Tainted Avalon - Post-Arthurian Avalon


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Cultures & Locations, then...

Alright...Cultures&Locations: The Icy Wastes...

...are at the very northern tip of Avalon. It consists mostly of pine forests and ice. The summer is short, it only lasts 40 days or so. There is a huge amount of amber scattered about the Icy Wastes, and, as amber is found nowhere else on Avalon, it is extremely valuable.

The people of the Icy Wastes are of Danish extraction (They moved to Avalon right before the Sundering from Danelaw in England.). Some are Christian converts, but for the most part, they worship the gods of their ancestors; Odin, Thor, Freya, Tyr, and Hiemdall (Some also worship Loki, but those are considered sneaky and dishonorable by the others). They live in small, isolated villages for the most part, although they did establish one big city, Imstunbyrk (City of the Sea-fire Stones), for the purposes of furthering the amber trade in that region. They are a wild, somewhat uncouth race for the most part, and occasionally, very occasionally, they will go raiding. They are ruled by a Jarl, a title roughly corresponding to "Baron."
They speak a form of Danish, but due to the extreme isolation of some communities, this can vary from place to place.
They are renowned for their skill as sailors, and the longboats they produces are the envy of every shipwright in Avalon. They frequently go on trading or raiding voyages that can last as long as a year, going as far south as Allamid. They came under the rule of the Nherianthir Kings after a short two year war, in 57 ARD. They judge a man by his strength, his valor, and how many drinking horns of mead he can down, and this has given them a reputation, not entirely undeserved, of tending toward thick-headed barbarianism.

The people of the Icy Wastes also share their pine forests and tundra with frost giants. These frost giants speak a mix of Giantish and Northern Avalonian, which is the languag of the people of the Icy Wastes. They worship a god they call Ymir, Father of the Giants, who also appears in the mythology of the Men of the Icy Wastes, although in the mythology of the frost giants, Ymir was not killed by Odin. The frost giants say that Ymir made them out of ice and snow, and, indeed, they are about as cold and deadly. They do not trade, and they mainly keep themselves away from anyone who is not a giant, although they do go raiding often, and sometimes they participate in the amber trade to get diamonds, which they prize even above gold, because diamonds are like the ice they love, only they do not melt or shatter. In frost giant mythology, diamonds are fragments of the Ice of Creation, from which they say the world was made. They live in small clans in caves, each clan ruled by the eldest member of the family, although every decade or so they all meet together, in something like a family reunion attended by all the giants of Avalon, except fire giants, whom they cannot stand. Most sensible people stay away from these giant reunions, as the mead flows freely, and a drunken giant is a very dangerous thing.

Wandering Dwarves also live in the Icy Wastes. These strange creatures are dwarves, the descendants of Galahir, brother of Fjalahir. When these two aforementioned dwarves, regarded as the ancestors of all dwarves in Avalon, quarreled in time immemorable, they both decided to go underground. They bet on a game of dice to see who would get the gloomy deeps of Avalon, and who would have to stay aboveground, and bear the terrible sunlight. Fjalahir won, and took his clan, and went underground. Galahir and his clans, were forced to stay aboveground. Wandering Dwarves are Galahir's descendants. They possess no great cities, nor even towns, nor do they mine or delve. Instead, they wander about aboveground, in small family groups, with their possessions their backs. They generally make a living through odd jobs and forge-work. They worship Odin, Thor, Tyr, and Freya, as do the Deep Dwarves, as do the men of the Icy Wastes. Wandering Dwarves bear a great hatred for the Deep Dwarves, for they are convinced that Fjalahir cheated at that fateful game of dice.

Next up: Cultures and Locations: the Tor, the Elfinwoods, and Middle Avalon.
 


Sorry for the delay. You will have to forgive me, I know work and evening shift, so my usual browse the forum time is now spent working, so I am having less time to peruse threads. Things look great though, sorry that it appears I am the only one who thinks this is great stuff.
 

Listen, Wolfpunk, I got a question...

Do you think anyone would be interested in a d20 sourcebook about this? I mean, I know that most people are more interested in an Avalon-like setting during Arthur's reign, not 900, almost a thousand years after....

I'm thinking of publishing this stuff via Natural 20 Press, along with a sourcebook on running Strongholds and Fiefs.

Do you think anyone would buy this stuff?
 

Cultures of the Tor and the Elfinwoods (Cultures&Locations of Avalon)

The Tor, also known as Ynis Witrin, Glastonbury Tor, and Mawr Cadaeru* is home to few cultures. Formerly, a thriving town existed in the hollow of the Tor, near the Elfinwoods, but it was razed and burned in a terrible battle during the Ruinous Wars.
On the crest of the Tor, there is an abbey, which is home to the Order of St. Augustine.

Nearby is Wearyall Hill (Mawr Cadaeru yr Ysbrenplanhigyn**), where the Holy Thorn, which was the staff of Joseph of Arimathea taken root, grows. It is a holy place, and untouched by the Ruinous Wars.

*Great Strong-earth (Elfin term for a hill, tor, or mountain. All other mountains, tors, and hills have specific names, but to the Elfs, the Tor is always THE hil.l)
**Great Strong-earth of the Spirit (Holy) Plant (Elfin language)

More on the Tor later, but I'm tired of typing. That, by the way, was the first sampling of my Elfin language system.
 

Just wanted to say, I love your stuff. As a lover of Arthurian myth, it's great to see so many of the old legends being gathered together...

(P.S. You taken a look at my world of Tur An Tiel?)
 

I do think there would be interest in a book about this setting and idea. I think books that give elaborate settings and history are a great thing. Of course I bought all the campaign setting books for the white wolf vampire the dark ages series based on how much I enjoyed using the Constantinople by Night book as a d&d setting.

Your target customer is going to be a DM that appreciates a rich and lavish history, and unique and easily implemented territories and npcs. How large that market is, is really something I know nothing about.

I would buy the book though.
 

Thank you, Rhialto, and thank you, wolfpunk for expressing interest. I have no means to publish such a book myself, but I am publishing an unrelated book in Nautral 20 Press. It will include teasers from Tainted Avalon, both to drum up support and to demonstrate to Natural 20 Press that there IS a market for such a supplement. I would publish a Tainted Avalon sourcebook immediately, but I'm not sure how favorable Ryan Nock and Morrus would be to that idea...
I also submitted an article to Asgard magazine containing some Avalon - specific material, so watch for that when Asgard comes out.

In the meantime, however, Cultures and Locations - The Tor and the Elfinwoods (continued)

To the Northeast of Wearyall Hill, there is a marvelous wood, at the heart of which lies the Chalice Well, from whence the Holy Grail dwells. This the Elfinwood, home of the Tylwyth Teg (the Fey).

Among the Tylwyth Teg, there are two great sub-divisions, the Elves and the Gnomes. The Elves are decidedly the larger of the two peoples, but they both fall quite short of the height of the average human man or woman.

The Elves tend to be thin and wispy like birch trees. Both sexes wear their hair, which is generally flowing and silver, gold, or black in color, long. Their eyes are nigh on impossible to describe, tending to seem one thing at one moment and another thing at another. At best they can be described as resembling deep pools of hazel, green, and brown, shot through with streaks of silver, and glowing with a wild, fey light. Of their facial features, their most distinguishing mark is their ears, which are large and pointed. Elves have an air of magic about them, and their hair and skin colors sublty alter to match the season - greenish tinted in the spring, more golden in the summer, reddish in the fall, and blue tinted in the winter.

All Elves follow the ruling of the Immortal Queen of Faery, the Lady of the Lake, although she keeps but loose rein over them. They themselves live in clan groups throughout the Elfinwoods. They make their dwelling anywhere it appeals to them, usually in places of great beauty, such as a magnificent old oak, a clear spring, or a picturesque grotto. They like not to live underground (They are terrible claustrohpobes, and an Elf left too long underground will waste away and die.) They love music above all else, and it says that the least of their harpers can keep a mortal captivated for days. No mortal is ever the same after hearing elfin music, but afterwards they spend their days wandering, with a terrible longing in their heart to hear such music again, a privilege granted to nearly no one mortal, least of all twice, thinking of nothing else but the music, they forget family, friends, and lovers, and all they ever new just to hear one note of that sweet sound. Beautiful and perilous are the strains of elfin harps! The Elves protect their woods fiercely, and mortals straying by should have a care, for elf-arrows are swift and sure.

Elves do not understand human society and why humans kill each other over lumps of heartless metal. They hate iron above all, but they also place little value on metal in general. Their attitude about metal does not extend to silver and gems, however, which they hold to be light of the stars and the moon that became trapped in the earth when the earth was made.

Every Midsummer's night, the Elves hold a night long celebration, in a wild festival of dancing, music, and generally revellry, held in sacred hazel groves on beds of wild thyme. Few mortals have ever had the luck to see this revel.

GAME RULE INFO
Elves: +2 DEX, +2 WIS, +4 CHA, - 2 to CON
SQ: Low-Light Vision, Bardic Music, spell-like abilities, Immortal, Iron Vulnerability, Claustrophobia.
Skills: Perform(any instrument, dancing, or singing) +4, Wilderness Lore +6, Spellcraft +4, Attack(any bow) +2.
Favored Class: Bard

Low-Light Vision - Elves can see thre times as far as humans in low light conditions

Bardic Music - an Elf has the Bardic Music ability as a 1 st level bard or 1/2 their class level, whichever is higher.

Spell-like abilities - Dancing Lights and Ghost Sound 3x/day, Obscuring Mist and Change Self 1x/day

Immortal - Elves do not age, although they can be slain. They cannot be aged by magic, nor do they acquire either bonuses or penalties for aging. They mature at about 25 - 30 years and do not age thereafter, never dying unless they are slain.

Iron Vulnerability - iron weapons function as bane weapons (+2d6 damage) against Elves. Note that this applies only to pure iron, and not steel. Steel weapons deal 1 extra point of damage per hit to Elves, but do not function as Bane weapons.

Claustrophobia - An Elf underground for more than 1 day must make Will Saves every hour that he is underground or become panicked. Once panicked, an Elf always seeks what appears to be the fastest route to the surface.

Additionally, once an Elf fails a Will save vs. Claustrophobia, they lose one point of CON every day they are underground. This is restored when they reach the surface.

Thats all for now folks. Next Up, Gnomes: Culture & Game Stats
 

Keep it up!!

Hey Bob it took me awhile, but I read through all of your stuff! Very cool!! I think you've created a great low magic setting without using a hugely different system of rules. I want to hear more!

Also, I'd love to hear your thought on my Story Hour (link below). A shameless plug I suppose, but whateva....

My regards,
C.I.D.
 
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