Next Update
Politics:
Half-orcs make up the ruling class of Eyros, and the most high born can trace their ancestry back through several generations of orcish forebears. It has a long tradition of senatorial governance, with occassional periods of despotic autocracy when a particular family or individual gains dominance. Some of the 'unsuccessful' true half-orc candidates have fled into the wilderness regions of Eyros, where they have established a crude, barbarian society of their own. They claim that the only 'true' half-orcs are those bred from two half-orcs, and are becoming both an irritant and an embarrassment to the noble houses of Eyros as their numbers slowly rise.
Because only a TRUE first-generation half-orc may ascend the Thone, the Noble families are very strict about the purity of their House lineages. There are 6 of these families, known collectively as "The Pillars". Three are Human, and Three are Orcish. The greatest political wrangling consists of arranging marriages between Orc and Human children, striving for that one first-generation child that will next take the throne. Needless to say, those half-orc noble childern that don't make the throne find themselves very, very expendable.
Line of Ascent: The precise means for a half-orc to ascend the Throne are as follows.
Within four years of taking the Throne, the current Grand Monarch must select one of the Six Pillars from which his successor will come. This Pillar is known as the Presumptive from this point until a new Grand Monarch ascends. This is the source of much of the political wrangling between Pillars, as they all seek the favor of the new Grand Monarch.
Note that the Grand Monarch cannot choose the Presumptive from which he (or she) came as the new Presumptive. He can choose the other Pillar from which he descends, though this is considered poor form unless he can justify his choice.
It is possible, although rare, for the Pillars to "veto" the Grand Monarch's choice, but it requires a unanimous vote of all five Pillars (other than the Presumptive). The Grand Monarch must then choose a different Pillar. This can occur only once; the Pillars cannot veto the Grand Monarch's second choice. The majority of historical rejections occurred when a Grand Monarch chose one of his own Pillars as Presumptive.
It is up to the Presumptive Pillar to decide which other Pillar it will join with to produce the next heir; this is the source of much more of the political wrangling, as each Pillar seeks the favor of the Presumptive. (On occasion, the Presumptive and its chosen Pillar may attempt to breed specifically--if they feel they have time, and a good reason to do so--but in most cases, it just means they draw from the "pool" of applicable half-orcs. This, of course, is why even the Pillars that don't much like each other keep breeding with each other: So they have such a pool available as necessary.)
A Grand Monarch can change his mind after declaring a Presumptive, but only if he can give good reason to the Pillars, and only if at least three of the six Pillars vote to permit him to do so.
The Grand Monarch maintains a bodyguard of two dozen guards drawn from each of the houses. In order to prevent the appearance of favoritism, four are chosen from each Pillar. There are always at least four different houses represented, to keep any one or two houses from plotting together to attack the Grand Monarch. For the majority of situations, though, there are six guards present, with all houses represented.
The new emperor marries four first-generation half-orc wives upon ascending the throne, one from each combination of houses he is not from. (Switch genders when appropriate.) This is done to prevent favoritism, and to insure that the emperor's children can never follow him to the throne, even were they somehow able to subvert the other laws preventing it.
To prevent any one Pillar from rising up, the legions based out of their district, and responsible for their defense are not commanded by those loyal to that Pillar. When a Pillar's scions come of age for service, they are first sent to the Capital for more formal training, and then placed in legions in other districts. This prevents any conflict of interest in case of rebellion, and also encourages closer ties among the Pillars, by having their neighbors protect them. The defense of the House city, however, is up to the Pillar itself, and not the legions. Peasant conscripts remain in their own districts however, to encourage them to fight for their home more vigorously. Career enlisted are assigned as needed.
The various Houses of Eyros (including the Six Pillars) are greatly extended families, and actually contain more than one family name within them. If someone wants to fully and formally identify themselves, they include personal name, family name, and both House names. This procedure uses the Orc prefix "dal," which indicates "of," when naming the father's House; and the prefix "ty," which loosely translates into "by way of," for indicating the mother's House. For instance, Felra Raj-Tinar would, in court, introduce herself as "Felra Raj-Tinar dal-Vajar ty-."
Taxes are paid to the pillar that rules the province. The Imperial Treasury assesses what a province can pay and then tasks the regional government to collect the taxes. The Pillar has the allowance to take a certain percentage for themselves to use it for provincial issues and it is expected that they take some money extra to compensate for their work. Extra money is paid to border districts to pay for infrastructure like roads and extra food stores. Most fortresses and weapon caches are under direct imperial control, supervised by the imperial legions. There is a constant debate between imperial commanders who serve the empire first and regional governors about payment for the services the civil authorities provide. As the commanders come from different pillars, they don´t mind to give the regional governors some headaches and get a good laugh out of it. It is expected that the pillars will try to talk the next empress to increase their tax cut, perhaps offering to take some of the military burden off imperial shoulders.
The House of Malarn, is considered to be the most progressive of the Pillars. The leaders of the house occasionally go as far as to "adopt" notable or particularily worthy members of other races into the house, on an honorary basis. Obviously, they are kept out of positions in line for ascendancy to the throne. They are however, allowed to add the dal-Malarn suffix to their name.
Because of this, they are looked upon with suspicion by the more pure Pillars. Even more so, since their house produces a higher percentage of career officers and soldiers. Are they positioning themselves for a move against the other pillars?
House Taljik, the third and smallest of the Orc Houses, is trying to lift the image of its home city of Taljik-ka (using -ka on the end of the word notes that this is the Houses home city) by the building of a new arena complex. This complex, which will rival the size of the complex in Eyrdeyn, will house both a longstrider lizard racing track and a blood sports arena with all its auxiliary buildings complexes that come with both facilities. Taljik is staking a lot of their province’s finances on this venture on the knowledge that Felra Raj-Tinar enjoys the games. They hope the arena, which will not be complete for several years yet, will build the image of the House in her eyes after she ascends the Throne, and thus give them a leg up on becoming the next Presumptive.
House Kiron, a human Pillar, rules the southern province of Aenajadin, which borders the elven nation of Nistadeen, from their capital city of Kiron-ka. Once House Kiron had a reputation for excess and debauchery, but the blood war between orcs and humans and resultant fall of one of the Pillars caused the house elders to reexamine their priorities. Saint Lasair, prophet of the Dawn, delivered her message of universal enlightenment to the very receptive family elders, who declared the Dawnist Church the established faith of the province. In keeping with the Dawnist devotion to freewill, House Kiron abandoned the use of Masks and elves were recognized as freepersons within Aenajadin.
In addition to a Human and an Orc spouse, Kiron nobles often keep an elven consort. The human scions of House Kiron are the ruling class of Aenajadin, half-orc scions aspire to the throne of Eyros, and half-elf scions are the elite clergy of the Dawnist church. Having no elven Masks, the Children of the Dawn are House Kiron's greatest magical resource. Often seen as second class, half-elf scions are always striving to prove their loyalty to House Kiron. They were the first to join Lusarum in his denunciation of the Corythian "heresy" of the Nistadeen elves.
Members of the human Pillar House Mulcibe are distinctive for their bright red-gold hair. House Mulcibe is led by the passionate, opinionated, and utterly charming Farina Saeryn dal-Mulcibe, who is famed across Eyros for her love of cute dhazi and her extensive collection of dhazi of every colour of the rainbow (Supplicants seeking the favour of House Mulcibe would do well to bring a brilliantly coloured pure-bred infant dhaz to Farina as a gift). House Mulcibe scions tend to be more likely to follow the teachings of The Crucible, whether or not they are Crucible members. House Mulcibe is known for its impassioned artists and skilled artisans, and weapons with the flame symbol of a master Mulcibe smith are highly prized across Eyros and oft-enchanted to last, passed on by generations of wielders. Detractors of House Mulcibe have for some time used the distinctive red-gold hair of the Mulcibe scions to create nasty, slanderous rumours that members of House Mulcibe engage in ghastly acts of necrophilia with Eyrian zombies. House Mulcibe members can't explain their odd hair colour, and some of them are secretly afraid that the rumours might be true. In actuality, House Mulcibe descends from an eladrin who journeyed to this realm on Conquers Twice's first voyage from the celestial planes. (and some members of House Mulcibe have Eladrin bloodline traits)
Culture:
Eyros has very "Roman-esque" feel, Style of dress, and architecture. People favor togas, buildings have Big Columns..Large, beautiful statues of the Gods/Kings.
Due to the need for the noble families to both maintain pure human or orc lines and to produce half-blooded children they commonly practice polygamy. Most commonly this is in the form of a noble married to another noble of an off-race house, and to another spouse of the same race, this second spouse is almost always (very strong custom) drawn from outside the noble families. (The practice of in race exogamy help avoid the dangers of inbreeding.) It is from these non-noble spouses that the pure familly lines continue. (Note that only noble to noble offspring use hyphenated names.
There are also (rarer) quartet marriges composed of two noble spouses and two nonnoble spouses (Two orcs, two humans.) Such a quartet can obviously produce halforc children by the nonnoble parents, such children are considered noble but form the very lowest rank of nobility, equivilent to a squire or landless knight.
These marriage customs are one of the causes of the rumours amoung non Eyrosians of Eyrosian debauchery.
Eyros is a militant society: the half-orcs in power fear it is one in decline, for they are not the iron warriors their forefathers were. The armies of Eyros tend to favor cavalry and ranged combat due to the potential large battlefields, and need for distance from plainsfires. For all races in Eyros except the half-orcs, a five-year tour of military service is compulsory upon reaching adulthood. However, this term of service can be waived by the Emeror, a senator, or a local governor, if the individual can prove that he is contributing to society's well-being in some other way. Thus, most people try to be among the best at whatever it is they do--craftsmen, trader, magic, whatever--to avoid conscription. The exception to this rule are the dwarves, who are generally considered insufficiently trustworthy to serve on the battlefield. Among the Orc-Blooded themselves, those who do not choose to serve are looked down upon, though they are not forced to do so. And as most Orc-Blooded begin their military careers as officers, most of them are happy to serve.
The Legions of Eyros are more than just soldiers and formations. On every campaign comes a team of engineers. These are specialists dedicated to knowledge of construction of fortifications, and seige machinery. They have knowledge of the most effecient ways to set up light fortifications, and given time, how to construct more durable fortresses. They are the reason that a legion never camps down for the night without at least a light fence around the area, and a latrine near the edge. For most of the building, they direct the legions in how to do the simple labor, and then do the more intricate work themselves. They also keep, create, or alter preexisting plans as the situation calls for.
Passed down from ancient orcish traditions, adapted through cooperation with the humans for so long, Eyrian nobility tend to be somewhat hedonistic and boisterous, particularly relishing debate, oratory, dueling, and watching gladiatorial matches. As the orcs of old solved their problems and debates largely through shouting, threats, and outright violence, so too do the Eyrians engage in similar though more refined methods of venting frustration, solving disputes, and expressing themselves. Public debate and oratory are common pasttimes of the nobility, which can sometimes become very heated especially amongst the orcish and half-orcish amongst the Pillars.
When not busy with their educations, young Eyrosian nobles are encouraged to socialize with each other. Early fraternization with their peers is a vital part of keeping the breeding traditions of their people fuctioning. Many a young noble has found themselves in a marriage arranged with a childhood friend. These marriages are often cemented before the children are even of breeding age. While physical activities and mock combats are always enjoyed by Eyrosian youth, other popular pastimes emphasize the bardic traditions of the half-orcs. These include debate, storytelling, chorale singing, and a strange form of improvisational theater where the young nobles narrate a script, and force their servants, passing commoners, and the occaisonal mask to act out scenes.
During several weeks each summer, the young of all the Pillars are sent to a special compound on the beaches of the Mhur River. There, they play with other children, go on picnics, perform music, and other activites designed to increase the bonds between the ruling houses. To prevent indoctrination by any one group,* several chaperones from each house attend as well. But, as they cannot be everwhere and watch all the children, groups often manage to sneak away and cause mischief, or in the case of the older youths, trysts and romantic mischief. But, for the most part, it remains a sedate affair. It also gives the parents time without the need to worry about and watch their progeny.
Senators and their ilk tend to earn reputations through a sharp wit or combat prowess, as most disputes and matters of honor amongst the nobility are solved through a formalized duel, usually right on the spot, but those who are keen of wit can back out of a duel by dismissing the accuser's case with a sharp rebuttal or a scathing rebuke that puts the accuser to shame, forcing him to back down.
When the challenge of a duel is accepted, the fight is brutal and fast, neither party allowed to use magic except for the most simple of magic arms and armor they may have with them, and then only if they own it personally. There must be witnesses, and at least one noble witness of neither contender's family to serve as official observer of the victory. Duels are never to the death, but a warrior cannot yield unless they are unable to effectively fight on. Severed limbs or the like must be replaced shortly afterward by the severer, by paying a priest to Regenerate the severee. In the event of accidental death, the slayer or his/her family must pay for the slain to be True Ressurected, or as near as they can afford.
The duels help the orc-blooded to maintain their civility by taking out their inherant aggression non-lethally on those who transgress upon them, while the humans less frequently instigate duels.
As is to be expected from a culture dominated by Half-Orcs, fashion throughout the realm takes it's cue from the nobles. Royal clothes are dyed red with the blood of a ritually slaughtered sacred lizard. Only one of these beasts may be sacrificed in this manner each year, making red garments both highly desireable, as well as incredibly expensive.
Additionally the green tint of a half orcs skin is seen as a sign of virility and nobility. As such there is great demand for skin dyes and cosmetics to enhance the greenish tint of the skin. Surprisingly, many of the other races have also taken to using these green cosmetics. Since Copper is the necessary ingredient for these cosmetics, it is never used as currency, and it's value has been steadily increasing throughout the realm.
As most gems and crystals in Eyros appear to be either linked to principles of ultimate evil, psionic terrorists, or have nasty side affects on their bearers, the jewelry of Eyros is usually worked metals, bone, or enamel/cloisonne.
Gems are decidedly unlucky in Eyros. Powerful, but unlucky.
Mosaics have always been one of the popular forms of art. More difficult to transport than paintings or sculpture, they are considered to be more durable, and can be appreciated even outside.
Thus, when one of the kings decided to memorialize his reign approximately three centuries ago, he asked one of the most skilled mosaic creators to render his likeness. And his sucessor asked the same thing. And so on. When age had taken his eyesight and dexterity, this artist passed the duty on to his son, who carried on the tradition. Thus, for several centuries now, the duty and honor of creating these royal mosaics has passed from generation to generation of the same family, always learning from their elders, always on the lookout for new stones, new techniques to hone their art. Three generations ago, the mosaic maker, Sandlan Kreytos was adopted into House Malarn. The current maker, just starting on his third royal mosaic is named Envard Kreytos
Eyrian parents collect and save their children's milk teeth as they fall out. The teeth are then ritually added to a fine silver chain, and the resulting necklace is then presented to Praes Thanatos. The gnomes claim that these necklaces help the necromancers drive death energies away from the children, protecting them from harm. In reality, the gnomes are likely just stockpiling ritual items should they ever need to rebel against their current masters as they did their old.
The noble half orcs are trained from birth in a special ritualized fighting style known as "The Claws of the Dragon." This fighting style specializes in the two-bladed sword, and uses many leaping attacks and charges. Each year a tournament is held for the the nation's youth to compete in this bloody martial art. While other races are permitted to enter the tournamet, few do, and everyone knows that even those that do are expected to purposefully lose to their orcblooded betters.
Horses are uncommon in Eyros and considered weak and useless by the Eyrian orcs. Instead Eyrians ride longstrider lizards (deinonychus, dinosaur) which have been domesticated for riding and for drawing carts. Warstrider lizards are longstriders which are ridden into battle. While longstriders and warstriders are identical only the fittest and most promising longstrider lizards become warstriders.
Messages are sent by a network of couriers and courier posts. A rider is sent from one of the posts, down the roads with the messages to be delivered. He travels light, with special mounts trained to run for long distances. When he reaches the next post, he delivers any messages that are destined for that post, or other posts further down that branch, and picks up new messages destined for locations down his route. He then switches his mount out for a fresh one, and moves on. The messages he delivered are then held until another rider arrives heading in an appropriate direction, when the process is repeated. Each post also has one or occasionally two riders, who make a circuit around the nearby villages once every two or three days, to deliver the messages to the villages when they arrive. With the right timing, a message can be sent across the country in about 4 days. With a lot of stops, it can also take up to two weeks. The wealthy and powerful may have other methods of sending messages, but those are rare, and almost all commoners use the post.
Shocker lizards are favored pets in Eyros, and have become largely domesticated the same way as dogs and cats in other cultures. Domestic dogs and cats are unheard of in Eyros, but foreign ambassadors sometimes bring such strange, weak little pets on their visits to Eyrdeyn, which amuses the Pillars as a sign of how weak the foreign powers are, to domesticate such mild and feeble beasts. Wealthy Eyrian cities tend to suffer occasional, but mild, freak thunderstorms due to the presence of many shocker lizard pets in the city. This is a boon in drought seasons, but too infrequent to be much help then.
Shocker lizards are called dhazi (singular dhaz) in Eyros, the old orcish name for the critters, and Eyrians show off their pride and skill in lizard-taming by finding the biggest and most beautiful dhazi to make their pets. However, they are difficult to tame in adulthood, so an Eyrian must find their ideal pet when it is a hatchling and raise it themselves. Eyrians who manage to raise a particularly large and exquisite shocker lizard are considered to have a good eye for spotting potential and beauty, having spotted the difficult signs of such in a mere hatchling.
Privileged Eyrian children (as the poor ones can't afford a pet shocker lizard) enjoy racing their dhazi, while older Eyrians enjoy taking their pets on hunting trips. The orc-blooded House of Taljik likes to make capturing a wild dhaz hatchling into a rite of passage to adulthood for their children, training the youths to be cunning, sneaky, or just plain fast as they try to steal a hatchling from a nest guarded by many adult dhazi. They see this rite of passage as a point of pride showing their prowess and strength to the larger Houses.
Lamb is the predominant food source. Most peasants are shepherd/farmers, who save the fattest and juiciest lamb of the year as an offering for the sacred lizards at the local temples.
One of the latest trends in the city of Eyrdeyn is horticulture. There has been much reclamation of land in the city for the growing of gardens etc, which has caused growing resentment from the lower classes of the city who tend to be the ones most affected by the reclamations. The race is on by the more prominent families/companies/guilds etc to see who can coach one of the Kohl'Tass (the Lizard Men Druids from the delta of the Kohoal mentioned in post 44) out of the delta to help tend the new fashion. No one has succeeded in doing this yet.
Indeed, to save land, and also to keep the gardens close to their homes, the wealthiest of merchants and the ruling class have begun to build gardens on top of their roofs, for their private appreciation. This also allows as much sunlight as possible to reach the plants. Competition among certain circles has grown so fierce, that some people have taken to importing the richest, most fertile soil from several hundred miles away, and to sabotaging their neighbor's gardens.
A popular game among Eyrians is Tarhg, a sport which developed from an ancient orc ritual. Tarhg is played in a circular dirt ring with 2 teams of five players. On either side of the arena are goals, usually represented by two tall poles. A heavy leather ball, which substitutes the severed head used in olden times, is used and to score a team must get the ball into the other team’s goal, usually by throwing or kicking it past the defending team. While punching and kicking other players is a penalty, grappling them is an acceptable tactic. Prior to a match it is usually customary to soak the dirt arena in blood. Not just ceremonial, the blood helps keep the dirt from being stirred up during the game.
Harkening back to their marshal roots, nearly all noble men carry a short sword, about two feet long total. Even those with no need or even aptitude for swordsmanship carry one as a symbol of their status. Wealthy or powerful commoners can also be found carrying one, as a symbol of their power, but also for practical means of self defense. As it is issued to all military personnel, many noble men simply hang onto their sword after their term of service is ended.
Most people in the Sovereignty speak Vulgar Eyrosian, also known as Peasant Speech, the Common Tongue, or simply Eyrosian. This language combines the now-dead language of Ancient Vraylese (from which most human languages are derived) with a large infusion of orcish words. Meanwhile, legal documents are required to be written (and royal decrees spoken) in Noble Eyrosian, known to most commoners as Court Speech. This language has become softer and more refined than the tribal orcish tongues from which it is derived. The two dialects are closely related; native speakers of one can understand speech in the other 90% of the time. However, court documents written in Noble Eyrosian use the old orcish pictograms, very concise but challenging to learn.
The Eyrosian week is nine days.
History:
The Grand Monarchs used to be pure blooded members of the 6 pillars following the ancient conquest, with each Grand Monarch choosing a succesor from another House in a Fixed sequence. 350 years ago the Kings and his chosen succesor were killed by a dwarven assasin (The source of the current hatred of dwarves). The succession split along racial lines and a fierce civil war ensued, becoming a war of anihilation between Orcs and Humans. A huge proportion of both populations were killed. The war ended in horror when one of the six pillars was obliterated to a man, and a truce was brokered by Agathon of the Crimson Robe; as a half-orc, he was the only one who could deal with both sides. A great moot was held, and chose Agathon as the new Grand Monarch; it was this that began the tradition of half-orc rule. Also at the moot an obscure cadet branch of the lost familly was elevated to status as one of the 6 pillars to maintain the racial balance.
There is a dark secret behind the short lifespans of the Eyrian monarchs: Long ago when the cruel elven warlords ruled the land that is now called Eyros, their Valjin (necromancer-enchanters) created a powerful and insidious magic in their volcanic magic laboratory that allowed them to extend their already-lengthy lifespans at the expense of their orcish thralls, who were kept docile and servile while living shorter lives at the same time. After the orc/human conquest, the ancient gnomish necromancer Thanatos and his apprentices struggled mightily to reverse-engineer the magic against the elves, but the best they could do was reverse the enchantment magic, as the lifespan portion seems to be based purely on an idiosyncracy of elven physiology. Thanatos created an amythest crown that would need to be worn by one of orc blood that would allow control of the elves by the invaders at the expense of the wearer's lifeforce. As a result, the invaders were able to create the Masks, a group of elves who are servile and childlike in their outlook, but able to live a very long time. Because of this, there exist Masks like the famously powerful Alivia, a youthful and childlike elf who enjoys sweets but has actually been alive for the entire 3000 year history of humans and orcs in Eyrdeyn. Only a few members of each house know this secret, and they must sometimes retreat to the volcano with the Patriae Sicarii to revitalise the crown, which has led to the rumours of a cushy hot-spring retreat. The assassination leading to the civil war of 350 years ago (Known as the War of the Crumbled Pillar due to the annihilation of one of the pillars) was instigated by an orc Pillar that was upset by the fact that only orcs were victimised by this process. Agathon's genius lay in choosing half-orcs to wear the crown, as well as initiating a tradition of abdication that allowed these half-orcs to remove the crown when they became enfeebled.
Nearly a millenia ago, royal trappings (or crown jewels, whatever you want to call them) vanished. These included the Royal Sash, Royal Sword, and Royal Ring. The vault guards unanimously claimed that during the night, they drove off a pale, beautiful Human woman, who glowed faintly as though lit from behind by a pale, violet light. They were both executed for failure of their duties.
The Sash is a broad belt of silver and gold links, studded with gems of all colors. It is worn diagonally across the body from left shoulder to right hip. The Sword is an elaborate short sword, with a small round guard, and a total length of about two feet. It is studded with gems on the hilt and guard, and the handle wrapped with fine lizard skin, and silver wire. The blade itself is bright steel, but embossed with golden images from Eyros history down the length of the blade. One of the images on the sword is an artists rendition of the creation of the first Imperial Mask, Tellas. The image is very detailed, though very finely engraved, and the artist did his research well. When the image is examined carefully under some sort of magical magnification, an open scroll containing the full text of Tellas's Primal Oath can be seen and read clearly. The Sword comes with a lizard skin belt and scabbard, both also studded with gems. The Ring is a simple, yet large signet ring with the seal of Eyros dominant. On the sides of the band are large diamonds, with sapphires ringing the seal itself. There were lesser objects in the vault as well, but they were not historically significant. Those were left alone.
Currency:
Carca (carcas): A small rectangular iron coin which is used instead of copper. 1 carca weighs 4.5 grams and 100 carcas weighs 1 pound.
Sepus (sepii): A large silver coin usually stamped with the ruling family’s symbol on one side and an image of Mt. Xark and the City of Eyrdeyn on the back. 1 Sepus weighs 8.5 grams and 50 sepii weighs 1 pound.
Zoth (zothen): A small gold coin. In Eyros zothen are worth 1 gp, but outside of Eyros zothen are worth only 5 sp due to their small weight. 1 zoth weighs 4.5 grams and 100 zothen weighs 1 pound.
Thal (thals): paper currency. With a shortage of platinum Eyros uses paper currency in its place. While worth 1 pp in Eyros, thals are considered worthless everywhere else. 1 thal weighs 1 gram and 500 thals weighs 1 pound.
10 iron carcas = 1 silver sepus
10 silver sepii = 1 gold zoth
10 gold zothen = 1 paper thal
Religion:
Few of the religions recognize "gods" per se; the divine takes other forms.
The dominant and oldest religion has grown up around the worship of the reptiles which are common in the area. Called the Draconic Legacy, it reveres saurians of all types and the dragons of legend in particular. Dragons, though they feature prominently in fairy tales and children's bedtime stories, are suspicously absent from modern history. Locals believe that the large reptiles that roam the nearby wilderness are somehow linked to these dragons, which in turn represented divine forces. This is why the dominant religion focuses on reptiles.
Draconic Legacy prophecies often speak of a promised High Holy One who will come to save the empire in it's time of greatest need. This promised champion is said to combine all the finest qualities of the noble half-orc as well as the power of the ancient dragons (half-dragon). Occaisonally a half-orc child will be born with what appears to be scales, or the slitted eyes of a reptile. These children are taken and raised by the reptile cult, and while they have all shown remarkable aptitude for arcane magic (sorceror), none of them has yet proven to be the High Holy One. Of course it must be said that the empire has yet to face its time of greatest need ...
The Draconic Legacy has an unbreakable tradition of Sanctuary. Anyone who ask for sanctuary at a temple must be granted it, and cannot be evicted unless they violate the hospitality of the cult.
Other religions include: An elemental fire cult called the Crucible, which is responsible for preserving the purity of royal lineage.
Members of the Crucible elemental-fire cult are highly secretive and drawn from the upper echelons of the Pillars. An initiate is called an Ember, and after a year the Ember is considered a Flame, while the cult is lead by six Pyres, each Pyre from a different Pillar. Crucibles of mixed orc and human blood must declare themselves loyal to one and only one of their parent Houses. When a Pyre leaves the cult, through death or retirement, the other Pyres collectively choose a Flame from that ex-Pyre's Pillar to replace him or her.
Each initiate is chosen by a Pyre of the same Pillar as the initiate, and that Pyre oversees the initiation of the new Ember. Potential initiates are observed first for some years by Flames, who suggest the most promising candidates to the Pyre of their Pillar, who then observes a few to determine who is worthy or needed by the cult. Pyres and Flames are very careful in their observations and choices for new members, to ensure the continued secrecy and influence of the Crucible in maintaining the royal purity.
Crucible cultists wear drab brown robes that cover them entirely, such that any observed in public appear to be nothing more than beggars or travelers. They each wear a personalized mask underneath their hood, however, and the mask always bears a flame emblem or pattern somewhere. In meetings with other Crucible cultists, they pull back their hoods just enough to reveal their masks so they can identify eachother. Crucibles each choose an orcish word for their name in the cult, and never use their true name amongst their fellow cultists; only the Pyre who initiated them knows their true name, yet none of the Pyres know eachothers' true names since they were each initiated by previous Pyres. Flame Droth Vajar is an influential cultist of the Crucible, though a common Flame in rank, from the Pillar of Vajar, and his chosen name Droth means "stone" in the orcish tongue. Cultists of the Crucible draw their power from an ancient efreeti, magically bound to a hidden cave deep in Mt. Xark, or at least use the bound efreeti as a focus for channeling fiery power from the mountain or elsewhere.
A relatively new dualistic religion called the Children of Dawn, who seek to usher the world out of what they see a the current age of darkness and into a new golden age. They see those opposed to their goals as agents of Twilight. Although it is a relatively small faith, the Childen of the Dawn have a great deal of influece due to its popularity among the merchant class and the human-blood House of Kiron. The Dawnist dispise the Elves of Nistadeen as both mercantile competitors and infidels. They consider the debasement of the symbol of the Dawn into a creature created in the elves own image, the "god" Corythos, a blasphemy of the highest order. House Kiron has made it known that they will only support half-orc applicants to the throne who pledge to destroy Nistadeen and wipe out the Corythian heresy.
A belief in the power of the Sea itself, practiced almost exclusively by halflings.
The common folk make frequent, largely ceremonial blood sacrifice to the soil; the blood of thousands waits beneath the ground for the call of sorcery and ritual. A tree known as Bloodwillow often grows from the blood-soaked soil. The large black fruit it grows is full of seeds and absorbed blood. This fruit, known as Clot Apples (ew!) can be used to give power to necromantic rituals and spells. Entire secret valleys full of Bloodwillows are tended by the Praes Thanatos. Undead raised from these lands have interesting characteristics; skeletons are red or purple hued; zombie flesh is invigorated, not rotting; the eyes bloodshot, the hair red-brown.
Due to the corrupt influence that the blood in the soil has on the environment, Druids of a darker nature congregate to the lands of Eyros and are often used as unaffiliated assassins by those with means.
Even Druids of Good have trouble resisting the dark powers the land's blood offers. Those who dabble in this dark knowledge have seen affected druids progress from an unclean feeling, to an unsettling aura, to a slight purpling of skin and reddening of the hair, to skin a deep crimson-violet hue with dank red-brown hair, and possibly into a corrupt metamorphosis into a vampire.
Each family of the ruling class also has a family god, usually a legendary ancestor, that only they worship. This god is given small offerings, usually of food or incense, at the last meal of the day and are also honored at a yearly festival, during which the idols are clothed and bejewelled in a lavish style. Families compete to have the most beautifully, and expensively, dressed idol and show them off in grand parade. It is a great disgrace and bad luck for a family to lose the idol, to have their idol destroyed or to be unable to honor it with appropriate gifts.
On Eyros, worship is power. It is not the power of gods in other settings, but it's subtle effect is very important. Worship power usually manifests itself as an aura related to how the thing is worshipped. For instance, Vildaxaranthus has an aura of tyranny, and the worship of the pillars' family gods gives the idols auras of prosperity and happiness. The standards of the legions of Eyros are all worshipped by their respective legions, and give them an edge against their enemies.
The power of worship is not common knowledge; those who know rarely disseminate this information, but also rarely use it themselves because it makes them easier to find (and possibly susceptible to certain rare magics or materials.
All the many faiths of Eyros, and its surrounding nations as well, have one common legend to all of them: The myth of the demon Taufenacht. Taufenacht is something of a Satan-equivalent, not in that he's the source of all evil--he's not considered to be such by any of the major religions--but in the idea that he is the ruler of demons, tempter of mortals, and tormentor of damned souls. (Of course, exactly what one has to do to be damned in the afterlife varies from faith to faith.)
Every year at midwinter there is a meteor shower. The main form of astrology is the interpretation of the paths of meteors. In Eyrian astrology the important factor is the location rather than the date of birth, as a reading of the sky visable from that spot will tell the fortunes of the following year.
The Eyrosian Calendar consists of 15 months which range from being 28 to 31 days long. Aru is the first month and has 29 days. The Dawning Festival is held on the first day of Aru which celebrates not only the start of a new year, but the start of spring.
Eyros has many holidays, but by far the most somber and most imporant is the Eve of Falling Blood. This occurs on the anniversary of the assassination that began the Civil War--which, legend tells, is also the day in which the orcs and humans declared victory over the native elves, so many thousands of years ago (though nobody knows for sure). It is on this night that most of the peasantry practices the greatest of their blood-spilling rituals, and then spends the night in fasting and prayer to whichever religion they worship. Legend says that the spirits of the ancient elves walk the land this night, and that anyone caught alone, away from their homes, may be found the next day with all their blood drained into the surrounding soil.
Other Races:
The Orc-Blooded royal and noble families keep a population of elven slaves, trained from birth to be completely loyal and to practice arcane magics. They are used to make up for the fact that the Orc-Blooded themselves don't make the best arcane casters. Free elves (and other non-orc races) refer to these slave/wizard elves as "Masks," in reference to the fact that there's always a noble "behind" them. Note that only a small percentage of Eyros' elves are Masks.
The ratio of different masks can be changed by a majority agreement of the pillars and the emperor. The last two emperors were very strong rulers and were able to increase the number of imperial masks from 120 to 150 over the last years. At the moment some of them are only masks in name and not in real power. The dissolution of Kirons masks created some political turmoil as the other houses are arguing that they should be allowed to increase their number to maintain the ratio of 150 imperial ones to 180 house masks. The emperor is currently pondering if it is possible that the released masks could be drafted into imperial service to replace the weaker masks. To alleviate the feelings of House Kiron the emperor has offered to release the younger masks from service. This would have the advantage that some of these younger ones could still develop adult personalities. The actual release of Kirons masks was some decades earlier but the House kept the facade and only recently announced it in public. Everyone in the empire knew about the release of the masks of Kiron for some time of course but it was not publicly recognized. The Patriae Sicarii stated that they would prefer that the former masks of House Kiron should serve the needs of the empire by swearing guardian oaths. They argue that powerful elven wizards without being bound by an oath are potential dangers to the empire.
Elves
Elves in Eyros are regarded as second-class citizens. Although not as hated as the dwarves, stories of the ancient oppression by the elves are told to all the children in the empire. Elves have a very difficult time rising in station. The exception to this is in the lands of house Kiron, where elves are often taken as consorts by the Pillar family and all the pillar masks have been freed.
Many elves, especially those in the lands of Pillar Kiron, worship the sun or the positive energy plane.
Some elves are masks, so called because there is always a noble behind them. Masks are held in the mental state of a child, though the binding's clever construction still allows them to be powerful wizards. There are several types of binding oaths, which are sworn by elven children who will become masks when they are but ten years old (about the mental age of a human five-year-old). Most of the oaths sworn are one of the following:
Pillar Oath - the elven child swears to obey the members of the house, and when it does not contradict this, to protect them with his or her life. The actual oath is slightly more complicated. Each house is allowed 30 pillar masks; exceeding this is seen as an attempt to sieze control over the empire.
Imperial Oaths - this oath is similar to the House Oath, except that the child swears to serve whoever is emperor and the imperial family. There are several imperial oaths, and which one is sworn depends on what the child's intended job is. At any time, there are 149 imperial masks (Alivia is incorectly counted as an imperial mask; see below.)
Guardian Oath - elven children who swear this oath do not serve any of the houses or the emperor, but instead protect the empire from external harm. Although they are in the care of the houses, tampering with them is strictly forbidden. Guardian masks are rarely created anymore, but were instrumental in the preservation of the empire during the War of the Crumbled Pillar. There are abut 40 of them left.
Primal Oath - The wording of this oath is long lost, and only three masks are bound by it; Alivia, Jal-qwuin, and Tellas. Alivia is believed to be under an imperial oath, Jal-qwuin's oath is unknown, and Tellas herself is unknown; the emperor believes her to be sworn under the imperial oath. Aside from the primal masks themselves, only Thanatos knows of the existance of the primal oath, though Kalis Ny'Dal-Malarn proposed its existance in the footnote of a rather technical paper.
Those elves who are not masks form an underclass of Villeins in Eyros under obligation to the Pillars to provide labour and support. Indeed the beleif is that the villeins literally 'owe their blood' to the soil, and this is enacted through the annual blood sacrifice. Villeins have few rights and are often mistreated by young nobles. They are not permited to bear arms in public, have little if any access to metal goods, and any presumption to strike out at a noble of the Pillar Houses is swiftly and harshly dealt with. Nonetheless Pillars are also judge by the treatment and quality of their villiens and the most skilled can rise in status and wealth.
Dwarves, an outlawed race, seem to be the dominate race in the Jagged Eye (see below). Speaking stonechant, the orc name for the dwarven language, is a crime in Eyros punishable by removal of the speaker’s tongue.
Government hegemony is enforced by a cadre of gnomish necromancers known as Praes Thanatos. Insurgent groups such as the Jagged Eye, and sympathisers, are suppressed by summoning small armies of undead from the ambient corpses due to sacrifical rituals. As such, dwarves and gnomes tend not to get along, as many dwarves have friends or relatives who have been pacificed by Praes Thanatos. Note that only a small percentage of Eyros' gnomes belong to Praes Thanatos. The gnomes learned the secrets of necromancy from the Valjin, the ancient elven necromancers, who experimented with the gnomes to create a perfect apprentice race for their experiments. These new gnomes rebelled and fled from the elven empire. In revenge the Valjin slaughtered their remaining families. The gnomes pledged fealty to the warlords of the invading army in exchange for vengeance at their former masters. The surviving Valjin had their souls imprisoned in magic crystals where they were subject to terrible torments as the gnomes probed their mind to find their last secrets. Thanatos was delighted to put the elves wizards under eternal servitude and is upset that house Kiron released their masks.
It is considered a crime against the state for anyone other than a Mask, one of the Praes Thanatos, or an actual half-orc, to create a magic item without first receiving official approval from a regional governor or the Pillar who controls the city in which the prospective creator lives.
Halflings have escaped the Dominion of Eyros by turning to the sea: They now have gargantuan floating colonies of latched-together ships, rafts, and boats that drift with the currents. Piracy has become the backbone of halfling society, without the plunder obtained from raids along the coastlines of Eyros the halflings in their cities of floating flotsam could not survive. The most notorious of the halfling pirate gangs is the Bloodsong Buccaneers, led by the pirate-bard Captain Darrenback. Halfling sea raiders are fond of a variety of interesting weapons, including short bows, sling-blades, and their signature weapon: a four-bladed hand axe made by securing four light axes together with iron bands. Often, one or more axe blades are replaced with hooks, awls, hammer heads, and other tools, to maximise the usefulness of the weapon. The wielder often carves notches or runes into each handle so that he/she can quickly identify which head to strike with, without looking.
The halfling maritime culture is a highly decentralised affair. Each gang of privateers is a separate political entity, which may or may not exist in harmony with the others. For instance, Captain Darrenback's Bloodsong Buccaneers have a long-standing feud with the Wrathmaim Deathskulls, a ruthless group of pirates who, unlike the Buccaneers, slaughter everyone aboard a captured ship, even women and children. The floating cities are governed independently of any particular gang and each other, each held together by a governing council that ensures that the cities are safe, relatively bloodless neutral grounds for trading, fencing stolen goods, buying food and craf goods, and enjoying the comforts of city life. Although the halflings are extremely insular about allowing non-halflings into their cities, members of other races in disguise find them to be excellent sources of hard-to-find items for reasonable prices, if you don't mind purchasing "previously owned merchandise."
Warlike goblinoid clans make frequent raids into Eryos' northern territory.
Somewhere on the plains of Eyros the ground swells almost imperceptibly in an indistinguishably large area. Underneath lives a city-hive of what travelers have termed 'bug-men' (see Dromites from XPH). Year by year the hive grows, unintentionally 'stealing' land from the sovereign dominion of Eyros.
Climate and Geography:
The climate is that of the chaparral (Mediterranean climate zones) and is characterised by
mild winters, and hot dry summers. Topography includes flat plains, rocky hills and mountain slopes scrubland predominates although larger woodland areas do exist. Fires occur frequently in the grasslands and scrub.
The planet of Eyros circles a blue sun in a slightly erratic and ellipical orbit both winters and summers vary greatly from year to year (some winters are mild while others nearly snuff the life from the land). The sun appears about 75% of the size of Sol and a year is significantly longer than an Earth year. (Mouseferatu's edit, to reconcile these two facts: While these long winters don't hit Eyros that hard, as per Tonguez's post, which came first, it does impact the climate of the world as a whole, often resulting in shortages and famine in Eyros because it has fewer trading partners.)
The moon over Eyros is marked with what looks like vast, green forests. Observation of the moon has shown that the forests migrate across the surface at a startling rate- often moving miles in only a month's time! Who knows what strange magics could possess this lunar vegetation?
The kingdom’s capital is the great city of Eyrdeyn (often colloquially referred to as the First City), a sprawling metropolis built upon the slopes of Mt. Xark, upon which the largest of the Grand Monarch’s fortress-palaces stands. The capital is well over three thousand years old making it the oldest settlement in Eyros still in use. Due to its long history and the general instability of Mt. Xark the city of Eyrdeyn has been destroyed and rebuilt numerous times, each time the city is rebuilt on the ruins of the previous city. This has created a vast underground labyrinth of ruins beneath the city, layers upon layers of ancient ruins stacked on top of each other.
Besides the capital, Eyros has six major cities/towns. Each of these six cities is controlled by one of the 6 houses and are run much like independent city-states. One way to measure a house’s wealth and power is by how prosperous their city is, having a weak, faltering city is a severe humiliation for a house.
Much of the land that makes up present-day Eyros was once, thousands of years ago, an elven province. From the northern highlands an invading army of orc and human tribes marched through the fertile elven steppes where they sacked and destroyed the splendid elven cities. Eventually the conquering army reached the base of Mt. Xark where they declared total victory over the elves and founded the city of Eyrdeyn to be their capitol over their newly conquered lands.
Mt Xarx is a volcano and the surrounding area famed for its hot springs and spas. A tourist trade is in place serving those who seek the restorative mineral waters. The highest pool on Mt Xarx is the Royal Pool and the exclusive property of the Palace. The inner chambers chambers are kept by the Priests of the Fire Cult, a royal mystery cult.
The delta of the great river Kohoal is home to a race of Lizardmen regarded as semi-divine. These lizardmen called the Kohl'Tass, are autonomous and are the heart of the druidic tradition in Eyros. It is considered a great honor amoung the druids to train with the Kohl'Tass. Several rare plants in the delta are valuable components for magic item creation and poachers are a constant problem.
By decree of Rrahask Sshasaar, "Venerable Mother" of the Kohl'tass lizardfolk, the Kohl'tass keep the lands of their river delta pristine and untouched by artificial works. Their wetland has no artificial structures, not even shrines or idols, and they are very efficient in patrolling their lands to ensure that outsiders do not come and desecrate their sacred land with their artifice. The Kohl'tass wear no clothing and no jewelry in their homeland, nor carry weapons or armor there, and have little use for such things in their society anyway. They do maintain burrows outside their borders, however, filled with simple clothing and adornments for the occasions where they leave to visit Eyrians. Outsiders are not allowed into the sacred land unless they remove their clothing, jewelry, weapons, armor, and such out in one of the lizardfolks' burrows. The Kohl'tass live in perfect harmony with the nature of their homeland, and damage none of it, using minor magicks to create any cookfires or campfires they may need, without burning the land's vegetation for fuel. They sleep in small patches of mud for comfort, sufficient for their scaly hides, and they need no shelter against the rain.
From its delta 80 miles west of Mt. Xark, the great river Kohoal winds far to the northeast, its headwaters springing from among the sharp crags of the Valdweyn Peaks. Here, in the far-flung province of Zhalccu (where House Zhal has a strong presence and governs with semi-autonomy), the Jagged Eye maintains a number of secret camps linked to mountain villages by underground passageways.
Located on the great river Kohoal is Mhur, the City of Iron, a bleak city covered in soot and smoke from numerous blazing smelters and forges. Mhur is the industrial heart of Eyros and from its docks flow heavy barges laden down with iron and weapons, delivering their valuable cargo throughout the region. The city sits atop a geological hot-spot. Many of Mhur's finest forges are heated not by coal, but by bubbling magma. The geothermal steam-baths of Mhur are also famed throughout the empire as the most powerful cleansing in the empire...and after a day working in the Mhuri forges, that's about what it takes to get clean. (Terminology note: Mhuri is "of or relating to the city of Mhur"; Mhuran is "an inhabitant of the city of Mhur".)
No house holds authority in Mhur; instead it is governed by the 'Iron League' a guild of miners, smiths, merchants and alchemist. Due to its control of Industry the Iron League has been able to hold its own against the political manouverings of the Six Pillars. The Iron League is starting to dominate the River Barge trade raising concerns amongst some of the houses who have merchantile interest of their own. The Iron League has also offered significant finance to House Taljik for their development project, leading to concerns that House Taljik may be significantly in debt.
One of the great river Kohoal’s major tributaries is the Zedak river. Before reaching the Kohoal, the Zedak river passes through a deep, narrow ravine known as the Vale of Ur. For as long as could be remembered there have been stories and legends of the cursed vale and the horrid things that lurk within its shadowy confines.
The main food producing areas of Eyros are the broad plains to the west of Eyrdeyn. These fields were made by cutting the bountiful forests that once stood there down many many generations ago. The soils are now slowly being depleted which is leading to a decline in the amount of food that is being produced thus leading to problems for the 6 Pillars.
Common predators in the Dominion of Eryos include giant lizards and birds of prey, which often grow large enough to carry an entire lamb. Farmers also use a bull-sized variant of sheep, known as olxem, to do heavy farm work.
To the South East exists a large sea. So large, in fact, that it is seemingly endless. Despite numerous attempts to sail to the end, no ships have returned with tales of land or any sort of end. Indeed, no ships that have returned ever sailed further than a weeks voyage away from the mainland. There are ancient tales of monsters in the depths, but none have ever been seen. At least, by those who have lived to tell the tale.
The largest ocean port of Eryos is Malarn-ka, situated on the Bay of Deception, 100kms west of the delta of the Kohoal River. The Bay of Deception is so named for the difficulty in navigating the reefs at the entrance of the bay. The water is very silty and cloudy, so finding the reefs is very difficult. They have never been marked or plotted on a map in the name of the defense of the city from water borne attacks. Every ship that wants to enter the bay first picks up a pilot from a small man-made island near the entrance to the bay, who has memorized the method for finding the reefs. The House of Malarn controls the city and the trade it brings, lining their own coffers with various taxes levied on all goods brought through the city and the fees for the pilot service used in entering the bay. The fleet of Eryos is not based here, but has a number of ships based at the man-made island.
To the south of Eyros is the coastal Draakmar Fens, a dismal place of dense, tangling vegetation and deep saltwater marshes. (This marsh likely along portions of the sea coast, and along Nistadeen as well.)
Past the northern border of Eyros is the Alleroch Hills, a barren, rocky land of high, rolling hills and deep, secluded glens. Climate in the Alleroch region is cooler than Eyros with mild summers and winters with little or no snow. With a fairly wet climate, rain and fog is quite common in the Alleroch Hills and it is here that the Zedak river begins.
Other Nations:
To the northeast of Eyros lies the tiny nation of Saagersberg. It is ruled by the solar, Conquers Twice, who is worshipped as a god (see below for more).
To the extreme north lies the frozen land of Kwlloch, a plateau surrounded by the vast peaks of the Salruhn range. Kwlloch is, and always has been, ruled by The Twelve. Little is known about this group but they are unlikely to be human, the land being predominantly inhabited by goblinoids and frost folk. Shapeshifters, such as lycanthropes and dopplegangers, are also relatively common. The Twelve's system of government seems to survive even the worst of the ice ages, perhaps because they are inured to any degree of cold. From time to time The Twelve send great beasts from their realm to raid the southern lands. (Indeed, the "Twelve" are not living creatures at all. At the center of the Kwlloch is a circle of twelve stone columns which keep an 'Ancient Intelligence' trapped deep beneath the frozen land. This entity has been able to contact a few goblinoids and transform them into psionic Blues, the true power behind the goblin raiders. See below for more.)
The kingdom of Ghalfaen is a small coastal nation (on the coast of the above-mentioned sea), and was a traditional enemy of Eyros until the Sovereign Dominion grew so large, Ghalfaen couldn't possibly compete. It is now very nearly a protectorate, and its king a semi-puppet of the Orc-Blooded, allowed to rule only so long as he cooperates with Eyros. Secretly, however, he and his court have licensed the halfling privateers to prey on Eyros ships in Ghalfaen territorial waters.
Ghalfaen has three main cities. The largest is Iamaenti in the west, stradling the isthmus of Utffri upon which runs the main land road to Eyros and Nistadeen. In a protected cove on the south coast lies Nupaele, a rather cosmopolitan city that generally welcomes sailors of all nationalities. On the far eastern shore lies the port of Ascidies, frequented by halfling raiders from the eastern isles. Here shady characters can make deals, fence stolen goods, and hire crews with no questions asked.
In the last few decades a rival to Eyros has arisen in the south (bordering on Ghalfaen as well) - the elven-dominated empire of Nistadeen. Nistadeen is a great mercantile and sea power, aggressively expansionist. Its main religion is the church of Corythos, the sun god. A faction within the church, the Cult of the Second Sun, seeks to survive the coming ice age by channelling power from the positive energy plane to create another sun.
Elves from Nistadeen have secretly been sending ships out southward to see if there are any more lands. To the south west they have discovered a large island which is primarily arid and hot, dominated by a desert the further in one goes. On this large island is an indigenous race of Thri-Kreen, with whom the elves, over the course of a few landings, have come to a rapport. The elves, although currently bound by an alliance with their nearby northerly neighbors, still remember the 3000-year-old invasion of Eyros by the orcs and humans. With the discovery of this new war-like race, and only them having this connection, someday the expansionist Nistadeeni may choose to use the Thri-Kreen as a weapon against their northern neighbours.
Unknown to any but the dwarves the caverns below Zhalccu province contain a terrible threat, a City of Mindflayers. They had been contained only by the psionic might of the dwarves. Now with the dwarves being driven back from the area by the efforts of the Orc-Blooded, the Mindflayers are starting to stir. Three small villages have disappeared overnight.
To the far east is the Sultanate of Indracca, a land consisting of hot, barren wastelands and lush, tropical coastlines. The current Sultan, the 96th such person to hold that title, has been attempting to rebuild the fading nation of Indracca back to it former glory. While Indracca and Eyros signed a peace treaty sixty years ago after the War of Blades, the Sultan fears that Eyros may be plotting to attack Indracca and with the Sultanate’s current state of decline the chances of a victory against the mighty armies of Eyros seem infinitesimal.
The Indraccans have a fourfold religion that worships the elemental genies. Indeed, the Crucible's captured efreet has a fiery energy aura due to his milennia of worship by the Indraccans. During the War of Blades, as an effort to demoralise the enemy, the Eyrians made a great show of capturing the worshipped genies in shackles and bottles. While most were released at the signing of the peace treaty in exchange for generous concessions by the Indraccans, the Crucible managed to abscond with the one efreet, although few know this. Barandis Zul'Baran, a fire-genasi descendant of the efreet who has vowed to find his great-grandfather has recently tracked him back to Eyros, but he is not a very subtle man, unskilled in the ways of stealth. Will this ingenuous foreigner be able to succeed in releasing his forefather from slavery?
East of Eyros and Ghalfaen, south of Indracca, across the Pearl Sea lies the large island-state of Orrukar, a wealthy and independant nation but significantly smaller than any of its neighbors. Orrukar has few natural resources and, with its small size, isn't worth conquering by Eyros since its people would simply take their few resources with them in their great ocean galleys if they fled. Eyros made a half-hearted attempt to take over Orrukar two millenia ago, but the Orrukarn had a stronger (though smaller) navy and superior knowledge of the reefs and sandbars around the island-state. Indracca's sultans have tried several times to take Orrukar by force or by mercantile means, but the Orrukarn people were always able to flee the larger assaults with their possessions, and Orrukar has never been open to foreigners trying to buy out the Orrukarn businesses or lands.
A large tropical island, Orrukar has been half-cleared of vegetation to make space for the sprawling Orrukarn cities of glass, quartz, obsidian, and ivory. The Orrukarn have gathered vast amounts of these materials from distant lands to build their cities on the island, while creating glass through invoking lightning on the beaches and acquiring their ivory from the giant bones of creatures in distant lands, supposedly robbing elephant graveyards or the like. For all their splendor and beauty, the cities of Orrukar are fragile and would be easily destroyed by hurricanes or invaders if not for the Orrukarn shielding their shores with some temporary magical fields that weaken the force of tidal waves, winds, and siege weapons.
Orrukar pearldivers produce a lucrative trade in high-quality pearls which they sell to Eyros and Nistadeen, competing with Indracca in that trade as both border the Pearl Sea. Orrukar is also known for its seafood exports, from delicious clams and lobsters to exotic fishes and calamari, a delicacy in both Orrukar and Eyros. Through these sea-based trades, the Orrukarn acquire meats and grains that they cannot otherwise get on their island, and they are voracious carnivores for the most part, with a taste for certain breads and fruits as well. Infrequent Orrukarn ambassadors or trading costers sometimes visit Eyrdeyn to meet with their Eyrian counterparts and discuss business. Orrukarn are also reknowned glasswrights and glassblowers, and they sometimes export panes of clear or colored glass all across the continent.
The Orrukarn themselves are known to some other peoples as gnolls, a name that extends to the more savage distant kin sparsely found in northern lands. The Orrukarn are much more civilized and regal however, and despite being jackal-like humanoids they appear rather noble and graceful to most folks, with an intelligent gleam to their eyes and well-groomed hair/fur. Orrukarn have hair and fur of white, tan, sandy blonde, or somewhere inbetween, with small splotches of black in some spots. Their eyes are bright green, blue, or red, and the Orrukarn seem to order their people according to hair and eye coloration, which apparently has something to do with their bloodlines and heritage. Orrukarn tend to be slightly taller and leaner than the savage northern gnolls, and they stand straighter with a regal bearing.
Orrukarn gnolls speak a highly-refined version of the Gnoll language, which they call Ar'kash. Amongst their people, only scholars of history learn the original Gnoll language spoken by their savage brethren. Many Orrukarn learn to speak the languages of Eyros, Nistadeen, or Indracca for purposes of trade and diplomatic relations. Gnolls of Orrukar wear fine jewelry and ornamentations of gold, silver, and ivory, embedded with pearls, obsidian, turquoise, and sometimes Indraccan lapis lazuli. Their clothing however is odd and, to foreigners, both wondrous and vulgar, for the Orrukarn are not only incredible glasswrights and gemcutters, but also talented sorcerers and mentalists, who learn to weave and forge glass and quartz into amazing mineral-fabrics, garments infused with minor magicks or psionics to flow like silk yet remain solid and smooth as the glass or quartz they are cut from. Using interwoven pieces of opaque, translucent, and trasparent quartz along with colored glass, Orrukarn garments are beautiful but often revealing and considered indecent in most other lands.
The Orrukarn blend the savage culture of their ancient forebearers with the civilized sophistication of their present society, so they are both hedonistic and sophisticated at once, emotional and detached in equal measure, a strange society indeed. Amongst their more enlightened pursuits however, is the hallmark of their civilization, psionic arts. They pursue self-empowerment and enlightenment as an art, and for ages they have possessed an elite caste of psionic masters who have achieved the greatest heights of their people's ideals. Orrukarn are generally wise and intelligent, and disarmingly polite, but they have an obviously high opinion of themselves, treating other races often as children or primitives. Yet for all their mental prowess and haughtiness, they are only a small civilization, a nation of a few thousand, likely no more than a tenth the population of Ghalfaen or even the halfling seafarers. Orrukarn are highly inbred as few other gnolls have developed the civilized nature necessary for inclusion into Orrukarn society, and they do not breed with the savage gnolls. Their magical and psionic arts have apparently, thus far, preserved their health and kept them from developing deformities or deficiencies despite this inbreeding.
NPCs:
Felra Raj-Tinar (the dashed name indicates her connection to both her orc and human House lineages) is an intelligent and well-liked young half orc who is expected by many to take the throne when the aging ruler abdicates (half-orcs have such a low life-expectancy...) Little does anyone suspect that Felra is secretly involved in a forbidden love affair with the notorious pirate captain Darrenback!
Galldrian Vindros is the Archduke of Ghalfaen. Despite the fact that he is forced to submit to Eyrian hegemony and has been humiliated by the blackmail of the oily Herewald, Galldrian secretly hopes to expand the power of Ghalfaen by collecting secrets and using political leverage. Having heard of the disgrace of Kalis Ny'Dal-Malarn, Galldrian has been making overtures to gain the service of the respected historian, but all attempts have failed so far. Galldrian's current aide-de-camp is a Hobgoblin Monk named Chargros, green-sash intermediate master of the famed Hobgoblin Order of the Clawed Fist, who secretly styles himself Chargros Dal-Vajar and hopes to one day rule Eyros, thanks to his ability to trace his lineage back to the founders of House Vajar. From Chargros, Galldrian knows of the secret of House Vajar (see below, it is the privateer Darrenback who has kept him from using the information for fear of the repercussions for Felra Raj-Tinar.
Sania is a bloodthirsty fiendish dryad necromancer who has sprung up as the spirit of an elder Bloodwillow in Praes Thanatos's secret orchard. She is the source of Praes Thanatos's newest secret necromancy techniques, and she initiates the Patriae Sicarii, an all-male elder council of Praes Thanatos gnomes, in the darkest depths of necromancy...and perhaps other things as well. As a result, a small but significant number of powerful female half-gnome/half-dryad necromancers is rising in the upcoming generation. Will they become a threat to the Patriae Sicarii's hegemony?
Even the Patriae Sicarii must answer to the Cucullus Umbra, the shadowy leader of the Praes Thanatos. The position is inherited in a remarkably strange way: Every generation in which the old Cucullus Umbra has grown old, a physically perfect (or as close as possible) male gnome child is chosen as the next Cucullus Umbra, regardless of talent or interest in necromancy. In a shadowy ritual that involves the death of the old Cucullus Umbra, the child rises to the position, and he seems to inherit at least some shared memories from the previous Cucullus. In reality, the shadowy cowl of the Cucullus Umbra holds a dark secret: these children are no more than sacrifices to allow the milennia-old lich Thanatos, original founder of the Praes Thanatos, to escape the inconveniences of an undead body as he continues his research into the dark magics of the ancient elves.
Thanatos knows about the primal oath and was the maker of the magical part of it. The oath works differently than the others, so the enchantments are different, too. As he later found out, one of his apprentices was able to twist the magic a little bit. After Thanatos got some idea what happened, he wanted to confront the apprentice but the young enchanter had already dissappeared.
He is unsure about the wording of the oath as the oath was sworn without him being present.
It seems that Thanatos today doesn´t care about Tellas much. In reality he is still upset about the affair but chooses to pretends even to himself that it was his idea all along and everything is proceeding according to his wishes and desires.
At the moment Thanatos is leaving most of the day to day affairs at the responsibilty of the Patriae Sicarii as he is more concerned about delving into the last secrets of necromancy.
The Patriae Sicarii thought about assuming control of the empire but realised that being the power behind the throne and being an invaluable tool for empire is far safer than being the ruling class themselves. Thanatos himself didn´t cast a vote on the matter but he isn´t interested in ruling the empire as it would only distract him from his studies.
Slowly and inexorably the Jagged Eye of Zhalccu is being hunted to extinction, as one by one their hidden caches and training camps are discovered. Having recently ordered the execution of her father/great uncle, the new governess Keyzha Zhal--a young full-blooded (if highly inbred) orc--has been ruthlessly pursuing agents and sympathisers of the Jagged Eye, destroying whole villages if necessary. At her disposal are a growing force of locally conscripted soldiers, a handful of local huntsmen who have been threatened into serving as guides on the mountain trails, a half-insane elf-thrall, and a gnomish necromancer. Leaving nothing to chance, Keyzha Zhal also has goaded warbands of goblin mercenaries to pursue the hunt from their tribal lands on the far side of the peaks.
Moskk Greddark, cell captain of the Jagged Eye, psion, and gardener just discovered the assassin vine below the city (see below). Now if he can just get his powers to work on plants, the noble half orcs will have all the plant they can handle. Or he could find a druid...
Alivia the Mask has recently been befriended by the current ruler's five-year-old daughter Belira, who has yet to learn appropriate racial and master-slave disdain for the Masks. Because Alivia obeys the commands of any member of the current royal family, the 3000+-year-old elven archmage and the curious young half-orc have embarked together on several covert operations to steal sweets from the kitchens and help Belira escape chores and play games on Rope Trick pocket dimensions. The two have become good friends due to similar mental states, but if they were ever uncovered, Alivia would attempt to take the blame and be punished severely (Alivia's usefulness to the throne being the only thing that would keep her from immediate execution!).
The orc-blood house that held the throne at the time of the War of the Crumbled Pillar was the fallen House of Garren. It was thought their entire blood-line was obliterated, but one member survives. Ramu Erkon Dal-Garren, the eight year old playmate of the elven Mask Alivia, was spared the fate of the rest of his family. The Imperial Mask cast a Binding spell on the boy, which placed him in the emerald of a pendant that Alivia wears to this day.
Tellas is also known as the "Nameless Mask," and even "Tellas" is not her real name. Only two people know of Tellas: herself and the current Grand Monarch; thus has it always been, according to Tellas. Tellas appears to be a female mask bound by the Imperial Oath (like Alivia and Jal-qwuin). Tellas manipulates events behind the scenes to the benefit of the Grand Monarch. A few years ago the historian Kalis Dal-Malorn suggested the existance of someone like Tellas, though few took him seriously, and he got many of the details wrong (for instance, he believed Tellas was not childlike as the other Masks were.) Even so, this proposal may have had a hand in his downfall. In truth, Tellas has the outlook of a child, just like the other masks, but where most of them are docile, she is very exuberant and cunning. Tellas regards everything as a grand, complicated game.
Until recently, Kalis Dal-Malorn was a prominent historian, noted for his thorough research, keen insight, and lack of respect for authority, tradition, or his own safety; he lost all of the several duels he was challenged to, as his time in the military was spent as an advisor and quartermaster. Kalis was disowned by pillar Malorn and lost most of his credibility after publishing a paper suggesting that the Vale of Ur really did contain something valuable - valuable to The Twelve. Many took his guess-work and reliance upon questionable sources as an excuse to cast him down. Though the revolutionary nature of many of his findings meant that few were totally correct, his keen and dilligent mind meant that few were far off. Kalis is currently trying to regain his status as a historian, and will go to considerable lengths to demonstrate that he was correct (hiring adventurers to investigate, for example.)
The current Grand Monarch, Ezlan Zul-Dagvar dal-Zhal ty-Mulcibe, has recently been grumbling to all who will listen that he made a mistake in declaring Vajar the next Presumptive. Nobody knows why, but current belief is that he has some personal dislike (or even serious concern) over Felra Raj-Tinar. He has not expressed what these may be, and everyone else believes Felra to be a perfect choice. Ezlan had made no effort to rescind his declaration making Vajar the Presumptive Pillar, because he knows that with so well-respected an heir, and so close to the end of his reign, he couldn't possibly acquire the votes necessary to uphold such a decision.
Ezlan Zul-Dagvar dal-Zhal ty-Mulcibe was actually the second choice for Presumptive by his predecessor. On the advice of his Mask, the wizardress Lysia, the former Monarch chose Ezlan from his own Pillar after deliberately making a choice that would be vetoed. Lysia's current whereabouts are unknown.
Midnight's Cruor, a secret coven of three corrupted Eyrian Dark Druids (see the other thread for corruption rules) is hiding under the noses of polite Eyrian society by using the "A Thousand Faces" class ability. The three "sisters" use their alternate forms to encourage the continued practise of human sacrifice among the rural Eyrians, so that they may revel in the death and gore, and their utter corruption from the fell spirit of the land is so great that they have all become violet-crimson-skinned Vampires. The three members of Midnight's Cruor are Urdarza, a quiet, intense, and amoral dwarf, Verdania a lustful elf who craves seduction followed by a bloody betrayal (particularly fond of preying on humans, orcs, and half-orcs), and Skuldira, a greedy and murderous gnome who accepts payment as a hired assassin under a false identity. These three are always careful to hide their tracks, and have thus survived for centuries, but they ultimately seek to perform a hidden goal, one known only to an alien entity that guides them known as The Emerald Nexus.
The Kohl'tass lizardmen are led by an ancient, female lizardfolk druidess known only as Rrahask Sshasaar (translated from Draconic as Venerable Mother), whose eyes, scales, and leathery skin have all gone alabaster with extreme age. In fact, Venerable Mother has perfected the power of Timeless Body, making herself immortal by binding her soul to the life forces (or spirits, or other natural power/presence) of the lizardfolks' homeland. Rrahask Sshasaar has kept her immortality secret through some means, but all Kohl'tass know that she is 'very old', and it is taboo for them to speak of her except when addressing her directly or delivering a message for her. She rarely leaves the lizardfolk territory, but seems spry enough for such an old gal, and has been sighted on occasions in distant lands, even Eyrdeyn and Saagersberg. Tales say she is unkillable, and she is even mentioned in tales where she confronted the demon Taufenacht on occasions, though popular theory is that the lizardmen just keep placing a new Venerable Mother into the role each generation after the previous one dies of old age. However, similar to Thanatos, Rrahask Sshasaar does not often feel moved to take action outside her people's homeland, though at least she does take action once every few centuries or so.
In order that the children of married commoners are considered legitimate Pillar members, to keep from becoming inbred (as mentioned earlier), married common orcs and humans are considered honourary Pillar members of the lowest rank, but pillar members nonetheless, if only by technicality. Because of House Kiron's "secret" elven emancipatiton, this means that sometimes former Masks have become Dal-Kiron by marriage. The most dangerous outcome of this, at least in the eyes of most Eyrians is Saervyl Dal-Kiron, an elven wizard who is Dal-Kiron by birth, born to two elves in a quartet marriage. This sets a dangerous precedent indeed, for even the progressive House Malarn precludes elven wizards from its members, and the honourary Dal-Malarn does not pass on to the children of the honoured non-human. For all that Saervyl seems kind and harmless, he is widely despised for what he is, and if it weren't for the efforts of his Chalkut'Dorun (an Eyrian equivalent of Godparent, although unlike Godparents there is only one), Saint Lasair, to protect him, he would have surely died in one of several assassination attempts against his life. Vazya Krazan Dal-Zhal, an orcish scion who ordered at least one of the assassination attempts, has recently attempted to contact the secretive assassin "Stheno," who is in actuality Skuldira of the Midnight Cruor.
In the north is an old dwarven sage by the name of Orgar who lives at the site of The Twelve. He is guarding them and making sure that what they contain does not escape. He claims the other creatures in the north are afraid to approach the twelve and thus do not bother them. Orgar, however, is a liar. Although Dragons are only seen in Eyros in fairy tales nowadays*, there is at least one still active in the world. His name is Alsixnivis, and because he only resumes his dragon form during heavy blizzards, no one born in the past 1,000 years has seen him as a dragon and lived to tell of it. Alsixnivis tends to The Twelve, and is Taufenacht's voice in the North. He normally appears as an old dwarven sage by the name of Orgar. In his normal form Alsixnivis appears to be a colossal white great wurm, but any adventuring party who believes this is in for a rude surpirse; Alsixnivis is several age categories beyond great wurm, and has many other tricks beyond that, as he is partly a product of Taufenacht's genius from when he last strode Eyros. Alsixnivis guards the Twelve at all times, and is never more than a few minutes flight from them.
In the city of Zhal-Ka lives a man by the name of Jhonen Pruuk. Jhonen is a practicianer(sp?) of magic and has been spending extensive amounts of time and money on a scale model of Eyros in its entirety, down to the actual materials used to build the model's real-world counterparts. He is funded by the pillar family ruling Zhal-ka. Jhonen does not know why the Pillar wants the model, but a perfect(or as-close-as-possible) likeness is paramount.
Want quick blurbs on every NPC in Eyros in alphabetical order? Check out the dictionary of NPCs in the Rules/Crunch of Eyros thread.
Organizations:
A secret society of psionicists, known as the Jagged Eye, seek to overthrow the government. The underground trade in narcotics, which are often purchased by dilettante nobles, is secretly funded by the Jagged Eye.
The oldest of the sects devoted to puzzling out the Prophecy of the Seventh Pillar (see below) are The Mothers of Truth, who are also the keepers of the lineage of all of the houses, and provide the midwives that must be present at the birth of any half-orc royal child. Jal-qwuin still periodically arouses from her catatonia to spout off oracular statements. All of which are meticulously recorded for later study and interpretation. The membership of the Mothers of Truth is drawn soley from the mothers of House Vajar. It doesn't matter how high ranking a mother, but none can become a midwife without having gone through childbirth themselves. Indeed, the Mothers of Truth were renamed thus, after the clan midwives heard the prophecies of the Mask, having been in existance and responsible for maintaining purity for several decades before Jal-qwuin's catatonia.
A secret cabal of Half-Orc wizards known as the Animus, through generations of selective breeding and magical "guidance" has recently succeeded in producing two genetically superior racial offshoots. Orogs and the Sharakim. The latter can blend in effortlessly with thier progenitors undetected and the new generation is just coming to age. The Animus' are now setting into motion machinations to put the Sharakim in places of political power. Orogs are being kept more or less as "muscle" and are beginning to resent thier position. Few if any outside the Animus organization now of the existence of thier new "brothers".
In one of the few extant woodland areas of Eyros, a relatively malign, bestial reptile cult has been growing among the local elves. Worship of a half-fiend tyrannosaurus named Vildaxaranthus has caused some of the elves to devolve, becoming brutish, larger, and strong, almost dire (effectively ogres with elven racial traits). Scary stories are told to Eyrian children about the forest elves and these rumours are oft used as justification for the enslavement of the unrelated elven thralls. These Forest Elves have suffered no reduction in mental capacity from this "devolution", making them superior to elves as fighters. Who or what is responsible for the creation of this cult and how it will be used is unknown. Rumors suggest a dragon, allied with evil outsiders.
Vildaxaranthus was not actually born a half-fiend. Rather, he was born thousands of years ago as a normal T-Rex. Slowly but surely, he gained sentience and a fiendish nature after scavenging meals from grounds that were tainted by the presence of a calcified, slumbering demon, very much like the one from which the Cerebrum Ruby was taken. Nobody knows this, which is why nobody has stopped to wonder why there seem to be numerous demons physically slumbering beneath the earth of the region.
Unknown to the world, a sect of human sorcerers known as the Caretakers of Ur have, for ages untold, stood guard over the Vale of Ur. Within the vale, they believe, is the key to unbelievable power and it is their duty to make sure that power is never found. Caretaker legend tell that should the secret of Ur ever be unlocked a terrible age of darkness will fall upon the world.
Gharjuin is an expensive and popular drink of the Eyrian elite. It is a creamy, rich milk that comes in several delicious flavours, each notably distinct to the connoisseur. Gharjuin is expensive due to the fact that it is only available through trade with a mysterious group known as the Sarynthi who live in the upper steppes. The Sarynthi are extremely secretive and refuse to deal with anyone except for female humans, who they meet on neutral ground to trade Gharjuin for various useful Eyrian commodities. In reality, the Sarynthi are a tribe of female humans who have come to believe that masculinity is an infectuous disease that must be avoided (they refuse to deal with orcs or half-orcs because they believe that both races' females have been infected by masculinity). An untouchable caste of Sarynthi known as the Jarzhun slaughters the majority of male children and saves a few, feeding them an herbal tincture of the Phazra plant that reduces their mind to an animal state in order to breed with females who have been treated in a like process (who are called Cal'Phazra). Worthy female children resulting from such unions are immediately quarantined from males to become upstanding Sarynthi, and most of the rest become Cal'Phazra, with a few set aside to form the next generation of Jarzhun. Due to selective breeding, many Cal'Phazra (and thus all Sarynthi) have highly polarised physical traits, much like different breeds of dog, and they are treated as pampered pets by the Jarzhun, while the similarly-reduced males are harshly abused. Gharjuin is collected from the Cal'Phazra, and in fact various breeds have been selected in order to create the delicious, distinctive flavours. It is unknown what the reaction to this knowledge becoming public would be, but the Sarynthi guess that it would not be a boon to their trade relations, and so they have resolved to never allow outsiders to learn the truth, even if it means silencing them by death.
Far to the northwest is a long peninsula called Quonambo (in Eyrosian). Here live a handful of tribes of very tall and muscular savages covered in ritual scars, tattoos, and warpaint. These tribes are descendants of men and Cal'Phazra who escaped from the Sarynthi. (Only a few "breeds" escaped, and each formed its own tribe.) Because those who escaped suffered generations of abuse, indoctrination, and drugs, the tribal society they built can be considered chaotic, if not completely insane, by outsiders. Despite this, some limited trade occurs between the Eyrians of the steppes and the tribes of far Quonambo.
For their part, the Sarynthi desire the complete destruction of the Quonambans, whom they consider animals, so that the secret of the Jarzhun is never revealed. Meanwhile the Quonambans have nurtured a long-standing fear and hatred of their one-time masters, and constant warfare occurs between the two groups of people. Despite their primite lifestyle and metalworking skills, the Quonambans produce well-made and keenly sharpened blades. They tend to shun any armour heavier than fur. The personal names of Quonamban savages are really just descriptions (in their own tongue) of their scars and tattoos they wear.
Plot Points:
The laurel wreath, A kind of vegetable tiara, is woven from the leaves and young branches of the laurel, Laurus psionicus, this shrub or small tree common in forest communities throughout the region. It is known by Herbalists to have anti-psionic properties. Used as a Laurel Crown (favored by nobility) it protect the wearer from Mental Intrusion. Brewed just right by a skilled hand, it also becomes a toxic substance when it is ingested by anyone with Psionic abilities.
House Vajar--which has held the throne more times than any other Orc-Blooded House, though they do not do so currently--hides a terrible, shameful secret. They are not pure-blooded. They actually have a tiny bit of hobgoblin in their ancestry, though it is so far back that no trace of it is detectable. Anyone who learns this secret would hold great power over House Vajar... Until the Vajar enforcers and Masks found a means of silencing that individual for good. Even most of the Vajar themselves are ignorant of this fact; it is known only to the very highest-ranking and eldest members of the House, who are considering letting the secret die with them, rather than passing it on.
A number of years of drought have had an effect of the food production level in the western plains. To combat this, there is a plan being formulated to dig a grand cannel from the Kohoal River to supply water for irrigation to this region. Dwarves are being rounded up to dig this cannel, although the Gnomes are pushing for their mindless undead to be used for the task as well.
Far below the main city of Eyros grows an enormous hatred in the form of a subterranean Assassin vine. Every year it grows larger, up through the ruins created by each rebuilding of Eyrdeyn.
The agents of the jagged eye have developed a psionic tattoo that allows the bearer to use an Alter Self effect at will. The agents of The Secret Blade, a sect of Soulblade assasins are commonly given these tattoos. One such, a brilliant agent named Borak Foehammer, has infiltrated Keyzha Zhals forces and is steadily working his way up in rank.
There are rumors of relic-hunters returning in weakened and ragged state, scared witless from some cave or temple far up the river Kohoal called the Mindful Halls. Apparently the Jagged Eye has found some ancient Psionic artifacts there but not without a heavy cost of man power and gold.
The Children of the Dawn have a secret agenda to free the elven Masks from their orc-blooded masters. The Children of the Dawn were founded by a stunningly beautiful half-elf woman named Saint Lasair, who is actually a succubus paladin of freedom named Temera, who was redeemed by an experience of true love for an Eyrian mortal (her Energy Drain kiss has been replaced with a Heroism effect). Some branches of the church have taken a more fanatic outlook thanks to the charismatic leadership of her son Lusarum, who preaches intolerance to the elves of Nistadeen despite his mother's disapproval. Some claim that they have seen Lusarum entering the forest of Vildaxaranthus from time to time and exiting unharmed. Is it possible that these two half-fiends have formed an unholy alliance that will corrupt the noble intentions of the Children of the Dawn?
Aeryl Dal-Kiron is a friendly, likable half-elf who has gone on a diplomatic mission of friendship to visit the high court of Nistadeen, bringing with him a beautiful necklace as a gift to Alyria, the King's Lae'Thyr (a term meaning true heart, the elven equivalent of wife). Secretly a bitter follower of the Purging Flame of Dawn, Lusarum's personal followers among the Children of Dawn, Aeryl has come to stir up problems for the elves of Nistadeen. In addition to more mundane means of sabotage Aeryl's main plot involves the necklace, which is a focus donated to Lusarum by Vildaxaranthus that will instigate the devolution into a Falgyr (elf-ogre), but it is missing the crucial component that allows the elf to retain their mind. On the night of the next full moon, Alyria will become a murderous, bestial creature. Can anyone find a way to save her before she is slain by one of her own people in self-defense? And perhaps more importantly among the everlasting political social scheming and loss of face and honour of life in Nistadeen, can they keep it a secret for the king? If so, they could earn the gratitude of King Laryst of Nistadeen, whose ever-expanding mercantile empire could soon become a majour force in the world.
Ghalfaen is being ravaged by a purple worm of colossal size. A dissolute sorcerer named Herewald claims he can control it but he demands a terrible price.
Ever since the Jagged Eye made the discovery at Mindful Halls, gargauntan insects and worms have been spotted around the Dominion of Eryos. How Herewald gained control of one of these terrible beasts is a mystery yet to be explained.
Eyros has not been a successful sea power to date--perhaps the only arena in which they do not largely dominate the region--but the Preas Thanatos are trying to change that. They have been experimenting in secret with galleys rowed by crews of skeletons and they are almost ready to begin sea trials. This would be disatrous for the halflings but only a lone spy knows...
Shortly after the founding of Empire the Mask Jal-qwuin fell into a semi-catatonic state (in which she still survives to this day) and began spouting prophetic statements. The longest enduring of these is the Prophecy of the Seventh Pillar, and a whole Monastic Order developed around it. Most believed that the prophecy was fulfilled after the War of the Crumbled Pillar when the minor house of Taljik was elevated to replace the fallen House. In truth the Prophecy remains to be fulfilled, and as with all such prophecies has engendered a number of different sects that believe only they know the true meaning of the prophecy.
Some members of the Crucible (the elemental fire cult) are trying to negotiate with the Kohl'Tass (semi-sacred lizardfolk druids) to invoke a minor eruption of Mt. Xark while controlling the ash and lava flow to direct it along the uninhabited, sheer, north side of the mountain/volcano. Then they intend to use the combination of Crucible volcanic clerics and Kohl'Tass druids to hasten the lava's transformation into fertile volcanic soil, while also forming some of the lava into high, spiny rock walls around this newly-fertile area, creating a vast, many-terraced personal garden/farmland to support the 6 Pillars in Eyrdeyn against the building food shortages. The Crucible intends not only to maintain the purity of the noble bloodlines, but their prosperity and power as well. In the event of future food-riots amongst the lowborn in Eyrdeyn, the nobles can ration off some of their excess personal crops to the populace to make them complacent and ever-more dependent on the Pillars' control. Of course, the tremors of the minor eruption may destroy the simple homes of some lowborn citizens and slaves, but the highborn live in sturdy, many-columned homes of stone. And the minor eruption of Mt. Xark might have further consequences on other places/creatures of the mountain, particularly in the subterranean former incarnations of the city.
Agents of the Twelve often strike toward the Vale of Ur, though this was not realized until recently when a historian analyzed the data from all the incursions. Other historians dismissed his research because they said it was based too much on guess-work and fragmentary records, and because they consider the Caretakers of Ur to be harmless fools at best, dangerous lunatics at worst. The journal which had published his research, The Royal Historical Chronicle, published a retraction, and pointed out that it had only published the paper as a thought experiment to begin with.
The historian, Kalis Dal-Malorn, who had earlier been adopted into Dal-Malorn for his exceptionally thorough research, was disowned by Pillar Malorn. Although a human, he was born into the lower classes.
Taufenacht the Tempter and the Ancient Intelligence known as The Twelve are one and the same. This many-voiced psionic menace is connected to a terrible but beautiful jewel known as the Cerebrum Ruby, which was discovered by the dwarves of what is now Eyros 5000 years ago, during the reign of the elves on the surface, and the dwarves in the caverns. The following related secret is known only by the dwarf responsible for heading the effort to contain the illithids, and she will only pass this shameful fact onto one successor before passing to her grave: 4500 years ago, Taogrim, king of the dwarves, was engaged to the renowned psion Urtha, but then Taogrim met a beautiful elven princess named Aelyna and fell madly in love. The day before the wedding, jealous Urtha returned to her duty of guarding the Cerebrum Ruby, where she fell prey to its psionic suggestions, and, using its power, she consumed Aelyna's brain, relishing the exotic taste, and dumping the body into a monster den. Using fragments of Aelyna's personality, she was able to seduce the bereaved Taogrim, and the two dwarves were married the next year. But on her wedding night, as Urtha closed her eyes to kiss her new husband, she heard a strangled gurgling sound. She opened her eyes to see, to her horror, that her soft ruby lips had become a tentacled maw, involuntarily sucking the brain out of her beloved. Disgusted at what she had become, Urtha ran away with the Cerebrum Ruby to the deepest reaches of the caverns, and she and her unborn twins became the first illithids.
The Cerebrum Ruby is actually more appropriately named than anyone realizes. It is literally a portion of the brain of a great demon who has slumbered in the earth for eons, and into whose calcified body the ancient dwarves accidentally dug while mining. Taufenacht, lord of demons, uses this "demon brain" as a doorway for his power and his voice to enter Eyros and the material world. He has other such doorways, including the entity (as yet undefined) which the columns of the Twelve keep trapped beneath the frozen North. The ruby and the Twelve are not obviously the same creature, because Taufenacht's "voice" is altered by the persona of the entity/object through which he channels.
The solar Conquers Twice was on the prime to find his fallen brother who became a mighty demon. He found the looted remains of his brother and his open skull but the evil part of his brother was already gone taken by greedy dwarves.
He departed and came back after he heard rumors of another gem, a sapphire, taken from his brother´s body. He believes that the gem is filled with the last pure part of the fallen one´s soul and could be used to revive him or at least destroy the cerebrum ruby.
He assumed control of Saagersberg some time ago to use it as his base of operations. He isn´t sure if the amethyst crown could be the evil gem. He suspects that the term cerebrum ruby was a falsehood used deliberately by the psionic crystal to confuse possible searchers.
The Empire is currently having trouble with tribal raiders in the highlands of the Ahln-Desh region, in the eastern mountain ranges. Because of the rocky, mountainous terrain, the massive legions of the Empire are of little use, as they cannot maintain formation. Thus, hiding in the mountains are less civilized tribes, who prey upon carvans and travellers passing through their mountain homes.
Felra Raj-Tinar dal-Vajar ty-Malarn is planning an extended visit to the coastal lands of her human mother's House before the season's through, ostensibly to visit some of her more distant relatives on the human side and perhaps garner some greater support for her bid to become the next Grand Monarch of Eyros. Secretly she planned the visit because she knows her halfling lover Darrenback will be sailing by the area at the time, and seeks to meet with him again after two years apart. The current Grand Monarch, unbeknownst to others, has assigned one of his nephews to covertly follow and observe Felra's trip, but the Grand Monarch won't disclose the reason for his dislike of Felra, even to his trusted nephew.
There is a general consensus among the lizard folk druids that the bleeding into the ground is a blasphemy and a corruption of the land, so they often attempt to sneak onto bordering bloodlands, and purify them. It takes time, but with effort they are slowly able to undo some of the damage to certain areas. Unfortunately, they can only reliably do so near the borders, and the heart of Eyros remains unreachable for their goals.
Winerys and wine production are a sizeable portion of the Eyrosian economy, with the finest vintages being stockpiled by the Pillars for their private family cellars.
Recently, a vinter named Fischr produced his first bottling from grapes grown in blood-soaked fields. The wine is a bitter and acidic draught, that leaves the drinker as thirsty as before he drank it. Fischr believes the wine has no commercial value, and has consigned every bottle to his private celler in hopes that age will improve it.
Should this enough of this wine ever be drunk consistently by one person however, a condition similar to vampirism will result, as the tainted grapes produce bloodthirst in the wine drinker over time.
Recently, there has been an increase in the number of raids from the barbaric half-orc separatists, and the attacks are far more well-coordinated than usual, with the half-orcs fighting to the death to the last man, screaming "For the Crimson Robe!" in Orcish. Apparently, a charismatic civilised half-orc has risen to power, claiming to be Agathon of the Crimson Robe and also claiming that he will lead the half-orcs to establish their own Pillar that would conquer all others, the Seventh Pillar of the ancient prophecy. Even if the Eyrians discovered this, most would immediately label this nonsense and wave it off as a crafty opportunist taking advantage of the deluded hopes of a primitive people, but the few who still remember Kalis Dal-Malarn's respected "Prophecy and the Fate of Eyros" may recall the 350-year-old legend that Agathon never died, but was instead carried away to a magical island by three faerie princesses on his deathbed, waiting for the day when he would return, unite all Eyrian peoples, and conquer the world.
There is a small overgrown shrine of blazingly white stone that is slightly luminescent in the hours just after sundown and right before sunup. It is so covered in climbing vines, as well as built into the hillside as to be almost invisible until you are right infront of it. Humans and elves would have to stoop to pass through its narrow door, and would barely have room to stand or move once inside. A half-orc would have little chance to enter or be comfortable once inside. The interior walls are covered in a strange writing that glows during the rest of the night when the stone does not. Rumor says it was a point of passing for some celestial champions the Elves called forth during the last days of the Human/Orc expansion. Further rumors state that several powerful Elves LEFT through the point several days later. Drunken witnesses report strange comings and goings from the shrine, every once in awhile.
Underneath the territory of House Taljik, unbeknownst to them, lie a vast network of large tunnels produced in secret centuries ago by their predecessors, the Crumbled Pillar, orc-blooded House Garren. These tunnels lead to many places across the Dominion and even slightly beyond the borders, and are roamed by the descendants of former-House Garren's pet project: colonies of behir, giant centipede-reptiles grown from dhazi (shocker lizard) stock, through magical experimentation by Garren's elven Masks and a secret splinter group of the Praes Thanatos. The behir's creators and trainers lost control of them when trying to bring them out to fight for Garren in the War of the Crumbled Pillar, and were slain by the beasts' shocking powers.
In the village of Rhoofeld in northern Eyros the basement door of the cobbler's hut leads to the attic of a smithy in the eastern Eyros village of Masreit. It has been there for an indeterminate amount of time, and nobody knows why.
The primarily dwarven "Secret Blade" (a sub-group of Soulknives from the Jagged Eye) and the hobgoblins of "The Order of the Clawed Fist" have recently been skirmishing with each other out in the open. Each group seems to be searching for something. However thier long-standing racial enmities and desire to prove martial superiority over the other has over-rided thier desire for secrecy. Thus risking exposure.
House Malarn keeps a well-stocked but highly disorganised library, which is open only to House members and a select few who are specifically granted limited access. In addition to a full set of Eyrian prophecies and chronicles of the deeds of the Grand Monarchs, from Vajgarrzhal the Conqueror to Ezlan Zul-Dagvar Dal-Zhal Ty-Mulcibe, the library holds a variety of scholarly works that simply can't be found anywhere else, although many of the books are patently incorrect or cover strange topics. The most prised possessions of the library are a set of papyrus scrolls known as the Raely'Sarvos Scrolls that date back to the ancient elves who once inhabited Eyros. The Elder Librarian is Kyara Dal-Malarn. Those who hear the title expect a straitlaced bespectacled old lady with a tight bun, but Kyara is an eager, charming, and spunky twenty-something young woman who usually goes about her daily tasks with gusto (excluding her current assignment to eliminate the writings of Kalis Ny'Dal-Malarn, a scholar whom she idolises as an historical genius) and shows great interest in helping anyone who comes to visit the library with her instinctive knowledge of the seemingly random location of books, having worked at the library for ten years and indeed never leaving the ivory tower of the library complex. Indeed, when a young Kalis Hirall visited the library as a scribe, entering with a Dal-Malarn scholar to make some copies of the Raely'Sarvos Scrolls, he caught a glimpse of Kyara at work between the bookcases, and was immediately entranced. A shy lad, Kalis finished his task and left the library, immediately asking his scholar employer if he could return to the library at any time in the future. The House Malarn scion told him that only House Malarn members could enter the library at their leisure, except for great scholars on special business. From that point onward, Kalis dedicated himself to scholarly pursuit, until he was accepted to House Malarn, at which point he made it his business to spend as much time as possible researching to his heart's desire at the Grand Library of House Malarn, making a surprisingly large number of requests for help from the Elder Librarian for such a renowned scholar. But before he could work up the courage to say anything, he was expelled from House Malarn and all library access. Now he will stop at nothing to restore his reputation, even willing to spend the last of his personal fortune to hire adventurers to prove that his theories were accurate.
The circus is in town! As a gentler fare for entertainment, compared to the gladitorial contests, a circus travels around the nation, bringing excitement, and exotic delights to the people. Usually, it goes to the cities, but it passes through areas of villages, often being the highlight of the year for the vilagers, who come from all areas. It has jesters, joke tellers, and slight of hand artists. There are shows, featuring tumblers, acrobats, and feats of amazing skill. Exotic foods are prepared and offered to the visitors, as well as exotic animals from the far reaches. It is a celebration for all classes, and all groups. The high ranking rulers often make an appearance, to be with their subjects, and to strengthen the bond between ruler and rulee. Even the Emperor is expected to make an appearance soon. House Kiron seems particularily interested, with members of that Pillar attending multiple shows, and treading on their political clout to spend time with the performers privately. Several performers have even been invited back to the Kiron Palace, for private showings, staying there until late into the night.
The circus has been infiltrated by members of the Lusarums militant Children of the Dawn sect who use it as a convinient means of carrying messages across the empire and agitating amongst the Elf and half-elf population. Each member wears a ring set with an emerald shard.
Verdania (of the Midnights Cruor) has recently joined the Circus as a high wire performer. She has been a guest of Kemry Janar Dal-Kiron a young scion of the House and has slowly been corrupting him. Murders have been occuring in villages the day after the Circus has left, and questions are being asked.
After sleeping on it, and having kind of a dream about it, I did come up with an idea. I'm going to list it anyways, it can be dismissed if you all want.
