Creative Exercise: The Sovereign Dominion of Eyros

[Rhialto]

Though I suspect my addition will be too late and too out of touch to work...

Far to the west, lies one of the only great kingdoms that Eyros has not succeeded in conquering--Xaleris, the so-called Old Empire. This reclusive nation of humans is infamous for its advanced knowledge of necromancy and transmutation. The Xal, as they are called, are ruled by the so-called Immortal Emperors, who, after 25 years of rule, "ascend" to lichhood, where they serve as "advisors" to their successors. The relationship between the two nations is one of icy peace, as while the Dominion has never had the power to conquer Xaleris, neither have the Xal had the power to take the fight to the half-bloods.

 

[Khorod]

We've already had a lot of necromancy. While I like the idea of another strong foil, I think it would be more interesting if they had another specialty. Maybe instead of Necromancers, they are Transmuters who have immortal metallic bodies built for themselves when they reach a certain social rank.

There's already a lot to the East. I might put this to the West of Eyros, separated by a nice sized channel. This would put Eyros in a pincer if they ever grew weak enough to allow their enemies to unite. It has a great impact on the balance of power...

Rystil: No naming classes, calling them out as Hexblades seems to far. That also raises the question, what is D&D as written? Is it really all D&D WotC products?

And since I am typing here... woot! Done with finals! I'll see if there is any wiki-ing to do.

New Contribution:

A leading member of the barbaric Half-Orcs, the oversized Thazdan the Subtle, has conceived of an idea to teach their Half-Orc forbears a lesson by killing their children in the guise of angry ancestor spirits. Only two others of the Orcs think this trick is worth trying. They've begun by practicing at random in smaller towns in the countryside for the last couple months, and are now ready to begin in the capitol city itself.

 

[Rhialto]

Changed the direction to the west. As for the transmutation idea, while I added that as a specialty, there really aren't enough mechanics for it, and it just lacks the creepiness of this endless line of undead emperors, all waiting in the backroom...

 

[Khorod]

I updated the Wiki for Post #678 to #732
For the Arcaneum I used Sarellion's Post #683.
Hope I didn't catch much duplication.

Now that I've poked at it, this doesn't seem like the greatest Wiki variant for this kind of project. It could have some more convenient features, like heading-specific links. Ala wikimedia/wikipedia. Too late now to say anything worthwhile I guess. But if it becomes necessary, I can set up a Wiki on my website in about 10 minutes just for this. (The one I have now is just for me)

 

[Twiggly the Gnome]

Changed the direction to the west. As for the transmutation idea, while I added that as a specialty, there really aren't enough mechanics for it, and it just lacks the creepiness of this endless line of undead emperors, all waiting in the backroom...

May I make a suggestion? If we want to eliminate the necromancy angle, perhaps the rulers of Xaleris are Moroii Sorcerers, who after their 25 year reign commit ritual suicide and ascend to Vampire status. A nice bonus to that would be a potential tie-in to the Pillar Mulcibe backstory.

 

[Sarellion]

Eyros never was a successful sea power. It seems that everone else seems to be better there. So Xaleris wouldn´t have to fear eyrosian invasion. I mean it´s not on the mainland.

@Khorod
I leave the classes in there. We had NPCs who were called sorcerers in the thread. As I think most people know what these classes are, we should leave them in. People who don´t have the books could change the class to something that works mostly the same. I for example don´t have Eberron so I probably would change magewrights to wizards if I get a to play in Eyros.

 

[Mouseferatu]

Wow. I'm gone for 52 hours, and look what happens.

I've skimmed to catch up; haven't had the chance to read it all in detail. But I would say this:

I agree that we've got enough necromancy; new arcane forces should probably have some other specialty.

Let's be careful using non-core material like hexblades. Remember that if/when we write this up, we'll have to take out such references.

And now, for a contribution. (I don't recall seeing anything like this, but as I said, I've only had the chance to skim so far.)

The Emperor, the Pillars and Houses, and many rich and imporant citizens make use of a courrier service called the Raptors of Eyros. This group began as a local band, but grew to a powerful guild with guildhouses across the Empire. The courriers of the Raptors carry messages, small parcels, and the like--sort of like the Pony Express of the American Old West. They are known to be fast, efficient, brutal when it comes to protecting their charge, and apparently tireless. They use all sorts of techniques, such as mount replacement at relay stations, employment of magic-users to use boosting magics (or, for a higher cost, to simply teleport messages, but this is unaffordable to all but the wealthiest of the wealthy), and the like.

They are also absolutely neutral in all political matters, and are forbidden by both guild law and Imperial dictate from developing political ties with any of the Houses, or any senators. Such figures can emply them, but no more than that. Members of the Raptors have been fired or even, in a few cases, subject to Imperial execution for violating this dictate.

 

[Sarellion]

We had a contribution about couriers already, but it´s working on the same premises. It´s one of the older posts:

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.


End of Quote

I think your post would fit, going into more detail

 

[Khorod]

...I remember reading about a relay system somewhere.... :\

 

[domino]

...I remember reading about a relay system somewhere.... :\

Yeah. WAY back in post 139, I put foward a courier service. What Sarellion posted was the relevant post, verbatim.