New index on the Chirak Campaign Setting

I finally cleaned up my index pages and also made a new one with all actual entries related to the Realms of Chirak campaign setting posted on the blog of the same name to date. Find it here!

Recent History of Eredoth

Recent History of Eredoth

   Eredoth was founded approximately 250 years ago under the guidance of the expatriate Syrgian king Gareden Voranius. Garedan had made a power play against the throne, to seize control before his elder brother Garast took rightful ownership of it, and he failed. He was given the chance for exile instead of death, and so he took the opportunity to leave Syrgia, migrating west with a fleet of ships carrying his family and loyalist followers. They eventually found their way across the expanse of the Glittering ocean and into the channels that led to the Grey Sea, where they settled what appeared to be a vast wilderness of deep forest and high mountains, occupied only by a barbarous local people called the emac. He called the land Eredoth, which means “far land” in the Syrgian language.

   The emac were initially friendly, but as the Syrgian expatriates soon discovered they were not so receptive to exploitation, and a series of local conflicts arose during the initial colonization. The first thirty years of Eredish expansion was a bloody affair, but the superior arms, armor and tactics of the Eredoth soldiers prevailed.

   In the following two centuries, the population of the emac broke into two distinct groups, consisting of those who accepted the occupation of the foreigners, and those who rebelled. The independent emac continue to dwell in nomadic forest and mountain tribes throughout the region, and have come to carefully guard their territories against the foreigners, who occupy mostly the lowland and forest regions along the coast. In contrast, a number of emac tribes eventually integrated with Eredoth’s new culture and rulership, and became clients of the kingdom. These emac are called “iquiri’san” by their independent bretheren, a word which means “willing slaves” in the emac language.

   After two and half centuries Eredoth has become its own power. The people speak Eredish, a dialect closely related to Syrgian but sufficiently removed in time that it now requires some study to properly interpret. Syrgians “rediscovered” Eredoth about a century ago, and infrequent trade has ensued ever since.

   Although Eredoth came from Syrgian culture, it also lost much of it with the transition to this new land. One of the first changes was in religion. The Syrgians are notoriously non-religious, even atheistic by Chirak standards, and eschew all forms of faith and religion when possible. The Eredish where of similar bent until they arrived in the new land, where they discovered that the local emac worshipped something they called the Divine Wind, a force of nature that was a willful manifestation of something they called the “World Spirit.” The World Spirit would choose from among the deserving and humble, granting them the gift to do good things. They said this was important, because the land was suffused with evil spirits who crept out of the Outer Darkness, spilling like pools of shadow into the world  to corrupt men. They called these shadows the Yagoth.

   It did not take long for the Eredish to believe in the emac’s religion, as actual manifestations of the Divine Wind took more than one colonist over the years, changing them into something that the newfound theologians called “spirit saints,” roughly translated from the emac term for them, the iniar’quiam. Just as impressive but more disturbing were the first Eredish to succumb to the corrupting fleshwarping touch of the Yagoth. Over time, the men and women who devoted themselves to understanding, following and eventually worshipping the spirit saints founded the Church of the World Spirit. To be chosen by the Divine Wind, sent from the World Spirit, was considered the greatest of honors. The adoption of this local belief was at least partially responsible for the integration and acculturation—on both sides—of Eredish and emac alike.

   Today Eredoth is divided into three chief lands. The northlands, along the coast of the northern Frostmounts are held by King Seviron of Calladania, the collected northern duchies, which reflects the united northlands. In the south there are two kings, including King Emerad of Duchies of Ghaellan, and King Sarnaris of Saagerast. Though the land is presently divided between three kings, they all regard themselves as part of Eredoth proper. The current division derives from the War of Winter Blossoms, so named for the fact that it started during the middle of winter thirty years ago, an unusual time for conflict to arise, and pressed on for two decades until the major powers sued for peace, then divided the lands three ways, with a treaty that asserted that all of Eredoth would unite in times of need against foreign powers. The ever-present threat of the Xiang-Kotonos, Nindragom, the giants of the Frostmounts and other threats insure that this treaty is taken seriously.

Player's Knowledge of the Relic Kingdoms

Player’s Overview of the Region

Eredoth is a northern empire, embedded in a thousand miles of rocky coast. They are a relic empire, descendants of expatriates from long ago who colonized the region and fought back against the barbarianst of the Frostmounts. The people of Eredoth are divided, in that there is no stable king. In southern Eredoth two major powers vie for control: the kings of Ghaellan and Saagarest. Saagarest is centered on an island in the Grey Sea roughly the size of England, along the coast dominated by the duchies of Ghaellan. You are all starting in the city of Ghaellan, where self-appointed king Emerad rules. Finally, Eredoth's religion is based on the worship of something called the Vestiges and the Spirits.  The Spirits are saint-like figures that are believed to be granted godlike power by the enigmatic Divine Wind, a manifestation of the lost Ancient Divinities of old that was said to have been worshipped by the ancient colonists of Eredoth, and the reason for which they were exiled and forced to colonize this distant land. The Vestiges are described as the ancient Spirits of the Earth, immortals which perished eons ago and of which only the power of the Divine Wind still exists. Vestiges might be seen as undead gods. Eredoth also has a beliefer (fear) of demons, calling them the fiends of Yagoth.

Nidragom is located to the south of Eredoth, and it is best described as a land of madmen and wild barbarians. They are fiercely warlike, tribal, and disorganized, but by virtue of their own ferocity and dedication to something they call the Mania (which is worshipped both as a philosphy and a god) they are a formidable force of berserkers and killers. When Eredoth's polities are not warring amongst themselves, they recruit from Nindragom for mercenaries.

Easter of both lands is the Xiang-Kotonos, an eastern empire of warriors and godless men who revere the blade before all. The Xiang-Kotonos are made less threatening only by virtue of the thousand miles of desert tundra between their kingdoms and the region of Nindragom and Eredoth, but an occasional warlord will brave the barren lands to seek out battle with the western powers.

South in the deep high mountains of the east is Laiwan, a remote kingdom of mountain dwellers who are the gateway of trade between the westerlands and the distant east. They are small in number but safe by virtue of their isolated mountainous homeland. They are mysterious and mystical people, said to worship the Sun itself, although they have a complicated pantheon of Demon Gods that they feel dictate the trials and tribulations of their daily lives.

Across the Grey Sea from Eredoth is the largest mountain range in the known world, the immense Anantes mountains, The people of this region are called the Capac, and are divided into two cultural groups: the lowland Capaci of Narasco, who subsist on trade and the sea to survive in the harsh, dry deserts along the slopes of the great mountains that touch the Grey Sea, and in the immense highland regions of the Anantes Mountains is the mysterious and very ancient culture of the Astananku, said to be ancient magicians and nearly immortal descendants of a lost race of old. No one knows much of who the Astananku worship, although the lowland Capaci strongly favor the water goddess whom they call Mataki, and her counterpart, the storm god Hukil.

Finally, there are known to be other, more distant lands which the Eredothian sailors sometimes trade, far beyond the dominion of the Grey Sea. Westward beyond the Anantes Mountains the Capaci people speak of a terrible empire of evil, dominated by demon worship and sacrifice. South of Nindragom is a vast, trackless desert waste from which occasional merchant caravans emerge, claiming to come from the distant kingdom of Dragos across the desert.

Elves in the region of Eredoth are known as the Asharion tribes of the frostmounts, a cunning and secretive race that lives in nomadic tribal groups. They are often at odds with their dark elf counterparts beneath the frozen glaciers and deep in the mountain caves of the region, who are called the Kaddan. The Kaddan worship the vestige Zaramast; in the elvish mythology, it is said that the Kaddan were normal elves who stumbled upon the burial ground of the ancient vestige thousands of years ago, and his dark tendrils corrupted their flesh and spirit, turning them into what they are today.

There are haflings all along the coast of the Grey Sea, and there are several enclaves of stout dwarves in the Frostmounts and Anantes mountains. As with all other lands, gnomes and goblins exist, though the goblins are seen as pests of the Arescu Forest and the lowland, warmer Iargan forests of the south, while the gnomes gravitate toward cities and towns of other races.

Dragonborn are extremely rare, but tieflings are extremely common, especially among the Nindragom, who prize the blood-induced madness of some tiefling warriors, and often rely upon rituals of the mysterious Demon Gods to call upon the Mania and allow them a bonding with infernal beings to create such offspring.

 

Minotaurs are known in this land, but they are found chiefly in wandering tribes in the southern deserts and eastern tundra. Orcs are present, as ever, existing primarily in a vast network of caverns Gazad Mountains of Eredoth, though many orcish tribes can be found in the Frostmounts and Anantes mountains as well.

Lost History of the Relic Kingdoms

The Undiscovered Lost History of the Relic Kingdoms and the First Gods

   No mortal knows the secrets of the Yagoth. Their legacy extends back to a time when the Relic Empire was young, and the first gods were born into existence. The people of this lost time sought the first great power over their realm, forging a crystal of such power that it contained within it the energy of creation and all existence. This power was too great for any one mortal to contain, and so twelve candidates were chosen, twelve mortals who were tasking with caring for a piece of the stone, while the final, thirteenth stone was place at the edge of the stars themselves, to serve as the binding force of creation, the conduit through which their twelve lesser stones drew all power.

   In this ancient time, a time before human men existed, there was great and lasting peace as the prehumans of this era could mold existence as they saw fit, granting immortality to their kin and peace to all. It was not until they experimented with the creation of lesser slave races that things changed. Humanity, elves and others were created to serve the gods and their divine kindred. The first men were no more than mindless slaves, but over time the designs of the gods grew more complex, and soon the divine race saw men as complex playthings. They enjoyed the games and conflicts that seemed to come naturally to these lesser beings. They toyed with them.

   These first humans and elves and others grew tired after untold centuries of slavery, and by way of events long lost to time they rebelled. They overthrew their masters, rose up in arms, and in revolt succeeded in slaying the gods. How this was properly accomplished was not entirely known to any save for the Yagoth.

   The Yagoth were an entire race of beings, who existed in the supreme darkness at the edge of the star system. They had lived in eternal darkness for untold eons, and predated all other creatures in existence, dwelling in their ancient cities upon the Thirteenth Planet of the star system. That was, until the Heart of the Crystal, the source of the first twelve Zodiac Stones, was set upon their world by the twelve young gods, who in their hubris saw fit to exterminate the Yagoth as vermin, so repulsive did they find the creatures, that they drove them from their planet and into the darkness between the stars.

   The Yagoth sought revenge. They plotted for eons, until they at last saw the gods make an error, for as the gods created life, the Yagoth learned quickly that they could possess and manipulate the lesser mortals, and they sowed the seeds of discontent amongst the slaves. They drove the creations of the gods to rise up, and through dark gifts in the form of the God Slayer weapons they granted them the power necessary to slay the first gods. The Yagoth granted this power to the mortals in exchange for the promise that the humans and elves would in turn seek out the Heart of the Crystal and take it far away, that the Yagoth could once more dwell on their dark world.

   The first humans who rose up and destroyed the gods were quick to seize the Zodiac Stones. They flung the god-slayer weapons then into a pit that led to the center of the earth, that there was no temptation to use them, though one long-forgotten avatar is said to have kept a single weapon hidden away. They then turned on the Yagoth, for the men who the Yagoth had thought so easily manipulated were clever and cunning, and with the power of the Zodiac Stones they could not be touched by the Yagoth. They cast out the demons, and swore to never let them return.

   Thus it was that the first in a long lineage of young gods came to pass. Men learned that they could never contain the power of the Zodiac Stones for as long as their forebears, for the immortal Nakal/Klippath were unique in this ability. Though none today remember it, no god has lift more than twenty thousand years before eventually dying; it was inevitable that the Zodiac Stones would require successors.

   Of the original gods, only the vestiges remain, and of those, only seven are known to manifest as forgotten shades, and possibly two which still seem to exist as mysterious forces (the Mania and the Divine Wind).

   And of the Yagoth? They dwell at the edge of existence, waiting for those curious moments when a hapless mage or scholar of Eredoth, Capac or Nimdragom finds one of the ancient summoning mirrors that allows them to manifest in the world of Chirak, that they might seek a time and place where opportunity will allow them to do the most harm to the descendants of those who killed their world and betrayed them, driving them out into the endless void of space. They have an undending hunger, and are immortal, impossibly old beings with an intense desire for revenge.

Spirits, Demons and Vestiges of Eredoth

Known Spirit Saints of the Relic Kingdoms:

Sethrys, the Winter Queen, Lady of Monsters: This powerful woman has manifested a control over ice and cold in her domain, and now resides deep in the heart of the Frostmounts, ruling giants and other monstrous kin. She is a terrifying being, neither saintly nor spiritual, and seeks to conquer Eredoth one day, though her timetable of action is a mystery. She has been in existence for eighty years now, and it has been fifty years since she led an army of monsters northward to the capitol of Calladania in the Northern Duchies where she waged war for five years until the spirit-saint Augusteros rallied the soldiers of the land to drive her back.

   Of those who doubt her “sainthood,” one need only talk to the giants, ogres, and other kin who call her such; she is regarded as a powerful force among the giantkin for unifying them into a kingdom of their own.

Augusteros, The Sword Saint: Augusteros is still known to walk the land, for as has been pointed out, if he had passed on then no memory of him would remain; he is considered the patron saint of soldiers, and bards have many stories to tell of his manifestation in times of need. He has been known of for more than a century now.

Killias, the Water Bringer: Killias was a young woman, touched by the Divine Wind while at sea, who changed to the form of a mermaid. She is now considered patron saint of sailors and of safe voyages in the Grey Sea. It is said that she considers herself a servant of Mataki.

Tarn, the Hunter: A rough old coot, Tarn was a ranger of the southern province and servant to king Emerad’s grandfather. He was fatally wounded in his old age while hunting, but the Divine Wind did not let him perish. He has not been seen in many years now, though on rare occasions in the woods some hunters claim to encounter him, continuing the hunt, and some starving families find game brought to their door by amysterious man they are certain is Tarn.

Miurnes, the Birth Giver: This patron saint of women and childbirth is said herself to have had a difficult birth and was about to die when the Divine Wind touched her, saving mother and child. Her daughter grew up to be the legendary sorceress Caedra, who dwells in her tower on the Isle of Saagarest. Miurnes appears at times to those women in need, acting as a mysterious midwife who assists in a difficult childbirth and then disappears after a child is born.

The Complication of the Yagoth and the Demon Gods of the West

   The people of Eredoth do not just have saints to benefit from, for they also have very old demons that haunt their land. These beings are called the Yagoth, and there is no consensus as to where they come from. Common belief holds that the Yagoth are actually possessed beings inhabited by the spirits of the lost Klippath of the Relic Empire, twisted and shaped into monsters in body and soul by these ancient spirits, hungry for living flesh. A more heretical notion is that the Divine Wind itself creates them, and that it is not a benevolent force, but a natural force which must balance good and evil, and so for every spirit saint there must be a Yagoth. No one is sure what is true about these beings, other than their insatiable lust for cruelty and death. Only a very few witches and warlocks know that there are ancient obsidian mirrors that can be found in the Relic Empire ruins, capable of summoning the Yagoth, and that mortals are alarmingly susceptible to possession and transmogrification by these demons.

   Yagoth are believed (rather terrifyingly) to be entirely unrelated to the so called Demon Gods of the west; most Eredish theologians believe, strongly, that the Demon Gods are malevolent apparitions that have confused the western empire of Xoxtocharit into believing that they are infernal beings of godlike power, for the notion that there may be a hundred or more evil gods in the world is almost too much for them to contemplate. Nindragom, not known for its scholars and theologians, nonetheless has a cult of battle clerics that pride themelves on their dedication to slaying the western cultists and mastering these demons, for they feel that the Xoxtocharit demons are merely another manifestation of the Mania, changing mortals into demons.

   In truth, the Xoxtocharit have created a complicated hierarchy of belief and worship centered on the so called “servants of the betrayers,” which is a euphemism for the greatest servants and generals of the Betrayer Gods from the era of the Apocalypse, a period of time about which they know a great deal more than most scholars in the easterlands are aware of. Indeed, the memories of the apocalypse have all but been erased in the dominion of the Relic Empires, for reasons that are not at all obvious.

The Seven Known Vestiges

   Of the many names and figures identified in the ancient script of the Relic Empire, only seven names have been determined to have divine significance, and as such these seven are believed to be the ancient gods of the lost Nakal/Klippath. Dubbed “vestiges” the first manifestation of a known vestige was caused by the tribe of elves once called the Ulithirians, and now called the Kaddam, which means “Shadows” in the Relic Script, they say. These elves followed the darkness of the endless passages of caverns in the Frostmounts until discovering an ancient city of the Relic Empire, still intact yet submerged in the mountains and somehow protected by a vast dome from the crushing rock above. Within this city was an ancient tomb to the dead god called Zaramast. The elves disturbed the vestige of Zaramast, and with its last power it changed them forever, altering the elves into the shadowy creatures of darkness that they now are. The elves were suffused with arcane knowledge from the shadow god, and have sought to appease and feed the vestige power through sacrifice, to learn more of its ancient secrets.

   What follows is a summary of the known vestiges. All of the following have hidden cults throughout Eredoth, Capac and Nindragom, and some are openly worshipped among the Iargan barbarians. No one, not even their cultists, doubt that these are mere shadows of dead gods, whose power and lust for existence was so great that long after their power is gone, their bodies, slain and their souls either destroyed or reborn, these whispery shades of desire continue to exist.

Vestige Name                   Aspect                                          Manifestation

Narinath                           vestige of knowledge and secrets      an ancient scholar

Malin’ithaer                      vestige of machines                         an infernal contraption

Zaramast                          vestige of hate and darkness             a vile dark elf killer in the darkness

Skael                                vestige of deceit and trickery            a sly rogue

Emiridon                          vestige of the cosmos                       an enveloping darkness or wind

Nisultyr                            vestige of creation                            a burning point of light

Meremeth                         vestige of life                                  a shadowy woman

Yazda Grahath                  vestige of monstrosities                    a brutal shifting beast

   The vestiges are well and truly dead, but the lingering essence of each shade is so powerful that they continue to influence the living a hundred thousand years later. Each of the above aspects can be invoked by those who know the secrets to communing with the vestiges, and extracting lost secrets and rituals from them. It is said, for example, that many orc sorcerers have learned to commune with Yazda Grahath, and from her have learned the secret of creating terrible birthing pools, out of which hideous monsters emerge. In northern Calladia, the powerful Sect of the Burning Sky have learned to commune with Emiridon, and in turn have drawn on this vestige to learn arcane secrets of the cosmos.

   The vestiges are almost insanely dangerous. They can sustain moments of existence by stealing the life and souls of those who they are contacted by; failure to properly contain or ward against a summoned vestige can rapidly prove fatal, though luckily a vestige can only sustain itself from stealing the lives of the living, and then gaining only a few minutes of existence when it does so. Even the more benevolent vestiges find it almost impossible to resist the theft of others’ souls, though they may warn those around them when they are about to do harm.

  Vestiges can manifest naturally adjacent to ancient ruins, especially in ruins that once contained great temples of worship to the old gods. On very rare occasion some seers and oracles can act to channel the dead minds of these beings, a more indirect (and sometimes safer) way of communing with them, though only those born with this unique gift can do so.

Next: Lost History

Ages of Lingusia: Languages of the Middle Kingdoms

Languages of Lingusia       

   Lingusia is home to a diverse range of dialects and languages, many harkening from ancient roots. Some species have languages shared universally by one another, and other species are given to as much linguistic diversity as humanity. In fact, the root of Lingusia comes from the idea "of many languages" in the Old Tongue.

   The “common” tongue of Lingusia is the Middle Tongue, closely followed by tradespeak, a language of common reference cobbled together by traders and merchants across the globe. Any character listed as knowing “common” is assumed to know one or both of these languages.

 Below is a chart of many fo the languages all characters can learn. Characters always have their native tongue as a base language, and some multilingual characters learn more than one, depending upon circumstance. There is at least one invented language as well, a sort of Esperanto called Tradespeak, which was created around the time of the founding of the Great Old Road, and while it has evolved dramatically over time, tradespeak remains the favored language of traders and merchants around the world. Anyone who speaks one of the common human tongues of Lingusia can communicate at least 30-50% of the time with a person who speaks tradespeak but no other common language. Likewise, a man who speaks tradespeak but not, say, one of the the Northern tongues can still speak to and understand a user of the northern tongue with 50% accuracy as well. The Merchant Houses of the Middle Kingdoms and the Eastern Kingdoms have conspired to make this so.

   Some of these languages are special. No character may begin play knowing Prehunate, which must be learned from a practiced student of the languages, and is never considered a class skill. Likewise, no character can pick a language for which no possible exposure could have occurred prior to the beginning of his or her adventuring career.

Bonus Language Rule: Because there are more than ten conventional languages in this setting, all characters may begin play with additional bonus languages equal to their Intelligence modifier (or none if negative).

A Sampling of the Languages of Lingusia

The Languages of Man:

Middle Tongue (common)

Tradespeak

New and Old Galonian

Southern Tongue (Galvonari)

Eastern Tongue  (Zuedi)

Cretean

Amechian

Northern Tongue (Nordamani)

Autrengardian

Steppelander’s tongue (no written language)

Zymharian

Avilinian

Nakamuran

Caelernin

Northern Hettanari

Starthiic

Hotepsalan

Foreign Tongues:

Old Karaktuan

Mataclani Haxitol

Mataclani Talay

Taian

Lako-no-hongo

Al’jhiri

Karakani

Khozakani

Neberanii (Gray Kingdom)

Old and Lost Languages:

Old Tongue (Arcane Script)

Ancient Middle Tongue (Holy Script)

Prehunate Script

Ancient Elvish Script

Kadantanian

Celestial

Abyssal and Infernal

Monstrous Languages:

Deep Speech

Minotaur

Goblin Tongue

Orcish (vandal)

Hidden Tongue (red orc)

Setiteese (serpent men)

Hashykirii (lizard man)

Draconic (Marlack, dragons)

Hyshkorrid

Thargonid Trollish

Mihidir Trollish

Fey Languages:

Faerspeak (elvish)

Darkspeak (ashtarth)

Syllenic  (sylvan)

Gnomish

Dwarvish (Endurian)

Faerie Tongue

Ages of Lingusia: Skalykind II - Serpent Men and Naga

Serpent Men (Setites)              

   Serpentine, more snake-like than lizard like, these cunning scalykind are the gifted sons and daughters of Set. Indeed, the Serpent Men are related to snakes and ophidian kin, and are not true lizard folk like the Haikyndyr and Terkithyi. Setites are much more dangerous than either of their kin!

Appearance and Personality: Devious, cunning, manipulative minions of their god, Setites are out to promote themselves first and their species and deity next. They are slender, multicolored and scaled beings, who prefer to dress in ornate and expensive garb. Setites recognize their family affiliations by their unique scale patterns as well as scent, and are stratified in to strongly reinforced hierarchies of control in their empire beneath the sands of the Hyrkanian Deserts.

Relations: Setites are always behind the scenes, manipulating lesser beings to their will, as they are universally reviled for being the divine sons and daughters of the lord of evil. Setites who must travel in human realms usually disguise themselves with magic.

Religion: Setites might like to worship other gods, to hedge their bets, but Set gives them little choice. Any member of the species found deviating from the Lord of Evil's interests’ risks discovery and exposure. If exposed, he is exiled, killed, and often stripped of magical ability. Setite priests who defy the will of Set are not  allowed the benefit of escape by their god, who turns them in to even crueler minions who will have no choice but to do his will, such as Vampires or Fiends.

Languages: Setites learn their own tongue, plus Ophidian, Infernal, Draconic, the human and elvish tongues, Goblinoid, Hyshkorrid, dwarven, and even Ashtarth. Know your enemies, they say.

Names: Setites are by far the most articulate of the scalykind, but their names are still sometimes tongue twisters.

Male Names: Krillisk, Zyral, Kryllios, Vyrysk, Myrykaven, Vyrik.

Female Names: Sullia, Vyrys, Mynravhariel, Shyvaris.

Serpent Men Adventurers

Average Height: 5'6”-6’6” tall

Average Weight: typically 100-250 lbs

Languages: Serpentine and Middle Tongue; some know Draconic

Ability Scores: +2 Intelligence, +2 Charisma

Size: Medium

Speed: 6 squares

Vision: deep vision

Skill Bonuses: +2 Stealth, +2 Bluff

Poison Bite: Serpent men gain access to a racial encounter attack (see below).

Long Lifespan: setites can live to be 200 or more years old, and some venerable priests are said to be 600 years or older.

Setite Poison Bite – Serpent Man Racial Basic Attack

Encounter – Standard – Melee

Target: one adjacent target; Attack: Dexterity vs. Reflexes; Hit: target takes 1D8+Constitution poison damage and 5 ongoing poison damage (save ends).

Naga

   The naga are a relatively new race of beings, at least as far as humans in the Middle Kingdoms are concerned. A thousand years ago their ancient underwater empire was devastated by an ancient Cataclysm, and the naga were fragmented in to many warring factions when their eons’ old empire fell. The naga, forced to survive in new circumstances, sought out watery habitats along the coastal regions of the mainland, and settled down. As amphibious beings they are capable of moving ashore without much difficulty, and some prefer it.

   Religious motives are the key driving factor in the naga presence on land these days. The naga have fractured in to two groups, including those who hear the siren call of the Skaeddrath Krakens in their dreams, and are compelled to seek out these ancient chaos lords to awaken them, and a generation of naga who are allied with the forces of order and creation and wish to stop their driven compatriots. This strange civil war has been erupting for the last two centuries, and is especially common in the Inner Sea and Straights of Nyarlith regions of the Middle Kingdoms. By far however the largest populations of Naga can be found eastward, along the Bloodsea Coasts of Takkai, especially in Gochikono.

Naga Adventurers

Height: 5’5” to 6”

Weight: 150-180 lbs.

Languages: Naga, common, and other options include draconic, infernal, and the deep speech.

Attributes: +2 Dex, +2 Con

Movement Rate: 6 squares on land, 8 squares swimming

Size: Medium

Skill Bonuses: +2 Acrobatics, +2 Stealth

Deep Vision: Naga deep vision functions equally well underwater as well as in darkness. They can see in shades of grey even in total darkness.

Amphibious: Naga can breathe normally on land and under water with no impairment. Note that this does not protect them from unnatural attacks such as stinking cloud.

Natural Swimmer: All naga are excellent swimmers, and do treat any watery terrain normal terrain.

Armored Scales: Naga are scaled, and these scales provide natural armor protection, offering a natural +2 armor class bonus.

Tail Strike: Naga may use their tail like a club:

Naga Tail Strike – Naga Racial Basic Attack

At-Will – Standard – Melee

Target: one adjacent target; Attack: Strength vs. Reflexes; Hit: target takes 1D6+Strength damage.

Naga Racial Feat:

Tripping Tail Strike

   You can knock foes over with your tail attack.

Prerequisites: Naga, Strength 13+

 Benefit: You gain the following racial exploit:

Tripping Tail Strike – Naga Racial Basic Attack

Encounter – Standard – Melee

Target: one adjacent target; Attack: Strength vs. Reflexes; Hit: target takes 1D6+Strength damage and is knocked prone.

Naga

All text Copyright 2011 by Nicholas Torbin Bergquist, all rights reserved

Ages of Lingusia: The Monstrous Kindred

Monstrous Races of Lingusia

Gnolls

   Gnolls dominate the vast region of the Northern Wilderness, but over successive generations many clans have migrated southward and invaded the shores of Hyrkania, much like any other barbarian presence. These periods of great migration are memorable periods of conflict, and the last great migration was about two centuries ago; scholars attribute such invasions by the gnolls to population pressure.

   Gnolls in the Middle Kingdoms can be found in large migratory tribes and townships throughout northern Hyrkania and the southern deserts, raiding, working as mercenaries, or seeking out buried, ancient temples through which to try and commune with their dreadful demon gods.

   Although most gnolls are only loosely allied to one another these days, there is a growing movement that seeks to reunite the old gnollish tribes in to a stronger movement, headed under the dominion of a chief demon lord. The gnolls have long been obsessed with the demon lords of the Abyss, and have a variety of myth tales about how they were created from demon seed in the era of the War of the Gods. Some believe that if they can once more fulfill this purpose, then the diaspora of tribes will find a new strength and the gnolls will at last have a new guiding purpose to lead them on to domination. Luckily, no single priest or warlord among the gnolls has become strong enough to influence their kind as a whole. Yet.

Gnoll Adventurers

   Gnolls work as indicated in the MM. Gnolls are by and large an unfriendly fringe race, but if your campaign tends to avoid urban humanocentric regions in favor of the vast wilderlands inhabited by other monsters then gnolls may be especially suited to your particular games.

Living Constructs

  Various fantasy realms have living constructs of different sorts. Such beings are very, very rare n Lingusia, should you decide to introduce one. They are usually the creation of specific alchemists and artificers, sometimes silver dwarves, who imbue a golem shell with the spirit of a newborn elemental. The process for creating a living construct is something only recently uncovered, and their practical use beyond efficient but expensive soldiers and guardians has yet to be explored. It is said that the fabled wizard Colimandras discovered the technique for creating living constructs on the Isle of Porondor, shortly before his ancient castle of fabulous gearworks was submerged in a volcanic deluge of lava.

Living Construct Adventurers

   In 4E the warforged race may be used to represent various living constructs, but the uniqueness of each such being should be emphasized, as well as the unusual rarity of their kind. You should roll on the following charts to develop a unique look and feel. Roll once for body type then roll 1D3 times for body composition (or choose as desired):

D20      Body Type      Body Composition

1-2       humanoid        clay

3-4       humanoid        wood

5-6       humanoid        stone

7-8       halfling-like     metal  

9-10     dwarf-like        crystal

11-12   avian               false flesh

13-14   giant-like         flesh and metal

15        draconic          cloth

16        centauroid       darkness

17        trilinear           fire

18        octopoid          mud

19        a floating eye  liquid

20        cyllindrical      mechanical

Marlack Draconians

   The marlack draconians are among the most tolerable of the lesser draconian to interact with humanity. Once bred as shock troops in the many ancient wars of dragon kind, the Marlacks and their draconian kin have become increasingly rare, and most now survive in remote communities in regions far from human dominion. Marlacks and other draconian have difficulty breeding true, and for this reason it is exceptionally difficult to swell their numbers when needed, though it is also widely held that the magic of the dragon lords can alleviate this condition when necessary.

   The largest marlack presence can be found in Galvonar, to the south, but there are communities of marlacks in the southern Isles of Karaktu, existing more often than not with the half-breed Yenetai weredrakes.

Average Height: 6'-7' tall

Average Weight: typically 300-450 lbs; the natural armor of draconians is heavy

Languages: Draconic and Tradespeak

Marlack Adventurers

   Use the dragonborn race, but add the following feature:

Wings: Marlacks have dragon wings which give them lift. They can move somewhat faster, fly reasonably well, and are sufficiently talented that they gain no normal penalty when fighting while in flight (thus fighting as if they were on solid ground).  They gain a flying speed of 8 squares.

 

Dragonborn in Lingusia

   True dragonborn, unlike marlacks, are not purebred from draconian stock, but are the rare byproduct of humanoid and dragon interaction over the last several thousand years. Dragonborn are true hybrids, with both mammalian and draconic traits, and can breed true. In times past dragonbron were much rarer, as they were the result of rare couplings between mortals with elder dragon lords transformed in to the forms of elves and humans. Such offspring were usually cared for by the dragon parent, and in time the dragonborn as a race were born. Like their draconian and marlack relatives dragonborn have often been used as envoys, soldiers, thralls and slaves by the dragon lords. As lesser hybrids dragonborn have also been looked upon with disdain by their pureblood relatives. When a dragon lord perishes, his entire herd of dragonborn thralls are put to death, unless they affect an escape or are lucky enough to be protected by a rival dragon lord who takes pity on them.

   Dragonborn in the Middle Kingdoms dwell in one of three types of communities: those located in the region of a known dragon of power, acting as his servant; those who seek to escape the control of their dragon lords, perhaps because their patron dragon perished in a conflict, and those who have sought to establish their own way as a race and have been emancipated from the control of the dragon lords for multiple generations. Often these dragonborn seek to befriend humans or other kin in the region, as a way of gaining support against the risk of a dragon lord that mike seek to enslave them once more.

     There are known dragonborn enclaves in the city of Niras’ien as well as Klydanth and Malas. Some dragonborn have been welcomed to the elvish communities of Sylvias. Rogue dragonborn who have adopted the barbaric way fo local humans can be found in the Cimeran and Hexerei Mountains. In the southern Isles of Karaktu rumors abound of the remnants of an ancient, powerful empire that was dominated by dragonborn now lost to time, as well as a unique society of dragonborn in the region of Yenetai, who are of mixed ashtarth and dragon blood.

Ogres

   The ogres, always brutish and barbaric, have remained a firm but minor presence in the Middle Kingdoms, usually dwelling in their own small tribes, or in conjunction with ogreish or giantish tribes. They are also found, semi-civlized, along the Inner Sea working as fishermen and hired mercenaries. All ogres live to an average of 60 years, assuming good clean living.

   Ogres of Lingusia are big brutes, prone to moments of kidness punctuated by bouts of intense rage. They are moody and poetic, yet bloody and lighthearted during combat.

   Though ogres are often associated with orcs and other chaos kin, this is more out of necessity than any sort of kinship. Ogres will in fact be happy to take up residence in or near human lands if they are certain peace can be kept, though this does rarely happen.

   Ogres are obsessive in their religious faith, and tend to favor the worship one of only three deities, the only three they consider worth paying attention to. Ogres revere Hargameth for his strength in battle, Zingar for his patronage of the hunt, and Wolfon for his dominance over the beasts of the wilds. They disdain the worship of the demon gods or foul chaos gods such as Baragnagor or Dalroth, but some ogres that dwell among orcs and other chaos-kin are prone to worshipping these demon lords and chaos gods. Such ogres are treated as deviants in pure ogre communities.

Ogre Adventurers

Average Height: 8’ to 12’ feet tall

Average Weight: 400-900 lbs.

Languages: Ogreish, plus one other (usually Tradespeak or Giantish)

Ability Scores: +4 Strength and +2 Constitution or +2 Charisma

Size: Large

Speed: 6 squares

Vision: normal

Skill Bonuses: +2 Endurance, +2 Intimidation

Tough Hide: Ogre’s have thick skin offering a +2 AC bonus.

Large Weapons: All ogre-sized weapons are one size category larger for damage purposes. They can wield normal human-sized medium two-handed weapons as one handed weapons.

Reach: As large creatures, ogres gain Reach 1.

Disguise Issues: Ogres can’t attempt a decent disguise unless they are trying to masquerade as a different sort of large creature, like a troll or minotaur.

Smash: Ogres have one particularly effective at-will attack:

Me Smash - Ogre Racial Basic Attack

You smash good. Real good.

At-Will – Standard – Martial, Melee or Unarmed

Target: one foe; Reach 1; Attack: Strength+2 vs. AC

Hit: 1D10+Strength damage.

Special: Your fists are melee weapons for purposes of any exploits, and may be used two-weapon style (two fists) for exploits such as Twin Strike.