Realms of Chirak; The Black Kyanite of Theliad; a Boon and Curse of Immortality

Black Kyanite

   Though it is speculated by some that the immortals of Theliad might be descended from true Inadasir blood,  and others have suggested that they might be avatars of some sort, the reality is a bit stranger. Deep in the bowels of an ancient cavern in the Agardash Mountains there lies a special vein of arcane crystals called the Black Kyanite.  This particular source is almost utterly black unless under strong light, revealing a deep, dark blue quality to the stone. The Black Kyanite appears to have strange properties, not unlike the divine Zodiac Stones, in that those who even touch the stone are gifted with great boons as well as immortality. The ability of one to  make something of such a gift is highly dependent on the recipient of the  gift, and many fail to even survive the initial touch of the stone. Others are wracked with curses and disease worse than the gifts bestowed; the ones who are able to harness the power of the Black Kyanite are most likely those few immortals now known to be like demiurges to the Theliadics.

   Black Kyanite can be found in only a few locations. Some is known to have been stolen away and is kept in an ancient dungeon deep beneath the city of Zheranos by the Canerous King Azeros, who himself has been bestowed with immortality at a terrible price. The lost Cavern of of the Agardash Mountains is the source of the purest and most powerful Black Kyanite, and it is believed that each of the “true” immortals of the land visit this cavern, and possibly took a piece of the powerful stone with them. Other sources of the stone may exist, and one rumor is that the ground beneath the ruin of Afar is riddled with impure versions of the stone.

   If someone comes in to contact with the substance it will grant them a Boon, and also a Curse unless they succeed at a DC 21 Wisdom save, or sometimes a DC 21 Constitution save if the desire of the intended recipient of the boon seeks a great physical enhancement. Failure still grants a boon and immortality (no longer ages), but also a curse. Success, which happens rarely, leads to the boon and agelessness without a major curse, though debilitating side effects of the boon may still be evident.

   The stone can be touched once a year to gain further boons (and curses), though each subsequent effort to do increases new saves by 1. If the save is ever critically failed (natural 1) the subject is killed immediately and transforms into Black Kyanite with all the properties of the stone. On a natural 20 the subject always gains the boon with no curse.

   Characters who undergo this transformation gain the following perks from touching Black Kyanite:

1 Boon (see DMG for samples, or see more below)

Gain immortality (ageless; still can die of unnatural causes)

Gain one minor impairment as a side effect of boon (example: ability to cast burning hands at will also requires PC to sleep on nonflammable material at night or they catch on fire)

On Save Failure Gain Major Curse (see chart below)

Sample Curses from the stone include:

D20                  Curse

1                                            Lose immunity to disease and roll at disadvantage on disease saves

2                                            Lose eyesight

3                                            Lose hearing

4                                            Become hideously deformed (disadvantage on Charisma and Dexterity Saves)

5                                            Grow 1D3 extra eyes

6                                            Must concentrate or turn into a blob like mass

7                                            Animals attack on sight

8                                            Lose all sense of touch (disadvantage on tactile Dexterity checks)

9                                            Develop vulnerability to metal (any contact with metal deals double damage, or causes 1 damage per round for passive contact)

10                                        Lose ability to benefit from a short rest

11                                        Plagued by nightmares; Must make a DC 17 Wisdom save each night to benefit from a long rest

12                                        Lose half hit dice permanently

13                                        Reduce Int and Str to 3 permanently

14                                        Reduce Cha and Dex to 3 permanently

15                                        Gain Disadvantage on all magic saves

16                                        One limb transforms into living Black Kyanite; susceptible to spells like Shatter as if an inanimate object

17                                        Lose ability to eat, can only sustain life with blood

18                                        Develop incurable lycanthropy

19                                        Lose ability to speak (either lose voice, or all dialogue is babble)

20                                        Translucent skin reveals organs; gain disadvantage on Charisma checks but advantage in Intimidation

Examples of Additional Boons Granted by the Black Kyanite:

Flame Control: gain the ability to cast burning hands at will; cannot control while sleeping

Stone Skin: develop skin of pure stone, but unable to “feel” like normal again.

Invisibility: Become permanently invisible, but all clothing and objects remain visible.

Ability Enhancement: Gain +5 points in one ability of choice but lose 5 in another ability (to 20 max).

Flight: gain the ability to fly, but lose the ability to touch the ground (must always hover just above the ground). Falling becomes a non-issue, but sleeping becomes difficult, as does any other act that benefits from being grounded.

   Any boon from the DMG, accompanied by an appropriate minor curse of hindrance, is acceptable as well.

Return to Theliad - an Update and Revision to the Northwestern lands of Chirak

The History of Theliad

   Northwestern Chirak is a remote location, isolated from much of the central civilizations of the Sea of Chirak region, and only tenuously connected by trade and warfare with certain regions of the West and the North. Syrgian traders have been journeying to the eastern regions of Theliad for two centuries now, and on certain occasions the Madigar and Abraheilites have engaged in trade by way of the difficult sea and land routes to Theliad. Still, it is not as isolated as Far Therias, and its people know something of the wider world, though their insular cultural groups are not receptive to outside influence.

   Theliad is described by some as a land that has moved on. While the rest of the world still mourns the loss of old gods or eagerly awaits the rise of new avatars and demiurges, Theliad has dispensed with the old pantheon in disgust and created its own new ways. Chiefly, the earliest arbiters of civilization were several clans who claimed trueborn blood of the old Inadasir, and that this was divine blood, which asserted their ultimate destiny as ascended beings. The first true civilizations to rise in Theliad after the Apocalypse were driven by these early god-kings, and the concept prevailed. The notion of a leader being directly equivalent to a god is commonly accepted among the people of this land, and their belief that mortals can ascend to divinity is very strong.

   Theliad’s history has not been without conflict. The earliest god kings arose in three primary cultural groups, including the Atarthic kingdoms, the Shellas, and the Adenar. These three groups rose from the ashes of the Apocalypse within three or four centuries, and it was around seven centuries that the first self-proclaimed god kings manifested. The first such was the enigmatic being called Hakarthos. This man ruled Atarthis as a benevolent ruler, who claimed to have visited a cavern in the Agardash Mountains, where he was spoken to by a divine spirit some claim to be Pallath and others claim was Pornyphiros (and still others believe something else entirely happened; see Black Kyanite later on). The legends say that this variably named divine spirit passed on the essence of godhood to Hakarthos, who then went on to rule, as an immortal, for nine centuries before his fall during the Keterash Uprising.

   Two other divine beings manifested during this early period, including Nimrasa, the divine queen of Shellas, and Sulturian of Adenar, an amorphic being who, though starting as a man, eventually transformed in to a terrible entity. Like Hakarthos, Sulturian was eventually deposed, though his followers found they could not slay him, and instead entombed the terrifying being in the deepest levels of the catacombs of his great city, and then abandoned it. This city is known today as Afar, and it is said that the blood of the entombed god poisoned the land all around, turning Adenar in to a dead land.

   Nimrasa is the only one of these ancient ascended beings to remain alive to this day. Though her kingdom collapsed long ago, her loyal priesthood spirited her away to a place of safety during the time of the Keterash Uprisings and kept her safely hidden. A century after the collapse of the old empires she was revealed anew, though Nimrasa swore she would never again demand servitude of mortals. The goddess dwells to this day in her venerable mountain temple just south of the lake city of Typhonis.

   It was approximately eleven hundred years ago that the second pantheon arose. This time, the first scended mortal was a man known only as Agarthis, a warlord of the Ekarthask clans, he was a powerful figure, and in this era he conquered a great deal of territory. On one occasion, near the edge of the White Desert, he was visited by a seductive spirit, a woman who claimed to carry the blood of the god Ga’Thon in her veins named Ierata. As the tale goes, she seduced Agarthis, and gave him a taste of divine godflesh from her father’s own body. Agarthis was transformed, and rode forth to declare his status as risen god. He conquered much of the known world in that time, and his own troops were now prepared to venture across the burning sands of the White Desert to sack the fabled city of Eristantopolis, when he was confronted by a man named Pallath Eridanos, a chosen avatar of the sun god, who allegedly united the surviving foes of the risen god with the troops of Eristantopolis to at last stop the mad immortal. Agarthis was imprisoned, again found to be unkillable, beneath a massive stone monument, usually called a tomb, but known also as a temple by his followers to this day. Even imprisoned, his voice can be heard in the dreams of men of great desire and power, and it a common term to speak of one who has fallen to madness as having “received the dreams of Agarthis” as an explanation for his insane behavior.

   The mysterious Pallath Eridanos is still revered by the people of Theliad today, though little is known of this man. He is said to have studied for a time in Eristantopolis after saving his people, and then to have traveled to the western islands, where he founded the modern city and kingdom of Theliad before passing on in to time. His whereabouts to this day are unknown.

   The Demon Kings of old were feared and reviled by all, and Theliad, much like the rest of the world, was not spared their rampaging shortly after the Apocalypse ended with the death of the gods. In this region it is known that many such ancient demon kings settled, as they tired from their ceaseless rampaging or were at last captured, imprisoned, or sometimes even destroyed. Scholarly records suggest that eleven demon kings were left alive or imprisoned in the land, and to this day there are Cults of the Eleven in the region, which revere and seek dark power from these entities.

   The last thousand years of history in Theliad have revealed two more “ascended immortals.” One is a man named Krytias, a scholar and student of lore who discovered, some say, the very cavern in which Hakarthos gained his divinity. Krytias manifested his divinity two centuries ago, and has been a peaceful ascetic ever since, teaching others how to achieve spiritual unity based on his visions prompted by the visits he makes to the sacred caves. His temple is located in the isles of Nelindiros.

   The other immortal is a man of mixed infernal heritage, whose mother may have been taken by one of the Eleven, specifically the infernal king Naramaeos. This son, named Tyrios, rose to power by virtue of his wiles and charms in the city of Masar, where he has ruled with an iron fist now for four centuries. Masar is a decadent kingdom of dark delights and opiates, reveling in the slave trade and the exploitation of others. It serves as an unpleasant bridge between the westerlands of Abraheil and the rest of Theliad.

   Of the many lands in the region, Theliad and Ekarthask are unique in that they eschew all faith in magical teachings, and disdains sorcery in all forms. These people only nominally tolerate divine practitioners, and seek instead the guidance of men who are enlightened through conventional wisdom.

    In contrast to these two lands, Nuliria and Nelindiros venerate their divine practitioners, and keep a watchful eye out for others who might claim potential immortality. These lands believe that the old age of gods is gone, and the essence of the gods has been imbued in mortal flesh, to be revealed at a time of their choosing. As a result, there are perhaps two dozen cults to various “living gods” in these lands, as well as certifiable ones such as Krytias and Nimrasa. A short list of these more popular living gods include:

Katharios the Wise

Chelisana the Divine Mistress of Light

Traidoros the Living Spirit of Strength

Macharadan the Healer

Setrinara the Oracle

The twins Tython and Ulistrana, divine sparks of Pornyphiros.

   Further east, in Sytaris, the people are less prone to worshipping living gods, though it does happen, and they instead venerate the ancestral dead, where they believe that the immortal spirits of their kings are all descended from the first true god, Hakarthos. They believe that Hakarthos was a unifying god-spirit, and that all of his descendants carry his spark. This ancestral cult is not unlike those of Nubirion, although with the added belief that each reincarnation brings an ancestral spirit closer to divinity.

   In the distant east, the city states of Ghurthal tend toward the worship of their resident goddess, the ancient Nimrasa, but there are cults and factions to many other gods as well. In an alarming trend, there are those who worship the entombed gods, Sulturian and Agarthis, and feel that they must follow the “children of Ga’Thon.” Where such teachings begin is a mystery, though rumors of Ierata’s hand in the matter are troubling. This mysterious entity, branded a Thousandspawn by the Preservationists of Eristantopolis, is believed to have secret designs on Theliad at large, and that she is partly to blame for the enigma of the so called ascended immortals and living gods in the land.

   In recent years, through the determined scheming of many lifetimes Ierata has consipired to manipulate the Theliadic Emperor Tiraeus into mad schemes of grandeur. Emperor Tiraeus has initiated a plan to conquer all of Theliad, to assassinate all of the immortals, to clean the slate for his great empire. He will then establish himself as a new, living god. Even as Ierata uses the emperor to destroy her enemies, Tiraeus quietly conspires to destroy the witch as well, using the maddened creature that was once Agarthis, whom he freed from imprisonment to use as his guide in his new war against the world.

Next: Black Kyanite

Starfinder: The Tomb Ships of the Stygian Expanse

The Legend of the Stygian Expanse and the Tomb Ships

Spacefarers speak of the Stygian Expanse like it is a defined place, but one which no star chart can show you, no drift route takes you to. The Stygian Expanse is, if anything, more of a concept…it’s the place between star systems, the area off the grid, beyond the edge of known space. It is the dark between the stars.

One of the phenomena attributed to the Stygian Expanse are the dreaded tomb ships. These immense, ancient vessels have manifested in human space over the ages, and the earliest recorded encounter with a tomb ship predates the Old Karthan Empire by nearly five thousand years. The tomb ships are usually encountered alone although in 7,791 a dozen tomb ships appeared in the Qualien system, leading to a total quarantine followed by a dedicated glassing of the entire planet by the Karthan Navy. This, unfortunately, is a distinct possibility even with one tomb ship; the arrival of such a vessel can spell almost certain doom for a planet if these horrible ships settle in to orbit.

Tomb ships are ancient vessels, often of different design or origin, and sometimes equipped with FTL drift drive and other times containing no FTL drive, or on rare occasion some other means of FTL travel, usually in the form of unknown alien technology. Many of the recorded tomb ship encounters demonstrate that human or human-like entities must have crewed the ships, while other vessels were clearly alien in origin. The smallest tomb ship recorded was a quarter mile long, and the largest was an amazing thirteen miles in length.

The mystery of the tomb ships is exaggerated by the horror of its inhabitants. All tomb ships are ultimately devoid of life, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t crewed. Some tomb ships are completely empty, containing only a hint of mystery or displaying evidence of some ancient carnage, frozen in space, suggesting the catastrophic final battle of the crew, long ago. These ships aren’t without risk, for all ships contain the necrophage virus, a virulent necrotic reanimating virus that is incredibly difficult to capture and study in any safety. In such dead ships the virus is dormant, or mutated and no longer highly virulent and transmittable.

When the necrophage is active, such tomb ships arrive in system with a horde of reanimated dead. The crew of the ship may or may not be conscious of their own undead state, but those who display consciousness are the most dangerous, capable of scheming to carry out an insane compulsion to destroy or subjugate all life, and to spread the necrophage in their wake. The incident at Qualien was such a situation, with a dozen such ships disgorging an army of millions of undead warriors on the planet.

The Karthan Imperial Research Division (KIRD) has worked closely with the Imperial Navy to find a way to capture and study a tomb ship. They have considered targeting one of the vessels that is moving at STL speeds on its transit between solar systems, out in the void where it is safely removed from living solar systems. The intent is to identify the origin of these ships, and to gain a chance to properly study their construction, crew, and origins as well as the virus itself. So far these efforts have had mixed results and more than one KIRD team has perished in the process.

Despite the difficulty, KIRD teams along with more conventional historical research have identified the following interesting pieces of information about the tomb ships:

Tomb Ship Crews

Most tomb ships tend to carry undead crew that match the dominant species of the worlds they descend upon. A vesk world visited by a tomb ship will contain undead vesk, for example. It is presumed that this means that the ships have a directive to pursue the conversion and/or destruction of the initial species of the necrophage. No one has found a ground zero example to study, however (origin of a tomb ship, and origin of its first choice of species for “crew.”)

Tomb Ship Designs

Tomb ships do not have consistent uniformity of design, but they do reflect the technological and sometimes cultural and architectural norms of the species that inhabit the ship. A tomb ship of undead vesk will look different from a tomb ship of undead humans, for example. All tomb ships seem to integrate the funerary or ritualistic elements of the culture of origin for its crew, however, often with thematic elements of ancient origin. Many tomb ships of human origin seem to glorify interment in sarcophagi, coffins, or actual tombs and crypts, for example; these serve as a maze of architectural anomalies riddled throughout the hull of the ship, writ large as if serving as a monument to the concept of death.

The Necrophage

Most species to date appear to be at risk of infection by the necrophage once exposed. The necrophage appears to have at least three states: an early, highly virulent and transmissible state in which the virus can be exposed through air or touch; a second state in which it is in the infected victim, dormant until the individual dies at which time he or she returns as an undead animated creature; and a third state in which the necrophage transmits to victims of the undead through scratches and bites. Not all undead types recorded so far transmit the necrophage, however, and no link between undead who remain intelligent and free-willed and those who appear to be mindless has been identified as of yet.

Tomb Ship Invasions

Tomb ships move through space, sometimes slower than light, sometimes using obscure and alien warp drives, and sometimes through the drift, though at least one scout vessel which tracked a tomb ship in the drift discovered that the tomb ships appear to enter a region of the drift distinctly different from the more conventional “space lanes” most normal vessels travel through. Indeed, it is suspected that there may be tomb vessels traveling indefinitely in the drift, waiting for centuries or more before dropping out in to a suitable habitable world.

When a tomb ship does target a world, it have a number of unique approaches. Some ships have been recorded to arrive and immediately fire what are known as Cenotaph Clusters, smaller drop-pod like ships carrying anywhere from one to an entire squad of undead invaders. There is no consistency here; the invaders might be armed with heavy weaponry and armor, or they might be unarmed and unarmored, set only to spread the necrophage through their bites and scratches.

Some vessels arrive in-system and take up orbit with no hostile action….until the locals poke their nose in to the ship and decide to board it, thinking they’ve stumbled on a salvage boon. Despite the reputation of these vessels, there are still thousands of systems that have never heard of the danger of tomb ships.

A few tomb ships are especially dangerous, and are equipped with active defenses as well as snub fighters and drop ships, along with devious, free-willed undead who express their intense desire to destroy or subjugate all life. The Qualien incident was headed by one such undead, a lich called Karidais the Eternal, who claimed he was the chosen priest of Death Incarnate. Unfortunately his recorded exchanges provided little detail on his origins, though the fact that he spoke the standard galactic basic of the Old Karthan Empire with just a trace of an unknown accent was telling.

Folklore of the Tomb Ships

Spacers are known to fill in the blanks when they lack information, but a few of the legends, rumors and folklore of the tomb ships tend to get repeated often enough that KIRD investigators have taken that as a sign that there may be more than a grain of truth to some of it.

One of the most famous stories is one in which a famous freighter captain, who name changes from one tale telling to the next, stumbled in to an unknown world on a drift jump failure and found a dead planet with hundreds of tomb ships in orbit around it. He escaped, but not (so the story goes) before seeing dozens of tomb ships leave to chase him. As the story goes, when this mysterious captain appears in your system, telling his story, then the tomb ships will soon arrive.

A scholar and madman named Erintos Pathaer, who is recorded as being a famous astrophysicist and xenocultural researcher back in the pre-empire days, wrote many books on the subject of the tomb ships. He claimed that the source of the tomb ships might be an actual entity from beyond the edge of the galaxy, which creates the necrophage and then utilizes its dark energy to manufacture the ships and send them in to living space specifically to subjugate and destroy entire civilizations. This entity, which he never identified the name of, had decided that it was literally “death, the destroyer or worlds,” and had chosen the necrophage as its tool.

A third popular story is that the necrophage originated with an ancient human empire, one founded at the dawn of the space age nearly eight thousand years ago, and that this lost empire rose to power but was destroyed by its enemies with the necrophage. The unintended side effect was the rise of a powerful undead army seeking to slay all life and make the universe a tomb for all beings. The planet of origin is a cenotaph world somewhere out beyond the galactic rim…or according to some stories just next door….but cloistered away by the ancient tech used by the old empire’s enemies to hide the evidence of what they had wrought on the universe.

Adventures within Tomb Ships

Adventurers who encounter tomb ships may well find one entering some region of inhabited space, perhaps threatening a local colony. The colonists may have few resources, or be located in the Vast, such as the region of the Conarium Expanse, where the hope of Imperial intervention is nonexistent. In these cases their first choice may be to hire expendable mercenaries such as the PCs to see if something can be done about the tomb ship before it becomes too late.

Escaping a tomb ship can be as simple as infiltrating the vessel and finding a way to destroy it before becoming infected to as complex as evacuating an entire colony or station to the safety of another system. If the colony is too large or has grown world-wide then this pay not be a feasible option. Direct confrontation with a tomb ship could be a viable option if it is a lesser ship with few defenses or assault capabilities, but a well-armed tomb ship could be capable of handling its own against an entire flotilla of the Karthan Navy.

Spacers could encounter tomb ships in strange locations or trajectories, too:

Chart I: Appearance of the Tomb Ship (D12)

1 – one tomb ship floating, seemingly powerless, in an asteroid field where belters are active and mining for ore (roll on chart II)

2 – one tomb ship seemingly resting, frozen, at the edge of a star system in the Kuiper Belt region

3 – on tomb ship captured on a slowly decaying orbit near a local gas giant

4 – one tomb ship drifting in a sling-shot effect around a local star, seemingly uninterested in approaching any nearby colonies

5 – one tomb ship moving through the plane of the ecliptic in a strange angle that would seem to suggest it’s heading out of the local galactic area

6 - the tomb ship sets up orbit around the local inhabited world but then proceeds to power down and take no action

7 – the tomb ship appears with a bang, plowing in to a major orbital station or L5 colony and plows in to the station, lodging itself in the process

8 – the tomb ship appears in orbit over the habitable world or in a parallel flight with the local station and immediately attacks using cenotaph drop ships.

9 – 1D3 tomb ships appear in orbit and begin an immediate invasion using shuttles, cenotaph drop ships and fighter craft

10 – A flotilla of 2D8 tomb ships appear! They begin a full scale invasion of the system

11 – a tomb ship appears, unchanging in its trajectory, and appears to be on a dangerous collison course for the nearest inhabited world

12 – a single tomb ship that has crashed on a local world, but which remains mostly intact, has been discovered; it is either buried in a desert, in a frozen sea, or possibly largely exposed on an otherwise dead world

Chart II: Contents of the Tomb Ship (D8)

1-2 – the vessel is empty, but contains the nanophage; only hardsuits will protect from exposure

3-4 – the vessel contains evidence of a massacre, many dead bodies, but no evidence it is infected with the nanophage; 25% chance the bodies in the vessel reanimate after awakening from a deep torpor after 1D6 hours

5-6 – the vessel contains an undead horde, but the horde is small (2D100 undead of various types) and sequestered away in deep holds within the ship

7 – The vessel is fully crewed by thousands of undead, and has a 40% chance that there are one or more free-willed, intelligent undead directing their actions

8 – the vessel is a worst case scenario, packed with an army of the undead, both intelligent and malign as well as mindless infectors and soldiers

Exposure to the Necrophage

Exposure to type I necrophage means that the individual comes in to physical contact with an object on which the necrophage rests (the dust on the ship’s hull, a computer console, etc) or breathes in the air after the dust has been disturbed. Exposure requires an immediate DC 15 Fortitude save which must continue every round until medical treatment can vacuum the contaminated dust out of the individual’s system (if breathed in) or decontaminate his or her skin (if touched, or both). Proper treatment can save the person from conversion to the undead.

One save failure leads to infection and a progression to the Type II virus. The person will now be at risk of spreading the virus and also will turn in to an undead (usually a zombie, but there’s a chance of a ghoul or worse) on death. If the save was critically failed then the person sickens and dies within 1D10 minutes, returning as an undead 1D6 rounds thereafter. While a living person is carrying the type II necrophage anyone who remains present around the infected has a chance per hour of becoming infected as well. If a person spends more than 10 minutes within 15 feet of an infected living they must make a Fortitude save DC 15 or also become a carrier. The moment any carrier dies, they become an undead infected with the Type III necrophage.

Exposure to Type III necrophage means being bitten or scratched by an infected undead or an infected living being with the Type II exposure who is a carrier. As above, a DC 15 Fortitude save can protect against the necrophage, but the target must make 3 successful saves in a row (one per round) to be free of risk, otherwise the necrophage enters the system. In Type III then the effect is more dramatic: the necrophage will convert the infected within 1D6 hours to undead unless the individual is killed, at which time conversion is immediate (1 round after death). Conversion is usually to a zombie or ghoul, at the GM’s discretion. Ghouls are intelligent undead. Individuals with arcane potential are much likelier to convert to more advanced forms of undead, as are more prominent and powerful individuals (of level 5 or higher).

Suggested undead denizens of the tomb ships can include skeletons, zombies, ghouls, mummies, grave knights (armed with suitably powerful solarian technology), liches, wights and even wraiths and vampires. 

Lingusia-The Age of Strife: The Desert Kingdom of Galvonar:

I have never provided a detailed write-up in depth on Galvonar (in print or online, anyway). Here's a new one to reflect Galvonar in the Age of Strife. You will notice that it is most definitely designed to be a sort of ancient Arabic analog for my campaign, but structured around the unique pantheons of my setting.

Galvonar

Current Ruler: Sarakani Asaran III (Caliph), the Twelve Sheiks (nomads of Sur, Harad and Arahad)

Cultural Groups: Galvonar is divided into four regions: Coastal Galvonar (Albadia), Arahad, Sur, and Harad. The regions of Arahad, Sur and Harad are each a culturally distinct region of the overall nomadic tribal groups, and each has between 3 and 6 distinct tribes in each region, and dozens of smaller tribes. Coastal Galvonar is called Albadia, the name for the “civilized men” of Galvonar.

Social Groups:  Galvonar has a strict caste system with limited advancement. In the civilized regions of Albadia there are slave castes, mamalukes (warrior slaves), and freedmen with no property. Once a man gains property, which is possible if a merchant prince grants ownership or he gains enough wealth, then he may become a landed gentry, merchant noble, merchant prince, or perhaps even a high order title such as grand vizier or Caliph. Among the nomad groups there is far less structure, with most men defined by the horses they own and the size of their families. Polygamy is rampant among the nomads but less so in Albadia. Women are never allowed to own property in Galvonar, and have many religious restrictions on what they may wear, speak or even learn (see deities below).

History: Galvonar is a stretch of territory identified by several cultural groups that are bound by a number of commonalities. The western Galvonarians, the Albadia, are coastal merchants, fishermen and culturally civilized men who propser from the lush coastlands that are a strip of fertile land bordered by a vast desert. The nomadic Galvonari to the east dominate a vast, treacherous stretch of desertland that encompasses much of the southern subcontinent, and borders both the Albadia to the west, Persedonia to the east and the Galonians to the south.

Historically Galvonar traces its root identity back to around 500 AW when the early Saurian Metal Dynasty was identified by antiquarians in the region as the first appearance of a distinct language and culture that is recognized as Galvonarian today.  It was not until 1700 AW that Galvonar was first united by the warlord Asaran I, a personality of such strength that he is still revered as a culture hero by nomad and Albadian alike. By 1850 AW the Galvonarians had disintegrated into the mixture of sheiks and the caliphate that is recognized today, and remained so ever since.

The current Calif of Albadia nominally claims rulership over all of Galvonar, but in truth his power over the nomad sheiks is limited to a measure of influence through trade and gifts. The nomad Sheiks claim no structure of rulership outside of their own tribes, and frequently war with one another. The Sheiks, if anything, maintain better relations with the Takonorian and Cimer to the north than they do with their civilized cousins in Albadia, or themselves.

Galvonarian religion is rife with contradiction. The foundation of Galvonarian belief seems to stem from a period buried in history, during which the tribes of the region were once independent and practices a form of animism comparable to what goes on in Jhakn today. They were conquered and turned into citizens of the empire of Old Galonia, but after the collapse of that empire the nomads were given over to a period of religious liberation for a time, and eventually Eastonian merchants from the north brought the pantheistic beliefs of the Middle Kingdoms to the region. The result is an interesting contrast of pantheistic and animistic beliefs tempered by the memory of the older faith of Galonia.

Religious Beliefs: Today, Galonian cults are dominated by the following deities:

Dhuka (Naril): the god of mankind, the rule of law and the Empire of Hyrkania was adopted in recent centuries by the Galvonarians of Albadia. His aspect of fire and the sun is the most prominent representation in this region, as his status as a “god of kings” is seen as a northern aspect only (such status is reserved locally for Marduk). His fire temples in Albadia and Sur have spread rapidly in the last two centuries, and have replaced the memory of the lost temples of Ailyenarion, the old lord of fire from Old Galonia.

Kamar (Selene): The goddess of the moon, wife to Dhuka, is also worshipped in Galvonar, and was introduced about two centuries ago around the same time Naril was adopted as Dhuka. She is seen as the courtly patron of women, child bearing, motherhood and education. This is in sharp contrast with the traditional feminine goddess of Udena. Most Albadian merchants have adopted the worship of Kamar, and women in Albadia under clans who follow her have allowed women to learn other languages and broaden their education as a result. The traditional tenets of Udena that require great modesty among women are still prominent even among worshippers of Kamar, however.

Galon: the old supreme god of Galonia, after which the old empire itself is named, is still regarded with feverish intensity as the supreme deity in the nomadic region of Arahad. Galon is sometimes recognized by some Albadia clans, but is mostly eschewed in place of the belief of Marduk and Naril.

Marduk: the ancient warrior king is believed by most Galvonarians to have been the first ruler of Galvonar in the prehistoric era before the Saurian Metal Dynasty, and that the first sheiks like to claim Marduk as an ancestor. Marduk is said in Galvonarian myth to have slain the first dragon kings, Tiamat and Bahamut, and to have protected the land in an era predating even Old Galonia. He is considered today to be a strong god of warriors and kings and has several prominent temples in Albadia, as well as a massive ziggurat in his honor built by the Asaran I in the city of Kiddaros.

Set: Set is worshipped as a cult of deceivers in the desert, propagated by the haikyndyr serpent men in the region. Amongst men, Set is publically considered a profane deity and his worship is actively suppressed. Privately some men seek out his hidden cults, seeing set as a god that grants great power over other men.

Udena: Udena is the goddess of women, and may be an old import from Old Galonian belief that has survived to this day, despite the near total destruction of that Pantheon in the War of the Gods. Udena is a goddess of fertility and magic, and has female-dominated cults throughout Galvonar. She is a deity defined as a trinity, with a strong aspect of both virgin, whore and crone in her imagery. Each aspect is given its own unique element, but are considered parts of the same goddess: the Udena’Caliska (virgin), Udena’Haddara (whore) and Udena’Materaska (crone). The dramatic restrictions on women in Galvonarian society are at least partially due to the beliefs of the cults of Udena, which place intense restrictions on female behavior. This includes requiring that all women cover themselves head to toe in public with specially recognized garb, and that they not be exposed to “foreign influences,” such that  they are not allowed to learn foreign languages or even seek out an education equivalent to men (though knowledge reserved for women only is allowed, including herbalism and various forms of oracular divination). Only priestesses of the Udena’Haddara are allowed to dress down, in sacret sacred temples dedicated to the sacred prostitution of that aspect of the goddess.

Nyctaris: the goddess of the night is revered, especially among the nomadic groups, and is considered the goddess of travelers in the night. She is most prominent in Harad, Sur and Arahad but looked upon as quaint in Albadia.  

Nephythis: The benevolent goddess of the dead, keeper of tombs and the wealth within, is considered the modern caretaker of both the Valley of the Gods where the old pantheon of Old Galonia is said to rest, as well as the protector of the necropolis where old pharaohs and modern leaders alike are all buried.  She has taken on a unique level of worship among the merchants of Albadia and the traders of Harad, who see her as the protector of wealth both among the living and the dead.

Ailyenarion: the god of fire and old civic lord of Galonia is believed to be dead, but is also believed to remain as a spiritual guardian of the Valley of the Gods in the brokenlands of Galvonar. He is sometimes given offerings at his fire temples, which are mostly abandoned but still standing throughout the region, in the belief that his spirit still offers blessings. Aside from Ailyenarion, abandoned temples to other dead gods of Old Galonia such as Bashtet, Metatros and Bashtron can also be found in the region of the Valley of the Gods. There may be a handful of scholars and priests that still remember and even revere these dead gods of old.

Tragonomos: this ancient demon god was one of the seven soul-bound servitors of Eskandar, and his cults are found in secret throughout Galvonar, but most commonly in Sur. The belief in Tragonomos stems from the offer of power and the elements of masculine inheritance that the demon god seems to promise. His covens are often found working behind the scenes to undermine the caliphate and create a new reign of power seeking to make Tragonomos the sole god of the land.

Haro: the god of murder in the pantheon of the Middle-Kingdoms found a foothold in worship in Galvonar, believed to have grown popular in the century leading up to the rule of Asaran I. The Fire Knives, assassin-cultists of this god, are said to have a strong presence in the secret cults of Albadia and Sur.

The Dark Pharaoh: The memory of the Dark Pharaoh from Old Galonia, who rose up in 1950 AW to lead the last Great War of Chaos against Hyrkania in the north had a profound impact on the nomads of that time. The Galvonarians were attacked and enslaved by the Dark Pharaoh’s cults, and until their freedom in the twelve years of that war the Galvonarians learned a great hatred for the Galonians who took to the worship of their Dark Pharaoh. When the Dark Pharaoh was revealed to be the reincarnation of Xauraun Vestillios, the Champion of Chaos, and was subsequently banished or destroyed by Warenis, the Champion of Order, certain nomads had succumbed to the dark madness inherent in being exposed to the Champion of Chaos and even in liberty continued to worship his embodiment of chaos. These cults are few and far between, but often quite dangerous when they gain a cult leader who is able to gain a spark of chaos magic to fuel their hatred.

Travels in Lingusia: the Ruins of Arkalor (Octzel)

Arkalor was a weird retro-addition to the history of Octzel. When it was first visited it was in the Warlord of Lingusia campaign, which took place in 3,500 AW. The ruins were identified as over 2,000 years old then. This version reflects the ruins as a six century old legacy of evil in Octzel, CA. 2092 AW, during the Age of Strife....

Ruins of Arkalor (Octzel, Gremna Province, Halale Wilderness, CA. 2092 AW)

   This ruined citadel and the vast and ancient city around it is steeped in mystery. The legends say that six centuries ago it was a seat of dark power, where chaos worshipping tieflings, eladrin, humans and orcs alike gathered to pay homage to the Chaos Pantheon. From its gates rode an army of black knights to crush the forces of Octzel and beyond, and it was a terrifying source of dark power. Little history from that dark period of time was recorded, though historians can tell you that Arkalor’s reputation was so terrible that when at last the city fell all reference to it was erased from the historical records. Neither its people nor its rulers are known today, nor why they chose to worship the Chaos Pantheons. Despite this, bardic tales and curious legends suggest the city itself did not fall to the blades of Octzellan crusaders, but instead was consumed from within by a plague of demons unleashed upon the land.

   Today, the haunted ruins are a bane to all creatures living and only a handful of ogre tribes wander the region, daring to get close to the ruins in search of valuable relics. The ruins are known to be haunted by the dead as well as rife with ancient evils, and demons are believed to ingest the catacombs beneath.     

Encounters in the Ruins of Arkalor:

Encounter 10+ for each hour in the region

D20        Encounter Chart 1

1-2          Roving pack of 2D6 ghouls

3              A band of 2D8 kytons move through the area hunting demons

4              A tiefling witch treasure hunter who claims to have ancestry from the city

5              A tribe of 4D6 ogres searching for relics on the periphery

6              A gibbering Mouther prowls about (25% chance of 1D4 of them)

7              A party of fiendish satyrs prowl the ruins looking for relics to sell (2D4)

8-10       A Chaos Gate manifestation; the region is suddenly warped and twisted as the adventurer’s presence in the ruins creates a tether to the Abyss; an Arcana check DC 12 to escape being transported to the Abyss; 50% chance of demons being dragged from the Abyss in to the ruins as well (20+2D10 levels’ worth of demons)

11           1D8 Shadows inhabiting a crumbling building (10% chance of a greater shadow as well)

12           A sudden surge of ancient chaos energy; 2D10 skeletons and 2D10 zombies arise and attack

13           A lone spectre called Nabasath wanders the ruins seeking company, though he is quite mad and likely to turn on his listeners or flee

14           2D6 wraiths rise up to destroy the “invaders”

15           3D6 dretches materialize from the Abyss, possibly led by 1D4 quasits (25% chance)

16           hell hound hunting pack (2D6)

17           A succubus appears and takes an interest in the group

18           A tether to the Abyss pulls in a very powerful demon, which mistakes the adventurers for summoners initially, giving them a moment to negotiate or flee before it realizes where it is

19           A gray ooze slithers through the ruins

20           1D4 Gibbering Mouthers prowls about

Note:  demons and pulled through Tethers to the Abyss will return to the Abyss in 1D6 minutes.

Travels in Lingusia: Old Chegga (dominion of lord Karukithyak)

Fun fact! Old Chegga was originally depicted in a module I ran at a Phoenix convention 
in 1988 and again in 1989. The first scenario was written for use with GURPS 1st edition
 and the play run lasted around 13 hours. The module was published in an issue of The 
Sorcerer's Scrolls but (damn it all) I no longer have the original issue or even a copy on
 disk or otherwise anymore. Since then I have had two campaigns in which Old Chegga 
was revisited in new areas. Some day I will map the whole thing out.

Old Chegga (Octzel, No Man's Land, Mitra's Forest, CA. 2092 AW)

   Six centuries ago Old Chegga was founded out of the waddle-and-daub mud huts of orcs who settled along the length of the vast and deep chasm in which the curious domain can now be found. These orcs found that the steep walls of the canyon sheltered them from most sunlight year round, letting them move freely between the lower dark and the surface world. These orcs were a strange lot, brought here in the search for an ancient, titanic entity called the Kraken, a name that failed to encompass the horror of what lurked in the vast caverns that adjoined the ancient canyon.

   Chegga became a mecca for deviant worship of the ancient Kraken, and it is said that somewhere along its ancient walls stretched a passage that eventually opened up to one of the vast subterranean tunnels, miles beneath the surface, in which an ancient sea could be found, and within that sea rested a slumbering beast with the head of an immense squid and the body of a foul ape. The worship of this deity was tantalizing to some orcs, but to many more it was considered a sacrilege, an affront to the proper gods of the orcs such as Baragnagor, Orcus and Baphomet. In time, the orcish warlords banded against the cultists of Chegga and crushed them, leaving behind only the mysterious ruins and strange relics that they had unearthed in their time in the ancient chasm.

   About two centuries ago the exiled sorcerer and vampire lord Karukithyak, once of the Haikyndyr serpent men in Galvonar to the south, arrived in the region and settled in Old Chegga. He was a follower of Slithotep, the mad god, and had been cursed with vampirism and exiled by his people for turning his back on Set.

   Karukithyak has long since established a dark reign over Old Chegga, rebuilding the ruins and expanding the underground tunnels, recruiting followers from among his own kind as well as the degenerate local orcs and other foul beings in the region, including deep gnomes, grimlocks and ogres. Though he is a high priest of Slithotep and has taken a vast underground chamber in which to build an immense temple to the dark god, Karukithyak has encouraged the worship among his degenerate followers of the dreaded Kraken, and lets them continue their sadistic worship and sacrifices to the slumbering beast.

   Karukithyak never leaves the subterranean ziggurat he had built a century ago, to serve as the temple of worship to Slithotep as well as his private meditation chambers deep within. He instead relies on his right hand man, the enigmatic chaos knight known as Gohondon Zar, a powerful and vile half-orc death knight who serves the vampire lord with ruthless efficiency. Beneath Zar is a network of enforcers who insure the strange ritual complex that is Old Chegga goes unmolested, seeking out rival orcs and other humanoids who take umbrage at the vile practices of Old Chegga by attacking them and exterminating them, then raising the dead in to more zombie soldiers for the vampire lord.

   Karukithyak also has an uneasy hold on Baron Hroder of Galent, whom he turned in to a vampire some years ago. He knows Hroder schemes against him, rebelling against his own vile nature, but it amuses him to let the young vampire try and best his elder. If Zar had his way, however, he would mount an assault on all the human cities adjacent to Mitra’s Forest and exterminate everyone.

   Old Chegga is a deadly underworld domain, and encounters in this region will be expounded upon more in due time.