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ShortQuests -- individual adventure modules! An all-new collection of digest-sized D&D adventures designed to plug in to your game.

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="TheLastMehina" data-source="post: 1204998" data-attributes="member: 15076">Possibly. What I had in mind was that this was more or less a constructed myth - it's truth was a moot point, as it was merely a way to indoctrinate the Exiled to enjoy being Exiles. I agree with you that dissenters make it more fun, but more on this later <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />What I had in mind was akin to an Asimov short story I read awhile ago. The title escapes me, but it was about an enclosed society much like this one. One man was responsible for waste disposal... basically, all he did was press a few buttons every day and send the sewage to the outsiders to deal with. However, he had inherited the culture of the Untouchables - his contact with human waste made him unfit for personal contact outside his wife (provided by committee) and children (who would inherit his social role). Perhaps the class, or segment of the clergy, which deals with the traders is looked down upon, and segregated. On the flip side, it could be a great honor - only a few members of the clergy are percieved as "worthy" enough to risk contact with the Outsiders without putting their soul in peril. What I had in mind was a society structured along the same lines as the society Fritz Leiber wrote about in "Gather, Darkness!", or religion as it was structured in the Middle Ages, or even modern theocracies (Iran comes to mind). Religion isn't just a spiritual practice - it's intimately tied up with politics and economics. Social concerns are also religious concerns. Sure, there are people who may not believe the religion - but they need to go within the system if they want to gain political or economic or social influence. Another society structured like this which comes to mind is the Bandakar Empire in "Naked Empire" by Terry Goodkind. I was under the impression the Storm was a giant anti-magic/wild magic zone where magic was nearly impossible to make use of for mundane uses. If not, then perhaps only the high-ranking clergy members are allowed to use magic. Or magic is only to take place during the super-sacred temple rituals. Also, if the trees are what the Exiles trade for food, then tree farming would probably take up a rather large sector of Exile economy. Perhaps the only people allowed to use magic are not the clergy, but the tree farmers. Or maybe the clergy are the tree farmers. The enemy I was thinking of was rather like the dissenters you mention above. Again, back to Leiber's "Gather, Darkness!", what I had in mind was a giant conspiracy of "heretics" which may or may not be real, or may or may not be as extensive as the clergy makes it out to be. Perhaps the Exiles feel they are under constant attack from Communist Sympathizers, or Witches, or Minions of Satan - there don't actually need to be Communist Sympathizers, or Witches, or Minions of Satan. What there should be, though, is a spectacular trial and execution of a supposed CS/W/MoS on a regular basis. It keeps the dissenting population down (assuming the executions don't get out of hand), keeps non-dissenters afraid, and provides sense of togetherness and relief for the general population when they see a CS/W/MoS executed for the good of the whole.</blockquote>

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