Anarenn solo campaign (Loth keep out)

[Nightbreeze]

Hi there! I'm willing to start a solo campaign based on my homebrew setting, and I'd like to see if there's any interest.

The setting is huge, and I don't really have any preference, so I will leave the choice of the type of campaign up to you. We could make a poll or something like that if there is any interest. I'd say that we could start at EL 4, and after the spoiler there are some options. (if you get bored reading that, you can jump to them.

[sblock=setting, long] Anarenn is a huge, continental forest world. There are no oceans or seas, though: at the edges of the world there are mountains, growing bigger and bigger, and inhabited by all sort of savage populations: orcs, goblins. Some say that there are even stranger beasts, as you go farther and farther from the forests.

I wont be going in much detail on the geography of the land, as I'll try to post online a map soon.

Anarenn has been inhabited by humans for at least 2500 years. Once it was a single, amazing forest, stretching for what it seemed to be an infinity (think the black forest that Europe was once). But as civilization started to spread, that of course changed. Forest are thicker in the newly inhabited lands and there are more fields in the older lands. However, the process has been really slowed because some forests are grim places, inhabited by savage and ancient spirits of the nature: you can't go chopping down tree wherever you want.

Humans are the dominant race of the world: there are other races too, like halflings, gnomes and dwarves, but only the former have some mighty kingdoms.

Nothing that compares to the Empire, however: it is the main force on Anarenn, founded more than 2000 years ago, and it was led by the same dynasty since then. The Emperor rules (directly or by the will of the mighty Arch-dukes) on the south-eastern quarter of the world, the north-wester edge, and there's a duchy in the south-western quarter, too. Since it's creation, the empire has been always entwined with the Church of the High Father, the dominant religion on Anarenn. It worships three gods: The High Father, the Benevolent Mother, and the Son in Shadows. The church is exremely powerful, but it has no central leader. As there is not only one holy scripture, there can be great differences among two priests, as each of them can interpret the dogmas in a different ways. Because of that, the Church is divided in almost a dozen mighty orders (each of them LN, LG, or NG), each of them with different views, and each of them with a different hierarchy and organization. To add complexity to confusion, it is often true that the same man has two titles: one from the Empire and another from the Church. It is a common truth that trying to understand who is higher in the social ladder is a damn hard work.

Other powerful nations are:
- Akodal, the historical rival of the Empire, hidden behind an impressive chain of fortresses in the south-eastern edge. The Great Barbaric Kingdom of the north: it is not actually a nation, rather it's a collection of barbarians, monsters and humanoids that inhabit the frozen wastes out of the edges of Northern Anarenn.
- The kingdom of Ishiza: the only place in Anarenn where there are plains. Famous for horse breeding and other cattle. South - western quarter.
- The Virdee: a great number of small kingdoms (think austria and germany during the XVI). The worst of the war-mongering nobles clichè
-The kindgoms of Tiliira, Hargrass, the republic of Fielet: some other kingdoms.
-The free cities of Mirui, Ronol, Namwert, Bruth and Ingrest: commercial powers, most of them near the geographical center of Anarenn.
-a great number of smaller kingdoms, duchies, tribes and lawless lands.

All of the named countries pay respect and tributes to the empire, with the exception of Akodal and the Barbaric Kingdom (the first because it's still an enemy, and the other because no one would dare to go outside of the world in order to force them to pay tributes)

Another thing worth of mention is the fact that ALL of the wizards belong to the Wizard's towers, and of users of magic have to be viewed by a wizard in order to live without any guard bothering them. (if you know robert jordan, the mechanics are similar: people with talent for magic can hurt themselves and the others). This is strictly enforced in the empire, more or less enforced in all of the remaining lands.

Uh...that's it for now. [/sblock]

So...we can make one of the following campaigns:

-Merchants/Bandits
-Empire on the borders (battles/politics)
-Empire in civil lands (politics/investigation/battle)
-Church (investigation/crusades etc)
-Nobles stewards( some noble of the Virdee, or someone in the commercial cities)
-Mercenaries

-something else....open for suggestions here.

The chosen player may then choose the location of the adventures and make some other requests regarding the campaign.

Note: the campaign has some house rules, and the magic is heavily toned down, especially the magic items and diffusion of spells (for example you cannot learn a spell from a normal scroll. that makes spell hunting and magic items hunting really important and itneresting)



Happy to reply to specific questions

 

[Ambrus]

Hi Nightbreeze,

I have to admit a fondness for solo games, so I'm certainly interested. I enjoy the freedom to make unusual characters that solo campaigns provide without the worry of unbalancing a party. The freedom to choose one's own path and to take the campaign in unusual directions is likewise enticing.

You only mention humans, halflings, gnomes, dwarves, goblins and orcs as races inhabiting Anarenn; certainly nothing wrong with those, though I am curious what other types of creatures might be around. The world sounds fairly human-centric; is your preference to have a human PC? I'd have no problem with playing one, though I find solo-campaigns a great opportunity to try unusual races (I love Savage species).

For instance, I find your mention of "ancient spirits of nature" inhabiting the primeval forests of Anarenn intriguing. Imagine a campaign based around those spirits awakening in response to a sacred wood being besieged by unscrupulous tree-clearing human settlers of the Empire. Playing a crusading human druid trying to stop the loggers would be a natural (heh heh) choice, but so might playing a young elemental or treant intent on defending its home. Awakening in the primeval forest, a young sapling discovers the felled bodies of its ancestors littering the forest floor around it. Intent on revenge, the lone sapling must uproot itself and undertake a quest to stop the despoilers through wit, guile and force of branch, all the while seeking the council and aid of other elemental spirits.

If you'd prefer more direct interaction with humans and their world, then a being capable of shape-shifting into human form would be an option. I find the noble metallic dragons, with their ability to adopt alternate forms, use magic and fight to be versatile PCs in solo campaigns. It'd make a good infiltrator in some type of intrigue-based campaign. A young dragon hatches alone in a new world far different from that of the bygone age when its kind were sovereign rulers over all of Anarenn. Now, great swaths of the primeval forest have been cleared by humans and their ilk. A lone hatchling must make its way discreetly through the intrigue-laden Empire they have forged if it wishes to grow and prosper. Adopting various human guises, the dragon creates friendships and alliances as it seeks its own path; one that will swell the worth of its horde while bringing it the power which is its birthright. What can I say; I'm a sucker for dragons.

Your description of the eastern-European-style kingdoms of the Virdee reminds me of one particular Romanian warlord rumored to be amongst the undead. I imagine playing an undead spirit or ghost able to occasionally posses mortals would be an interesting premise for a campaign. A ruling dynasty lays sundered in the east. A young lord, the proper heir of the kingdom, lies cold and dead in his bedchamber; the victim of his rivals' murderous intrigues. The spirits of his ancestors will not accept him within their ranks however; they demand vengeance first. And so a restless spirit stirs in the darkened halls of the royal palace as the young lord returns from the grave. The dead lord's shadow now drifts purposefully through the lands of the living as it seeks those who damned it to an eternity of torment.

A human-centric solo-campaign also lends itself well to fish-out-of-water characters. Pretty much any type of monstrous character could be played as a redeemed orphan trying to survive in human lands. The choice of race could reflect some pre-established campaign history; perhaps pointing to a race that was defeated and nearly wiped out by humans during the Empire's growth. As the Empire's frontiers plunge ever farther across the land, ancient tribal-grounds of the old races are overrun and subsumed. Nowadays, the few descendants of those ancient peoples are reviled and hunted as monsters by the citizens of the Empire. Hatred, distrust and contempt abound, but there are yet small islands of kindness and succor to be found within the empire. The high temple of the Church of the High Father is one such island. Within its grounds a lone would-be monster has been embraced by the pious clergy and raised to respect the church's doctrine. Now grown, a righteous love for the High Father propels it to undertake a pilgrimage beyond the protective walls of the temple; a crusade to prove its worth and faith as it hunts wickedness amongst the humans who would mock its monstrous appearance.

If monstrous PCs aren't your cup of tea however, more conventional characters are always possible. Perhaps a gypsy-esque character intent on ferreting out evil cabalist and summoned demons. A foul wind blows across the kingdoms of the Virdee. Rumors abound that sinister, and some would say "infernal" forces are behind the growing corruption in the hearts of men. Escalating feuds threaten to consume the land and its people in war and hellfire if nothing is done. A lone wanderer dressed in worn clothing and versed in the old ways walks into a sleepy city. Its people cannot see that they however on the brink of the Abyss. Gifted with the Second Sight and taught to hunt and slay the ancient evils, the wanderer sees and recognizes much that they'd miss however. He alone has the skills and weapons needed to dispatch these wicked foes of men. Of course, playing the flip side of that coin is also appealing to me. A lone imp, the lowliest of infernal creatures, moves discreetly through the gutters and alleys of the city of Ingrest. It moves in the form of animals as it dodges the ever vigilant Inquisitors of the church of the All Father. Seeking to further the plans of Hell, it whispers promises of power into the ears of both noble and low-born alike. If it succeeds in delivering enough corrupted souls for its infernal tithe and by doing so impress its overlords, perhaps it will earn itself a promotion down through the infernal ranks in time. And time, is definitely on the immortal demon's side...

I don't know if any of my ideas strikes a cord in you, but think about it all and let me know your thoughts on the matter. As you can see above, I'm fairly flexible concept-wise at this point.

 

[Nightbreeze]

double post

 

[Nightbreeze]

You sir, have amazing ideas for wonderful campaigns. I envy your real life DM.

I'll try to adress the questions one by one.

Hi Nightbreeze,

You only mention humans, halflings, gnomes, dwarves, goblins and orcs as races inhabiting Anarenn; certainly nothing wrong with those, though I am curious what other types of creatures might be around.

What is good about having an entire setting is the fact that every creature can be found somewhere. Those already mentioned are known to almost anyone in the world, because they have kingdoms or at least communities and tribes. It is possible that there is some hidden city of,say, dopplegangers, but they are unknown to most of them. It would be an unnecessary exercise telling you all the available races, so if you are particularly interested in some of them, just give me a list of names, and I will address each of them. Keep in mind that I have been working on this setting for just an year, and I am the kind of DM who always leaves blank spots on the map and on the history, so it is entirely possible that I just invent something on the fly.

There are some races that deserve a side note. These (elves included) are aviable if you are particularly interested in them. (and they offer exceptions to many of the common rules or knowledges in the world). However, in order to explain what and where they are, I have to disclose some knowledge that shouldn't be known by a "normal" pc. I will PM vague information if you consider taking it, and full information if you decide to play one.

The world sounds fairly human-centric; is your preference to have a human PC?

Not really. However, I'd like a PC that has a proper community and can move to another one. So if you want to play a manticore, I can place you in the Greater barbarian kingdom of the north, and there you will be able to interact with barbarian tribes, other monsters and all kind of strange things. And (secret info ) you may participate to an awesome clash with the southern civilizations.

There is however one thing that I don't appreciate about monster races: they feel a little bit too vanilla for me. (well, this is why I rarely play fighter or barbarian). If you thing you can enjoy being a "simple" melee monster for a lot of levels, that's ok for me, though.

Imagine a campaign based around those spirits awakening in response to a sacred wood being besieged by unscrupulous tree-clearing human settlers of the Empire.

It would certainly be fun
Hmmm....as for the treant, my jaw dropped when I saw that, but keep in mind this: there won't be much social interaction. I have some interesting ideas (for example the ancient fathers: they are a sort of evil treants who defend some forests, and with rituals requiring the sacrifice of human blood they can regrow chopped trees and expand the forests), it would be interesting. I thing I can provide several nice adventures, but I feel that in the long run you would get a little bit bored. (unless you start taking levels in some class and get the leadership feat...proceeding then to create an organization of nature loving spirits, druids and common folks...hmm)

a being capable of shape-shifting into human form would be an option. I find the noble metallic dragons, with their ability to adopt alternate forms, use magic and fight to be versatile PCs in solo campaigns. It'd make a good infiltrator in some type of intrigue-based campaign.

As for shape-shifting, there is that race with la+0 from eberron, for example.
As for the dragons instead, I would be an interesting experiment. Just because there are not intelligent dragons anymore . Or at least, not anyone known. Intelligent dragons are stuff of legends, because the dragons nowdays are ravenous, hungry, angry and violent beats . Sure, they have some cunning that puts them beyond the simple predators, but they are not capable of speech, and surely not capable of magic.

Before going on with the dragon idea, however, I'll have to ask you: I'm not used to monster campaigns, so: wouldn't it be awkward if a dragon gains 10 levels in, say 10 years? They should get more powerful as they age, after all. Sure, you can take classes levels, but it is awkward to see a puppy dragon casting teleport...

Or are you thing about a longer time - ranging campaign (like, frequent skips of 10-15 years?). Sadly, I can't give you that: there's a certain timeline of events that I have to respect, and they are quite important.

EDIT: Maybe what I wrote gave the wrong impression. I will allow you to play an intelligent dragon, of course.

And speaking of it, as always my immagination kicked in and I started throwing wild ideas

So, to solve the problem of power by age, when you first get out of your egg, you will find yourself alone in a strange, but familiar cave. There will be some objects and room in there, as well a mysterious chamber, filled with strange symbols, an altar and crystal items. As you will approach each new level, and you notify me that you want to proceed witht he dragon progression, you will be guided by visions. You will gather food, material components, and other specific items, and then you will enter in a week-long sleep. During the sleep, you will gain access to the memories of your ancestors, uncovering parts of their secrets and the reason behind their disappearance, and at the end of this week you awake to find the food and material components gone, new symbols on the walls of the chamber and your body, and your power grown....as well as the memories of new clues for your search

Your description of the eastern-European-style kingdoms of the Virdee reminds me of one particular Romanian warlord rumored to be amongst the undead. I imagine playing an undead spirit or ghost able to occasionally posses mortals would be an interesting premise for a campaign.

That is fine for me. I would prefer however, a longer-time possessions. Meaning, no hopping from one person to another. I'd have a few suggestions for this: for example, you are a spirit who is chosen, for one reason or another, (by the way, you would learn how afterlife actually is ) to help the rising of an young lord at a northern duchy by undermining the power of the southern nobles who will became his worst rivals in the future.

A human-centric solo-campaign also lends itself well to fish-out-of-water characters.

Side note: the empire hasn't really expanded for the last 300 years. For some reason they stopped, and they seemed happy enough to re-organize and just accept the respect and tributes of the remaining lands. If they wanted, however, they could try to influence almost anyone.

The idea of a monster as a part of an order of the church is interesting. It allows you to play a strange creature, while being a part of the society (well...kind of).

If monstrous PCs aren't your cup of tea however, more conventional characters are always possible.

Hm...I would advice you to play for the good/neutral side. Or at least, if you decide to be evil, leave a door open for the possibility of redemption. Because there could come a day when you get erased, and you don't even know why. And that is not a nice ending for the campaign .

I like the idea, however. I may have a couple of suggestions. Remember those comercial cities? Three of them form a rough triangle near the geographical center of Anarenn. And in this triangle, there are the Holy Mountains. Funny enough, they hold no particular significance for the church: it is just that as long as the civilization of Anarenn has existed, there have been temples. Think about Tibet: all sort of of orders who don't necessary share the same credo, but they coexist in peace. Also, there is the Azur Temple there: it's a center of knowledge and peace, with few equals. It is famous for the fact that its inhabitants don't worship the High Father, but are exremely respected by all of the church orders. Your character could come from there.

I don't know if any of my ideas strikes a cord in you

All of them

I shall admit that I prefer a campaign that allows you to move and interact free in human's lands, however, as that is the backbone of the setting. There are a lot of wild lands (for example the north-eastern quarter of Anarenn has no kingdomes, just a loose amount of wild-west like cities at the edge of a huge, impenetrable ancient forest.), but making an isolated campaign there doesn't really thrill me.

As you can see, I'm too flexible on the concepts
So go on with your questions, and start considering what option do you like the most. If you want, I can toss out some other idea, too.

 

[Dekana]

I'm just lurking the thread, but I thought I'd drop in and say:

(unless you start taking levels in some class and get the leadership feat...proceeding then to create an organization of nature loving spirits, druids and common folks...hmm)

...sounds like an AMAZINGLY cool idea.

 

[Nightbreeze]

I'm just lurking the thread, but I thought I'd drop in and say:...sounds like an AMAZINGLY cool idea.

Well, it would be quite original...seing treants, forest spirits collaborate in the open with humans instead of staying hidden in the deep forest as usual...I'll have to place it out of the Imperial lands, however . Well there are an infinity of places left...overall the surface of Anarenn is almost twice the surface of Europe...

Note: I have edited the section regarding dragons.

 

[Ambrus]

You sir, have amazing ideas for wonderful campaigns. I envy your real life DM.

Thanks very much for that, though you might be surprised to hear that many DMs aren't generally excited to deal with unusual PC concepts. Some occasionally fretful to hear my character pitches.

I will PM vague information if you consider taking it, and full information if you decide to play one.

You've certainly piqued my curiosity with your cryptic allusion to Anarenn elves. I wouldn't mind hearing something more about them.

If you thing you can enjoy being a "simple" melee monster for a lot of levels, that's ok for me, though.

What a monster can do changes significantly with the particulars of its race. Some have interesting special abilities or skills which can open up a many options besides simple head-bashing; just as many if not more than some character classes. But yeah, adding class levels can also be an interesting option to pursue depending on PC concept.

Hmmm....as for the treant, my jaw dropped when I saw that, but keep in mind this: there won't be much social interaction.

I wouldn't say so myself. Forests may seem big and empty to common folk, but to those who are familiar with the sylvan realm they can be positively teeming with intricate social communities of elven tree cities, hidden forest gnome tree-burroughs, sacred druidic groves, fairy mounds, goblin markets, wandering centaur tribes and perhaps even local assemblies air, earth and water elementals. Hmm. Playing an elemental spirit could be interesting...

Think of the entire forest as one large thriving cosmopolitain city that happens to be spread out over dozens or hundreds of square miles of forest. In that way, someone familiar with the various communities could travel from sylvan neighborhood to neighborhood to exchange news, services and goods with a large array of NPCs, just like in most campaigns.

As for the dragons instead, I would be an interesting experiment. Just because there are not intelligent dragons anymore

Maybe that's simply what the true dragons want mortals to believe. Nowadays the smartest dragons live incognito amongst the mortal races, accruing vast hordes while masquerading as human merchant-princes; all while living in luxury and relative safety. Only the lesser racial-throwbacks still live in dank caves...

Or are you thing about a longer time - ranging campaign (like, frequent skips of 10-15 years?). Sadly, I can't give you that: there's a certain timeline of events that I have to respect, and they are quite important.

That's the simplest solution and the direction I happened to be thinking, but its easy to adjust. Dragon Magazine 320 has the five metallic dragons presented as Savage-Species-style monster progression classes. They also suggest that PC dragons, being exceptional members of their species, can grow in size and power somewhat faster than conventional members of their species; effectively advancing in level as do other PCs and ignoring standard dragon aging. Besides, it sounds like you're somewhat used to tweaking draconic races in your campaign setting to suit your desires.

Hm...I would advice you to play for the good/neutral side. Or at least, if you decide to be evil, leave a door open for the possibility of redemption.

That'd be fine; I generally prefer to play on the light side of things. The undead spirit can try to maintain a moral code it held in life, though it'd be harder for the imp I imagine. I have to admit; it could be interesting to try playing a recalcitrant demon seeking to weazle it's way out of the afterlife its earned after a life of wickedness...

Also, there is the Azur Temple there: it's a center of knowledge and peace, with few equals. It is famous for the fact that its inhabitants don't worship the High Father, but are extremely respected by all of the church orders. Your character could come from there.

It sounds like an interesting venue. Do you have any suggestions for an interesting PC race in your campaign background?

I shall admit that I prefer a campaign that allows you to move and interact free in human's lands.

Fair enough. That being said, of the oddball concepts I've pitched, I think a dragon PC who can spend unlimited amounts of time in human form would have the easiest time interacting in conventional human society.

If you want, I can toss out some other idea, too.

I'd welcome any PC ideas or suggestions you believe might prove interesting.

 

[Nightbreeze]

I'm going to reply now. It seems that you didn't notice my edit on the dragons, as you were probably writing while I edited So I'll not be adressing it for now, and I'll be waiting to see what do you think about that option.

 

[Ambrus]

So I'll not be addressing it for now, and I'll be waiting to see what do you think about that option.

What you describe sounds interesting if you intend it as a means of introducing background and plot, though if it's intended as an artificial means to age a PC dragon then I have to admit it interests me less. Like I mentioned above, I believe there are simpler ways to deal with the draconic aging issue besides resorting to an elaborate magical solution.

Another idea for playing a dragon that occurs to me would be to try a pseudodragon PC. They often associate with, and are sought out by humans. My PC could associate itself with a human cohort/owner of some sort. The dragon could serve as a spy and ally while furthering its own goals. Advancing in class levels would help give the character added abilities.

 

[Nightbreeze]

You've certainly piqued my curiosity with your cryptic allusion to Anarenn elves. I wouldn't mind hearing something more about them.

Will send a private message asap.

What a monster can do changes significantly with the particulars of its race. Some have interesting special abilities or skills which can open up a many options besides simple head-bashing; just as many if not more than some character classes. But yeah, adding class levels can also be an interesting option to pursue depending on PC concept.

I see. Well, ask me about some races and I will give you some background on them.

I wouldn't say so myself. Forests may seem big and empty to common folk, but to those who are familiar with the sylvan realm they can be positively teeming with intricate social communities of elven tree cities, hidden forest gnome tree-burroughs, sacred druidic groves, fairy mounds, goblin markets, wandering centaur tribes and perhaps even local assemblies air, earth and water elementals. Hmm. Playing an elemental spirit could be interesting...

Eh...the question is not that simple. There's a difference between the Anarenn forests and the classic fantasy forest. There are exceptions, but generally the ancient forests of Anarenn are far darker, nastier and less merrier places. There are no beatiful elven cities with happy animals passing by: there are nasty, old, grim and ancients spirits of the land, who mercilessly squash any human who dares enter the sacred groves. There are ravenous beasts, who prey on the hunters. There are the so-called grey forests, where all of this is twice as bad.

Of course, not every forest is THAT bad. There are better forests, but even there the fey population is really small (and most of the times, not really those good fellas you use to know). Now, a druid who has travelled a little bit knows where are those places where he can find benevolent spirits, treants and gnomes, but he will likely has to travel a lot from one to the other.

There are few exceptions however: somewhere on Anarenn there's a huge forest that is almost exactly the way you described it. I just wanted to give you the general feeling of Anarenn.

You have two options: a grim campaign, where you have to move a lot, and you can't expect much benevolence from your natural allies, or a "classic" druid campaign, but mostly limited to the same country, at list for a while.

That'd be fine; I generally prefer to play on the light side of things. The undead spirit can try to maintain a moral code it held in life, though it'd be harder for the imp I imagine. I have to admit; it could be interesting to try playing a recalcitrant demon seeking to weazle it's way out of the afterlife its earned after a life of wickedness...

As I have edited the dragons "canon" knowledge, I have (even more) edited afterlife and cosmology. If I showed all of it to you, you won't probably recognize it. And besides, there are no demons/devils, at least not in the way D&D has always presented them.

It sounds like an interesting venue. Do you have any suggestions for an interesting PC race in your campaign background?

Regarding the holy mountains, as you could have guessed, most of the monk orders in Anarenn come from there. There are rumors that some of the senseis are centuries old, but of course, no one can just go and ask them if that's true. It often happens that a monk is sent away from his monastery with a quest, or just to make him experience 10 years of life in the outside world.

The Azur Temple is an entirely different thing. It is somewhat lika a city built on a plateu, and a road connects it to the imperial way that connects the three commercial cities. Heavy (but unguarded) walls form several blocks on the road, until it gets to Azur. Then there's a little city built before the last wall (that one is guarder day and night), and behind that there are the gardens of Azur. You can see the top of the towers of Azur and nothing else. Common folk are not admitted behind the Blue Wall: they have no reason to go beyond it, as if they are sick, they will get cured outside of it. If they are hungry, they will be fed in the city. Usually, when a pilgrim arrives, the azurites help him and send him away after a month or so: they have a lot of friendly nobles, merchants or simply land-owners, and they always try to send a good word to one of them regarding the pilgrim.

As for unusual races risen by the Temple, there's a specific order who has a tradition for having non-standard members. They are however a little bit out of the society, as those not capable of mating with humans cannot get any noble title (they would have no human or half-human son/daughter). They are certainly respected...but they just are different.

As for races....I'll leave it up to you. I don't have nothing ready on that, so just give me a list of races and I will adress them. I have no custom races (as for now).

Fair enough. That being said, of the oddball concepts I've pitched, I think a dragon PC who can spend unlimited amounts of time in human form would have the easiest time interacting in conventional human society.I'd welcome any PC ideas or suggestions you believe might prove interesting.

Whatever you chose to play, there are some things that will inevitably pop out in any campaign: mainly all the different orders of the church, war scenarios, and the wizards. The former have an agreement: none of them shows up on the battlefield support one army or another, as it could lead to in-fight between the wizard towers. The only exception to this rule are the warmages trained by the empire, and the wizards of Relentas, who give the empire the subtle kind of magic that the warmages don't have.

Ah, important not on the magic: no fly spells. And no teleports . Also, no sendings
Playing a wizard will be painful, because you will get sucked in training until you are 5th level, then they will give you two bodyguards and ask if you want to join some tower. Most of the wizards do, because that a secure way to learn new spells. There are few spells available, and it is really difficult to research new ones, so most of the wizards try to just steal or find new one in ancient ruins.

An idea that crossed my mind is that you may try to be a gryphon rider: they are used by the empire as scouts and messengers. This campaign would need some twist, because it gets boring after a little bit.

You could also be "just" a merchant/noble anywhere you want, or you may try something else. Or you can live as a mercenary (pretty common in the Virdee).

There is a little population of water-born creatures. As I said, there are no seas, but there are great rivers and lakes, and near the center of Anarenn there's a lake that is similar to a see (and in the center of it there are the islands where the Fortresses of Magic are: that is the "capitol city" of the wizards)