Calavingian
Explorer
Hello all.
Yes, it's another campaign journal. First, let me introduce myself. I'm the DM, a published fiction author (who will remain anon.) with a twenty-two year history of gaming. My players, a wonderful bunch of reprobates, range from my other-half, who has been gaming for three years, to a pair of elder statesmen who have been gaming since the days of the white box (though you wouldn't know it from their frequent"boot-the-door-kill everybody" notion of what passes for party tactics). Most of my guys and gals have been playing for at least a dozen years.
We're a solid group, with a core of players who have been gaming together for five years. Two relative newbies (me and the missus) joined the group two years ago and we recruited two fresh members for this campaign.
The Journals that follow are written by my players, using their own characters as the narrator. As such, the journals are written to reflect the prejudices and world-view of the character providing the “voice” in question. Most of the journals have been written by Dara, the Druid. On occasion, another character (such as Shadowdancer) has stepped up to the bat when Dara's player has been absent.
We have been playing now for about five months, with one session every three weeks or so. So I will put up a journal article every few days until we are caught up. After that, they will be posted as written. Now, a bit about the world.
Edarnia (despite some curious and coincidental similarities to the new D&D 4th ed. Setting) is a home-brewed “sword and sandals” setting that I have been running games in for nearly twenty years – tweaking it slightly with the release of each new edition of the D&D game and which has also been adapted (at various times) for 2nd and 3rd edition Runequest and even Rolemaster.
In its current edition, a few changes had to be made to accommodate 4th ed. For example, the Senate of the Arcane Imperium is now made up of tiefling magic-users rather than the cambions who ruled the game worlds main “evil empire” in previous editions. For the sake of my players (and amidst much gnashing of teeth) I've also allowed the newer races such as Goliaths andWilders to enter Edarnia for the first time, having re-written the back story of Edarnia considerably to fit them in.
As you can imagine, I've also had to make some (surprisingly) minor changes to the WotBS campaign setting in order to make it fit Edarnia. For the benefit of anyone reading this, there are a few basic facts you'll need to know with regards to Edarnia in order to follow the events of this campaign:
(Imagine a Nubian walking into a village in Post-Roman Britain about fifty years after the legions and auxiliaries left. “My grandfather always said his old centurion had skin as dark as pitch. 'Till now I thought the old boy was just tellin' tall tales”).
There are many other differences as well, but as these are relatively minor, they will be explained in a “DM's Notes” section at the end of each journal entry.
Yes, it's another campaign journal. First, let me introduce myself. I'm the DM, a published fiction author (who will remain anon.) with a twenty-two year history of gaming. My players, a wonderful bunch of reprobates, range from my other-half, who has been gaming for three years, to a pair of elder statesmen who have been gaming since the days of the white box (though you wouldn't know it from their frequent"boot-the-door-kill everybody" notion of what passes for party tactics). Most of my guys and gals have been playing for at least a dozen years.
We're a solid group, with a core of players who have been gaming together for five years. Two relative newbies (me and the missus) joined the group two years ago and we recruited two fresh members for this campaign.
The Journals that follow are written by my players, using their own characters as the narrator. As such, the journals are written to reflect the prejudices and world-view of the character providing the “voice” in question. Most of the journals have been written by Dara, the Druid. On occasion, another character (such as Shadowdancer) has stepped up to the bat when Dara's player has been absent.
We have been playing now for about five months, with one session every three weeks or so. So I will put up a journal article every few days until we are caught up. After that, they will be posted as written. Now, a bit about the world.
Edarnia (despite some curious and coincidental similarities to the new D&D 4th ed. Setting) is a home-brewed “sword and sandals” setting that I have been running games in for nearly twenty years – tweaking it slightly with the release of each new edition of the D&D game and which has also been adapted (at various times) for 2nd and 3rd edition Runequest and even Rolemaster.
In its current edition, a few changes had to be made to accommodate 4th ed. For example, the Senate of the Arcane Imperium is now made up of tiefling magic-users rather than the cambions who ruled the game worlds main “evil empire” in previous editions. For the sake of my players (and amidst much gnashing of teeth) I've also allowed the newer races such as Goliaths andWilders to enter Edarnia for the first time, having re-written the back story of Edarnia considerably to fit them in.
As you can imagine, I've also had to make some (surprisingly) minor changes to the WotBS campaign setting in order to make it fit Edarnia. For the benefit of anyone reading this, there are a few basic facts you'll need to know with regards to Edarnia in order to follow the events of this campaign:
- Edarnia is technologically, philosophically and sociologically similar to Western Europe and North Africa in the period 400BC-100CE. Therefore, any reference to “plate” armour refers equally to the type of armour worn by Greek Hoplites (think of the film “Troy”) or the lamellar, “banded” armour worn by the legions of Imperial Rome.
- Edarnia is a human dominated setting. While other races exist, with a very few exceptions they are few and far between (orcs and goblinoids, for example, were brought to Edarnia by the Arcane Imperium to serve as shock troops and so are widely known). Most village and small-town folk consider non-humans to be legendary, or, if they ever existed at all, extinct. Only in a few human cities and nations (Gate Pass, for example) has a non-human population gathered in anything approaching large numbers. Therefore, outside major towns, a dwarf is likely to be thought of as a disfigured or deformed human at first glance. However, once revealed as a non-human, the local reaction is more akin to “Oh, I thought you folk were a myth,” as opposed to “burn the monster!”
(Imagine a Nubian walking into a village in Post-Roman Britain about fifty years after the legions and auxiliaries left. “My grandfather always said his old centurion had skin as dark as pitch. 'Till now I thought the old boy was just tellin' tall tales”).
- Slavery is commonplace and not considered “evil” by the vast majority of Edarnians, though the laws governing slavery and the rights of slaves vary from place to place. In Gate Pass for example, slavery is illegal outside the Zaman quarter. In Zama and even (to a lesser extent) the Arcane Imperium slavery is a temporary state, viewed in a comparable way to bankruptcy today. Slaves are viewed with some degree of pity and scorn, but a slave who works hard and saves up his tips and wages (yes, slaves can be paid) might one day earn his freedom and become a citizen once again.
- Magic is relatively common in that there are many practitioners of magic. However, most societies have strict laws concerning who can practice magic, what types of magic may be practiced, where, when and how.
- There are many Pantheons of Gods, and each Pantheon dominates a central theme of natural world. These Pantheons include the Solar Pantheon (sun and stars), the Pantheon of Earth, the Sky Pantheon, the Pantheon of Fire, the Pantheon of Water and the Demonic Pantheon Therefore, while almost every Pantheon has a god of War, Trade, Craft etc there is only ever one Sun God, one Thunder God, one Sea God etc.
- The climate and weather patterns of Edarnia do not conform to any “natural laws”. They are determined by which Pantheon is most powerful in a particular area. Therefore, states and cities where the Solar Pantheon is worshipped tend to be warm and sunny, with very short winters. Those ruled by the sky gods tend to be stormy and wind-swept etc. Only the Arcane Imperium, where no Pantheon is worshipped (at least not openly or in large numbers) is exempt from this rule. The Imperium is a largely barren, dark and blighted land. It is this, more than anything else save the greed of it's Senatorial classes for more land and wealth to further their political careers, that fuels the constant expansion of the Imperium into new lands.
- In Edarnia, Coal Tongue was a Dictator, not an Emperor. The difference being that he was an elected official who arranged to stay in office long after his term had expired. The role of the Ragesian Empire is played by the Arcane Imperium. That of Shahalesti is played by the Arcane Imperiums ancient rival, the Protectorate of Zama. The Arcane Imperium is a human nation dominated by Tiefling magic-users. Zama is a human nation ruled by the mortal descendants of the Sun God, Yhellos.
There are many other differences as well, but as these are relatively minor, they will be explained in a “DM's Notes” section at the end of each journal entry.
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