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v-arbellanaris · 1 year

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on divine justinia (pt 2)

Justinia V will be remembered as one of the most progressive Divines in the history of the Chantry. Before her untimely death at the Temple of Sacred Ashes, she made strides to break down barriers for both mages and elves, as well as encouraging free thought among the Maker’s many children. For her views, she won as many enemies as she did supporters.

-- World of Thedas Vol 2.

PART TWO of a series, exploring Divine Justinia’s political stance. Was she really as progressive as people claimed?

Firstly, before we even dive into looking at Justinia as a character, we should define ‘progressive’. In the most base of definitions, it implies progress -- a gradual betterment. As a widely accepted definition, someone whose politics advocate for social reform.

PART ONE - LELIANA'S SONG. / PART TWO - DRAGON AGE II. / PART THREE - THE MASKED EMPIRE.

Dragon Age II

Important things to note that are of particular relevance to the political landscape in Orlais and also the interaction between Kirkwall, Orlais and the Chantry:

Divine Beatrix III, who we meet during the events of Dawn of the Seeker, dies in 9:34, the same year that Hawke becomes Champion of Kirkwall, prompting the election of Divine Justinia V.

Divine Beatrix III nominated Revered Mother Dorothea to become the next Divine before her death.

Dorothea’s suitability as Divine was hotly debated; because of her “worldly” background and demonstrating "forgiveness to sinners" (no specific examples I can think of other than Silas and Leliana from the previous post in this series) -- not because she was hailed as progressive or a reformist.

And, indeed, based off her appearance in Leliana’s Song, we can see that, so far, there’s nothing particularly reformist or progressive about her.

The Chantry (and, by extension, Orlais) already has a history of involving themselves in Kirkwall’s politics, oftentimes outright violating Kirkwall’s right to rule themselves: in this case, specifically referring to Meredith’s rise to power in Kirkwall:

Beatrix III, known as a friend to the Emperor Florian of Orlais , pressured templars in Kirkwall to overthrow Viscount Perrin Threnhold; but Knight-Commander Guylian refused to become involved in local politics. It’s implied that the Viscount attempted to expel all templars from Kirkwall and assassinate the Knight-Commander, which may have been a set-up, but it allowed Meredith to succeed Guylian and launch a successful counter-attack against the Viscount’s Keep.

The reason Beatrix did this was because the Viscount blocked passage through the Waking Sea, exacting large fees from Orlesian ships specifically who wanted to pass.

As a result of her actions in Kirkwall, Meredith was promoted to Knight-Commander by Elthina. Meredith then appointed Marlowe Dumar as the next Viscount (not the nobility of Kirkwall) following Divine Beatrix’s advice. (Specific source unclear to me, but quoted from the DA fandom wiki page.)

Kirkwall, as of 9:37, is under Chantry rule. Marlowe Dumar is killed by the Arishok in 9:34; Act 3 begins in 9:37, and Meredith is explicitly blocking potential elections for a new Viscount specifically in order to maintain control of the city. This is established in the opening of Act 3, irrespective of whether you side with the mages or the templars.

I specify Chantry rule and not templar rule because Meredith answers to no one in the entire city -- except Grand Cleric Elthina. As Knight-Commander, Meredith answers to the Grand Cleric, who holds authority over her, as the highest ranking member of the Chantry in the region. This is an undisputed fact; Elthina has legal authority over Meredith. An argument can be made that she might not have power over Meredith, that Meredith can choose to disobey her, but that’s just not true. In fact, the exact opposite is cemented in the very opening of Act 3, when Elthina is able to get Meredith to leave Hightown with nothing more than a few words. Meredith, even at this stage where she’s “insane”, still listens to Elthina. Elthina had three years to order Meredith to allow elections for a new Viscount. She did not, which is tacit approval. Templars ultimately answer to Elthina, as she is Meredith’s superior in the Chantry hierarchy.

Ergo, Kirkwall, as of 9:37, is under Chantry rule, not merely templar rule. And considering that the Chantry is an arm of Orlesian imperialism and colonisation...

Justinia’s primary involvement in DA2 is during Sebastian’s companion quest in Act 3, part of the Exiled Prince DLC, called Faith. The quest begins with Elthina requesting for Hawke’s help.

“The Divine is concerned about the situation here. She does not want to see the Free Marches become another Imperium. She has sent an agent to ... assess the danger. Meet with her, please. Tell her drastic measures won’t be required.” -- Elthina to Hawke.

It's clear from this excerpt that the Divine is considering an Exalted March on Kirkwall as a response to the mage rebels. This interpretation is the widely popular one and there’s definitely evidence throughout the quest and even after the quest to support the idea. This is the main interpretation of this quest that I’ll focus on for this current analysis.

The important takeaway here is that, one way or another, for one reason or another, Divine Justinia V is considering calling an Exalted March on Kirkwall; she sends an agent to Kirkwall to investigate whether a March would be necessary to resolve the situation there.

A lot of the discussion between Hawke, Sebastian and Elthina about the Divine’s possible motivations in investigating Kirkwall are actually only tangentially relevant, in my opinion, because it could be partially attributed to Elthina exaggerating the danger in order to make Hawke involve themselves. However, there are three lines of dialogue from Elthina that I think are particularly pertinent to Justinia. The first one (emphasis mine):

Hawke: What argument would convince her? Elthina: The Divine has heard my protests already. I must trust your own powers of persuasion now.

This confirms that Elthina and Justinia are actively in contact with each other. Divine Justinia V ascended in 9:34, 3 years before the start of Act 3, and well before the quest. Kirkwall has been under Chantry rule for the past three years. Justinia is in contact with the single most powerful member of the Chantry in the entire Free Marches.

To be clear, this means that Justinia could have ordered Elthina or Meredith to allow the nobility to elect the next Viscount -- she could have done so in this very conversation that Elthina alludes to. She didn’t. (We know she didn't because no one has ever brought it up. Not in DA2 and not in DAI.) Nor does she through Leliana when we meet her later. She could have sent a Seeker of Truth (like, say, Cassandra) to forcibly relieve Meredith who is actively interfering in the politics of an independent nation. (She sends a Seeker of Truth to investigate whether there's really that much blood magic in Kirkwall, but not for this?) She didn’t.

That, to me, reads as tacit approval of Elthina and Meredith's actions in Kirkwall. She has no issues at all with Meredith assuming control of the city for the templars. The Chantry has had vested interests in maintaining control in Kirkwall since Divine Beatrix’s time -- this is not new. There’s no real change here from Beatrix to Justinia and there’s certainly no protest -- not even a token protest -- or investigation into Meredith’s treatment of the mages. No independent investigation, following her ascension as Divine, into the situation in Kirkwall before now.

Because it wasn’t a problem before now. Before the mages started rebelling about it -- violently. .

The problem Leliana is being sent to investigate is not whether or not Meredith is abusing mages. It's not whether or not Meredith should continue to hold power in Kirkwall. It's about how dangerous this mage rebellion is becoming.

Leliana’s dialogue later, in my opinion, confirms this:

Leliana: The Divine has long suspected that Kirkwall’s problems were being spurred by an outside group. This attack proves she is right.

The group Leliana is referring to are the Resolutionists, who are closely affiliated with the mage underground -- both mage resistance groups based in the Free Marches and operating in Kirkwall.

It’s explicit here that the problem is not the Chantry’s violation of Kirkwall’s sovereignty, it’s not that the Chantry and the Order has held the entire city under martial law for the past three years, it’s not even the blatant abuses of the Circle mages at the hands of the Kirkwall templars. It’s not even the alarming amount of blood mages or Tranquil mages in Kirkwall.

It’s a mage rebellion. That’s Kirkwall’s problem.

The next dialogue (emphasis mine):

Sebastian: She is the voice of Andraste. She cannot turn the might of the Chantry against the innocent due to ... proximity. Elthina: Were no innocents harmed in the Exalted Marches? She will do her best, Sebastian, but she must act first to defend the faith.

This is an interesting insight to Elthina’s viewpoints of Justinia. We know they’ve been in contact. Elthina is the second highest ranking member of the Chantry -- Grand Clerics are second only to the Divine in Chantry hierarchy. I sincerely doubt this is the first time she’s ever contacted her own boss in three years.

Elthina posits herself as someone pushing for peace, especially at the end of this quest when Sebastian pushes her to leave Kirkwall (despite her not really ... doing much to resolve the situation and actively refusing to do anything at all by claiming she has no power to help the situation but that’s another post). Yet, she says that Justinia’s primary motivation above all else is defending the faith. Not defending the innocent or defending the templars but specifically defending the faith.

The subjugation of mages is a central tenet of the Orlesian Chantry. It is a belief so central to Orlesian Andrastianism that the mere suggestion of Andraste being a mage or mages being allowed to exist outside of the Circle, say in Tevinter, causes a religious schism.

Elthina suggests here that Justinia will take action to defend the faith against the mages. That a mage rebellion, in essence, is an attack on the very foundations of the Orlesian Chantry and Justinia will react accordingly.

And I think she’s right to assume that of Justinia.

Leliana: Divine Justinia takes the situation here very seriously. She believes it is the worst threat to Thedas since the Qunari invaded.

The worst threat to Thedas since the Qunari invaded. The Qun, one of the most pervasive religious forces in Thedas, to rival the Chantry. The Qunari, whose invasion of Kirkwall (provoked as it was by the Chantry in the first place), enough to get the templars to take action to defend the city.

Leliana: The whole world is watching Kirkwall. If it falls to magic, none of us are safe. Tell Elthina to leave. There is refuge for her in the Grand Cathedral in Orlais. She will not be safe here.

Here, Leliana makes it very, very clear. Justinia views a mage rebellion as a threat to the faith; she will defend it as such.

Crucially, Leliana’s dialogue also sheds some light on how Justinia views the Circles.

Leliana: There have always been factions that support freedom from the Chantry and the abolition of the Circle. We have ... tolerated them. But the Resolutionists have become violent. They are likely behind the unrest here.

Even if the abolition of the Circle was an extreme stance to take, some level of freedom from the Chantry beyond what the Circle already has would be a progressive stance. Yet, Leliana presents it here as a transgression. In fact, the very beliefs of the Aequitarians -- the largest Fraternity in the College of Enchanters; Orsino himself is part of the Aequitarians, as are Wynne and Irving, who are presented as "good" mages in DA:O -- inherently wish to improve the conditions of the Circle. They seek reform by trying to comply with the ideal of a “good mage”, ones who uses their magic ethically and responsibly to help others -- but they seek reform still. This is made obvious even as early as DA:O, in conversations with Wynne. But even that moderate, and popular, view seems to be deemed as transgressive. Something to tolerate. Something to entertain but certainly not something to act on, or take seriously.

More than that, there are more Fraternities beyond just the Aequitarians and the Resolutionists who themselves are a splinter of the Libertarians. There are the Isolationists, who would abolish the Circle only to retreat further from people and keep mages separate. There are, of course, the Libertarians -- however, they don’t push for the abolishment of the Circle but rather it’s independence from the Chantry, to become a self-governing body.

Yet, Justinia merely tolerates the mages’ views of how they themselves should live their lives -- and there is an abrupt end to this tolerance, time and time again. Here, in Kirkwall. Again, in 9:38, after the events in Kirkwall, when the Chantry -- of whom Justinia is the leader of -- disbands the College and stops them from meeting at all. Mages can’t meet up even within their own Circles. And this is not done by the templars. This is done by the Chantry.

Is that really progressive? Meredith does the same in Kirkwall; she locks the mages in their cells, she inflicts harsher punishments on them such as Tranquility, and ultimately, she requests for Annulment from Justinia, expecting that Justinia will approve it. Based off the above discussions, was she wrong to assume this? I don’t think so. And there's plenty of reasons, considering the relatively recent Qunari invasion, to not grant the Right of Annulment, which have little to do with whether or not Justinia values the lives of the mages. She views a mage rebellion as bad as a Qunari invasion. The two are equivalent to her; both antagonistic forces to her goals, and the goals and beliefs of the Chantry at large.

One of the arguments I’ve seen many people use is to say that Justinia sent Leliana, who is pro-mage, to deal with the situation in Kirkwall, implying that Justinia is somewhat sympathetic to the mages, and that the Resolutionists reacted based off their own prejudices, thereby inciting any future Chantry-violence -- in a way, provoking the Chantry into reacting as they did. This is often accompanied with an ‘oh if only the Resolutionists weren’t so violent’-style commentary. It’s even lampshaded by Leliana herself: “I let word slip that an agent of the Divine was coming to investigate the mage troubles. It is how they chose to react which condemns them.“

However, talking to Elthina gets this notable dialogue:

Hawke: What can you tell me about this servant of the Divine? Elthina: I was not told her real name, only to call her Sister Nightingale. She is said to be the Divine’s left hand, sent to do the work that might blacken the Divine’s name.

Again, I delved into this already in the exploration of Dorothea in Leliana’s Song, but I thought it was important again to highlight here. Over a decade later, Justinia V is still using Leliana’s bard skills for her own gain, irrespective of her personal sympathy for Leliana. Importantly, in carrying out the Divine’s wishes and orders, Leliana can be made to act and behave counter to her own personal beliefs, something that is evidenced again later as well, when Justinia sends her to talk to Celene (which I’ve briefly discussed here). Leliana’s personal support of the mages is not indicative of Justinia also supporting the mages. If anything, sending Leliana is actually a threat more than anything; as “Sister Nightingale” is widely known as the one who does assassinations and spy work for the Divine. (On that note, I believe Aveline herself says something to the effect of how Leliana provoked them, but I can’t find any compilations on youtube that includes Aveline’s commentary.)

Conclusions so far:

Once again, Justinia's politics don't seem progressive but rather incredibly typical of Orlais and the Orlesian Chantry, and her political interests align with that of expanding the influence of the Chantry and Orlais. The templars holding Kirkwall against all legality is perfectly acceptable to her -- Meredith killing nobles to stop an election of a new Viscount is acceptable, Meredith authorising the hunt and subsequent persecution of non-mage persons under the excuse of "harbouring apostates" is acceptable, the templars killing and raping and beating and lobotomising the mages is acceptable, but what is not acceptable is when the mages fight back. That is something she considers an attack on the very foundations that the Chantry was built on -- and she will react accordingly. She sends Leliana, Sister Nightingale, the Left Hand of the Divine, well known for doing work like assassinations, to Kirkwall as a threat to the mages. She has only ever tolerated the College of Enchanters' existence. She has taken no actions to curb either Meredith or Elthina, despite having multiple opportunities and the authority to do so. She views a mage rebellion as much of a threat to Thedas as an invasion by a foreign power. What, about this, is progressive?

Sebastian: You were right. The Divine will be taking action against Kirkwall, though the sister didn’t say what.

#my da meta #dragon age #da2 #divine justinia v #leliana #hawke #elthina #justinia critical #anti chantry #on divine justinia meta series

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contreparry · 1 year

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Happy Friday!! How about "A window filled with eerily smiling faces" from the Invisible Cities prompts?

Here’s some Ostwick Circle Trevelyan for @dadrunkwriting !

“Now remember! Reverend Mother Dorothea has come to visit the First Enchanter and Knight Commander and give a sermon, so be on your best behavior while we’re gone!” Lydia ordered the young apprentices, all of them ranging from age five to ten. “No stray spells, listen to your teacher, and do not give him grief while we are out of the classroom!”

“Yes, Enchanter Lydia,” the children chorused.

“Apprentice Evelyn will be back to take over the lessons before the hour is out,” Lydia added, “so be good for her replacement, or she will be quite cross indeed! Especially after all the effort we put in to make her look nice!”

“Enchanter Lydia!” Evelyn whispered as the children giggled. She nervously smoothed out the front of her robes, clean blue linen perfectly pressed. Lydia had braided her hair into an ornate plait that she pinned up in a crown around her head. Lydia insisted on the formal robe and the elaborate braid- Reverend Mother Dorothea was an important woman, Lydia insisted, and she wanted to show off her beloved apprentice at her best. Even the children were invested, for Lydia had them vote on which hair ribbon should be woven into her hair. They picked the canary yellow one after much debate, and they shouted suggestions to Lydia as she braided Evelyn’s hair. It’s a very important sermon, Lydia informed the children as she tucked the stray ends of the ribbon into Evelyn’s braid. Adults only, Lydia informed the children, but Evelyn would be back soon enough.

Evelyn would much rather remain with the junior apprentices, teaching them magical theory and how to safely coax a flame to life and hold it in the palm of their hand. But Lydia so rarely asked her for anything. Naturally Evelyn was (mostly) happy to assist her mentor and her first friend in Ostwick Circle. Even if it meant dressing up and greeting a Chantry mother she didn’t know.

“Please remember to mind your manners with Enchanter Thomas, children,” Evelyn addressed her charges. “If you are good and diligent, we will spend a class out in the herbarium to study the plants we use for potions.”

The promise of an outdoor lesson was well-received, and as the children whispered excitedly to each other Lydia linked her arm with Evelyn’s and whisked her out of the classroom. As they walked down the corridor Evelyn glanced over at her mentor. The young woman had carefully swooped a dash of kohl along her eyelashes, drawing attention to her bright green eyes. Her curly pale blond hair was carefully dressed and pinned back, and her own olive green robes were almost rigid with starch.

“Who is this Reverend Mother Dorothea, Lydia?” Evelyn whispered as they walked. “You’ve never dressed up this much for any other Chantry mother or sister who comes up here!” In fact, Evelyn couldn’t recall a time Lydia bothered to dress up for anyone! Reverend Mother Dorothea must be a fearsome woman, to make even easy-going, cheerful Lydia suddenly worry about decorum. She was ten years Evelyn’s senior and a talented mage who specialized in creation magic. Her talent and efforts made up for her disregard of most social norms, so if Lydia was worried- Evelyn’s hand instinctively tightened around Lydia’s elbow, searching for some comfort from her friend.

Lydia halted in the hall. She glanced around, as if making sure that they were truly alone, before she grasped Evelyn’s hand and tugged her into a shadowed alcove.

“… the Divine is sick,” Lydia murmured.

“She’s always sick,” Evelyn replied. Divine Beatrix III hadn’t been in good health in years, if all the rumors from Val Royeux were true. Not a year passed without some whisper of the Divine’s flagging health. It had been that way since Evelyn was a child, and had only gotten worse as the years passed.

“It’s worse than before. Much worse. Would be surprised if she made it through the winter. Would be a miracle if she saw the beginning of 9:34,” Lydia said. “It’s said… I have a good source in Orlais. He says Dorothea is the Divine’s choice as her replacement.”

“Oh,” Evelyn tried to wrap her head around this information, tried to figure out why all this new information tied in with sleepy Ostwick, which was far away from Orlais and any power struggles within the Chantry. “I… see.”

Lydia sighed and squeezed Evelyn’s hands. “Think of it like chess. We move our center pawns out. We bring out our knight. We don’t move our king or our rook. Why?”

“So we take control of the board. Because knights can jump over the other pieces. So we can castle if we need to,” Evelyn promptly replied. “So… we’re playing twenty moves ahead?”

“We’re playing to win,” Lydia said. “There’s always someone rumbling about something, and having an ally in high places is the best way to keep Ostwick safe.”

“… so we dress up. And act nice,” Evelyn murmured. Lydia always tried to protect her and the other apprentices from rumors of Circle uprisings and Annulments, but they heard them anyways. This was why Lydia ought to be First Enchanter, a rebellious part of Evelyn muttered. Lydia cared about them, all of them, and she was clever. If she thought courting the favor of Reverend Mother Dorothea would help keep Ostwick’s Mages safe, then Evelyn would play the perfect apprentice Mage.

“You’re already nice, Evie,” Lydia said softly. “You don’t have to act. If you’re nervous you can ask to go check on the children. She’ll probably like that.”

“I’ll stay for as long as you need me,” Evelyn decided. “Enchanter Thomas needs to remember what it’s like to teach baby Mages, anyways.” If it were anyone else Evelyn would feel sorry for giving them her rambunctious class, but Enchanter Thomas was forever complaining about everything, especially the apprentices. He could use a bit of humbling. Harmless humbling, that is. She resolved to let the children have their outdoor lesson regardless of their behavior. Putting up with Enchanter Thomas had to count for something.

“We’ll stick together, then,” Lydia declared with a chuckle. “Come on, off we go.”

Both the First Enchanter and the Knight Commander stood in the chapel, shoulder to shoulder as they spoke with a third figure, a stately woman dressed in crimson and white with a golden sunburst upon her chest. Other Enchanters and apprentices milled about, every exit guarded by Templars. Even with their helms down Evelyn recognized some of them- Ser Quentin stood in the back left by the altar, while Ser Serena walked down the far right wall towards the choir loft, her deep brown hair escaping the lip of her helmet to dangle in a long tail down her back.

Evelyn spotted her some of fellow apprentices dressed in the traditional formal blue robes, including her closest friends. Mara was still half asleep, her short auburn hair slightly mussed and her pointed ears red from the slight chill in the air. When she turned to wave at them Evelyn spied an ink stain on her round, freckled cheek. Paul, however, was as tidy and well-dressed as her- even more so, in fact. His beard was neatly trimmed to his sharp jaw. Silver earrings dangled from his pointed ears, and even his blue apprentice robes were ironed and starched.

“Lydia,” Evelyn whispered as they crossed the chapel floor. “This isn’t a normal sort of Chantry service, is it?” Between the extra guards and everyone decked out in their best- better than Chantry best, Evelyn couldn’t help the unease roiling about in her stomach. The Divine was sick, sicker than usual, and a Reverend Mother was giving a sermon.

“It’s normal, for the most part,” Lydia assured her. “Just.. some light politicking.”

“... wouldn’t a feast in Ostwick proper be more appropriate?” Evelyn already saw the arrangements her family would make: the finest of crystal and silverware polished until one could see their reflection, and crisp linens on all the tables. There would be fish from the harbor and venison from the woods and at least three types of soup. Mother would wear the Trevelyan emeralds and probably loop her hair up into a style that was... not unlike what she was wearing now.

Push your pawn out to the center to claim the board. Her grandmother said she looked like her mother, a round face and a swan-like neck. But her eyebrows were Trevelyan through and through. If anyone got a look at her and another member of the family, they would know. And they would draw their conclusions: Ostwick Circle has allies. Look at their own Mage child, kept here instead of sent off to another land.

“She will, later today,” Lydia murmured. “Ah, she noticed you. Good. Go take a seat, Evie.” Lydia pushed her away at the elbow, a soft, subtle movement that Evelyn followed automatically. Sit on bench. Listen to sermon. Ignore the way the elegant woman at the front of the chapel stared at her, her deep blue eyes tracking every step like she was a hawk and Evelyn her prey. Smile, she told herself. Smile like the dolls in the window of that one toy shop in Val Royeux, the one her grandmother walked her by when she was seven. Smile that serene smile of those finely dressed fashion dolls behind the glass, eerie and ethereal and not there-

Do it for the others, she told herself with every step. If Reverend Mother Dorothea’s interest in them bought Ostwick safety after Divine Beatrix was gone, she could endure staring. She could endure anything. She sat down on the bench with Mara at her right and Paul behind her, folded her trembling hands in her lap, and reminded herself that pawns weren’t needlessly sacrificed and Lydia was a decent chess player. She knew what she was doing.

Lost in her thoughts and worries, Reverend Mother Dorothea’s sermon went in one ear and out the other. Evelyn hadn’t even realized it was over until the others rose to their feet and she hastily popped up to join them, all of them retreating from the chapel to their respective duties. Evelyn was going to make good her escape and return to the classroom when Lydia snatched her elbow and drew her aside.

“Take a walk around the gardens before you go back in. You look a little peaky, Evie. The fresh air will do you good,” she suggested brightly, and when she leaned in close she whispered.

“The Reverend Mother brought a companion with her- a girl your age- eighteen? Nineteen? She has red hair, is dressed in a tunic and hunting boots. It might be worth it to make a new friend and say hello to her, no?” Lydia suggested before sending Evelyn off with a smile.

At least it was a good excuse to wander around the herbarium, Evelyn thought as she walked away from the chapel and into the cool autumn afternoon. She could make lesson plans along the way. Perhaps, she thought with a grimace as she remembered just how many of her pupils were related to important people in the Free Marches, she would start with a short lesson on chess.

#my writing #da drunk writing circle #she never found Leliana because Leliana was hanging out on the roof #years later Leliana remembered this incident and laughed about it #I wanted to play with more Ostwick Circle ideas #like how noble children (even Mages) get drawn into power struggles

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dalishious · 2 years

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Hey Lydia, can you help me out with the Divine timelines? There seems to be some conflicting information, and I'm not sure if the writers have stated which version is "correct." So anyways, was Beatrix III the Divine during the Orlesian occupation of Ferelden?

To my knowledge there’s been no stated ‘correct’ version. So it depends on which source you want to go by.

The Thedas Calendar codex from DA:O says Divine Faustine II declared 9:00 to be the Dragon Age in 8:99, which would have made her Divine during the Orlesian occupation.

However, Divine Justinia V’s codex from DA:2 says Beatrix III died in 9:34, matched with Asunder saying she served as Divine for 50 years, would make her reign start in 8:84 during the occupation.

The easiest solution to me would be to forget about that 50 year thing, and instead assume Beatrix took over as Divine in 9:00. Which would still place her as being Divine for the very end of the occupation.

#ask

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idolbound · 1 year

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POWER & PLAYING THE POLITICAL GAME IN KIRKWALL (vers. 2)

Meredith’s Ascension

Living in Kirkwall, with its divided population of Hightown nobles, templar and Chantry folk, Lowtown commoners and the poor of the undercity, there are powerful politics at play, creating tensions and forcing decisive action for those who seek to retain power and control of the city-state. For Meredith Stannard, her hunger for power began at a young age, when her familial nepotism named her as Knight-Captain in 9:14 Dragon, at age 22, inherited by her physically ill and failing father figure, Ser Wentworth Kell. It is said, though, before then she had all but taken the role in everything but its title, for several years. It took two years for Wentworth to pass before her role became official. Her cohort of templar knights did not believe her worthy of being given the rank, but her skills and ability to lead soon changed their minds when her newly implemented rules led to more effective monitoring of mages in the Gallows, believing that stricter laws and routines would help create safer spaces for mages as to not allow distress and unexpected surprises (which is implemented given what happened to Meredith’s sister, Amelia), and to make it easier to detect anything out of the ordinary. Eventually, her greatly charismatic nature helped her cohort believe in her as Knight-Captain, following her willingly when conflicts between the current residing Viscount and the Knight-Commander came to a head. In 9:21, Viscount Perrin Threnhold constricted trade into Kirkwall’s ports with the Orlesians, charging them extortionate fees to allow their ships through. Orlais retaliated with threat of invasion, and the Divine Beatrix III used the templars to pressure the Viscount. In response, Threnhold attempted to expel the templars from Kirkwall with hired mercenaries who stormed the Gallows, arresting Knight-Commander Guylian, and executing him soon thereafter. In response, Meredith led the templars - which, at that point in time, were the largest armed force within Kirkwall - to the Viscount’s Keep with the intention of arresting and deposing Threnhold. It was her charisma, her natural leadership, and her order that the Templars followed willingly. Threnhold was then arrested, tried, and jailed in his own prison by Grand Cleric Elthina, dying two years later from a successful assassination attempt using poison. It is this event that led to Meredith being named Knight-Commander by the Grand Cleric, at the comparatively young age of 29. Compared to the former greying and elderly Guylian, Meredith was young and charismatic, and already had established control of the Knights Templar. It was Meredith's own suggestion then to appoint Marlowe Dumar - a man known to have a “good heart” but a “weak will.” This choice was intentional. Newly knighted as Kirkwall’s top templar, Meredith asserted her control over the Viscount at his crowning, by sending him Threnhold’s blood-encrusted signet ring in an ivory carved box, inscribed with ‘His fate need not be yours’ as a constant reminder that she now had full control and could easily lead another revolt with her Templar forces, should the need arise. Of course, this decision was not made entirely on her own; it is, of course, a shared plot with the Grand Cleric to prevent the Viscount from following any decisions of his predecessor that should threaten the city-state. With this arrangement in mind, Meredith’s influence controlled Dumar’s decisions for a decade while the strength of the templars under her command grew tenfold. Aside from ruling the Templar Order and maintaining an iron fist over the mages living in the Gallows, Meredith also made a powerful move after the Arishok’s assault on the Viscount’s Keep, resulting in Dumar’s death. Even as Hawke defeated him, and she had to legally oblige naming them the Champion of Kirkwall, Meredith asserted her political power by not naming a succeeding Viscount to take Dumar’s place. Instead, she invoked martial law with her templar knights to maintain judicial control over the city rather than the city guard, and in all but name, took on the role of the de facto VISCOUNT of Kirkwall. This decision was 100% intentional, and even with her paranoia at an all time high after the Qunari attack, her choice not to elect a Viscount was her plan all along to maintain ALL power and control through each of the key institutions in the city-state (the Templar Order, the Gallows, and the Viscount’s Keep).

Meredith’s Methods & Political Players

From this historical event onward, Knight-Commander Meredith ruled the Gallows for seventeen years until the end of Act III, without assassination, injury, or political issues to dethrone her. In this time, Meredith sought whatever means necessary to maintain and control power of the city-state from her position. Some means were more traditional, keeping her templars on short leashes, and mages locked up and contained to the Gallows. Others, were less traditional and more... subtle and underlying. Cullen, for example, was someone who reminded her of herself - young and traumatized by mages and magic, but someone she could mould into following her beliefs and rulings, and eventually, ensure her legacy continues by making him her successor. She saw promise within him, despite his young age, and hoped to ensure that what she did in life would continue after her eventual retirement and death. This is why his betrayal later feels so personal - he betrays everything she instilled in him. A key player in this, is of course, Grand Cleric Elthina. Elthina is the one person that Meredith seems to bow to, respecting (albeit begrudgingly) her command when told to step down or back off. She is the key player and connection to the Divine and the Chantry, and arguably, is the only one who can leash Meredith - that is, until her death. And, with Meredith’s ascension to power as de facto Viscount, Elthina was either in support of her plan and the two would work together, or didn’t want to challenge control of the city in such a divisive time, believing Meredith to be competent enough to maintain it until finding a choice otherwise. Meredith and Elthina are, arguably, a duo from hell, who have been trying to vie for power and control of Kirkwall since the decision to elect Dumar together as their political figurehead puppet. Elthina knew that Meredith would be the one who could act on everything they set out to do, and accomplish it, which was why she had no problem naming Meredith as Knight-Commander at such a young age. Meredith is also jealous of Hawke when they are the ones to fight the Arishok, earning themselves the rightful title of Champion, when it should’ve been another accolade for herself. Hawke is a key contender for power and influence during their time in the city-state, presenting themselves also as the biggest potential thorn in her side, especially, should they side with the mages during the later rising conflicts - or, alternatively, becoming the Viscount (though, this comes through siding with the templars up until a certain point until they stand in opposition to Meredith). Either way, Hawke’s role is an unprecedented one, and why Meredith always expresses caution around them and their party. Other “behind the scenes” actions Meredith takes include bribery and cutthroat threats, though she often has her templar knights take action more than she does herself, busy with the administrative side of running the Gallows. But, every action taken is done so under a guise in the name of justice and protection of innocent civilians. The most extreme method she sought out was of course, the red lyrium idol. This came as part of her desperation, where she saw conflicts arising after her decision to invoke martial law and neglect to pick a new Viscount to replace Dumar. She needed something more, and pure lyrium seemed an obvious choice to her, no matter its cost - even though, it is what killed her, in the end.

Summation

Meredith is a key political player in Kirkwall, and her insatiable appetite for power guides her every move within the Gallows and beyond, using her influence to maintain law and order at all costs. This desire to be in control stems from the trauma of losing her mage sister in her childhood, but it also develops as a symptom of her PTSD - hyper-vigilance - that lends itself to ensuring that everything is as it should be, which is why her paranoia is always running on high, fearing that every apostate could possibly be a blood mage. Yet, with all this power, she does not see herself as a tyrant - everything Meredith does, she does it for the benefit of Kirkwall, her birthplace and home. She sees herself as the hero that Kirkwall needs and deserves, acting as their holy and righteous savior, protecting innocents and keeping the Gallows ruled under her iron-fist. Even over the course of Act 3 where she starts to lose herself to the idol, she still sees herself as Kirkwall’s rightful Champion in everything but the title that she had to bestow upon Hawke. She sees herself as untouchable by anyone else - at least, until the paranoia takes over and sees Hawke as her IMMEDIATE threat to her power. One line in particular that comes from the final stage of Act 3, is “I will be rewarded for what I have done here, in this world and the next!” This line from Meredith seems to believe that her name will carry on in the future for ruling the Gallows, in this world and “the next.” Of course, at this point, she’s about completely lost her mind to the red lyrium idol, but perhaps it ponders a belief in reincarnation. We know that Andrastians “believe the souls of the dead pass through the Fade and out the other side to join the Maker. Those who turned away from the Maker are trapped in the Fade forever and lost there” so the claim of being in this world and rewarded for her deeds makes sense. However, as in for ‘the next’, could be referring to another life, reincarnated – or perhaps, she simply means the next generation. Regardless, I think it was just something interesting with how deluded she is about how she’ll be remembered, how for the crimes she just committed (by enacting the Right of Annulment on the Circle for an apostate’s act of terror) and believes she will be remembered and rewarded for time and all eternity.

#HEADCANON.#[ reposting this with the added Viscount thoughts that I had today LMAO ]#[ am I leaning into it a lot? yes.#do I care? NO.]#VISCOUNT STANNARD.#[ setting that in there so i can find this again ]

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syrupwit · 2 years

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Perhaps Jowan/Lily for the DADWC. Maybe: The taste of soap from one of your prompt lists. Happy Friday!!

Hey, thank you so much! I'm having a short fill sort of Friday; please excuse me. Under the cut, please find ~137 words of creepy Jowan/Lily for @dadrunkwriting.

Everyone bathes with the same soap in the Chantry, from Divine Beatrix III to the lowest initiate. That's what they say, at least; and Lily likes the idea, even if she doesn't believe it. Jowan can tell by the wistful way she dismisses it. He can also tell that it bothers her, sometimes, when he speaks heresy too lightly. Time will tell if love conquers faith.

It's not fine soap. It flakes and leaves pale clumps, a harsh smell. The taste is bitter, almost burning, in contrast with the intoxicating warmth of her skin. Jowan, who has been lying to her about his extracurricular studies for weeks now, feels her blood flare when he inhales against her neck—like a flower, like a pulsing sun, like something small that he can take into his hand and crush.

#hunnybadgerv #dadwc #dadwc fill

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dragon-age-codex-entries · 4 months

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Codex entry: Divine Justinia V

"Formerly the Revered Mother Dorothea of Orlais, Divine Justinia V rose to power after the death of Divine Beatrix III in the year 9:34 of the Dragon Age. Little is known of Dorothea's background before she joined the Chantry as an initiate, but she proved to be a liberal and daring thinker, willing to take a former bard and lay-sister, Leliana, as a close advisor. A headstrong devotion to her own agenda and rumored support of the mage rebellion earned her no small dislike from the powerful priests long used to controlling access to the Divine.

In the year 9:40[Bugs 1] of the Dragon Age, Divine Justinia called a summit, intending to negotiate a truce between the mage rebellion and the templars splintered from the Chantry. The Divine Conclave was held at the Temple of Sacred Ashes, the most holy place in Thedas. Before a resolution could be reached, a cataclysmic explosion destroyed the Conclave, consumed the temple, rent the sky, and shattered the world's hopes for peace.

Divine Justinia V perished in the Temple of Sacred Ashes. The Chantry flounders, leaderless, in the wake of her death, and its fate grows increasingly uncertain. If order is not restored to Thedas, Justinia V might be remembered as the Chantry's final Divine."

#codex entry #dragon age #characters

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k1ngj0ve · 3 years

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Ma'am there cant be more than 10-15 years between these two pictures, what HAPPENED?

#i thought she was like NINETY #Beatrix III also aged really rapidly between the cassandra movie and the verbal description of 'feeble and long suffering from dementia;#thats just what being the pope does to you #the evilness of being a chantry pope just sucks all the moisture from your skin #this is why Certain Characters still look good. the Divine must sacrifice her juice #if everyones gonna keep aging at this rate than i assume in da4 a divine cassandra will look just like that justinia #all the people that romanced her will be mad

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dragonageconfessions · 2 years

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CONFESSION:

So, there's something that bugs me with a lot of "I hate Elthina, she had the power to stop Meredith" confessions that I've seen, and I feel like a lot of people missed some very important information from the codex (specifically History of Kirkwall: Chapter 4).

Meredith controls Kirkwall with the blessing of the Divine. She has Kirkwall by the balls and Elthina's boss backing her up every step of the way. The Viscount before Dumar -- Perrin Threnhold -- started levying heavy taxes on Orlesian traders and wouldn't let them dock unless they paid a huge fee. The Orlesians complained to their Orlesian Divine, and she then used the Templars as her personal thugs to try and convince Threnhold to knock it off. Threnhold then decided to arrest the Knight-Commander and execute him. Meredith, who was Knight-Captain at this point, then took her Templars and stormed the Keep, taking the throne. She gave Dumar the pointy crown, but it's very clear that Meredith wears the pants. She took over the city once before, with the Divine giving her high fives all the way to Keep.

Beatrix III dies after the Qunari attack the city, putting Justinia on the throne. But by then it's too late, the Viscount's dead and Meredith is no longer even pretending she's not ruling Kirkwall by this point. Elthina does have sway over Meredith, but let's be clear: Elthina is not Meredith's boss. Meredith is a warlord and a loose cannon who only bothers to pay attention to Elthina because she is a devout Andrastian. Elthina has seen one civil war in Kirkwall between the Templars and the people, so she's not keen on getting the Divine into this mess and she's not even sure if this new Divine will be any better than the old one.

Personally, I'm still not a huge fan of Elthina. I'm ambivalent. Character-wise, in any other city she probably would have been a mediocre cleric, very middle-of-the-road, and nothing bad would have happened. But in Kirkwall, this mediocrity just makes her incompetent. Which really isn't her fault. We're can't all be Hawke. But I do feel like she's unfairly judged for a situation she cannot change, with Meredith as a de facto dictator at the head of a military force that is being backed by Elthina's boss and one of the greatest powers in Thedas.

#Dragon Age Confessions #Dragon Age 2 #Elthina #Kirkwall #long post

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anneapocalypse · 2 years

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Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker

Crosspost. Originally posted on dreamwidth on 06/17/20.

Dawn of the Seeker is a 90-minute animated film made by BioWare and FUNimation and released in 2012 in both Japanese and English. Set in the year 9:22 Dragon in Orlais, it follows the early career of Cassandra Pentaghast as a Seeker of Truth.

This film is fun to watch and the animation is very pretty, but I honestly don't have a lot to say about it. The story is fairly predictable, with the main antagonists being set up early and paid off about as you'd expect, and the heroine's journey playing out in kind. There is also a touch of the old Obligatory Heterosexuality.

It's easy to see how the brash and angry young woman Cassandra was in her youth grew into the more measured but still passionate Cassandra we know in the games. The English voice actor for young Cassandra is excellent and fits her well.

Cassandra's Tragic Backstory is that her brother was murdered in front of her by blood mages when she was young, and she's harbored anger against mages ever since, though this is tempered by her partnership with Circle mage Regalyan in the film. "Mages hurt me or someone I love" is a pretty stock backstory for mage-hating characters in Dragon Age, so I don't know if it really adds a lot of depth to Cassandra per se, but it's backstory, and one I believe you can discuss with her in Inquisition if your approval is high enough.

The plot of the film centers around a plot by a blood mage cult to assassinate Divine Beatrix III in the most dramatic way possible: with dragons. More specifically, by kidnapping a young elven mage child with a gift for controlling wild beasts from the Circle, mind-controlling her with blood magic, and making her control several dragons to make them attack the Grand Cathedral during a big important gathering at which the Divine will be present. Also in league with the blood mages are the templar Knight-Commander Martel, and the Grand Cleric of Orlais who hopes to succeed Beatrix as Divine.

One thing that's really confusing, because it's never explained in the film, is what exactly the Knight-Commander's beef is with the Divine. He mentions wanting to see to it that "events like Kirkwall will not be tolerated," and as we're many years before the events of Dragon Age II, it's unclear what he's talking about if you don't already know. What he's actually referencing is the events leading up to Marlowe Dumar's installation as Viscount, in which the previous Viscount had attempted to oust the Templar Order from Kirkwall for political reasons. Apparently, Martel was not satisfied with the way Beatrix handled the situation. Beatrix therefore ends up in a position where basically everyone wants her dead: mages, templars, her own Grand Clerics.

Despite all this, I unfortunately didn't get a very strong sense of Beatrix from the film, or of what kind of Divine she was. I had hoped some of my questions about her might be answered, particularly how she came to appoint an apparent radical like Mother Dorothea to be her successor. Sadly, those questions remain unanswered!

Cassandra eventually foils the plot to assassinate the Divine, due in part to her skills hunting dragons learned from her family. In the process, she survives not one but two terrible falls, so we might say the Maker's favor is upon her! As a reward for her efforts, she becomes the Right Hand of the Divine at quite a young age. By Inquisition, then, she has been the Right Hand for nearly twenty years. I guess Justinia liked her enough to keep her on.

Not a groundbreaking installment, but a fun one and worth the watch if you love Cassandra.

#cassandra pentaghast #divine beatrix iii #dragon age meta #dawn of the seeker #dragon age #anne does dragon age #blunders of thedas

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vigilskeep · 1 year

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Do you understand how Kirkwall politics work? Ik theres a viscount but like…is it just viscount and Templar’s? Three people?

i don't know a lot off the top of my head but let's take a look!

kirkwall is ruled by a viscount. it does seem to be a hereditary position, but if the viscount has no heirs or the line is otherwise removed from power, kirkwall's nobility have the right to elect a new viscount. so there's definitely an established noble class who have a powerful say in what happens. world of thedas lists the amells, the threnholds, and the reinhardts as the most powerful hightown houses at the start of the dragon age, but both the amells and threnholds collapsed before da2. (prior to their collapse, the amells were one of the foremost noble families in the whole free marches, with four centuries of history to their bloodline.) we interact with families like the harrimanns and de launcets in da2 and leandra mentions the reinhardts still being around.

viscounts' lines don't seem particularly long-lasting; marlowe dumar is the first in his. his predecessor perrin threnhold inherited the role from his father, but the father was also first in his short-lived line and "took power through a campaign of intimidation" rather than just, like, inheriting it. (this is confirmed by a codex stating the threnholds only came to power less than a week after maric retook the fereldan throne.) the implication is that saemus dumar would have been a potential heir to marlowe had he lived, but i don't remember anyone taking this possibility seriously in the game and given his politics i'm sure the nobility and templars alike would never remotely consider allowing it

the title of viscount was introduced by the orlesians, who ruled kirkwall from 7:60 storm to 8:05 blessed after liberating it from a four-year qunari occupation. they also introduced the kirkwall city guard, a force answerable to the viscount. the people of kirkwall threw out the orlesians but kept the title and the associated guard.

the templars have no official control of the city. however, the viscount's office is effectively so weak by the time of da2 that it is impossible to hold without templar support. this is because of what happened under viscount dumar's predecessor, viscount perrin threnhold. brother genitivi refers to perrin as "even worse" than his "vicious thug" father. perrin used those ancient chains in kirkwall's harbour to block orlesian ships and charge exorbitantly heavy taxes on them. this was naturally a poorly received move in orlais but also in kirkwall, as it limited trade, the lifeblood of the city. divine beatrix iii, who the codex claims was acting "as a friend to the emperor", ordered the templars to pressure the viscount into stopping, despite knight-commander guylian having refused similar requests from kirkwall's nobles and insisting even to the divine that their place was to protect the city from magic not from itself. perrin responded by hiring a mercenary army—odd that it wasn't the city guard, possibly implying they turned against him in favour of the nobles?—that ultimately stormed the gallows and executed guylian, with the intention of expelling the templars entirely from the city. in the end perrin was arrested, and presumably executed, if his successor being gifted his blood-encrusted signet ring as a threat is anything to go by. this seems to have been well received in kirkwall; the templars "were hailed as heroes". guylian was replaced with meredith, who personally directly appointed marlowe dumar

meredith's choice is an interesting one. the dumars were noble, but considerably modest compared to other noble families, with some of their income from trade that the dumars personally oversaw (traditional noble income tending to come from landowning, with actually having a job being looked down upon). marlowe's wife wasn't noble or an arranged match, only the daughter of a prosperous cartographer. meredith told marlowe that he chose him because he was "humble" as opposed to the "entitled degenerates" she considered the rest of the nobility, but it's obvious this wasn't merely her respecting the value of hard work. she openly threatened him on instalment to the office she had chosen him for. instead of appointing a strong viscount who could restore the office, allowing the templars to step back, meredith had none of guylian's scruples, and appointed a weak one the templars would continue to control. "the knight-commander's influence was evident in almost every one of marlowe's decisions."

this turned into more of an essay on recent kirkwall history than an explanation, but hopefully some of it's helpful in fleshing out the landscape. as a further note as well as the nobility i would expect merchants, guilds, etc. to hold massive influence in a city built on trade. there's a reason for example that the dwarven merchants' guild is visibly extremely well-established in kirkwall with its own large area in hightown; not the most trustworthy source but varric also claims they have "fingers in all these pies" in the lowtown market and own every tavern in hightown. i very much doubt human merchants are letting the dwarves have all the fun so it can be reasonably assumed they hold similar influence

#marlowe dumar is one of my fav da2 npcs i think he's really compelling #kirkwall #marlowe dumar #perrin threnhold #knight-commander meredith #merchants guild #i wasnt totally familiar with how perrin and guylian's thing went down until i went through this just now #REALLY good stuff here for my points abt chantry and orlesian imperial power being interlinked. crunchy #also isn't guylian a brand of chocolates #long post

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squirrelwithatophat · 2 years

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Dragon Age II is a great game because almost all of the corrupt and/or abusive authority figures are women.

The Chantry is run by women, with Grand Cleric Elthina at the top of the Kirkwall Chantry and all men relegated to secondary or auxiliary roles.

The head of the Kirkwall Templars is a woman, who more or less rules Kirkwall as dictator, restrained only by the women in the hierarchy above her. Viscount Dumar, the official head of state (and of course a man), is pretty much her bitch. The coup that toppled the previous viscount was engineered by three powerful women — Elthina, Knight-Commander Meredith, and Divine Beatrix III. The man chosen to head Kirkwall’s Circle of Magi is also under Meredith’s thumb and has to beg Elthina for relief.

Kirkwall’s city guard, which allows a serial killer to roam free in exchange for bribe money and later harbors a reported serial rapist, is led by a woman. She also starts an illicit relationship with a male subordinate, pursuing him so hard that she initially worries he’ll file a complaint.

Clan Sabrae is led by Merrill’s emotionally abusive mother figure.

The empire of Orlais, which starts threatening its neighbors in the aftermath of Mark of the Assassin, is ruled by a lesbian.

The only politically important man in Kirkwall (besides maybe the main character) who isn’t cowering and/or impotent seems to be the Arishok, but he (usually) gets killed off at the end of Act 2 (but either way, he’s gone).

It’s so refreshing to see a fictional world where women are corrupted by power and even commit genocide while the men are either helpless puppets or pushed to the margins of society.

👏 More 👏 female 👏dictators 👏

#dragon age #dragon age 2 #shitposting #elthina critical #marethari critical #aveline critical #celene critical #chantry critical

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queenofzan · 2 years

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like i know not everyone has read through every dragon age codex entry at least twice (i have them as ebooks, shut up, it’s not that weird) but

meredith was absolutely a tyrant before the red lyrium my friends!

from the Dragon Age Wiki:

By 9:20 Dragon the templars were the largest armed force in Kirkwall and could have challenged even the viscount for power. Knight-Commander Guylian would have preferred to stay neutral, but Divine Beatrix III pressured him to force Viscount Perrin Threnhold to re-open the Waking Sea passage to allow Orlesian ships through. As a result, in 9:21 the viscount attempted to oust the Templars from the city: he hired mercenaries to storm the Gallows and had the Knight-Commander hanged. In retaliation, Meredith and a group of her best templars marched on the Viscount's Keep determined to exact justice. The captain of the city guard quailed before the templars and to prove his own innocence, asserted that the viscount had acted unlawfully and had him arrested. Threnhold was thrown in his own dungeons, his lands and title stripped from him. Grand Cleric Elthina promoted her to leader of the Order, which she has governed with an iron fist. Viscount Marlowe Dumar was chosen at Meredith's strong suggestion. At his coronation, she gave him a carved ivory box containing Threnhold's bloody and broken signet ring with the words "His fate need not be yours" on the lid. Dumar has never openly or strongly defied the templars since.

She fucking overthrew the rightful* governor of Kirkwall for daring to think the Chantry was overstepping its power (it was) and installed a fucking puppet replacement who she then threatened. She was de facto leader of the Kirkwall Templars before she was Knight-Commander bc all the other templars liked her better than their actual Knight-Commander.

*inasmuch as hereditary rule and/or election by the nobles of the city can be considered legitimate. Perrin Threnhold was a dick but he was the Viscount and as far as I can tell from codex entries, inherited power legitimately.

#ass deep in demons #did meredith stannard effectively utilize girlpower when she overthrew the rightful ruler of kirkwall

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thatboomerkid · 3 years

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SpellJammer: Shadow of the Spider-Moon

Player’s Packet (ver 1.3)

for use with the First Edition Pathfinder Role-Playing Game

by Clinton J. Boomer

with special thanks to Andy Collins, Scott Schomburg, Chloe Michelle, Dennis Detwiller, David Gerrold, and George Loki Williams

additional campaign materials may be found here

The broad theme of the campaign is simple: “outsiders — criminals, rejects, freedom fighters, the lost, the abandoned, the desperate, and the mad — go balls-out, nothing to lose, against corrupt authority and nightmare monsters, surviving on the razor’s edge of the known & the unknown”.

It’s meant to have one foot in Serenity/Firefly, one foot in Pirates of the Caribbean, one foot in Guardians of the Galaxy, yet another foot in Princess Bride, plus little dashes of steampunk / dieselpunk pulp-action high-fantasy on top: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Giant Robo: The Day the Earth Stood Still, Aliens, Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro, The Mummy, The Fifth Element, The Rocketeer, and/or Big Trouble in Little China

RACES

Dwarf: a scattered people born of Moradin’s Forge*, 80% of whom now exist solely as slaves beneath the whip and bootheel of the illithid and their grotesque creations. Dwarves in captivity are stripped of their names, titles, and family lineage; for this reason, free dwarves often cover themselves in dense tattoos, transformed into living repositories of their clan history. Dwarves no longer have a homeland but make small communities on Fenris, the Crown-Moons of Garl, Gelth, and Callarduran, and across the Chain of Tears (especially the city of Discord).

For human occupants of Pyrespace, the illithid invasion – which the Church of Yondalla officially denies occurring, under pain of incarceration, transportation, and excommunication – happened ten years ago: half a generation past, when the very youngest of human spacehands were still in diapers.

For dwarves, it happened approximately last Tuesday.

Shepard Book, Zoe Washburne, and Drax the Destroyer are good examples of dwarves.

*NOTE: The Church of Yondalla, which does not recognize the divinity of Moradin, refers to the dwarven home-world instead simply as ‘the Adamant Forge’ in all official documentation.

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Elf: an elegant race in slow decline, born of Perianth, still recovering from the Unseelie War that split and decimated the species a millennium ago. For the elves, long-lived as they are, the wound is still very fresh: fewer than seven generations have passed since the end of the war, after all (for a human, this is perhaps comparable to a tragedy that occurred less than a century and a half ago).

Elves consume food, water, and air as Small-size creatures. Drow are a playable race, although they suffer a great deal of distrust from everyone … including other drow.

Inara, Simon Tam, River Tam, the Operative, Nebula, and Gamora are good examples of elves.

---

Gnome: engineers and technologists born from the Circle of Gold, greatest moon of the Crown of Sapphire, now scraping-by on the Crown’s remaining moons and across the Chain of Tears: the devastated shards of their destroyed home-world, shattered two-and-a-quarter centuries ago.

Like the elves, of course, gnomes are fantastically long-lived: the very eldest gnomes can recall the true glory of their home world, seen with their own eyes; some of the most ancient were already well into their venerable years, over two and a half centuries old, at the time of the cataclysm. Even for the very youngest of gnomes, those who have never known a home-world other than the Chain of Tears, only about three generations have passed since the destruction of that moon (in terms that a human might understand, this is perhaps similar to an event that occurred 60-70 years ago).

Gnomes may choose to gain +2 Intelligence in place of their standard +2 Charisma; most have the Gear Gnome subtype. Nearly half of all gnomish pregnancies result in twins, and triplets are as common among gnomes as twins are among humans.

Kaylee Frye, Niska, Hoban ‘Wash’ Washburne, Rocket Racoon, Miracle Max (from Princess Bride), and Twigg (from Pirates of the Caribbean) are good examples of gnomes.

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Hin: Undisputed rulers of Quelya above the waves, thanks much to their ingenuity in social organization & their bountiful harvests even in the most barren of lands. The vast monotheistic religion of the Hin offers prayers to Yondalla and to her Saints, including Davian and Asmodeus; all Hin estates contain a shrine to Yondalla. The priests and nuns of the Church may not marry, though their laity is expected to produce many, many children. Status within the Church is of paramount importance for all Hin; donations to the church can buy writs of indulgence, favorable legal judgment, and even sainthood.

Lord Beckett, Governor Swann, Elizabeth Swan, Captain Barbossa, and Commodore Norrington (from Pirates of the Caribbean), Badger (from Firefly), Buttercup, Prince Humperdink, Count Rugen, Vizzini (from Princess Bride), and the Collector and Grandmaster (from Guardians of the Galaxy) are all good examples of Hin.

A BRIEF NOTE ON HIN NAMING-CONVENTIONS

Hin identify, for the most part, as members of the Church of Yondalla first, as part of a culture second, and as citizens of a nation third.

Thus, a Hin living in Arvoreen, Beshaba, or Brandobaris can be expected to have an Arvorean, Beshabite, or Brandobarin name. However, a Hin living far away from the shores of Green Fields -- in Cyrrollalee or in Urogolan, for example -- with always retain a “proper” Arvorean, Beshabite, or Brandobarin name.

Hin with Urogalandic names, simply put, do not exist.

“Invented” Hin names, which are relatively common everywhere except on Quelya, are the major exception to this general rule: occasionally, a young Hin living off-world will choose to reinvent himself -- and, thus, rename himself -- often, but not always, as a means to get out from under the thumb of a particularly oppressive (or shameful) family.

Venturing forth into the unknown without the benefit of a longstanding lineage is, in fact, a tradition among Hin significantly older than modern Arvorean or Brandobarin society.

As such, a young Hin in Lagas going by the name of “Morgan Drake,” “John Smith,” “Alastair Chapman,” or “Sebastian West” -- for example -- might be looked down upon as a probable criminal or even as a pirate ... but on Ashen, Verdura, or out on the Chain of Tears, such an individual is likely to earn a mark of respect from all but the most conservative and close-minded of Hin.

Invented Hin Male Names: Thomas, Morgan, Smith, Hunter, John, Price, Bennet, Chapman, West, Tanner, Spencer, Walker, Jackson, Clarke, Parker, Mason, Drake, Corbyn, Everett, Garret, Simon, Alastair, Sebastian, Elliot, Fletcher, Graham, Ethan, Oliver, Felix, Callumn, Stanley, Richmond, Lennox, Ford, Jensen, Gabriel, March, Ellis, Wellington, Reginald, Chesterton, Alex, Solomon, Carter

Invented Hin Female Names: Beatrix, Cressida, Gemma, Joclyn, Scarlett, Elizabeth, Rhonwen, Maisie, Isla, Kaitlyn, Briony, Jane, Charlotte, Adalaide, Ivy, Gwendolyn, Kenzie, Finlay, Audren, Haley, Theodora, Abigail

Invented Hin Last Names: (any invented Hin male first name)

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Human: Humans come in many different colors, in many different sizes, and worship many, many gods – usually in the guise of Yondallan saints. Most humans pay at least some lip service to St. Davian, the great champion of Yondalla (who intercedes to deliver the prayers of humans to Yondalla), but humans very often also worship older, more-private familial gods. Humans may not, of course, marry into Hin families nor join in any Hin merchant house as a full partner; the best that a human can hope for, in many cases, is to be a servant remembered fondly by the children of the family he serves.

This, of course, leaves humans permanently at the bottom of the Quelyan (and thereby system-wide) economic food chain.

It is accepted fact, by those who study the pre-history of Pyrespace, that humans were once scattered across the system for unknown purposes and by unknown means, presumably at the whim of the mysterious Precursors. For this reason, the Church of Yondalla is active in seeking-out lost civilizations of humans who have spent unknown centuries far from the light of Yondalla’s mercy.

Captain Malcolm Reynolds, Captain Jack Sparrow, Westley the Farm-Boy, and Peter Quill are good examples of humans.

HUMAN OFFSHOOTS:

al’Zihad: Despite their bizarre appearances and hostile overtures, it is passionately believed that the curious ifrit, oread, sylph, suli, and undine populations native to Ashen were once human: servants of the Precursors adapted over the course of centuries to their alien environment. It is because of this belief that the Church of Yondalla has extended such a warm and generous offer of camaraderie to the “native” al’Zihad population, hoping to reintroduce them to their divinely ordained role as servants … this time, to the Hin.

Aasimar: Human families who commit themselves to the performance of good works in the name of Yondalla occasionally produce an angel-blooded or archon-blooded heir: born to serve the Church as beatific instruments of peace.

Dhampir: Some human children born beneath the Spider-Moon, along the Chain of Tears, or in the wilds of Fenris are infused with strange energies of death-magic. These children are claimed by the Church, for their own protection.

Fetchling: A strange subspecies of human – thought to originally hail from the lost forest-moon of Baervan (circling the Crown of Sapphire), infused with energies from the forbidden Library of the Eremite – these creatures are kept secret by the Church of Yondalla.

Ganzi: The children of humans exposed over-long to the energies of the Crown of Sapphire have been known to exhibit bizarre mutations; such creatures are taken-in by the Church of Yondalla to be kept safe.

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Half-Elf: Increasingly common throughout the system, originally the products of union between a male elf and female human: while elven females will often take human lovers, both male and female, pregnancies resulting from such unions are unknown: elven women must maintain a strict, meditative state of concentration to actually achieve pregnancy. As such, accidental fertilization is impossible, and even the act of impregnation is discomforting enough that no elven female would perform the act without sound – usually political – reason.

Elven men, therefore, are often shocked to discover that a brief rendezvous with a human woman has produced a bastard child.

Half-elves now breed true and have formed small communities in larger cities like Discord, Zionil, Dallah, and Lagas. Half-elves have no place within Elven society and possess little group unity.

Will Turner (from Pirates of the Caribbean) and Inigo Montoya are good examples of Half-Elves.

Half-Orc: True orcs (and their off-shoot species, including ogres, goblins, and hobgoblins) are not born and possess no gender: they are fungal creatures that emerge fully-grown from vast, reeking pits. Humans exposed to this fungus occasionally produce half-orc offspring; half-orcs are most-commonly born from humans captured by the illithid and taken to Moradin’s Forge (where airborne spores of goblin-fungus are dangerously common).

Half-orcs are prized by the illithid as a more perfect slave-stock than dwarves, orcs, or other monstrous humanoids, and have escaped their bondage to breed true: the product of any mating involving half-orcs (human/half-orc or half-elf/half-orc) is nearly always half-orc: their bizarre, altered fungus-genome is nearly viral in this regard.

Populations of “native” half-orcs intermingle with “native” humans across the wastes of Fenris, representing – to the Church – peoples long separated from the light of Yondalla.

Jayne Cobb and Niska’s leg-breaker Crow (from Firefly), Fezzick (from Princess Bride), Yondu (from Guardians of the Galaxy), and Bo’sun (from Pirates of the Caribbean) are good examples of Half-Orcs.

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Kuru: A bizarre subspecies of island-dwelling human driven all-but-extinct by the combined might of the Arvorean navy and the Church of Yondalla; kuru who bend the knee to the Church and denounce the worship of Dagon are given the same rights as other human offshoots (which is to say, not very much and certainly not as much as main-bloodline humans).

Skintwister: A vanishingly small percentage of humans – when directly exposed to alien fauna and extreme environment – rapidly adapt at a cellular level, taking on the most useful traits of a local native animal species within a generation. Human families on Quelya occasionally produce shark-blooded skintwister, while humans on Verdura can produce bat-blooded, bird-of-prey blooded, boar-blooded, crocodile-blooded, or tiger-blooded offspring, and humans on Fenris can produce bear-blooded, bird-of-prey blooded, boar-blooded, rat-blooded, tiger-blooded, and wolf-blooded young. These ‘near-humans’ are much prized by the Church as useful resources.

Tiefling: Human families who commit wicked deeds, marking themselves for eternal punishment in the bowels of Hell, occasionally produce a devil-blooded heir: born to serve the Church as weapons of war. In addition to the devil-spawn tieflings recognized by the Church of Yondalla, demon-spawn tieflings occasionally appear among the hinen (human servants) of Perianth; kyton-spawn appear among those humans on the Chain of Tears who venture too close to the forest-moon of Baervan, and rakshasa-spawn appear with alarming frequency among those humans assigned to toil the plantation-fields of Verdura.

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Warforged: Creations of the gnomes, the original warforged were long ago the original deciding factor in the wars against the ysoki. Redesigned in later centuries to act as adaptable, dependable assistants for gnomes, including the best possible defense against Hive (and later, illithid) incursions into gnome-space, the warforged were manufactured in the tens of millions.

All warforged, under the dictates of the Church of Yondalla, are property: they do not, and cannot, possess souls.

Each warforged is “born” from a generation creche; not a single such creche is known to have survived the destruction of the Circle of Gold (the gnomish home-world), and the technology to repair or re-fire a damaged creche – if one could even be found! – is utterly lost. For this reason, warforged are no longer treated as the expendable resource they were in the days of the Rat-Slaughter or the Hive Marches.

Data (Star Trek), C3-PO (Star Wars), the T-800 (Terminator), K2-SO (Rogue One), Baymax (Big Hero 6), David (Prometheus), Cameron (Terminator: the Sarah Conner Chronicles), Bishop (Aliens), GLaDOS (Portal), Wall-E, and the Iron Giant are all good examples of possible warforged archetypes, but many other interpretations are possible.

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Others:

In addition to the major races and civilizations of the system, two dozen or more other sapient species make their homes across Pyrespace.

Inhabitants of Ashen:

Kasatha: Swift and dangerous hunters adapted for the open desert, a rare few kasatha have left the holdings of their clans to seek bounty beyond their world.

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Inhabitants of Verdura:

A huge number of native species make the wilds of Verdura their home, many of them armed with Precursor technology and decidedly hostile to strangers. Among them are the Catfolk (lion, tiger, jaguar, leopard, cheetah, puma), Giff, Ghoran, Gnoll, Grippli, Kobold, Lizardfolk, Nagaji, Orang-Pendak, Reptoid, Tengu, Vanara, Vishkanya, and Wyvaran.

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Inhabitants of Quelya:

Gargoyle: A strange species of living stone that laired near – and among – the Urogalandic people for unknown millennia, gargoyles struck a deal with the Church of Yondalla during the Siege of Mordheim to assure their own survival; now, more than four centuries later, these hulking devils serve the Hin as bodyguards, elite scouts, heavy infantry, and unstoppable delivery-mechanisms.

Locathah: The curious and grotesque locathah – who are said to intermingle freely with the humans of many remote island communities – are treated with grave suspicion by the Church of Yondalla, as they often act as spies, seducers, and saboteurs for the cults of Dagon. The few locathah able to earn the trust of the Church are still watched closely for any sign of heresy.

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Inhabitants of Perianth:

Gathlain: In the deepest woodlands of Perianth, far from the oversight of Elven noble houses, the bizarre gathlain wander the twilight; these odd entities claim to originate from an “adjacent” reality, one to which the doors have been shuttered.

The gathlain whisper that older, hungrier, and infinitely more powerful spirits of “the Forest Behind the Word” also lurk in the long shadows, slowly rebuilding their strength after a humiliating defeat -- and centuries of enslavement -- at the hands of a nameless elven witch-queen.

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Inhabitants of the Chain of Tears:

Ratfolk: Nearly exterminated a dozen times over by the warforged armies of the gnomes, with whom they once shared a home world, the ysoki are a cunning species of survivors who have adapted to life across the Chain of Tears with endless tenacity.

Goblin-Spore (SQ): Some percentage of ysoki are carriers for a curious strain of the goblin fungus (which births goblins, hobgoblins, orcs, and ogres) to which they alone are immune.

These special ysoki gain low-light vision, are immune to disease and poison, and are treated as Plant creatures -- in addition to being treated as humanoids with the ratfolk subtype -- for the purposes of a ranger’s favored enemy, for bane weapons, for feats, and for purposes of spells such as antiplant shell and horrid wilting, and for all similar effects, although these ysoki do not gain any other normal immunities, benefits, or traits of a true Plant creature.

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Inhabitants of Fenris:

A fair number of native species make the wilds of Verdura their home, many of them armed with Precursor technology and decidedly hostile to strangers. Among them are the Catfolk (tigers and snow leopards), Kitsune, Syrinx, and Tengu.

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Inhabitants of the Adamant Forge

Duergar: engineered slaves of the illithid, built via a foul twisting of the dwarven genetic code, duergar are not a common sight anywhere in Pyrespace except, perhaps, in the company of their horrid masters. That said, some duergar -- such as those dwelling on the Forge-Moon of Duerra -- have shattered the chains of their bondage and now walk free.

Goblin, Hobgoblin, and Orc: various subspecies born of the same strange fungal blooms (all of which possess the Goblin Spore Special Quality, above), sapient members of these races are rare in the extreme. That said, it is not completely unknown for an individual goblin, hobgoblin, or orc to “wake up”: becoming something significantly more complex than a mere weapon of genocide and extermination.

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UNIQUE RACES: Verdura, Fenris, the Chain of Tears, several moons, and even the wilds of Quelya are doubtlessly home to additional sapient species, still as yet undiscovered.

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SETTING

The setting is a single solar-system, Pyrespace, with several major & minor worlds.

WORLDS & NATIONS The Pyre: an incalculably vast stellar engine of incandescent plasma; small dark shapes — rumored to be ancient artifacts of the long-vanished Precursors — orbit the star tightly, flickering low across the endless ocean of flame (burning at an average of 6,000 degree Kelvin), diving through 13,000-mile-tall solar flares that routinely reach 10-20 million Kelvin (up to 100 million); these eerie & barely-visible shapes, whatever they may be, are utterly inaccessible to any modern space-vessel.

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Ashen: A storm-wracked world of dust & salt drifting upon an ocean of vacuum, covered in an inhospitable white desert slashed-through with low, jagged, slate-grey mountain ranges; this world hides strange ruins & wondrous treasures of the Precursors beneath its oceans of dust; it is considered strategically valuable both for its rare natural resources; dotted with Hin refineries, forts, border towns, resupply depots, and mining operations; home to strange native populations of kasatha, alongside clans of ifrit, oread, sylph, suli and undine (collectively known as the al’Zihad), who claim to have come to Ashen while bound in the service of the Precursors: inscrutable masters who once dwelt in a mysterious city trapped deep within the Celestial Pearl.

Ashen has two moons:

Anachtyr the Shining: A blinding-bright tempest-world of endless, boiling amythest-hued ocean studded with towering fumarole-vents dozens of miles in height; mighty coils of eye-searing azure lightning leap eternally between titanic these waterspouts, and the steam of this roaring planetoid can be seen drifting into the void: a haze that glitters like diamonds.

Lessinor the Masked: A world of heavy fog, dripping rust, creaking black tourmaline, and unending gloom, mantled in long shadows which writhe with ancient echoes and whispers, it is said that visibility on this planetoid has a maximum of 100 feet. Vast keeps, palaces, and even lightless cities of cyclopean gold-draped skeleons have been reported dotting the curious surface, but not one has ever been found a second time.

Approximately 10% of Ashen is actively subject to mining, exploitation, extraction and terraforming operations.

Major Cities of Ashen:

Acheron: a dug-in black-site military base / fortress-city / arcane research facility controlled by the Hin nation of Brandobaris

Core: a city-sized, semi-mobile mining and oil-rig facility controlled by the Hin nation of Arvoreen; a joint project with gnome & warforged diaspora from the Chain

Salt Lake: a religious-outreach community controlled by the Church of Yondalla, which seeks to convert the native al’Zihad to the worship of the goddess; this is by far the largest city on Ashen, and the central hub for all rail-travel on the planet.

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Verdura: a world of shallow oceans, towering mountain peaks, massive waterfalls, sprawling cave-systems, boiling mud-flats, impossible plateaus, icy ravines, echoing jungles, smoldering volcanos, bewildering river-systems, ancient lost ruins, and — above all — rainforest seemingly without end; home to an uncountable number of near-human species all-but-universally hostile to outsiders, many of whom are armed with ancient Precursor tech.

Hin rubber plantations, lumber mills, exotic “safari” hunting lodges, and industrial logging-facilities are therefore sprawling, heavily-militarized affairs

Although it boasts no truly massive cities, Verdura is host to the Hin colony of New Arvoreen, the center of Covington Farms – soon to be the breadbasket of the Pyrespace system – and a mountain-set Brandobarin research-station known as Thaumir. In addition, a small community of gnome diaspora have established the technological-marvel nation of Markovia, named for its Founder, Monarch and Supreme Leader, Dr. Adlai Markovitch (and his three nieces).

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The Three Moons of Verdura:

Tiamat: A darkly-glittering, iridescent jungle of venom and razor-sharp glass, a shimmering wilderness of fog-shrouded valleys, viridian mire, and steam-wreathed peaks laid beneath a sky of eternally wheeling stars. Home to many of the deadliest insects and reptiles in the system, this endless deep-emerald hell is yet rumored to contain that most fantastic of treasures: the legendary la fonte della giovinezza: a mystic source of endless youth and vitality, guarded by an ancient knight – Sir Azharul of the Thorns – devoted utterly to the service of Yondalla … and to the execution of all unworthy seekers.

Bahamut: A golden moon of shifting desert sand and sky-rending thunderstorms, of dark clouds howling over rain-spattered platinum dunes, this world is sacred to many of the reptilian monstrosities that lurk in the jungles of Verdura. Priests among these creatures claim that once, long ago, doorways opened from their sacrifice-sites to a huge city of bone, a fantastic place fed by the twin rivers Luar and Kath, ruled-over by a red-skinned, leviathan humanoid: a grotesque thing, serpent-like, with four eyes and four ears, that shot flames from its mouth when it spoke. No true evidence of this fabled city, said to lie “behind the east wind,” has yet been discovered.

Chronepsis: A small, silver-grey ice-moon, this airless and barren world is riddled with vast doorways, leading down into bone-white palaces of titanic, cyclopean design. What treasure might lie within these pleasure-halls is unknown, as few who have ventured beneath the surface have ever returned. It is sung, by the heretical faith of Dagon, that two great serpents lair here – named Null and Faluzure – and that these creatures know, between them, the fate of the dragons … and time of their return.

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Quelya: a world of archipelagos, reefs, marbled sand, dark cerulean waves, and tropical island chains boasting only a handful of sizable land masses, dominated by the Hin (halflings) and their servitor-race, humanity; the hungry, expansionist, colonial-minded nations of the Hin are united only by the rule of a massive corrupt Church and a single vast, hyper-complex monetary system; the planet boasts but a single continent — the Green Fields of Yondalla – which are ruled-over by an ever-shifting array of Hin merchant-houses; in the furthest reaches of the world, shark skintwisters and locathah are rumored to bend the knee in loyalty to the strange and beautiful malenti, and to make horrid sacrifices to the coiling serpent Dagon.

HIN NATIONS / CITIES / HOLDINGS

Acheron: a Brandobarin military base / fortress-city / research base on Ashen

Arvoreen: an aggressive, militaristic nation noted for its perpetual war-footing, it maintains the finest navy in the system; the Arvorean Academy of War is famously egalitarian, admitting humans, half-elves, near-humans, and even warforged into its officer-training corps; national colors of red & gold.

Arvorean Male First Names: Alejandro, Fernando, Santiago, Antonio, Maceo, Francisco, Joaquin, Marco, Cristian, Javier, Rafael, Carlos

Arvorean Female First Names: Yamilet, Carmen, Valentina, Paloma, Lucia, Esmeralda, Alicia, Maria, Sofia, Luna, Catalina, Vida

Arvorean Last Names: García, Fernández, González, Rodríguez, López, Martínez, Sánchez, Pérez, Martín, Gómez, Ruiz, Hernández, Jiménez

Beshaba: The Hin holy city on the banks of the Rio Provendor (and its surrounding hills), most sacred site of Yondalla’s worship, currently self-ruled; the place where Gol-Kaa (the Last Human King of Beshaba) was slain by Saint Davian in single combat; national colors of white & sky blue.

Beshabite Male First Names: Dvir, Asaf, Asher, Elazar, Uriah, Reef, Aryah, Ofek, Yaheli, Arbel, Yinon, Idan

Beshabite Female First Names: Maayan, Danya, Liv, Shoshanna, Alean, Annael, Carmel, Eden, Avitel, Avia, Naama, Ofri

Beshabite Last Names: Ngaere, Zerbibi, Mishayev, Qablan, Magadla, Berdugo, Yayin, Sasi, Sharabani, Akiyva, Hagge, Siyvan, Tzviy

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Brandobaris: an elegant, cultured nation noted for its arts and refinement, it maintains the finest academies of learning – in alchemy, wizardry, engineering, medicine, mathematics, law, history, and space-flight – in the system; national colors bright yellow & light grey; home to the three bitterly warring institutes of higher learning:

Archives Timmestre-Falco: home of both the finest telescope array and most complete orrery in the system.

Sincomakti School of Sciences: known for the deep pockets of its alumni – for use in funding elaborate expeditions – and a particularly notorious library.

Universidad de Lepidottero: specialists in medicine, mathematics, and forensic investigation, on the cutting edge of xenobiology.

Brandobarin Male First Names: Luca, Filippo, Marco, Pietro, Giovanni, Nicolo, Davide, Diego, Giuseppe, Edoardo, Tommaso, Andreas , Cosimo, Lorenzo, Ottaviano

Brandobarin Female First Names: Chiara, Nicole, Ludovica, Gaia, Matilde, Vittoria, Francesca, Alessia, Camilla, Bianca, Arianna, Elena

Brandobarin Last Names: Rossi, Berlusconi, Ferrari, Brambilla, Ricci, Greco, Esposito, Marino, Bianchi, Morelli, D’Angelo, Piazza, Caputo

Chaldira: a massive mining-city on Fenris; although it is ostensibly self-ruled under the auspices of a gnomish coalition from the Chain of Tears, in practice the city bows to the “supervision” of a Brandobarin wizarding-circle. Core: a city-sized, semi-mobile mining and oil-rig facility on Ashen, controlled by the Arvorean armada; a joint project with gnome & warforged diaspora from the Chain. Cyrrollalee: former home of the last human king; an enormous, incredibly-fertile nation noted for its high population of humans (mostly farmers); rumors persist among the superstitious peasantry of “fairy circles” in the woods that lead to other realms; national colors of green & dark blue

Cyrrolaelan Male First Names: Odhran (Orin), Rory, Tadhg (Tag), Senan, Cathal (Kat-hal), Rodnan, Aodham (Aiden), Callum, Eion (Ow-en), Rian (Ree-an), Fionn (Finn), Cillian (Killian), Declan

Cyrrolaelan Female First Names: Aoife (ee-fa), Caoimhe (kwee-va or kee-va), Saoirse (seer-sha), Ciara (kay-ra), Niamh (neev), Roisin (ro-sheen), Cara (ca-ra), Clodagh (clo-da), Aine (on-yah), Aislinn (ash-lin), Alys, Avalon

Cyrrolaelan Last Names: Murchadha (Murphy), Ó Ceallaigh (Kelly), Ó Súilleabháin (O’Sullivan), Breathnach (Walsh), Ó Broin (Byrne), Ó Conchobhair (O’Conner), Ó Raghallaigh (O’Reilly), Ó Dubhghaill (O’Doyle), Mac Carthaigh (McCarthy), Ó Gallchobhair (Gallagher), Ó Cinnéide (Kennedy), Ó Muireadhaigh (Murray), Ó Cuinn (Quinn), Ó Mordha (Moore), Mac Lochlainn (McLoughlin)

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Dallah: a sin-soaked island city of gambling & revelry, part of the Tymoran island-chain; currently under self-rule; “national colors” of black & white Gixx: a floating city named for its watery host-moon, under Brandobarin control, orbiting the Crown of Sapphire Lagas: capital city of both Arvoreen and Brandobaris, existing along the border of both nations at the mouth of the Rio Provendor; a sacred city of the faith of Yondalla second only to the City & Lands of Beshaba

Important Sites in Lagas: The Rusted Sun Theatre, Parrish Place Bed & Breakfast, Café Molise, The Shuttered Door Academy

Important Hin residing in Lagas: Lord Mayor Emilio Dioceres, Archbishop Quirino Stephanos, Minister of Finance Alessio Villanova, Trade Minister Lazzaro Calistoga, Assistant Trade-Minister Dario Adalberto.

Moander: capital city of Cyrrollalee, built on the ruins of Dún Ailinne.

Mordheim: capital city of Urogolan, former home of “Uric, Last Human King of Urogolan”; this cold and half-tumbled fortress city, towering high above the treacherous stone of the Baía da Loucura, is choked in near-constant ice Perryroyal: massive island city at the far end of the Tymora island-chain that serves as the legendary “gateway to Xhiaae-La,” currently under the control of the Arvorean navy Salt Lake: a religious-outreach community on Ashen controlled by the Church of Yondalla, which seeks to convert the native al’Zihad to the worship of the goddess; this is by far the largest city on Ashen, and the central hub for all rail-travel on the planet Thaumir: a mountain-set Brandobarin research-station on Verdura Tymora: a particularly fertile chain of islands inhabited mostly by humans, currently ruled by the city of Dallah; the islands stretch from Lagas to Perryroyal.

Many traditional Tymoran names -- especailly those found in Dallah -- sound vaguely Greek to 21st-century human ears, but the islands are home to over 7,000 unique human cultures and no single list could possibly home to capure the length and breadth of the names used by Tymorans.

In addition, put bluntly, many people of the island chain simply do not think of themselves as “Tymoran,” but, rather, as members of a distinct culture under foreign occupation.

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Urogolan: grim, north-most Hin nation, noted for its vast mineral wealth, dense coniferous forests, fatalistic populace, and bleak weather; national colors of grey and black.

Urogalandic Male First Names: Ander, Hans, Johan, Ulf, Lars, Sven, Ivar, Leif (layf), Magnus, Ragnar, Sigurd (see-gurd), Herleif (her-leaf), Hjalmar (hyal-mahr), Njal (nj-al), Ødger (ed-ger), Roar (ruw-aar), Rune (ruw-n-eh), Sten (stehn), Trygve (trig-vah), Uhtred (oof-tred), gil (ee-yeh-gil), Einar (eye-nahr), Frey (fray), Geir (geyr), Gudbrand (good-brant), Gudmund (good-moond), Gunnar (guhn-nar), Hagen (hah-gen), Haldor (hahl-dawr), Halvar or Halvor (hahl-vahr), Jarl (yahr-al), Kåre (kehr), Aric (aar-ih-k), Arkyn (aar-khin), Brynjar (brin-yahr), Cuyler (kiel-ehr)

Urogalanadic Female First Names: Áma, Åse, Astra, Astrid, Borghild, Brynhild, Eir, Elli, Embla, Erica, Liva, Ragnfríðr, Revna, Rúna, Saga, Sigrid, Sif, Freya, Heidrun, Hildr, Hrefna, Hulda, Kara

Urogalandic Last Names: Any of the above Urogalandic male first names, with one of the following added to the end: sen, son, sson, søn, datter, dotter, or dottir

Xhiaae-La: legendary islands of gold & jade just beyond Tymora, source of human unarmed martial fighting techniques highly valued by Hin employers; currently under Brandobarin control

Xhiaae-Lan Male Names: Liang, Haoran, Zhen, Shufen, Ling, Lan, Kaihong, Taio, Shui, Qui, Jin, Chun, Ai, Bao

Xhiaae-Lan Female Names: Annchi, Baozhai, Changying, Chao-Xing, Chuntao, Da-Xia, Daiyu, Ehuang, Fenfang, Genji, Hu, Huian

Xhiaae-Lan Family Names: (spoken & written first) Shao, Long, Wàn, Zhāng, Qián, Tāng, Yǐn, Lí, Yì, Cháng, Wǔ, Qiáo, Lài, Gōng, Wén

Zuzadlara: an Arvorean military-base and floating “port city” on Perianth, established to assist Elven forces in maintaining peace across the system.

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Perianth: the elven home-world, a mist-wreathed, twilight-draped bioengineered “forest of prosperity” constructed by the Precursors via unknown means; the deep woodlands are said to hold terrifying gateways to other realms of existence; the courts of the elves are closed to outsiders, and non-elves are permitted access only to a vanishingly small number of sky-ports; the elves of both the Western Courts and Eastern Courts alike do a brisk trade in humans bought from the Hin, and some reports suggest that only 3% of the planetary population is actually elven.

Perianth is “ruled” by House Larethian, although the high throne of that House – that of the Phoenix Emperor (Western Court) or Moonlight Dragon (Eastern Court) – stands empty, as does the throne of his bride: Lolth, the Beautiful Eclipse (Western Court) or Lolth, the Crimson Empress (Eastern Court).

The favor of House Larethian is a currency traded by the other noble Houses; the Western Court name is given for each House first, followed by the Eastern Court name:

House Fleuris / House Kaika: painters, vintners, and rose-garden keepers.

House Sanglante / House Chimanire: the most-expert sword-smiths and sword-saints.

House Chanceux / House Kōun'na: Imperial record-keepers, known for their prodigious luck.

House Illustre / House Kagayakashī: the most beautiful and honorable house, known for their mastery of dance.

House Assombrir / House Kage-tsuki: the lowest of the noble houses, experts in medicine.

Perianth is not known to have any major cities, although each House maintains a number of holdings.

Western Court Male Names: Baillieu, Ménétries, Bachelot, Peletier, Bocuse, Marius, Théophile, Roland, Ancel, Thibaut, Sylvain, Médard, Chauve, Rémy, Maret

Western Court Female Names: Solène, Élisa, Émeline, Joséphine, Ameline, Neri, Mélanie, Coline, Émilienne, Iseult, Asselineau, Eulalie, Roxanne

Eastern Court Male Names: Hyotoki, Gatane, Yamitsu, Dainaga, Akihiko, Yori, Hideaki, Kazuhiro, Wantaro, Anoye, Gezushi, Sesuki, Teitada, Hiroaki, Noboru

Eastern Court Female Names: Haitsuke, Narino, Reinatsu, Maera, Benomi, Kohaku, Kayo, Miyako, Aya, Shizuka, Komina, Jionuye, Kakura, Amiri, Reiko, Yuki, Emi

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The Spider-Moon

The sole satellite of Perianth, a massive labyrinthine ruin to-which one third of the elves — the drow — were exiled long ago; the drow are no longer trapped beneath the surface of the Spider-Moon due to the hideous gifts of the illithid. This oversized nightmare realm is ruled by House Lolth and her loyalists: exiled members of all five noble Houses and their servants. This inhospitable world boasts only a single major trade-hub: the Dark City of Xogotha.

Any type of direct approach on the Spider Moon must find a way to navigate the tens of thousands of floating dead (and undead) – casualties of the Unseelie War – still drifting in orbit around the planetoid. For their part, the drow use this corpse-field as a blockade, employing necromancy to bypass the horror-show whenever necessary.

Drow names are identical to elven names.

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The Celestial Pearl: a mysterious planet-sized anomaly bearing what appears to be a perfectly smooth, bone-white surface: this ghostly pale sphere has no atmosphere and no magnetic field, no geographical features, no marks consistent with any meteoric impact, no evidence of historical habitation, a surface temperature of 3 Kelvin, and a core temperature zero Kelvin. The curious surface itself – which appears to be an impossibly-thin crystalline latticework of monomolecular razor-ribbons covered in a few drifting inches of ice-powder, white sand, ash, and stardust – cannot be landed-upon or even approached: weird, invisible, immovable “arches” — made of something harder than adamantium — protrude in a strange, coiling web of whorls into space, reaching up to 500 miles away from the surface.

Zionil: Largest space-station in the system, nearly a moon onto itself, this massive gnomish facility serves as an informal way-station -- a respected, nearly sacred neutral ground -- between the “inner worlds” of Ashen, Verdura, Quelya, and Perianth; and the “outer worlds”: the Crown of Sapphire and the Chain of Tears, Fenris, and Moradin’s Forge.

It also serves as the ultimate melting-pot of cultures across Pyrespace: here, humans dressed in fashionable gnomish top-hats & tails rub shoulders with dwarves travling to jobs on Ashen & half-orcs en route to Verdura.

Dominated by the enormous Cathedral of St. Deneir the Scribe and House of St. Mili, the Voice of Heaven, sprawling centers of worship for the Church of Yondalla, Zionil is also home to a huge Xhaaie-Lan population; the Lantan Shipyards are without a doubt the finest facilities in the system for the design & construction of Hin-built spelljamming vessels.

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The city is unofficially under the control of Baronet Giancarlo Lugocelli of Fenris, a devout human aristocrat admired across the system for his shrewd buisness accumen and unbridled civic spirit.

This artificial moon also serves as home to The Thirteenth: an emergency garrison of specially-designed warforged kept in reserve to make a surgical-strike wherever the threat of Hive activity is detected outside the heavily quarantined moons of Segojan (Hive Colony Euclid), Baervan (Hive Colony Keter), Baravar (Hive Colony Thaumiel), and Urdlen (Hive Colony Apollyon); this force is led by Inquisitor Francesca DiAccursio of La Universidad de Lepidottero as part of a massive anti-xenos taskforce.

An increasing number of dwarves from Moradin’s Forge also now make a holy pilgrimage here to the Muamman Duathal: a library of dwarven law, history, technological innovation, achivement, literary scholarship, and art nearly the equal to the catacombs of lost Dugmaren.

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The Crown of Sapphire & the Chain of Tears: an enormous, shining, many-ringed cerulean gas-giant, host to a dozen moons (listed below) and the long trail of an asteroid belt which follows behind it; the Crown roars with low heat and mild radiation, serving as a “second sun” to the system. As to the means by which the Precursors performed this “stellar uplifting” and manipulated the interior of the Crown, it is impossible to say.

About 70% of the “chain” following behind the Crown was originally the home-world of the gnomes – once known as Kruug od Szlatta, or the ‘Circle of Gold’ – and their many miraculous inventions, which was shattered utterly as the result of a run-away hyper-energy reaction; big money can be made out here, sifting the clockwork wreckage and mining interplanetary debris for rarities; the finest technology in the known universe can be found here: powering the cities, foundries, refineries, sky-docks, casinos, space stations, laboratories, and bio-manufactora which float together in complex nets through the wild void.

Moons of the Sapphire Crown:

Garl: now the largest of the moons, a gem-studded planetoid home to a huge number of scattered mineral-mining operations, including Blistavo Zlatta: now the default capital-city of the gnome people, formerly known best as a decadent, lawless, off-world trade-hub town full of casinos, amusements, cunning illusions, and other cheap entertainments.

Gelth: second largest of the moons, a dark spheroid of endless seething lava-flats, smoldering radioactive pools, toxic black smoke, and jagged obsidian blades miles in height. Home to a small number of mining-colonies (which are outnumbered 10-1 by the destroyed remnants of exactly such facilities).

Callarduran: third largest of the moons, a place of icy-cold wind whistling through thousands of miles of smooth stone tunnels, home to the finest stone-crafting workshops in the system.

Flandal: a hot, near-barren planetoid rich in iron and a number of other valuable metals … but, very specifically, boasting neither water nor arable land. Successfully cleared of all Hive infection after the eradication of Hive Colony Nehemoth in 1463; classified as safe.

Gixx: a fog-shrouded shallow-sea water-world currently occupied by a floating Brandobarin city.

Segojan: a smog-shrouded death-world of fungus and alien monsters, home to Hive Colony Euclid.

Baervan: a lost moon, once a twilight forest-world, now home to Hive Colony Keter; also home to the mysterious, floating Library of the Eremite.

Baravar: a shadowy crystalline moon now home to Hive Colony Thaumiel.

Urdlen: home to nothing but an icy, red-tinged ocean that flows silently between towering black spires, this bleak world now plays host to Hive Colony Apollyon.

Gaerdal: a heavily fortified workshop-moon, now 99% destroyed; original “birthplace” of the warforged.

Nebelun: the still-smoldering remains of a desert laboratory-world, dotted with blackened pits connected by a vast webwork of now-shattered elevated railways.

Rupa u Beskonačnom (the Hole in the Infinite): although not a true moon, this small artificial wormhole drifts in orbit around the Crown of Sapphire, occasionally spiting-out weird horrible alien monsters: the nearby moons of Segojan (Hive Colony Euclid), Baervan (Hive Colony Keter), Baravar (Hive Colony Thaumiel), and Urdlen (Hive Colony Apollyon) are infected with a terrifying strain of bizarre alien life; the wormhole is currently orbited by a small armada of mysterious githyanki ships native to another solar system.

Major Cities of the Chain of Tears:

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Discord: The largest city adrift in the Chain is also the largest city system-wide; in terms of sheer population, only the holy city of Lagas on Quelya even comes close. Discord is a sprawling affair, composed of innumerable asteroids and earth-bergs lashed-together with sparking remnants from hundreds – if not thousands – of derelict and damaged SpellJamming vessels. Although the gnomish population of Discord is lightly smaller than that of Blistavo Zlatta, on Garl, gnomes and their warforged security units run much of the city: High Master Artificer Krenlin maintains strict order among the scoundrels, spacehands, and fortune-seekers … at least, in the neighborhoods capable of paying for his protection. The black markets of Discord’s underbelly are run by gangs of ysoki (ratfolk), dwarves, half-orcs, half-elves, more bizarre human-offshoots, locathah, kasatha, unique creatures from the wilds of Verdura and Fenris, and even drow. Significantly more uncommon are goblins, orcs, and ogres – ancient enemies of the dwarves – and Perianth-born elves; although Hin are occasionally spotted here, it’s incredibly rare to see one without an escort … such as a lumbering Church-sanctioned gargoyle or a heavily-armed mercenary crew.

Serenity: Known better by its inhabitants as ‘Scarcity,’ this ugly warren of trash and filth is – to those with the keen eyes to see it – a goldmine of opportunity. If the ysoki can lay claim to a home-world, this is it: the majority of the population here is ratfolk, and their laws guide the city … for good or for ill. Part of a dense asteroid-field known for dangerous gravitational eddies, the port of Serenity is a haven for pirates and criminals wanted in every other metropolis.

Linger: The last glorious remnants of the Circle of Gold are kept here, a city-sized museum dedicated to the memory of that devastated world, and to honoring the uncounted millions who perished in the flare of its destruction. It is a place of quiet luxury and high technology, where the very wealthiest of those who do business in Discord can pretend – if only for a few hours – that the Circle of Gold was never broken.

Gnomish Male Names: Andrija, Nikola, Luka, Marko, Aleksandr, Jovan, Nemanja, Matija, Miloje, Miroslav, Rodavan, Vlado, Zivko,

Gnomish Female Names: Aleksandra, Teodora, Jana, Katarina, Petra, Malina, Milena, Maja, Hana, Anja, Milica (miy-LIH-ts-a), Sara, Nina

Gnomish Last Names: Jovanović, Petrović, Nikolić, Marković, Đorđević, Stojanović, Ilić, Stanković, Pavlović, Milošević, Katić, Sinđelić, Nedić, Marić, Višnjić, Janjić, Sarić, Miličić, Milenić, Natalić, Zorić, Smiljić, Anđelić

Warforged Names: any; names of warforged are self-selected, are not derived from family, and may be drawn from any culture.

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Fenris: A frozen, rocky world of icebergs & fathomless oceans, mighty fjords, roaring hot springs, steaming river-valleys, shrieking tundra, rolling steppes, drifting ice-floes, frigid marshland, deep emerald forest, and seething volcanoes; it is “ruled-over” by a minority population of warring giants, who tear themselves fully-formed from the simmering ley-lines of the living planet; in their long shadow, bold survivors face the fierce wrath of endless winter; some clans scratch out a meager, subsistence-level hunter-gatherer existence, while others build great longhouses, fortresses, and onion-domed cathedrals of wood & stone, defying the giants; beneath the surface of the world, enchanted mechanical castles — home to slumbering vampire lords — wait in silence to be called-forth for the night-hunt.

Humans and half-orcs “native” to Fenris tend toward Cyrrolaelan and Urogalandic names, suggesting some truth to the legends of doorways in the deep woods leading between Quelya and Fenris.

The massive, smoldering, heavily-entrenched mining-city of Chaldira employs tens of thousands of workers, including innumerable indentured humans and near-humans imported from Quelya by the hundreds through the Church-sanctioned penal transportation program; most such workers are branded, upon arrival, to prevent their disappearance into the local human communities. Specialized squads of “workforce retention agents” operating under Brandobarin authority maintain an uneasy peace with nearby human enclaves … though both groups wisely fear the fury of giants, who on occasion choose to assault the veritable fortress of Chaldira seemingly out of pure malice.

Beyond humans, dwarves comprise the bulk of Chaldira’s employees; outright violence in the barracks between dwarves and their orc-blooded coworkers is frowned upon, punishable by both monetary fine and loss of privileges, but is still not uncommon. Gnomes, warforged, and even ratfolk form the Chain of Tears are also common sights, as are Hin mages and their gargoyle bodyguards, although the only thing rarer than a native of Verdura here is an elf.

For their own part, the native catfolk, kitsune, syrinx, and tengu give Chaldira a wide berth: the huge, heavily militarized mining-city has, for the most part, nothing to offer them.

Moons of Fenris

Bahgtru: A hot, dark, ash-swept landscape of dense black forests, broiling deserts, flinty badlands, murky rivers, and foreboding seas, all bearing the ravages of constant war waged beneath a coal-streaked and starless sky. A dozen or more major orc-blood nations vie for control of this resource-rich, twilight-lit world; the largest single military force – the Broken Skull Clan, led by a hulking creature called Moragrek – dominates less than 10% of the planetoid. In the deepest woodlands, orcs fly crude marrow-stained, gut-stitched banners above fallen towers still sparking with ancient Precursor-tech.

Ilneval: Floating mountains, coiling moebius-spiral waterfalls, serpentine valleys filled with boiling fog, forests of glass, a series of artificial rings, cities of broken fractal room-recursions, walking Precursor-tech “transport-facilities” the size of nations, and stranger landmarks dot this bizarre world. Worse still, the goblin-fungus of this moon has underdone a wild number of dangerous mutations, producing varieties of dangerous goblinoid entities unknown anywhere else in Pyrespace.

Luthic: A damp, echoing, rain-drenched world with a low-burning core, this windswept planetoid sees surprisingly few dangerous meteorological events – considering the near-constant cloud cover -- and features only very mild tectonic activity. As such, impossible caverns filled with warm mushroom forests abound, grazed-upon by bizarre, blind half-fungal elk. This world is by far the economically valuable of the Fenris-moons, a veritable goldmine for its Brandobarin investors; transportation to this moon is a sentence dreaded by every human living under the Church of Yondalla’s laws.

Obould: Miles upon miles of long-fallen ruins – twisting, elegant citadels of what appears to have been ancient elven construction – crisscross this rime-coated world, buried in miles upon miles of shattered ice; unfortunately, whatever strange process causes the planet Fenris to vomit-forth giants from its ley-lines is also active here: titans of frost wander the wastes, obedient to three mysterious warlords: the Shogun of Crimson Snowfall, the Shogun of the Endless Dark, and the Shogun of Winterblind.

Shargaas: High above the roiling toxic cloud-cover, cold mountain-peaks spill miles-long waterfalls from smoldering calderas; far below, falling ash and acidic sleet fall silently on the dark glass libraries of the Precursors. It is said that nothing moves here, in the realm of dead furnaces: a planetoid fallen to night. In the winding passages beneath the dormant facilities, however – the strange passages linking the long abandoned “colleges” of Hopelorn, Cold Fever, and the Citadel of Vanished Audience – somethingold and unclean can be heard clicking-away … hungry, and drawing ever closer.

Vaprak: Trolls are an infectious, predatory presence known across Pyrespace: Verdura, Tiamat, the forests of Cyrrollalee and Urogolan, the wooded isles of Tymora, the Crown-moon of Baervan, and upon most of the Fenris-moons & Forge-moons; in fact, it is believed (but not confirmed by the elves) that trolls may even be known in the wild places of Perianth. No place, however, can be said to have been conquered by the trolls like this horrid planetoid: an endless morass of sinking stonework and icy-cold swamp, a place of stench and the low whine of blood-mad insects.

Yurtrus: Miles below the Brandobarin military research-facility of Khin-Oin, a planet-sized city of war-ravaged, long-overgrown Precursor-tech glitters in the cold sunrise … while another neighborhood, connected by monorails that blur between districts faster than the speed of sound, shines like an ocean of light on the other side of nightfall. The city – nicknamed “Fleshslough” by the researchers who drift in orbit high above, perpetually examining the curious urban properties – is a vast thing of austere, ever-moving wonderment: whatever incurable, perversely-contagious disease hangs in the warm air reduces skin to boiling crimson horror in mere moments.

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Moradin’s Forge: this hyper-dense, heavily volcanic planet is just over half the size of Quelya, yet it commands a significantly more massive gravity well. Although it boasts a minimal surface atmosphere, it serves as the home world of dwarves, goblins, ogres, hobgoblins, and orcs; it is also the staging-ground for an illithid invasion-force with control over a supermassive wormhole situated somewhere beyond the edge of the known solar system; illithid forces include any number of alien monstrosities (many mutated or bio-manipulated by the illithid) stolen from a hundred different systems, of which orcs are the newest prize; 80% of all dwarves system-wide live in bondage beneath the heel of the illithid.

A single rebel city, secret in the extreme, is hidden in the shadows of otherwise-absolute illithid dominance: Veil, last hope of the Forge.

Dwarven Male First Names: Hakk, Osrick, Drok, Brut, Muls, Grold, Urbrik, Aandrak, Buulrol, Kigrer, Fraysik, Korvin, Vog, Bellbaarg

Dwarven Female First Names: Yorgwyn, Urgwan, Rren, Inngva, Kledgeg, Lonnvull, Urrgvi, Kalbri, Khora, Sro, Ohlih, Hyylkis, Memrii

Dwarven Clan Names: Grandmaul, Stonehall, Winterstride, Thunderhand, Icevein, Wargold, Blackstone, Runelore, Heartstrong, Ironblaze, Steelfist, Greysky, Shieldhorn, Axetusk, Proudburn, Stormedge

A NOTE ON DWARVEN NAMING CUSTOMS

Dwarves are hardly a monoculture, and each dwarf has dealt with the loss of Moradin’s Forge in an intensely personal way. Some dwarves have taken to answering only to their Clan name (their first name forever, abandoned), while others refuse to speak their Clan name aloud until they stand once more in the re-taken hall of their ancestors; some dwarves have founded entirely new off-world lineages -- such as Clan Dustblade of Ashen -- and some have adopted themselves into existing bloodlines: Clan Malov, the “dwarven branch” of the Malovitch crime-family is, of course, the most famous of these.

Orc, Goblin, Ogre, Hobgoblin Names: Wurgoth, Gradba, Azuk, Speghat, Cagan, Wilaktug, Sbghat, Omegugh, Fogugh, Braugh, Oggugat, Yegoth, Oogorim, Vothug, Nildud, Golag, Bugharz, Zguk, Ombilge, Zudagog, Tothag, Sogg, Narfug, Ergoth, Xorag, Orpigig, Agronak, Orakh, Xulgug, Fudagog

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Moons of the Forge AKA “The Morndinsamman”:

Abbathar: A shimmering world of vast iron pyrite slabs floating across a seething ocean of molten lead, shot-through with veins of plutonium. Extreme weather events triggered by mega-scale Precursor tech embedded at the moon’s poles – still barely understood, even in theory – routinely cause the surface temperature and atmospheric pressure to reach or exceed 4,000 degrees Kelvin and 18 gigapascals (2,610,680 pounds per square inch): converting portions of the atmosphere into solid, crystalline “red oxygen” while shattering the vast methane-plumes into sheets of pure diamond.

Berronar: A temperate world of steep valleys and winding natural cave systems, with a craggy mineral-rich surface marked by broad streams and small hardwood forests, this served for nearly seven centuries as the “second home” of the dwarven people, founded soon after first contact with gnomes from the Circle of Gold. The early loss of this quiet paradise-moon, along with the entirety of its population, to the illithid during their invasion was a brutal blow to the Clans of the Forge.

Clangeddin: A storm-wracked world of mighty fortresses and massive iron-foundries, this was the very last of Forge-moons to fall: its bleak surface is still marked with endless fields of the unburied war dead, broken banners, and mighty siege-engines half-buried in seas of ash. The endless lightning strikes are said to illuminate black rivers of goblin-fungus running between the most hallowed halls and treasure-filled tombs of the ancient dwarven kings: funerary-stone and pale gold circlets trod into the grey mud.

Duerra: In some ways, on certain battle-fronts, it can be said that the dwarven race yet stands: roaring in open, bloodthirsty, unrelenting defiance of the illithid and all their servants. On this inhospitable planetoid, a vast labyrinth of toxic metal-tainted pools, rusted razor wire, and dizzying mineshafts once used to extract silver, iron, gemstones, and titanium by the cubic ton, two rogue creations of the illithid – the duergar and the dark naga – wage endless war in the dark, focusing the psychic energies of their cold anger on killing anything that so much as looks at them sideways … and plotting, always, to escape the oubliette and shackle the universe as their slave.

Dugmaren: What was once the center of all dwarven scholarship – the eternal echoing repository of some thirty centuries of discovery, poetry, engineering, innovation, and invention, the epicenter of all history recorded by the Clans of the Forge, the memories of a people writ in rune – has been lost. None can say how many tomes and testaments were lost during the Battle of Dugmaren, put to the torch and the axe … nor how many of the great, austere library-moon’s sacred record-keepers were devoured by the rapacious illithid, their minds stolen to be used as horrid weapons against the living. For those who treasure the knowledge of ages, the fall of Dugmaren was perhaps the greatest loss of all.

Dumathoin: A lightless world, shrouded in constant slate-grey cloud-cover, riddled with dangerous – yet fantastically lucrative! – gemstone cave systems of seemingly limitless depth. In the many centuries of its exploration, it yet continues to reveal strange new secrets: some treacherous, some fantastic, all of them beautiful and curious in the extreme. Legends suggest that the winding passages here are truly limitless: that the halls curl back on themselves, leading to tunnels beneath the surface of the Forge, the Spider-Moon, the sands of Ashen, the tombs of Chronepsis, the vampire-castles of Fenris, and even the strange armor of the Celestial Pearl.

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Gorm: A cruel planetoid, a howling nightmare of treacherous, winding obsidian passageways, covered in goblin-fungus and lit only by the low blood-red flickers of a hateful molten core, the Gauntlet of Gorm was once the final testing-ground of the greatest dwarven warriors and the finest dwarven armor: here, unstoppable heroes and unbreakable shields alike were forged. Fallen, now, to the illithid, the retaking of unassailable Gorm may yet represent the last, best hope of the dwarven people.

Haela: The imposing mountain peaks of this glimmering moon are carved with the likenesses of the great clan leaders, the eternal Kings and Queens of the Forge. Beneath their austere gaze, feuding clans have, for centuries, set aside their hate and their bloodthirst to settle generations-old grudges through honorable challenge: tests of skill-at-arms, bravery, strength, endurance, mettle, riddling, drinking, cunning, and even the gift of poetry. The halls here have fallen silent, picked-at now by lean, faceless nightmare predators: misshapen things born under unclean stars.

Laduguer: A hard world wrapped in chill grey mist, a moon of foul reputation and terrible whispers drifting on the winds beneath the stone. Under a steel-grey sky flickering with impossible darkness, bottomless pits sparkling with adamantine and black diamonds rend a jagged landscape of petrified Precursor tech: shattered alien weapons, armor, engines, towers, biological experiments, and massive shipwrecks of sea, star, and air, all transformed to iron. Vast, gaping holes in the surface – some miles across – open into mazeworks of silver and mithral, precious blood-onyx and fantastic skymetals, the tunnels lit by the twisting glimmer of an unwholesome and unnatural flame. The icy peaks of this foreboding moon are home to three long-abandoned dwarven strongholds: the Citadel of the White Rose, the Fortress Hammergrim, and the Throne Perilous.

Marthammor: A wild and far-wandering forest moon of geysers and thermal vents, known for its near-constant earthquakes, its towering native flora and fauna, its softly luminescent gemstones, it extreme and unpredictable weather, and – perhaps best of all – for its sprawling subterranean woodlands: vast, steaming caverns filled with trees adapted to survive seemingly without need of sunlight. Legends speak of doorways in the deep woods to other worlds, and ancient elven runes – some millennia old – can be found carved alongside incomprehensible alien glyphs on the many moss-covered marble pillars, stairs, ivory archways of long-fallen ruins.

Sharindlar: A dusky, crimson and rose-gold planetoid of impossible buttes, wide mesas, abundant hot springs, and huge naturally occurring stone “monuments” interlaced with warm shallow seas, all brushed with glittering, coral-pink sandbars, echoing grottos, and wide white beaches. The rare minerals and exotic plant life of this moon are said to possess a variety of astonishing medicinal properties, capable of restoring life, joy, and vitality to even the most crippled form. A massive temple – seemingly of dwarven construction, yet over 7,000 years old – rises from a golden hillside surrounded by circles of great standing-stones, marked by runes of indecipherable origin.

Thard Harr: Thought to be the ancient origin-point of goblin-fungus, the so-called Labyrinth of Life is home to terrible, primordial beasts seen nowhere else in Pyrespace. This bizarre, sweltering jungle world is stacked in “layers” of independently-floating, constantly shifting plateaus, all orbiting a single boiling ocean: the destination of all waterfalls and the source of constant warm mist and heavy rain. For reasons yet unknown, the maddening complexities of this moon are well-recorded in the oral histories of many monstrous species dwelling on Verdura, who claim to have walked star-paths to this place – for purposes of tending to a mysterious “Temple of the Deceiver / Serpent-Father” – in ancient days.

Vergadain: A small planetoid of gentle hills and clear lakes with a wide orbit, this moon was – for nearly seven centuries, since 1051 A.D. – the preferred meeting-ground to facilitate trade between the races of gnome and dwarf. In the wake of utter cataclysm befalling the shattered gnome home world (in 1492 A.D.), a number of wealthy and prominent gnomish merchant-families established permanent residence here at the heartfelt invitation of their friends among the Clans of the Forge; the casual annihilation of those families by the illithid at their outset of the invasion was a horrific shock to both races.

#pathfinder #spelljammer

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erikacousland · 4 years

Text

Dragon Age: Asunder. Reading notes, part 16

Chapter 16

"We cannot hail them when their magic is useful and then lock them in a cage when it is inconvenient. They are the Maker's children, not to be tolerated, but to be cherished."

"If you really fear us so much, then kill us! Don't pretend that killing everything that makes us human isn't the same thing!"

!!!Spoilers warning!!!

It includes the most important and in crucial details about the Mage-Templar war.

Rhys had been to the Grand Cathedral only once before. Shortly after his elevation to senior enchanter, he'd been brought in with Adrian and several others who had been elevated along with him to meet Divine Beatrix III. A courtesy, really, and Rhys remembered standing there in the stifling heat for several hours before Most Holy made her appearance.

It had been less than a year before her death, and at the time he wouldn't have been surprised if she'd expired on the spot. He remembered a shriveled old woman helped into the chamber by no less than four attendants, all but collapsing under the weight of her scarlet robes. The thick, golden medallion hanging around her neck seemed to pull her head down toward the ground, and her great headdress hung askew.

When she reached the Sunburst Throne, the Divine had blinked her eyes and looked around in confusion. "Where are we?" she'd asked, Rhys noting that not more than three teeth remained in her mouth. "Is it time to break my fast already? I told them I wasn't hungry. No more porridge, I said!"

One of the attendants had leaned in close. "The mages, Most Holy."

The woman's beady eyes went wide in shock. "Mages?!" She searched the room, almost falling over in her agitation. "Andraste's grace, are we under attack?!"

It had taken the attendants, as well as a pair of nearby templars, to finally calm the Divine down and assure her that, no, the evil mages were not here to attack anyone. They got her settled, a pile of rags seated on a throne that dwarfed her in both size and majesty, and then she immediately proceeded to fall asleep. Rhys and the others had been "introduced" one after the other, everyone pretending not to notice the old woman's thunderous snoring.

He had never considered himself the most faithful of Andrastians. Perhaps it was being raised by the Chantry, or simply being a mage and thus less impressed by events some might call miraculous. Still, he remembered being disappointed. All that preparation, and the vast humility he'd felt stepping into that chamber, only to discover the most exalted person in all of Thedas was simply . . . human.

Now here he was, seven years later, and the Grand Cathedral looked just the same. The structure stood in a walled compound on the far end of Val Royeaux, once having existed outside the capital until the city literally grew around it. It was an imposing fortress of grey stone and arches that seemed to reach high up to the sky. Despite the beauty on display, golden statues and colorful stained glass that reached from one end of the structure to the other, the place possessed a somberness that told of its bloody past.

The Chantry, after all, was a religion born from a war that had shaken all of Thedas. Places like the Grand Cathedral and the White Spire had once been fortresses that had endured countless battles, and all were built upon the bones of countless dead.

It made him wonder if more would be added to that count today.

Once again he stood in the audience chamber, staring at the empty throne. This late at night the stained glass windows were dark, and only the Eternal Brazier cast any light, the flames in its marble basin making every shadow dance. The forty- foot- tall statue of Andraste, depicted as a robed woman with the sword of justice held aloft, seemed particularly ominous now. It was as if she stared down, knowing what lay ahead and pitying him for it.

Lord Seeker Lambert stood near the throne with the templars lined up on either side of the chamber, all of them standing at attention. Evangeline stood with them, her face an unreadable mask. Cole was . . . somewhere nearby, in the shadows. Watching. Only the mages stood out on the open floor. Rhys found the wait almost excruciating.

Then a gong rang. A line of priests filed into the chamber, each of them holding their hands in prayer and chanting. Their voices filled the room with echoes, sending a shiver down his spine.

Immediately following them was the Divine. This was no wizened crone, but a much younger woman who walked straight and proud. She needed no assistance save for the single attendant that carried the train of her voluminous red robes. Everyone in the room fell to one knee as she passed. For a long moment there was nothing but the hushed sound of the Divine's footsteps as she ascended to the Sunburst Throne.

"All hail the Most Holy Justinia, Fifth of Her Name, Exalted Servant of the Maker!" a templar shouted, his voice booming across the chamber.

"Grant us wisdom," a chorus of voices answered.

There was a pause, and then the Divine spoke: "Rise, all of you."

Everyone stood. The woman sat upon the throne, and unlike its previous occupant she appeared to fill it. She sat up straight, utterly in command, and took in her audience with a warm and welcoming gaze.

The attendants hung to the rear of the chamber. Only one of them actually stood on the dais next to the throne: a pretty woman with short red hair, wearing a priest's robes but standing with such ease and grace that Rhys couldn't help but get the impression she was a bodyguard. Rumor said the Divine was employing bards in her personal service. He'd assumed the tales were exaggerated, as so many of them were, but perhaps that wasn't so?

"Your Perfection, if I may." The Lord Seeker strode toward the dais. He made a perfunctory bow, and did not wait for permission to continue. "There is no need for this. With the state of the Empire, I'm positive you have more important concerns than an internal matter of the Circle of Magi."

"Your advice is appreciated, Lambert," she said. Rhys thought he detected a hint of sarcasm in her tone, and certainly the lack of an honorific did not go unnoticed by the man. He glared indignantly, but said nothing. "The Empire faces war, and while we pray for the souls of the many innocents trapped in its wake, the Chantry cannot forsake its responsibility for the sake of politics."

The Lord Seeker said nothing. For a long moment there was tense silence as he and the Divine locked stares, until finally he relented. "As you wish, Your Perfection."

"Good. Someone will need to look after the White Spire when you return to your regular duties, after all."

"Most Holy!" Evangeline spluttered. "I . . . cannot ask you to . . ."

"You did not ask. Rather, it is I who am asking you to continue serving the Maker." She waved for Evangeline to come closer. "Stand at my side while I deal with the matter at hand."

… "I . . . did only as you asked, Most Holy," he repeated.

The Lord Seeker strode forward, wheeling on the Divine with an expression of outrage. "What does he mean by that, exactly?"

"I believe you are forgetting yourself, Lambert."

"And I believe the templars have a right to know what transpires in our own domain!" he snapped. "We have a difficult enough time dealing with the mages, we most certainly do not need interference!"

She frowned, and Rhys wondered if things were about to come to a head. These were two of the most powerful people in Thedas butting heads, right there in front of everyone. The unease in the chamber was conspicuous, and he couldn't help but notice the templars were not only armed but also handily outnumbered everyone else. But . . . they served the Chantry. The templars would never openly oppose the Chantry, would they? That was unthinkable.

… "The Rite of Tranquility has served the Circle for centuries. It is our last defense against mages who cannot master their own powers. We must keep order, Most Holy! We must protect the innocent from the mages, and the mages from themselves!"

She nodded. "A convenient tale, so we may sleep better at night. The Maker says that magic is to serve mankind . . . but we possess a responsibility to those who serve us, Lord Seeker. We cannot hail them when their magic is useful and then lock them in a cage when it is inconvenient. They are the Maker's children, not to be tolerated, but to be cherished."

Rhys was stunned. He'd never thought to hear such words from anyone in the Chantry before, never mind the Divine. From the murmurs that traveled around the room, he suspected many others felt the same way. Looking to his right, he caught a glimpse of Adrian standing not far from him and watching the throne.

She was crying.

The Lord Seeker furrowed his brow, staring at the Divine in consternation. "And what price would you have us pay for such idealism, Most Holy?"

"Idealism is our stock- in- trade, Lambert. A religion without ideals is tyranny. As for the price"— she turned back to Pharamond—"that is what I intend to discover."

The Divine sat back in the throne. She steepled her hands together and rested her chin on them, narrowing her eyes in thought. "First I wish to know what happened to the people of Adamant."

Wynne appeared reluctant to speak, and Rhys could well imagine why. He remembered the room full of charred corpses, the blood smearing the walls, and shuddered. "They are dead," she whispered.

"Speak up!" the Lord Seeker snapped.

"They are dead," Wynne said, more loudly.

The Divine closed her eyes, moving her mouth in a prayer. All was quiet for a long minute until she opened her eyes again. Rhys could see they were moist— she was clearly moved, and it made him feel guilty. As horrified as he'd been by the carnage, other concerns had seemed far more pressing than that of lost lives.

"And do you believe a way can be discovered to allow the Rite to restrict a mage without rendering them Tranquil?"

Rhys noticed the nervous sweat pouring down Pharamond's brow. He glanced helplessly at Wynne, but she merely nodded for him to answer. He faced the Divine again, stuttering several times before he managed a response: "No," he said quietly. "I don't believe that's possible."

His answer hung in the air.

"Then there's nothing further to discuss," the Lord Seeker declared. "If the only result of this man's research is to discover the Rite may be reversed, then I deem it a failure . . . and a dangerous one, Most Holy. Even now there are those in the White Spire who believe we are about to turn every Tranquil back into a mage!"

The Divine pondered his words and did not respond. She did not have to, however, as Adrian suddenly stepped forward. Rhys groaned inwardly, seeing the outrage written clearly on her face right next to the tears. "And so you should!" she shouted. "They should never have been mutilated in the first place!"

The man glared at her in fury, but it was the Divine who responded. "And what would you have us do, my dear? Execute them?"

"Yes!" Adrian looked around at the shocked glances she received, and they only seemed to fuel her outrage. "Yes! You think it's kinder to turn them into automatons, into servants? If you really fear us so much, then kill us! Don't pretend that killing everything that makes us human isn't the same thing!"

"No!" he cried out. The words were almost ripped from him before he realized what he was saying. They sounded too loud in the massive audience chamber, reverberating until all eyes were turned toward him.

There you go again, he scolded himself. When will you learn, exactly?

Steeling his nerves, Rhys approached the dais, kneeling down in the same manner the Lord Seeker had before him. "Forgive me, Most Holy, but I have to speak."

The corner of the Divine's mouth twitched in amusement. "Why not? It seems as if none of us are standing on ceremony today. Who might you be?"

"Enchanter Rhys, Most Holy."

She smiled. "Ah! The son, is it? I can see the resemblance."

He was taken aback by that, a combination of Wynne clearly having told the Divine about their relationship and the woman even remembering. Plus, he didn't look like Wynne . . . did he? …

The Lord Seeker stared, stunned. He spared a withering glance at Evangeline, who kept her own expression stony and did not look away, and then turned to face the Divine. "Do you see? Already it spreads. Next he'll be trying to convince us that demons are required to further this agenda!"

"Not demons," Rhys insisted. "Spirits!" At the incredulous look from both the Lord Seeker and the Divine, he spoke more emphatically. "Not everything about spirits is evil. We use spirits to heal, and the Chantry accepts this because it's useful. This is no different."

"Of course it's different!" the Lord Seeker boomed. "We have an entire keep of innocents horribly slaughtered to show us how different it is!"

"And would you make their deaths meaningless?"

"Not I!" he said. "Their deaths were made meaningless by the selfish act of a man who used them to reverse something that should never have been reversed! It is blasphemy!"

Rhys laughed bitterly. "Blasphemy? This door is opened. You can try to slam it shut, or you can see what's on the other side! It might just be a way to avoid the rebellion even you must know is coming!"

The Lord Seeker drew his sword. The metallic sound it made as it left its scabbard rang throughout the room, and the reaction was instantaneous. At least half of the templars drew their blades, and Rhys didn't get the impression they intended to stop him; rather the opposite. Rhys fell back, alarmed, and immediately channeled mana. Adrian rushed to his side, summoning a wreath of fire to her hands.

"Enough!" the Divine cried. "There will be no bloodshed!"

Evangeline ran toward the Lord Seeker, weapon already in hand, but the red- haired priest got there first. She grabbed his sword hand, and when he wheeled about to force her off she glared at him with steely eyes. "Don't be a fool," she warned, her voice low and deadly.

He scowled, though he did lower his blade. Pulling his hand from hers, he turned to face Rhys. "I see no rebellion coming," he seethed. "I see mages who take every inch they're allowed and demand ten more, forgetting the very reasons the Circle exists. And what I hear are threats, coming from a Libertarian who would be the very first corrupted if power were ever placed in his hands."

Rhys allowed his power to fade, but it was difficult. The Lord Seeker was so full of contempt and self- righteousness it was sickening, and Rhys wanted nothing more than to wipe that sneer off his face . . . even though it would surely mean his own death.

"I'm not making threats," he said. "I'm telling you there are alternatives, but you're too blind to see them. If you keep trying to strangle the mages, you'll lose us. That I promise you."

The Lord Seeker ignored him, instead turning to the Divine. "Do you see what we contend with? Resistance at every turn. End this, here and now, before it spreads beyond these walls."

"It's too late," a voice cried out. It was Wynne. She reassuringly patted the anxious Pharamond's hand and then left him to approach the dais. "I'm sorry, Most Holy, but the Circle of Magi already knows about Pharamond."

"What do you mean?" the Lord Seeker demanded.

She smiled sweetly at him. "The sending that went to the White Spire and the Grand Cathedral was also sent to every other Circle in Thedas. The first enchanters are already on their way to Val Royeaux as we speak."

Adrian gasped, and Rhys was similarly stunned. Had that been Wynne's plan all along, then? Had the golem been so incredibly caustic just so Evangeline would be happy to see it leave? He couldn't help but feel a little chagrined at the realization.

The Lord Seeker wheeled on the Divine. "Execute them," he growled. "Execute them all. This flies in the face of everything the Chantry stands for, a direct challenge to our authority!"

The Divine frowned and regarded Wynne with a speculative look, tapping her fingers on the arm of the Sunburst Throne. Wynne bowed, and spoke in a carefully guarded tone. "This is a chance for you to work with the Circle, to greet Pharamond's findings as an opportunity rather than as a threat."

"You put us in a difficult position," the Divine said. Rhys could tell she was displeased, perhaps even backed into a corner. She exchanged a dire look with the Lord Seeker, one that made Rhys nervous. Might she refuse, after all this? Had Wynne alienated a woman who had seemingly been their ally?

"None more difficult than we mages are in, Your Perfection," Wynne answered.

Wynne and Leliana are so cool and badass!

It is the best chapter of this book, no doubt. And the best chapter of all the three Dragon Age books written by David Gaider.

#Dragon Age: Asunder #Dragon Age #Wynne #Leliana #Dragon Age Novels #Reading notes #David Gaider

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