Arkhandus
First Post
Certainly. The Eyros Creative Exercise was one such community effort. Mouseferatu (Ari Marmell) started it up with a few simple guidelines and an initial contribution. Various EN Worlders contributed over time, some contributing many times (like myself) and others deciding just to add one or two new facts/details about the world. IronRegime made a map for it, though only for the main area of the setting (something like a quadrant or thereabouts.....the far east, far west, and far south are mostly undetailed). The setting of Eyros is rife with political conflicts, historical wars and divides, and neat little twists on standard D&D tropes (while still maintaining/borrowing a lot of core stuff, so not too much of a stretch, and very little houserules called for).
A link to the compilation Wiki for Eyros is in my signature, and the Wiki has a link to both the original Eyros thread on EN World (from 2-3 years ago IIRC), and the rules/crunch of Eyros thread on EN World's house rules forum (which had some statted NPCs and monsters, as well as notes on the few houserules for certain races; like changing the gnomish illusion bonuses and cantrips to necromancy and such). Below is a bit of introductory/cursory description I just typed up.... Essentially a few paragraphs of very basic overview. I may bump the old threads if I can, just for the heck of it. Besides, the crash last year made me lose some material I added to the rules/crunch thread, mainly a bunch of statted NPCs for typical Saagersberg warriors and Eyrian elven Masks.
(Quick Edit: I can't forget the obligatory nudge to Ari, to finish the Eyros PDF we all worked on...!)
[sblock]It centered on the Sovereign Dominion of Eyros, a Roman-esque empire with a combination of monarchy, a senate, and six noble houses (three human and three orc; the monarch is always a half-orc from two different houses, and cannot be of either house that was related to the previous monarch). Dwarves and elves formed the slave caste and villein caste, respectively (dwarves are slaves in Eyros and elves are villeins, a slave-like peasant caste of farmers and such primarily). Some elves are also brainwashed magically into being Masks, serving noble masters as bodyguards and agents; elven Masks retain a perpetual child-like state of mind. Gnomes are mainly a quasi-noble, quasi-peasant group that serves the noble houses as a necromancer guild called the Praes Thanatos, magic-wielding peacekeepers and military aides. Halflings are free-roaming seafarers, pirates, smugglers, and merchants, with their own little culture and religion of sea-worship. They typically captain catamarans and such, even forming cities of lashed-together ships at sea, like their free city of Haven, largely a den of smugglers and pirates.
The Sovereign Dominion of Eyros has a couple of varied cults and faiths, such as the Draconic Legacy (chief religion of Eyros, partially tied to druids and monks to a lesser extent, venerating dragons and other reptiles, such as dinosaurs; Eyrians ride dinos called quickstriders, longstriders and such, using them instead of equines; quickstriders and their ilk are deinonychuses and megaraptors), the Children of the Dawn (chiefly humans, elves, and half-elves), the Crucible (a fire cult among the nobles, especially on Mt. Xark, the extinct volcano upon which Eyrdeyn is built, capitol of Eyros), various family 'gods' and ancestors that are worshipped, and some minor cults like the Fate of One (as much a philosophy of making one's own luck and choosing one's own fate, as it is a sort of religious cult) and the Hythatians (a widespread, but politically weak due to the nobility's stance on it, philosophy in Eyros and other lands; based on the ideas and ideals of a great mathematician, architect, and philosopher of the recent past), or secret groups like the Animus half-orc wizards and the kind-of-secret Jagged Eye.
Other nations of humans, elves, and other races border Eyros (on the continent of the same name), and elsewhere, but Eyros has been the dominant power for thousands of years, in gradual decline however. The Sultanate of Indracca is on the eastern border, an empire of humans and genasi, worshipping the genies who founded the Sultanate and enlightened the people, now living somewhat in seclusion since their numbers have dwindled and Eyros bound several Indraccan genies during the War of Blades. There's the slightly primitive, but free and goodly, nation of Saagersberg to the north of Eyros, protected by the solar celestial Conquers Twice, a sort of buffer between the Dominion and its greatest foe, the frozen territories of Kwlloch. Kwlloch is a realm of goblinoids, orcs, gnolls, frost-fey, frost worms, and other heinous creatures, guided in part by the silver-white hybrid dragon Alsixnivis, prophet of the banished demon-lord Taufenacht, and Kwlloch exists only to avenge Taufenacht's narrow defeat long ago and return the demon-lord to his full power and physical presence.
Some dwarves remain hidden amongst the ruins of their old kingdoms, but most are slaves in Eyros now, or live in small, isolated groups elsewhere. Many are joining the cult-like terrorist group called the Jagged Eye, a primarily dwarven group quietly sabotaging Eyrian affairs and working towards a rebellion to overthrow the government; the Jagged Eye is a prominant, secret organization of psionic individuals (as well as mundanes), and has a group of soulknife assassins called the Secret Blade. A small island of enlightened, magic-using and predominantly-psionic gnolls lies to the southeast of Eyros, the isle of Orrukar, a minor trade competitor with Indracca and Ghalfaen. Ghalfaen is a kingdom to the south of Eyros that is pretty much a protectorate of Eyros; conquered some time ago by the Dominion, Ghalfaen is mostly a subserviant nation but retains some small pockets of resistance, including a possible secret alliance with Indracca and Xaleris.
The Old Empire of Xaleris lies to the southwest on a smaller continent, Relcaya, and has been in decline since it lost some wars with Eyros previously. With the present condition of the Dominion and its neighbors, the Xals are struggling to get some kind of alliance against Eyros and reclaim their former glory. Xaleris is presently just a minor political and mercantile power, but has longer traditions of necromantic power than even the gnomes of Eyros' Praes Thanatos, and Xaleris is ruled by a long line of undead emperors and counciled by the liches of former emperor. Xaleris also has a formidible land army similar to Eyros', and Xals are a loyal people, but their naval power is even weaker than Eyros' own neglected navy. Yet Xaleris still has problems with other countries on its small continent, like the Venti rebels, who continue to defy and resist Xal dominance on Relcaya. Xal armies use massive gundabah (their name for a local breed of ankylosaurus dinos) as living weapons and troop platforms, carrying siege towers and heavy infantry in baskets on their armored backs.
Elves retain one small kingdom of their own, Nistadeen along the southern border of Eyros, and Nistadeen is a prominant seafaring power, although primarily mercantile. Nistadeen has a sect of paladins and knights known as the Elantha Deino, who protect the Nistadeeni borders and the Nistaril royal family. Nistadeen retains some old elven traditions of nature veneration and animism, but is primarily devoted to the faith of Corythos, a recently discovered (possibly fabricated) elven sun god, since the Realization of Corythos, and this Corythian faith is a splinter sect of the Children of the Dawn (whose main sect is no longer based in Nistadeen, but Eyros, since the Corythian divide); there's also a Children of the Dawn sect in Nistadeen known as the Cult of the Second Sun, another offshoot that deviates from the original faith. Nistadeen has discovered (and kept secret) the far southern continent they have named Isiranivaa, and the strange insect-folk they discovered there (thri-kreen if using standard D&D material, but any decent substitute race works for OGL purposes; though dromites from the XPH are already used in Eyros as a growing subterranean hive that most of Eyros is unaware of). Nistadeen has perhaps the best and fastest sailing ships around, and the largest navy.
To the far east, across an almost impassably large and turbulent ocean, lies the savage continent of Luviar, where monsters and monstrous folk run wild. Two barbarian nations hold dominance in parts of Luviar, and only one enlightened nation has any significant strength there. The former are the Confederacy of Mo'ahhim and the O'hoa'ti Hordelands. The Mo'ahhi humans are somewhat civilized and control the western wastes of Luviar, practicing a woman-glorifying form of nature worship (female warriors are the indisputable masters of Mo'ahhim). But the O'hoa'ti are a savage lot of demon-worshipping human wretches, dominating a significant chunk of Luviar's southern half, making bloody sacrifices of their enemies and their own people, grateful to their bloodpriests. The O'hoa'ti are nominally lead by a theocracy of the bloodpriests, but nothing can really control the savages; they war with each other and their neighbors.
Although several lesser countries also exist on Luviar, the only civil nation to rise up and oppose the barbarian hordes is the Nientei Coalition, controlling a small territory in the northeastern mountain ranges. Formerly the Blessed Domains of the Nientei Imperium, their Emperor was slain by a demon's machinations long ago, and the Imperial Families have been squabbling ever since, as they await another Son of Heaven to take rightful leadership over them. The Nientese humans are united in a loose coalition of Compacts, each centered on a city-state that is home to an Imperial Family, but only really show any unity in their opposition to the barbarian hordes. They have a fairly strict caste system, with samurai, yamabushi, and heimin, and they follow strict codes of honor and ritualized combat. Nientese warriors ride great tigers into battle and wield a pair of daisho swords.[/sblock]
A link to the compilation Wiki for Eyros is in my signature, and the Wiki has a link to both the original Eyros thread on EN World (from 2-3 years ago IIRC), and the rules/crunch of Eyros thread on EN World's house rules forum (which had some statted NPCs and monsters, as well as notes on the few houserules for certain races; like changing the gnomish illusion bonuses and cantrips to necromancy and such). Below is a bit of introductory/cursory description I just typed up.... Essentially a few paragraphs of very basic overview. I may bump the old threads if I can, just for the heck of it. Besides, the crash last year made me lose some material I added to the rules/crunch thread, mainly a bunch of statted NPCs for typical Saagersberg warriors and Eyrian elven Masks.
(Quick Edit: I can't forget the obligatory nudge to Ari, to finish the Eyros PDF we all worked on...!)
[sblock]It centered on the Sovereign Dominion of Eyros, a Roman-esque empire with a combination of monarchy, a senate, and six noble houses (three human and three orc; the monarch is always a half-orc from two different houses, and cannot be of either house that was related to the previous monarch). Dwarves and elves formed the slave caste and villein caste, respectively (dwarves are slaves in Eyros and elves are villeins, a slave-like peasant caste of farmers and such primarily). Some elves are also brainwashed magically into being Masks, serving noble masters as bodyguards and agents; elven Masks retain a perpetual child-like state of mind. Gnomes are mainly a quasi-noble, quasi-peasant group that serves the noble houses as a necromancer guild called the Praes Thanatos, magic-wielding peacekeepers and military aides. Halflings are free-roaming seafarers, pirates, smugglers, and merchants, with their own little culture and religion of sea-worship. They typically captain catamarans and such, even forming cities of lashed-together ships at sea, like their free city of Haven, largely a den of smugglers and pirates.
The Sovereign Dominion of Eyros has a couple of varied cults and faiths, such as the Draconic Legacy (chief religion of Eyros, partially tied to druids and monks to a lesser extent, venerating dragons and other reptiles, such as dinosaurs; Eyrians ride dinos called quickstriders, longstriders and such, using them instead of equines; quickstriders and their ilk are deinonychuses and megaraptors), the Children of the Dawn (chiefly humans, elves, and half-elves), the Crucible (a fire cult among the nobles, especially on Mt. Xark, the extinct volcano upon which Eyrdeyn is built, capitol of Eyros), various family 'gods' and ancestors that are worshipped, and some minor cults like the Fate of One (as much a philosophy of making one's own luck and choosing one's own fate, as it is a sort of religious cult) and the Hythatians (a widespread, but politically weak due to the nobility's stance on it, philosophy in Eyros and other lands; based on the ideas and ideals of a great mathematician, architect, and philosopher of the recent past), or secret groups like the Animus half-orc wizards and the kind-of-secret Jagged Eye.
Other nations of humans, elves, and other races border Eyros (on the continent of the same name), and elsewhere, but Eyros has been the dominant power for thousands of years, in gradual decline however. The Sultanate of Indracca is on the eastern border, an empire of humans and genasi, worshipping the genies who founded the Sultanate and enlightened the people, now living somewhat in seclusion since their numbers have dwindled and Eyros bound several Indraccan genies during the War of Blades. There's the slightly primitive, but free and goodly, nation of Saagersberg to the north of Eyros, protected by the solar celestial Conquers Twice, a sort of buffer between the Dominion and its greatest foe, the frozen territories of Kwlloch. Kwlloch is a realm of goblinoids, orcs, gnolls, frost-fey, frost worms, and other heinous creatures, guided in part by the silver-white hybrid dragon Alsixnivis, prophet of the banished demon-lord Taufenacht, and Kwlloch exists only to avenge Taufenacht's narrow defeat long ago and return the demon-lord to his full power and physical presence.
Some dwarves remain hidden amongst the ruins of their old kingdoms, but most are slaves in Eyros now, or live in small, isolated groups elsewhere. Many are joining the cult-like terrorist group called the Jagged Eye, a primarily dwarven group quietly sabotaging Eyrian affairs and working towards a rebellion to overthrow the government; the Jagged Eye is a prominant, secret organization of psionic individuals (as well as mundanes), and has a group of soulknife assassins called the Secret Blade. A small island of enlightened, magic-using and predominantly-psionic gnolls lies to the southeast of Eyros, the isle of Orrukar, a minor trade competitor with Indracca and Ghalfaen. Ghalfaen is a kingdom to the south of Eyros that is pretty much a protectorate of Eyros; conquered some time ago by the Dominion, Ghalfaen is mostly a subserviant nation but retains some small pockets of resistance, including a possible secret alliance with Indracca and Xaleris.
The Old Empire of Xaleris lies to the southwest on a smaller continent, Relcaya, and has been in decline since it lost some wars with Eyros previously. With the present condition of the Dominion and its neighbors, the Xals are struggling to get some kind of alliance against Eyros and reclaim their former glory. Xaleris is presently just a minor political and mercantile power, but has longer traditions of necromantic power than even the gnomes of Eyros' Praes Thanatos, and Xaleris is ruled by a long line of undead emperors and counciled by the liches of former emperor. Xaleris also has a formidible land army similar to Eyros', and Xals are a loyal people, but their naval power is even weaker than Eyros' own neglected navy. Yet Xaleris still has problems with other countries on its small continent, like the Venti rebels, who continue to defy and resist Xal dominance on Relcaya. Xal armies use massive gundabah (their name for a local breed of ankylosaurus dinos) as living weapons and troop platforms, carrying siege towers and heavy infantry in baskets on their armored backs.
Elves retain one small kingdom of their own, Nistadeen along the southern border of Eyros, and Nistadeen is a prominant seafaring power, although primarily mercantile. Nistadeen has a sect of paladins and knights known as the Elantha Deino, who protect the Nistadeeni borders and the Nistaril royal family. Nistadeen retains some old elven traditions of nature veneration and animism, but is primarily devoted to the faith of Corythos, a recently discovered (possibly fabricated) elven sun god, since the Realization of Corythos, and this Corythian faith is a splinter sect of the Children of the Dawn (whose main sect is no longer based in Nistadeen, but Eyros, since the Corythian divide); there's also a Children of the Dawn sect in Nistadeen known as the Cult of the Second Sun, another offshoot that deviates from the original faith. Nistadeen has discovered (and kept secret) the far southern continent they have named Isiranivaa, and the strange insect-folk they discovered there (thri-kreen if using standard D&D material, but any decent substitute race works for OGL purposes; though dromites from the XPH are already used in Eyros as a growing subterranean hive that most of Eyros is unaware of). Nistadeen has perhaps the best and fastest sailing ships around, and the largest navy.
To the far east, across an almost impassably large and turbulent ocean, lies the savage continent of Luviar, where monsters and monstrous folk run wild. Two barbarian nations hold dominance in parts of Luviar, and only one enlightened nation has any significant strength there. The former are the Confederacy of Mo'ahhim and the O'hoa'ti Hordelands. The Mo'ahhi humans are somewhat civilized and control the western wastes of Luviar, practicing a woman-glorifying form of nature worship (female warriors are the indisputable masters of Mo'ahhim). But the O'hoa'ti are a savage lot of demon-worshipping human wretches, dominating a significant chunk of Luviar's southern half, making bloody sacrifices of their enemies and their own people, grateful to their bloodpriests. The O'hoa'ti are nominally lead by a theocracy of the bloodpriests, but nothing can really control the savages; they war with each other and their neighbors.
Although several lesser countries also exist on Luviar, the only civil nation to rise up and oppose the barbarian hordes is the Nientei Coalition, controlling a small territory in the northeastern mountain ranges. Formerly the Blessed Domains of the Nientei Imperium, their Emperor was slain by a demon's machinations long ago, and the Imperial Families have been squabbling ever since, as they await another Son of Heaven to take rightful leadership over them. The Nientese humans are united in a loose coalition of Compacts, each centered on a city-state that is home to an Imperial Family, but only really show any unity in their opposition to the barbarian hordes. They have a fairly strict caste system, with samurai, yamabushi, and heimin, and they follow strict codes of honor and ritualized combat. Nientese warriors ride great tigers into battle and wield a pair of daisho swords.[/sblock]
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