D&D 5E (2014) The Light of Civilization - A 5e Renaissance Story [OOC]

[VLAD the Destroyer]

Lucien's Background:

Lucien grew up in a small fishing village on the cost of Britannia. His father captained a small fishing boat and Lucien practically grew up on the seas. His father taught him to sail and to follow the old gods. Especially Nodens the god of the sea who was their patron. As time went on Lucien knew he was not cutout to be a fisherman. He signed on as a deckhand of a trading ship and left home.

Though not the most devout of men he kept his traditions. Giving an offering to Nodens before leaving shore or when the winds died. On his father’s ship this was expected. When it was found out that he followed Nodens on his new ship he was whipped. The small offering he had been making burnt and thrown overboard along with his symbol of faith. The Captain was a devout follower of the Maker and would have no pagans on his ship. Lucien was told he would be left at the next port. The ship never made land fall. That night a squall blew. As the storm raged Lucien swore he saw Nodens avatar in the waves. The storm raged for days No ship could survive such fury. One dawn the storm just vanished the ship was gone and Lucien was the only living person among the wreckage. Lucien has never said how long he was floating on the makeshift raft he lashed together from the wreckage, nor how he survived for so long on the open seas. He was pulled from the seas by a pirate ship ‘The Leviathans Wake’, the crew of the vessel named him Stormborn for they had seen the storm rage and where amazed that he would appear from the center of such a monster. It was a fitting moniker as he was now blessed by Nodens and granted domain over the storm and the seas.

The captain gave him the option to sign on with the crew or be dropped at the first port they entered. Lucien decided to stay on instead of risk another captain like the last. He took to the life of the pirate instantly. Most of the crew where not devout men with any faith so Lucien’s new found religion was not a problem. He was a skilled sailor and eventually rose through the ranks to become sail master and first-mate. The captain planned to pass the ship to Lucien when next they made port but the Quartermaster had different plans. The man, Giacomo Esposito, promised the crew riches in exchange for backing him in a mutiny. The crew took the ship and killed the captain. Fearing the wrath of Nodens they decided to leave Lucien on a deserted island instead of killing him out right. That was a mistake, he got off the island and found his way to Fossice the closest port. He would find Esposito and get back his ship.

I have updated my Character post with the same.

 

[Trogdor1992]

Well [MENTION=6855130]Jago[/MENTION] I have everything but the background so far

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[Trogdor1992]

Ssylvaas the Swift

Race: Kobold
Class: Inquisitive Rogue
Level: 3rd
Alignment: CN
Background: Traveler
AC: 14
Init. Bonus: +3
Speed: 25ft.
Size: Small
HP: 20
Hit Dice: 3d8
Prof. Bonus: +2

ABILITY SCORES
--STR: 10(0)
--DEX: 16(+3)[+2 Racial]
--CON: 12(+1)
--INT: 10(0)
--WIS: 14(+2)
--CHA: 14(+2)[+1 Racial]

COMBAT
Attack Bonus:
--Melee: +2
--Ranged/Finesse: +5

Weapons:
-1.)Rapier: 1d8+3
-2.)Shortsword: 1d6+3
-3.)Dagger: 1d4+3

LANGUAGES/PROFICIENCIES
--Languages: Common, Draconic, Thieves' Cant, Dwarvish
--Armor: Light
--Weapons: Simple Weapons, Rapiers, Hand-Crossbows, Longswords, and Shortswords
--Tools: Thieves' Tools, Draconic Dice
--Skills: Stealth, Sleight of Hand, Persuasion, Acrobatics, Insight, Perception
--Saving Throws: Dexterity, Intelligence

EQUIPMENT
-Rapier
-Shortsword
-Dagger(2)
-Leather Armor
-Burglar's Pack
-Thieves' Tools
-Draconic Dice Set
-Traveler's Clothes
-Dragon Medallion
-Roughly Drawn Maps
-Coin: 5gp

RACIAL TRAITS
-Lucky
-Brave
-Kobold Nimbleness
-Naturally Stealthy

CLASS FEATURES
-Expertise: Thieves' Tools, Perception
-Sneak Attack: 2d6
-Cunning Action
-Eye For Deceit
-Eye For Detail
-Insightful Fighting

TRAITS/IDEAL/
BOND/FLAW
--Traits:
--Ideal:
--Bond:
--Flaw:

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[pathfinderq1]

I'll try to have some sort of character pitch put together this weekend. This week has really kicked my butt.

In the meantime, a possible bit (if you haven't worked this group out yet):

>The Guild Arcane: This group has arisen in the last twenty years or so, as the guild system has increased in power. It is formed almost entirely of 'theoretical' mages and similarly-inclined scholars- there are few actual spellcasters within its ranks. The group is mainly concerned with historical scholarship and (at least theoretically) with increasing peoples' understanding of what magic actually does, and how it can be put to use properly to help society. They haven't had a lot of success with that so far, for two reasons. First, so many of the Guild's members are engaged in constant scholarly debate (mostly on minor points of theory or history) that they rarely put out anything for public consumption- most people consider them to be hopeless 'ivory tower' thinkers, with no understanding of the real world, or of normal people (and in many cases, they are exactly that). Secondly, and more importantly in the long run, the Guild is almost entirely at the mercy of the Church of the Maker. Not only does the Church issues licenses for working spellcasters (including Guild members with some ability)- a process that is both complicated and, occasionally, corrupted by politics or social discord.

The real issue is that the Guild gets most of their information from historical texts- both actual histories and magical texts (theory, ritual books, and even fragments of surviving spellbooks). And the Church controls ALL of those books. It is the Church of the Maker which has introduced the concept of 'Libraries' to the world- they store, catalog, and preserve a great many books, scrolls, and other written works- many of them quite ancient. And of all the books they maintain, the most tightly guarded, the most restricted, are those dealing with magic of any kind- especially arcane. In the first place, the Church simply buys such books, and can usually offer the best price for anything explorers or archaeologists bring in; and, of course, they have manipulated things such that it can be illegal for private citizens to own such works. Through a variety of means the Church has a large majority of the useful or practical books on magic- and they acquire more of them every day. For instance, anyone who enforces the Church's policies of enforcement against renegade spellcasters is charged to turn in any relevant materials (books, scroll, and even notes- but especially spellbooks) as part of their 'duties'.

So the Guild must obey the rules of the Church (and pay appropriately) to gain access to the books they want to study- and sometimes travel to study a particular work. The Church, of course, frowns on copying such texts- and most REAL scholars want to see the original anyway. How else can the debate whether or not 'Martikian the younger' was a student of Flavius Carolingius, without having seen the shorthand notes in the surviving fragments of both their spellbooks?

While the Guild is mostly seen as impractical and overly intellectual, devoid of useful information, there exist rumors of a shadowy group within the Guild Arcane, perhaps even the secret masters of the Guild. They are known as the 'Order Illuminated' or, more popularly, 'the Illuminati'. Both the Guild and the Church deny such a group exists- but popular rumors, some of them quite fantastic, seem to persist- everyone agrees that the Illuminati are all powerful wizards, seeking to return to the sort of capabilities which nearly broke the world.

 

[Jago]

Duder, that is awesome! Absolutely no objections from me, consider that work Canonized. I love the idea that it's a group about magic where nobody can really practice magic, that alone makes it interesting. The depth about the Church, the Illuminati, the addition of Libraries and how all this is stored and recovered, this is A+, well freaking done.

 

[VLAD the Destroyer]

Agreed Jago that was great. I have some ideas for a pirate haven port similar to Tortuga and Port Royal. I'll get some stuff up by Monday about it.

 

[pathfinderq1]

A further book recommendation (or rather, bookS, for those who have some time)- the Baroque Cycle, by Neal Stephenson.

Europe, from the late 1600s into the 1800s, with particular emphasis on the rise of civilization and science, including alchemy. A quick review of the themes, from Wikipedia:

A central theme in the series is Europe's transformation away from feudal rule and control toward the rational, scientific, and more merit-based systems of government, finance, and social development that define what is now considered "western" and "modern".
Characters include Isaac Newton, Gottfried Leibniz, Nicolas Fatio de Duillier, William of Orange, Louis XIV of France, Oliver Cromwell, Peter the Great, John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough and many other people of note of that time. The fictional characters of Eliza, Jack and Daniel collectively cause real historic effects.
The books feature considerable sections concerning alchemy. The principal alchemist of the tale is the mysterious Enoch Root, who, along with the descendants of several characters in this series, is also featured in the Stephenson novel Cryptonomicon.
[h=2][/h]

 

[Jago]

Agreed Jago that was great. I have some ideas for a pirate haven port similar to Tortuga and Port Royal. I'll get some stuff up by Monday about it.

Oh man, that sounds 100% legit. I'd love the idea of haven of scum and villainy (and Freedom) in the midst of all this Enlightenment. Can't wait to see it!

 

[pathfinderq1]

Another possible bit of lore:

The Elven Races in the 'Modern Age':

Since ancient times, the elves have lived mostly apart from humans and the other races of the world- the wood elves in their remote forests, the high elves in their glittering cities, and the dark elves underground or in the forgotten ruins of forgotten folk. The Harrowing, or as the elves call it 'The Cataclysm' changed all of that.

The high elves were hit the hardest by the great disaster- many of the people were magically-talented and were slain or crippled in moments, which would have been terrible on its own, considering their low population and slow breeding cycle. But their cities also employed a great deal of magic, and the Harrowing and its aftereffects left the legendary glittering towers shattered and bereft, a great blow to all their folk. In desperation, the high elves turned to the other races, humans in particular, for help. They offered all that remained to them in return for shelter and assistance- their art, their music, and their scholarship. The dance was slow, but the high elves were one of the first races to integrate with the humans after the disaster, and the partnership was one of the most important factors involved in the rebuilding of the world, and the rise of the new Enlightened age. When the humans began to rebuild their cities, the high elves moved in with them, and it was their influence that helped to bring the arts into prominence, and to spur advances in many other areas. The dwarves and gnomes, seeking the kind of partnership which the high elves had gained, made their contributions as well- especially in things like architecture, metallurgy, and alchemy. And the humans, with their drive and their adaptability, were able to combine all of this new information and weave it into the fabric of the modern world, to build a society which was greater than the sum of its parts. Despite this great partnership, the high elves retain a bit of their ancient reclusive nature (For them, after all, 150 years is not so long- barely even a generation)- while they live in human cities, they often maintain their own neighborhoods. And in the eyes of some people, they are still regarded as aloof and mysterious. More to the point, while elven scholars have helped the Church of the Maker develop the idea of libraries, and the proper ways to keep and preserve books, elves are also regarded with a bit of suspicion, for their love of arcane magic is well known.

The wood elves were hit hard by the Cataclysm, but not as hard as the high elves- while the wood elves had great traditions of magic, they did not use it nearly as much as their cousins did. While the high elves moved out into the world and integrated with the other races, many of the wood elves retreated further into their forests and shut themselves away from the outside world. As the other races began to rebuild their cities and their society, and once again started to travel across the lands, they began to encounter those isolated forest enclaves- and at first there were many instances of violence, as the elves defended their homes. In time, that began to change. As the other races continued to integrate, they sent out ambassadors- mostly high elves, forest gnomes, and half-elves. Very slowly, the wood elves began to emerge from their protective isolation to rejoin the world. But it was not an easy process, for this new world was very different from the old one. It has only been within the last twenty years or so that the forests claimed by the wood elves have become (mostly) safe for honest travelers. And even now, most wood elves dwell in those isolated forests. But some of their folk set out as scouts, guides, and couriers- and more often as traveling merchants; others have taken to mercenary work, especially as scouts or archers. The common folk of the cities tend to regard wood elves as uncivilized- even 'countrified' or barbaric, depending on who you ask; the wood elves in turn tend to maintain their own traditions (including clothing and tattooed markings, which make them easy to identify) and still regard the civilized folk as decadent and lazy- they survived the aftereffects of the Cataclysm without help from other races, all on their own, so they see themselves and their society as strong and resilient. Many of those who leave their forest homes are driven by curiosity or wanderlust- but they are a small percentage of the race overall; most are content to remain in the forests far from the growing cities of the world.

And then there are the other elven races... The dark elves, never common on the surface world, seem to have retreated underground or died out. Occasionally someone will claim to have seen one, or to have heard of their savage raiding, but there is no real proof. And the legendary eladrin seem to have died out entirely- tales from just after the cataclysm say that most of the disappeared during the disaster, and the others vanished one at a time, stepping into another realm and never returning...

Summary:
-High elves: almost completely integrated with society, and their art, music, and scholarship are some of the biggest parts upon which the new Enlightened world has been based. Less overtly magical (though there are rumors...), but still regarded as a bit aloof and mysterious.

-Wood elves: retreated into their forests for many years, and most of them are still isolated- which is just how they like it. Some of their folk have begun to venture out into the world, driven by curiosity or wanderlust- they tend to 'mobile' careers like guides, mercenaries, and traveling merchants. Tend to be regarded as ' uncivilized'- in return they usually see 'city folk' as decadent and soft.

-Dark elves: almost completely vanished from the world, save for occasional lurid rumors. But are they still out there (or down there) somewhere- and if so, what are they plotting?

-Eladrin: It is believed that they are all gone, and have been for years. Magical scholars believe that the eladrin ability to step into another realm briefly became a one-way trip after the Harrowing.

 

[Shayuri]

Chapter III: In The Hills and the Deeps
The Harrowing and the Sons of Earth

Unlike the elves and humans and halflings and all the combinations and wild races besides, comparatively little is known by the surface races of what toll the Harrowing had on the dwarves and gnomes. The gnomes, despite being innately magical beings, seemed always to be either already-integrated with human culture and cities, or tucked away in extremely well-hidden communities secreted beneath gentle rolling hills. The dwarves buried themselves deeper still, and to this day the specific fates of many of their greatest cities and holds are unknown to any but their own.

Tales have been told though, and inferences can be drawn. Surface folk often believe dwarves to be somehow 'anti' magic, or devoid of magic talent. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Dwarves practiced magic in many ways, in many traditions, but most of all they practiced the magic of rune and stone, an ancient tradition that lay the foundation for their greatest glories...as well as, in the end, their most tragic ends.

The souring of magic wrought by the Harrowing struck many gnomes, but did little to destroy their spirits or lifestyles. Those gnomes with an inclination towards industry and the study of machines and science remain as they have done for ages, ensconced in the cities where they have access to the books and manpower to fuel their innovations. They are professors and scholars, researchers and inventors. While there is a popular stereotype that labels them 'mad,' they show no greater propensity towards madness than the wildly creative of any species. Meanwhile, those gnomes preferring a more 'rustic' life often now can be seen in caravan wagons that cross the lands...garish and flamboyant and deceptively well-armed, as they must be to move between the cities. I've heard tell speculation that they may have one or more 'trademeets' out there...semi-stable locations where the caravans meet to trade between themselves, resupply between trips to the cities, and can retreat to if threatened. As always though, the gnomes of the hill, while outwardly gregarious, possess secrets they keep to themselves.

The dwarves were quiet for some time after the Harrowing. Those dwarves who lived on the surface either moved in with the humans, and later elves...or retreated back down the long winding paths into the deeps. Most were never heard of again. Several years after the cataclysm, dwarves began to emerge. They came from the old cracked edifices they'd built to guard the ways. They came from caves and ravines where paths could be found into the darkness below the surface. Women and children, mainly, with some wounded, infirm or aged men as well. They came to where the other races were trying to rebuild, and quietly and without much fanfare took up hammer and chisel and saw, and helped. To this day they rarely speak of what happened, but that monsters and horrors overtook them.

An educated insight into the nature of runecraft can be of aid though. Much of runic magic is imbued with the power of names. A name, a symbolic concept embodying something greater, can be graven in stone and through magic markings be imbued with effects. To make armor that does not weigh the wearer down, runes of mighty elemental princes of Air might be used, for example, along with shaping sigils that harness the quality of weightlessness that air possesses. The Harrowing would certainly have sundered the magic binding and shaping these runes, but its effects on other forms of rune magic would have been far worse.

Certain dwarfcraft uses old runes of power to not simply invoke portions of the essence of a name, but to hold captive a named entity, who's essence can then be tapped directly. The Great Forge in Thammarung is an example...heated by the fury and fire of a mighty demon trapped by runes by Krakar the Doomhammer in a bygone age. The artifacts of these Great Runes were not numerous, but each was singular in power and nature.

Imagine now, all of them being sundered at once. Across the great cities of dwarvenkind, all manner of horrors of legend, long since bound by dwarf magic and kept for untold centuries, suddenly erupting. As the mountains shook, the roars of triumph and furiousness. The flames vanishing from the forges, and scything across the streets and houses.

How they must have fought. For years, without magic, without light, perhaps waiting for aid that would never come. Until finally they knew the battle was lost. The last soldiers resolutely holding the last forts as they sent what of them was left to the surface.

It is known that the passages underground are closed now. Caved in. I wonder how many were caved in deliberately, to contain the madness that seethes below. I wonder what now holds court in the underground halls that the dwarves carved across the millennia. Did they simply rampage and destroy, and depart for deeper pits and other planes? Or do they wait still for the day when the dwarves will grow bold enough to try to reclaim what they left down there? For the day they may yet find their revenge.

Not even the dwarves know that.