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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Duelpersonality" data-source="post: 4898569" data-attributes="member: 64706">Recruiting for a 4e game.  Tantas - a brief history of a ruined world:Tantas was a world ravaged by war.  Three vast empires controlled the known world. Laraba, in the southern half of the eastern continent, was an empire of wealth and power, bent on conquering the world and ordering it to the liking of the Council of Twelve.  The Council was a group of arcanists that used their knowledge and arts to create the largest of the three major powers of the world.  Their armies were more vast than those of the other empires, but  were far more cautious and deliberate. Tornal, to the north of Laraba, was a land rich in the raw materials of war.  Iron, wood, and the gold to pay its warriors was abundant in its mountain ranges and vast forests.  Tornal was a nation of near lawlessness, held together only by the armies of the king and their willingness to “recruit” malcontents and troublemakers.  The warriors of Tornal were more than happy to fight   any force that invaded their lands, and the superior arms they brought to bear were more than an equalizer for their reckless tactics and lack of discipline. Mathu lay across the sea from Tornal and Laraba, but even five weeks of sailing could not keep any of the three empires from warring with each other.  Mathu had long since conquered the western continent and was turning its eye toward the east.  The strong naval forces of Mathu could raid up and down the coast of the eastern continent, vexing both Laraba and Tornal, but they could not maintain a foothold for long as the armies would descend upon them and push them back out to sea.  Still, the Mathul forces continued to fight, slowly grinding at the coast. The three empires were warring constantly, each winning and losing ground, and all of them losing soldiers at an alarming rate.  The Old Wars, as they are now called, may have gone on until each empire crumbled in upon itself, but the gods had other ideas.  Tantas, as though it were a great beast shaking flies off itself, shook to the roots of the mountains and seas.  Cities crumbled, mountains collapsed and were reborn, and the capitals of Mathu, Tornal, and Laraba were sundered so completely that they can no longer be found. Almost one hundred years have passed since Tantas shook itself clean of the Old Wars.  The landscape has long since settled, and cities that were not damaged beyond repair have recovered.  The world of empires is no more, and each city that can holds only the land nearby.  Ruins of the empires lay scattered about the now wild world, eerie tombstones for a dead age. Races:Humans are the dominant race of the world.  They were found in all of the old empires, and very few of the cities that now rise from the rubble are not primarily inhabited by them.  Ever quick to adapt to change, humans have recovered the most from the destruction of the Old Wars and their cataclysmic end. Dragonborn were never very numerous on Tantas, and the Old Wars did not do them any favors in that regard.  What dragonborn are left are mostly remnants of tribes that were part of Tornal, though there are still small pockets in other parts of the world. Dwarves were the backbone of the Tornal war machine during the Old Wars, mining and crafting for the armies at an alarming rate.  Strangely, though almost all dwarven enclaves were underground, the quakes that ended the Old Wars left them mostly intact—except for the ore.  Dwarves are now mostly reduced to wandering clans, searching for the life that all but the younger ones once knew. Eladrin live in the lands once held by Laraba almost exclusively.  Though records of the empires are hard to come by, it is generally held that the Council of Twelve was mostly—if not completely—eladrin.  Though their cities were decimated by the end of the Old Wars, the people were mostly able to escape the destruction, now seeking to rebuild. Elves have retreated deep within the forests of the world, with very few venturing out into areas still inhabited by other races.  Some elven societies hold that the end of the Old Wars was a call to return to a more natural state of living, and some have taken the notion to the extreme—dedicating their lives to the destruction of the remaining cities to finish the job the world had started. Half-elves are very rare now with so few points of coexistence between humans and elves.  Still, there are some out there.  Their natural abilities have seen many half-elves rise to positions of authority in communities both large and small as they slowly rebuild. Halflings were never much for the Old Wars, but that did not spare their communities from the ravages of Tantas.  Most halflings have left their old homes and now form their own districts in cities large enough to have a sizable population. Tieflings were rare and strange sights even during the Old Wars, and they do not speak of a homeland if they do have one.  Smaller villages are likely to react with fear to the sight of a tiefling, though stories and memories of them in large towns and cities keeps the most of the people there from more than a raised eyebrow. Devas hailed mostly from the western continent during the Old Wars, and the navies of Mathu were indeed almost one fourth devas.  Since the catastrophic earthquakes, devas have been reborn in far flung lands, with very few returning to the western continent when they die.  What this means is unknown to them, and some that have keen recollections of the times before are filled with fear and doubt. Gnomes are spread throughout the world in small, isolated communities.  During the Old Wars they typically offered tribute to whatever empire they happened to be located in to avoid fighting.  While they are still isolated for the most part, those who's homes were destroyed have found that they can do quite well in the cities as they rebuild. Goliaths are an entirely new and fantastic race on the face of Tantas.  When chasms of the world opened up, some of them bore whole families of goliaths up into the sun.  Of their lives before they knew nothing, and since then they have been embraced in those places where their strength can be used to help put the pieces of society back together. Half-orcs are rare to the point of myth.  If there are half-orcs in the world, they may be one of only a handful of such creatures on the entirety of Tantas. Shifters, drow and genasi are not known on Tantas.Tyral, City of the Shimmering SeaThe campaign will begin in Tyral, a coastal city that was once a primary seaport of Tornal.  Though it was damaged at the end of the Old Wars, reconstruction has been rapid due to a large influx of refugees from all three empires.  The city has a clear delineation between the old and the new, as hundreds of new buildings were constructed—with hundreds of different styles and amounts of know how—within a few years after the end of the Old Wars.  Where Old Town is well planned and easily navigable, the Districts are often a warren of haphazard streets and garishly juxtaposed buildings.  At least some members of all races are to be found living in Tyral.Campaign Basics and House Rules:Books allowed:  PHB, PHB 2, FRPG (with the exception of races), Martial Power, Arcane Power, and Divine Power. Permanent magic items will not be in use.  Characters will receive enhancement bonuses to weapons, implements, armor and defenses inherently (items will function like magic +x versions, or amulets of protection +x in the case of neck slot items).  The bonuses will follow this path:  +1 at level 3; +2 at level 8; +3 at level 13; +4 at level 18; +5 at level 23 and +6 at level 28.  Special artifacts may appear in the campaign at a later time.  Consumable magic and alchemical items are allowed. Characters will begin play at level 3.  Generate stats using method 2 in the PHB.  All characters must be approved, though I don't think I'll be too difficult.  All characters will begin with 300 gp to purchase equipment.  If you are wanting to make a divine character, please let me know and I will give you any information you want about the deities of Tantas.Recruitment is now closed.  There will be seven characters in the game.Approved Characters:eblue562:  Sathi - dwarf shaman Walking Dad:  Grayven Glimmershadow - gnome wizard Vertexx69:  Cole Cinder - dwarf warlock Voda Vosa:  Mondel Darkbark - dwarf fighter Phaezen:  Karesh - deva avenger The Digger:  Honag Stoneborn - goliath wardenCharacters in progress:HolyMan:  Norian Brightsoul - human cleric (backstory)</blockquote>

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