Politics:
Half-orcs make up the ruling class of Eyros, and the most high born can trace their ancestry back through several generations of orcish forebears. It has a long tradition of senatorial governance, with occassional periods of despotic autocracy when a particular family or individual gains dominance. Some of the 'unsuccessful' true half-orc candidates have fled into the wilderness regions of Eyros, where they have established a crude, barbarian society of their own. They claim that the only 'true' half-orcs are those bred from two half-orcs, and are becoming both an irritant and an embarrassment to the noble houses of Eyros as their numbers slowly rise.
Because only a TRUE first-generation half-orc may ascend the Thone, the Noble families are very strict about the purity of their House lineages. There are 6 of these families, known collectively as "The Pillars". Three are Human, and Three are Orcish. The greatest political wrangling consists of arranging marriages between Orc and Human children, striving for that one first-generation child that will next take the throne. Needless to say, those half-orc noble childern that don't make the throne find themselves very, very expendable.
The various Houses of Eyros (including the Six Pillars) are greatly extended families, and actually contain more than one family name within them. If someone wants to fully and formally identify themselves, they include personal name, family name, and both House names. This procedure uses the Orc prefix "dal," which indicates "of," when naming the father's House; and the prefix "ty," which loosely translates into "by way of," for indicating the mother's House. For instance, Felra Raj-Tinar would, in court, introduce herself as "Felra Raj-Tinar dal-Vajar ty-."
The House of Malarn, is considered to be the most progressive of the Pillars. The leaders of the house occasionally go as far as to "adopt" notable or particularily worthy members of other races into the house, on an honorary basis. Obviously, they are kept out of positions in line for ascendancy to the throne. They are however, allowed to add the dal-Malarn suffix to their name.
Because of this, they are looked upon with suspicion by the more pure Pillars. Even more so, since their house produces a higher percentage of career officers and soldiers. Are they positioning themselves for a move against the other pillars?
Culture:
Eyros has very "Roman-esque" feel, Style of dress, and architecture. People favor togas, buildings have Big Columns..Large, beautiful statues of the Gods/Kings.
Due to the need for the noble families to both maintain pure human or orc lines and to produce half-blooded children they commonly practice polygamy. Most commonly this is in the form of a noble married to another noble of an off-race house, and to another spouse of the same race, this second spouse is almost always (very strong custom) drawn from outside the noble families. (The practice of in race exogamy help avoid the dangers of inbreeding.) It is from these non-noble spouses that the pure familly lines continue. (Note that only noble to noble offspring use hyphenated names.
There are also (rarer) quartet marriges composed of two noble spouses and two nonnoble spouses (Two orcs, two humans.) Such a quartet can obviously produce halforc children by the nonnoble parents, such children are considered noble but form the very lowest rank of nobility, equivilent to a squire or landless knight.
These marrige customs are one of the causes of the rumours amoung non Eyrosians of Eyrosian debauchery.
Eyros is a militant society: the half-orcs in power fear it is one in decline, for they are not the iron warriors their forefathers were. The armies of Eyros tend to favor cavalry and ranged combat due to the potential large battlefields, and need for distance from plainsfires. For all races in Eyros except the half-orcs, a five-year tour of military service is compulsory upon reaching adulthood. However, this term of service can be waived by the Emeror, a senator, or a local governor, if the individual can prove that he is contributing to society's well-being in some other way. Thus, most people try to be among the best at whatever it is they do--craftsmen, trader, magic, whatever--to avoid conscription. The exception to this rule are the dwarves, who are generally considered insufficiently trustworthy to serve on the battlefield. Among the Orc-Blooded themselves, those who do not choose to serve are looked down upon, though they are not forced to do so. And as most Orc-Blooded begin their military careers as officers, most of them are happy to serve.
Passed down from ancient orcish traditions, adapted through cooperation with the humans for so long, Eyrian nobility tend to be somewhat hedonistic and boisterous, particularly relishing debate, oratory, dueling, and watching gladiatorial matches. As the orcs of old solved their problems and debates largely through shouting, threats, and outright violence, so too do the Eyrians engage in similar though more refined methods of venting frustration, solving disputes, and expressing themselves. Public debate and oratory are common pasttimes of the nobility, which can sometimes become very heated especially amongst the orcish and half-orcish amongst the Pillars.
Senators and their ilk tend to earn reputations through a sharp wit or combat prowess, as most disputes and matters of honor amongst the nobility are solved through a formalized duel, usually right on the spot, but those who are keen of wit can back out of a duel by dismissing the accuser's case with a sharp rebuttal or a scathing rebuke that puts the accuser to shame, forcing him to back down.
When the challenge of a duel is accepted, the fight is brutal and fast, neither party allowed to use magic except for the most simple of magic arms and armor they may have with them, and then only if they own it personally. There must be witnesses, and at least one noble witness of neither contender's family to serve as official observer of the victory. Duels are never to the death, but a warrior cannot yield unless they are unable to effectively fight on. Severed limbs or the like must be replaced shortly afterward by the severer, by paying a priest to Regenerate the severee. In the event of accidental death, the slayer or his/her family must pay for the slain to be True Ressurected, or as near as they can afford.
The duels help the orc-blooded to maintain their civility by taking out their inherant aggression non-lethally on those who transgress upon them, while the humans less frequently instigate duels.
As is to be expected from a culture dominated by Half-Orcs, fashion throughout the realm takes it's cue from the nobles. Royal clothes are dyed red with the blood of a ritually slaughtered sacred lizard. Only one of these beasts may be sacrificed in this manner each year, making red garments both highly desireable, as well as incredibly expensive.
Additionally the green tint of a half orcs skin is seen as a sign of virility and nobility. As such there is great demand for skin dyes and cosmetics to enhance the greenish tint of the skin. Surprisingly, many of the other races have also taken to using these green cosmetics. Since Copper is the necessary ingredient for these cosmetics, it is never used as currency, and it's value has been steadily increasing throughout the realm.
The noble half orcs are trained from birth in a special ritualized fighting style known as "The Claws of the Dragon." This fighting style specializes in the two-bladed sword, and uses many leaping attacks and charges. Each year a tournament is held for the the nation's youth to compete in this bloody martial art. While other races are permitted to enter the tournamet, few do, and everyone knows that even those that do are expected to purposefully lose to their orcblooded betters.
Horses are uncommon in Eyros and considered weak and useless by the Eyrian orcs. Instead Eyrians ride longstrider lizards (deinonychus, dinosaur) which have been domesticated for riding and for drawing carts. Warstrider lizards are longstriders which are ridden into battle. While longstriders and warstriders are identical only the fittest and most promising longstrider lizards become warstriders.
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.
Lamb is the predominant food source. Most peasants are shepherd/farmers, who save the fattest and juiciest lamb of the year as an offering for the sacred lizards at the local temples.
One of the latest trends in the city of Eyrdeyn is horticulture. There has been much reclamation of land in the city for the growing of gardens etc, which has caused growing resentment from the lower classes of the city who tend to be the ones most affected by the reclamations. The race is on by the more prominent families/companies/guilds etc to see who can coach one of the Kohl'Tass (the Lizard Men Druids from the delta of the Kohoal mentioned in post 44) out of the delta to help tend the new fashion. No one has succeeded in doing this yet.
Indeed, to save land, and also to keep the gardens close to their homes, the wealthiest of merchants and the ruling class have begun to build gardens on top of their roofs, for their private appreciation. This also allows as much sunlight as possible to reach the plants. Competition among certain circles has grown so fierce, that some people have taken to importing the richest, most fertile soil from several hundred miles away, and to sabotaging their neighbor's gardens.
Most people in the Sovereignty speak Vulgar Eyrosian, also known as Peasant Speech, the Common Tongue, or simply Eyrosian. This language combines the now-dead language of Ancient Vraylese (from which most human languages are derived) with a large infusion of orcish words. Meanwhile, legal documents are required to be written (and royal decrees spoken) in Noble Eyrosian, known to most commoners as Court Speech. This language has become softer and more refined than the tribal orcish tongues from which it is derived. The two dialects are closely related; native speakers of one can understand speech in the other 90% of the time. However, court documents written in Noble Eyrosian use the old orcish pictograms, very concise but challenging to learn.
History:
The Kings used to be pure blooded members of the 6 pillars following the ancient conquest, with each King choosing a succesor from another House in a Fixed sequence. 350 years ago the Kings and his chosen succesor were killed by a dwarven assasin (The source of the current hatred of dwarves). The succession split along racial lines and a fierce civil war ensued, becoming a war of anihilation between Orcs and Humans. A huge proportion of both populations were killed. The war ended in horror when one of the six pillars was obliterated to a man, and a truce was brokered by Agathon of the Crimson Robe; as a half-orc, he was the only one who could deal with both sides. A great moot was held, and chose Agathon as the new king; it was this that began the tradition of half-orc rule. Also at the moot an obscure cadet branch of the lost familly was elevated to status as one of the 6 pillars to maintain the racial balance.
There is a dark secret behind the short lifespans of the Eyrian monarchs: Long ago when the cruel elven warlords ruled the land that is now called Eyros, their Valjin (necromancer-enchanters) created a powerful and insidious magic in their volcanic magic laboratory that allowed them to extend their already-lengthy lifespans at the expense of their orcish thralls, who were kept docile and servile while living shorter lives at the same time. After the orc/human conquest, the ancient gnomish necromancer Thanatos and his apprentices struggled mightily to reverse-engineer the magic against the elves, but the best they could do was reverse the enchantment magic, as the lifespan portion seems to be based purely on an idiosyncracy of elven physiology. Thanatos created an amythest crown that would need to be worn by one of orc blood that would allow control of the elves by the invaders at the expense of the wearer's lifeforce. As a result, the invaders were able to create the Masks, a group of elves who are servile and childlike in their outlook, but able to live a very long time. Because of this, there exist Masks like the famously powerful Alivia, a youthful and childlike elf who enjoys sweets but has actually been alive for the entire 3000 year history of humans and orcs in Eyrdeyn. Only a few members of each house know this secret, and they must sometimes retreat to the volcano with the Patriae Sicarii to revitalise the crown, which has led to the rumours of a cushy hot-spring retreat. The assassination leading to the civil war of 350 years ago (Known as the War of the Crumbled Pillar due to the annihilation of one of the pillars) was instigated by an orc Pillar that was upset by the fact that only orcs were victimised by this process. Agathon's genius lay in choosing half-orcs to wear the crown, as well as initiating a tradition of abdication that allowed these half-orcs to remove the crown when they became enfeebled.
Currency:
Carca (carcas): A small rectangular iron coin which is used instead of copper. 1 carca weighs 4.5 grams and 100 carcas weighs 1 pound.
Sepus (sepii): A large silver coin usually stamped with the ruling family’s symbol on one side and an image of Mt. Xark and the City of Eyrdeyn on the back. 1 Sepus weighs 8.5 grams and 50 sepii weighs 1 pound.
Zoth (zothen): A small gold coin. In Eyros zothen are worth 1 gp, but outside of Eyros zothen are worth only 5 sp due to their small weight. 1 zoth weighs 4.5 grams and 100 zothen weighs 1 pound.
Thal (thals): paper currency. With a shortage of platinum Eyros uses paper currency in its place. While worth 1 pp in Eyros, thals are considered worthless everywhere else. 1 thal weighs 1 gram and 500 thals weighs 1 pound.
10 iron carcas = 1 silver sepus
10 silver sepii = 1 gold zoth
10 gold zothen = 1 paper thal
Religion:
Few of the religions recognize "gods" per se; the divine takes other forms.
The dominant and oldest religion has grown up around the worship of the reptiles which are common in the area. Called the Draconic Legacy, it reveres saurians of all types and the dragons of legend in particular. Dragons, though they feature prominently in fairy tales and children's bedtime stories, are suspicously absent from modern history. Locals believe that the large reptiles that roam the nearby wilderness are somehow linked to these dragons, which in turn represented divine forces. This is why the dominant religion focuses on reptiles.
Draconic Legacy prophecies often speak of a promised High Holy One who will come to save the empire in it's time of greatest need. This promised champion is said to combine all the finest qualities of the noble half-orc as well as the power of the ancient dragons (half-dragon). Occaisonally a half-orc child will be born with what appears to be scales, or the slitted eyes of a reptile. These children are taken and raised by the reptile cult, and while they have all shown remarkable aptitude for arcane magic (sorceror), none of them has yet proven to be the High Holy One. Of course it must be said that the empire has yet to face its time of greatest need ...
The Draconic Legacy has an unbreakable tradition of Sanctuary. Anyone who ask for sanctuary at a temple must be granted it, and cannot be evicted unless they violate the hospitality of the cult.
Other religions include: An elemental fire cult called the Crucible, which is responsible for preserving the purity of royal lineage.
A relatively new dualistic religion called the Children of Dawn, who seek to usher the world out of what they see a the current age of darkness and into a new golden age. They see those opposed to their goals as agents of Twilight. Although it is a relatively small faith, the Childen of the Dawn have a great deal of influece due to its popularity among the merchant class and the human-blood House of Kiron. The Dawnist dispise the Elves of Nistadeen as both mercantile competitors and infidels. They consider the debasement of the symbol of the Dawn into a creature created in the elves own image, the "god" Corythos, a blasphemy of the highest order. House Kiron has made it known that they will only support half-orc applicants to the throne who pledge to destroy Nistadeen and wipe out the Corythian heresy.
A belief in the power of the Sea itself, practiced almost exclusively by halflings.
The common folk make frequent, largely ceremonial blood sacrifice to the soil; the blood of thousands waits beneath the ground for the call of sorcery and ritual. A tree known as Bloodwillow often grows from the blood-soaked soil. The large black fruit it grows is full of seeds and absorbed blood. This fruit, known as Clot Apples (ew!) can be used to give power to necromantic rituals and spells. Entire secret valleys full of Bloodwillows are tended by the Praes Thanatos.
Each family of the ruling class also has a family god, usually a legendary ancestor, that only they worship. This god is given small offerings, usually of food or incense, at the last meal of the day and are also honored at a yearly festival, during which the idols are clothed and bejewelled in a lavish style. Families compete to have the most beautifully, and expensively, dressed idol and show them off in grand parade. It is a great disgrace and bad luck for a family to lose the idol, to have their idol destroyed or to be unable to honor it with appropriate gifts.
All the many faiths of Eyros, and its surrounding nations as well, have one common legend to all of them: The myth of the demon Taufenacht. Taufenacht is something of a Satan-equivalent, not in that he's the source of all evil--he's not considered to be such by any of the major religions--but in the idea that he is the ruler of demons, tempter of mortals, and tormentor of damned souls. (Of course, exactly what one has to do to be damned in the afterlife varies from faith to faith.)
Other Races:
The Orc-Blooded royal and noble families keep a population of elven slaves, trained from birth to be completely loyal and to practice arcane magics. They are used to make up for the fact that the Orc-Blooded themselves don't make the best arcane casters. Free elves (and other non-orc races) refer to these slave/wizard elves as "Masks," in reference to the fact that there's always an Orc-Blood "behind" them. Note that only a small percentage of Eyros' elves are Masks.
Dwarves, an outlawed race, seem to be the dominate race in the Jagged Eye (see below). Speaking stonechant, the orc name for the dwarven language, is a crime in Eyros punishable by removal of the speaker’s tongue.
Government hegemony is enforced by a cadre of gnomish necromancers known as Praes Thanatos. Insurgent groups such as the Jagged Eye, and sympathisers, are suppressed by summoning small armies of undead from the ambient corpses due to sacrifical rituals. As such, dwarves and gnomes tend not to get along, as many dwarves have friends or relatives who have been pacificed by Praes Thanatos. Note that only a small percentage of Eyros' gnomes belong to Praes Thanatos.
Halflings have escaped the Dominion of Eyros by turning to the sea: They now have gargantuan floating colonies of latched-together ships, rafts, and boats that drift with the currents. Piracy has become the backbone of halfling society, without the plunder obtained from raids along the coastlines of Eyros the halflings in their cities of floating flotsam could not survive. The most notorious of the halfling pirate gangs is the Bloodsong Buccaneers, led by the pirate-bard Captain Darrenback.
Warlike goblinoid clans make frequent raids into Eryos' northern territory.
Climate and Geography:
The climate is that of the chaparral (Mediterranean climate zones) and is characterised by
mild winters, and hot dry summers. Topography includes flat plains, rocky hills and mountain slopes scrubland predominates although larger woodland areas do exist. Fires occur frequently in the grasslands and scrub.
The planet of Eyros circles a blue sun in a slightly erratic and ellipical orbit both winters and summers vary greatly from year to year (some winters are mild while others nearly snuff the life from the land). The sun appears about 75% of the size of Sol and a year is significantly longer than an Earth year. (Mouseferatu's edit, to reconcile these two facts: While these long winters don't hit Eyros that hard, as per Tonguez's post, which came first, it does impact the climate of the world as a whole, often resulting in shortages and famine in Eyros because it has fewer trading partners.)
The moon over Eyros is marked with what looks like vast, green forests. Observation of the moon has shown that the forests migrate across the surface at a startling rate- often moving miles in only a month's time! Who knows what strange magics could possess this lunar vegetation?
The kingdom’s capital is the great city of Eyrdeyn (often colloquially referred to as the First City), a sprawling metropolis built upon the slopes of Mt. Xark, upon which the largest of the Grand Monarch’s fortress-palaces stands. The capital is well over three thousand years old making it the oldest settlement in Eyros still in use. Due to its long history and the general instability of Mt. Xark the city of Eyrdeyn has been destroyed and rebuilt numerous times, each time the city is rebuilt on the ruins of the previous city. This has created a vast underground labyrinth of ruins beneath the city, layers upon layers of ancient ruins stacked on top of each other.
Besides the capital, Eyros has six major cities/towns. Each of these six cities is controlled by one of the 6 houses and are run much like independent city-states. One way to measure a house’s wealth and power is by how prosperous their city is, having a weak, faltering city is a severe humiliation for a house.
Much of the land that makes up present-day Eyros was once, thousands of years ago, an elven province. From the northern highlands an invading army of orc and human tribes marched through the fertile elven steppes where they sacked and destroyed the splendid elven cities. Eventually the conquering army reached the base of Mt. Xark where they declared total victory over the elves and founded the city of Eyrdeyn to be their capitol over their newly conquered lands.
Mt Xarx is a volcano and the surrounding area famed for its hot springs and spas. A tourist trade is in place serving those who seek the restorative mineral waters. The highest pool on Mt Xarx is the Royal Pool and the exclusive property of the Palace. The inner chambers chambers are kept by the Priests of the Fire Cult, a royal mystery cult.
The delta of the great river Kohoal is home to a race of Lizardmen regarded as semi-divine. These lizardmen called the Kohl'Tass, are autonomous and are the heart of the druidic tradition in Eyros. It is considered a great honor amoung the druids to train with the Kohl'Tass. Several rare plants in the delta are valuable components for magic item creation and poachers are a constant problem.
From its delta 80 miles west of Mt. Xark, the great river Kohoal winds far to the northeast, its headwaters springing from among the sharp crags of the Valdweyn Peaks. Here, in the far-flung province of Zhalccu (where House Zhal has a strong presence and governs with semi-autonomy), the Jagged Eye maintains a number of secret camps linked to mountain villages by underground passageways.
Located on the great river Kohoal is Mhur, the City of Iron, a bleak city covered in soot and smoke from numerous blazing smelters and forges. Mhur is the industrial heart of Eyros and from its docks flow heavy barges laden down with iron and weapons, delivering their valuable cargo throughout the region.
The main food producing areas of Eyros are the broad plains to the west of Eyrdeyn. These fields were made by cutting the bountiful forests that once stood there down many many generations ago. The soils are now slowly being depleted which is leading to a decline in the amount of food that is being produced thus leading to problems for the 6 Pillars.
Common predators in the Dominion of Eryos include giant lizards and birds of prey, which often grow large enough to carry an entire lamb. Farmers also use a bull-sized variant of sheep, known as olxem, to do heavy farm work.
To the South East exists a large sea. So large, in fact, that it is seemingly endless. Despite numerous attempts to sail to the end, no ships have returned with tales of land or any sort of end. Indeed, no ships that have returned ever sailed further than a weeks voyage away from the mainland. There are ancient tales of monsters in the depths, but none have ever been seen. At least, by those who have lived to tell the tale.
The largest ocean port of Eryos is Malarn-ka, situated on the Bay of Deception, 100kms west of the delta of the Kohoal River. The Bay of Deception is so named for the difficulty in navigating the reefs at the entrance of the bay. The water is very silty and cloudy, so finding the reefs is very difficult. They have never been marked or plotted on a map in the name of the defense of the city from water borne attacks. Every ship that wants to enter the bay first picks up a pilot from a small man-made island near the entrance to the bay, who has memorized the method for finding the reefs. The House of Malarn controls the city and the trade it brings, lining their own coffers with various taxes levied on all goods brought through the city and the fees for the pilot service used in entering the bay. The fleet of Eryos is not based here, but has a number of ships based at the man-made island.
To the south of Eyros is the coastal Draakmar Fens, a dismal place of dense, tangling vegetation and deep saltwater marshes. (This marsh likely along portions of the sea coast, and along Nistadeen as well.)
Other Nations:
To the northeast of Eyros lies the tiny nation of Saagersberg. It is ruled by the solar, Conquers Twice, who is worshipped as a god.
To the extreme north lies the frozen land of Kwlloch, a plateau surrounded by the vast peaks of the Salruhn range. Kwlloch is, and always has been, ruled by The Twelve. Little is known about this group but they are unlikely to be human, the land being predominantly inhabited by goblinoids and frost folk. Shapeshifters, such as lycanthropes and dopplegangers, are also relatively common. The Twelve's system of government seems to survive even the worst of the ice ages, perhaps because they are inured to any degree of cold. From time to time The Twelve send great beasts from their realm to raid the southern lands.
The kingdom of Ghalfaen is a small coastal nation (on the coast of the above-mentioned sea), and was a traditional enemy of Eyros until the Sovereign Dominion grew so large, Ghalfaen couldn't possibly compete. It is now very nearly a protectorate, and its king a semi-puppet of the Orc-Blooded, allowed to rule only so long as he cooperates with Eyros. Secretly, however, he and his court have licensed the halfling privateers to prey on Eyros ships in Ghalfaen territorial waters.
In the last few decades a rival to Eyros has arisen in the south (bordering on Ghalfaen as well) - the elven-dominated empire of Nistadeen. Nistadeen is a great mercantile and sea power, aggressively expansionist. Its main religion is the church of Corythos, the sun god. A faction within the church, the Cult of the Second Sun, seeks to survive the coming ice age by channelling power from the positive energy plane to create another sun.
Unknown to any but the dwarves the caverns below Zhalccu province contain a terrible threat, a City of Mindflayers. They had been contained only by the psionic might of the dwarves. Now with the dwarves being driven back from the area by the efforts of the Orc-Blooded, the Mindflayers are starting to stir. Three small villages have disappeared overnight.
NPCs:
Felra Raj-Tinar (the dashed name indicates her connection to both her orc and human House lineages) is an intelligent and well-liked young half orc who is expected by many to take the throne when the aging ruler abdicates (half-orcs have such a low life-expectancy...) Little does anyone suspect that Felra is secretly involved in a forbidden love affair with the notorious pirate captain Darrenback!
The Half-Elf Leader (King?) of Ghalfaen knows of the secret of House Vajar (see below, it is the privateer Darrenback who has kept him from using the information for fear of the repercussions for Felra Raj-Tinar.
Sania is a bloodthirsty fiendish dryad necromancer who has sprung up as the spirit of an elder Bloodwillow in Praes Thanatos's secret orchard. She is the source of Praes Thanatos's newest secret necromancy techniques, and she initiates the Patriae Sicarii, an all-male elder council of Praes Thanatos gnomes, in the darkest depths of necromancy...and perhaps other things as well. As a result, a small but significant number of powerful female half-gnome/half-dryad necromancers is rising in the upcoming generation. Will they become a threat to the Patriae Sicarii's hegemony?
Even the Patriae Sicarii must answer to the Cucullus Umbra, the shadowy leader of the Praes Thanatos. The position is inherited in a remarkably strange way: Every generation in which the old Cucullus Umbra has grown old, a physically perfect (or as close as possible) male gnome child is chosen as the next Cucullus Umbra, regardless of talent or interest in necromancy. In a shadowy ritual that involves the death of the old Cucullus Umbra, the child rises to the position, and he seems to inherit at least some shared memories from the previous Cucullus. In reality, the shadowy cowl of the Cucullus Umbra holds a dark secret: these children are no more than sacrifices to allow the milennia-old lich Thanatos, original founder of the Praes Thanatos, to escape the inconveniences of an undead body as he continues his research into the dark magics of the ancient elves.
Slowly and inexorably the Jagged Eye of Zhalccu is being hunted to extinction, as one by one their hidden caches and training camps are discovered. Having recently ordered the execution of her father/great uncle, the new governess Keyzha Zhal--a young full-blooded (if highly inbred) orc--has been ruthlessly pursuing agents and sympathisers of the Jagged Eye, destroying whole villages if necessary. At her disposal are a growing force of locally conscripted soldiers, a handful of local huntsmen who have been threatened into serving as guides on the mountain trails, a half-insane elf-thrall, and a gnomish necromancer. Leaving nothing to chance, Keyzha Zhal also has goaded warbands of goblin mercenaries to pursue the hunt from their tribal lands on the far side of the peaks.
Moskk Greddark, cell captain of the Jagged Eye, psion, and gardener just discovered the assassin vine below the city (see below). Now if he can just get his powers to work on plants, the noble half orcs will have all the plant they can handle. Or he could find a druid...
Alivia the Mask has recently been befriended by the current ruler's five-year-old daughter Belira, who has yet to learn appropriate racial and master-slave disdain for the Masks. Because Alivia obeys the commands of any member of the current royal family, the 3000+-year-old elven archmage and the curious young half-orc have embarked together on several covert operations to steal sweets from the kitchens and help Belira escape chores and play games on Rope Trick pocket dimensions. The two have become good friends due to similar mental states, but if they were ever uncovered, Alivia would attempt to take the blame and be punished severely (Alivia's usefulness to the throne being the only thing that would keep her from immediate execution!).
Organizations:
A secret society of psionicists, known as the Jagged Eye, seek to overthrow the government. The underground trade in narcotics, which are often purchased by dilettante nobles, is secretly funded by the Jagged Eye.
The oldest of the sects devoted to puzzling out the Prophecy of the Seventh Pillar (see below) are The Mothers of Truth, who are also the keepers of the lineage of all of the houses, and provide the midwives that must be present at the birth of any half-orc royal child. Jal-qwuin still periodically arouses from her catatonia to spout off oracular statements. All of which are meticulously recorded for later study and interpretation. The membership of the Mothers of Truth is drawn soley from the mothers of House Vajar. It doesn't matter how high ranking a mother, but none can become a midwife without having gone through childbirth themselves. Indeed, the Mothers of Truth were renamed thus, after the clan midwives heard the prophecies of the Mask, having been in existance and responsible for maintaining purity for several decades before Jal-guin's catatonia.
A secret cabal of Half-Orc wizards known as the Animus, through generations of selective breeding and magical "guidance" has recently succeeded in producing two genetically superior racial offshoots. Orogs and the Sharakim. The latter can blend in effortlessly with thier progenitors undetected and the new generation is just coming to age. The Animus' are now setting into motion machinations to put the Sharakim in places of political power. Orogs are being kept more or less as "muscle" and are beginning to resent thier position. Few if any outside the Animus organization now of the existence of thier new "brothers".
In one of the few extant woodland areas of Eyros, a relatively malign, bestial reptile cult has been growing among the local elves. Worship of a half-fiend tyrannosaurus named Vildaxaranthus has caused some of the elves to devolve, becoming brutish, larger, and strong, almost dire (effectively ogres with elven racial traits). Scary stories are told to Eyrian children about the forest elves and these rumours are oft used as justification for the enslavement of the unrelated elven thralls. These Forest Elves have suffered no reduction in mental capacity from this "devolution", making them superior to elves as fighters. Who or what is responsible for the creation of this cult and how it will be used is unknown. Rumors suggest a dragon, allied with evil outsiders.
Plot Points:
The laurel wreath, A kind of vegetable tiara, is woven from the leaves and young branches of the laurel, Laurus psionicus, this shrub or small tree common in forest communities throughout the region. It is known by Herbalists to have anti-psionic properties. Used as a Laurel Crown (favored by nobility) it protect the wearer from Mental Intrusion. Brewed just right by a skilled hand, it also becomes a toxic substance when it is ingested by anyone with Psionic abilities.
House Vajar--which has held the throne more times than any other Orc-Blooded House, though they do not do so currently--hides a terrible, shameful secret. They are not pure-blooded. They actually have a tiny bit of hobgoblin in their ancestry, though it is so far back that no trace of it is detectable. Anyone who learns this secret would hold great power over House Vajar... Until the Vajar enforcers and Masks found a means of silencing that individual for good. Even most of the Vajar themselves are ignorant of this fact; it is known only to the very highest-ranking and eldest members of the House, who are considering letting the secret die with them, rather than passing it on.
A number of years of drought have had an effect of the food production level in the western plains. To combat this, there is a plan being formulated to dig a grand cannel from the Kohoal River to supply water for irrigation to this region. Dwarves are being rounded up to dig this cannel, although the Gnomes are pushing for their mindless undead to be used for the task as well.
Far below the main city of Eyros grows an enormous hatred in the form of a subterranean Assassin vine. Every year it grows larger, up through the ruins created by each rebuilding of Eyrdeyn.
The agents of the jagged eye have developed a psionic tattoo that allows the bearer to use an Alter Self effect at will. The agents of The Secret Blade, a sect of Soulblade assasins are commonly given these tattoos. One such, a brilliant agent named Borak Foehammer, has infiltrated Keyzha Zhals forces and is steadily working his way up in rank.
There are rumors of relic-hunters returning in weakened and ragged state, scared witless from some cave or temple far up the river Kohoal called the Mindful Halls. Apparently the Jagged Eye has found some ancient Psionic artifacts there but not without a heavy cost of man power and gold.
The Children of the Dawn have a secret agenda to free the elven Masks from their orc-blooded masters. The Children of the Dawn were founded by a stunningly beautiful half-elf woman named Saint Lasair, who is actually a succubus paladin of freedom named Temera, who was redeemed by an experience of true love for an Eyrian mortal (her Energy Drain kiss has been replaced with a Heroism effect). Some branches of the church have taken a more fanatic outlook thanks to the charismatic leadership of her son Lusarum, who preaches intolerance to the elves of Nistadeen despite his mother's disapproval. Some claim that they have seen Lusarum entering the forest of Vildaxaranthus from time to time and exiting unharmed. Is it possible that these two half-fiends have formed an unholy alliance that will corrupt the noble intentions of the Children of the Dawn?
Ghalfaen is being ravaged by a purple worm of colossal size. A dissolute sorcerer named Herewald claims he can control it but he demands a terrible price.
Ever since the Jagged Eye made the discovery at Mindful Halls, gargauntan insects and worms have been spotted around the Dominion of Eryos. How Herewald gained control of one of these terrible beasts is a mystery yet to be explained.
Eyros has not been a successful sea power to date--perhaps the only arena in which they do not largely dominate the region--but the Preas Thanatos are trying to change that. They have been experimenting in secret with galleys rowed by crews of skeletons and they are almost ready to begin sea trials. This would be disatrous for the halflings but only a lone spy knows...
Shortly after the founding of Empire the Mask Jal-guin fell into a semi-catatonic state (in which she still survives to this day) and began spouting prophetic statements. The longest enduring of these is the Prophecy of the Seventh Pillar, and a whole Monastic Order developed around it. Most believed that the prophecy was fulfilled after the War of the Crumbled Pillar when the minor house of Taljik was elevated to replace the fallen House. In truth the Prophecy remains to be fulfilled, and as with all such prophecies has engendered a number of different sects that believe only they know the true meaning of the prophecy.
Some members of the Crucible (the elemental fire cult) are trying to negotiate with the Kohl'Tass (semi-sacred lizardfolk druids) to invoke a minor eruption of Mt. Xark while controlling the ash and lava flow to direct it along the uninhabited, sheer, north side of the mountain/volcano. Then they intend to use the combination of Crucible volcanic clerics and Kohl'Tass druids to hasten the lava's transformation into fertile volcanic soil, while also forming some of the lava into high, spiny rock walls around this newly-fertile area, creating a vast, many-terraced personal garden/farmland to support the 6 Pillars in Eyrdeyn against the building food shortages. The Crucible intends not only to maintain the purity of the noble bloodlines, but their prosperity and power as well. In the event of future food-riots amongst the lowborn in Eyrdeyn, the nobles can ration off some of their excess personal crops to the populace to make them complacent and ever-more dependent on the Pillars' control. Of course, the tremors of the minor eruption may destroy the simple homes of some lowborn citizens and slaves, but the highborn live in sturdy, many-columned homes of stone. And the minor eruption of Mt. Xark might have further consequences on other places/creatures of the mountain, particularly in the subterranean former incarnations of the city.
