Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
[Let's Read] Seas of Vodari
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Libertad" data-source="post: 8276535" data-attributes="member: 6750502"><p style="text-align: center"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/dRvLbId.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p> <p style="text-align: center"><strong>Chapter II: A World to Explore (Part II)</strong></p><p></p><p><strong>Marradi Archipelago:</strong> This chain of islands dominates Vodari’s eastern ring. Out of the various regions and nations that survived the Godwar this region came out the best, and mountains and forests provide for ample natural resources.</p><p></p><p><em>Draga</em> is the same name as the fallen dragonborn empire, and the largest enclave of said race in the setting. Although far from its glory days, it is ruled by an Emperor of its own who for a change in fictional tropes is actually Lawful Good. Emperor Krivar II is not without his flaws: many ancient scrolls and tablets of his ancestors have been interpreted as such where he posits himself as a messiah-like figure who is the last best hope against some unknown evil. To that purpose he has been building up Draga’s military, and he also is in contact with a golden dragon advisor by the name of Solaris that is helping him interpret the prophetic scrolls. She’s unsure as to whether or not said prophecies are accurate. There is an evil dragonborn mage by the name of Kalliss’a’Shara who seeks to overthrow the empire because she is proudly evil, worships entropy, and believes that goodness and mercy are shackles of the weak. How’s that for three-dimensional motivation? The sole adventure hook suggests that the PCs befriend Krivar II or have him become their patron for an ill-defined “classic epic fantasy” campaign series.</p><p></p><p><em>Istori</em> is named after the god of knowledge, and its Grand Archives are the largest known library in all of Vodari. The College of Istoro is also second-to-none in teaching language and history. The island overall is a placid realm, although its leaders are very aware of the valuables within their institutions and made an alliance with the island nation of Sanctuary (detailed under The Map’s Edge) to have warrior-monks guard its storehouses of knowledge. The major adventure hook here involves the PCs needing to research something for a quest, and end up crossing paths with a thief posing as a respected clerk seeking the Archives’ forbidden knowledge.</p><p></p><p><em>Morndirn</em> is the homeland of the majority of Vodari’s surviving dwarves, a kingdom carved from the mountains that managed to survive the flooding. They are much like typical fantasy dwarves, making use of underground industry albeit preferring to avoid the lava tubes of dormant volcanoes rather than take advantage of their heat. The risk-to-reward is deemed too great. However, they are a democracy rather than an aristocracy, its parliament system made up of representative officials on a Board of Clans as well as a High Thane. We get a writeup of the capital city of Marradihr, which houses a grand guarded elevator-hole on which a Barrier platform opens up to the front lines in the Night War. Said War has gone on since ancient times, pitting the dwarves against all manner of underground horrors, although the book sadly doesn’t go into much detail as to what kind of monsters and their wicked factions are involved. Presumably just generic Underdark-style baddies. We also get a shorter writeup of the city of Taggthirn, a port city of hill dwarves, the above ground farming community of Varrdhal, and the Red Axe pirate colony that menace eastern Vodari with nigh impunity on account that the dwarves devote most of their military resources to the Night War.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/ymM21U6.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p><strong>The North & Untamed Wilds:</strong> Cold and foreboding in contrast to the southern realms, Vodari’s northern ring is nonetheless densely populated by various kingdoms. This region has a bit more of a Nordic influence in cultures, as well as a higher proportion of monstrous races such as orcs and giants.</p><p></p><p><em>Ghak</em> is an island home to the largest goblinoid population of Vodari. Instead of being a violent society of social Darwinists like in other settings, the goblinoids of Ghak organized into mutual societies where the various subraces shore up each other’s weaknesses. They have a long-term goal of building up their nation into a major economic power, even though the rest of Vodari still looks down on them as a “not real nation.” Its capital city of Lor’Thak is a chaotic mess of haphazard urban planning where rooms, bridges, and streets are forged and renovated on a near-daily basis. Industrial hazards are a sad fact of life, and the famed Bobbleball Stadium’s sinkhole merely caused players to rewrite the rules of the game rather than fix it. Sample adventure hooks play off of this rough and tumble boom town of a city, along with the Goblin King petitioning the PCs to help open up diplomatic relations with other Vodari nations...and thwarting an assassination attempt in the process.</p><p></p><p><em>Nordaa</em> Is a multicultural kingdom of humans, dwarves, elves, halflings, and small numbers of other races who have a common lineage of people who could only escape to the north during the Godwar. It has a long history of infighting between clans, although the current king has managed to somewhat unite the people...against the orcish and giant kingdom of Stonetusk to the north. They are a dearly religious society, giving the gods (especially Kalder) many forms of physical offerings and honoring their deeds in song and prayers. It is very much the medieval Scandinavia of Vodarian kingdoms, with the capital city of Daan home to many warriors and craftsmen, while the smaller town of Aldinn trains its scholars and priests. The town of Njord is having trouble with wereorcas who’ve made a habit of selling “Nordaaskin products” to Xolen the way Nordaani sell “whaleskin products,” more out of spite than to make a profit. The seemingly uneventful and boring village of Vindaa is home to Nordaa’s criminal underworld, and the island of Kolga is a seemingly cursed land where any attempts at settling on it end in a series of disastrous ‘accidents’ and unreasonable bouts of amnesia and murderous fury that pop up among the inhabitants.</p><p></p><p><em>Iselaad</em> Is the northernmost nation of Vodari, a small realm home to mostly frost giants. Their large forms are unsuitable for the typical seabound vessel, so they build long oar-driven boats made of pine, breaking down the foundations of captured ships into repairs for said vessels and personal armor. Their sole city is a series of dug-out rock and ice formations among a frozen tundra, lacking many amenities of other cities and whose major industries center around survival. As for local troubles they have an active volcano and an ancient white dragon by the name of Fornvitur who has yet to be defeated by any of their number, accumulating generations’ worth of armory and treasure from doomed frost giant dragonslayers. There is also the island of Blafjell, mostly untouched by the giants due to meteorological anomalies that occur when people sail too close, and the few giants who live there know of a mysterious castle home to a “Glass Menagerie.” It is home to a Glass Knight that kidnapped a child of human royalty to hold hostage in the fortress, or so the local legends go. Finally the islands of Drölarr & Atorr house giant communities more technologically advanced than their kin, but face regular skirmishes from the reptilians of Khar who seek their land and resources.</p><p></p><p><em>Khar</em> is a wild land of swamps and forest home to bullywugs, lizardfolk, kobold, sahuagin, and other scalykind races. They are a decentralized self-governing people whose various communities keep to themselves, with every race having a defined territory of their own and the few buffer zones home to deadly beasts none of them can easily eradicate. A subrace of winged kobolds known as urds make use of their talents to enable a reliable communication network among the islands of Khar, particularly in the event of a frost giant invasion. The bullywugs reign over the territory of Orabahr, who found themselves lacking any trade partners after killing merchants they promised to sell valuables to and pocketing the loot for themselves. Their High King Alburp has a bigger ego than brain, and their attempts at expanding into piracy have had their share of ups and downs. But mostly downs.</p><p></p><p><em>Stonetusk</em> is a mostly-orc nation but with a sizable human and giant minority. Much of their land is wild, given over to dangerous beasts which their people hunt. Orcish society is very much like that of other fantasy settings, being violent social Darwinists, and their high birth rate is kept in check by a high death rate. Their capital of Scathag is home to the Maw, a pit where orcs convicted of major crimes, as well as babies born with deformities and those whose injuries rendered them unable to work and fight, are tossed to their deaths. Those who manage to survive and climb out are deemed worthy and reintegrated into orcish society. The other major population centers include the stone giant town of Lortog who is notable for taking in orcs who’d otherwise be sentenced to the Maw, and over time the rest of orcish society has accepted this as a viable alternative for those who desire this option. This has worked out to the stone giant’s advantage, as said orcs found other vocations to improve their resident home, making their culture more intellectual than the rest of Stonetusk. The other major town is Rhukug, which acts as a sort of tourist spot for hunters seeking to fight, capture, and harvest the various monsters after paying for a hunting license.</p><p></p><p><em>Zeth’Kur</em> is a remote island cluster home to a set of mysterious ruins that were merely observed, never explored, by the Wanderers Guild. Said ruins were built by an ancient civilization older than recorded history, but is now ruled over by the black dragon D’him’ashada Ma’dow. He holds dominion over a group of kobolds who worship him as a living god, and has plans on taking over the lizardfolk tribes of Khar and after that an invasion of the frost giant island of Atorr. The sample adventure hook suggests that the ruins of Zeth’Kur should hold a great secret that could “potentially change all of Vodari.” Said secret is the Exodus Portal, built by a coalition of the world’s long-dead civilizations (Ancients, Varu, Dakri) that can open up to worlds beyond Vodari. But not only that, activating said portal will break up Vesi’s Rage, revealing the goddess’ kingdom within the center. The gods won’t necessarily be happy with such a momentous event, for if enough of their worshipers leave for different worlds then they fear they will be left without purpose and power. The book also makes mention of other “mysterious places” hinted at earlier in the chapter to combine elements together for this proposed campaign in an archeologist fashion for PCs in search of forgotten knowledge.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/vGdoUS6.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p><strong>The Map’s Edge:</strong> This section details the more remote island and regions of Vodari as opposed to any one geographical region. With the exception of Vesi’s Rage, they are places that are physically distant from the earlier regions or sufficiently uncharted that they are ill-explored.</p><p></p><p><em>Jameson</em> is a newly-discovered island whose first explorer appeared as a raving madman in a port weeks later, talking of intelligent killer apes. This is indeed the truth, for a gorilla found a magical artifact among the island ruins that gifted him sapience, which he used to awaken his brethren. Wearing the Crown of Mental Might* he can communicate telepathically, and has no intention of his island being colonized by outsiders...although a mutual trade agreement that leaves Jameson with a degree of autonomy may open him up to negotiations.</p><p></p><p>*an artifact detailed in the Magic Items & Spells chapter.</p><p></p><p><em>Isle of Whispers</em> is a mist-shrouded island home to an archmage that rejected the rules of the Arcane Council. She made her home in an ancient building known as the Pernicious Citadel which has granted her knowledge of a unique form of magic known as mistwalking. She is teaching the discipline to other renegade mages, and the Citadel itself is only partially-explored by her community. Containing an innumerable array of levels, hallways, and rooms that seemingly rearrange themselves when nobody’s looking, the true size of the Pernicious Citadel is unknown.</p><p></p><p><em>Kraken</em> is home to the Order of the Kraken, a 500 year old secret society that has contacts among every significant organization and civilization of note in Vodari. They derive magical power from a temple on this island, and their true purpose and motivation is for the GM to fill in for the purposes of their own campaign. Otherwise they’re not ever mentioned again in the rest of the book.</p><p></p><p><em>Sanador</em> is an island home to a jungle with flora capable of amazing medicinal purposes, and the sole tall mountain at its center is home to ruins. The only intelligent inhabitant is a crazed druidic hermit by the name of Yash who managed to discover the ruins’ secret. A series of incredibly advanced technomagic machinery hold the souls of this civilization trapped in precious gems that summon hordes of ghouls and ghosts to attack anyone taking them. A couatl will thank the PCs if they manage to free the souls from the gems, giving them an appropriate and unspecified reward for the GM to figure out.</p><p></p><p><em>Sanctuary</em> is a community made up of genasi and a minority of other races. It is the headquarters of the Order of Four Elements, a tradition of monks who learned the power of elemental magic to protect Vodari’s weak and disenfranchised. They are mostly lone wanderers who target powerful people that financially exploit others. Sanctuary is the only place on Vodari where such monks gather in any great number, and are led by four Oracles representative of each element who train students in their own ways and philosophy.</p><p></p><p><em>Stormwind Chain</em> is a mid-sized independent colony home to rich veins of gold discovered by a married adventuring couple. It is a virtually anarchic island, with no real set of laws beyond an agreement not to cause trouble and a form of justice that encourages an eye for an eye. </p><p></p><p><em>Taur</em> is the sparsely-populated minotaur homeland, home to a gladiator arena and a vast labyrinth of unknown origin home to monsters, traps, puzzles, and potential treasure. The minotaurs have no idea what exactly lurks at the center of said maze, but are much more talkative about the arena which is mostly non-lethal save when executions are carried out for the most unforgivable of crimes.</p><p></p><p><em>The Teeth</em> is an ill-described place whose exact location is unknown but rumored to contain priceless treasure. The Teeth are actually a phenomenon that causes thick fog banks to rise from the ocean along with an utter lack of airborne or sea life in the area. Strong currents and rock formations threaten to pull a ship to its doom, and those who manage to make it out in one piece end up being transported to the Seas Beyond.</p><p></p><p><em>Vesi’s Rage</em> is a gigantic, never-ending storm around a thousand miles in diameter. It sits at where the continent of Varanu once was after the Godwar, and prevents straight north-south, east-west travel between Vodari’s island chains. Nobody is sure of what caused or is fueling the Rage, although what is known is that nobody who has gone far in has ever made it out alive, and only a precious few (and now legendary) vessels survived passing through an outer tendril. Anyone unlucky or foolish enough to be pulled into it faces 100+ mph winds, violent waves, massive lightning strikes, malfunctioning compasses, celestial bodies arranged in impossible formations, and thick omnipresent mists from which screaming can be heard. The only creatures that live within are evil beings pledged in service to Vesi, although storm giants are the only known non-evil creatures that appear capable of survival in such hellish waters.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/xINYubM.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p><strong>Under the Seas:</strong> The shortest section of this chapter, Vodari’s subterranean kingdoms and regions are surprisingly undeveloped. The book acknowledges this, saying in a sidebar that a future supplement for undersea campaigns proper is in the works. The only content is a list of the major sea-dwelling races beyond the PC ones: merfolk are simple farmers and hunter-gatherers, merrow are fallen remnants of a warlike kingdom, and sirens came from the Feylands and isolated themselves from other civilizations. And those are the ones in the highest sunlit reaches.</p><p></p><p>Further below in the twilight depths, we have Cecaelias (like merfolk but lower halves are octopus) who are little-known magical people that live in undersea caves of small family units, Grindylows are goblinish Small-sized sharkpeople raiders, Kallidu are psionic fish who build telekinetic constructs to conduct surface raids,* storm giants live by themselves in the deepest ocean trenches near Vesi’s Rage to find spiritual meaning in observed omens, and tritons came from the Elemental Plane of Water and act as a sort of “wandering knight” culture in defending other civilizations from monsters in the ocean’s darkest depths.</p><p></p><p>*They’re given stats and background in the Allies & Adversaries chapter later in this book.</p><p></p><p>And what of those civilizations that lair in the midnight depths, over 3,300 feet below sea level? Here be dragons...or rather aboleths and their cities, the divine children of the Destroyer gods, and titanic monstrosities that escaped from the Elemental Plane of Water.</p><p></p><p><strong>Thoughts So Far:</strong> The second half of Seas of Vodari’s “setting” chapter is remarkably different from the first half, with much more of a final frontier feel. I felt that the dragonborn kingdom could have used some more development; the dwarven nation of Morndirn had a much larger page count in comparison, which isn’t necessarily bad in and of itself. But as they don’t really do anything “new” in regards to what we’ve seen of dwarves in fantasy, I felt that such space may have been better spent on the other areas in the Marradi Archipelago.</p><p></p><p>The North was a high point, as while it could be easy to make it a uniform “barbaric wildland,” the societies within had quite a bit of development and ample conflicts and adventure hooks between them. I did find it interesting how most of the monster nations were more or less made more three-dimensional beyond always evil antagonists, with even the more warlike frost giants and orcs counting non-evil members among their entries. Granted, the orcs of Stonetusk and the giants of Iselaad seemed rather close to their typical portrayals in Dungeons & Dragons, which kind of stood out in comparison to the other nations.</p><p></p><p>The Map’s Edge islands seemed interesting adventure hooks for one-shot sessions, although I was a bit disappointed at the lack of content for actual undersea locations. The campaign idea of ending Vesi’s Rage and a portal to other worlds felt a bit out of nowhere. While I am not opposed to the idea itself, it feels like too much is left hanging; there’s mention made of Vesi’s revealed kingdom, but more text is expounded on in favor of the gods panicking about the thought of their followers ‘leaving’ them, which begs the question of just how appealing these otherworldly realms beyond the portal are. I imagine that the vast majority of the setting’s inhabitants are still simple folk with homes and families to attend to and may not mass migrate unless things get really bad. The Kraken society is a wasted opportunity, especially given the fact that the only other time they’re mentioned in the book is the possible reason for why platinum pieces are minted with a kraken symbol.</p><p></p><p><strong>Join us next time as we cover new and existing races in Chapter III, the People of Vodari!</strong></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Libertad, post: 8276535, member: 6750502"] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/dRvLbId.png[/img] [b]Chapter II: A World to Explore (Part II)[/b][/center] [b]Marradi Archipelago:[/b] This chain of islands dominates Vodari’s eastern ring. Out of the various regions and nations that survived the Godwar this region came out the best, and mountains and forests provide for ample natural resources. [i]Draga[/i] is the same name as the fallen dragonborn empire, and the largest enclave of said race in the setting. Although far from its glory days, it is ruled by an Emperor of its own who for a change in fictional tropes is actually Lawful Good. Emperor Krivar II is not without his flaws: many ancient scrolls and tablets of his ancestors have been interpreted as such where he posits himself as a messiah-like figure who is the last best hope against some unknown evil. To that purpose he has been building up Draga’s military, and he also is in contact with a golden dragon advisor by the name of Solaris that is helping him interpret the prophetic scrolls. She’s unsure as to whether or not said prophecies are accurate. There is an evil dragonborn mage by the name of Kalliss’a’Shara who seeks to overthrow the empire because she is proudly evil, worships entropy, and believes that goodness and mercy are shackles of the weak. How’s that for three-dimensional motivation? The sole adventure hook suggests that the PCs befriend Krivar II or have him become their patron for an ill-defined “classic epic fantasy” campaign series. [i]Istori[/i] is named after the god of knowledge, and its Grand Archives are the largest known library in all of Vodari. The College of Istoro is also second-to-none in teaching language and history. The island overall is a placid realm, although its leaders are very aware of the valuables within their institutions and made an alliance with the island nation of Sanctuary (detailed under The Map’s Edge) to have warrior-monks guard its storehouses of knowledge. The major adventure hook here involves the PCs needing to research something for a quest, and end up crossing paths with a thief posing as a respected clerk seeking the Archives’ forbidden knowledge. [i]Morndirn[/i] is the homeland of the majority of Vodari’s surviving dwarves, a kingdom carved from the mountains that managed to survive the flooding. They are much like typical fantasy dwarves, making use of underground industry albeit preferring to avoid the lava tubes of dormant volcanoes rather than take advantage of their heat. The risk-to-reward is deemed too great. However, they are a democracy rather than an aristocracy, its parliament system made up of representative officials on a Board of Clans as well as a High Thane. We get a writeup of the capital city of Marradihr, which houses a grand guarded elevator-hole on which a Barrier platform opens up to the front lines in the Night War. Said War has gone on since ancient times, pitting the dwarves against all manner of underground horrors, although the book sadly doesn’t go into much detail as to what kind of monsters and their wicked factions are involved. Presumably just generic Underdark-style baddies. We also get a shorter writeup of the city of Taggthirn, a port city of hill dwarves, the above ground farming community of Varrdhal, and the Red Axe pirate colony that menace eastern Vodari with nigh impunity on account that the dwarves devote most of their military resources to the Night War. [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/ymM21U6.png[/img][/center] [b]The North & Untamed Wilds:[/b] Cold and foreboding in contrast to the southern realms, Vodari’s northern ring is nonetheless densely populated by various kingdoms. This region has a bit more of a Nordic influence in cultures, as well as a higher proportion of monstrous races such as orcs and giants. [i]Ghak[/i] is an island home to the largest goblinoid population of Vodari. Instead of being a violent society of social Darwinists like in other settings, the goblinoids of Ghak organized into mutual societies where the various subraces shore up each other’s weaknesses. They have a long-term goal of building up their nation into a major economic power, even though the rest of Vodari still looks down on them as a “not real nation.” Its capital city of Lor’Thak is a chaotic mess of haphazard urban planning where rooms, bridges, and streets are forged and renovated on a near-daily basis. Industrial hazards are a sad fact of life, and the famed Bobbleball Stadium’s sinkhole merely caused players to rewrite the rules of the game rather than fix it. Sample adventure hooks play off of this rough and tumble boom town of a city, along with the Goblin King petitioning the PCs to help open up diplomatic relations with other Vodari nations...and thwarting an assassination attempt in the process. [i]Nordaa[/i] Is a multicultural kingdom of humans, dwarves, elves, halflings, and small numbers of other races who have a common lineage of people who could only escape to the north during the Godwar. It has a long history of infighting between clans, although the current king has managed to somewhat unite the people...against the orcish and giant kingdom of Stonetusk to the north. They are a dearly religious society, giving the gods (especially Kalder) many forms of physical offerings and honoring their deeds in song and prayers. It is very much the medieval Scandinavia of Vodarian kingdoms, with the capital city of Daan home to many warriors and craftsmen, while the smaller town of Aldinn trains its scholars and priests. The town of Njord is having trouble with wereorcas who’ve made a habit of selling “Nordaaskin products” to Xolen the way Nordaani sell “whaleskin products,” more out of spite than to make a profit. The seemingly uneventful and boring village of Vindaa is home to Nordaa’s criminal underworld, and the island of Kolga is a seemingly cursed land where any attempts at settling on it end in a series of disastrous ‘accidents’ and unreasonable bouts of amnesia and murderous fury that pop up among the inhabitants. [i]Iselaad[/i] Is the northernmost nation of Vodari, a small realm home to mostly frost giants. Their large forms are unsuitable for the typical seabound vessel, so they build long oar-driven boats made of pine, breaking down the foundations of captured ships into repairs for said vessels and personal armor. Their sole city is a series of dug-out rock and ice formations among a frozen tundra, lacking many amenities of other cities and whose major industries center around survival. As for local troubles they have an active volcano and an ancient white dragon by the name of Fornvitur who has yet to be defeated by any of their number, accumulating generations’ worth of armory and treasure from doomed frost giant dragonslayers. There is also the island of Blafjell, mostly untouched by the giants due to meteorological anomalies that occur when people sail too close, and the few giants who live there know of a mysterious castle home to a “Glass Menagerie.” It is home to a Glass Knight that kidnapped a child of human royalty to hold hostage in the fortress, or so the local legends go. Finally the islands of Drölarr & Atorr house giant communities more technologically advanced than their kin, but face regular skirmishes from the reptilians of Khar who seek their land and resources. [i]Khar[/i] is a wild land of swamps and forest home to bullywugs, lizardfolk, kobold, sahuagin, and other scalykind races. They are a decentralized self-governing people whose various communities keep to themselves, with every race having a defined territory of their own and the few buffer zones home to deadly beasts none of them can easily eradicate. A subrace of winged kobolds known as urds make use of their talents to enable a reliable communication network among the islands of Khar, particularly in the event of a frost giant invasion. The bullywugs reign over the territory of Orabahr, who found themselves lacking any trade partners after killing merchants they promised to sell valuables to and pocketing the loot for themselves. Their High King Alburp has a bigger ego than brain, and their attempts at expanding into piracy have had their share of ups and downs. But mostly downs. [i]Stonetusk[/i] is a mostly-orc nation but with a sizable human and giant minority. Much of their land is wild, given over to dangerous beasts which their people hunt. Orcish society is very much like that of other fantasy settings, being violent social Darwinists, and their high birth rate is kept in check by a high death rate. Their capital of Scathag is home to the Maw, a pit where orcs convicted of major crimes, as well as babies born with deformities and those whose injuries rendered them unable to work and fight, are tossed to their deaths. Those who manage to survive and climb out are deemed worthy and reintegrated into orcish society. The other major population centers include the stone giant town of Lortog who is notable for taking in orcs who’d otherwise be sentenced to the Maw, and over time the rest of orcish society has accepted this as a viable alternative for those who desire this option. This has worked out to the stone giant’s advantage, as said orcs found other vocations to improve their resident home, making their culture more intellectual than the rest of Stonetusk. The other major town is Rhukug, which acts as a sort of tourist spot for hunters seeking to fight, capture, and harvest the various monsters after paying for a hunting license. [i]Zeth’Kur[/i] is a remote island cluster home to a set of mysterious ruins that were merely observed, never explored, by the Wanderers Guild. Said ruins were built by an ancient civilization older than recorded history, but is now ruled over by the black dragon D’him’ashada Ma’dow. He holds dominion over a group of kobolds who worship him as a living god, and has plans on taking over the lizardfolk tribes of Khar and after that an invasion of the frost giant island of Atorr. The sample adventure hook suggests that the ruins of Zeth’Kur should hold a great secret that could “potentially change all of Vodari.” Said secret is the Exodus Portal, built by a coalition of the world’s long-dead civilizations (Ancients, Varu, Dakri) that can open up to worlds beyond Vodari. But not only that, activating said portal will break up Vesi’s Rage, revealing the goddess’ kingdom within the center. The gods won’t necessarily be happy with such a momentous event, for if enough of their worshipers leave for different worlds then they fear they will be left without purpose and power. The book also makes mention of other “mysterious places” hinted at earlier in the chapter to combine elements together for this proposed campaign in an archeologist fashion for PCs in search of forgotten knowledge. [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/vGdoUS6.png[/img][/center] [b]The Map’s Edge:[/b] This section details the more remote island and regions of Vodari as opposed to any one geographical region. With the exception of Vesi’s Rage, they are places that are physically distant from the earlier regions or sufficiently uncharted that they are ill-explored. [i]Jameson[/i] is a newly-discovered island whose first explorer appeared as a raving madman in a port weeks later, talking of intelligent killer apes. This is indeed the truth, for a gorilla found a magical artifact among the island ruins that gifted him sapience, which he used to awaken his brethren. Wearing the Crown of Mental Might* he can communicate telepathically, and has no intention of his island being colonized by outsiders...although a mutual trade agreement that leaves Jameson with a degree of autonomy may open him up to negotiations. *an artifact detailed in the Magic Items & Spells chapter. [i]Isle of Whispers[/i] is a mist-shrouded island home to an archmage that rejected the rules of the Arcane Council. She made her home in an ancient building known as the Pernicious Citadel which has granted her knowledge of a unique form of magic known as mistwalking. She is teaching the discipline to other renegade mages, and the Citadel itself is only partially-explored by her community. Containing an innumerable array of levels, hallways, and rooms that seemingly rearrange themselves when nobody’s looking, the true size of the Pernicious Citadel is unknown. [i]Kraken[/i] is home to the Order of the Kraken, a 500 year old secret society that has contacts among every significant organization and civilization of note in Vodari. They derive magical power from a temple on this island, and their true purpose and motivation is for the GM to fill in for the purposes of their own campaign. Otherwise they’re not ever mentioned again in the rest of the book. [i]Sanador[/i] is an island home to a jungle with flora capable of amazing medicinal purposes, and the sole tall mountain at its center is home to ruins. The only intelligent inhabitant is a crazed druidic hermit by the name of Yash who managed to discover the ruins’ secret. A series of incredibly advanced technomagic machinery hold the souls of this civilization trapped in precious gems that summon hordes of ghouls and ghosts to attack anyone taking them. A couatl will thank the PCs if they manage to free the souls from the gems, giving them an appropriate and unspecified reward for the GM to figure out. [i]Sanctuary[/i] is a community made up of genasi and a minority of other races. It is the headquarters of the Order of Four Elements, a tradition of monks who learned the power of elemental magic to protect Vodari’s weak and disenfranchised. They are mostly lone wanderers who target powerful people that financially exploit others. Sanctuary is the only place on Vodari where such monks gather in any great number, and are led by four Oracles representative of each element who train students in their own ways and philosophy. [i]Stormwind Chain[/i] is a mid-sized independent colony home to rich veins of gold discovered by a married adventuring couple. It is a virtually anarchic island, with no real set of laws beyond an agreement not to cause trouble and a form of justice that encourages an eye for an eye. [i]Taur[/i] is the sparsely-populated minotaur homeland, home to a gladiator arena and a vast labyrinth of unknown origin home to monsters, traps, puzzles, and potential treasure. The minotaurs have no idea what exactly lurks at the center of said maze, but are much more talkative about the arena which is mostly non-lethal save when executions are carried out for the most unforgivable of crimes. [i]The Teeth[/i] is an ill-described place whose exact location is unknown but rumored to contain priceless treasure. The Teeth are actually a phenomenon that causes thick fog banks to rise from the ocean along with an utter lack of airborne or sea life in the area. Strong currents and rock formations threaten to pull a ship to its doom, and those who manage to make it out in one piece end up being transported to the Seas Beyond. [i]Vesi’s Rage[/i] is a gigantic, never-ending storm around a thousand miles in diameter. It sits at where the continent of Varanu once was after the Godwar, and prevents straight north-south, east-west travel between Vodari’s island chains. Nobody is sure of what caused or is fueling the Rage, although what is known is that nobody who has gone far in has ever made it out alive, and only a precious few (and now legendary) vessels survived passing through an outer tendril. Anyone unlucky or foolish enough to be pulled into it faces 100+ mph winds, violent waves, massive lightning strikes, malfunctioning compasses, celestial bodies arranged in impossible formations, and thick omnipresent mists from which screaming can be heard. The only creatures that live within are evil beings pledged in service to Vesi, although storm giants are the only known non-evil creatures that appear capable of survival in such hellish waters. [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/xINYubM.jpg[/img][/center] [b]Under the Seas:[/b] The shortest section of this chapter, Vodari’s subterranean kingdoms and regions are surprisingly undeveloped. The book acknowledges this, saying in a sidebar that a future supplement for undersea campaigns proper is in the works. The only content is a list of the major sea-dwelling races beyond the PC ones: merfolk are simple farmers and hunter-gatherers, merrow are fallen remnants of a warlike kingdom, and sirens came from the Feylands and isolated themselves from other civilizations. And those are the ones in the highest sunlit reaches. Further below in the twilight depths, we have Cecaelias (like merfolk but lower halves are octopus) who are little-known magical people that live in undersea caves of small family units, Grindylows are goblinish Small-sized sharkpeople raiders, Kallidu are psionic fish who build telekinetic constructs to conduct surface raids,* storm giants live by themselves in the deepest ocean trenches near Vesi’s Rage to find spiritual meaning in observed omens, and tritons came from the Elemental Plane of Water and act as a sort of “wandering knight” culture in defending other civilizations from monsters in the ocean’s darkest depths. *They’re given stats and background in the Allies & Adversaries chapter later in this book. And what of those civilizations that lair in the midnight depths, over 3,300 feet below sea level? Here be dragons...or rather aboleths and their cities, the divine children of the Destroyer gods, and titanic monstrosities that escaped from the Elemental Plane of Water. [b]Thoughts So Far:[/b] The second half of Seas of Vodari’s “setting” chapter is remarkably different from the first half, with much more of a final frontier feel. I felt that the dragonborn kingdom could have used some more development; the dwarven nation of Morndirn had a much larger page count in comparison, which isn’t necessarily bad in and of itself. But as they don’t really do anything “new” in regards to what we’ve seen of dwarves in fantasy, I felt that such space may have been better spent on the other areas in the Marradi Archipelago. The North was a high point, as while it could be easy to make it a uniform “barbaric wildland,” the societies within had quite a bit of development and ample conflicts and adventure hooks between them. I did find it interesting how most of the monster nations were more or less made more three-dimensional beyond always evil antagonists, with even the more warlike frost giants and orcs counting non-evil members among their entries. Granted, the orcs of Stonetusk and the giants of Iselaad seemed rather close to their typical portrayals in Dungeons & Dragons, which kind of stood out in comparison to the other nations. The Map’s Edge islands seemed interesting adventure hooks for one-shot sessions, although I was a bit disappointed at the lack of content for actual undersea locations. The campaign idea of ending Vesi’s Rage and a portal to other worlds felt a bit out of nowhere. While I am not opposed to the idea itself, it feels like too much is left hanging; there’s mention made of Vesi’s revealed kingdom, but more text is expounded on in favor of the gods panicking about the thought of their followers ‘leaving’ them, which begs the question of just how appealing these otherworldly realms beyond the portal are. I imagine that the vast majority of the setting’s inhabitants are still simple folk with homes and families to attend to and may not mass migrate unless things get really bad. The Kraken society is a wasted opportunity, especially given the fact that the only other time they’re mentioned in the book is the possible reason for why platinum pieces are minted with a kraken symbol. [b]Join us next time as we cover new and existing races in Chapter III, the People of Vodari![/b] [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
[Let's Read] Seas of Vodari
Top