]. Uncommon or rare elsewhere.

;[[Dragonborn]] (all colors4): Rare but more common as adventurers. Very common (dominant, in fact) in [[Wyrmhold]]. Not found elsewhere. Mostly related to one another (small, clannish population). Add Darkvision (60 ft) and can choose either +2 DEX or +2 STR. Breath weapon is a bonus action.

;[[Plane-touched]] (Homebrew1): Elemental plane-touched are mostly from [[Byssia]], although others are starting to pop up elsewhere. Astral plane-touched are rare and most common in the [[Successor States]].

;[[Ophidian]]s (Homebrew2): Humanoids with snake-like influences. Only present in the nations of the [[Jungle of Fangs]]. 2nd-class citizens in [[Asai'ka]].

;[[Soul-forged]] (Homebrew) : Present in southern [[Wyrmhold]] or [[Byssia]]. Very new race, may get startled reactions elsewhere.

;[[Jazuu]] [JAZZ-oo] (Homebrew2): Large, competitive, mountain people related to giants. From [[Zhapai Karmap]] or [[Wyrmhold]].

If you use the [[Player Option--Variant Races| variant race]] option for applicable races (marked with 4), you may choose an extended background from [[Player Option--Regional Backgrounds]].

[1]: Acceptable alternate stats for the astral plane-touched are found in published books; alternate stat blocks for elemental plane-touched are found in a free official pdf.

[2]: Acceptable alternate stats for these races are found in various published books.

[3]: Acceptable alternate stats for this race are found in various published books.

[4]: Main stats are found in the [[Player Option--Variant Races]] document.

==== Classes and Archetypes ====
To learn more about the role of the classes (and their NPC equivalents) in Dreams of Hope, see [[Classes and Quartus]]. For a list of allowed classes and archetypes, talk to the DM.

==== Technology and Magic Levels ====
Magic is common, but permanent magic items are rare. There is no general ability to purchase most permanent magical items, although some organizations facilitate purchase of items for their members in good standing (generally limited to Uncommon and Common items). Potions and other consumable magical items are purchasable in the larger cities.

'''Note''': There are no chemical explosives (although there are magical aether-based devices that create similar effects) and especially no firearms. This is an aesthetic choice more than anything.

Tool uses from Xanathar's Guide are in play, as are downtime rules.

==== Expectations ====
* Formal alignment is not in force—this goes for NPCs as well. Not all orcs are evil; neither are chromatic dragons (by default anyway).
* Don’t be a jerk. Repeated evil behavior will get your character exiled or killed.
* Build characters that have a reason to be with the group. This is a group game and there is no room for unhelpful loners.
* Keep things PG. Profanity is discouraged. Sexual content will never be explicit (fade-to-black). Violence should never be graphically described.
* PvP actions are forbidden and will not be allowed. This includes passive-aggressive actions and (non-consensual) theft from party members. The only exception is if both people agree to it out of character as well as rules that will be followed and consequences. Either side can say no at any time which vetos that action.

==== House Rules ====
See [[Default Houserules]].

==== Languages ====
Most citizens of the [[Federated Nations]] area speak [[Common]] of one dialect or another. This does not include most goblins or orcs not from [[Wyrmhold]]. All characters start with proficiency in Common. For Elven, choose either high elven or wood elven. For more information, see [[Languages of Western Noefra]]. Note: language is important. I'm fine with people that have a "any language of your choice" feature holding that choice until it's needed (and then locked in once made).

==== Quick Cosmology Guide ====
See [[Quick Planar Cosmology Guide]]

==== Gods and Religions Guide ====
See [[Player's Guide--Nations and Cultures]].

== Area Map ==
[[File:Noefra-253AC-political.webp|alt=Noefra Political Map|600x600px|West Noefra Political Map]]

Pronunciation guide (capitalization indicates primary emphasis):

* Noefra: NO-fra
* Crisial: CRIS-i-al
* Kaelthia: KALE-thi-a
* Uulan: OO-lan (technically double-length on that oo, but...)
* Asai'ka: ahs-eye KA
* Sena'ka: sen-ah KA
* Puun Ihmisia: poohn eem-EES-i-a
* Shinevog: SHIN-uh-vog
* Tuura Adam: TOOH-rah AD-am
* Rauviz: RAUW-viz
* Khaimal: KHI-mal (very gutteral KH, similar to the russian X sound)
* Zhapai Karmap: ZHAP-eye car-MAHP

[[Category:Dawn of Hope]]
[[Category:Player's Guide]]

Repotaters

2026-02-06T21:30:11Z

Admiralbenbo:

Start: Midsummer 253, in [[Bradford]], Duarchy. Real Time: Q1 2025

Characters:

* Valeri (scaled human female swashbuckler) -- left party in Tarad’am
* Rodrick ( wb human male moon druid)
* Ydris (gwerin male warlock, patron is the Goddess of the Harvest)
* Quecha (female dwarf cleric of Lon Ka)
* Boris (male red dragonborn draconic sorcerer)

Starter: escort wayfinding caravan across Ungoverned Lands toward UC.

== Events ==

# Caravan/Pathfinding ([[Sea of Grass]])
## Discovered a small faction of the [[Imperial Sons]] near [[Hero's Rest]]. Defeated them and rescued some children.
## Defeated "bandits" led by [[Holy Hands]] agents preying on aid caravans between Merrybranch (capital of [[County Tsun]]) and [[Alford]].
## Assisted [[Alford]] and [[Glass Junction]] in moving toward unity and mutual aid after fixing the [[Glass Junction]] ferry.
## Made friends with [[Anvar]], an elderly hill giant who is returning home to the high country.
## Assisted the Frog-creek halfling clan, who had been reduced to sub-subsistence living and were on the edge of extinction.
## Defeated Aurich Wood-woad, a botanist/primalist who had become ensnared in the [[Mother Tree]]'s machinations and become a hybrid tree person...and who was converting others. His tower had been [[Concept bomb|concept bombed]] sometime between the [[War of Souls]] and the [[Cataclysm]], and returned near the village of [[Redhawk]] in the [[Ungoverned Lands]].
## Freed the town of [[Torpen Hill]] from hag influence and acquired a [[Hopeseed]].
## Negotiated with the leader of [[Meadowbrook]] for safe passage. Dealt with a [[Barbed Circle]] micro-cult.
## Discovered a group of dwarves practicing extreme BBQ.
## Arrived safely outside [[Fuar Uulan]]
# Planting the seed ([[Blood-thirst Wildlands]])
## Traveled via [[Portal Network]] to [[Kel'al'ar]] and then to [[Tarad'am]], taking ship to [[Fuhino]]
## Cleansed a lingering demonic remnant corrupting flora and fauna.
## Encountered [[Illgira]], aka Spite, a fey who knew Roderick. With his help, defeated Covra (aka Gossip), another fey who was attempting to bring Roderick to "her".
## Entered a [[Moonpath]].
### Defeated some demons attempting to burn it.
### Blessed by a toad spirit.
### Were chased out by a spirit turtle the size of a hill, carrying a fortress. This is strongly connected to Roderick's fiancee--they were taken by a fey and she was put to sleep so the fey could try to control Roderick.
## Encountered the One Horn tribe of [[Shifters|bovine shifters]]. Assisted them to deal with the Broke Tusk tribe (porcine shifters), who are under the control of a wereboar from [[Byssia]].
## Attempted to retrieve a "soul cage" amulet from an ancient ruin to the east of the central blasted lands
### Black stone aelvar mega structure (300 ft on a side, 150 ft high, ziggurat style)
### Elder chimera (3 independent heads) nesting on top, bribed with food
### repaired top level
### negotiated with guardian. did not retrieve soul cage (as it wasn’t as advertised).
## Went to the partner ruin to the south. Discovered exiled tribe of insectile warped creatures. Got (grudging) permission to explore the inside.
### Discovered that it had been a biological research station immediately before the 2nd Wish.
### Destroyed an overgrown plant creature.
### Discovered some drama around the time leading up to Moon's Fall.
### Liberated some humanoid hybrids (and a stray winged, grey-skinned telepathic aelf from an unknown land) who had been kept in stasis.
### Set the souls of the "discarded" experiments to rest, gained a favor from them.
## Headed into the center, carefully avoiding all the nasty flora/fauna hybrids.
### Discovered that the center temple was an [[Ley Lines|aetheric font of Life]], but was currently being contaminated by a remnant of the [[Twisted]], cut off when he attacked the [[Catalysts]], tended by three clone beings named Malignance, Metastasis, and Metamorphosis, each in mental control of the bug folk (from which the exiles came).
### Reached an accord with Metamorphosis, keeper of the breeding farms, who wanted to change things.
### Gathered allies from the One Horn, the Broke Tusk, the exile clade, and even managed to bribe the chimera to help.
### Allies caused massive distraction. Party attacked Metastasis. Big fight ensued.
### Metastasis forced the remnant/core to tear a hole into Shadow, where the [[Twisted]] tried to re-acquire the core. The party gave the [[Hopeseed]] to the core, blasting them back and planting the seed.
### Rapid conversion of core and area into shadow-rooted [[Cobaith|Cobaith (Tree of Hope)]].
[[Category:Noefra]]
[[Category:Repotaters]]

Cobaith

2026-02-06T21:29:46Z

Admiralbenbo:

A positive-emotion, life-bound counterpart to the [[Mother Tree]], planted at the center of the [[Blood-thirst Wildlands]] by [[Repotaters]] in late 253. Rooted in [[Shadow]], it accepts the weird and broken. Not ''hostile'' to civilization, but definitely an entity of the wilds, of Life Rampant (albeit infused with both the aberrant nature of tamed Outside influence and the warped legacy of demonic influence).

The name is a distorted version of a phrase meaning "tree of hope" from [[Yonwach]].
[[Category:Fey]]
[[Category:Repotaters]]
[[Category:Blood-thirst Wildlands]]

Category:Repotaters

2026-02-06T21:29:07Z

Admiralbenbo: Created page with "Category:Adventuring Parties"

[[Category:Adventuring Parties]]

Cobaith

2026-02-06T21:28:52Z

Admiralbenbo: Created page with "A positive-emotion, life-bound counterpart to the Mother Tree, planted at the center of the Blood-thirst Wildlands by Repotaters in late 253. Rooted in Shadow, it accepts the weird and broken. Not ''hostile'' to civilization, but definitely an entity of the wilds, of Life Rampant (albeit infused with both the aberrant nature of tamed Outside influence and the warped legacy of demonic influence). Category:Fey Category:Repotaters Category:Blood-th..."

A positive-emotion, life-bound counterpart to the [[Mother Tree]], planted at the center of the [[Blood-thirst Wildlands]] by [[Repotaters]] in late 253. Rooted in [[Shadow]], it accepts the weird and broken. Not ''hostile'' to civilization, but definitely an entity of the wilds, of Life Rampant (albeit infused with both the aberrant nature of tamed Outside influence and the warped legacy of demonic influence).
[[Category:Fey]]
[[Category:Repotaters]]
[[Category:Blood-thirst Wildlands]]

Repotaters

2026-02-06T21:26:13Z

Admiralbenbo: /* Events */

Thoraz

2026-01-19T02:45:05Z

Admiralbenbo: Created page with "One of the five Lucian Territories (metaphysical spheres of influence) in the Astral. Known as builders and guardians, their duty is almost entirely bound up in the Astral. They work closely with the Angelic Host, from whom they receive most of their support. Rarely summoned to the mortal, they tend to be the most "lawful", preferring well-structured contracts with defensive or engineering tasks over pure combat or other tasks. The families of Thoraz a..."

One of the five Lucian Territories (metaphysical spheres of influence) in the [[Astral]]. Known as builders and guardians, their duty is almost entirely bound up in the [[Astral]]. They work closely with the [[Angels|Angelic Host]], from whom they receive most of their support. Rarely summoned to the mortal, they tend to be the most "lawful", preferring well-structured contracts with defensive or engineering tasks over pure combat or other tasks. The families of Thoraz are some of the most bitter enemies of [[demons]] and the [[undead]], considering the entropy spirits that power them to be abhorrent.

== Families ==

; Ala (NE)
: Known for driving hard bargains. Greedy, he works his subordinates hard and rewards ambition, as long as that ambition doesn't threaten him.
; Barong (NG)
: Associated with lions; her Family specializes in anti-demon operations.
; Charun (LN)
: Dour and quiet, specializes in anti-undead operations
; Culsu (N)
: Known as the Doorwarden, this Family controls passage from the astral into Shadow. They work closely with the [[Watcher]] and the [[Catocracy]].
; Grigori (N)
: This family specializes in scrying and spying on creatures. Led by an imp whose desire for information has given him lots of blackmail material. Unlike most of the territory, they're neutral like arms-dealers are neutral--they supply all sides with information.
; Malphas (LN)
: This family specializes in construction and is dominantly involved in maintenance of the Celestial City. Only rarely summoned to the mortal plane.
; Marchosias (LG)
: Judge of fair battles and duels. Considered stick-in-the-muds by others.
; Pelesit (N)
: Specializes in defensive operations, provides combat troops for mortal-plane operations.
; Valac (CN)
: Finder of Treasures (even other people's treasures). Experts at scrying for objects.

Barong, Charun, and Pelesit are most commonly allied with the Host outside of the Astral.
[[Category:Devils]]

Diabolical Families

2026-01-19T02:43:29Z

Admiralbenbo: /* Families */

[[Infernals]] are grouped into 45 families, organized into 5 territories. Most families are named for the arch-devil that occupies the role of Don; exceptions include the Grigori and the Hinn. The territories and their constituent families are described below.

==Thoraz==
They mainly work for the angels; only the weaker ranks interact with mortals. Heavily involved in elemental planes. Politically conservative. Based in the [[Machinarium]] of the [[Celestial City]].

===Families===
;Ala (NE): Known for driving hard bargains. Greedy, he works his subordinates hard and rewards ambition, as long as that ambition doesn't threaten him.
;Barong (NG): Associated with lions; her Family specializes in anti-demon operations.
;Charun (LN): Dour and quiet, specializes in anti-undead operations
;Culsu (N): Known as the Doorwarden, this Family controls passage from the astral into Shadow.
;Grigori (N): This family specializes in scrying and spying on creatures. Led by an imp whose desire for information has given him lots of blackmail material. Unlike most of the territory, they're neutral like arms-dealers are neutral--they supply both sides with information.
;Malphas (LN): This family specializes in construction and is dominantly involved in maintenance of the Celestial City. Only rarely summoned to the mortal plane.
;Marchosias (LG): Judge of fair battles and duels. Considered stick-in-the-muds by others.
;Pelesit (N): Specializes in defensive operations, provides combat troops for mortal-plane operations.
;Valac (CN): Finder of Treasures (even other people's treasures). Experts at scrying for objects.

==Mara-deva==
Many succubi/incubi. 2nd-most-commonly summoned. Corruption/seduction/deception over brute force. Politically progressive. Based in [[Mara]].

===Families===
;Akvan (CN): Foremost fashion experts in the Astral Plane, for when you need to look devilishly good.
;Abyoza (CE): Often summoned to track down rivals or to lay curses on adulterous spouses. Also summoned to engineer the fall of political or economic rivals.
;Bakasura (LE): The most militant of the Mara-deva families, Bakasura is there for you when you need your enemies crushed with style.
;Drekavac (NE): When you need someone scared to death (literally or figuratively), Drekavac has a nice installment plan that will fit any soul's budget.
;Forneus (LE): Spin-meisters supreme. If you need someone to write a great speech (especially if the raw truth won't work), they're your devils.
;Ipos (NG): An Ipos imp on your shoulder will feed you all the right lines to cut your sparring partner down to size and the courage to deliver them. The courage tends to be that of the wine-cup, however.
;Lempo (CG): A two-edged sword--romance is their forte, but so is rather unpredictable behavior. You may end up proposing to the wrong sister (or their cow!) if you fall under Lempo's influence.
;Pruflas (CE): When there's nothing you like more than causing a ruckus, Pruflas has you covered. Ranging from practical jokes to impersonations designed to make your target see red, provocation is their wheelhouse.
;Shax (CE): Need something that isn't yours? Call Shax. Keep a firm grasp on your soul, or they'll steal that too.

==Chou==
Most often called for combat. Straight-forward and brutal. Respect strength. Politically conservative. Not fond of mortals (or anything they consider weak). Based in [[Ghenna]].

===Families===
;Aeshema (CE): Kill! Crush! Rage against chains!
;Angra Manyu (CE): All that exists must be destroyed. All returns to non-existence, to be reborn.
;Aseg (LE): The stones of the earth are my army; all foes will break against their bulwark. Beauty is for those weak fools in Mara-deva. Our looks are another weapon.
;Gualichu (NE): What I have, I keep. That includes the bodies I possess. Like a puppet master, I manipulate them all.
;Hinn (N): Cry havoc and let slip the (flaming) dogs of war! Who's a good hell-hound? You're a good hell-hound.
;[[Kroni]] (CE): Kill, kill, kill, annihilate, kill...
;Kumbhakarna (LN): Come! Let us test our might against each other.
;O Tokata (NE): The dead do not lie quiet. As soon you will know when you join them.
;[[Zagan]] (LE): I am the only king! All will bend the knee to my majesty!

==Leiutis==
Least warlike, most likely to form familiar pacts or Warlock pacts. Frequent users of blackmail. Politically progressive. Based in [[Aaru]]. Smallest territory in numbers.

===Families===
;Abraxas (LN): Want to know about the planes beyond the Material? We can help with that...for a price, of course.
;Allocer (N): The arcane arts are our stock in trade. What do you want to know? It's all available, if you can pay the price, of course.
;[[Beleth]] (CG): The harmonies of the celestial spheres will flow into you...once the golden ring of your anima sounds in our ears.
;Danjal (CN): Need someone taught a skill? Taught how to fight? We provide drill masters. Bulk rates available!
;Orobas (CN): The truth is out there...and we can find it for you.
;Phenex (NE): We make sure that the truth isn't out there, even against Orobas.
;Puloman (N): What happens when you mix this and that? We can tell you before you blow your fingers off!
;Ravan (N): Want to know how to appease that angry deity or kami? Need to know the right prayers to activate that temple? Call Ravan!
;Ukobach (N): All the best recipes, all in one place. Subscription plans available, cheap!

==Ka-Kola==
Not cohesive. Each family is independent. Wide variation. Politics as marked. Based in [[Naga Padoha]], but present all over.

===Families===
;Anzu (CN): The Mother of Monsters aids those that create monsters in Her name. Unaligned (apathetic)
;Arunasura (CE): Those that fight the gods are our allies. Unaligned (kill them all)
;Bukavac (N): Ours is the azure watch, over oceans and those that live within. Unaligned (apathetic)
;Boruta (N): We guard the green forests; the trees are our sheep. Unaligned/Conservative
;Dzoavits (CN): Burn! Burn in the fires of the deep earth! Raise up islands and mountains! Unaligned (kill them all)
;Leyak (CN): We guard all those whose ancestors were of the Races of Man, yet are created at the hands of the Races of Man. Progressive
;Namtar (N): Disease and medicine are opposite sides of the same coin; one without the other does not exist. Progressive
;Surgat (CN): All that is closed must be opened/as soon as Culu closes a door, we open a window. Conservative
;Toyol (NE): Who better to break that curse than the ones who laid it? Progressive

[[Category: Devils]]

Baile Duchas

2026-01-19T02:37:41Z

Admiralbenbo:

The northern region of [[Wyrmhold]], covering the traditionally orcish [[Fiach Wood]] lands north of [[Safehold]] and bordering the [[Kairen Mountains]] to the west. Populated mostly by orcs.

<note: the below isn't true anymore>. Need to fix it.>

[[File: NorthDynasty.png | 800px | Baile Duchas]]

==Major Settlements==
* [[Gor'osh]]
* [[Tinae'osh]]
* [[Coil'arch]]
* [[Fearg'arch]]
* [[Anam'arch]]

[[Category: Geography]]
[[Category: Wyrmhold]]

Frostfall

2026-01-19T02:33:21Z

Admiralbenbo:

The region of [[Noefra]] north of the [[Nocthian Caldera]], bounded by the [[Frozen Coast]] to the west and [[Fiach Wood]] to the west. Bleak with the still-unhealed scars from glacial entombment, it's carved into valleys and hills, badlands with sparse trees. Two rivers are the main loci of life in the region, which unite near the only known settlement, [[Nuvak Tuq]].

Inhabited by monsters. Some areas are still poisoned by [[Anoral]]'s presence (killed in late 253 AC, but with long-lasting consequences for the region). Ankheg and other tunneling, insectoid monsters are particularly prevalent.
[[Category:Regions]]
[[Category:Noefra]]

Lowbridge

2026-01-19T02:30:35Z

Admiralbenbo:

A significant town about 30 miles south of the confluence of the [[Kaela River]] and the [[Shield River]], founded where a pre-[[Cataclysm]] bridge spans the width of the [[Kaela River]], marking the furthest-south point on the river navigable without functional locks due to (natural) cataracts just south of town.

As of mid-253 AC, the town is the capital of the [[Lowbridge Republic]], one of the breakoff-states resulting from the [[New Year's War]].

== Demographics ==
Lowbridge has a population of about 7,000, making it the largest city in the [[Ungoverned Lands]]--in fact, it is the only city of any significant size between [[Bradford]] and [[Kaelthia]] along the River Road.

Its people are mostly [[Humans|wall-builder]]<nowiki/>s, but there is a generous admixture of others, primarily those [[dwarves]], [[halfling]]<nowiki/>s, and [[gwerin]] who were exiled from the [[Holy Kaelthian Republic]] after the [[New Year's War]] for inability (or unwillingness) to conform to the new standards of the [[Law of Truth (Religion)|Law of Truth]].

Religiously, it is still fairly devoutly associated with the [[Church of the Seasons|(orthodox) Church of the Seasons]] and fairly inhospitable towards those who do not worship the [[Congregation]].

== Government ==
Lowbridge is governed by an elected mayor, Percifal Jones. With the cessation of trade to/from the south, the merchant guilds have entirely collapsed.

== Other ==
The Lowbridge Locks which permitted barge traffic to continue south across the cataracts were destroyed by [[Holy Hands]] agents during the [[New Year's War]]. Repairs finished in 257 AC, connecting [[Kaelthia]] with the rest of the north via barge again.
[[Category:Cities]]
[[Category:Lowbridge Republic]]

Source of Magic

2026-01-19T02:27:46Z

Admiralbenbo: /* Styles of Power */

The energy that fuels magic and other "supernatural" events is the same energy that makes up the souls of living beings. Anima.

== Anima Cycles ==
Anima is formed within a soul when the soul creates new memories, grows, absorbs information--in general, through the process of creation. When a living thing dies, its spark (the portion that creates anima) passes into the [[Shadows]] (for intelligent beings) or back into the Mortal plane (for plants and lower animals). That energy is pumped up into the [[Astral]] by the [[Great Mechanism]] and passed among the gods and used to maintain the universe itself, with a large portion passing into the elemental planes to be aspected and used to continue the natural cycles of the Dream (such as replenishing the air and water, rebuilding the minerals and rocks, and keeping the earth-fire and Eua burning).

Some of the anima created is lost into the [[Abyss]] or consumed by great workings (great acts of creation, usually involving artifacts). Most magic does not consume substantial quantities of anima, but creating matter from "nothing" does, as that is the source of the matter. In extreme cases (such as the cleansing of [[Ithemba|North Ithemba]] in 211 AC, the local ambient anima density is severely depleted by such great acts, diminishing the power of magic temporarily.

Instead, most "magic" (fantastic abilities) works by altering the ''aspects'' of the anima. Since all matter and energy is comprised, at its core, of anima, ''aspects'' are the part that distinguishes fire from water, the flesh of a bird from a stone, etc. Aspects can be altered and shifted by magic either temporarily or permanently. But in general, externally-imposed resonant transformations of aspects fade when the resonance does. But the effects caused by that transformation do not--fires lit by magical fire do not go out, cuts from blades of slashing wind that came from nowhere do not automatically heal, etc.

=== Aspects ===
''Note: this discussion follows the categorization scheme developed in Western [[Noefra]] during the 3rd age. Other places and cultures have their own categorization schemes. None of them are fundamental; all of them describe the same underlying properties in different ways.''

Aspects can be divided into 4 Elements, each of which has one of three Characters (Umbral, Neutral, or Luminous) and one of two three (Diffuse, Condensed, Balanced). There is anima that is so strongly Characterized that the Elemental nature is irrelevant--these are called Lumina and Umbra; there is also anima that is so neutral that it is called Unaspected (and is almost always diffuse). Thus, there are 36 aspects, but at the ends they all merge into two possibilities. All matter can be categorized as having different admixtures of each of these aspects, although scholars generally divide things into a few groups depending on whether they contain only one Character of a given Element (regular matter) or contain parts of both Characters of a given element (Paradoxical). Most "normal" matter is Regular; many things that have "magical" nature include some element of Paradox.

==== Elements ====
The elements are those of the core elemental planes: Fire, Earth, Air, Water.

==== Characters ====
Anima can be of Umbral character, meaning it is sluggish, downward sinking, and stable. Luminous anima is effervescent, changeable, and rises upward.

==== Solidities ====
Diffuse anima is imperceptible to "normal" senses, but its effects can be felt as it interacts. Examples include the umbral fire associated with a hot (but not glowing) rock, warmed by the sun or a flame or the thunder of a lightning bolt (diffuse neutral air). The vast majority of anima is diffuse and unaspected, called the "ambient aether". This is the medium that spells and other resonant effects work in. Condensed anima is perceptible--the flame of a fire is condensed anima mostly comprised of Luminous Fire.

==== Examples of Matter Dominated by One Aspect ====
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Substance
!Dominant Aspect
|-
|Radiance/Positive Energy
|Lumina
|-
|Entropos/Negative Energy
|Umbra
|-
|Magical Force
|Condensed Unaspected
|-
|(liquid) water
|Neutral Water (Condensed)
|-
|Ice
|Umbral Water (Condensed)
|-
|Flames
|Luminous Fire (balanced)
|-
|Air (the stuff around us)
|Neutral Air (diffuse)
|-
|Wind
|Neutral Air (condensed)
|-
|Stone (generic)
|Umbral Earth (Condensed)
|-
|Soil
|Luminous Earth
|}
[[File:Anima economy.png|thumb|401x401px|Anima Cycles]]

==Magic vs Fantastic Abilities==
Generally, the term "magic" is reserved for abilities that form resonant patterns in the ambient anima, like spells and magic items. But all "fantastic abilities" (anything that would not be possible on Earth, nor are truly normal among the people of Quartus) are also fueled by anima. But the forms and properties of these fantastic abilities differ.

===Spells===
Living spell-casters accumulate anima in knots in their souls. These knots come in varying strengths--two lower level "slots" do not equal one higher slot. These knots are used to fuel patterned resonances with the ambient anima--these patterned resonances are spells. Some spells (cantrips) can be cast solely with the caster's mental energy and do not use up these knots. Without special training, these slots reform over time but require a night's rest to be usable again. There are rumors of some who can force energy into their knots faster, but those are not widespread. Some casters can cast certain spells by relying on ambient anima (and thus without using a knot or slot) at the cost of significantly increasing the time required, making them act much more like rituals (described below).

The number of spell-slots available to a caster depend on their level of soul-growth. For many (if not most) people, the ability to cast a single (or at most two) of the lowest-powered spells is the maximum they will ever attain. Some grow quickly, some more slowly. Those who focus on spell-casting tend to grow faster than those who split their efforts with martial pursuits.

While all spell-casters gain power from the ambient anima, the source of the spells (that is, the patterns through which they manipulate reality) differs. Those differences are described in the [[Varieties of Magic]]. The primary sources are
* Harmonic magic is the use of rhythm and music to manipulate anima. This is most associated with bards, common chants and Leviathan.
* Arcane magic is direct pattern-based symbolic manipulation of anima, associated most with the [[gwerin]] and with wizards and the more magically-oriented fighters and rogues.
* Channeled magic is sourced from another creature, where the caster acts as the channel. Associated most with druids and clerics, as well as rangers.
* Personal magic comes from within, often via birth or revelation. The casters rarely can articulate ''how'' they cast, and their magic is tied to their state of mind. Most associated with paladins, sorcerers, and warlocks.

For most mortals, casting spells requires ''components'': gestures, material items, and/or patterned sounds (usually in the form of arcane-sounding phrases). These are not intrinsic to the spell itself; they're merely devices used as crutches to compensate for the limits of mortality. The truly strong beings, such as dragons, angels, demons, etc. generally require fewer such components; those beings with magic in their blood also rarely require components. The exact components are fairly standardized due to a scientific study of magic during the Old Western Empire period. Other parts of the world use different components. Verbal components show the most variation--the exact words aren't important. The cadence, rhythm, intonation, volume, and other sonic factors are what matter. Different schools (especially of wizardry) often obfuscate the truly important parts, and every caster does things slightly differently. They're more mnemonic devices than fundamental facts of reality.

===Rituals===
Most magic use on Quartus is not really in the form of spells, those discrete, individual patterns of resonant anima. Instead, it's in the form of rituals. With ritual work, the energy needed is gathered by the participants and shared through complex workings; the patterns are formed by the participants acting collectively. Single practitioners can perform rituals, with their ritual objects acting as foci. The oldest and most powerful rituals involve sacrifice of a living being, voluntarily or not. See [[Blood Magic]] for more details there. Often, blood magic is used to spike the power or shorten the time needed, as the concentration of anima in a living being is huge.

Rituals take much longer than spells to perform. For those spells that can be ritualized, it generally takes 10x as long to perform the ritual as to cast the spell. During this time, the caster (or casters) are vulnerable to interruption--they must maintain their concentration throughout. One benefit of larger rituals is that a practiced group can substitute members seamlessly during the ritual, allowing the longer rituals (some lasting weeks of constant work) to go on without killing the participants.

Rituals require ritual foci--implements, stories, chants, objects that all have relevance to the caster--like spell-casting components, these foci are more for the sake of the caster than for anything fundamental about the universe. Common foci include candles, diagrams, ritual knives, parts of creatures, gemstones, and chants.

Unlike casting spells, even those without "knots" can participate in ritual work. In general, rituals scale with the number of participants more than with the quality of participant--this is why cults prefer many disposable members rather than fewer, more powerful (and thus more dangerous) ones. This is also why village rituals work so well, despite not having anyone of any strength. Quantity has a quality all of its own, after all.

===Items===
Since all magic is mediated through souls, permanent magical items that can actively manipulate anima (cast spells or spell-like effects without needing to be recharged) are quite rare. In fact, some theories suggest that imbuing an item with enough anima to persist and gather anima by itself would by necessity involve the creation of a soul (and thus would make the item intelligent to one degree or another). Temporary magical items such as scrolls, potions, or spellstones (stones that can be charged to unleash magical energies) exist but the creation of these requires an intelligent being to contribute anima and, once used, are rendered inert or destroyed. Items with charges draw on the ebb and flow of the ambient anima to recharge, usually once per day at a fixed time (often midnight or dawn). Creating items generally involves a key item or location associated with the effect desired.

Some more powerful items require the active involvement of a suitable host for their power to be realized--they interface with the nimbus of the wielder and resonate with their souls. Due to this resonance, it is impossible for normal mortals to attune (become bonded to) more than 3 such items simultaneously, and attuning to an item requires time (as does breaking the attunement).

At the current time, items of Uncommon rarity and below can generally be created (given the key items) in the [[Federated Nations]]; those of Rare rarity and above remain the source of adventuring wealth. [[Imperial Legacy]] is the [[Adventuring Company]] most devoted to magic item creation and research. Potions and other consumables are easier to make, with occasional Rare-quality consumables going on the market for connected buyers. Generally, unless you're a member of [[Imperial Legacy]], buying and selling magic items other than consumables is difficult if not impossible.
===Innate and Learned Abilities===
Dragons fly, when their wings are not nearly large enough to carry them. And they breathe energy. These are examples of innate fantastic abilities. There are many others--most monstrosity-class creatures (defined as those with fantastic abilities in a neatly-circular fashion) rely on these abilities. But many adventurers and other powerful people ''also'' use these abilities. They cannot be taught, they can only be gained by personal quirks and intrinsic nature. Most often, these are inward-directed and modify the wielder's own body, enhancing it with anima drawn from the environment. Often, these abilities are not consciously controlled--they merely ''are''. As an example, a barbarian draws in power mediated by his emotional state, enhancing his own body to deflect blows and strike harder.

Other abilities can be learned by someone of sufficient mastery. A fighter blurs into motion, striking like a whirlwind for a brief moment. Another fighter calls out a command and his allies find an opportunity to strike yet again. A rogue wraps himself in shadow for a brief instant, shunting the force of a fireball into liminal space and coming out unharmed. Another rogue climbs as if his fingers were claws. One common characteristic is that these abilities can't be used continuously--they deplete the user's internal reserves. They're not ''magic'', and they can't be countered by dispelling magics; they're merely effects that stretch the boundaries of the possible.

== Arcane Glyphs, Arcane Phrases, and Language ==
When a spell-caster chants magic words or a scroll covered in arcane writing is found, a common question is "what language is it in?" And the short answer is "it's not really a language, at least as we know it. But it's distinctively magic." The long answer is...well...longer.

In the beginning of the Mortal plane there were four main types of "spells" (although that terminology came much later). '''Runic Inscriptions''' (also called Rune Magic), '''True Words''' (or True Sorcery), '''Essential Harmony''' (or the All-song), and [[Blood magic]] (the power of sacrifice). This discussion will only cover the first three, as blood magic is, to this day, different.

=== Runic Inscriptions ===
Wielded by the [[titans]], this type of magic involved empowering (or scribing magically) written "words" or "runes". Much more complex than the current runic scripts, these runes were usually written across the wielder's body, forming part of them and responding to their will. The nature of these runes was most attuned to description--creating and reshaping things by describing its behavior. In 21st Century Earth terms, it was a programming language for the universe. Some of the basic symbols were reused in [[Runic script|High and Low Runic]], the language used for communication, but carefully bereft of the magical properties. To a practitioner of rune magic, magic happened in total silence as well as without unnecessary motion, but did require the material on which to write. Hence the use of the caster's own flesh as the parchment. If you could read the inscriptions, they looked more like mathematical equations, written in 2 and 3 dimensions out of interlocking pieces with every path through the extended glyph adding nuance to the whole. It was best at modifying existing matter, reshaping it according to the will, knowledge, and endurance of the wielder. The titans believed that the Dreamer ''wrote'' the world into existence.

=== True Words ===
The spoken form of the runic inscriptions (or were the runes the written form of the true words?), this was wielded by [[wyrm]]. In essence, they spoke the names of the elements and of matter, commanding them. These "words" were in the language used at the beginning to dream the world into existence--the wyrm believed that the Dreamer ''spoke'' and the world was. Use of True Words wasn't as simple as knowing the right sounds--you had to understand the nature of the things described and have the strength of will to bend them to your purpose. As well as some innate authority over those elements. The inverse of the titan's runes, use of True Words mostly revolved around ''breaking down'' existing matter, commanding it to return to its elemental state, pure and available for reuse. Before the Dawn War, titan shaped and wyrm broke down the excess, cleaned up the mistakes. After the War, wyrm used it to shape by subtraction. True words needed no canvas to write on, only that the voice could be heard.

=== Essential Harmony ===
Song and motion, dance and drum, wordless and free. The specialty of [[Leviathan]] to this day, it neither shaped brute matter nor did it break it down. It ''aligned'' matter, especially living matter. Shaping the will and hearts of others as they resonated to the melodies and formed living counterpoints. More than anything, the song remembers. Leviathan's role was to preserve continuity, to carry the plan between the other workers; after the War, it chose to become a living repository of all the world's knowledge. And that song still echoes through the deep.

=== Wizardry ===
Two of the three primal forms came to an end with the unleashing of the [[Orb of All Might]]. Some say it was the [[Great Mechanism]], acting to preserve the balance and viability of the Mortal plane. Others say it was backlash. Yet others claim merely that the change wasn't to the magic but to the casters; that the reduced forms could no longer wield the true language. But regardless, the names that bound reality became inaccessible to both [[Titans|titan]] and [[wyrm]] in their degenerate state. The [[Ages of the World|Second Wish]] changed that, reassembling the broken pieces of written and spoken words, combined with fragments of harmonies into a new route of access to the power of magic. This was the birth of "wizardry". That's not really properly called, as the scientific field of wizardry known today is but one fragment of this essential form. In fact, ''all'' mortal spell-casting is a variety of this ur-wizardry.

In essence, the wizardry combined writing (mostly in the form of the material components who carry fragments of the names), spoken words (verbal components) and harmony (motion, also known as somatic components) into a way for mortals to access power. In the [[Ages of the World|Third Age]], even divine magic followed this paradigm. True wizards learn to write down and (more saliently) ''learn'' from writing. What are they writing and saying?

=== Material and somatic components and glyphs ===

* Glyphs (found on scrolls, spellbooks, and as containment and definition for spells) are fragments of ancient runes. Not that an ancient titan would recognize them as such--they're the equivalent of taking the curved part at the top of the lowercase "f" and calling that a letter. But some fragment of their power still remains and they can be used as a crude syllabary, a circuit to channel power. Each tradition uses their own subsets of the shattered ur-runes, but the patterns formed are usually fairly distinctive and identifiable across traditions and across centuries, making written spellbooks and scrolls a fairly safe (hah!) method of conveying magical information across generations. However, the patterns are also almost trivially identifiable as magical writing.
* Verbal components are nonsense words...but contain within them phonemic fragments of True Words, spoken at rhythmic intervals (the echo of Essential Harmony). Most casting traditions intermix these necessary fragments into mystic-sounding words; many practitioners don't even realize that most of the phrase is just meaningless filler, there to pad it so the rhythms and emphasis work properly. Different traditions use different fillers, leading to a diversity of verbal components. Due to the inhuman rhythms and phonemes involved, it is nearly impossible to mistake the fragments of True Words for anything but mystic words of power. They sound, by necessity, like no other language.
* Material components contain aligned aether, serving mostly as a catalyst for the spell. Some powerful spells use things like gems as actual fuel, since the caster's power alone is insufficient (and inappropriately aligned). Foci can be used, containing glyphs and important symbols carved into aligned matter. Unlike the other components, very little variation is possible here (although foci confuse the issue)--without the correct catalyst, no resonance can be formed.
* Somatic components align the caster to the flow of the world, both helping them remember the necessary patterns of the soul and enter the correct state of being. Of all the components, these are the most varied because they're the most personal. But for most practitioners, they involve large, unsubtle motions of at least one hand--circular passes, contortions of the wrist and fingers, etc.

== Styles of Power ==
All modern magic is bound up in aether, it is true. Everything is. But there are different styles, forms that the ability to manipulate aether takes.

=== Arcane Magic ===
Most associated with the wizard and sorcerer (generically "arcanists"), this was the style pioneered by the [[aelvar]] after the First Wish. It relies on on directly inducing harmonic resonances with the ambient aether, using patterns learned by study and and rote (wizards and warlocks) or born into the caster (sorcerers). While the aelvar mages were known for their biomancy, modern arcane magic prefers to manipulate the unliving more than anything. It tends to struggle at the more subtle mental and soul-related effects, but excels at manipulating raw elemental forces. Unlike divine or primal magic, it doesn't require a mediator, which means that the caster doesn't need to maintain any kind of relationship. Their power comes from within.

=== Divine Magic ===
First granted by the Third Wish, divine power is, in its normal form, channeled rather than taught. Clerics, priests, and paladins don't study their spells; their faith (or devotion to their oath) serves as a bridge to the powers beyond, whether a specific patron deity (for clerics) or the universe itself (for paladins). Priests differ from clerics in that the latter channel power directly on behalf of their deity, while priests' power is mediated by their religion. Many priests actually wield something closer to the power of a warlock, having been taught rites and spells by their church or faith, but fueling their power with their faith itself. Generally, divine power flows from ''other planes''.

As a result of relying on ascended powers, divine magic is some of the most complex power, capable of feast including raising the dead and healing the gravely wounded, without requiring the cleric to understand all of the complexity (which is what keeps arcane magic from being able to perform these feats). At the same time, it's sharply limited by the provider, and the wielder must remain faithful or suffer as their faith weakens.

Faith isn't aether, but faith ''channels'' and ''directs'' aether. Effectively, your faith serves as a link between you and your patron--greater faith allows more power to flow to the priest. In return, more aether gets directed to the patron. For normal [[Ascendant|Ascendants]], this grants them the power they need to survive, but in return the nature of the channel, the mental and spiritual concept of the worshiper shapes the recipient by aspecting the aether it carries. Generally, faith-channeled aether is luminous in aspect.

=== Harmonic Magic ===
The third of the ancient magics (along with runic magic and true sorcery), the power of harmony--that is literal music--belonged to [[Leviathan]]. It was taught and imbued in the mortals of the 1st age, making it the oldest power accessible to normal two-legged mortals. Long considered the weakest of the great powers in most direct applications, it excels at manipulating minds and perceptions. It can heal (unlike arcane magic), mainly by helping the injured person heal themselves rather than the external changes made by divine magic. It is weakest at manipulating raw, mindless forces, especially those of other planes.

=== Primal Magic ===
Primal magic arose after the Second Wish, and is similar to divine magic in that it is channeled. The primary difference is in ''where'' the patterns come from. The archetypal primal magic (that of druids) comes from bargains with countless small kami--proto-fey spirits of nature. In exchange for a bit of the caster's own aether, the kami performs a trick (creates a spell effect). It's the connection between the caster and the kami that provides the strength. It requires more understanding than the purely-channeled divine power, but not nearly as much as that of the arcanist. Its power tends to involve manipulating nature and living things--not warping them and violating their nature like that of the ancient aelvar but working within the existing structure to produce effects.

=== Other forms ===
There is substantial debate among scholars whether things like a barbarian's abilities, a monk's "ki", the psychic power of a [[mkhulu]], or the other abilities found throughout the world count as "magic" or not. In any case, they rely on manipulating aether (because everything is aether), but not in a way recognizable as a "spell". As a result, they are immune to the various counter-magic abilities and spells, which rely on disrupting the resonance formed between the spell-pattern and the ambient aether field.
[[Category:Magic]]

Source of Magic

2026-01-17T21:18:14Z

Admiralbenbo:

Ar Dolema

2026-01-17T18:59:27Z

Admiralbenbo:

One of the largest mobile structures known. This walking fortress is born by four colossal (~100' tall) [[Construct|golems]] and powered by an ancient aether reactor of unknown provenance. During the [[Fanged Kingdom]] it served as the real command center and center for the ruling caste (with [[Ar Salem Dolem]] as the "front" capital). After the masters departed, it walked in an endless circle through the woods 100 miles (ish) NW of [[Asai'ka (City)|Asai'ka]] until it was found and the demonic presence was purged by the [[Catalysts]]. It eventually settled into a stationary state at a "dock" NE of [[Ar Salem Dolem]]. As of 260 AC, it serves as the center of the [[Church of the Queen Ascendant|Office of Doctrine]]

== Origin ==
The origin of this structure is unknown. Its architecture and means of construction do not match those of any known civilization, and the golem-heart and reactor are of technologies unknown to history. It probably was built by the [[Builders]] and then retrofitted by the [[aelvar]] and then the [[Fanged Kingdom]].

== Maps ==
[[File:Ar-dolema-side-view.webp|left|frameless|400x400px]]The four-armed golems, support a 100' tall rectangular platform, measuring 300' by 530', holding it on their shoulders with two colossal arms holding on to the side and the others supporting the bottom. This core area houses the reactor and other arcane mechanisms necessary for its function (including air handling and a self-contained elemental source of water) as well as storage, lab areas, living areas, etc.

Above the core is a smaller fortress/palace area, with gardens and a central courtyard. The palace has several parts--the lower wings, a central keep, and two tall towers.

The wings are only two stories tall, but cover most of the non-courtyard surface. They house most of the working areas--conference rooms, offices, lecture halls, etc. It is topped by a flat roof accessible from the central keep.

The central keep extends 5 stories (~100 ft) above the center, roughly rectangular. Here are the core functions, as well as the living and working quarters for the leaders of the Office of Doctrine. Here too, buried in the back of the structure, is the "throne room", the central control facility by which someone could, in principle, command the entire fortress to walk. Since it settled at its dock, it has refused any commands, having entered a dormant state.

Above that rise two more, roughly 100ft (above the top of the keep) towers, connected by a sky bridge that itself houses a garden. The south tower is reserved for the heads of the departments and the Hierarch and their staff. The north tower (as it is docked facing east) contains the Conservatory of Faith (home to the holy musicians) and the offices of the Temple Dancer delegation.
[[File:Ar-dolema-top.webp|left|frameless|800x800px]]
[[Category:Jungle of Fangs]]
[[Category:Artifacts]]

File:Ar-dolema-top.webp

2026-01-17T18:58:43Z

Admiralbenbo:

Top view of Ar Dolema

Ar Dolema

2026-01-17T18:47:11Z

Admiralbenbo:

File:Ar-dolema-side-view.webp

2026-01-17T18:04:24Z

Admiralbenbo:

Ar Dolema, sideview

Bones of Leviathan

2026-01-11T20:57:53Z

Admiralbenbo: Created page with "The Bones of Leviathan is an informal name for a group of artifacts associated with (and possibly made from pieces of) Leviathan. Scholars are Tal Elamor have classified the known ones as either authentic or replicas. Authentic ones are sapient artifacts of world-shaping power (if they fully unveil themselves), second only to the Fangs of Resolution or the Eyes of Qa'desh and similar artifacts of the Dreamer. Replicas range in strength from nearly as powe..."

The Bones of Leviathan is an informal name for a group of artifacts associated with (and possibly made from pieces of) [[Leviathan]]. Scholars are [[Tal Elamor]] have classified the known ones as either authentic or replicas. Authentic ones are sapient artifacts of world-shaping power (if they fully unveil themselves), second only to the [[Fangs of Resolution]] or the [[Eyes of Qa'desh]] and similar artifacts of the Dreamer. Replicas range in strength from nearly as powerful (but much less willful) in a few major respects but lacking the broad capabilities of the authentic ones to pale, lackluster imitations that a mortal mage can easily duplicate.

Only a few of the authentic Bones have known whereabouts as of the early Fourth Age, even to the more dedicated scholars. While quiescent, they do a good job of hiding themselves from notice. Each of them broadly fits into one of the aspects of sea or song. All of the authentic ones are known to change their shapes--the ones presented are the most commonly attested versions.

== Known Authentic Bones of Leviathan ==

=== Representing Sea as Destroyer and Purifier ===
The relentless pounding of the waves and the corrosive nature of salt water breaks down even tough rock and metal. And the sea is also the mother of storms, whose winds and lightning destroy places well inland, away from the sea's own reach.

* Lapat Afa, Storm Herald. A jagged-edged shield of shell. Unknown powers. Unknown location.
* Apokalypsis, Endmaker. A spear or lance of narwhal tusk and bone. Said to be the inspiration for the arcane spell known as ''disintegrate'', which is a pale imitation. Said to be able to unravel any magic, pierce any defense, or destroy any target. Also said to demand an enormous cost from its wielder. Last recorded sighting was during the 3rd Age in the West Sea.

=== Representing Sea and Song as the Memory-keeper, Home of Harmonic Magic ===
The sea and Leviathan are the repositories of memory via the [[Allsong]]. In turn, they are also the origins of the harmonic magic of the bards, said to have been taught to mortals during the 1st age to counterbalance the Rune Magic and True Sorcery of titans and wyrm.

* Feddyl-ma, Mind-needle. A dagger or short sword. Sometimes a conductor's baton. Said to have the ability to rewrite memories. Unknown location.
* [[Soul's Stillness]]. A harp. Created for the [[Cysgor]] as part of the [[Pact with Death]]. Returned to their possession by [[Enigma]] in 250 AC.

=== Representing the Sea and Song as the Healer of Mind and Soul ===
Without water, plants die. Without song, hearts shrivel.

* Panacea. A fluted, carved rod of bone. Said to be able to heal all sickness and even revive the long-ago dead. Unknown location.
* Coralbranch. A staff studded with carved pink coral. Unknown powers. Unknown location.

=== Representing the Sea as Bringer of Change ===
The boundaries of the sea are ever-changing. The waves dance and change. The creatures of the sea are often amorphous or protean.

* Metanoiran. A cloak of skin with tentacle fringes. Said to have the power to allow the user to change shapes at will but retain their self. Last known location was in the Plane of Ocean, held by a marid prince.
* The Catalysis Engine. A set of intricately-carved, nested spheres. Said to be an alchemist's dream, able to transmute matter in ways otherwise not possible. Unknown location.

[[Category:Artifacts]]

Church of the Queen Ascendant

2026-01-11T17:07:38Z

Admiralbenbo: /* Private Worship */

Worship of the Queen Ascendant is formally organized and present in the nations of the [[Jungle of Fangs]].

== Theology ==
Theologically, the Queen does not demand deep careful understanding. Instead, she promotes action. Your faith is shown in your works and in sacrifice and ritual. Her demands are fairly simple--

# Respect and honor the established hierarchy. If you are lowly, honor your betters. It is fine to seek to better yourself and to rise to higher station, but do so out of a desire to improve society, not out of spite or jealousy. If you are born to high station, treat those below you with honor and tolerance. Enforce the law, but temper it with mercy.
# Respect and honor the priesthood as they honor the hierarchy. They are Her voices.
# Help your neighbor. Stand with society and civilization against the untamed, against the evil. Shun the demonic and the undead.
# Enjoy the pleasures of life, but don't let them consume you. Ascetic life is a lie--all emotions and pleasures have their place but their place is not to control the self.
# Respectfully husband the land. Agriculture and land-owning is more honorable than manufacturing or trading. Needless destruction of the natural environment is not good.

== General Organization ==
Since the breakup of the [[Stone Throne]] with its monolithic religious hierarchy, there have been two main branches of the church, both seemingly tolerated by the Queen herself, differing almost entirely in who they place in positions of authority. Think Pope and Anti-Pope, where both claim to be the "true" leadership of the unified church, rather than protestant vs catholic. The schism has very little influence at the level of every-day worship--most of the commoners and Lai are only vaguely aware that there ''is'' a schism at all and there is really only a difference at the political level.

After the [[Red Death]] and the collapse of [[Asai'ka]], and increasingly as the [[Time of Troubles]] has gone on, this schism has widened and deepened. At the current time, there are 2.5 branches--the "orthodoxy" centered in [[Ar Salem Dolem]], the "reformers" centered in [[Kel'al'ar]], and the "renunciates" most active in [[Sha'slar]].

==== The Priest-Bureaucracy ====
The Queen Ascendant's faith is a very structured, ordered thing. Priests, chosen from all the castes (and walks of life in those nations who have rejected the caste system), minister to the spiritual needs of the people and are a vital part of the secular government. Joining the priesthood means leaving your former caste and rank and taking on a new one.

Priests can be known by their clothing, especially while engaged in ritual work. As much of the [[Stone Throne Religion|worship practice]] involves bloodshed (of animals mostly these days), they wear naught but an apron made of a single sheet of cloth with leather reinforcements and a hole cut for the head. This is placed over the officiant and tied with thongs on each side, leaving the sides bare. See also [[Fang-kin Culture]].

The priests also act as musicians during the sacred dances, mainly playing atonal music on flutes and keeping rhythm on drums.

==== The Temple Dancers and the Sacred Dances ====
Much of the most sacred service is done by the Temple Dancers. These are men and women, chosen for their flexibility, grace, and beauty very young and trained rigorously. During the high festivals and sacred rites (such as at the installation of a new landed noble), they dance the sacred dances to the accompaniment of priestly drummers and musicians. These dances are fluid, and range from frantic acrobatics to languid contortions, often switching back and forth multiple times in a single dance. Generally only a single dancer will dance at a time, although a few of the most holy ones call for two women. Generally, female dancers are of higher rank and are more sought after, as the most holy dances can only be performed by women.

Temple dancers wear shifts of diaphanous silk that leaves very little, if anything, to the imagination. Those that would treat them as prostitutes, however, find that they are also trained to defend themselves without weapons. As well as incurring the wrath of the entire bureaucracy.

Technically, dancers are outside the hierarchy and answer only to the high priestess and the [[Handmaiden|handmaidens]]. It is whispered that some of the most decadent, debased nobles have started training their own corps of dancers who do more than just dance.

In outlying settlements or among the [[ophidian]] tribes, the people themselves enact the sacred dances. This is frowned on by the bureaucracy, but tolerated. Authentic temple dancers rarely make it out there anyway, and there's no need to squelch their fervor.

==== Willing Sacrifice ====
After the homily and readings from the sacred works (produced by the bureaucracy and expounded as commandments from the Queen) but before any dances that take may place come the sacrifices. Since the Ascension, these are of two forms (full blood sacrifice of an intelligent being being absolutely forbidden and carefully monitored)--

* Animal sacrifice is the most common. A chicken, a pig, or on rare occasions something larger. The animals are drugged and exsanguinated while alive, the blood being caught and given to the flames on the altar. Once dead, the organs (especially the heart) are removed and ritually burned. The meat is then prepared and shared among the participants.
* Token blood sacrifice. This is done only on occasions of ceremonies such as marriages, religiously-binding vows, funerals, or pledges of loyalty to a new sovereign. Those that are giving sacrifice come forth and are pricked with a sacred knife. The most common sites are the earlobes and the ball of the thumb, although some have been known to give sacrifice from their private parts in extreme cases of fanaticism. A single drop of blood is shed onto a piece of cloth; once each participant has comingled their blood with the others, the cloth is ritually blessed and consigned to the holy flames, carrying their devotion to the Queen.

==== Private Worship ====
The branches of the Church differ in how much individual, private worship outside of the public community rituals is performed. All of the branches practice individual prayer (often of ritualized form) at the noon meal, with highly devout people also waking up to pray at midnight. For those with spiritual needs or a desire to commune with the Queen, the Orthodox will visit their local priest, who anoints their own forehead and lips with sanctified bloodwine (see below) and takes their prayer and acts as intercessor with the Queen. Reform believers purchase sanctified bloodwine (if wealthy) or visit their priest, but they themselves are the ones anointed and the ones who pray to the Queen for aid.

Often devout Reform communities will read from books of sacred doctrine and discuss even outside of the regular worship; this is usually presided over by a priest or at least a lay acolyte to ensure doctrinal correctness. Wealthy citizens and nobles of all branches will often have a "pet" priest on hand to preach and to perform divine service for the household.

===== Bloodwine =====
Bloodwine is a sticky red fluid made as a simulacrum of blood by combining red wine with a sanctified powder produced by carefully-guarded means by the priests of both Reform and Orthodoxy. Orthodox bloodwine comes in several grades--the highest is produced by the Office of Doctrine in [[Ar Salem Dolem]] and boasts an aetheric richness that allows the anointed much closer communion with the Astral. Lesser grades are produced locally and are merely blessed thickeners. Bloodwine is used extensively throughout the Offices in [[Ar Salem Dolem]] by all the dedicated priests. Reform bloodwine is centrally produced near [[Kel'al'ar]] and is purely formalistic in nature, without any magical properties.

== Orthodox Organization ==
The orthodoxy (as of the [[Time of Troubles]]) has settled into a hierarchy with the High Priestess, conventionally called "Saama" (a corruption of an iath neidr word meaning "Voice") at the top. She has a small coterie of advisors and secretaries separate from the main bureaucracy. As of 260 AC, the current Saama is an elderly woman with little direct influence, but is still widely revered even by the renunciates.

The next level down are the parallel organizations of the Offices, led by the Hierarchs, and the Eternal Dance, led by the First Handmaiden.

=== The Offices, aka the Priest-Bureaucracy ===
The Four Offices are what most people think of when they say "the priest-bureaucracy". They are the administrators, quasi-government, and police force of the church. By and large, in the common mind, they ''are'' the church.

There are four Hierarchs, one for each of the Offices of Doctrine, Administration, Finance, and Service.

==== Office of Doctrine ====
The Office of Doctrine handles matters of theology and sacred history, as well as sacred magic (deciding what is sacred and what is profane). This Office has the most dwarves, especially in the Inquisition--the active arm that seeks out heresy. It and the Schola (dedicated to the more scholastic side) are headquartered on [[Ar Dolema]], rather than in [[Ar Salem Dolem]]. At current times, the Doctrinaires are rumored to be somewhat sidelined and at odds with Administration and Service especially. Known to be extremely dogmatic and inflexible, Doctrine adapts poorly to changing circumstances.

==== Office of Administration ====
Administration puts the Bureaucracy in priest-bureaucracy. While these are mostly ordained priests, they handle very little of the spiritual matters. Instead, they make up the city administration and public works offices for [[Ar Salem Dolem]] as well as administering and protecting the church's assets throughout the jungle. The Temple Guard reports to the Hierarch of Administration, making him the most directly powerful of the Hierarchs. Administration is the second-largest Office and is constantly struggling with Finance for funding.

==== Office of Finance ====
Finance, as its name suggests, handles the money. Second-smallest after Doctrine, it is split into the accountants (including traveling accountants who are embedded in the regional and local temples) and the tithe collectors, who are seen often as the most corrupt branch. No one likes a tax man. These folks are only ''theoretically'' priests.

==== Office of Service ====
Service contains all the ''actual'' priests and their hierarchy. By far the largest, it also acts as the intelligence network. The Hierarch of Service is generally considered the "power behind the throne"--rarely if ever chosen as Saama (especially since Service is dominated by men, and a man cannot be High Priestess), but wielding the entire power of the bureaucracy (in the rare times they're not fighting among themselves).

Below the Hierarch of Service and his local staff (located in [[Ar Salem Dolem]]) are the regional hierarchs, each responsible for a major city and its surrounding areas, as well as the priest-school at [[Ar Salem Dolem]]. The latter traditionally belonged to Doctrine, but Service wrested it away in 251 AC in an internal fight. Below the regional hierarchs are the settled (stationary, with permanent assignments) priests as well as the itinerant common priests who travel from village to village.

# The High Temple and attendants. These live and work in the Sacred City of [[Ar Salem Dolem]] and especially in the High Temple there, where the Queen lived for centuries. They make the decisions for the nations, although most directly for [[Asai'ka]]. Competition here is fierce but hidden. Generally only those of noble birth attain these posts, despite the technical lack of birth-based rank among the priesthood.
# The Settled. These have places of fixed abodes in the cities and larger towns. Drawn from lesser noble and lai ranks, they are the local authorities and often rule with as much force as a noble.
# The Wanderers. These travel circuits among the villages and smaller towns. Generally of the common folk, they command little veneration.

A ''separate'' (from the Inquisition) force of internal enforcers, the Auditors, has been established to keep the Service priests in line.

=== Eternal Dance ===
The Eternal Dance is the other side of the orthodox church--the Temple Dancers and the Handmaidens. They are much fewer in numbers than the priest-bureaucracy, and answer only to the First Handmaiden (and thus to Saama herself). They are generally at odds politically with the Offices and maintain independent (and shadowy) sources of income.

==== The Temple Dancers ====
Led by the woman occupying the post of Azure Veil, the dancers are only loosely organized. They have ranks, but generally don't follow any strict hierarchy or chain of command. They self-organize into troupes, groups of 20-30 who coordinate actions in an area, generally led by a Khiev.

The ranks (veils) are

* Azure Veil -- The chief dancer. Only ever one at a time.
* Khiev -- senior dancer/troupe leader.
* Yellow Veil -- regular dancer.
* Black Veil -- specialist. Often rumored to be more spy or assassin than dancer, it is rare that any will self-identify as a black veil.
* Red Veil -- junior dancer, usually working under a yellow. May be trusted with some of the lesser dances.
* White veil -- apprentice/assistant. Not trusted to dance alone yet.

==== The Handmaidens ====
The smallest organization, the Handmaidens are spies, enforcers, and mystics. They answer to the Mother Militant. Not much is known of their organizational structure, and handmaidens only openly identify as such when commandeering resources or making arrests.

==== The Monastics ====
The Eternal Dance also maintains the monastery at [[Tyom]], which trains dancers and handmaidens. Under the Matron Mother, the monastics are the most withdrawn. They have a tight relationship with Doctrine, but little else is ever said.

== Reform Organization ==
The reform branch is much more simply organized, with three basic levels:

# The High Priestess rules from [[Kel'al'ar]] in close cooperation with the Serpent Throne.
# Each city and major town has a Hierophant as well as a group of lesser priests. They are responsible for keeping the church in that region on-track.
# Each village and smaller town has an established priest.

They tend to live close to the people and stay out of politics.

== Renunciate Organization ==
There isn't an "organization" of renunciates, as such. Merely a group of dissident priests who claim that the Orthodoxy has lost its way and its connection to the Queen, and the Reform is merely a puppet of the state.

== Church-State Relations ==
Relationships between the Church hierarchy and the secular governments has been strained since the founding with the [[Ascension of the Serpent Queen]]. Before that, the bureaucracy ''was'' the government in many of the ways that count--yes, there were [[Fang-kin Culture|phra and phraya]], but they all listened to the High Temple and the High Priestess. Church politics ''were'' [[Stone Throne]] politics--no lord could gain his seat without the approval of the bureaucracy and the local priests wielded equal (or greater) power than the landed nobles. Now, well, things are split.

During the [[Stone Throne]] era (post ascension), the state and church worked hand in hand, literally, with the High Priestess and the Queen's Fang being a couple. In practice, the state gained a lot of influence and had a hand in selecting a lot of the priests. After the breakup but before the [[Time of Troubles]], the church progressively lost power. The bureaucracy (especially the Office of Administration) retained sole control over [[Ar Salem Dolem]], but really only had significant direct political power in [[Asai'ka (Nation)|Asai'ka]], and even that was mostly due to corruption.

By 260 AC, things have become quite muddied even within the church, settling out to three main factions: Equality (desiring that the church and state run in parallel in their separate spheres), Domination (desiring that the church return to supremacy once again, although they're split on exactly what that means), and Acquiescence (desiring that the church submit to the secular authority). Domination and Equality are relatively evenly matched among the Orthodoxy hierarchy with Service preferring the first and Doctrine the latter, with Administration staying neutral; the Reform hierarchy is split between Acquiescence and Equality. The renunciates firmly denounce Acquiescence and favor Domination.

One notable sub-branch of Domination is the Sons of the Return (Revivalists), who quietly claim that they will bring about the return of the Queen in flesh so she can rule over the Jungle as promised. They aren't operating openly, however.
[[Category:Religion]]
[[Category:Jungle of Fangs]]

Church of the Queen Ascendant

2026-01-11T17:05:21Z

Admiralbenbo: /* General Organization */

Worship of the Queen Ascendant is formally organized and present in the nations of the [[Jungle of Fangs]].

== Theology ==
Theologically, the Queen does not demand deep careful understanding. Instead, she promotes action. Your faith is shown in your works and in sacrifice and ritual. Her demands are fairly simple--

# Respect and honor the established hierarchy. If you are lowly, honor your betters. It is fine to seek to better yourself and to rise to higher station, but do so out of a desire to improve society, not out of spite or jealousy. If you are born to high station, treat those below you with honor and tolerance. Enforce the law, but temper it with mercy.
# Respect and honor the priesthood as they honor the hierarchy. They are Her voices.
# Help your neighbor. Stand with society and civilization against the untamed, against the evil. Shun the demonic and the undead.
# Enjoy the pleasures of life, but don't let them consume you. Ascetic life is a lie--all emotions and pleasures have their place but their place is not to control the self.
# Respectfully husband the land. Agriculture and land-owning is more honorable than manufacturing or trading. Needless destruction of the natural environment is not good.

== General Organization ==
Since the breakup of the [[Stone Throne]] with its monolithic religious hierarchy, there have been two main branches of the church, both seemingly tolerated by the Queen herself, differing almost entirely in who they place in positions of authority. Think Pope and Anti-Pope, where both claim to be the "true" leadership of the unified church, rather than protestant vs catholic. The schism has very little influence at the level of every-day worship--most of the commoners and Lai are only vaguely aware that there ''is'' a schism at all and there is really only a difference at the political level.

After the [[Red Death]] and the collapse of [[Asai'ka]], and increasingly as the [[Time of Troubles]] has gone on, this schism has widened and deepened. At the current time, there are 2.5 branches--the "orthodoxy" centered in [[Ar Salem Dolem]], the "reformers" centered in [[Kel'al'ar]], and the "renunciates" most active in [[Sha'slar]].

==== The Priest-Bureaucracy ====
The Queen Ascendant's faith is a very structured, ordered thing. Priests, chosen from all the castes (and walks of life in those nations who have rejected the caste system), minister to the spiritual needs of the people and are a vital part of the secular government. Joining the priesthood means leaving your former caste and rank and taking on a new one.

Priests can be known by their clothing, especially while engaged in ritual work. As much of the [[Stone Throne Religion|worship practice]] involves bloodshed (of animals mostly these days), they wear naught but an apron made of a single sheet of cloth with leather reinforcements and a hole cut for the head. This is placed over the officiant and tied with thongs on each side, leaving the sides bare. See also [[Fang-kin Culture]].

The priests also act as musicians during the sacred dances, mainly playing atonal music on flutes and keeping rhythm on drums.

==== The Temple Dancers and the Sacred Dances ====
Much of the most sacred service is done by the Temple Dancers. These are men and women, chosen for their flexibility, grace, and beauty very young and trained rigorously. During the high festivals and sacred rites (such as at the installation of a new landed noble), they dance the sacred dances to the accompaniment of priestly drummers and musicians. These dances are fluid, and range from frantic acrobatics to languid contortions, often switching back and forth multiple times in a single dance. Generally only a single dancer will dance at a time, although a few of the most holy ones call for two women. Generally, female dancers are of higher rank and are more sought after, as the most holy dances can only be performed by women.

Temple dancers wear shifts of diaphanous silk that leaves very little, if anything, to the imagination. Those that would treat them as prostitutes, however, find that they are also trained to defend themselves without weapons. As well as incurring the wrath of the entire bureaucracy.

Technically, dancers are outside the hierarchy and answer only to the high priestess and the [[Handmaiden|handmaidens]]. It is whispered that some of the most decadent, debased nobles have started training their own corps of dancers who do more than just dance.

In outlying settlements or among the [[ophidian]] tribes, the people themselves enact the sacred dances. This is frowned on by the bureaucracy, but tolerated. Authentic temple dancers rarely make it out there anyway, and there's no need to squelch their fervor.

==== Willing Sacrifice ====
After the homily and readings from the sacred works (produced by the bureaucracy and expounded as commandments from the Queen) but before any dances that take may place come the sacrifices. Since the Ascension, these are of two forms (full blood sacrifice of an intelligent being being absolutely forbidden and carefully monitored)--

* Animal sacrifice is the most common. A chicken, a pig, or on rare occasions something larger. The animals are drugged and exsanguinated while alive, the blood being caught and given to the flames on the altar. Once dead, the organs (especially the heart) are removed and ritually burned. The meat is then prepared and shared among the participants.
* Token blood sacrifice. This is done only on occasions of ceremonies such as marriages, religiously-binding vows, funerals, or pledges of loyalty to a new sovereign. Those that are giving sacrifice come forth and are pricked with a sacred knife. The most common sites are the earlobes and the ball of the thumb, although some have been known to give sacrifice from their private parts in extreme cases of fanaticism. A single drop of blood is shed onto a piece of cloth; once each participant has comingled their blood with the others, the cloth is ritually blessed and consigned to the holy flames, carrying their devotion to the Queen.

==== Private Worship ====
The branches of the Church differ in how much individual, private worship outside of the public community rituals is performed. All of the branches practice individual prayer (often of ritualized form) at the noon meal, with highly devout people also waking up to pray at midnight. For those with spiritual needs or a desire to commune with the Queen, the Orthodox will visit their local priest, who anoints their own forehead and lips with sanctified bloodwine (see below) and takes their prayer and acts as intercessor with the Queen. Reform believers purchase sanctified bloodwine (if wealthy) or visit their priest, but they themselves are the ones anointed and the ones who pray to the Queen for aid.

===== Bloodwine =====
Bloodwine is a sticky red fluid made as a simulacrum of blood by combining red wine with a sanctified powder produced by carefully-guarded means by the priests of both Reform and Orthodoxy. Orthodox bloodwine comes in several grades--the highest is produced by the Office of Doctrine in [[Ar Salem Dolem]] and boasts an aetheric richness that allows the anointed much closer communion with the Astral. Lesser grades are produced locally and are merely blessed thickeners. Bloodwine is used extensively throughout the Offices in [[Ar Salem Dolem]] by all the dedicated priests. Reform bloodwine is centrally produced near [[Kel'al'ar]] and is purely formalistic in nature, without any magical properties.

== Orthodox Organization ==
The orthodoxy (as of the [[Time of Troubles]]) has settled into a hierarchy with the High Priestess, conventionally called "Saama" (a corruption of an iath neidr word meaning "Voice") at the top. She has a small coterie of advisors and secretaries separate from the main bureaucracy. As of 260 AC, the current Saama is an elderly woman with little direct influence, but is still widely revered even by the renunciates.

The next level down are the parallel organizations of the Offices, led by the Hierarchs, and the Eternal Dance, led by the First Handmaiden.

=== The Offices, aka the Priest-Bureaucracy ===
The Four Offices are what most people think of when they say "the priest-bureaucracy". They are the administrators, quasi-government, and police force of the church. By and large, in the common mind, they ''are'' the church.

There are four Hierarchs, one for each of the Offices of Doctrine, Administration, Finance, and Service.

==== Office of Doctrine ====
The Office of Doctrine handles matters of theology and sacred history, as well as sacred magic (deciding what is sacred and what is profane). This Office has the most dwarves, especially in the Inquisition--the active arm that seeks out heresy. It and the Schola (dedicated to the more scholastic side) are headquartered on [[Ar Dolema]], rather than in [[Ar Salem Dolem]]. At current times, the Doctrinaires are rumored to be somewhat sidelined and at odds with Administration and Service especially. Known to be extremely dogmatic and inflexible, Doctrine adapts poorly to changing circumstances.

==== Office of Administration ====
Administration puts the Bureaucracy in priest-bureaucracy. While these are mostly ordained priests, they handle very little of the spiritual matters. Instead, they make up the city administration and public works offices for [[Ar Salem Dolem]] as well as administering and protecting the church's assets throughout the jungle. The Temple Guard reports to the Hierarch of Administration, making him the most directly powerful of the Hierarchs. Administration is the second-largest Office and is constantly struggling with Finance for funding.

==== Office of Finance ====
Finance, as its name suggests, handles the money. Second-smallest after Doctrine, it is split into the accountants (including traveling accountants who are embedded in the regional and local temples) and the tithe collectors, who are seen often as the most corrupt branch. No one likes a tax man. These folks are only ''theoretically'' priests.

==== Office of Service ====
Service contains all the ''actual'' priests and their hierarchy. By far the largest, it also acts as the intelligence network. The Hierarch of Service is generally considered the "power behind the throne"--rarely if ever chosen as Saama (especially since Service is dominated by men, and a man cannot be High Priestess), but wielding the entire power of the bureaucracy (in the rare times they're not fighting among themselves).

Below the Hierarch of Service and his local staff (located in [[Ar Salem Dolem]]) are the regional hierarchs, each responsible for a major city and its surrounding areas, as well as the priest-school at [[Ar Salem Dolem]]. The latter traditionally belonged to Doctrine, but Service wrested it away in 251 AC in an internal fight. Below the regional hierarchs are the settled (stationary, with permanent assignments) priests as well as the itinerant common priests who travel from village to village.

# The High Temple and attendants. These live and work in the Sacred City of [[Ar Salem Dolem]] and especially in the High Temple there, where the Queen lived for centuries. They make the decisions for the nations, although most directly for [[Asai'ka]]. Competition here is fierce but hidden. Generally only those of noble birth attain these posts, despite the technical lack of birth-based rank among the priesthood.
# The Settled. These have places of fixed abodes in the cities and larger towns. Drawn from lesser noble and lai ranks, they are the local authorities and often rule with as much force as a noble.
# The Wanderers. These travel circuits among the villages and smaller towns. Generally of the common folk, they command little veneration.

A ''separate'' (from the Inquisition) force of internal enforcers, the Auditors, has been established to keep the Service priests in line.

=== Eternal Dance ===
The Eternal Dance is the other side of the orthodox church--the Temple Dancers and the Handmaidens. They are much fewer in numbers than the priest-bureaucracy, and answer only to the First Handmaiden (and thus to Saama herself). They are generally at odds politically with the Offices and maintain independent (and shadowy) sources of income.

==== The Temple Dancers ====
Led by the woman occupying the post of Azure Veil, the dancers are only loosely organized. They have ranks, but generally don't follow any strict hierarchy or chain of command. They self-organize into troupes, groups of 20-30 who coordinate actions in an area, generally led by a Khiev.

The ranks (veils) are

* Azure Veil -- The chief dancer. Only ever one at a time.
* Khiev -- senior dancer/troupe leader.
* Yellow Veil -- regular dancer.
* Black Veil -- specialist. Often rumored to be more spy or assassin than dancer, it is rare that any will self-identify as a black veil.
* Red Veil -- junior dancer, usually working under a yellow. May be trusted with some of the lesser dances.
* White veil -- apprentice/assistant. Not trusted to dance alone yet.

==== The Handmaidens ====
The smallest organization, the Handmaidens are spies, enforcers, and mystics. They answer to the Mother Militant. Not much is known of their organizational structure, and handmaidens only openly identify as such when commandeering resources or making arrests.

==== The Monastics ====
The Eternal Dance also maintains the monastery at [[Tyom]], which trains dancers and handmaidens. Under the Matron Mother, the monastics are the most withdrawn. They have a tight relationship with Doctrine, but little else is ever said.

== Reform Organization ==
The reform branch is much more simply organized, with three basic levels:

# The High Priestess rules from [[Kel'al'ar]] in close cooperation with the Serpent Throne.
# Each city and major town has a Hierophant as well as a group of lesser priests. They are responsible for keeping the church in that region on-track.
# Each village and smaller town has an established priest.

They tend to live close to the people and stay out of politics.

== Renunciate Organization ==
There isn't an "organization" of renunciates, as such. Merely a group of dissident priests who claim that the Orthodoxy has lost its way and its connection to the Queen, and the Reform is merely a puppet of the state.

== Church-State Relations ==
Relationships between the Church hierarchy and the secular governments has been strained since the founding with the [[Ascension of the Serpent Queen]]. Before that, the bureaucracy ''was'' the government in many of the ways that count--yes, there were [[Fang-kin Culture|phra and phraya]], but they all listened to the High Temple and the High Priestess. Church politics ''were'' [[Stone Throne]] politics--no lord could gain his seat without the approval of the bureaucracy and the local priests wielded equal (or greater) power than the landed nobles. Now, well, things are split.

During the [[Stone Throne]] era (post ascension), the state and church worked hand in hand, literally, with the High Priestess and the Queen's Fang being a couple. In practice, the state gained a lot of influence and had a hand in selecting a lot of the priests. After the breakup but before the [[Time of Troubles]], the church progressively lost power. The bureaucracy (especially the Office of Administration) retained sole control over [[Ar Salem Dolem]], but really only had significant direct political power in [[Asai'ka (Nation)|Asai'ka]], and even that was mostly due to corruption.

By 260 AC, things have become quite muddied even within the church, settling out to three main factions: Equality (desiring that the church and state run in parallel in their separate spheres), Domination (desiring that the church return to supremacy once again, although they're split on exactly what that means), and Acquiescence (desiring that the church submit to the secular authority). Domination and Equality are relatively evenly matched among the Orthodoxy hierarchy with Service preferring the first and Doctrine the latter, with Administration staying neutral; the Reform hierarchy is split between Acquiescence and Equality. The renunciates firmly denounce Acquiescence and favor Domination.

One notable sub-branch of Domination is the Sons of the Return (Revivalists), who quietly claim that they will bring about the return of the Queen in flesh so she can rule over the Jungle as promised. They aren't operating openly, however.
[[Category:Religion]]
[[Category:Jungle of Fangs]]

Kortel

2026-01-11T05:27:05Z

Admiralbenbo:

A young bronze dragon, last seen near the eastern coast of the [[Jungle of Fangs]], looking for his hoard. Likes songs and tricks.

== Time of Troubles ==
By 260, he had moved to [[Ar Salem Dolem]] and found his hoard: cookware. Especially tea kettles. Brass ones are his favorites, the more elaborate the better. He's become the leader of the Greylings, an organized crime syndicate in that city that does "gentlemen's business"--above-board brothels, money lending, protection rackets, gambling, fencing stolen goods, etc. Conspicuously refuses to get involved in any of the harder drugs or more "exotic" vices.

Only his close allies know that he's a dragon, as he spends his time in half-elven form. His lair is somewhere nearby.
[[Category:Dragons]]

Argentones

2025-12-29T04:45:18Z

Admiralbenbo:

An adventuring group adventuring in the [[Jungle of Fangs]] during the [[Time of Troubles]]. In-universe, started late spring 260 AC.

== People ==

* Lark
* Hiroh Megasaki
* Ren Tashiro
* Alfred Madgwick (retired as of 16 High Summer 260 AC)
* Kazado "Wordcarver" Uguna

== Adventures ==
/stub
[[Category:Adventuring Parties]]
[[Category:Time of Troubles]]

Argentones

2025-12-28T23:19:42Z

Admiralbenbo: Created page with "An adventuring group adventuring in the Jungle of Fangs during the Time of Troubles. In-universe, started late spring 260 AC. == People == * Lark * Hiroh Megasaki * Ren Tashiro * Alfred Madgwick (retired as of 16 High Summer 260 AC) * ???? == Adventures == /stub Category:Adventuring Parties Category:Time of Troubles"

An adventuring group adventuring in the [[Jungle of Fangs]] during the [[Time of Troubles]]. In-universe, started late spring 260 AC.

== People ==

* Lark
* Hiroh Megasaki
* Ren Tashiro
* Alfred Madgwick (retired as of 16 High Summer 260 AC)
* ????

== Adventures ==
/stub
[[Category:Adventuring Parties]]
[[Category:Time of Troubles]]

Main Page

2025-12-28T23:17:35Z

Admiralbenbo: /* Adventuring Groups */

== Dreams of Hope ==

A living campaign setting designed for the Fifth Edition of the world's most popular role-playing game, Dreams of Hope extends and continues the story of Quartus after the Cataclysm.

=== The Cataclysm and its Aftermath ===

250 years ago, a terrible magical cataclysm shattered the continent of Noefra (and most of the world of Quartus). Magic, both arcane and divine, stopped working and the [[Old Gods]] sacrificed themselves in an attempt to keep the world from disintegrating. Even with this sacrifice, storms, earthquakes, and other calamities swept the land. Almost 80% of the population of the continent died either immediately or over the next few years. When the magic returned 50 years later, it was different. New gods had arisen and spell-casters of all types had to re-learn their art. The survivors had retreated to isolated areas, convinced that they alone survived the Cataclysm.

==== Adventuring Groups/Harbingers of the Cataclysm ====

* The [[Divine Three]]
* The [[Refuge Seekers]]

=== A Spark of Hope ===
A little more than 45 years ago, a group of heroes known as the [[Catalysts]] convinced the five major countries of the western half of [[Noefra]] to coordinate their efforts—and so the [[Federated Nations]] council was born. With it came the founding of the [[Adventurer’s Guild]], an international problem-solving organization that handles requests from citizens and governments alike.

For many years, all was well. The fall of the [[Hungering Frost]] in 211 AC gave [[Wyrmhold]] a breath of hope. The [[Devil's Rebellion]] in the southern part of the [[Stone Throne]] was suppressed after adventurers gave advance warning. New cities were founded, including [[Shinevog]] and [[Zhapai Karmap]]. [[Godsfall]] was liberated, letting the [[Archon of Time]] and [[The Redeeming Blades]] ascend. Adventurers made friendly contact through the [[Portal Network]] to [[Ithemba]] on the [[Soefra]]n continent.

==== Adventuring Groups ====

*[[Catalysts]]
*[[Fire, Stone, and Cold]]
*[[Godsfall Champions]]
*[[Heroes of Pactum]]
*[[Shame Menders]]
*[[Dimwit Syndicate]]
*[[Airship Pioneers]]
*[[Wild Cards]] / [[Southern Heroes]]

=== Maturation ===
By 230 AC, however, the internal stresses on several of the [[Federated Nations]] member states had grown beyond repair. The [[Council Lands]] was especially troubled, but the [[Stone Throne]] suffered discontent as well. In 227 AC, a coup attempt by the deposed [[Guildmasters]] of the former Council Lands led to civil war. That war ended in 230 AC with the [[Treaty of Rauviz]] and the dissolution of the [[Council Lands]] into five nations: the [[Holy Kaelthian Republic]], the [[Crisial Kingdom]], the [[Uulan Confederacy]], the [[Free State of Rauviz]], and the [[Duarchy of Kotimaa]]. A few years later, the [[Stone Throne]] disassociated more peacefully into three nations: the [[Sha'slar Autonomous Zone]] in the north, [[Asai'ka]] in the central [[Jungle of Fangs]], and the [[Serpent Dominion]] in the south by [[Lake Thom]]. While Byssia and Wyrmhold did not break up, they have internal tensions of their own and especially tensions between themselves and between themselves and the other nations.

In this unsettled time were born the [[Registered Companies]]--mercenary adventuring organizations chartered by each nation. Ranging from the large, corporate [[Golden Banner]] company to the strange and obsessive [[Selan's Seekers]] to the quasi-spy organization known as the [[Holy Hands]], these companies employ adventurers of all [[Adventuring Ranks|ranks]] and attitudes. Those adventurers who belong to a company--a requirement of the [[Crystal Spire Protocols]] (CSP)--are titled Registered Adventurers. As a result of all of this, the [[Adventurer’s Guild]] reconfigured itself to provide mainly policing support. They and their Sanctioned Adventurers keep the [[Registered Companies]] in line with the CSP and keep the [[Portal Network]] open and functioning.

==== Adventuring Groups: ====
'''Note''': There was a timeskip for PC adventurers lasting from ~212 AC to 250 AC.

* [[Vault Seekers]]
* [[Heroes Foretold]]
* [[Enigma]]/[[Tempus Machina]]/[[Ad Elementis]]
* [[Zephryte|Zephyrite]]
* [[Half Measures]]

=== Darkening Clouds ===
Between 250 and the end of 252 AC, the tensions within the FNC came to a head, in part pushed by certain external parties (chief among them [[Loran Hae]], at the time serving as God of Harvest and Autumn). Crisis after crisis was narrowly averted or at least the damage was mitigated by concerted effort. Relations between former enemies such as Byssia and Wyrmhold have improved, and the situation on the [[Lupaus Plains]] has been resolved with only minimal damage. Elsewhere, however, things are more dire. The [[Holy Kaelthian Republic]] has turned insular and hostile, while still meddling in others' business. They abandoned most of their territory, but have seized control of all the trade routes between the western nations and the dwarven and jazuu homelands to the east.

In this unstable atmosphere, other groups such as the [[Circle of Purging Flame]] have began acting more openly to wreak havoc on the [[Federated Nations]], and the [[Adventurer’s Guild]] and [[Federated Nations]] council have proven unable to meaningfully oppose them or prevent the crises from multiplying. The [[Crystal Spire Protocols]] are honored more in the breach. Banditry, demon worship, necromancy, and hostility from tribal elements is on the rise.

==== Adventuring Groups ====

* [[Ruin Raiders]]
* [[Repotaters]]
* [[Three and a Half Women]]

=== Time of Troubles ===
The last half of 253 AC signaled the end of the prior order, and the start of the next one. The [[Red Plague]] wreaked havoc on the wealthy nations of [[Rauviz]] and [[Asai'ka]]; the [[Circle of Purging Flame]] (aided by the [[Holy Hands]]) attacked [[Fort Hope]] and, although repulsed, did enough damage to force the city to be abandoned to the renewed hostility of the surrounding tribes. With the [[Federated Nations|Federated Nations Council]] and the [[Adventurer’s Guild]] destroyed as organizations, the [[Portal Network]] reverted to local control and became much harder to access. Nations began actively recruiting meaningfully standing armies, dusting off military "traditions" last honored before the [[Cataclysm]]. The [[Crystal Spire Protocols]] were entirely abandoned, with the [[Registered Companies]] becoming private military corporations or (more commonly) arms of the sponsoring nation.

Early 254 AC made things much, much worse. The [[Grand Temple]] in the heart of [[Kaelthia]] erupted on the 5th of Spring Dawning, disappearing into a pillar of white, withering luminous aether. The veil between the [[Mortal Plane|Mortal]] and [[Astral]] planes was near torn asunder, eradicating all but the thinnest layer of the [[Border Shadow]] for miles around; the entire collapse was only averted when two of the remaining [[Catalysts]], [[Vassarian Kabir]] and [[Safrir Tree-friend]], gave their own lives to prevent Shadow from unravelling entirely. When the energy subsided, all that remained of Academy Isle was a pit, now filled with boiling, spitting lava from the dormant (but not dead) volcano known as Mt Refuge. Thousands died, whether as residents of the now-vanished island or from exposure to the toxic light or from fragments of rock raining down and starting fires in the surrounding streets. And the damage was not localized. A fog of aether, invisible to the eye, spread out across Noefra...and the [[Great Mechanism]] did not act to redirect it. Was it damaged in the blast? Had it decided that Noefra needed to feel the consequences of its actions? Scholars still debate that.

Regardless, the fog of aether affected magic throughout the continent. Long-range spells of all kinds, but especially communications, scrying, and teleportation became unreliable at best. The [[Portal Network]] was most affected--while portals can still be opened, safe passage is no longer guaranteed. In fact, the portals are only fit for use with careful preparation, calm aetheric weather, and for emergencies. Beyond that, it seems that demon and monster activity has increased significantly, signaling that the veil is still quite weak. Some areas have seen spontaneous undead outbreaks; others have seen fey gone rampant and actively malicious.

Over the next several years, the western nations tried to find their balance. Most realized that they were too big and too disparate in culture to survive, and quietly fell apart. Others expanded--[[Rauviz]] became a proper kingdom by absorbing some of the outlying areas of [[Crisial Kingdom]] and the lake-side areas of the [[Duarchy]]. The Duarchy, in turn, disintegrated. With [[Godsfall]] and [[Kotimaa]] in general turning their backs on the world, [[Dreamshore]] tried to make a go of it as a kingdom (the short-lived Kingdom of Dreamshore). That, in turn, broke up when [[Coldwind|Queen Coldwind]] died (of natural causes) without an heir in 257 AC. [[Crisial Kingdom]] didn't formally break up, but ''splintered'' informally, devolving most of the responsibility onto the regional nobles. The inland hill areas (such as [[Honel]]) are restive, barely considering themselves part of the kingdom any more. [[Asai'ka]] tried to reform under priestly rule...that collapsed under its own weight in 259 AC and newly-crowned Phraya [[Ahzekiel Cai'Valur]] (who took power peacefully in 258 AC when the former Phraya of the [[Serpent Dominion]] abdicated and retired) conquered the chaos-torn lands with only minimal loss of life. The [[Jungle of Fangs]] is still mostly cut off from the rest of the world, although a trade route now exists by sea to [[Byssia]] and there are at least occasionally bits of trade with the human kingdom of [[Ikela]] in [[Soefra]] (via the [[Ship Folk]]).

The western nations of [[Byssia]], [[Wyrmhold]], and [[Auringon]] were least affected by the chaos, but they too are experiencing changes. King Aurel of [[Auringon]] is on his deathbed as of the dawn of 260 AC, with his official heir a young hothead, while the mind-controlling legions of [[Tlalocana]] loom to the south. [[Byssia]] is expanding as a maritime power, busily absorbing the cultures of the islands of [[Gap-tooth Bay]]; they've centralized heavily and now have a significant military under Protector [[Yonas Akrotiz]]. [[Wyrmhold]] has held its shape, although the loss of much of [[Byarsha]] to mudslides has hampered things a bit. Culturally, they're undergoing significant changes as the clan-and-tribe structure loses steam and new questions of hierarchy raise their heads.

Most of the old heroes are dead or vanished--[[Zhapai Karmap]]'s [[Thon Mountain-break]] is desperately looking for a worthy successor, with all of his friends now dead ([[Oopsie]] and [[Uririel Sunia]], both of whom died in accidents) or otherwise occupied ([[Helwyr]] has left the banking life for a life as the 2nd in command of the largest criminal syndicate to [[Paresten sur Tai Nwyedd|Paresten of the Catalysts]]). And the times are troubled...

(This represents a time skip from 254 AC to 260 AC).

==== Adventuring Groups ====

* [[Argentones]]

=== Registered Adventurers ===
What are Registered Adventurers? In Earth terms, they're something like a cross between a Special Forces team and a private security contractor or mercenary. Their chains of command are loose and once unleashed on an objective they are free to pick their own methods of resolution. Most of their pay comes from what they acquire in the field--they keep what they loot. Their potential for growth can quickly leave them among the most personally powerful individuals as well as quite wealthy and they tend to retire after a few campaigns. Or die. For the risks they face are great. Abandoned temples to unknown gods, dragons' lairs, demon-summoning cults, hideous monsters, deadly traps. These are the everyday challenges facing a Registered Adventurer. Are you up for the challenge?

=== Resources for Players ===
[[Player's Guide--Character Creation]]

[[Player's Guide--Nations and Cultures]]

[[Player's Guide--Backgrounds by Starting Culture]]

[[Quick Planar Cosmology Guide]]

[[Player's Guide--Gods and Worship]]

[[Open Quest Seeds]] (these are campaign starters. Mainly an invitation to adventure in a particular location and a "main quest" to follow if you're looking for something.

[[Category:Dawn of Hope]]
[[Category:Player's Guide]]

Shadesteel golems

2025-12-25T21:43:45Z

Admiralbenbo: Created page with "The construct army that supplements the cysgoroesi in patrolling the Shadows--the golems form the defensive core protecting the fortress monasteries and other bases. == Appearance == Made entirely of shadesteel in the form of hulking, 8-12-foot tall humanoids (much like an iron golem, but much more graceful), the golems are all organic-looking curves and fluid movement. In a fight, they extrude greatswords, spears, or other melee weapons from their bodie..."

The [[construct]] army that supplements the [[cysgoroesi]] in patrolling the [[Shadows]]--the golems form the defensive core protecting the fortress monasteries and other bases.

== Appearance ==
Made entirely of [[shadesteel]] in the form of hulking, 8-12-foot tall humanoids (much like an iron golem, but much more graceful), the golems are all organic-looking curves and fluid movement. In a fight, they extrude greatswords, spears, or other melee weapons from their bodies, often molding their appendages into weapons.

Each golem is slightly different, often taking on aspects of their controlling soul.

== Power Source and Control ==
Shadesteel golems are classical golems with solid, non-clockwork bodies animated by an embedded source. Unlike most golems, however, this source is a living soul that has been [[Blood magic|anchored]] in a crystal housing. This entire crystal and its housing is embedded in the armor's chest cavity, but can (in principle) be removed. This soul serves as the mind of the golem and makes them much more effective than most. In essence, the golem is the soul's new body and it acts as a living being...albeit one immune to most of the ravages of time and physical damage.

The souls do deteriorate over time, becoming senescent and/or insane. When this happens, the soul is removed and set free and a new soul is emplaced to control the body. There are whispers that the bodies remember their old souls, making the older golems act as an amalgam of their previous pilots. It's said that some rare golems have moved even without a powering soul, despite that being a magical impossibility.

== Construction ==
The shadesteel golem army is created and maintained by the Bran Vras (magpie) sect of the [[cysgoroesi]], cooperating with the Myji (raven) sect who acquire the souls to pilot them. Mostly, to be fair, consensually. The arts of construction are a fiercely-maintained secret. It is known that it requires an active connection to [[Shadow]], if not being impossible outside of that realm.

== Numbers ==
Current (circa 260 AC) census of shadesteel golems is approximately 1000. Many of the past legions were lost and left behind in abandoned monasteries, now probably fallen into disrepair, gone insane, or become daemonhost.
[[Category:Cysgoroesi]]

Shadesteel

2025-12-25T21:30:26Z

Admiralbenbo:

A rare metallic alloy created exclusively by the [[cysgoroesi]] and used extensively in their equipment and gear and especially the famous [[shadesteel golems]] that defend their bases in the [[Shadows]]. Extremely rarely seen outside of cysgor enclaves in the [[Shadows]]

== Properties ==
Shadesteel is a lustrous, dark metal that appears to have swirling shadows moving through it even at rest in even lighting. Surprisingly light, it flows like liquid and responds to the wielder's intentions. A shadesteel golem, for example, can extrude weapons from its body and otherwise reconfigure itself. At the same time, it is exceptionally strong and resistant to almost every external force. It conducts aether quite well, but does not react well to highly luminous aether (its one weakness).

== Creation Process ==
While the full process for making shadesteel is unknown (outside the Magpie sect's sworn crafters and a few exiles), it is known that it incorporates a combination of steel and silver (normally a bad idea) made stable by binding processed shadow-stuff--the raw, psychoactive, unstable aether of that plane, made stable by unknown magics--into the mixture. As such, shadesteel is a paradox. Instability made stable, change made solid. But still changeable.

== Price ==
N/A. Purchasing shadesteel is effectively impossible, as no significant amounts exist outside of cysgor hands, and cysgor retrieval teams eagerly seek out the small amounts that leak (often from dead cysgor or exiles) and reclaim it by stealth or force. Acquiring a shadesteel artifact is a good way to find yourself visited by some of the grey elves who won't ask nicely.
[[Category:Special Materials]]

Shadesteel

2025-12-25T21:29:53Z

Admiralbenbo: Created page with "A rare metallic alloy created exclusively by the cysgoroesi and used extensively in their equipment and gear and especially the famous shadesteel golems that defend their bases in the Shadows. Extremely rarely seen outside of cysgor enclaves in the Shadows == Properties == Shadesteel is a lustrous, dark metal that appears to have swirling shadows moving through it even at rest in even lighting. Surprisingly light, it flows like liquid and responds to the..."

A rare metallic alloy created exclusively by the [[cysgoroesi]] and used extensively in their equipment and gear and especially the famous [[shadesteel golems]] that defend their bases in the [[Shadows]]. Extremely rarely seen outside of cysgor enclaves in the [[Shadows]]

== Properties ==
Shadesteel is a lustrous, dark metal that appears to have swirling shadows moving through it even at rest in even lighting. Surprisingly light, it flows like liquid and responds to the wielder's intentions. A shadesteel golem, for example, can extrude weapons from its body and otherwise reconfigure itself. At the same time, it is exceptionally strong and resistant to almost every external force. It conducts aether quite well, but does not react well to highly luminous aether (its one weakness).

== Creation Process ==
While the full process for making shadesteel is unknown (outside the Magpie sect's sworn crafters and a few exiles), it is known that it incorporates a combination of steel and silver (normally a bad idea) made stable by binding processed shadow-stuff--the raw, psychoactive, unstable aether of that plane, made stable by unknown magics. As such, shadesteel is an anomaly. Instability made stable, change made solid. But still changeable.

== Price ==
N/A. Purchasing shadesteel is effectively impossible, as no significant amounts exist outside of cysgor hands, and cysgor retrieval teams eagerly seek out the small amounts that leak (often from dead cysgor or exiles) and reclaim it by stealth or force. Acquiring a shadesteel artifact is a good way to find yourself visited by some of the grey elves who won't ask nicely.
[[Category:Special Materials]]

Dolorous Ladies

2025-12-25T21:17:16Z

Admiralbenbo: Created page with "A coterie of winter fey living at the Palace of Shimmering Waters. Unlike most fey, they are a set, normally manifesting as 4-6 individual females. Their aspect is ennui and constant searching for entertainment/fulfillment. They live in a constantly changing party with all forms of entertainment from the innocent to the debauched. Mortals who get suckered into their ambit often never emerge--they are not intentionally killed, but many party themselves..."

A coterie of [[Fey courts|winter fey]] living at the [[Palace of Shimmering Waters]]. Unlike most fey, they are a set, normally manifesting as 4-6 individual females. Their aspect is ennui and constant searching for entertainment/fulfillment. They live in a constantly changing party with all forms of entertainment from the innocent to the debauched. Mortals who get suckered into their ambit often never emerge--they are not intentionally killed, but many party themselves to death before realizing the inherent hollowness of pleasure-seeking. Those that do emerge often do so as ascetics who renounce all physical comforts. Or as utterly degenerate hedonists.

The ladies' individual forms vary from day to day or minute to minute, and veils and illusions abound. Why [[Morrigan]] keeps them around is unknown.
[[Category:Fey]]

Dwarf-fort

2025-12-25T21:10:10Z

Admiralbenbo: Created page with "Located on the NW forest road from Srassa Saat toward the Uulan Confederacy, this small outpost is manned by about 25 soldiers of the Sha'slar Autonomous Zone. It's main purpose is to serve as an early warning post for dangers coming from the Intermountain Wastes rather than to ward off serious invasion. Considered a hardship post. Category:Time of Troubles Category:Sha'slar AZ"

Located on the NW forest road from [[Srassa Saat]] toward the [[Uulan Confederacy]], this small outpost is manned by about 25 soldiers of the [[Sha'slar Autonomous Zone]]. It's main purpose is to serve as an early warning post for dangers coming from the [[Intermountain Wastes]] rather than to ward off serious invasion.

Considered a hardship post.
[[Category:Time of Troubles]]
[[Category:Sha'slar AZ]]

Ukheli

2025-12-25T20:45:48Z

Admiralbenbo: Created page with "A tribal group of humans (mostly) living in the Giant Spine Mountains foothills north-west of Shinevog. Not particularly friendly to outsiders, and not fond of arcane magic or those who wield it. Adoptive family to Eskel. == Notable People == === Eskel's Adoptive Family === Kaiya. Adoptive sister. As an adult, she is among the hunters of the tribe. Alara. Eskel's adoptive mother and Kaiya's biological mother. Head of the hunters. === Others === Mara. Kaiy..."

A tribal group of humans (mostly) living in the [[Giant Spine Mountains]] foothills north-west of [[Shinevog]]. Not particularly friendly to outsiders, and not fond of arcane magic or those who wield it. Adoptive family to [[Eskel]].

== Notable People ==

=== Eskel's Adoptive Family ===
Kaiya. Adoptive sister. As an adult, she is among the hunters of the tribe.

Alara. Eskel's adoptive mother and Kaiya's biological mother. Head of the hunters.

=== Others ===
Mara. Kaiya's close female friend and apprentice shaman (now officially shaman by 260 AC).

Adriel. Chief. Distant, serious. Strict about rules.

Theran. Senior hunter, now retired after a run-in with a chimera that was later killed by [[Ad Elementis]].

Alai. Junior hunter, now all grown up (~20).

Serpan. Senior hunter, chief of those who bullied Eskel growing up.
[[Category:Nations]]
[[Category:Noefra]]
[[Category:Ad Elementis]]

Ascended heroes

2025-12-22T04:03:31Z

Admiralbenbo: /* Consequences of These Rules */

Ascended heroes are those (former) mortals who have become resident in the [[Astral]] by trading their mortality for a dependence on worship. They serve as "gods" to many of the cultures.

==Rules==
# Ascended heroes can only be in one place at a time; they cannot create avatars. Thus, if they are destroyed anywhere, they are destroyed everywhere. That said, powerful ascendants have backup/contingency plans to preserve themselves. Killing a powerful ascendant is ''hard''.
# Ascended heroes can only interact across planar boundaries with mortals that worship them--there must be a pre-existing tie, voluntarily established by the mortal.
# Ascended heroes cannot annoint clerics, they can only teach spells and enter into pacts.
# The power of an ascended hero is directly proportional to the worship. Without worship, they must find another source of power to continue existence (ie become a devil or an angel or a demon).
# Ascended heroes ''can'' be proactive and ''can'' discriminate based on style of worship
# Ascended heroes are influenced by their worship and become the thing that their worshipers believe they are.

=== Consequences of These Rules ===
Worship of ascended heroes (generally called [[Ascendant|ascendants]], since many are not heroic) tends to be much more localized and uniform than worship of the [[Congregation]]. It is rare that worship extends outside of a sub-region or nation (except via those who learned to follow them). Those that worship ascendants also tend to be much more singularly devoted than those that worship the Congregation or revere kami--the dependence of the ascendant on the quality and fervor of worship means that they structure their cults/churches to focus the worshippers on that ascendant instead of spreading the faith. Generally, the churches are henotheistic--they accept the other ascendants and gods as real entities and only rarely proscribe their worship, but focus their worship on their patron. The less-powerful ascendants tend to gather cults rather than outright churches (the big distinction is how open the worship is).

Without clerics (who inherently have independence from the church structure), ascendant cults are even more dominated by the structure of the organization. All of their power is taught as "mysteries" and cannot be taken back from heretics and apostates, which means that culling and careful selection is vital for success. This also works to keep the organizations small and compact.

Schism in faith is the worst nightmare of most ascendants, as it literally causes internal dissonance. They care less about political schisms, as long as they don't lead to differences in faith...which means they still care quite a lot.

=== Incarnation ===
Ascendants, unlike the [[Congregation]], can incarnate relatively freely on the [[Mortal]], as long as they're doing so near a body of worship. This involves creating an aetheric body (like any summoned creature). Doing so is costly (both in initial cost and as a substantial drain on their power), however, and leaves them exquisitely vulnerable. They also can't interact freely with their non-local worshipers while incarnated. As a result, very few ascendants do so.

There are whispers of ways to ''mortally'' reincarnate an ascendant, letting them inhabit the body of a mortal worshiper. This is considered heresy and an impossibility by most churches, however.

== Becoming Ascendant ==
The two primary requirements for ascension are (a) a significant worship base and (b) substantial strength of will. While it is ''theoretically'' possible to ascend before mortal death, such plans are significantly more difficult than post-death ascension, because of the interference of the flesh.

Living mortals can be worshiped, and that does grant some power. But mortals struggle to capture that worship in any meaningful way. Post-death, however, the aspected aether flows freely and the more "extended" nimbus can properly absorb it. This phase requires either a huge volume of worship or a lot of care--there are many predators and beings that would like to catch that aether for themselves, usually by devouring the ascension-bound nimbus. Once enough is gathered, the second phase can begin.

To properly ascend, the mortal spirit must find a path into the [[Astral]]. As a bare spirit (nimbus + spark), this process is extremely dangerous. The spirit must have enough stored aether to survive and then to survive offering their spark to the [[Great Mechanism]] in exchange for a fragment of a [[True Word]], a Name. This latter part is excruciatingly painful, as one has to rewrite their entire essence to match their new Name.

Some more loquacious ascendants have likened it to throwing yourself naked off a cliff into the sea and assembling a working ship out of the air itself.

==Notable Heroes==
* The [[Queen Ascendant]]
* [[Nocthis]]
* <s>Shadow-sun, formerly of the Congregation</s> Deceased as of 254 AC.

[[Category:Ascended Heroes]]

Ascended heroes

2025-12-22T04:00:28Z

Admiralbenbo: /* Rules */

Ascended heroes are those (former) mortals who have become resident in the [[Astral]] by trading their mortality for a dependence on worship. They serve as "gods" to many of the cultures.

==Rules==
# Ascended heroes can only be in one place at a time; they cannot create avatars. Thus, if they are destroyed anywhere, they are destroyed everywhere. That said, powerful ascendants have backup/contingency plans to preserve themselves. Killing a powerful ascendant is ''hard''.
# Ascended heroes can only interact across planar boundaries with mortals that worship them--there must be a pre-existing tie, voluntarily established by the mortal.
# Ascended heroes cannot annoint clerics, they can only teach spells and enter into pacts.
# The power of an ascended hero is directly proportional to the worship. Without worship, they must find another source of power to continue existence (ie become a devil or an angel or a demon).
# Ascended heroes ''can'' be proactive and ''can'' discriminate based on style of worship
# Ascended heroes are influenced by their worship and become the thing that their worshipers believe they are.

=== Consequences of These Rules ===
Worship of ascended heroes (generally called [[Ascendant|ascendants]], since many are not heroic) tends to be much more localized and uniform than worship of the [[Congregation]]. It is rare that worship extends outside of a sub-region or nation (except via those who learned to follow them). Those that worship ascendants also tend to be much more singularly devoted than those that worship the Congregation or revere kami--the dependence of the ascendant on the quality and fervor of worship means that they structure their cults/churches to focus the worshippers on that ascendant instead of spreading the faith. Generally, the churches are henotheistic--they accept the other ascendants and gods as real entities and only rarely proscribe their worship, but focus their worship on their patron. The less-powerful ascendants tend to gather cults rather than outright churches (the big distinction is how open the worship is).

Without clerics (who inherently have independence from the church structure), ascendant cults are even more dominated by the structure of the organization. All of their power is taught as "mysteries" and cannot be taken back from heretics and apostates, which means that culling and careful selection is vital for success. This also works to keep the organizations small and compact.

Schism in faith is the worst nightmare of most ascendants, as it literally causes internal dissonance. They care less about political schisms, as long as they don't lead to differences in faith...which means they still care quite a lot.

== Becoming Ascendant ==
The two primary requirements for ascension are (a) a significant worship base and (b) substantial strength of will. While it is ''theoretically'' possible to ascend before mortal death, such plans are significantly more difficult than post-death ascension, because of the interference of the flesh.

Living mortals can be worshiped, and that does grant some power. But mortals struggle to capture that worship in any meaningful way. Post-death, however, the aspected aether flows freely and the more "extended" nimbus can properly absorb it. This phase requires either a huge volume of worship or a lot of care--there are many predators and beings that would like to catch that aether for themselves, usually by devouring the ascension-bound nimbus. Once enough is gathered, the second phase can begin.

To properly ascend, the mortal spirit must find a path into the [[Astral]]. As a bare spirit (nimbus + spark), this process is extremely dangerous. The spirit must have enough stored aether to survive and then to survive offering their spark to the [[Great Mechanism]] in exchange for a fragment of a [[True Word]], a Name. This latter part is excruciatingly painful, as one has to rewrite their entire essence to match their new Name.

Some more loquacious ascendants have likened it to throwing yourself naked off a cliff into the sea and assembling a working ship out of the air itself.

==Notable Heroes==
* The [[Queen Ascendant]]
* [[Nocthis]]
* <s>Shadow-sun, formerly of the Congregation</s> Deceased as of 254 AC.

[[Category:Ascended Heroes]]

Moon's Vengeance

2025-12-22T03:51:16Z

Admiralbenbo:

'''Date''': Roughly 3750 BC.

The event that ended the [[Ages of the World|Second Age]] and shattered the [[aelvar]] empire. Druids, working under the influence of the [[Awakener]], cajoled the Third Moon into leaving its orbit and coming crashing down onto the [[aelvar]] capital. The resulting devastation carved out mountain ranges and trenches in a huge circle around it, which still exist to this day.

Information recently uncovered by [[Repotaters]] in the [[Blood-thirst Wildlands]] points to one of the ultimate causes being one aelvar's reaction to the sadistic experimentation performed by his boss on his sister, who was judged "incapable of arcane manipulation" and thus a non-person. This sparked a chain of vengeance that ultimately ended an Age and brought down a multi-thousand-year empire.
:

[[Category: Historical Interest]]

Church of the Queen Ascendant

2025-12-22T00:18:32Z

Admiralbenbo:

Worship of the Queen Ascendant is formally organized and present in the nations of the [[Jungle of Fangs]].

== Theology ==
Theologically, the Queen does not demand deep careful understanding. Instead, she promotes action. Your faith is shown in your works and in sacrifice and ritual. Her demands are fairly simple--

# Respect and honor the established hierarchy. If you are lowly, honor your betters. It is fine to seek to better yourself and to rise to higher station, but do so out of a desire to improve society, not out of spite or jealousy. If you are born to high station, treat those below you with honor and tolerance. Enforce the law, but temper it with mercy.
# Respect and honor the priesthood as they honor the hierarchy. They are Her voices.
# Help your neighbor. Stand with society and civilization against the untamed, against the evil. Shun the demonic and the undead.
# Enjoy the pleasures of life, but don't let them consume you. Ascetic life is a lie--all emotions and pleasures have their place but their place is not to control the self.
# Respectfully husband the land. Agriculture and land-owning is more honorable than manufacturing or trading. Needless destruction of the natural environment is not good.

== General Organization ==
Since the breakup of the [[Stone Throne]] with its monolithic religious hierarchy, there have been two main branches of the church, both seemingly tolerated by the Queen herself, differing almost entirely in who they place in positions of authority. Think Pope and Anti-Pope, where both claim to be the "true" leadership of the unified church, rather than protestant vs catholic. The schism has very little influence at the level of every-day worship--most of the commoners and Lai are only vaguely aware that there ''is'' a schism at all and there is really only a difference at the political level.

After the [[Red Death]] and the collapse of [[Asai'ka]], and increasingly as the [[Time of Troubles]] has gone on, this schism has widened and deepened. At the current time, there are 2.5 branches--the "orthodoxy" centered in [[Ar Salem Dolem]], the "reformers" centered in [[Kel'al'ar]], and the "renunciates" most active in [[Sha'slar]].

==== The Priest-Bureaucracy ====
The Queen Ascendant's faith is a very structured, ordered thing. Priests, chosen from all the castes (and walks of life in those nations who have rejected the caste system), minister to the spiritual needs of the people and are a vital part of the secular government. Joining the priesthood means leaving your former caste and rank and taking on a new one.

Priests can be known by their clothing, especially while engaged in ritual work. As much of the [[Stone Throne Religion|worship practice]] involves bloodshed (of animals mostly these days), they wear naught but an apron made of a single sheet of cloth with leather reinforcements and a hole cut for the head. This is placed over the officiant and tied with thongs on each side, leaving the sides bare. See also [[Fang-kin Culture]].

The priests also act as musicians during the sacred dances, mainly playing atonal music on flutes and keeping rhythm on drums.

==== The Temple Dancers and the Sacred Dances ====
Much of the most sacred service is done by the Temple Dancers. These are men and women, chosen for their flexibility, grace, and beauty very young and trained rigorously. During the high festivals and sacred rites (such as at the installation of a new landed noble), they dance the sacred dances to the accompaniment of priestly drummers and musicians. These dances are fluid, and range from frantic acrobatics to languid contortions, often switching back and forth multiple times in a single dance. Generally only a single dancer will dance at a time, although a few of the most holy ones call for two women. Generally, female dancers are of higher rank and are more sought after, as the most holy dances can only be performed by women.

Temple dancers wear shifts of diaphanous silk that leaves very little, if anything, to the imagination. Those that would treat them as prostitutes, however, find that they are also trained to defend themselves without weapons. As well as incurring the wrath of the entire bureaucracy.

Technically, dancers are outside the hierarchy and answer only to the high priestess and the [[Handmaiden|handmaidens]]. It is whispered that some of the most decadent, debased nobles have started training their own corps of dancers who do more than just dance.

In outlying settlements or among the [[ophidian]] tribes, the people themselves enact the sacred dances. This is frowned on by the bureaucracy, but tolerated. Authentic temple dancers rarely make it out there anyway, and there's no need to squelch their fervor.

==== Willing Sacrifice ====
After the homily and readings from the sacred works (produced by the bureaucracy and expounded as commandments from the Queen) but before any dances that take may place come the sacrifices. Since the Ascension, these are of two forms (full blood sacrifice of an intelligent being being absolutely forbidden and carefully monitored)--

* Animal sacrifice is the most common. A chicken, a pig, or on rare occasions something larger. The animals are drugged and exsanguinated while alive, the blood being caught and given to the flames on the altar. Once dead, the organs (especially the heart) are removed and ritually burned. The meat is then prepared and shared among the participants.
* Token blood sacrifice. This is done only on occasions of ceremonies such as marriages, religiously-binding vows, funerals, or pledges of loyalty to a new sovereign. Those that are giving sacrifice come forth and are pricked with a sacred knife. The most common sites are the earlobes and the ball of the thumb, although some have been known to give sacrifice from their private parts in extreme cases of fanaticism. A single drop of blood is shed onto a piece of cloth; once each participant has comingled their blood with the others, the cloth is ritually blessed and consigned to the holy flames, carrying their devotion to the Queen.

== Orthodox Organization ==
The orthodoxy (as of the [[Time of Troubles]]) has settled into a hierarchy with the High Priestess, conventionally called "Saama" (a corruption of an iath neidr word meaning "Voice") at the top. She has a small coterie of advisors and secretaries separate from the main bureaucracy. As of 260 AC, the current Saama is an elderly woman with little direct influence, but is still widely revered even by the renunciates.

The next level down are the parallel organizations of the Offices, led by the Hierarchs, and the Eternal Dance, led by the First Handmaiden.

=== The Offices, aka the Priest-Bureaucracy ===
The Four Offices are what most people think of when they say "the priest-bureaucracy". They are the administrators, quasi-government, and police force of the church. By and large, in the common mind, they ''are'' the church.

There are four Hierarchs, one for each of the Offices of Doctrine, Administration, Finance, and Service.

==== Office of Doctrine ====
The Office of Doctrine handles matters of theology and sacred history, as well as sacred magic (deciding what is sacred and what is profane). This Office has the most dwarves, especially in the Inquisition--the active arm that seeks out heresy. It and the Schola (dedicated to the more scholastic side) are headquartered on [[Ar Dolema]], rather than in [[Ar Salem Dolem]]. At current times, the Doctrinaires are rumored to be somewhat sidelined and at odds with Administration and Service especially. Known to be extremely dogmatic and inflexible, Doctrine adapts poorly to changing circumstances.

==== Office of Administration ====
Administration puts the Bureaucracy in priest-bureaucracy. While these are mostly ordained priests, they handle very little of the spiritual matters. Instead, they make up the city administration and public works offices for [[Ar Salem Dolem]] as well as administering and protecting the church's assets throughout the jungle. The Temple Guard reports to the Hierarch of Administration, making him the most directly powerful of the Hierarchs. Administration is the second-largest Office and is constantly struggling with Finance for funding.

==== Office of Finance ====
Finance, as its name suggests, handles the money. Second-smallest after Doctrine, it is split into the accountants (including traveling accountants who are embedded in the regional and local temples) and the tithe collectors, who are seen often as the most corrupt branch. No one likes a tax man. These folks are only ''theoretically'' priests.

==== Office of Service ====
Service contains all the ''actual'' priests and their hierarchy. By far the largest, it also acts as the intelligence network. The Hierarch of Service is generally considered the "power behind the throne"--rarely if ever chosen as Saama (especially since Service is dominated by men, and a man cannot be High Priestess), but wielding the entire power of the bureaucracy (in the rare times they're not fighting among themselves).

Below the Hierarch of Service and his local staff (located in [[Ar Salem Dolem]]) are the regional hierarchs, each responsible for a major city and its surrounding areas, as well as the priest-school at [[Ar Salem Dolem]]. The latter traditionally belonged to Doctrine, but Service wrested it away in 251 AC in an internal fight. Below the regional hierarchs are the settled (stationary, with permanent assignments) priests as well as the itinerant common priests who travel from village to village.

# The High Temple and attendants. These live and work in the Sacred City of [[Ar Salem Dolem]] and especially in the High Temple there, where the Queen lived for centuries. They make the decisions for the nations, although most directly for [[Asai'ka]]. Competition here is fierce but hidden. Generally only those of noble birth attain these posts, despite the technical lack of birth-based rank among the priesthood.
# The Settled. These have places of fixed abodes in the cities and larger towns. Drawn from lesser noble and lai ranks, they are the local authorities and often rule with as much force as a noble.
# The Wanderers. These travel circuits among the villages and smaller towns. Generally of the common folk, they command little veneration.

A ''separate'' (from the Inquisition) force of internal enforcers, the Auditors, has been established to keep the Service priests in line.

=== Eternal Dance ===
The Eternal Dance is the other side of the orthodox church--the Temple Dancers and the Handmaidens. They are much fewer in numbers than the priest-bureaucracy, and answer only to the First Handmaiden (and thus to Saama herself). They are generally at odds politically with the Offices and maintain independent (and shadowy) sources of income.

==== The Temple Dancers ====
Led by the woman occupying the post of Azure Veil, the dancers are only loosely organized. They have ranks, but generally don't follow any strict hierarchy or chain of command. They self-organize into troupes, groups of 20-30 who coordinate actions in an area, generally led by a Khiev.

The ranks (veils) are

* Azure Veil -- The chief dancer. Only ever one at a time.
* Khiev -- senior dancer/troupe leader.
* Yellow Veil -- regular dancer.
* Black Veil -- specialist. Often rumored to be more spy or assassin than dancer, it is rare that any will self-identify as a black veil.
* Red Veil -- junior dancer, usually working under a yellow. May be trusted with some of the lesser dances.
* White veil -- apprentice/assistant. Not trusted to dance alone yet.

==== The Handmaidens ====
The smallest organization, the Handmaidens are spies, enforcers, and mystics. They answer to the Mother Militant. Not much is known of their organizational structure, and handmaidens only openly identify as such when commandeering resources or making arrests.

==== The Monastics ====
The Eternal Dance also maintains the monastery at [[Tyom]], which trains dancers and handmaidens. Under the Matron Mother, the monastics are the most withdrawn. They have a tight relationship with Doctrine, but little else is ever said.

== Reform Organization ==
The reform branch is much more simply organized, with three basic levels:

# The High Priestess rules from [[Kel'al'ar]] in close cooperation with the Serpent Throne.
# Each city and major town has a Hierophant as well as a group of lesser priests. They are responsible for keeping the church in that region on-track.
# Each village and smaller town has an established priest.

They tend to live close to the people and stay out of politics.

== Renunciate Organization ==
There isn't an "organization" of renunciates, as such. Merely a group of dissident priests who claim that the Orthodoxy has lost its way and its connection to the Queen, and the Reform is merely a puppet of the state.

== Church-State Relations ==
Relationships between the Church hierarchy and the secular governments has been strained since the founding with the [[Ascension of the Serpent Queen]]. Before that, the bureaucracy ''was'' the government in many of the ways that count--yes, there were [[Fang-kin Culture|phra and phraya]], but they all listened to the High Temple and the High Priestess. Church politics ''were'' [[Stone Throne]] politics--no lord could gain his seat without the approval of the bureaucracy and the local priests wielded equal (or greater) power than the landed nobles. Now, well, things are split.

During the [[Stone Throne]] era (post ascension), the state and church worked hand in hand, literally, with the High Priestess and the Queen's Fang being a couple. In practice, the state gained a lot of influence and had a hand in selecting a lot of the priests. After the breakup but before the [[Time of Troubles]], the church progressively lost power. The bureaucracy (especially the Office of Administration) retained sole control over [[Ar Salem Dolem]], but really only had significant direct political power in [[Asai'ka (Nation)|Asai'ka]], and even that was mostly due to corruption.

By 260 AC, things have become quite muddied even within the church, settling out to three main factions: Equality (desiring that the church and state run in parallel in their separate spheres), Domination (desiring that the church return to supremacy once again, although they're split on exactly what that means), and Acquiescence (desiring that the church submit to the secular authority). Domination and Equality are relatively evenly matched among the Orthodoxy hierarchy with Service preferring the first and Doctrine the latter, with Administration staying neutral; the Reform hierarchy is split between Acquiescence and Equality. The renunciates firmly denounce Acquiescence and favor Domination.

One notable sub-branch of Domination is the Sons of the Return (Revivalists), who quietly claim that they will bring about the return of the Queen in flesh so she can rule over the Jungle as promised. They aren't operating openly, however.
[[Category:Religion]]
[[Category:Jungle of Fangs]]

Asai'ka (Nation)

2025-12-11T22:15:31Z

Admiralbenbo: /* Leadership */

As a separate nation, Asai'ka lasted from the breakup of the [[Stone Throne]] in 245 AC until its takeover (following a near-collapse) 13 years later in 258 AC.

==Government==
* Oligarchy. Aristocracy + Plutocracy.
* Phraya Sel Ichiban is the ruler, but does not hold most of the power.
* Three main power centers
** Phra (landed nobility). Heaviest control outside the capital.
** Wealthy lai groups. Heaviest control in capital.
**Priest bureaucracy. Total control of [[Ar Salem Dolem]], influence over commoners outside of that. Hold power via threat of riots.
* Organized crime is heavy in the capital.

==Peoples==
* Fang-kin humans (40%)
* Fang-kin half-elves (40%)
* Ophidians (18%)
* dwarves (2%)

==Religion==
See [[Queen Ascendant]]. Common folk and ophidians are quite devout, upper castes pay lip service. Many of the wealthy worship Kela Loran or Aerielara. Perversions including demon (Barbed Rose, mainly) and devil worship (Mara) are rumored among the upper crust.

==Culture==
* Caste based, but the lines between the lai and isal castes has blurred significantly. Commoners are still lower class.
* Ophidians are not hated, but struggle to rise above the lower lai caste.
* Show of piety
* heavy corruption. Wealthy get away with almost anything.
* Plantations outside the city. Range from enlightened to brutal. Commoners aren't quite serfs or slaves, but not far off.

==Capital==
See [[Asai'ka (City)]].

==Economy==
;Exports: Finished goods, especially metals. Religious and divine goods. Spices and dyes.
;Imports: Wild products, fish.

==International relationships==
* Considered corrupt by the other two [[Jungle of Fangs]] nations.
* Moderately good by everyone else.

==Leadership==
The official ruler of Asai'ka is Phraya Sel Ichiban, second child of former Phraya [[Hvang Ssa'ka]]. About 40 years old, he is a vain, petty noble obsessed with popularity among the isal caste and wealth. Fortunately, his direct power, although theoretically absolute, is quite limited. Instead, power really belongs with the Board of the [[Benevolent Organization]].

===The Benevolent Organization===
Main Article: [[Benevolent Organization]]

Founded before the liberation of the [[Queen Ascendant]] as a band of underworld actors looking to regularize their territories, the Organization has grown into the shadow leadership of the nation. All criminal, and much of the legitimate business passes through the hands of Organization members. They also provide the police force and lend money to priest-bureaucrats, nobles, and merchants alike. This money lending is the main way they maintain power. The Organization, despite being a loose alliance of nefarious types, is held together by the oversight of the Board.

The Board is composed of a representative from each of the major power bases in the nation, and their word is absolute. The identities of the Board Members are not officially public, but are a widely-known secret. The Members are
* Phra Phel Solkan. An older half-elf, he married Lady Kagome Ssa'ka, Phraya Ichiban's older sister. When she and their daughter died of suspected poison in the chaos surrounding her father's death, he became the power behind Phraya Ichiban. He's been on the Board since 220 AC. In most cases, he takes the leadership role.
* Lai So Lender. A hard-faced woman in her 70s, So is the owner of the largest chain of banking houses throughout the [[Jungle of Fangs]]. Immensely rich, she sees everything in mercantile terms, in terms of profit and loss. Even lives are but counters in a ledger. She represents the lai caste. The senior member of the Board, she's been there since the Liberation.
* Senior Scrivener Jashan. Officially, he's merely a mid-ranking scribe with the priest-bureaucracy. In truth, he's the leader of the dominant faction, the Scales of the Goddess. Although he is devoted to increasing the power and prestige of the Temple to the point of austerity publicly, he isn't averse to living a sybaritic life in private. It's said that he prefers men for partners...or rather boys, the younger the better. Other, hastily suppressed whispers talk of darker desires and appetites. At 35, he's the youngest member of the Board.
* Mugen the Knife. A retired assassin, he represents the criminal element. Little is known about this man due to his intense obsession with privacy. What is known is that he heads up the enforcement arm. Of all of the Board Members, he's reputed to be the most concerned with the common good and the least corrupt.

=== Time of Troubles ===
The [[Benevolent Organization]] ran into severe problems with the [[Red Plague]]. Almost every member of the Board died (of the plague or more often of "accidentally stabbing themselves in the back 47 times"). Phraya Ichiban died early on. The organization itself devolved into infighting and it basically fell apart, with local luang each doing their own thing across the nation. Banditry and small-scale wars (jumped up raids) became prevalent. All in all, the nation ceased to be a going concern.

[[Ar Salem Dolem]] broke off as its own independent nation.

=== Consolidation with the [[Serpent Dominion]] ===
In early 259 AC, [[Ahzekiel Cai'Valur|Phraya Cai'Valur]] moved his armies north and absorbed the chaos-ridden lands, almost without bloodshed. He did not displace the local luang or phra, but did put in his own representative in the High Seat. As of 260 AC, the consolidation is, well, an ongoing thing. The capital is mostly under control, as is the main road. There is no ''organized'' rebellion, but not all the nation is doing the right thing. For most, however, it represents a return to the stability that has been so lacking for the last 20+ years.

== Legal System ==
Asai'ka's legal system has been corrupt for generations. Each local lord (khun or above) has exercised "justice" however they wished for a long time. The only ''real'' constraints were

* High justice on anyone required at least a luang, and lai and above can appeal. Appeals generally came down to the golden rule--pay the gold, make the rule.
* Low justice was used to extort and keep the commons in line.
* Those connected to the Organization generally had insurance against legal issues--as long as they paid their (high) dues, they could expect to skate on anything but treason.
* Crimes against priests were punished very heavily.

Since the consolidation, the major shift is that the right of high justice has been moved to the Royal Representative and his hand-picked judiciary. Isal-caste still have the right to appeal to Phraya Cai'Valur, but their cases are heard by the Representative instead of the Supreme Judicial Council. Attempts to impose a capital penalty outside of this court are considered low treason.

The Representative and his Justicars are trying to impose a more ordered system, starting lower courts with sympathetic isals delegating authority, but it's slow going. Convincing the nobles to give up power is a hard road, especially when that's been one of their major sources of power in a nation dominated by (according to them) filthy money-grubbing merchants. The lai, while they appreciate not having to deal with the corrupt nobles, bemoan the loss of their "insurance" and fight any attempt to actually punish them. The priesthood also strongly dislikes the fact that the "iconoclasts" of the south don't take crimes against priests as seriously...when they really mean that they no longer simply take the word of the priests and actually do investigations. They also dislike that the Representative seems to be intent on actually punishing priests for ''their'' secular misconduct instead of simply referring them to the bureaucracy's internal affairs.

As of 260 AC, justice in the capital is in the hands of the Representative, a hard woman named Pelan Elana, and of Phra Aera Solkan (one of three surviving members of the former royal family). Phra Solkan is a bit of a wild-card. Young for her post, she's known to be charismatic and is well liked by many, but her governing style is untested.
[[Category: Nations]]
[[Category: Stone Throne]]
[[Category:Needs Map]]

Serpent Dominion

2025-12-11T21:42:47Z

Admiralbenbo: /* Leadership */

==Government==
* Caste-based feudal monarchy/aristocracy.
* Phraya rules, with Phra and other lower nobles below.
* Towns ruled by nobles or their chosen governors.

==Peoples==
* Fang-kin humans (35%)
* Fang-kin half-elves (25%)
* Ophidians (35%)
* Sena'ka (5%)

==Religion==
Fang-kin are devout worshipers of the [[Queen Ascendant]], as are more "civilized" ophidians. They do not acknowledge the authority of the priests at [[Ar Salem Dolem]] and have their own hierarchy. "Wild" ophidians practice kami-veneration.

==Culture==
* Closest to "traditional" [[Stone Throne]] society
* Highly caste based, but ophidians now can rise to any level.
* Caste promotions based on merit.

==Capital==
See [[Kel'al'ar]].

==Economy==
;Exports: Fish, dye, spices
;Imports: fibers (especially cotton and wool).

==International relationships==
* Generally good, but limited.
* Only major contact is with the [[Ship People]]--they've developed a detente.

==Leadership==
The current Phraya (King, roughly) is Isal [[Hvang Srey]]. Adopted daughter of the former Phraya, Isal [[Sat'psa Balin]], she was victorious in the selection competition that ended at the time of the [[Battle of Kel'al'ar]] in 211 AC. Now in her mid 70s, she hasn't softened much. She still rules with an eye to practicality and profit. Her heir is her second daughter, [[Hvang Puo]].

The other contestants that survived the selection competition have since passed away--two from natural causes (Isals [[Sat'psa Dara]] and [[Sat'psa Vanna]]) and Isal [[Sat'psa Leng]] who was executed for leading the [[Devil's Rebellion]] in 211 AC.

== Time of Troubles ==
The Serpent Dominion fared very well (relative to other nations) during this period. [[Ahzekiel Cai'Valur]] was named heir in 254 AC and Isal Balin abdicated peacefully (and voluntarily) in 258 AC. Phraya Cai'Valur has since marched his army north to quell the chaos in [[Asai'ka]], leading to the absorption of that nation (other than [[Ar Salem Dolem]], which remains independent and under priestly rule). It's no secret that he intends to eventually absorb the [[Sha'slar Autonomous Zone]], but that nation so far has remained stubbornly resistant to any discussions, and Cai'Valur is not minded to go to war anytime soon.

Early in the Time of Troubles, a trade route was established around Cape Dread (the southern tip of the [[Blood-thirst Wildlands]]) to [[Byssia]]; additionally, efforts by [[Dilligas Husty]] and others have led to peaceful relations and tighter trade ties with [[Sentinel Island]] and even an initial shipment from the [[Soefra|Soefran]] nation of [[Ikela]] in late 259 AC.

=== Legal System ===
Phraya Ca'Valur has, with the support of the people and the grudging acquiescence of the noble caste, consolidated the old Isal-possessed rights of High and Low Justice under his Courts of Justice. There are several levels of such courts--the ridings (judges and enforcers who ride circuit through outlying areas), the settled magistrate courts (equal in rank to the riding judges, but settled in towns and cities), the Courts of High Justice (one per region), and the Supreme Judicial Council (consisting of the Phraya and his advisors). The magistrate and riding courts only handle low justice, but refer cases to the Courts of High Justice for capital crimes. The Courts of High Justice hear all capital cases in the first instance as well as appeals from lai on significant matters of low justice.

Civil disputes are still settled by luang-rank or phra-rank nobles, although more and more courts of civil arbitration (sponsored by a local phra or luang and wielding delegated authority) are popping up.

Isal can appeal to the Supreme Judicial Council as a matter of right on any matter, and their appeals must be heard; any sentence that would strip a noble of his rank or impose a capital penalty is heard there as a matter of first instance. Lai can appeal capital cases to the SJC, but their appeals may be denied without hearing. Lai can appeal significant matters of low justice (including the loss of caste status) to the regional CHJ, but again their appeals may not be heard. Commoners can only appeal specific matters of High Justice.

==== Crimes ====
High Justice is what we would call capital crimes. These are those crimes that could lead to a sentence of death or exile, as well as any that would strip an Isal of his caste rights. This ultimate penalty is rarely exercised, however. Most result in corporal punishment and loss of goods. Some examples--

* High Treason, including rebellion and attempted assassination of a Phra or Phraya. The big difference between high treason and low treason is that high treason ''must'', if proven, result in the death penalty and in stripping the family of the guilty party of all caste rights and property. No lesser sentence is allowed.
* Low treason, including unlawful arrogation of authority (such as exercising justice without right or claiming to be Isal when you're not). Minimum penalty is the individual being stripped of all caste rights and property. Exile is a frequent additional penalty. Doesn't affect the family (other than politically). Premeditated murder of an isal or a ranking priest is considered low treason.
* Rape of a child (12 years or younger). Rape of an "adult" (broad strokes) isn't a capital matter, but is punished harshly...for non-Isal. Rape of an isal is generally considered low treason.
* Premeditated murder (of anyone other than an isal or ranking priest).
* Buying, selling, or knowingly transporting slaves for sale.
* Banditry or theft that risks the lives of others.

Low justice is all the rest. The maximum penalty here is corporal punishment (lashes, public humiliation, etc) or fines, although some of those fines may be highly punitive.

Only High and Low Treason have defined penalties, and the boundary between high and low justice is somewhat fuzzy and ill-defined.

[[Category: Nations]]
[[Category: Unfinished]]