Challenging my high-lvl group (NPCs and monsters; my players shouldn't read this!)

[Knightfall]

Piratecat's Eversink Region

Okay, here's a CC2 map I did for Piratecat, at one point, based on a few JPGs he sent me. I'd planned on doing more, but got away from it, as I have my own homebrewed world to map out. However, now that he's -reposting his story hour again, I might re-visit the maps.

Cheers!

Knightfall1972

 

[Knightfall]

And here's another...

This map is based on a map sent to me by Dylrath's player, Sialia.

This was originally posted as an attachment on this thread. - KF72

 

[Piratecat]

Robert, one more reason why you absolutely rock. I still feel bad that life got complicated and I didn't dig up all the info you had asked for. Thank you again for making these! I'm honored that you did so.

 

[Knightfall]

Robert, one more reason why you absolutely rock. I still feel bad that life got complicated and I didn't dig up all the info you had asked for. Thank you again for making these! I'm honored that you did so.

No worries. Besides, CC2 Pro is fun!

 

[Kaodi]

Hmmm...

What if some of the best sources of information on the worms comes from Horr, or one of his empathic followers? After all, he is the demi-god of pain and suffering, and may have some sort of insight into the people of the old Spira who were slain by the worms. Where as in most religions, like you said, the very notion of this sort of stuff would be heretical, the most sensitive of Horr's followers would know it to be true. They can *feel* it. And while the notion of the worms bringing *more* pain and suffering may be appealing to them, complete destruction, the end of pain and suffering, is still antithetical (sp?) to them.

And a thought on the sword... Perhaps, once upon a time, before the Lich Queen became the Lich Queen, she had a son. This son grew up to become a great soldier, and fought ferociously against all of his mothers enemies. When the Lich Queen ascended to leadership of the Githyanki, a priest or prophet foretold that as long as the son remained loyal to his mother, she would rule forever. A rival of the Lich Queen thought she could get around this by just slaying the son outright, but from the thoughts of the dying son, a powerful blade coalesced and came into being. With the blade, one on the Queens bodyguards slew the rival, and it became tradition that the son lived on in the blade. To make a long story short, for Galthia to possess the sword means that the son has lost faith in the Lich Queen, else he would never allowed himself to be wielded by a mortal foe of the githyanki. So, according to the prophecy, the rest of the Githyanki believe that the Lich Queen is now vulnerable to being defeated and overthrown...

 

[Spatzimaus]

After all, he is the demi-god of pain and suffering, and may have some sort of insight into the people of the old Spira who were slain by the worms.

Well, those people were killed before his grandfather, Boros, was even born. So I'm not sure how much connection his worshippers could have to that. If any god had the ability to tell about what happened before the first gods arrived, it'd be Quenntil: God of Time, Travel, and Change. (That first comma is important; being God of Time Travel is just plain shark-jumping.)

It's somewhat unfortunate that none of your gods is a "God of the Earth" type, because that one would be a natural to know when the baby worms started up; as it is now, there's no obvious god to give warnings before they reach the Underdark and start eating living beings. Do any of the gods even have the Earth domain?
Actually, the very fact that none of them have that portfolio fits in well with your "Spira is alive" concept. It also allows the arcane types to take center stage a bit more, since arcane divinations shouldn't be affected (as much) by whatever it is that keeps the gods from seeing what the worms are doing.

 

[Piratecat]

Yup, that's actually on purpose (or so I can claim as I speedily backfill.) There's no god of the earth because that role is effectively taken up by Spira herself. She doesn't give oracular visions or really communicate, though; she's more of a demi-urge than the personification that the other deities generally are.

This is actually good plot-wise. I'd just as soon surprise the PCs with what's actually happening. They'll have some clues via Agar's visions, but they may not put them together.

Kaodi, ther concept of using Horr is an interesting one. I've never used him to his true potential. I'm suddenly taken with the idea of making a Horrish (I know, I know) sect that is similar to Ilmater in the FR: massochists who believe in purity through self-flagellation. Less stereotypical than the ones who hurt others.

 

[Kaodi]

More On Horr

It also bears mentioning that if the clergy of Horr believes in torturing themselves, after said torture they should always be careful to heal themselves up, because the best way to experience pain is probably through undamaged nerve endings.

 

[Spatzimaus]

I'm suddenly taken with the idea of making a Horrish (I know, I know) sect that is similar to Ilmater in the FR: massochists who believe in purity through self-flagellation. Less stereotypical than the ones who hurt others.

Well, there are real-world precedents for the whole "purity through austerities" concept, within Christianity. So you wouldn't have to go far to find details on this sort of thing.

Personally, I think this whole situation is a chance for you to try out all sorts of things you haven't had a chance to include previously due to lack of detail; after all, it's not like your players are going to be spending a lot of time with these groups. (First, because the campaign's almost done, and second, because they're now too high in level to deal with minor mundane stuff.) Second, like you said before, you've never fleshed out the other continents, but now is the appropriate time for them to be meeting the most powerful people from these other places, so you've got carte blanche to add new stuff without having to completely balance it all out.

For instance, when I think about this topic, I keep coming back to an idea I mentioned in passing earlier... if Aedrae is the goddess of Fate and the "waychooser" (usually meaning an oracle of some kind), imagine a distant LN theocracy where divinations are used to determine every 5-year-old child's eventual career (again, "waychooser" takes on a more sinister meaning) and this determines what training/education/social resources the person gets. More importantly, this lets the priests maintain absolute Big Brother-style control by quietly weeding out anyone who the divinations say will be a rebel, criminal, or any other "undesirable" career; minor deviations can be adjusted along the way, but the people who'll end up with really chaotic philosophies (adventurers!) get removed (killed if you want them evil, shipped off to other lands if not).

Also, a quick question: How widespread are non-Human civilizations? In the story hour, while the non-Humans were common, most of the places seemed to be very Human-centric and I'm not sure if there was ever anywhere where they had distinct societies outside of the Underdark. Maybe it was just a question of how things were phrased, but when reading I basically assumed that anyone they met was Human unless specified otherwise...

So, this'd give you a starting point for other civilizations in the world; what would an Elf-based or Dwarf-based multiracial society look like? I don't mean a pure Elf society, that's easy. In one of my previous campaigns I had a city that was Elf-founded, and they still made up a plurality of the population (maybe 40%, with 30% human and 30% other); it was a challenge to come up with something that still had a vaguely elvish feeling but that wasn't purely dominated by them (for the record, I don't think I pulled it off completely). For a dwarf-based one, ever read David Weber's "Oath of Swords" series? They had a good dwarf-and-human empire, very commerce-oriented with an unmatched professional infantry army. I used it as the model for the main civilization in my last campaign, except I integrated psionics into it.

 

[Piratecat]

This is a great idea. The rough history is that humans came to this continent (Abbathia) fleeing a giant political wizard-war on the old continent (Shelantry - hey, I DO remember a continent name!). I think the elves probably ended up the ruling race when all was said and done. I originally pictured Shelantry as really political and structured, sort of like the castes of India with more intrigue than normal. I never used it that way because I added political intrigue in locally instead.

An elven nation of law, where the society you've described thrives, really has its appeal.

]"I am Cleddin Al-Torine Pel-Sinter Pel-Pyrole. I am of the Enlightened Seeker caste, and belong to the 113th faction of such."

.. blank looks...

"In other words, I am destined to be a hero. All who would stand in the way of that have been removed from my path. Unless you are of a higher rank, it is your duty and joy to please step aside."