No, Cyradon is not out yet, but will be coming out early next year sometime (can be more exact as we get closer).die_kluge said:
die_kluge said:
Gavin is an excellent writer. However, a few months ago, he left the project, and it was only about half way done. Since then Heike and I have been working on it ourselves, trying to get it finished. A little over a month and a half ago, ICE selected several forum members, along with a few others to give us a hand weeding out any inconsistencies and problem areas that we might not catch (being so familiar with the material).
Here is a blurb I wrote and have posted in other locations. It tells a lot about the history/background of the setting in a general sort of way.
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It will be!! Unlike many settings on the market, Cyradon actually provides a reason to go adventuring.
Short synopsis for those who don't know about Cyradon ---
Long ago, a race called the Cyards created a magical portal system called the Royal Roads. The portals took people great distances across the world in a very short time. Then the Cyrads disappeared.
Later on, the Elves moved to the land called Cyradon (home of the Cyrads), and moved in.
Sometime after that, Human mages from Anias (the largest continent) discover the Royal Roads and move to Belynar (city located on and in the sides of an extinct volcano in the middle of Cyradon). The elves welcome them.
500 years ago, some elves wanted the mages to give them wings so that they could fly like the Gryphons (who are one of the PC races in Cyradon) and the mages agreed. However, another group of elves didn't like this and ended up disrupting the ritual, causing the Devastation (basically killing the center of the small continent and almost everybody in that area). There were a number of survivors... Creatures mutated into monsters, and the Elves partaking in the ritual were changed. they got wings, although only vestigial ones, and they were scarred and twisted both in mind and body, with their longevity stripped from them as well. These are the Schirae, and they live in the mountains surrounding the Devastation. They are savage and cannibalistic, and that is their nice side....
Since then the Royal Roads have been closed.... at least until recently when they "fluctuated" - which the Dwarves detected....
In Anias, empires rose and fell, and Tarahir, once the heart of a great empire is now a subject of the Heirarchy of Asut from the land of the Orsai. The Orsai tolerate no other religions. For some reason, the Orsai attacks Tarahir (who has allies to the north), and sack the city leading many off to slavery.
However, a large group of refugees escaped into the mountains. As they were being chased, the refugees hid in an ancient dwarven stronghold, long abandoned. Somehow, the Royal Road there activated, and sends the refugees to Belynar in Cyradon.
The Dwarves detect this use of the Royal Road, and from the time of the first fluctuation, have been preparing an expidition to travel to Cyradon and reclaim their ancient city of Blackflame (which they closed when the mines played out - they had planned to return centuries earlier when the magical minerals had regenerated, but the Roads had not been working).
Several days after the refugees arrive in Belynar, so do the Dwarves. The Gryphons are aleady in Belynar, having an Eyrie high above it. The Nagazi (ultra-civilized lizardmen) had also detected the portal use, and went to check it out. The elves had also detected that first fluctuation and formed teams to investigate.
You end up with many races in the city in the middle of the blasted wastelands. Also living nearby are the Rhona, Gnomes who have been trying to heal the wounded land of Cyradon, but with little effect.
With the gathering of so many races, the Rhona decide to attempt their ritual one more time, hoping that perhaps they just did not have the right mix of participants. The ritual works beyond their expectations, and instead of a few square miles being restored, an area with a diameter of 100 miles is retored!
This is where the back story leaves off and and play begins. There are opportunies for exploration of this new lands (for the refugees), of political intrigue with the new neighbors... Danger surrounds them at every turn, and not just physical danger!! Some folks have even been saying that they think that the Devastation is haunted...
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The above is what I wrote about Cyradon over on the Dragonsfoot forums.
A few things not mentioned above:
There are three different classes of lizardmen. The Nagazi are ultra-civilized (think renaissance Italy for their type of culture). Then there are the Nagaral, who live in city-states (think ancient babylon), and then there are the Nagah, who are very aggressive and nasty. I guess that comes from worshipping a dragon (who speaks to them through a special totem each tribe has).
There are also the Aoifer, a race of lion-centaurs who live in one corner of Cyradon.
The elves of Cyradon are fairly civilized, however there are several small nations of them, and those nations are internally divided into factions (which cross national boundries sometimes), and some of those factions do not want the humans, while other welcome them. Overall a tanse situation.
The Devastation is also filled with many horrors and twisted creatures created by the Davastation. Nothing there is friendly, to say the least (hungry might describe it better....).
The setting itself contains absolutely no halflings. Other than that, the rest of the races from HARP are present, along with the Nagazi, variant Dwarf, Elves, and Gnomes, and the Grpyhons as possible PC races.
Any specific questions? I will try to answer what ones I can.
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