The Shadowend Campaign Setting

Elder Host

In the beginning, the Wyrld was, and around the Wyrld there was Nothing. Then Te stepped from Nothing into the Wyrld, and lifted up his voice, and called forth the Elder Host from Nothing.

Counting Te, the Elder Host numbered twelve. It is known that Erdis, King of Nothing,The Elder Host came forth as follows:

• Te, First of the Host
• Erdis, King of Naught;
• Aela, Lady of Blessings;
• Orod, Lord of Bones;
• Ados the Learned;
• Tamati the Bloody Queen;
• Fatia, Mother of Hope;
• Darghin the Nightlord;
• Ruandir the Skyking;
• Larril the Wandering Queen;
• Umoth, the Burning God;
• Yau, the Gentle Lady.

Together the great powers crossed the expanse of the Wyrld to its heart. Where they stepped, a multitude of strange and wondrous beings sprang up - elementals and angels, fiends and celestials, djinni and iyaevdimal.

Erdis, the eldest but for Te, loathed the Wyrld, and sought to unmake it. The others strove against him, and finally slew him. From his blood they created dragons; from his bones giants. Humans were shaped from his flesh, and gnomes from his inner organs.

Darghin, Tamati, and Umoth stole Erdis's head and shaped their own races from it, including the powerful occuluth, treacherous dopplegangers, and foul orcs. Finally, Yau gathered up what was left of Erdis and carried them into the Nothing to be at peace again. Today, the only remnants of Erdis in the Wyrld are fragments of his heart, and these artifacts are numbered among the most fearsome and terrible in existence.

Te is numbered among the Elder Host, but stands apart from them. He grants no powers and shows no favor. His faithful are few in number and without divine spells or ability. He speaks only three times in the course of the Wyrld: once to call forth the Elder Host, once to unmake the bindings and barriers the gods have laid on the Wyrld (this occurred about a hundred years ago in game time), and once to summon the Elder Host back to the Nothing.

With Erdis dead, Yau undone, and Te set apart, the Elder Host effectively number nine.

• Ados is the god of learning, history, and wisdom.
• Aela is the Mother Goddess, patron of life, fertility, and growth.
• Darghin is the god of darkness, secrets, ambition, and hatred.
• Fatia is the goddess of hope, the future, and destiny.
• Larril is the goddess of the earth and fortune, and since Yau's dissolution, of water and love.
• Orod is the god of souls and the dead.
• Ruandir is the lord of the sky, storms, and leadership.
• Tamati is the goddess of change, war, strife, and turmoil.
• Umoth is the god of fire, light, and wrath.

Elder Host I - The Secret King

Darghin
(The Secret King, Nightlord)
Greater Power of the Elder Host
Major AoC: Darkness, Secrets, Intrigue, Hoarding of Knowledge, Night, Hatred
Minor AoC: Shadows, Thieves, Power Through Knowledge, Spys
Symbol: A black cloak, a hand holding a black sword (representing Darghin severing Orod's hand), a black snake, a black eagle.
Allies: Nevias, Malis, Sindrym
Enemies: Umoth, Orod, Lias
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Darghin stalks the Wyrld in the shape of a common thief or cutthroat, of average height and appearance and middle age. He dresses in dark clothes and always carries his ebony shortsword, Deathcutter, the first weapon to ever taste the blood of a god.

Darghin is the eternal nemesis. For reasons known only to him, the Nightlord has fostered few friendships and many antipathies among the divine host, avoiding mishaps only by solving one after another of the gods' difficulties with his guile and cunning. Only Ados matches or surpasses Darghin's intellect, and none rival his capacity for forethought and planning, a fact that greatly concerns all those drawn into his webs.

The Secret King is worshipped by any who live or work in darkness, thieves, politicians and courtiers, spys, evil wizards, those seeking to imprison, hide, or retain possession of exclusive knowledge, and any seeking power through knowledge (such as blackmailers). His priesthood is a tumultious brew of plots and counter-plots, and Darghin aids only those who aid themselves. Most of his priests are masters at getting others to do their dirty work for them, and many an innocent has been falsely represented by these dark clerics.

True20 - Dwarves & lineages

One thing I'm not thrilled about in True20 are races. There's a distinct loss of fine detail when converting from a d20 standard. One option I'm playing with is giving most races a +1 level lag instead of +0 (if everyone has a +1, I can effectively ignore it). I'm not wild about it - it's alot of feats to absorb at first level - and I'm still looking for other solutions (straight up racial paths; some kind of truncated dedicated racial paths; bonus feats at X levels that go to racial feats; etc). I like the new Pathfinder skill system and intend to adopt that; it'll give me a few more points to tweak.

That said, here's my preliminary workup of dwarven lineages (and yes, I took out the ability penalties - humans get 7 ability points instead of 6, but with a +4 cap on any one. Demihumans with a boost get 6 points and a +5 cap). All dwarves get the dwarven background and a lineage.

DWARF BACKGROUND
Ability Adjustments: +1 Con
Bonus Feats: Great Fortitude, Night Vision, Second Chance (Poison)
Favored Feats: Diehard, Favored Opponent (goblin or giant)

DUERGAR
Duergar, also called grey or iron dwarves, are skilled but vice-ridden dwarves who seek to bring all of the dwarven realms under duergar rule. In exchange for their service, the Typhos have rewarded them with several innate supernatural abilities and resistances. Their innate ward power makes them much sought after as specialized “anti-magical” mercenaries and assassins. Exceptional duergar become assassins, cultists, or soldiers.
DUERGAR LINEAGE
Ability Adjustments: +1 Wis
Bonus Feats: Second Chance (Illusion), Skill Focus (Craft [chose one])
Bonus Power: Increase Size*, Ward (duergar treat their total level as their adept level for these powers).

HILL DWARF
Hill dwarves, or dwerg, live in small keeps and halls, often near humans or other races. They have an affinity for working with metal and stone, and ordinary hill dwarves make their living as craftsmen (armorers, blacksmiths, jewelers, potters, stonemasons, trapsmiths) or miners. Heroic hill dwarves usually become kerns, merchants, soldiers, or tinkers.
HILL DWARF LINEAGE
Ability Adjustments: +1 Dex
Bonus Feats: Endurance, Shield Training, Talented (Craft [chose one] & Search), Weapon Training

MORDWERG
Mordwerg are a rare, twisted race of dwarves. They have no halls or settlements of their own, instead living among other dwarves or by themselves. They are surly and self-centered, with a general contempt for anyone besides themselves. Their presence is much sought-after, however, as they are exceptional craftsmen and possess an innate supernatural bent that allows them to create magical artifacts. Most mordwerg are mages, wizards, or craftsmen.
MORDWERG LINEAGE
Bonus Feats: Artisan, Imbue Item, Skill Focus (Craft [chose one])
Bonus Powers: Combat Sense, Ghost Touch, Metal Shaping, Supernatural Weapon (mordwerg treat their total level as their adept level for these powers)

MOUNTAIN DWARF
Mountain dwarves, or dweorh, live in heart of the mountains, in vast greathalls that reach miles into the earth. They are law-abiding, resolute, and stoic, traits formed from millenia of battles against the abominations of the darkness and their corrupt kin, the duergar. Mountain dwarves are also the most avaricious of their kind, and dealings with other races are tempered by their suspicion of non-dwarves. Many mountain dwarves become clerics, soldiers, or templars; dweorh with an arcane bent often become seers or mages.
MOUNTAIN DWARF LINEAGE
Ability Adjustments: +1 Wis
Bonus Feats: Endurance, Favored Opponent (duergar), Tireless, Weapon Training

Nellisir said:

MORDWERG
Mordwerg are a rare, twisted race of dwarves. They have no halls or settlements of their own, instead living among other dwarves or by themselves. They are surly and self-centered, with a general contempt for anyone besides themselves. Their presence is much sought-after, however, as they are exceptional craftsmen and possess an innate supernatural bent that allows them to create magical artifacts. Most mordwerg are mages, wizards, or craftsmen.
MORDWERG LINEAGE
Bonus Feats: Artisan, Imbue Item, Skill Focus (Craft [chose one])
Bonus Powers: Combat Sense, Ghost Touch, Metal Shaping, Supernatural Weapon (mordwerg treat their total level as their adept level for these powers)

Click to expand...

I like the sound of the Mordwerg. Are they based on something in D&D/d20 or are they your own creation?


Richard

RichGreen said:

I like the sound of the Mordwerg. Are they based on something in D&D/d20 or are they your own creation?

Click to expand...

The name and some of the details are "inspired" by the mordrigswerg, which appeared in the Dwarves of Rockhome Gazetteer for the Known World. They're also inspired by the dwarves of Norse and Germanic legend.

Dalerain I - Lady of Swords

Sif
(Lady of Swords, Mistress of Blades, Battlemaiden)
Neutral Good Intermediate Power of the Dalerain
Major AoC: Battle, Skill at Arms, Soldiers
Minor AoC: Women warriors, Protection of the Innocent
Symbol: A pair of longswords crossed in an "X", a hawk, an open-faced helm over a longsword
Allies: Ados, Catil, Uller
Enemies: Ragavar
Avatar: Fighter 20 / Rogue 10 / Wizard 5
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Sif appears as a tall, attractive Aesar, with blonde hair in a thick braid, grey eyes, and a steely gaze. She wears chainmail armor, a small shield with a hawk emblazoned on it, and a white longsword. The shield is called Aethinggul, or Unmoving; the longsword is called Matchless.

Sif is the warrior-goddess, the protector of women, and the patron of those who seek more than simple bloodshed. She is the child of Ados and the full sister of Uller, the Archer. Sif, her brother, and Catil, the God of Hammers, formed a triumvirate of hero-deities whose exploits furnished many of the tales and legends told today, as they shaped the world into its current form. She and Talabas the Slaughterer act as lieutenants to Tamati the Warqueen; she is not at all fond of Talabas’s methods, but so far has not deemed it worth risking Tamati’s wrath by actively working against the God of Blood. She is more bold in her stance against the Mad God – together with Catil and Uller, she has twice been responsible for containing Ragavar in his Abyssal prison.

Sif is a concerned, but not protective, deity. She expects self-reliance and fortitude from her followers, not incessant pleas for aid and assistance. She opposes the actions of Talabas the Slaughterer and Tamati in his role as the Strife-bringer, though both she and Talabas serve as Tamati’s lieutenants. She favors action over contemplation. Her favor is sought by both teachers and students of the martial arts, female warriors, and good-aligned soldiers.
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Swordlady (Swordlord)
Major Spheres: Grace, Protection, War
Minor Spheres: Death, Life
Favored Weapon: Longsword

Dalerain II - Lord of the Hunt

Uller
(Foreststrider, Lord of the Hunt)
Neutral Lesser Power of the Dalerain
Major AoC: Hunting, Archery, Wolves
Minor AoC: Trackers, woodsmen
Symbol: A wolf’s head
Allies: Sif, Catil, Alaron
Enemies: Ragavar, Tuar
Avatar: Druid 10 / Ranger 20
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Uller appears as a ten-foot tall man clad in leather, with unkempt beard and hair, and a pair of many-tined antlers sprouting from his head. If he wishes to pass unnoticed among people he takes on a more natural height, and wears a light helm or leather cap to conceal his smaller antlers. In any form he carries a longbow, called Griburhentun, or Hunter’s Reach, and a shortspear called Griburnter, or Final Touch.

Uller is the true brother of Sif, the goddess of battle, and the two of them are the only true full siblings in the Dalerain. In the earlier ages of the Wyrld, he, Catil, and Sif were the primary members in a band of divine heros responsible for many legendary feats. With Catil’s exile, the band fell apart, and it remains to be seen if Uller is interested in renewing his relationship with the Lord of the Forge. Other allies of the Foreststrider include Alaron, Eial, and most unlikely, Maebd. Uller’s relationship with Samaan is carefully neutral – they work together if necessary, but only then. He is bitter enemies with Ragavar, whom he helped to imprison, and Tuar, who has recently taken to challenging Uller’s position with the stalkers and seekers of the world.

The Lord of the Hunt is worshipped by woodsmen, hunters, trackers, trappers, loggers, and anyone who must travel through a wooded region. He is also sought out by archers (whether rangers or not), those who seek to find someone, and (suspected but not confirmed) a few neutral werewolves. His priests tend to be solitary and rugged, often multiclassing as rangers, barbarians, or fighters.

Races - Domovii

Domovii
Domovii are small race of fey who have established a symbiotic relationship with humans. In exchange for protection, food, and shelter, usually in a cellar or subterranean complex of rooms, the domovii take care of small tasks and chores around the house and its holdings.

Personality: Domovii are cautious, subtle, and quiet. They are fond of order and routine, and dislike change and uncertainty. They believe the best way to be safe is to blend in, and most domovii cultivate a bland, noncomittal persona to use in the greater world. Adventuring domovii often adopt one or two “protectors” and trade small tasks like cooking meals or cleaning armor for an assurance that they’ll be protected – and woe betide anyone who doesn’t follow through on their end of the bargain.

Domovii enjoy animals and easily develop a rapport with most creatures. Even the bitterest domovii can be moved to kindness for a baby animal, though such softness is confined to the animal.

Description: Domovii are small, between two and three feet high, and weigh between 30 and 40 pounds. They have dark brown or black hair and nut-brown skin. Domovii men often grow short beards, and domovii women traditionally wear their hair long and braided. Their features are somewhat rounder and softer than humans, giving them something of a child’s appearance. They live much longer than humans, reaching adulthood at 40 years and middle age at 175.

Relations: Domovii prefer the company of humans or other domovii. They distrust jotunar, have little in common with the independent leshii, and scorn troldfolk. They are less certain around gnomes, who are both too similar and too different from the domovii, and uncomfortable around dweorh, who have never mastered the trick of ignoring domovii.

Alignment: Domovii are fond of tradition and custom, and protective of their families and race, traits that combine to make most domovii neutral or lawful neutral. Chaotic domovii feel stifled by the expectations of their families, and often become adventurers. A few domovii become bitter, angry, and hateful; these evil fey can wreak great but subtle havok before other domovii are able to stop them.

Domovii Lands: Domovii have no lands of their own, instead choosing to live with humans. Legends speak of a corrupted race of domovii that live among the Tuonar, but no member of that race has been seen in living memory.

Religion: Domovii occasionally pay lip service to the human deities, but like most fey otherwise have no deities or tradition of worship. Those domovii that do adopt human deities usually favor Linon, the Field King; or Aela, the Mother. Adventuring domovii send their prayers to Eides, the Wanderer, and evil domovii prefer Adosil, the Feuding Goddess.

Language: Domovii speak Sylvan and the tongue common to their region – usually Aesdar, Vandar, or Ceild.

Names: Domovii guard their personal names closely, and instead prefer honorifics for use outside of their immediate family. For a non-family member to address a domovii by his personal name is a grave insult, and it is similarly important to remember that the title by which a domovii is addressed is not a name, but a title. Domovii with similar or identical titles will append the name of their village or steading to the end of their name (“The Smiling Lady of Highwold”). Domovii do not have family names.

Male Names: The Fine Fellow, The Kindly Man

Female Names: The Gentlewife, The Smiling Lady.

Domovii Racial Traits
Fey Type: Domovii are fey, and as such are not subject to spells that specifically target humanoids, such as charm person or hold person. Likewise, effects that affect fey affect domovii as well. Spells that they cast that normally affect only humanoids affect fey instead.
+1 Dexterity, –1 Intelligence. Domovii are quick, but uneducated.
Small: As a Small creature, a domovii gains a +1 size bonus to Armor Class, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, and a +4 size bonus on Hide checks, but she uses smaller weapons than humans use, and her lifting and carrying limits are three-quarters of those of a Medium character.
Cold Iron Weakness: Domovii are vulnerable to cold iron. A domovii that comes into contact with cold iron (including taking damage from a weapon) must make a Fortitude save (DC 20) or be sickened for 1d3 rounds.
Low-light vision: A domovii can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. He retains the ability to distingush color and detail under these conditions.
Domovii base land speed is 30 feet.
+1 racial bonus on attack rolls with sickles and scythes.
Domovii require only ½ the food and water of a normal being their size.
+2 racial bonus on Hide, Listen, Move Silently, and Spot checks.
Automatic Languages: Aesdar or Vandar, and Domovii.
Bonus Languages: Dwarven, Elven, Gnome, Goblin, and Orc.

Treasures - Armor of the Autumn Kings

Armor of the Autumn Kings
+4 chain mail armor of strength.

Properties: +4 enhancement bonus to Armor Class; +4 enhancement bonus to Strength (one point of enhancement bonus to Strength becomes an inherent bonus to Strength each time the wielder is reduced to –1 hit points or lower as a result of melee combat and subsequently regains full hit points. Conferred inherent bonuses are retained if the armor is lost or destroyed.)

Description: The Armor of the Autumn Kings is a full suit of chain armor, including leggings and coif. The armor has the properties of fine steel, but the metal is colored a dark, rusty red-brown. Repairs made to the armor take on the distinctive coloration within a week. An amulet fashioned into the symbol of the Autumn Kings, a longsword point downwards superimposed over an oak leaf, likewise pointed downwards, is fastened to the right shoulder and cannot be removed.

History: The Autumn Kings first ruled a small kingdom in the Shalanwode, north and east of the Hags Mere, in the years between the retreat of Illendia and the Amerite conquest. Amatheir invested the line of the Autumn Kings with governorship of the existing domain during its rule, and when the Empire withdrew from the borderlands, the Autumn Kings took up their former title with nary a blink. Sadly, the Autumn Kingdom lasted only another century before falling to an orcish horde driven from the Sarn highlands.

The Armor of the Autumn Kings was forged late in the kingdom’s life, by the half-elven crown prince Mierillinar Forestforge. Mierillinar dedicated his life to uniting the nature-oriented, independent druidic traditions and practices common to the Autumn Kingdom with the metallurgic skills and feudal structure of the growing Woodmarch kingdoms. His quest was cut short by an early death, and his armor was passed onto his son, Anturaen the Red, the last of the Autumn Kings, who fell in battle against the orcs.

The armor has circulated throughout the Shalanholt region since that time, appearing periodically over the centuries. The armor is rumored to be drawn to descendants of the royal line; certainly it has shown an uncanny knack for remaining in the region, despite being acquired, at various time, by a Vandïn raider, a prince of the Hundred Kingdoms, and a Behrunian merchant-adventurer. Whether this is more than coincidence, however, is still a mystery.

Races - Troldfolk

Troldfolk
Bridge trolls live side by side with humans, in the barely settled marchlands where they easily escape notice by the larger folk. They dwell in ditches and hedgerows, catching rabbits and chickens, or living off of the fruit of the land (and the orchard). Bridge trolls are considered pests and vermin by those around them, but rarely cause enough trouble to make it worthwhile to hunt them down.

Personality: Bjergfolk are curious and inquisitive, prone to sticking their large noses where they don't belong. They move quickly from one interest to another, as the latest bauble catches their fancy, but are resolute in pursuit of something they really want. They enjoy the earthy delights of simple living, and eschew the cultured ways of other races (including such sophisticates as goblins, orcs, and ogres.)

Description: Bridge trolls, often call bjergfolk or common troldfolk, are a diminutive, unattractive race. They stand 3 1/2 to 4 feet tall, and weigh 40 to 70 pounds. They are lean and lanky in frame, with long arms, knobby joints, and gnarled fingers. Their hair is dark brown or black, and skin color may be dark green, brown, or black. Skin color is individual, and members of the same family may have differing skin colors. They are rough-featured, with large brows, broad cheeks, and low, flat noses. Most troldfolk have little clothing, and dress in rags and cast-offs from the larger races.

Relations: Bridge trolls are despised by dweorh and domovii, disliked by korrigan, ignored by jotunar, and disdained by humans. About the only race to respect bridge trolls are goblins, and then only when the trolls are close enough to beat the goblins.

Alignment: Bridge trolls are unabashedly chaotic neutral. The central concern of a bridge troll is the bridge troll, and the rest of the world lags far behind. They rarely seek to harm other people, but they rarely help them either.

Bridge Troll Lands: Bridge trolls live in places unclaimed by other races, usually near a source of water. They prefer overgrown riverbanks and tangled fens, but lair in bramble-covered hillsides and dense woodlands as well. They are uncomfortable living in stone structures and almost never inhabit ruins or old structures, preferring to dig their own lairs (troll-holes) into the hillside or to construct mud-and-stick huts with a concealed entrance. These dens are universally damp, dark, and foul-smelling.
Bridge trolls do not have their own realms, and most trolls seek out settlements of other races (preferable human) to den near.

Religion: Bridge trolls are not a religious race, and only two bjergfolk gods are known. Rumbletrolgskil is venerated by male bridge trolls as a god of eating, stealing, and hitting, while female bridge trolls worship Mormua, the goddess of food, earth, and telling off male trolls.

Language: Bridge trolls speak a guttural, glottal language. It has certain similarities to Goblin, but qualified researchers note strong links to the Sylvan language. Troll has no written form. Nearly all bridge trolls know the most common local language.

Names: Bridge trolls have given names and family names. Trolls value their family lineage, and often add honorifics and descriptive titles to their family names. Their given names often have a "wet" sound, like something thrown into the water.

Male Names: Borbon, Flod, Glabbin, Horb, Norpin, Thombolundolf.
Female Names: Anda, Apelo, Dorga, Eota, Murga, Ploshie.
Family Names: Fluir, Gulgo, Nolsh, Porpin.

Adventurers: Bridge trolls rarely crave adventure; instead they seek what adventure can give them, usually riches and land. Young bridge trolls in particular are dissatisfied with their circumstances and take up adventuring to get out of the family hole.

Troldfolk Racial Traits
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Usually CN Small Fey
Senses Darkvision 60 ft.
Languages Common, Troll
Dex +1, Con +1, Int -1, Cha -2
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Resistances +2 r bonus on saving throws vs spells and spell-like effects.
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Speed 30 ft.
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Skills Climb +2 r, Sneak +2 r
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Favored Languages Gnome, Goblin, Orc, Sylvan.

r=racial bonus